You might guess by now that I am not a huge fan of all the preservatives in store-bought products when better results could be had by making it homemade, for fractions of the cost, no health risks, and very little time.

I’ve been making our own butter spread now for a while with this basic recipe:

1 part room temperature unsalted butter
1 part oil

I’ve used olive, canola, walnut, and flax.  Olive oil will have a distinct olive oil taste unless you use a lighter colored olive oil.  Flax I generally only use by adding a tablespoon or so in with another flavor nuetral oil.

Today, however, I decided to experiment a bit more by adding in some yogurt:

1 part unsalted butter
1/2 part oil (I used canola and walnut oil)
1/2 part yogurt

Mix the ingredients together until smooth.  Add salt if desired or even dried herbs.  Put mixture in a small butter crock or tupperware container.  Store in the refrigerator.  Mixture will be easy to spread, jut like store bought spreads, and delicious.

Experiment away with this one!

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I admit I am one of those people who get frustrated at “environmentally” friendly detergents; I find that they often don’t clean my dishes as well, I need to pre-rinse too much for my liking, or they leave a weird film on my dishes, particularly my glasses. 

Through some trial and error, I’ve discovered a dish detergent formula that is better for the environment and doesn’t require excessive pre-rinsing or follow-up washing.  This is not a totally environmentally friendly household recipe, but it does cut down on the amount of harmful materials being used in your home and as a bonus ends up being a lot cheaper.  As always, it goes back to some old-fashioned household cleaners that our grandmother’s used, baking soda and borax.  Baking soda has no real harmful effects on anything.  And borax is nowhere near as toxic as the detergent you currently have under your cupboard, not that I would want my son eating a spoonful, either!

1 1/2 - 2 parts baking soda

1 part borax

1 part powdered dish detergent of choice.

Stir the ingredients together.  And store in a large ziploc bag, waterproof storage container, or large mason jar.  Use as you would regular dish detergent.  I don’t have a great dishwasher and have found that I still can use less than I would think and get my dishes as clean as I want.

My next experiment will be trying to create a clothes detergent that is better too!

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So I have to admit, I always thought that granola was a pain to make, but then my son discovered it and loved it, and we were going through that and yogurt really quickly.  I figured I better learn to make both on my own if I was going to keep up with how much he wanted it!  Now he eats a bowl of homemade, unsweetened yogurt (not as tangy or tart as commercial yogurt), with either some cottage cheese or applesauce in it, and topped with some granola.  When he was younger and I had not yet introduced nuts, I made it with a combination of seeds, sesame, hemp, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds that I ground slightly in the food processor.

Granola is the ultimate flexible recipe.  Don’t have almonds, use sunflower seeds.  Don’t like honey, use maple syrup.  Like raisins, add them in after its cooked.  I make it in bulk and keep it in an air tight container in your pantry or give extras as gifts.  Definitely, visit your local natural foods store to pick up these grains in bulk rather than buying packages.  Below is my basic recipe:

4 c. rolled oats
4 c. mixed rolled grains (I usually get barley, spelt, and rye)
1-2 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 c. ground flax meal
1-2 c. sliced almonds (I grind them slightly to make it easier for L to eat)
1/2 - 3/4 c. agave syrup ( a low for glycemic sweetener with the taste of honey–it is sweeter than regular sugar so you don’t need to use as much of it; but you could also use a local honey as well)
1/2 - 1 c. real maple syrup or barley syrup (another great low glycemic sweetener)
3/4 c. - 1 c. canola oil
1/2 c.+ water to help granola clump without extra fat

Mix all of the grains together with other dry ingredients in a very very large bowl (the biggest one you own).  You can freeze or store these grains at this point before adding the sugars and oil if you don’t want to cook it all up at once.

Add maple syrup and oil.  The mixture should have a sheen to it and be tasty.  Be sure to evenly coat all ingredients with sugar and oil.  Add water if necessary to help mixture clump into those yummy crunchy clusters.  Bake at 350′ for 30-40 minutes in 9×12″ pans.  Do not overfill the pans with granola as you will need enough room to stir and move the granola around to prevent overcooking.

You will need to stir the granola every 10 minutes until it reaches a golden toasted color.

Stir every 10 minutes or so until all of the grains and nuts are toasted evenly.

Let the granola cool in the pans and then move to an air tight container or bag.  At this point, you can freeze a portion of the recipe if you feel you won’t be able to finish it in over the next two months or so.  Also, to add bulk without adding calories or sweeteners, once cooked and cooled you can add a variety of whole puffed grain cereals (puffed wheat, millet, kamut, even corn).

Enjoy often with yogurt, milk, or by the handful!

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Submit a recipe with a short introduction or related story here, and I will feature the best in a related blog post.  Recipes for pantry staples, homemade mixes, easy and quick dinners, kid-friendly and healthy dishes, and yummy treats are all especially welcome!

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Want to share your menu plans with others?  Want to get some menu planning ideas?  Share as a comment below!

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This year we decided to make our holiday gifts, and one gift that went out to friends, family, and neighbors was a homemade multi-grain baking mix.  If you have a health food store near you that sells grains in bulk, that would be where I would go to pick up the flours, otherwise store remaining flour in the freezer to prevent it from going rancid.  Below, I’ve included the baking mix recipe, the two recipes using the mix that we gave out, and then a list of fun add-ins and toppings.  We packaged the gifts in a paper bag with plastic bag liner to keep it fresh .  Attached to the bag, we printed out the recipes and the toppings and add-in list on 4×6 index cards, decorated with a picture of our little guy chowing down on the entire  plate of pancakes that he had just yoinked from the center of the table.

Multi-grain Baking Mix

This homemade baking mix is healthier than the store-bought variety–no trans fats or preservatives.  It will yield yummy whole grain muffins or fluffy pancakes that are easy for adults and kids to make!  Use as you would Bisquick–however, if you are going to make something that requires fat, like biscuits, you will need to add that in separately. And while the mix is good plain, feel free to experiment with some of our suggested fun pancake additions or toppings ideas.  Enjoy!

4 c. white flour
2 c. wheat
2 c. oat flour or a multi-grain flour (or another cup of wheat)
1 1/3 nonfat dry milk or buttermilk
1/4 c. raw sugar
1 tbsp. salt
1/3 c. baking powder
1 tbsp. baking soda (check expiration date first)
if desired, decrease flour by 1/2 c. and add 1/2 c. ground flax meal

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients thoroughly.  Store in an airtight container and use often with directions below.

Pancakes

Makes about 12 medium-sized pancakes

2 c. Multi-grain Baking Mix
1 c. water, soy milk, or milk
2 tbsp. canola oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp. sugar (helps pancakes caramelize)

1.  Put all ingredients in a bowl.
2.  Stir just enough to moisten dry ingredients.
3.  Preheat skillet or griddle on medium-high heat.  The skillet is ready when drops of water “dance” on the dry surface.  Add a teaspoon of oil or butter to pan.  For each pancake, pour ¼ c. of batter onto hot skillet.
4.  Cook slowly until the surface is covered with bubbles and outside rim is browned.  Turn and cook until second side is lightly browned.

Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

2 c. Multi-grain Baking Mix
½ c. sugar
1 egg
¼ c. canola oil
2/3 c. water

1.  Preheat oven to 400°F.
2.  Grease 12-cup muffin pan.
3.  Mix the Baking Mix and sugar in a bowl.
4.  Beat egg with a fork.
5.  Add egg, oil, and water to dry ingredients.  Stir just until all ingredients are wet.
6.  Spoon into the prepared muffin pan.
7.  Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned and toothpick comes out clean.

Fun Mix and Match Additions:

• Any kind of berries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries
• Apples, diced
• Peaches, diced
• Bananas, diced
• Granola
• Pumpkin puree
• Orange or lemon zest
• Cinnamon
• Applesauce
• Chocolate Chips
• Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
• Any kind of chopped nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds
• Dried chopped fruit, apricots, pears, raisins, craisins, and so on
• Cottage cheese

Fun toppings or spreads:

• Sour cream and brown sugar
• Cinnamon and sugar
• Reduced mixture of orange or apple juice and m aple syrup
• Berries, apples, or peaches, cooked with a little water and a few teaspoons of sugar
• Jam
• Flavored cream cheese
• Honey
• Applesauce
• Peanut butter (thinned with apple juice, if desired)
• Cream cheese and fruit
• Whipped cream and fruit
• Nutella
• Cooked fruit, such as apples or bananas, with brown sugar and butter

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