Weekly Recipe: soaked Baked Oatmeal

I feel I need to change the name of our weekly recipe, because I am posting it usually on a Saturday!!

This week, we are looking at our family favorite, (at least, the boys and mine's) : Soaked Baked Oatmeal.

This is beautifully tasty and a hearty start to a dreary winter's day.

Ingredients
the evening before combine...
3 cups organic rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 cup melted butter or coconut oil
1/3 cup honey ( preferably raw)
1 cup diluted live yogurt/ buttermilk/1 tsp lemon juice, topped up with water

Cover and leave in a warm place in your kitchen to soak.

The next morning, add
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
optional; chopped, peeled apples/ raisins /banana chips/ frozen berries

Mix in these ingredients and any optional extra you wish to add, smooth down the top a little, and bake in a medium oven, for around 45 mins, until set in the middle.

Serve with some fresh raw milk, or cream. Mmmmmmmm 

we eat this at LEAST once a week in our house, but my boys like it plain or with raisins. (every now and then I will throw in some berries for mama and tell them to pick them out if they don't want them....)

Friday Recipe: Breakfast casserole

We tried this recipe for the first time this week, modified from a great recipe on this site, and the WHOLE family loved it!!!

Ingredients

• 4-5 medium potatoes, washed, peeled, and shredded
• 1 cup cheddar cheese
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon corn starch or arrowroot
• 1 cup milk
• About 1/2 pound sausage
• salt

In a frying pan on the stove-top, cook up the sausage until cooked through. Place in the bottom of a non-greased 8x8 baking dish.

In the same frying pan, fry the onion with the butter. (Cooking it in the same pan will help is soak up the sausage leftovers and give it even more flavor) When the onion turns transparent, turn the burner down to low and add in the milk and starch. Make sure you are continually stirring at this post so the milk doesn't scald. Cook until the sauce starts to get thick.

In a large bowl, mix your shredded potato with the onion/milk sauce. Stir so it's all mixed together. Pour the mixture over the top of the sausage layer in the baking dish.

Finally, sprinkle your dish with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes until the Breakfast Hashbrown Casserole is bubbly and slightly brown on the top.

It could be used as a supper dish too, and is sooooo tasty! 

Enjoy!!

Friday Recipe: Fish Pie

So I was looking at the blog, and noticed that I do a lot of talking about food, but not much by way of producing the good on the recipe front, so I have decided to try and do a Friday Recipe each week. This may be some tried and tested family recipe, or something new we have done just this week.

Today, is the new variety.

This week we had some delicious white fish left over, so I decided to try a fish pie. 

Now, I have to confess, the only fish pies I have ever eaten have been the frozen sea captain variety, and I have never been keen. 

I also have to confess to never really having much luck with any dish that requires mashed potato topping!!! It ends up everywhere, and never really looks appetizing!! But this would be fine, right......??????? 

Fish Pie (feeds 6)
Ingredients

4 large fish fillets
10 medium potatoes, peeled chopped and mashed with butter and milk
1/2 cup sweetcorn (I used frozen)
400ml whole milk
1/4 cup butter
2 tbsp flour (I used white, as it was just for sauce)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp mixed herbs
Grated cheese for topping ( optional)


Method

• While your potatoes are boiling, use milk to poach the fish in a pan (watch that it doesn't boil over and lose all of your milk!! Go on, ask me how I know...)
• When fish is cooked, (about 10 mins) scoop out the cooked fish with a slotted spoon and lay in the bottom of a large oven proof dish. Break up a little.
• Reserve the milk to one side, and in the same pan, melt the butter on a medium heat.
• Still on the heat, add the flour, and whisk briskly to combine, making a paste.
• Slowly pour in the warm milk, whisking as you go, to prevent lumps. 
• Continue to whisk as you heat through, and the sauce will begin to thicken. Don't let it get too thick now, as it will thicken more in the oven. Add the salt, pepper and herbs, or to taste, and pour sauce over fish in the large dish. 
• Mash your potatoes, adding your milk and butter, (or cream, or however you prefer to make mash!!) 
• Now I used a piping bag for the first time here, and it worked so much better than the 'splat and spread' methods I have previously used!!
• Top with cheese, if using and put in the oven, at 200c for 15 mins, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
• serve with vegetables of your choice

We served with cauliflower and broccoli cheese and carrots.

As if I should have been surprised, but the whole family LOVED this dish and have requested that it go on the regular list, and even the Boy Who Hates Potatoes love the mash on the top!!!!

Win, win, I think!!!

Enjoy!!

Yummy Taco Soup Recipe

We have been trying to vary our usual meals and thought we'd give taco soup a try.

Well, what a hit it's been! I thought I'd share it with you.


Taco Soup

2 tbs butter
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves of Garlic
400g beef mince
1 large pepper, diced
2 tbsp taco seasoning
1 can tinned tomatoes
300ml homemade chicken stock
1tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Garnish with grated cheese and tortilla chips

Method
1. Melt the butter in a large pan, add diced onions and fry for 2-3 mins, until clear. 
2. Ad garlic, fry for 2 mins and then add mince. 
3. Brown the mince, then add the peppers.
4. Add the taco spices, stir, and tinned tomatoes.
4. Add the chicken stock, salt and pepper, simmer for 20 mins
5. Serve with garnishes.

Mmmmmm, so yummy, we make this virtually every week!!

Enjoy!

Light and easy

It's been quite a deep spiritual time of learning for this mama lately, so I thought I'd lighten up, and give a really easy basic white sauce recipe that never fails. 

It can be used in so many dishes, as a cheese sauce, a mushroom sauce, or parsley, anything really, and it's a no-lumps, never-fail recipe, so I love it. 

(We put this on Lasagna, instead of the true sauce, we just prefer it.)

Basic White Sauce
225ml Milk
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp flour

• Warm milk in a pan (do not bring to the boil)
• In a separate jug, combine oil and flour until smooth
• Add a spoonful of warm milk to oil/flour mix and transfer all liquid to the pan
• warm on a medium heat until sauce is required consistency

Voila! Add cheese/mushrooms/herbs as desired and bob's your uncle!!! 
No fail white sauce!
Delicious it is too! 

Whole Wheat Yogurt Dough

So I thought it was time I posted some recipes here on The Family That Grows Together, and one of my recent finds has been this pie crust/ pastry recipe that I found on my fave site keeper of the home

Whole Wheat Yogurt Dough

Ingredients

1 cup butter softened

1 cup plain yogurt (I've used kefir before too)

3 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (also good with spelt)

1  tsp fine sea salt

Method

·       Cream together the butter and yogurt (or kefir).  Slowly add the flour and salt until everything is combined into a nice dough.

·       At this point you can either use it immediately or leave it on the counter for 12-24 hours to soak.

·       When you are ready to use it, roll out the desired amount on a floured surface and use as desired.

·       Depending on what you are using the dough for, it usually takes around 30 minutes to bake at 350 degrees.  Adjust your baking temperature and time for what you are making.

For more details on why soaking your Nuts, Grains and Legumes is important, read here

We have has this twice now and it is soooo tasty!! 

Enjoy!

Losing the humour

*Mooooaaaannnn* I am definitely in need of a good night's sleep!! My beautiful puppy, Murphy has decided that 5am is a wonderful time to begin the day, and I have to say, after 11 weeks of it, the novelty is starting to wear off!! 

It really is like having a young baby, but I know as he gets older it will be worth the time and effort now in training him, when we have a lovely obedient dog like his mama!! (mostly) 

In other morning news, I completely failed at my first attempt at Granola this morning. I have made it before, with great success, but being a bit tired, i had forgotten I wanted to make Granola, and put my oats in to soak last night, thinking it was oatmeal!!! Not a happy sight!!! The second attempt worked perfectly though and balance was resumed.....

I have soaked and am currently drying my peanuts today, for my first attempt at Peanut butter, so I will let you know how that goes. 
(can you tell I am very impressed with my new food processor!!)

I continue to look at the GAPS diet, but i really don't want to cut all grains and beans out, so i think it is just going to be making sure I prepare them in the right way, and I think my next attempt might be some lacto fermented vegetables, just to see what they are like, because as this link tells you, they are SOOOOOOO good for you. 

We have a regular coffee morning at church on Wednesday mornings, with all sorts of goodies, so the filling Granola will hopefully steer me away from all the white bread, but slice of bacon may be coming my way.......

My Favorite Things...

When studying what this homemaker malarky was all about, I came across some great ideas, from a home management binder to great organizing ideas.

Now one of the big things I have realized (after a dozen failed projects and wasted supplies) is that each family is different with different needs and strengths. Once this sunk in, I was able to look at other's ideas and work out what was worth giving a go, and what would not work in a million years for us. 

Having said that, one thing I think is a great tool for ANY family is a favorite meal list. 
Any family trying to work toward real food needs a plan, and the starting point, in my view would be to make a list of the top 20 or so meals that your family love and eat on a regular basis. 

This is so helpful when looking at your weekly or monthly meal plan, because you can easily slot in your go-to meals, and then fill in the blanks with a new recipe you've been wanting to try, or a take out night....

Ours consists of things like Curry, Quiche, Toad in the Hole, Fish cakes and Sweet and Sour (which is actually brown, when made from scratch, not bright ORANGE!!!)

I keep this in my binder to make meal planning that bit simpler, and lets face it, who doesn't want that!