Rearranging

Just over a month before baby's due date, so we're doing a little rearranging to make things smoother after baby comes. 

First thing was rearranging our bedroom so Jaron is on G's side. We added a floor lamp and switched out bedside tables so there was room for Jaron's books. 

He had a great time running around the house with a tape measure measuring everything ("twenty inches!"). And then he had an even better time moving his books over to the new shelf. Lots of squeals of excitement. 

His old bedtime bookshelf is now home to his favorite tall books that don't fit on the other shelf. And he wanted Mr. Owl and the Octopus to sleep there too. 

While the guys did the heavy lifting, I gathered supplies I might need for birth. 

My pre-baby to-do list is getting shorter! 

Long-term Veggie Storage

Note to self- store apples in a drawer in the fridge so their off-gassing doesn't ripen the other produce in the fridge... 

The garage fridge had been packed with cabbage, so packed the bottom drawers had to be taken out to make room for it all. 

I thought it was perfect there was just enough room in the door shelves for the apples. But then we noticed the cabbage outer leaves turning a weird gray and drying out. 

I'm sure they're fine underneath those leaves, but that got me wondering why that happened. The loose apples were the only thing I could think of as a cause. 

And the Internet backed me up. 

So I shuffled the cabbages around and added the bins back to the fridge. 

Making sauerkraut is at the top of my list this week!!!

Birthday Boy Turns Two

Poor Jaron. He turns two today and his parents are still restricting sugar, even on his birthday. 🤪

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for a cake for him this year, but flipping through my recipe book I found my notes/recipes from last year. These two recipes jumped out at me: 

Seems easy enough. We had the ingredients on hand, including the sweet potatoes. 

The batter turned a lovely green color. 

I was going to make a small cake for Jaron and a different dessert for everyone else, but G thought others might enjoy trying Jaron's cake, so I made two 9" cakes. 

Very moist and solid. The flavor was pretty bland, although the lemon came through lightly. I had debated adding a little maple syrup to the batter and decided against it. Should've put some in. 

The frosting was easier to taste as you go, and I did end up adding a splash of maple syrup to the mix. It's also possible my ratios were off because of the size of the sweet potato I used. And I added more dates because I had them and I wanted the frosting sweeter. So did it even turn out like it was supposed to? I think so. 

The texture was smooth and creamy like typical frosting. 

And it had a pleasantly sweet taste. You'd never guess the base was sweet potato and avocado. 

We went down to my parents' farm to celebrate Jaron's birthday Thursday night since it's easier for the three of us to travel. We served goulash soup, homemade bread, applesauce, and roasted carrots. Jaron was too full from supper to want any cake. 

So we served everyone else and he got some on his actual birthday. 

My family loves sugar, so I knew it wasn't going to be a huge hit (hence the backup dessert- brownies). I was pleased with how many people wanted to try it! Not many actually finished their serving though. 🙃 

I thought it was okay. The cake would make a great muffin. 😉 As I suspected, the cake would've benefited from some honey or maple syrup. The frosting was good. G thought it would've been great with whipped cream on top. 

What did Jaron think when he finally got a piece? 

He ate a couple bites, seemed to like it, but then he handed what was left back to me and asked for applesauce. 😂 In the cake's defense, it is really good applesauce!

 

Goat Cheese Lasagna

Not sure why lasagna came to mind as a supper idea, but it did. My only memory of making lasagna is from my childhood making it with my mom. Mostly her complaining about how much work it was and the noodles sticking together. 

I looked up a recipe that uses uncooked noodles so I could skip that step. 😜 This recipe was easy to put together and fairly quick. 

My mom used cottage cheese in her lasagna. I used my goat cottage cheese which is kind of like a ricotta, so it worked with the recipe. 

I also threw in more noodles. Three noodles across didn't seem like enough. Four were too many for my pan, so I broke them up to fit. 

It was a little difficult to spread the cheese layer, but I figured it didn't have to be perfect since it would all blend together anyway. 

And since I added more noodles, I topped the pan with additional marinara sauce... I had used a store bought jar for the main recipe (a few oz less than the recipe called for) and supplemented with a pint of homemade sauce. I haven't enjoyed eating the sauce on its own, so this was the perfect way to use it. 

And the lasagna turned out perfect. 

A Tale of Two Brownies

Now that the muffin quest is over, time to focus on one of my other recipe quests. 🤪 Boxed brownies from scratch ...

One of the cookbooks I checked out from the library had two brownie recipes that caught my eye: a box mix brownie recipe from scratch and a better-than-supernatural brownie recipe. The other perk- this cookbook is all about weeknight baking, so the recipes are quick to make. 

I wanted another option of things to serve for snack after church, so it was the perfect time to try both recipes! 

The pan on the left is the top recipe and the pan on the right is the second recipe. 

The box mix recipe drew my eye right away since that is the purpose of my quest. The downside to the recipe is that it only makes an 8*8 pan. But it is very easy and quick. 

The supernatural brownies took longer to put together since the chocolate needs to melt and I don't have a microwave... Double boiler on the stove doesn't take that much longer, but it results in more pans in and out. 

Overall taste wise, they were both great straight out of the oven (then again, what baked good isn't???). The box mix recipe was verrrry chewy and seemed underdone. I actually liked the supernatural brownies better, although the texture was a bit cake like. But when we served them Sunday, my preference might have swapped. The supernatural brownies had a mild caramel flavor and more of a crust on top. The box mix copycat had solidified more and was a nice gooey texture. Again, with a slight crust on top (I'm not a fan of top crust in my brownies, I guess 😅). 

Because they're so different, it's hard to pick a favorite! I would make both again depending on the situation. But I will continue my quest for best brownie recipe...

Zucchini Muffins

We served snack after church this past Sunday and one of the items I served was mini zucchini muffins. 

I got this recipe from a former co-worker, and they always turn out great. 

Of course I've messed with the recipe over the years to try to cut down on sugar. See my notes above. 😅 

This time I tried using dehydrated shredded zucchini since I didn't have any fresh. 

I soaked the zucchini in whey as I mixed up the rest of the recipe. Since the batter is typically quite wet, I added the zucchini and the leftover liquid. 

They turned out pretty good! 

This is the second batch I made... The first batch used applesauce instead of sugar and they tasted savory. I decided people at church probably wouldn't be thrilled with a not-sweet muffin and I made a batch with the regular amount of sugar to serve the public. We'll keep the not-sweet ones for us. 🤪

Sweet Potatoes

It seems our sweet potato bin was prolific this year! G noticed them first... He saw some sticking up out of the dirt when he walked past the bin. 

I needed a couple for a recipe, so I stuck my hands in the dirt to grab a few. Much bigger than last year! I picked these from the top of the container just an inch down. 

I wonder how deep they go...