I took a break from blogging about the challenge yesterday for the Thanksgiving holiday. This was my first holiday trying to make everything I wanted without going to the grocery store. I have also started making lists. And preparing dinner for Thanksgiving really got me started.
I now have a list of things that I need to determine a replacement strategy for - things like paper towels and dryer sheets.
A list of skills that I need to develop - like how to make stuffing bread crumbs. I had a few bags of the Brownberry unseasoned stuffing croutons in my pantry, and I seasoned it with chicken stock, butter, dehydrated apples, dehydrated celery, ground black pepper, oregano, parsley, sage, and walnuts. It was savory and wonderful. But I still used previously store-bought crumbs.
And a "mental" list of things that I was thankful for - including my beautiful dehydrated foods. This year we purchased the apples from the Amish but we do have a single apple tree and a single pear planted. Next year we will be adding another one of each, plus a sweet cherry tree. I also want to expand my raspberry bushes and start a blueberry patch. I am thankful that even though we live in town I have enough room to grow much of our food. I still need to learn how to grow more in the space that I have.
A list of meals that I can make that use very simple, basic ingredients. For breakfast this morning we had sweet blueberry muffins made with dehydrated blueberries that I had also purchased from the Amish. The recipe does require a few things that I will have to buy - like flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder. I put these down on my next list.
My annual purchases - featuring things that I can probably get away with purchasing once or twice a year. Like flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder. After all, prior to the advent of the grocery store or two or three in every town, most people visited a general store a few times a year. You know, like Laura Ingalls Wilder did.
The biggest part of the challenge thus far has been looking at all the food in my pantry and trying to figure out how to actually use it. I mean, I have over a hundred jars of home canned jams, jellies, and butters. Way more than we could spread on sandwiches - assuming that is, I could break my kids of the nutella and peanut butter choice. I have a few dehydrated fruits that I have recently started to incorporate, such as the apples in the stuffing and in an oatmeal breakfast. Or the blueberries in this morning's muffins.
What are some of the from-scratch recipes that you like to make? Post one below and I'll be sure to try it out!
Be blessed.
Sweet Muffins
4-1/2 cups of All-purpose Flour
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Sugar
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
2 cups Buttermilk
3/4 cup Olive Oil
1-1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
3 Eggs
1 cup dried/fresh Fruit or Nuts
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the sugars, mixing together well. In a second bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Whisk together until well blended. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and mix until entire mixture is wet. Fold in the fruit or nuts. Once mixed well, cover the bowl tightly and place in the refrigerator over night. (This is especially important if using dehydrated fruits.)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. You can bake the entire batch of dough, which will make 24 average sized muffins or 15 jumbo sized muffins. Otherwise, you can bake only what you need and save the rest of the batter to use as needed for up to five days. Spray the correct number of muffin tins as appropriate and fill each cup about 2/3 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Allow plenty of space above the muffin tin in the oven as these muffins rise surprisingly high.
Enjoy!
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