Lefse

Do you have leftover mashed potatoes? It's amazing what you can do with them. This day we made lefse.

It's best to use a potato ricer to make your potatoes light and fluffy. Lefse is hardy recipe and you really only need a few ingredients. My recipe includes salt, heavy cream, sugar, butter and lots of flour. Since I already had salt, whole milk and butter mashed into the potatoes, I just added a little sugar and enough flour to make them like dough, then rolled them into walnut size balls.

Once we rolled them out REALLY thin, we threw them on my griddle and cranked the heat to 400. Once they browned and bubbled up a little, I flipped them and cooked the other side for about 1 minute. They cooled nicely on a damp towel. I covered them with another towel.

A little History about Lefse

It's hard to say when lefse originated but Norway suffered from the effects of the potato famine in the mid-1800's, which is about the time that many Norwegians came to the United States. They brought their knowledge, griddles, mashers and rolling pins. The result is a delicacy that's part of a special tradition replicated in every Norwegian-American town for more than 150 years. A tradition that you can be part of once again. Here is a version of Lefs's history by Jim Berg from Albert Lea, MN. Now Den, vot you know bout dat.... Did you know that lefsa was invented by the norweigen Vikings... Von day, dey vent and was going to raid Ireland..... Vell they got over der, but they couldn't suprise dem Irish people cause they were making too much noise coming across the Nort Sea from Norway. When they got to the shores of Ireland, they tried to land But couldn't. You see the Irish heard them coming and began throwing their potatoes at them darn vikings so dat the cud not land. Vel by golly, do you know vat. They load that ship with all the potatoes dat got trowed at dem, pulled out their oars and finally got back to Norway. When they got there they played aroung with those potatoes and came up with a bread, and called it LEFSA. They had a big party that night, day got out that old foul smelling fish and put it on Lefsa and that is where the Lutefisk Supper vas born...........My Grate, Grate, Grate, Grate, Granfodder was on that ship that raided Ireland. I'm sure glad they brought it to America other wise we would not have Lutefisk Suppers Today. My Lena makes the best darn lefsa in Minnesota. Corse I have to help otherwise she'd eat it all up while she was cooking it and we would not have any for supper that evening.... I'm sure glad they have Lutefisk Suppers around Thanksgiving and Christmas every year. My mother Palma, made all the lefsa by herself. They wern't very round, but then she always said you could not taste the round...... Your Friend.......... Ole Story taken from lefsetime.com where you can find recieps and equipment to make your own!

Homemade Noodles

It's almost too easy. We received a pasta machine for Christmas - $20, TJ Max. Cheap investment for what it can create. Great for soup fans or Moms who make noodles at least once a week for the kids.

 

Recipe:

2c. wheat flour

5 eggs

1. Pour the flour into a bowl and the eggs into the middle of the flour. Mix the eggs with a fork until they are blended with the flour. Knead the mixture with your hands until smooth. If it's too dry, add water. If it's too soft add flour. 
2. Cut into small, fist sized balls. Roll out on a floured surface. 
3. Pull through pasta machine. 
4. Hang over chair or drying racks to dry a bit before adding to boiling water  

Tips:

• A good mixture shouldn't be sticky. You can't really hurt the dough by adding too much flour.
• Do not use eggs straight out of the fridge, best at room temp. 
• Noodles will keep in the fridge uncooked for up to a week. 
• All purpose flour can be substituted. 
• If you do not have a pasta maker, roll out dough really thin and cut into strips with a knife.

I used these noodles in our chicken noodle soup, also just cooked a few up to eat for snacks with red dipping sauce.

Flour Power!

Baking bread really shouldn't require so much clean up, but when kids are involved, time is the essence of cleanup.

The kids were great until it got a little out of hand. Really? Did you have to put it in her barely-there hair? Now when I put her in the tub it's going to make a beautiful creamy paste on her head! Oh and it did, she was a pasty mess in the tub. Took extra bubbles to get that out.

You can barely see my nice bread dough on the counter. This was my first successful attempt at making my Grandmothers sweet rolls. I used my mixer for 1/2 the job then did the mixing manually. That seems to be the key. I think the mixer mixes too much (if that makes any sense!).

Oh he looks so proud of how well he buried his sister in flour! She had a great time too - slapping her hands in the piles of it on her highchair. Crazy kids!

Being Frugal

Check out this great website for frugal idea's and coupons galore!!
http://thefrugalgirls.com/

Staying Up Past Dark

It was such a beautiful night that we just had to enjoy it. We roasted hot dogs and made s'mores! Daniel loved it. Not to mention he slept great that night. Maybe keeping him up later is the key? Maybe it was that cool fresh air?!

"What? I get to stay up late!! Oooh I'm so excited!!"

"Thanks for the special snack Dad!"

"Mmmmm. This tasted great but I only had two bites because I was so busy making 'parking lots' with my sidewalk chalk". 

"Oh no! MOM, I need a napkin!"

Raspberry Cheeks

We took a trip to the farm on Monday to pick raspberries and raid the garden. Although we were contending with the honey bees who were busy at work, we picked a pretty nice amount of berries.

Little miss raspberry cheeks!

We also found a bunch of celery! That was fun, I've never picked fresh celery before. Smelled so good!

Lydia chomped on the celery, along with a fresh carrot. 

Daniel loves giving Lydia kisses! She giggles. 

Happy Birthday

Yea, so where did those last 3 years go??

Mmmm, best cake ever. I found a really good recipe a few years ago. Makes the perfect, super moist, heavy, chocolate cake! Secrect ingredient - coffee (decaf in this case).

Spent the day at the zoo

Nice kitty, nice kitty

Such a great game!

Duplo

Cake and ice cream with friends.

Fun day!

Freezing Corn

Every year we freeze about 50 bags of fresh sweet corn. It's enough for about 1 bag per week. This year my parents grew enough corn for us to freeze what we needed. It's one of those 'family fun' things to look forward to in the fall.

Here's how we do it:

• Find 2 huge stock pots and start boiling water
• Husk about 6-7 dozen cobs of corn
• Add 8-12 cobs per stock pot, let water come to a boil again and cook for about 10 minutes.
• Take cobs out with tongs and put them in ice cold water (well water is great for this)
• Add 8-12 more cobs of corn to the boiling water before it begins to cool
• After the cobs have chilled for a bit (about 10 minutes) put them on the counter to cool down and rest.
• Continue the process until all cobs are cooked and cooled.
• Next, cut the corn off the cob. A corn cob peeler saves a lot of time and effort.  
• Measure about 2 cups per 1/2 gallon zip lock bag
• Label and freeze
• Will keep in the freezer for 1 year

The finished product, bagged up and ready to freeze.

I usually lay them flat in the freezer and spread them out for a day so they can freeze properly. Then I'll stack them in a pile.

Decorative Painting

My little man loves to paint and since my husband, the talented woodworker that he is, had a few extra shelves that he didn't want, we decided to splash them with color.

Because we would be using acrylic paint I decided it would be best to do this outside. It was a lovely day anyway! I covered our miniature picnic table with an old plastic table cloth and taped it on underneath so it wouldnt blow away. I used an old egg carton to put puddles of paint in, an old black bowl filled with water to wash out the brushs and one of Dad's old t-shirts to protect clothes.

 The day before, they painted the board white. This was a good idea so our colors would show up really good. I had some makeup sponges to dabble on paint with and we found some wooden circles to use as stamps. But the brushes were the most fun of course!

The finished product! We waited a couple hours for one layer of paint to dry before we added a few more colors. The colors end up matching my kitchen wall so I think that's a perfect place to hang it up!

Egg Allergies

When I went to have coffee with my friend, I brought the nummy fruit salad (previous post) because her son has an egg allergy. He is also allergic to peanuts and some dairy.

No eggs for you!

When her son was born she nursed him until he was a year old and that entire year he had a slight rash and hive like bumps, but her pediatrician assured her that he was fine. Since Mommy knows best, she got a second opinion and took him to an allergist. Results showed that he was allergic to egg, peanuts, wheat and dairy!! This turned her world upside down!

Travis, now 6, has been able to have some dairy and wheat but is still deathly allergic to egg and peanuts. He eats a lot of fruit, vegetables and meat. She said it has been a blessing because it has forced her family to create much healthier meals. The day I was there, he had the fruit I brought and corn on the cob for a snack! Now, if all kids would do that, they could have vending machines in schools again!!

But wait, you CAN have dessert!

So back to having coffee - I always like to bring a dessert or pastry when I visit friends but I had the hardest time finding a cookie, bar or cake recipe that did not have a single egg in it. I learned that there is egg substitute that you can purchase to replace eggs in any recipe! Who knew!

And even cookies for a snack!!

My friend showed me what she makes when she bakes. From Cherrybrook Kitchens, these Arthur chocolate chip cookies are super soft and delicious! She said they are expensive so it's a treat when they can have them but look -- they are peanut free, dairy free, egg free and nut free!! That covers all allergies for her!! I was totally amazed that they make something like this. Cherrybrook has a huge variety of baking mixes that are all peanut free, dairy free, egg free and nut free. I thought for sure she ordered them online but she told me they can be purchased in the organic foods section at the local grocery store.

I'm so thankful for the allergies that God gave to the people who created Cherrybrook Kitchen - I'm not so sure they are thankfull, but they are able to help out everyone else with the same problem.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him..." Romans 8:28

Fresh Summer Fruit Salad

nummmy nummy fruit in the tummy!

I went to have coffee with a friend the other day and decided to bring fruit rather than a pastry like I usually do. I opened the fridge and used any fruit I could find. This was a great way for me to use up fruits that were losing their freshness. So here's the simple recipe:

Summer Fruit Salad

1 baby watermelon - seedless, diced

1 cantaloupe, seeds removed, diced

1 quart fresh strawberries, hulled, sliced

2 cups grapes, sliced

1 pineapple, diced

2 apples, diced with 1TB fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup mint leaves if you have them on hand

Add: kiwi, blackberries, raspberries or any other fruit you have on hand. 

**The orange juice was the key to making it extra sweet and juicy! 

Mine held up for 2 days in the fridge. 

A couple spoonfuls of this fruit salad twice a day and you will have eaten your days worth of fruit. The food pyramid suggests 2-4 servings of fruit each day. One serving can be: 

• One apple, orange or banana 
• A 1/2 cup chopped fruit 
• 3/4 cup of 100% fruit juice 

Although it's expensive, we need to have it in our diets to stay strong and healthy so eat up!!

HG Music Festival Food and Fun!

We attended Higher Ground Music Festival last weekend. Camped in our old hunting shack of a camper and had a pretty good time. My favorite part about camping is always the FOOD!

Lydia enjoyed the cooler of food too! 

We made mini pizza's over the fire...two slices of bread with any kind of fillings you can think of! 

Thanks Dad!

Schwans Bomb Pops to cool off.

S'mores. Try adding carmel topping next time! mmmm

My personal bag of Kettle Corn. I look forward to this popcorn every year! It's the perfect combination of sweet and salty. I found a website where you will soon be able to have fresh kettle corn shipped to your house! If that's a little extreme here is the recipe to do it at home - Kettle Corn Recipe

Flying high with Dad

One of those jumping things with a slide

Too pooped to party!

24 hour Crock Pickles

I'm always amazed at what one little seed can produce!

My mom came over the other day with a bucket of fresh cukes, well knowing that I probably wouldn't have the time to actually can them so she showed me this quick alternative. The only difference is that these cant be Christmas gifts because their fridge life is about 6 months.

  

Only a few on-hand ingredients are needed; vinegar, canning salt, sugar, a crock, canning jars and veggies from the garden - dill, onion and cukes.  

Recipe:
5-6 medium sized cukes fresh from the garden. You can use the tiny ones too!
1 medium sized onion - any color, sliced
Dill from garden
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. canning salt
2 pints water
1 pint vinegar

• Boil together sugar, salt, water and vinegar.
• Cut cukes lengthwise as big or little as you prefer. I cut out the seeds - just my own personal preference. 
• Place dill and onion on the bottom of your crock, add the cukes and another stem of dill on top. Pour liquid over the top.  
• Cover and let sit on counter for 24 hours. 
• Transfer to canning jars and refrigerate for up to 6 months in canning jars. 

Simple, quick and really tasty. 

Not everyone has a garden around here and might really enjoy fresh pickles so I think I'll put a ribbon around
the lid, with
a little label and give a few jars out to my neighbors. 

Daniels first pickle - 2010

Spuds, Bugs and DE

I walked in the house the other day and 

this was sitting on my counter! 

In the spring Daniel helped plant the potato's so now that it's time to dig them up, he gets all excited to dig in the dirt and grab the big ones, but his favorites are the little tiny ones! I have found that if they plant and pick them, they'll eat them!

These nasty little creatures lived short lives in our garden this year. We got rid of any in sight by stuffing them in a jar. Squished a few and actually had to toss a few plants because they were so eaten up. After about a week of that, they were gone!! Other years, if the the plants are covered in bugs, we could use Diatomaceous Earth (DE). 

"Diatomaceous Earth (D.E.) Organic Crawling Insect Killer With all the concerns about pesticides today - you can rest assured that Diatomaceous Earth is safe & effective. Made from the finely ground fossils of prehistoric fresh water diatoms. Diatomaceous Earth (D.E.) kills common household and garden pests like roaches, ants, fleas, beetles..."

Sprinkle it on the plants at the onset of potato bug season. To insects DE is a lethal dust with microscopic razor sharp edges. The sharp edges cut through the insects protective covering drying it out and killing them when they are either dusted with DE or if its applied as a wettable powder spray. If they ingest the DE it will shred their insides!! 

It's nice to know that if you use D.E rather than a poison, the food and the kids will still be safe in yard and garden! Basically DE is a powdered rock used as a nontoxic, all-natural insecticide; a form of unrefined diatomite (diatomite is a soft powdery porous rock). 

DE is NOT the same thing as the DE used in swimming pools. Pool grade DE, produced for pool filters, is treated with heat, causing the formerly amorphous silicon dioxide to crystallize. Pool grade DE should never be used for pest control.