Any ideas?

I need some help. I received an Amish Friendship Bread starter and it is due to be made up tomorrow.  The problem is, when you make it you get like 4 separate starters to hand out. I was wondering if anyone had any variations for this recipe that would make it different or a variation where it will only make one loaf or enough for one starter? 

I think I have seen some recipes out there for variations, but I want to see what you all have in mind. Any help is appreciated! :)

Bike Trailer

I've been wanting to get a bike trailer since last summer, but with finances, pregnancy, bedrest, etc in the way, we never got one. Peytonn is still learning how to pedal a bike so just a bike seat for Bennett was out of the question. I have been researching bike trailers and looking around at used children's stores and have not been able to find one. Only jogging strollers and let's face it, I'm just not a jogger.

I found that Dick's Sporting Goods carries the InStep brand bike trailer and went to the store to see it in person. Sucky pretty much sums up this trailer. The "seat" that my kids are supposed to sit on isn't even flat, it like a hammock. Imagine the "he's touching me mom!" kind of bike rides we could enjoy with that piece of crap. NOT! And especially for the over $200 price tag of it, NO THANK YOU! So, back to the drawing board. I started searching Amazon and reading reviews. I found some "definitely out of our price range" nice/good reviews bike trailers, but none that I could hardly convince my husband to let me buy. Then I happened across the Schwinn Joyrider. It actually has a real seat, that's padded! GASP! It has a huge screened in canopy and enough room for 2 with harnesses. And it has a space for their helmets and storage in the back. Oh, and it converts easily to a double stroller. Great! I'll take it! And I did! Sadly, it takes 2-4 weeks to ship and should be here sometime the first week of April. I also ordered Bennett a bike helmet from Amazon b/c heaven forbid a retail store should carry an infant bike helmet. Here is our beauty:I like the colors too! It's not bumblebee yellow! I can't wait to try it out. I'm sure the boys will love it and I'm sure my butt and thighs will love the workout! :)

Menu for 3/14-3/20

Last week I planned four meals out and I only ended up making three. We just were able to eat the leftovers and I didn't need to make the fourth meal. So, this week I plan to make three, possibly four if I have to. Here is the menu for this week:

--Salmon with Rice and asparagus
--Shrimp Diablo with Penne and french bread and salad
--Porucpines with mashed potatoes and a veggie of some sort

My back up meal for this week if we need it is:
--Butternut squash ravioli with sage brown butter sauce (this is a favorite in our house and both the boys LOVE it!)

I actually have everything on hand to make all of these meals, so no trip to the grocery this week! Yay! We are really good at stockpiling, so we could probably go about 3 weeks to a month without making a huge shopping trip. I am trying to make more meals out of what we already have instead of stopping at the store for this and that to make a specific recipe.

We also have a birthday party to attend this evening and I made this grape salad to take with us. This stuff is delicious and very easy to make! It's like crack, you can't eat just one helping. :)
--Grape Salad
I make mine in a 9x13 pan and put the brown sugar/pecan mixture on top of that. That way you get more of the topping in each serving.

Hodge Podge

It has been so nice outside this past week. Granted it did rain on Sunday, but it has still been in the 50-60's and most days have been sunny. I was home this afternoon and decided to walk around the house and check out the garden's to see if anything was starting to turn green yet. I discovered that my tulips in our front flower garden are starting to sprout up through the ground. I was so excited, this is a sure sign of spring!!It was so nice to see that little bit of green amongst all the brown! I also noticed that my veggies are starting to sprout as well. I love the pretty deep purple/pink that the beets are.

I also made some lasagna on Monday night, it was FABULOUS! I mean, even the kids ate everything on their plate (even though I added in some spinach!). Pretty much the only difference from a basic lasagna recipe was the cream layer. Instead of using ricotta or cottage cheese, the recipe called for 1 cup of chicken stock heated up on the stove. Then you add 8oz of cream cheese and wisk until creamy. Pour this on top of the noodle layer. Did I mention how amazing this was?!We ate it two nights in a row and only finished half, so I boxed up the other half of the 9x13 pan and put it in the freezer for another night. Tonight we are having marinated pork chops and veggies on the grill with whole wheat couscous and fresh rolls. This is the second time I am using the bread dough that I made earlier in the week. First time I made a loaf and this time I am making rolls. The loaf tasted really good, so I hope the rolls are just as good.

For the Love of Bread!

So, its no secret that I LOVE to make homemade bread. I mean, who can really resist the overwhelming scent of fresh baked bread in your home?! I certainly can't! I have tried many different recipes for fresh baked bread and I have some favorites, but today I decided to try something new. I usually make my bread on the weekends when I have more time, so I came across this recipe on 'Zaar for bread that I can make the dough and use it all week long. Essentially, you make the dough, let it proof for 2 hours and then you can refrigerate the dough and pull from it all week long. GASP! This sounds too good to be true!! So I thought I definitely have to try this one out!

I am currently in the "proofing" stage. I made it in my KitchenAid Stand mixer and I am letting it proof in that bowl. That way I can just put the lid on it and stick it in my refrigerator. I am super excited about it and I hope that it works and tastes great. It got a lot of great reviews, so I am hopeful for success.

Here is the recipe:

• 24 fluid ounces hand warm water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried fast rising yeast (Or, 1 oz fresh yeast, added to a little warm water with 1 teaspoon sugar.)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 3/4 lbs unbleached white bread flour (6 1/2 US Cups)

Directions

1. Pour the warm water into a large mixing bowl - the water should be tepid or hand warm - NOT too hot, as it will kill the yeast.

2. Add the yeast to the water and then the salt, mix well.

3. Add ALL the flour and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon or a dough hook until all the ingredients are amalgamated - NO need to over knead.

4. Leave the bread dough in the mixing bowl and cover loosely - I use a shower cap to cover my dough! (That is NOT used as a shower cap anymore, I hasten to add!).

5. Allow to prove for 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

6. The dough can now be stored in the fridge or you can use the dough to make a loaf of bread immediately.

7. If baking a loaf of bread now, pre-heat the oven and place a baking sheet or pizza tray in there. Tear off a large ball, about the size of a small melon, and knead it for about 1 minute with floured hands and on a floured board, Shape it as desired (Rolls, Boule, Baguette or Bannette) or place it in a greased and floured loaf tin. Allow to prove and rise for a further 20 to 30 minutes. Slash the surface with a sharp serrated knife if you wish, see photos. You can add a glaze or special finish at this point.

8. Bake at 225C/450F for 30 minutes or until well risen, brown and the loaf sounds hollow when it is tapped on the underside. (If you wish, you can add a bowl of boiling water as soon as you put the bread into the oven – this steams and bakes the loaf to give a good chewy texture and keeps the inside moist.).

9. Remove the bread when baked and cool on a cooling rack. Serve warm with butter, cheese, jam, hams and cold cuts, or slice when cool for sandwiches. Also wonderful when toasted the next day.

10. Store the excess dough in the mixing bowl, loosely covered, in the fridge or somewhere cool until needed – this will keep for 2 weeks, but I find it has all gone by 7 to 10 days! This amount of dough will make between 4 and 5 loaves of bread, depending on the shape and amount of dough you use.

Menu for this week

I am trying to get back into menu planning. It used to make my life so easy and less stressful when it came to dinner time. Here is our menu for this week:

--Lasagna w/ sourdough french bread and salad
--Creamy sour Cream chicken casserole
--Grilled Pork Chops with grilled marinated veggies (peppers, onions, and eggplant)
--Chicken, Broccoli, and Rice casserole

These are in no particular order and I only did 4 b/c most of those dishes I will make the full version of and we can eat the leftovers on another night of the week. We are also participating in another Co-op this year for our fresh fruits and veggies. We will get them from a local farm and they will be organic, not to mention what we get from our own veggie garden. In the future, I am going to try to plan my meals around what veggies we get that week from the Co-op to help maximize the usage of all the veggies. Our Co-op will be starting this month and usually in the beginning we get lots of salad mix and asparagus (yum!!). I absolutely love asparagus and love to grill it and roast it in the oven. Even just steamed with some lemon juice and salt is delish!!

You can search Local Harvest to see if there is a Co-op in your area if you are interested. Or visit your local farmer's market as much as possible to help support the local farmers in your area.

Spring is here?

I think Spring and Fall are my most favorite times of the year, each for different reasons. I adore Spring time because its like that glimmer of hope for warm sunshine and beautiful flowers. After a long winter, I love the excitement that I get over a nice sunny 50 degree day. It makes me want to start my garden and work in the current flower beds that I have. Things are going to start getting greener and signs of life are going to start emerging from the brown that surrounds us.

I ordered my seeds about 2 weeks ago for my vegetable garden this year. They came in the mail about a week ago and today I finally got them started in my indoor planter. I am trying out the planter from Burpee.com, which is also where I bought my seeds from this year. The seeds I got were beets, green beans, green onions, radish, heirloom tomato, and cherry tomato. I got the 72 cell tray, so that means 2 short rows of each seed.

Since yesterday was a nice day, I was able to get out and clean out the old veggie plants from my garden and get the soiled tilled up. I plan to add some more compost to the bed before I transplant my veggies into it.

We also decided to finally put up a fence in our backyard. We have been wanting to put up a fence since we moved in over 2 years ago, but with time and money, we are just now getting around to it. The fencing company came this morning and put up the posts for the fence. They will allow the cement to harden for a few days and then should be back on Monday to board it up. We got a wood privacy fence with a scalloped top. We plan to stain it a dark cherry and seal the wood this summer sometime when hubby gets home. This is what they started today:

P.S. That's the "nature area" behind our house. Besides being a big weed pit and collecting people's trash that has blown away, its not much of a nature preserve. Hence why I don't mind putting up a fence to block our view of it. You'll notice the nice Huggies box in the first picture. Very classy!