Meet Lyle & Ottis

Meet Lyle & Ottis
Ottis is the cow on the left
Lyle is the cow on the right
Ottis belongs to us
Ottis is too cute!
Too Bad
We're gonna eat'em!

Easter Treat

      He is RISEN!....He is risen INDEED!

Here is a little treat you can make for the kids OR with the kids OR geesh!....
they can make them themselves!

White Melting Chips, melted & sweet
Fried Chow Mein Noodles, crunchy & salty
Cadbury Mini Eggs, chocolate surprise!

Bad Apples

Well, I don't know about you, but right about now I'd give one of my kids away (JK!) for some local fresh fruit!  For those of you that live in the Spokane area, you know that we have an abundance of amazing fruit within miles of our homes, and we can't wait to going U-Picking!  Apples, Peaches, Raspberries...Strawberries....Plums!  (I'm drooling) ...but
FRESH is what I want!

I try my hardest to live within a food budget yet provide fresh fruit & veggies.  Apples are on the top of the list around here, everyone likes them, but I'm TIRED of spending the money the Lord has given us, only to bring the food home and it turns out nasty, old & taste-less.  (Did you know that most apples in the grocery store are last years apples!  Kept at a specific temperature to stop their natural enzyme process)

So what do you do with those sub-par apples?  Throw them out?  I say NO WAY!  Turn them into CAKE!

3 cups grated/shredded Apple, Zucchini, or Carrots.  Cleaned of course but leave the peel on.
In a bowl sift together the following:
1 cup of white flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
In the bowl of your mixer beat the following till incorporated:
4 eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
2 "cups" of applesauce. NOT cups as in measuring cups, but those little snack/travel cups of applesauce.  Any flavor.

Add grated veggie/fruit (a combo would work great too...I think I'll try that next!) to the wet ingredients and give a spind to blend.  Add flour mixture and blend only until all ingredients are incoporated.  DON'T over beat.
Grease/spray a glass 9 X 13 baking dish.  Preheat oven to 350.  Pour batter into dish.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Turn down oven to 300 and bake an additional 5 minutes.  Check for doneness with a toothpick.  Bake in 5 minute incruments until cake is done.
This cake can be very moist depending on the water content of the fruit/veggies.  Make sure you actually poke through the top crust to make sure the cake is done.  You are looking for a nice "crumb", not complete dryness, with no "goo"  ~enjoy~

What's that saying...."That 1 bad apple spoils the whole bunch"...well, I say...
"Approximately 4 not-so-good apples make for one TERRIFIC CAKE!"
PS We eat this for breakfast! 

It's All Greek to Me

This is one of our family's favorite meals.
HUMMUS
2 small cloves of garlic (not pre-minced kind)
1 can garbanzo beans/chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. Tahini (sesame seed butter)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Place all ingredients into blender or food processor. Process until smooth adding water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, if needed, to get hummus moving & blended well.
ROASTED RED PEPPERS
1 pepper for approximately 2 people
Wash peppers well. Place oven rack on top position. Line a cookie sheet with foil. Turn broiler on high. Have zip-loc bag available to hold your peppers. Place peppers on sheet and broil till *black* and then rotate a quarter turn. It will look like the peppers are almost touching the broiler element. That is ok. If their touching drop the rack down one notch. Finish up with the top and bottom. The point is to char every surface. Obviously you don't want it to burn and turn into a lump of coal, so watch closely but don't be afraid of it either. Immediately and carefully put charred peppers in zip-loc bag and seal it. Let sit on counter until peppers are cool to the touch. Remove from bag and peel off skin and seed them. Cut into slices.
Serve together: hummus, roasted red peppers, sauteed onions, warmed & toasty pita bread & kalmata olives.

My next suggestion, though a different combination, tastes great! With all of our food intolerances, one being dairy for three of us, we have found that a smear of my hummus replaces the "cheesy goodness" on pizza. So we make pizza using all traditional pizza ingredients but with hummus in place of cheese. This is actually REALLY good & should be tried by cheese lovers!

My newphew Big D, 8 months, also likes his Aunt Stephy's Hummus!