Thrifty Thursday: Make Your Own "Junk" Food

This is my fifth "Thrifty Thursday" post. I want to stay motivated as I work on our family budget--part of that motivation is sharing what I am doing. It can be discouraging to read frugal blogs and see how people feed their families on so little money--I feel like I am trying hard and yet I don't see those results. I am sensitive to the fact that many people are frugal out of necessity and don't have the option to "not succeed" in their attempts. The last thing I want to be is patronizing. Nonetheless, I feel like we are bleeding money around here and there are some expensive things we need to save for. I know there are people who want to reduce their spending but do not know where to start..so I am writing these posts for them and myself :) I hope you are inspired and if you can add any ideas of your own I hope you will comment below :)

If, like me, you are trying to stick to a grocery budget then you know that buying snacks adds up quickly. I don't mean fruits and veggies--although they add up fast, too--I consider fruits and veggies a staple for our snacks and try to grow as much as I can and keep my kids on the daily recommended servings. I am talking the cost of sweet and salty treats.

If you walk down the cracker/cookie aisle at the grocery store you are entering an empty calorie zone. Although some of the products might boast "whole grains" or "low sodium" or "organic" ingredients, it is all processed and packaged far away and trucked to us and beyond all the other reasons to avoid it it also costs. too. much.

So what can we do to satisfy little cravings or my own total weakness for carbs and a hint of salt? Here are some treats that I make at home for my kids and for Husband's lunches (some of these are healthier than others--it's a post about junk food, after all!)

• popcorn: popcorn is our #1 family favorite treat. J, the 5 year old, chomps it down and hoards the bowl. I buy the jug of popcorn for $5-ish and our occasional treat works out to just cents per serving. A no brainer. And if you limit the salt and butter I don't consider it altogether unhealthy especially compared to chips etc.
• kale chips: my kids love them. I love them. Husband even loves them. I cut out any larger ribs and rip the leaves into bit sized pieces, coat the inside of a bowl with olive oil then flip the kale around in the bowl until lightly oiled. Spread on parchment lined baking sheet, sprinkle with parmesan and just a hint of sea salt and bake at 375 for approx 10 minutes, checking often. We like the chips to have a good crunch. I try to grow more kale every year for this reason alone (I also steam it and chop it to freeze for throwing into casseroles all winter). Next year I need to dedicate a much bigger space for some succession planting.
• I made beet chips the other day for our snack. I sliced them very thin, tossed with olive oil then baked on my cooling racks. I think they would get crispier if I bake them next time on cookie sheets. The kids ate them for awhile and said they were "ok". I actually liked them but want to get them "crunchier" without burning them. It is definitely something I will try to improve upon because I can grow the beets and they are so good for us!

• homemade baking: I know that sweets are not the best thing to give my kids, but baking with my mom is a very happy childhood memory and I want my kids to have that experience. Wherever possible I reduce salt and sugar, use apple sauce instead of oil, substitute whole grains and talk with my kids about eating sweets in moderation. We rarely ever buy baking, particularly packaged cookies and the like. This also helps keep the cost of Husband's lunches under control--when you work a 12 hour day it is necessary to eat a lot of calories! I would rather he eat my baking than fill his diet with store bought sweets full of preservatives. 
• some recipes I've shared in the past:  pumpkin bread, peanut butter cookies

A great way to save on groceries is to eliminate snacks altogether. I no longer buy juice and my kids really didn't complain. What is never there does not get asked for! The same goes for snacks...if I or my kids know there is junk food in the house we gravitate towards it. If it's not there we are saving money while also eating better. When fruit or veggies just doesn't satisfy a craving, we have some frugal homemade options to fall back on :) Do you have any favourite homemade snacks you would like to recommend?

BBQ Pizza Crust

We are enjoying some summer heat this week, although I know it can't last. We are silaging at the farm (the beginning of the end of summer every year). This morning I heard Canada geese flying over my yard. The days are noticeably shorter and from here on out we will savour each day of summer as though it is the last.

In the interest of not heating up the house this week, I opted to try my New York Style thin crust pizza on the BBQ. The crust recipe is from my America's Test Kitchen cookbook and we love it. The dough is made with cold water and stored in the fridge up to 3 days. While I am reducing our grocery spending I plan to keep the dough on hand for quick affordable meals. Once it became so hot I dreaded to use the oven, so I finally made pizza on my BBQ :)

Once the dough had come to room temperature on my counter, I heated my pizza stone in the BBQ. Of course the wind picked up and it was hard to keep the grill as hot as I liked but I lit the searing burner and rotated the crust to try for more even cooking. 

I spread the crust on lightly oiled parchment paper and transferred it to the baking stone. 

So good already! I also plan to use this recipe and method for homemade naan bread!

Once the bottom of the crust was crispy I flipped it and added our toppings. We had one with tomato sauce, pepperoni and mozzarella and the other with Greek and feta dressing topped with mozzarella and Asiago. I would add less cheese next time, as it can easily be a bit soggy in the middle. The kids loved their pizza on the BBQ, however, and J said it was the best pizza he ever had :)

There was dough left over so I cooked it lightly on both sides and froze it for another day. This should help us avoid those impulsive trips through the drive thru on our way home from town and will likely become a part of my weekly meal plan.

Delicious!!

Foraging in Our Backyard

Foraging for food is a concept that, to me, is becoming more trendy and mainstream these days. Even the term "foraging" is more stylish than "picking berries". When I was young it was something most farm women did out of necessity to keep sweet preserves throughout the winter months. We gorged on pies and bowls of fruit with cream and sugar before the long hot days of jam-making made the house too hot and the black flies insufferable. I should confess that I hated picking berries when I was young (much like I detested gardening....hmmm...perhaps my lifestyle is a return to the values my parents taught us back then). I am interested in learning to identify mushrooms so we can someday forage for them, but for now I'll settle for the saskatoon bushes we are lucky to have growing wild right here in our yard.

Saskatoon berries are similar to blueberries and this happens to be a great year for them. We are making the effort to freeze and preserve plenty so that we won't resort to buying blueberries fresh in the grocery store (they are tasteless anyways) or even the frozen bags that are trucked across the country. The few hours of work should save us money while also making use of wild, organic, local food that is literally on my doorstep.

So what to do when you have a glut of any particular crop? First I search through my granny's old recipe books, because they were compiled by prairie farm women who ate seasonally. A classic on the Canadian prairie is the Jean Pare Preserves cookbook, where I eventually chose the recipe for "fruit" as requested by our elderly neighbour. He described to me how his mother used to combine rhubarb and saskatoons in quart sealers.

I am not sure I got it right but I gave it a try and sent them over with Husband along with some saskatoon muffins (recipe adapted from my America's Test Kitchen Cookbook).

I also concocted a saskatoon berry syrup for the boys to have over pancakes.

I found a recipe for saskatoon sauce so I made that and froze the sauce to serve over cake this winter or use as pie filling or in muffins. All in all, I feel like we have made good use of the free wild berries on our land. I have 2 large ziplock bags of berries frozen already, and another 3 gallons of berries to do something with tomorrow. We haven't begun to put a dent in the berry supply, so I might do some jam for small gifts at Christmas. Have you got access to wild berries where you live? If so, what is your favourite way to preserve them?

Menu Plan January 31-February 7 2015

The end of January already? Yikes!

As I've mentioned, I have some beef roasts to use up. They will factor into this week's plan as will a bag of pears that I need to use up. I have a few things to consider, Husband's lunch for work being one of them. He got a heater that plugs into the lighter in his truck so he can now take leftovers (Yay!!) and I also like to send a variety of foods because after years of packed lunches it must be getting a little repetitive. There are also our lunches at home, which will be either leftovers (not my kids' favorite thing to eat but I shall prevail!) or simple fare complimented with fresh fruit and veggies. I won't bother listing our breakfasts because we are very predictable: toast and fruit for us at home and Husband leaves so early he does not bother eating.

Sunday Feb 1: 

• Husband lunch: leftover pizza, veggies, cookies, fruit cup
• kids' lunch: fruit/apple sauce, veggies, curly pasta
• Supper: 1/2 roast and all the trimmings, fresh buns (freeze some), pear crisp for dessert*

*although I rarely make desserts, we will use up our bag of pears in a pear crisp (recipe at end of post).

Monday Feb 2:

• H lunch: roast beef on a bun, veggies and fruit, pear crisp
• kids' lunch: buns, fruit and veg, and leftover pear crisp.
• Supper:  beef stew, buns 

Tuesday Feb 3:

• H lunch: leftover stew, veg and fruit
• kids' lunch: a pre-arranged pizza party at our house with friends. I will do fresh veggies and smoothies along with cookies 
• Supper: A huge sirloin steak (free from mom) will be used in beef stir fry, rice and noodles from my America's Test Kitchen Cookbook. Love it!

Wednesday Feb 4:

• H lunch: leftover pizza, veg and fruit, puddings that need used up
• kids' lunch: leftover pizza, veggies
• Supper: Shepherd's Pie and Salad

Thursday Feb 5:

• H lunch: Shepherd's Pie
• kids' lunch: grilled cheese, fruit and veg
• Supper: homemade fish and chips using fish that has been in the freezer awhile. Also Newfoundland Dressing and gravy (saved from the beef roast). *a note on making dressing: quite often when I make dressing, I make extra and freeze enough for another meal so we can have the special treat in a hurry!

Friday Feb 6:

• H lunch: frozen pizza pops that I bought for when I'm too lazy to make a lunch :)
• kids' lunch: leftover fish and chips
• Supper: pulled beef sandwiches on fresh buns using a recipe I found at addapinch.com

Saturday Feb 7:

• H lunch: pulled beef on buns
• kids' lunch: wraps and salad and veggies
• Supper: drumsticks in sauce with Rice and Green Beans from the garden (frozen)

And there you have it--a week of meals taken from the food available in my freezer and pantry.  I don't consider this a savings, because we are living off food that we have already paid for and that will be replaced. Where I feel I am succeeding is in that we are using up things that might otherwise go to waste--either through going past their expiration date, becoming freezer burnt or being tossed into the compost pit. Rather than using store-bought pork loin for pulled pork sandwiches, I am using meat that was available to us. Theoretically I should not have to buy groceries this week at all, unless eggs and milk run low. If need be, I can save money by not going to town for groceries (45 kms) and instead supporting a small town grocer that is closer. I have to go to that small town anyways so I can pick up any essentials then, but at the higher price anything that is not essential will have to wait for the week of Feb 8-14 to be bought in town.

Do you follow a menu plan, or how do you decide what you will cook during the week? Do you follow the specials or buy only what you have listed? 

Pear Crisp (adapted from my apple crisp recipe,
which came out of an old recipe book of my moms when I left home
a million or so years ago)

6 pears, peeled and sliced
6 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp sugar cinnamon my apologies to anyone who might've made this before I found my mistake!
3 Tbsp butter

-spread in small casserole dish and top with:

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
8 Tbsp butter

-Bake at 350F for 15 minutes covered, 35 minutes uncovered.

Please Note: this is an old recipe and it is ALOT of sugar. I usually throw in extra apples or pears and reduce the amount of sugar (the original recipe actually calls for 1.5 cups brown sugar on top). This is just the recipe that I have, you really can't go wrong with sugar, fruit and cinnamon. But if you have a favorite recipe, adapt it to use up the fruit in your kitchen that is going to waste. The point for me is to not let the pears wind up in the compost. Enjoy!

The Grocery Plan

I just want to begin by saying that making frugal choices means different things for different people. I am extremely lucky and grateful to have the privileges and gifts that I do. In preparing to write this post I realized that I have more money invested in tea than many people can invest in their week's groceries. I would never want my posts to make anyone feel worse about their situation and I do not want to come across as superior. This is simply the tale of my family's journey towards smarter money management, trying to pay down debt faster, and creating less waste with our choices. I know that I am extremely lucky to be able to stay home with my kids everyday and I know that so many others cannot. I do not mean to patronize but rather start a conversation and encourage. 

I feel like I am always thinking about how I can reduce my grocery spending but I have not taken action. I have decided to challenge myself for the next few months to reduce my spending, reduce what gets wasted in my kitchen, and reduce the stockpiled food that we are not eating.

This is my pantry. Believe it or not, it has been recently organized. I'm the only one who uses it so if I know where things are that is all that matters, right? 

I have a drawer where I keep the flours and dry grains. One area I would like to increase my stockpile is buying more flour when it is on sale. I use it up quite quickly making all our bread, so might as well keep extra and save a bit of money.

The rest of the baking supplies are in a corner cupboard. I usually bake according to an informal rotation of recipes. Now that I am trying out new recipes, I experiment according to what ingredients I have on hand.

So Here Is THE PLAN:

Take Inventory: While I do believe a full pantry has its benefits, I dread wasting food and I need to do better at using up certain items before buying more. For instance, we have a lot of apple sauce. I need to use some up in pumpkin bread and feed the rest to the kids before it is outdated. My real challenge right now is to use up some beef roasts that my mom gave me when she was cleaning out her freezer. Over the next few weeks I will try to get creative with some recipes to use up the meat without getting sick of it! I also have green beans frozen from my garden that need used. Also this week I need to use up a bag of pears that are ripening too quickly. I'm thinking a pear crisp is in order for dessert!

Consult Flyers and Coupons: After taking inventory of what needs used up around here, it makes sense to check the flyers for anything I might need to complete my menu plan for the week. There are a few items that I plan to stockpile more of (flour, mostly) so I will watch for those going on sale as well.

Baking List and Menu Plan For The Week: I confess that I've never menu planned before. I mostly go by my gut, as it were. But I think it is time that I get more organized and more conscious of using what is on sale and what is at hand and needing used up. I hope that you will join me as I attempt to cut spending and reduce waste!

If You Buy Only ONE Cookbook...

...It should be the Complete  America's  Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2014.

No one is paying me to say that. I am a fan of the show, and I am a big, big fan of their recipes. So are my family members, the biggest critics of all.

If you are familiar with the show, you know that the Test Kitchen chooses traditional and favorite recipes and works diligently to improve the recipe results while also making the recipe easier for the home cook to use. While the recipes might end up being somewhat fussier than the "gramma" recipes that I usually use, the quality of the food makes it well worth the effort. Each recipe explains the process undertaken to achieve the best result, from fluffiest omelet to Buffalo Style Wings, with a "Why This Recipe Works" section that teaches in simple terms.

I bought my copy of the HUGE cookbook in the spring of 2014. It has virtually replaced my other cookbooks, although I will keep them for sentimental reasons (most of them came from my granny). My stir-fries, cakes, cookies and bread have gone to a whole new level. I've especially enjoyed experimenting with thin-crust pizza and my interest in bread-making just grows and grows.

We make Multigrain Bread (p 558) at least twice a week. I now bake all our own bread and my kids will no longer eat "town bread"!

 I talk about this recipe book with all my friends, and I thought I would pass word on to anyone who reads this blog. If you are looking for a cookbook with recipes from breakfast and brunch to desserts and BBQs, this one is money well spent. The Test Kitchen tests the recipes dozens, sometimes hundreds, of times to ensure that the method is of highest standards. The food that results is delicious, the cooking experience is a pleasure, and your guests and family will definitely notice the difference.

Rustic Country Bread, p 552

Our new birthday cupcake favorite: Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes p 622

Have you found any new favorite recipes lately?

Cooking In Bulk

Are you sick of hearing that Husband's parents are visiting from Newfoundland this week? I hope not! While the weather is cool I have prepared some baking and meals to take the pressure off myself while we are touring and visiting in the next two weeks. This is something that I do when I know we will be busy, or when I know a friend might be needing some extra meals (ie a baby on the way or my parents during harvest, etc). So this is what I do:

The other day I purchased a few pounds of ground beef and last night I made half of that into meatballs which I baked and froze. I will throw those in the slow cooker with sweet and sour sauce before we leave the house on a busy day of sight-seeing.

Yesterday I made lasagna and chili. My basic meat sauce, chili and lasagna recipes all derive from the same few ingredients to begin with, so it speeds the process to brown the meat and add onion, garlic, peppers and mushrooms and then split into batches. I almost always make these meals in large quantity and freeze into smaller portions to use later or give away.

I don't always want the whole can of each type of beans in my chili, so I freeze the remainder to use next time. Yesterday I used up frozen chick peas and kidney beans and added a can of six-bean medley to the chili mixture.

So now I have 3 meals frozen and ready to be thawed whenever I need a quick fix. I also have in the freezer two homemade loaves of bread, a coconut square, and a loaf of pumpkin bread. If I find the time I would like to add buns and a couple dozen cookies to the list but if the weather dries up the yard desperately needs my attention! 

Do you ever prepare meals ahead of time for when you are busy or have a large group to feed?

The Sun'll Come Out (Tomorrow)

It is a slow spring a comin'. Painfully slow. Painfully grey and...cold. But the weather network assures me that brighter days are ahead. They can't be wrong, can they? I'm trying to distract myself today in hopes that tomorrow we might enjoy being outside.

My quest for the perfect homemade loaf continues. I've enjoyed browsing my granny's old recipe books on the search. Some handy hints and quotes therein have made me smile:

To A New Husband

Remember this my darling

I fully realize

You loved your mother's cooking

Her Christmas cakes and pies

But when comparing efforts

Restrain your family pride

You did not have to eat the flops

She cooked when just a bride.

Husband, you reading this? Not hard to tell the book was published in the '70s. There were other hints from a 1908 cookbook that sounded downright dangerous: "For a cold in the head sniff powdered borax up the nose" (Yikes!) and interesting: "Do not approach contagious diseases with an empty stomach, nor sit between the sick and the fire, because the heat attracts the vapor". Food for thought.

In the meantime, I think I've found a winner. 

Five Grain Health Bread  

submitted to the Hillmond and District Cookbook (1976) by Tillie Hoegl

1 package granular yeast

1/2 cup honey

3 cups lukewarm water

1/3 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups dark rye flour

1/2 cup corn meal

1/2 cup quick oats

1Tbsp salt

3/4 cup skim milk powder

2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour

plus 3 cups more all-purpose flour to make a firm dough.

In a very large bowl soak yeast, honey and shortening in the warm water for 10-15 mins while measuring remaining ingredients. Add to yeast mixture in order given: wheat and rye flours, cornmeal, oats, salt, white flour, skim milk powder. Stir 50 times. Cover and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size (about 2 hours). 

Sprinkle kneading board with 1 1/2 cups of the remaining white flour, punch down dough and turn dough onto surface. Knead flour into dough--before you are done you will have added remaining white flour to make a dough firm enough to handle. Now knead it 250 times, calling in your helpers to knead. Shape into a 2 foot roll, cut in half and shape into two loaves and place in well buttered loaf pans. Let rise about 1" above rim of pans. Bake at approximately 400F for 20 mins, then reduce to 350F and bake about 40 minutes longer, until crust is dark gold and crisp. 

When I rewrote the recipe to share here I realized that I left out the salt altogether, did not add white flour to initial mixture ( instead kneading all of it in after it rose). I baked it for 20 minutes at 400F but only left it in for 15 at 350F. It was quite dark and sounded hollow when tapped. Looks like it turned out, either way, and we are off now to sample with butter and jam.

Do you have any recipe books that were handed down?

A Change is as Good as a Rest

Husband was home for 5 full days this past week. The kids were elated--the wrestling and playing was at full volume the whole time. We accomplished some of what needs done around here (painting in basement, wooh-hoo!) and we snuck in a bit of relaxation as well. Daddy left for work early this morning and we are faced with the dreaded long-quiet-first-day of his being gone.

I have written a bit about adjusting to life when daddy is away from home. We are all a year older than when that post was written, but the essence remains true. It is up to me to set the tone for my kids, and also to be very gentle while they adjust to our new/old routine. So today must be a very busy day--we are washing all the household bedding and have happily come up with a flax and quinoa bread recipe all our own. Concerned about salt in our diet I realised that even the bread we were eating (which I love, and I miss so dearly!) was quite high in salt. So I have been trying some different recipes (a post on that later!) and today combined a couple with pleasing results. I won't share the recipe until I tinker with it a bit, but bulger, wheat germ, spelt flour, flax, quinoa and whole wheat flour are some of what it entails.

Having daddy home was a refreshing change. It had been 3 weeks since his last days off--hard on us all. While he was home we were busy, it was tiring, today could be a very depressing day if I let it. But when my four year old looked up at me with big eyes and a quivering lip and said "don't you feel so sad that daddy isn't here?" I didn't try to sugar coat it for him. I said, "yes, it's awfully sad. I'd like to lay down and bawl but I think that would make me feel worse. And it would make you and your brother feel awful. So I'm going to stay busy and try to do things that make me happier. I'm going to try to have a good day even though I miss him". And my boy nodded and and has been by my side helping me all day long. Instead of doing quiet inside chores while the two year old naps, we went out to the cow pasture just outside our yard and filled the wheel barrow with frozen cow patties to add to our compost. Four year old thought it was spectacular: "mommy, this might be gross but it sure is fun!". Nice to remind him that mommy's are fun too--and hopefully it helps the compost ;)

Busy Work

Having a garage sale in a cold garage, with two kids and no other adult around would be tricky if we weren't in a sleepy little town. My system is to leave the garage locked with a sign to "ring bell if door is locked". I can dress the kids to come out while people look around, and put the baby in the stroller if I need to. There's no point hanging around out there though: the snow is still too deep and crusty for playing, the baby wants to crawl, not sit, and there's not a lot of packing I can do. Instead, I'm working in the kitchen and going out to the garage if and when the bell rings.

I hope I'm not alone when it comes to having too many little bags of spices, crammed here and there and closed with clips, rubber bands or tape. My spice cupboard (or the lack thereof) is shamefully messy.

It's also shamefully icky at the bottom of the tin can where I throw store spices.

So while I need to stay close to the attached garage, I'm keeping busy cleaning up the spice cupboard, putting excess into little jars, and packing them away.

In our new house, I made sure that there is a cupboard large enough (hopefully) to accommodate my many spices. Let's hope I maintain my system of storing and organizing them so that the new shelf doesn't look like this in our new home!

How do you store your extra spices?

Friday Favorite: Thingamagig

Well, I don't know what it's called and I've had it so long I can't believe it has made it with me through 5 or 6 moves. I've lost slippers, frying pans and blankets in moves, but this little kitchen gadget has managed to follow me across Saskatchewan and Alberta and back again.



note the metal poker in the foreground...that's the thingamagig

  It's just a metal thing to poke a cake or loaf in the middle to see if it is done. Yes, you can do this with a toothpick (always too short!) or spaghetti (totally a pain to spill a box of spaghetti trying to get just one piece). I don't know how many times I've broken off spaghetti in the banana bread, then had to demolish the middle of the loaf searching for bits of pasta so Husband doesn't hit something crunchy in his snack at work.

It was a sympathy purchase at a Pampered Chef party, probably 12 years ago. In those days I was very uncomfortable attending those parties without purchasing a little something to support the hostess. So I usually bought the cheapest thing available and ended up with some little gadget I would never use. This time, though, I hit a winner. Have you got any inexpensive but handy kitchen tools?

Pumpkin Bread

I like to share a good recipe--particularly a healthy one--especially when my kids are crazy for it. I wound up on a blog I've never read before http://ozarkmountainfamily.blogspot.ca/ and saw this recipe. Its author adapted it from the original and I have adapted it further. Here goes:

Pumpkin Bread

1 cup oil (I used half oil, half applesauce)
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
4 eggs

3 cups flour (I used 1 whole wheat, 2 white, with 1 Tbsp ground flax)
1 tsp nutmeg
half tsp cloves
half tsp ginger
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp all spice
2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt

Mix together, divide into 2 greased loaf pans and bake at 350C for approx 1 hour. Test for doneness.

*the next time I make this I might toss a handful of raisins into one loaf. I think we would enjoy the little bursts of sweetness.

I made 3 mini loafs and one regular. This will definitely be my new go-to recipe for play dates, book club meetings, babysitting days. My boys gobble it up! Hope you're having a great day! Happy Baking!

Peanut Butter Cookies

We are just so sick of winter.

After a walk to the school playground, at least a dozen "second last" trips down the slide, and a game of "catch" in the living room, we were still at a loss for what to do. I poked through a couple of granny's old cookbooks and found a quick and easy recipe. Even if it doesn't turn out, it's something to do and not that expensive to try. These cookies took about 2 minutes to prepare and were very tasty--perfect for a lazy, restless day.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used peanut butter chips)

Preheat oven to 325F. Combine peanut butter, sugar and egg. Add flour, stirring til well blended. Add chocolate chips, drop small amounts onto cookie sheet and press lightly with a fork (I rolled them into small balls, dipped in sugar, then pressed with a fork). Bake at 325F for 15 to 17 minutes.

Owen's Rolls

Most mothers nowadays like to tell the birth stories of their children. When I was pregnant with our first I was petrified of young mothers, knowing they were about to fill me in on the "gory" details. What is truly magical and the most intense experience of a woman's life can sometimes be recounted in a very graphic way. But bear with me, this is not one of those stories. In fact, it's actually the lead-up to a recipe.

I was two days past my due date and had buns in the oven (literally). It was a new recipe I had found over at www.chiotsrun.com. My brother texted asking if I was having the baby that day; I replied, "not unless I fall down the stairs". Our first had been induced, a slow labour. Why would this one be different? I got the two year old down for a nap and removed some nice looking rolls from the oven. I went for a nap and my labour started. To make a short story shorter, Husband flew home from work to get us and we barely made it to the hospital in time. A 35 minute drive took under 20 that day, and felt like an eternity. Our baby boy was born less than an hour later.

Now, for the point of the story (and a look at the rolls).

These are not the rolls I made that day.

We had a bouncing baby boy, 9 lbs 9 oz, in under 5 hours. We have always called these "Owen's Rolls" because he was such a rolly-polly baby, and I was making them when I went into labour. I don't know if I'll ever make them without thinking of that day. This is a simple and delicious recipe that always turns out for me. From someone who regularly bakes below expectation, that is high praise indeed. Thank you to Susy at Chiot's Run for permission to link to her recipe http://chiotsrun.com/?s=basic+rolls . Here is my adaptation:

Owen's Rolls
1 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
4 to 5 cups flour (1 cup whole wheat)
1/4 cup ground flax
2 Tbsp yeast

-In large bowl, mix 1 cup whole wheat flour with 1 cup white flour and yeast. In medium saucepan combine milk, sugar, butter and salt and heat til butter starts to melt (120-130F)*.
-Add milk mixture to dry mix, along with eggs. Mix til incorporated then beat on high with hand mixer 3 minutes.
-Mix in as much remaining flour as possible--once it's too thick for mixer, transfer to counter top and knead. Dough should be soft but not too sticky.
-Knead 4 to 5 minutes til dough is smooth and elastic. Shape into ball and place in oiled bowl, let rise 1 hr or until doubled in size.
-Turn dough onto counter and divide into desired size rolls. Place on greased sheets, cover and let rise til doubled (45 mins)
-Bake at 375F 12-15 minutes (rolls) or 15-17 minutes (hamburger buns) til golden on top.

*now that I've made these several times I microwave the milk first to bring it nearer the desired temp. (too impatient I guess!) I use my candy thermometre but if you don't have one, remove from heat when butter starts to melt.

Have you got a favorite bun recipe? Or have you got an interesting baking-related story?