Homemade Birthday/Anniversary Cake and Cream Cheese Icing

This is, hands-down, the best homemade cake I have ever eaten.  If you top it with my homemade cream cheese icing, it is even better!  When my parents visited us on their wedding anniversary, my daughter and I decided to make this cake for them... but, it would also work for birthdays or any other special occasion you can come up with :) 

Ingredients (double for a  large layer cake):
dry:
2 1/4 c unbleached flour
3/4 c cocoa powder
2 t baking soda
1/2 t sea salt
wet:
1/2 c butter, softened
2 c packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
3 T coconut oil, melted
1 c sour cream
add last:
1 c boiling water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix all wet ingredients, then mix in dry.  Add boiling water last and mix until smooth.

Butter and flour 9"x13" glass pan (if making cupcakes, this should make about 32).  Bake 35 minutes for cake, about 15 minutes for cupcakes.  Test with a knife to make sure center is cooked.

Top with cream cheese icing:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 c butter, softened
4 c powdered sugar
pinch salt
1 t vanilla extract
milk or cream (enough to get thick icing)

Blend together until smooth.  Add milk or cream as needed- a little goes a long way!

Homemade Tarte aux Poires

I have to admit- I am not the biggest fan of pears.  I always seem to buy them either when they're too hard or too soft, or they just have a funky texture!   But, cooking them takes care of all of these problems, and the taste is fabulous when mixed with a little cream and butter :)

 

 

 

For the crust, I used a recipe from The Junior League of Lafayette, Louisiana.  It called for shortening and white flour, so I tweaked it to make it better- and was it tasty!

For the crust:
1.5 c spelt flour, sifted + enough to work with hands
1/2 c butter or coconut oil, solid but not too hard
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t sea salt
1 egg + milk to make it fill 1/4 cup

Mix flour with fat with a fork or pastry cutter.  Then add the rest of the ingredients until dough is soft and will not stick to your hands (I added a little more flour and worked it with my hands).

Roll out dough to 1/4" thickness and place in 6"x9" rectangle pan -OR- 9" pie pan.
Keep the trimming to make top crust.

Filling:
I had about 8 pears, sliced to make disks, about 1/4" thick. (Place pear on its side and slice from top to bottom, discarding any seeds and stem)
Baste the pears with a mixture of 1/2 honey 1/2 water, heated to combine.  This may take about 1/2 cup of each.  Then, broil the pears on a greased cookie sheet until slightly browned.

Place pears onto crust, then pour over top:
1/2 c cream, mixed with 2 T sugar,  1/2 t salt, and 1/2 t cinnamon

Then, cut up one stick of butter into T pieces and scatter over the filling.

Cover with remaining strips of crust and bake at 400 F for 15 minutes.
Reduce heat to 350 F and bake for an additional 60 minutes.

This tarte is best eaten cold and topped with whipped cream or ice cream!  Enjoy!

Homemade Wormer for Pets

I am happy to say that my dogs are not on any medications.  Aside from being slightly overweight, our 7-year-old lab mix is a happy, healthy middle-aged pooch.  Our 4 month old Doberman is also very healthy, despite living in a region of the country known for lots of mosquitoes, ticks and other parasites.

Recently, I discovered (through a Yahoo group) that Guinness Beer can be used as a wormer for pets and I was excited to do some independent research on the subject... To my surprise, this remedy has been studied in Japan and is used in many animal rescue centers when the animal is too weak for conventional treatment, mainly for heart worms.  Yes, this treatment kills heart worms!

From my research, I learned:

1. The Black Label Guinness Draught (see photo), which is brewed in Dublin, Ireland, is the ONLY beer that works for worming pets.  This is because of the ancient strain of hops used in the brewing process.  The hops actually causes the worms to become sterile, so they are no longer able to reproduce.  (In conventional treatments for heart worms, the worms "know" they are being poisoned and release harmful toxins into your pet's bloodstream.)

2.  DOSAGE should be 1oz beer per 25lbs body weight.  For prevention, the first two doses should be two weeks apart, then monthly from then on.  To treat a severe case of worms, you may up the dosage to every 2 weeks for the first 3 months, then back off to a once-monthly dose.

3. The small dosage does NOT get your dog drunk.  After their first dose, my dogs showed no signs of dizziness or sleepiness. 

4. The beer will keep in the fridge between doses, even if it goes flat.  If you don't drink Guinness (like I do), just put the cap back on between doses and stick it in the back of your fridge... I have to admit, I just drank what was left in the bottle :)  YUM.

5. In addition to dogs, this treatment has been used successfully in cats, dogs and ferrets!  And, you could see die-off of parasites the same day of the first treatment.

**I read in one article that whip worms will not be affected by this treatment... ? I'm curious to know why, but haven't found an answer yet. **

So why pump your animals full of expensive drugs when the answer is right in your fridge?  Get your pets off the prescription meds and let them enjoy a happy, drug-free life! 


For additional research, see these sites:
http://briarwoodpups.blogspot.com/2011/10/beer-as-wormer.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_beer_kill_heartworms
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-guinness-heartworm-challange

Homemade (EASY) Sourdough Sandwich Bread

I haven't been this excited about a recipe in a long time!  I found a sourdough recipe online, then I tweaked it by using real ingredients and it turned out great.  Two of my children ate sandwiches on this bread today, and they were all impressed- and my kids are picky about their bread! 

Here's what you'll need for this easy-peasy sourdough recipe:

1 c sourdough starter

1 1/2 c warm water

1 1/2 t real salt or fine Celtic salt

1/3 c rapadura

1/2 c liquid coconut oil

6 c flour (I used unbleached all-purpose)

1.  Mix all ingredients into a large bowl.  You may need to add more flour or water to get a good consistency, depending on the hydration of your starter (that's fancy talk for the proportions of water to four).

2.  Knead the dough until it is elastic (I think I kneaded for a total of 5 minutes) and dough doesn't stick to your hands.

3.  Place dough into a large greased  bowl- I greased mine with butter.  This is how is should look at this point:

5.  Let your dough sit overnight, covered with a damp cloth.  In the morning, it will have risen a good deal!  Mine was nearly busting out of the bowl.  Punch it down and knead it again (5 minutes).  Add small pinches of flour, if needed.

6.  Divide the dough into two loaves and place in bread pans to rise again.  I did not grease my stoneware pans.

After the second rise (about 2 hours), your dough should have doubled:



7.  Bake your loaves in a 350 degree F oven for about 40 minutes.  They are done when golden brown and sound hollow when tapped:

I was impressed with the rise of this bread.  The sugar in the recipe really helped the sourdough starter take off, and there was no sweetness in the finished product!  This bread is perfect for a sandwich loaf- it cuts very well and the crust is thin and easy for picky eaters to ignore :)

Check out this other sourdough recipe! Or this more advanced loaf... Enjoy!

Homemade Probiotic Slushies

Well, the heat of the summer is just relentless, and I am searching for more ways to cool us off.  This idea came to me the other day when I saw a friend of my son with a nasty 7-eleven slushy, made with tons of sugar and not much else... The sound of something cooling and fruity really got my gears turning and here's what came of it:  Kombucha Slushies! 

Not only are Kombucha Slushies thirst-quenching, but they pack a power punch of probiotics!  (Try saying that five times fast.)  Sugar content is very low and depends on how much fruit juice you add to the kombucha ice...

Here's what you'll need to make your own homemade slushies:

*about 2 c kombucha (I had strawberry kombucha, so that's what I used), frozen and broken up-or-frozen in ice trays.

*organic or fresh-squeezed grape juice

As you can see, I am using a magic bullet blender to make my slushy, but a carafe blender would probably work better, since you may have to add more juice while blending.



Add a small amount of juice to your kombucha ice and mix in a blender.  If mixture is too thick, just add additional juice until desired consistency is reached.

Here you go!  A thick, frozen treat for a hot summer day!  As you can see, there are even bubbles from the kombucha.  My kids couldn't get enough of their kombucha slushies and they made me promise to make it again tomorrow :) 

Treat yourself with a cooling, probiotic treat and Enjoy!

Homemade Frozen Yogurt

It's hot out there!  Summer is a great time to make cool treats for yourself and your kids- frozen yogurt is no exception.  Don't be fooled; the "frozen yogurt" from the store has so many additives, it hardly has any yogurt at all!  On the other hand, my homemade version is mostly yogurt.  With a little added sweetness from maple syrup and berries, it is a hot-weather must-have.  :)

 

For this treat, you will need:

about 3/4 c frozen berries (I used organic strawberries from a local farm)

1 cup non-flavored, whole milk yogurt (I used homemade raw yogurt)

2 T maple syrup (or other unprocessed sweetener of choice)

I used my Magic Bullet blender to mix all the ingredients thoroughly.  This can be done in any blender/food processor or with an immersion blender.

 

Here is the very inexpensive ice cream maker that I bought last year.  It has two half-pint freezer bowls in which it makes a softy-serve type ice cream/yogurt.  What I like about this little gadget is that the yogurt was frozen in less than 5 minutes!  Very nice when my four kiddos are ready for a snack.  This recipe makes one half-pint, which will satisfy about 2 youngsters.  Just double or triple the recipe for a larger crowd!

 

Voila!  Here is my homemade frozen yogurt just 5 minutes later.  This was a treat for me, also, because I am a big strawberry fan!  So creamy and just sweet enough to satisfy my sweet tooth :)
Enjoy!

This post was shared on Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist.

Homemade Sushi Rolls

I have always enjoyed sushi.  Ever since my first trip to a sushi bar, I have wanted to make my own at home... now that I am older and have more confidence in the kitchen, I make sushi regularly!  It is a very light but filling meal and so easy when you get the hang of it.

Most people are squeamish because they think all sushi is raw, but it's not!  In the following recipe I use smoked salmon, but you could very easily substitute crab meat or make an all-veggie roll- the choice is yours.

Here are the filling ingredients for my sushi roll!  I am using:

3 oz cream cheese

1/4 Japanese cucumber, peeled and sliced thin (you could also use a regular-variety, but be sure to remove seeds- you could also use avocado instead.)

3 oz smoked salmon (you could substitute smoked tuna, crab or leave it out altogether!)

about 1/2 c cashews, crushed

One of the staple ingredients for sushi is nori, or seaweed wrap.  I got a package of 6 from my local grocery store.  For this recipe, you will need two sheets of nori.

The bamboo mat is a special tool for making sushi rolls.  It is not necessary, but it makes things a lot neater!  When making sushi, I cover the bamboo mat with wax paper to prevent any spillage on the bamboo, which can be hard to clean.  Other people may use plastic wrap, but I find that wax paper is easier to work with.

Sushi also calls for rice, but not any rice!  My local grocery sells Sushi Rice, as well as the seasoning for it.  You will need 1 c rice for this recipe (rinsed until water is almost clear, then cooked in 1 1/4 c water.)  When the rice starts to boil, simply turn off the burner and let it sit, covered, on the warm burner for 20 minutes! To your cooked rice, you will need to add 1 1/2 T rice vinegar (non-flavored),  1 T sugar and a pinch of salt.  Stir until mixed.

I spread the rice on a cookie sheet to let it cool while I am heating the seaweed sheets in a warm oven (to make them more pliable).  Leave the sheets in a warm oven for about 4-5 minutes.

With wet hands, spread the cooled, seasoned rice onto nori.  If you do not keep your hands wet, more rice will stick to you than the seaweed!

When the rice is spread evenly, place 1/2 the filling off-center on top.  Then, very carefully, start to roll your sushi away from you on the bamboo mat. 

Make sure you do not roll the wax paper into the sushi roll.  :)

At the end of the roll, give the sushi a firm squeeze.  This is just to ensure that the roll will not unwrap.

Here is sushi roll #1!  I had a little spillage on each side... if you are a neat freak, you are welcome to trim this off to make it look more professional.  Then, with a wet knife, cut your roll into 9 pieces and arrange on a plate!

Even though this sushi looks good enough to eat right away, you need to make the second roll while the nori is still warm! :)  Be sure to serve your sushi rolls with naturally fermented soy sauce and wasabi paste- everyone will be amazed that you made these yourself! Enjoy!

 I wanted to show you my 7-year-old's chopsticks!  We found this neat little gadget made especially for kids, and I had to get one.  We call them his "clothes-pin chopsticks" because they have the same spring mechanism of a clothes pin... and they are great for little hands.