Strawberries

We are loving our little strawberry patch.  We are picking about 30 strawberries a day from our 20 square foot bed.   Right now we are picking mostly Hood variety, but we are also getting some Seascapes and Tristars.  The Hoods are June bearing, smaller and sweeter strawberries.  The Seascapes and Tristars are bigger and will produce all Summer long.  So, what are we doing with all of these strawberries?  If they make it into the house, we are slicing them up and topping our granola, french toast, and puffed oven pancakes with them.  I've also made strawberry shortcake and strawberry rhubarb muffins. I have plans to make strawberry lemonade and I want to try a strawberry salad too.  Hope you're enjoying strawberry season as much as we are. If you don't have your own patch, check out pickyourown.org for a local farm to go pick your own.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I made these cookies after a friend put the recipe on Facebook.  They are gluten-free, and possibly the quickest cookie to make in the entire world, mainly because of the lack of ingredients.  They are also super fun to make with kids!  Enjoy!


Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Whip the first five ingredients together until thoroughly mixed.  Add the peanut butter and mix until creamy.  Mix in chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate, but any kind would do).  Bake for 12-15 minutes. 

Little Things - Lemon Cubes

 I don't know about you, but I find that I am often in need of fresh lemon juice in recipes.  I use lemon juice and lemon zest in sauces, vinaigrettes, and for baking.  I also don't usually have fresh lemons on hand, and with two little ones at home, running to the store in between naps, snacks, dishes, and laundry isn't always an option.  I have the bottled lemon juice in my fridge, but nothing beats fresh lemon juice.

I don't know about you, but I find that I am often in need of fresh lemon juice in recipes.  I use lemon juice and lemon zest in sauces, vinaigrettes, and for baking.  I also don't usually have fresh lemons on hand, and with two little ones at home, running to the store in between naps, snacks, dishes, and laundry isn't always an option.  I have the bottled lemon juice in my fridge, but nothing beats fresh lemon juice.  I like to stock up on lemons, zest the rind, and juice the lemons.  Then I pour the juice and zest (in separate) ice cube trays, and I always have fresh (while frozen-fresh) lemons on hand.  Easy peasy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins

With my rhubarb going crazy, and the first of my strawberries ripening, I knew I had to make some kind of strawberry rhubarb combination.  I was thinking of incorporating these two into an overnight baked french toast, which I'll still try at some point, but I decided on muffins...just because they are super easy.  These are not very sweet, and have quite a bit of tartness due to the rhubarb, so if you like a sweeter muffin, you can replace the agave with brown sugar. 

 

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup agave nectar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup oats

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup chopped fresh rhubarb

1 cup chopped fresh strawberries 

2 tbsp finely chopped hazelnuts (just because I had them, you could use pecans or walnuts or nothing)

powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 425F. In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, barking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in oats. Gently mix in the egg, milk and oil until just combined. Stir in rhubarb and strawberries.  Pour into a greased muffin tin, and sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts. Bake for 12-15 minutes.  Enjoy!

Homemade Play Dough

I wasn't actually planning on putting anything crafty on this blog, it was more for food and gardening, but when we made this the other day, I realized that I love homemade anything.  I love finding out how easy it can actually be, I love the process, and I love to give it away as gifts...so watch out my friends with toddlers, I see homemade play dough in their future, especially if they are having a birthday soon. 

Play-Dough Recipe:

1 cup white flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup water
Food coloring


In a medium-sized saucepan, combine 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of salt, and 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar.  Then gradually stir in 1 cup of water, approximately 1 teaspoon of food coloring, and your tablespoon of oil.

  Stir constantly for 3 – 5 minutes until the dough begins to form one large clump. 

 Stir constantly for 3 – 5 minutes until the dough begins to form one large clump.  Once it’s ready, take it off the stove and let it cool for about 20 minutes.  Then kneed it a bit, and hand it over and let them play, or lets face it some kids will eat the dough, and it will be gross, but at least you know exactly what's in it.  We store our play dough in round Tupperware, and it's been almost a month, and it's still soft and play dough-y.