Dumplings

2 cups flour
1 tsp shortening
1 egg
pinch of salt
3/4 c (+/-) water
2 qt of chicken broth (8cups)


Mix all ingredients well.  Dough should stay together well, and not be too dry nor too sticky. Roll out on floured surface (I like to use parchment paper because I can lift it up and take it to the pot). Slice into about 1.5 inch squares using a pizza cutter (or knife--whatever you have), it need not be perfect

Bring broth to a boil, drop dumplings into boiling broth. Return to a gentle boil and cook til done (Maybe 15 minutes--I honestly taste them to check doneness), add cooked chicken to heat thru and enjoy.

Or you can bring the broth to a boil, drop dumpling in, return to a boil, then turn off the burner, cover and let them sit til done (this is what my mom always does--I don't know how long it takes)

These also freeze well by rolling them out onto parchment paper, slicing, then flash freezing. Bag them up once frozen, then you have them for a quick dinner.  Cook as above.


Further variations: cut into thin strips for noodles, cook up the same way. (faster than a regular egg noodle recipe and doesn't take as many eggs, but is still delicious.)

Use beef broth and beef for beef and noodles, veggie broth for a vegetarian option. and you can make your dumplings as big or small as you like, I try for uniform, but well that doesn't always happen.

Gluten Free Biscuits

2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour + 2 Tbsp gluten-free all-purpose flour separated
1/2 tsp xanthan gum (leave out if it's in your all purpose flour)
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 cup buttermilk (I make mine using a couple tsp of vinegar in the milk)
6 Tbsp butter
1 egg slightly beaten

Preheat oven to 450° F. To a large bowl add flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar,  stir to combine.   Cut the butter into small pieces and then cut it into the flour with a pastry cutter or fork til the pea sized. Add in the buttermilk and egg and stir until a soft dough forms.  DO NOT OVER MIX.  It is a sticky dough.  Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of flour on a piece of parchment paper.  Dump the biscuit dough onto the floured parchment. Dust the top of the dough with about 1/2 tablespoon of flour and gently fold dough over on itself  using the parchment to lift the dough to fold.  Sprinkle the remainder of the flour and fold the dough over again.  Instead of rolling, use your hands to press dough out into approx an 8 inch circle and about 3/4 inch thick.   Using a biscuit cutter cut out the biscuits. I place them on a parchment lined baking sheet.  press left over dough together and keep cutting out those biscuits. It is better to not twist the biscuit cutter, but to press it down and lift.  You get fluffier biscuits that way.  Bake at 450 for 15 minutes.  Of course every oven bakes a little differently so 15 minutes give or take.  I use a 2 5/8 sized biscuit cutter and get 16 biscuit, but the size of your cutter will determine the number. 

Quick Beef Vegetable Soup

2  cans green beans drained
1 can carrots drained
1 can peas drained
1 can lima beans drained
1 can beef (I use keystone brand)
2 quart beef broth; more if needed
1 bag of minute rice & quinoa
Salt and Pepper to taste

bring vegetables and broth to a boil. Add meat and rice blend. Cook til rice is done. Serve. Super fast and easy and honestly this is truly a best guess because I literally don't measure, just open and pour.  I will use the liquid from the green beans and add water and use beef base instead of broth, but either way would work.
 Barley could be substituted for the rice/quinoa mix, but we are gluten free so I use rice. 
And truthfully you can add potatoes, corn, or whatever veg you like. You can also use left over beef roast. 

Yeast Cinnamon Rolls

dough:
1 pkg Rapid Rise yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1/2 c water
1/2 c milk
1/3 c sugar
1/3 c butter
1 tsp salt
1 egg
3 1/2-4 c flour

filling:
1/4 cup butter softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
Mix sugar and cinnamon together

delicious sticky goodness: Make this after dough is cut into slices
1/2 cup butter melted
1 c packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp corn syrup
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

In a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) combine 2 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.

Heat milk, water and butter til butter is melted and it is steaming but not boiling. (prob can be done in microwave but I usually do it on the stove.) Pour into the dry ingredients and mix.  Add the egg and the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time til a nice dough forms.  Dump onto a floured surface and knead til smooth (or use dough hook on stand mixer for a few minutes).  Cover (either with plastic wrap, or a kitchen towel) and let rest for 10 minutes (this resting is important in order to get it to roll out.)

Dump onto a floured surface (I like to flour parchment paper because it makes it easier to roll the rolls) and roll out into a large rectangle (15x9ish).  Spread softened butter over dough and sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon mixture over the dough evenly.   Roll the dough up tightly into a log beginning with the long edge and pinch the edge to seal it up.  stretch the log out to make it even.   cut into approx 1 1/2 inch slices.

Melt the 1/2 cup butter, stir in the brown sugar and corn syrup, then add the pecans if wanted. Pour this mixture of delicious sticky goodness into a  greased 9x13 pan the place the roll slices on top of the syrup with a little space in between. Let the rolls rise in a warm area til doubled (this will totally depend on how warm your house is--but usually for 30 -60 minutes ).

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.  If they brown too quickly you can cover with foil and continue baking.

Goals for 2017

I am not one to make new years resolutions because I know I'm not going to stick to them. I did however, decide to write down a few goals for the new year. I believe that if you right it down you are more likely to follow through. So this is an overview of some of my goals, and how it is going.

1. Read through the entire Bible.  I have attempted this more than once, and I have finished it never.  We are midway through February and I am ahead in my ready.  I have been using the audio NIV on biblegateway.com, and that is a game changer for me. I had no idea I could listen to it and take it in as well as I am. I've had to stop and go read it for myself sometimes because I'm learning things I had never remembered learning before now.  I encourage you to try the audio bible even if you don't think you learn best by listening.

2. Get Healthy. I have a goal to exercise at least 3 times a week. I had done this and more up until I got the flu. Until yesterday it had been about 2 1/2 weeks since I had exercised. I started again because I have come too far to stop now!  I also really have been enjoying the exercise I'm doing.

3. Create more. (there were several things listed under this, one was sew more). I started a quilt

 Here are nine of the 13 squares I have done. I am using precuts and making a logcabin pattern.  I have 8 squares left to make, then I will decide on how I am going to put it together. I am really enjoying this process.


So those are just some of my 2017 goals, mostly the ones that have updates. I am pleased with my progress.

Have a blessed day

Back Again

The flu was rough, after I got better, the hubs came down with it. So far the kids are still healthy, praying it stays that way. 

I've been doing a fair amount of baking, so I'll share that with you today.

Actually let's start with wheat berries. 

Here we have hard red wheat, hard white wheat, and soft white wheat.  Hard wheat is used for yeast breads, and soft wheat is used for cakes, biscuits, and non yeasty things. Hard wheat can also be used for cakes and biscuits, but soft wheat is a lighter texture. 

I ground some popcorn to make cornmeal and made cornbread.

It was delicious! I don't remember what we had for dinner that made make cornbread. I had no idea I could use popcorn to make cornmeal. My favorite thing about that is popcorn is non gmo. 

I made pancakes. 

My griddle isn't cooking evenly anymore, but that didn't affect the flavor. Something I love more about these pancakes than any other pancakes I have ever made is they were just as delicious the next day.  Never before have I been able to reheat pancakes without them being mushy or weird. These tasted and looked freshly made.  

Biscuits. I love biscuits like A LOT! 

These biscuits are light and fluffy, and delicious. I think they are the best biscuits I have ever made. I used my regular recipe, but they are so much better! They also are very good days after being made. It is interesting to me, they don't get hard in a day the way the other biscuits I have made do. I love it.

Then of course there is bread.

I made bread on a Sunday and since we were sick we didn't use it up very fast. On Saturday it was still soft, no mold and made a delicious sandwich.

It slices perfectly and has basically the same calories as the bread we've been eating, but is much more nutritious. 

Overall, so far this is going very well. We have been sick so I can't attest to any health benefits yet. We also have been still consuming some processed foods in effort to use them up. This week will really be the first full week for my husband to be only consuming gluten in things I make. I have been gluten free except what I make for the last couple weeks, but having the flu sucked the life out of me. I have noticed the hip pain I had been having is going away. It used to hurt to touch my hip, now it is only a little bothersome when I lay down. This is a huge improvement. I had been blaming our mattress, but perhaps my diet has more to do with that than I thought. I will be reporting back on any other changes, good or bad we see. 

have a blessed day