Date cookies

A friend made these for us. She said:

You get 3 ripe bananas and mash them up.  Then add 2 cups of regular oats, 1 cup of dates, 1/3 cup of applesauce, a dash of salt, and 1 t. vanilla.  Mix all the ingredients together and let it sit for about 10 minutes.  Then drop by spoonfuls onto a non-greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  

We made them, added coconut, cinnamon, and a dash of salt. Super easy and everyone loves them! My mom said she could go sugarfree if she made these occassionally.

Strawberry Pie

INGREDIENTS:
2 (9 inch) pie shells, baked
2 pints fresh strawberries
3 cups white grape juice
2.5 tablespoons cornstarch
2 T gelatin

DIRECTIONS:
In a saucepan, mix together 2cups of the juice and the corn starch; blend corn starch in completely. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Meanwhile, add gelatin to remaining juice and let stand one minute or more. Add gelatin mixture to corn starch mixture and stir until smooth. Place strawberries in baked pie. Pour cooled gel mixture over strawberries. Refrigerate until set.

More defense for wheat

To back my opinion that wheat really is good for you, here is an article stating that it may be the lack of vitamin C (and I insert my own opinion that this is dietary, not supplements) that is causing the body's difficulty with gluten.  Think about it! If we had scurvy, we would probably also be having issues with digesting wheat.  It is probably both more subtle and more involved, but I am sure we would all be happier with a couple of organic oranges added to our day.

Pecan Pie Crust

Pie season is here!  Here is our basic pie crust.  We use this for apple pie, pumpkin pie, cheesecake, shortbread cookies, and fruit pizza.

Pecan Pie Crust

1/2 cup softened or melted butter
1 cup whole wheat flour (we like SOFT white wheat flour best, as we do in all pastries when we can get it)
1/2 pecan, chopped
1/4 cup quick oats
2 tablespoons honey (optional, you can just add extra liquid)

Mix everything and squish it in to a pie crust.  I like to flatten the tops of the sides even with the top to give it a more finished look.  It's not your prettily formed pie crust that you can cut into leaves and turkeys, but the rustic look can be charming.  And it's whole wheat, sugarfree, EASY, and the taste beats all!

Bake at 325 for 8-10 minutes, till lightly golden on the edges.

Pickled watermelon rind

Watermelon rind is a Southern delicacy, but unfortunately I have never had occasion to try it! So, when we made this, we just based it on our own tastes.  The sweet version was not what we were after.  I was surprised how much one watermelon made--3 1/2 quarts! Cutting was of course the most time consuming part.  I ended up using a potato peeler, a paring knife, and a large blade. Slice the rind into 1/2 inch wide, 4 inch long slices. Water is mixed with salt, 2 tablespoons to of salt to 4 cups of water. Fill a quart jar with the sliced rind, leaving plenty of room at the top, cover with the salt water mixture to within a half inch of the top. Add 2 cloves of garlic and some fresh dill, if desired. Let it sit on the counter, "burping" or opening the jar once a day. When it is good and bubbly, it is done.  Mine took 4 days. Move it to the fridge, where it will continue to pickle for the next few weeks, though it can be eaten right away.

Probiotic ketsup

Update: we now usually just make this ketsup recipe. Not probiotic, but great and stores in the fridge for 4 weeks.

This would be so much better with fresh tomatoes instead of canned tomato paste, but I said I would post the recipe, so here it is. My ketsup-loving daughter loves this, so it is nice to have something healthy to give her.  Whey is obtained when raw milk sits for several days and is allowed to separate.  The solids are strained out with a cloth (and made into a cream cheese of sorts!) and the watery liquid left is the whey. It will keep for six months in the fridge. Great with baked fries and black bean burgers!

Ketsup

12oz tomato paste

1/4 c whey (or water and an extra tablespoon of salt)

1/2 c water

1/4t dry mustard or 1 t prepared Dijon mustard

2 cloves pressed  garlic

1 T onion juice (I just chopped  and pressed into my garlic press)

1/4 c maple syrup

1/4t molasses

1/2 t salt

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together all ingredients. Pour sauce into a storage container. Cover and leave at room temperature for two days. Will store in the fridge for several months.

Overnight rice pudding

I love waking up to breakfast!

2 cups rice
6 C water
1/2 C honey
1 /2 C coconut
1/2 tsp molasses
1tsp cinnamon
Dash ginger
Dash nutmeg

Bake in a crockpot on low for 8 hrs. Serve with lots of milk and golden raisins.