Quest for a Cake #2

Recipe #2 Healthy Baby Smash Cake No Added Sugar. Basically, banana muffins in cake shape. Somehow in my expansive and well stocked kitchen I don't have any cake pans, so I made these as cupcakes. 

The base is almond flour and the sweetener is banana and apple sauce. They baked nicely and are fairly moist. Not the greatest texture in the world. I'm beginning to think I don't enjoy the texture of baked almond flour - too grainy. 

Still, the taste of these muffins is pretty good. Just the right hint of sweetness. Stored in the fridge they remain moist. I will keep the recipe!

Buckwheat Pancakes #3

Same recipe as yesterday, but with added spices on a different pan. 

Again, they taste great. Again, they still stuck to the pan. 

I made sure the pan heated up plenty ahead of time. It helped a little but it didn't seem to matter. They stuck even when I put oil or butter in the pan. 

The spices were a great addition! I put in cinnamon and cardamom. So what to do about the sticking? Could adding some oil help? Flax seed? Hmm...

Buckwheat Banana Pancakes

New recipe for buckwheat pancakes. I had seen this earlier and wanted to try it, but I didn't have bananas at the time. 

Great flavor, easy to make- just buckwheat flour, a ripe banana, and almond milk (or other milk). The downsides- it doesn't make many and my pancakes kept sticking to the cast iron. Granted, I had cooked some potatoes in it previously and didn't wipe the pan out, so the sticking might not be the recipe's fault. 😅

Will I make it again? Yes. I'll add spices next time and try cooking in a different pan. 

Freeze Dried Apples

I used a different apple slicer to make my freeze dried apples. They don't fit together as nicely. I have them slightly overlapping.

These are golden delicious from my brother's apple tree. 

Subbing in 7th

G and I decided that I could step away from my homesteading/homemaking/mom duties every once in a while to sub for a local school, the same one I did the long-term subbing for two years ago. 

Today is the first day subbing and the longest I've been away from Jaron since the NICU. I'm excited to be back in the classroom while also being leery of leaving Jaron for so long. G is taking charge of Jaron for the day. They dropped me off at school in the morning so I could show him off at staff devotions. The whole school prayed for Jaron and me our entire time in the NICU, so everyone was very excited to meet him, students and staff.

The students I taught today were the same ones I taught in fifth grade for the long-term subbing. We were all glad to be back together again. It was a pretty simple day lesson wise. The teacher had me administering mostly tests. I did have to teach a math lesson which was also very simple. 

G brought Jaron over the lunch hour so I could feed him and remind him I didn't completely disappear haha (and also so I could see him 😅). The kids were still eating lunch when they arrived, and when the students saw Jaron, they immediately lit up and wanted to high five him. He was a little overwhelmed by all the hands, but he didn't cry or fuss. He mostly stared at everyone. 

In the afternoon, my 7th graders asked to see pictures of Jaron, so while they took their English test, I figured out how to project from my phone to the smart board. We had about five minutes to see pictures. 

Overall, the day went very well, for Jaron, G, and me!

Honey Tallow Balm

Found this recipe on Pinterest. 

A friend gifted me some rendered tallow, so I thought I'd whip up a batch. Seems like I could use this as a cloth diaper friendly diaper cream. 🤷‍♀️ 

First, I melted down the tallow. I strained it through cheesecloth to remove the last remaining impurities. 

The honey, oils, and essential oils stirred right in. I chose 5 drops of lemon, 10 drops of lavender, and 5 of roman chamomile. The recipe calls for more essential oils, but I don't want them to irritate Jaron's skin. We'll go less is more for now. 

I put it in the freezer with timers set at 15min intervals to check. It only needed 15min! The edges were solidifying and the center was runny, but stirred together was a perfect consistency. I could pour it into my balm containers. Low and behold, one batch fit perfectly in all of these! 

 

Quest for a Cake #1

Jaron's first birthday is coming up. Since he'll be the adjusted age of 8.5mo old on his birthday, we're maintaining our no added sugar rule. I've been on the hunt for a cake recipe that fits the bill and I've found three I'd like to try. 

Fun fact from my research - the USDA recommends no added sugar for all children under two years old! Does anyone follow those guidelines these days? Apparently by two years of age, a child's gut microbiome has been established, and if they haven't had much sugar, their gut is full of the bacteria that eats fruits/veggies (which is generated by eating fruits/veggies), and that's what the child tends to crave. Interesting, very interesting. 🧐

Recipe #1 is a lemon poppyseed muffin recipe using spelt, a starch on the first 100 foods list Jaron hasn't tried yet. I did modify it a bit in my attempt. It calls for 1/2c of maple syrup/honey, so I substituted applesauce. If substituting apple sauce, Google says to reduce the liquid by 1/4c for every cup of applesauce. 

I had everything mixed together and it smelled wonderful. Last step was to add the poppyseeds. Mine were rancid. 😣 No poppyseeds next door either. What to do? I thought about putting the batter in the fridge, buying poppyseeds, and baking later, but when I looked at the batter, big bubbles were already forming from the baking powder and baking soda. I figured if I waited longer, they'd be completely flat. 

So, I made a few plain lemon, a few blueberry lemon (with frozen berries), and a few lavender lemon (with dried lavender flowers). 

They turned a nice brown, but it was hard to tell when they were done. The innards seemed doughy still even after the full cooking time. Of course, the recipe calls for muffin tins, not loaves, so that could be a factor. 😅 I wanted something more festive than a muffin shape, but in hindsight, I probably should've stuck with the muffin tin. 

I did sample a corner of each variety. Gotta taste a new recipe before offering it to guests on a birthday! They did firm up as they cooled. The flavor is nice and tart. You can really taste the fresh lemon and the Greek yogurt. Not sweet, yet not savory. I think Jaron will love them. 

They don't look very impressive. Pretty flat in fact. Maybe if I baked them sooner after mixing they'd have more height. I could stack three on top for a little layer cake effect... 

It's definitely a keeper recipe. But is it the final recipe for the birthday? Stay tuned! Two more recipes to try!