baking

Cooking with real pumpkin

October 17, 2011 by Morgan 6 Comments

How to make fresh Pumpkin Puree

During colder months one of the main activities that people participate in is baking. Baking anything and everything. If it isn’t nailed down it typically ends up in a brownie mix and you like it, odd how that works isn’t it.

One main ingredient that I have being using A LOT of this season is pumpkin. I am using pumpkin puree for dinner, desert, and occasionally breakfast. As I was making dinner last night, with pumpkin puree, I took note of the fact that I only ever use fresh puree and I decided to tell you why.

Whether you want to read it or not.

Fresh Pumpkin puree is probably one of the easiest fresh ingredient to incorporate into your cooking. The flavor is not overwhelming and it is crammed with vitamins. Vitamin A, C, K, E, Z,G, Magnesium, Potassium, Fiber (I added some of my own vitamins letters to shake it up)

You can eat healthy without noticing. This is a big win for me. I enjoy feeling like I am getting away with something.

Would you like to know how?

Get a pie pumpkin and slice it in two. Lay it meat side down and bake it at 350 for an hour to an hour and a half. When it is done, scoop it out and throw it into a food processor until it is smooth.

Voila – Fresh Pumpkin puree that is not canned from a factory. If you want to save it then put it in a storage container and place in the freezer.

Super simple and you can feel like you are getting away with something just like me.

Filed Under: baking, canning, Cooking Tagged With: baking, Fresh, Pumpkin, Puree

Gold Medal Flour Baking Giveaway

October 12, 2011 by Morgan 15 Comments

The fall season is practically synonymous with baking. I know, that for me, not only is it synonymous with baking but it is practically goes hand and hand with images that can primarily only be found on a Hallmark card.

That is where I want to live, in a Hallmark card or Prescott, AZ. However, until that becomes a reality I am going to settle for the reality of my current situation. It’s still hot outside and the AC still kicks on and I am going to be bitter about it until November.

This afternoon I used my imagination and pretended that I was indeed in the middle of fall weather and that baking Pumpkin Bars was a good and sensible idea. Other than the heat aspect it was a VERY GOOD idea.

Earlier this month Gold Medal Flour sent me a package that hurled me directly into fall season. They sent me baking supplies and then told me to bake. I didn’t have to be told twice. I went through the recipe cards and selected the the pumpkin bars and today I went to work….

Here is the progression of the Pumpkin Bars made with Gold Medal White Whole Wheat Flour

Pumpkin bars made with Gold Medal White Whole Wheat flour do not last long

Pumpkin bars made with Gold Medal White Whole Wheat Flour
And yes… That is how my table looks…perfectly coordinated with pumpkins.

The Pumpkin Bars were unbelievably good. The house smells delicious and the boys devoured their slices.

I could go on about how I was secretly proud of myself for baking with Wheat flour and that my children had no idea or the wonderful surprise there was no “wheaty” taste to the bars. But I’m not going to…..When it comes to baking I care about the flavor and these were a huge hit.

Now Gold Medal Flour is giving you the opportunity to bake the Fall season away.

Gold Medal White Whole Wheat Flour giveaway

They are providing the same giveaway as I received:

A VIP coupon for a free bag of Gold Medal White Whole Wheat Flour

A cookie jar (porcelain)

Recipe Cards

Instructions for conversion

Here are the rules to win:

Follow Becoming Homegrown and tell me your favorite thing to bake

Follow Gold Medal Flour on Facebook

Tweet about the give away and reference BecomingHome

Don’t forget to come back and tell me each of your entries – Three separate entries available

The giveaway will end October 25. 1:30 pm PST Good Luck!

** Disclosure:The Gold Medal White Whole Wheat Flour product, information, and giveaway have been provided by Gold Medal through MyBlogSpark.**

Filed Under: baking Tagged With: baking, Giveaways

Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

August 3, 2011 by Morgan 3 Comments

Bacon seems to be all the rage right now. Its celebrity status is almost equal to the Deep Frying rage of the early 2000s. Pigs everywhere are running to the hills…

I recently stepped into the Bacon popularity and made a bacon lovin’ friend some cookies. Chocolate chip BACON cookies. Surprisingly, they turned out fairly good. It definitely is a different flavor but not a bad one.

How to make Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip cookies

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, room temp

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp maple extract

1/3 cup chopped COOKED bacon

1 cup BITTERSWEET chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt – set aside

3. Beat together the brown sugar, white sugar, butter with an electric mixer

4. Add the eggs one at a time and add the maple and vanilla extract

5. Stir in flour mixture until it is just combined.

6. Add the bacon and chocolate chips

7. Bake between 10-12 (I found 11 minutes did the best)

(recipe from all recipes.com)

Give it a try and let me know what you think. I would love to see pictures as well!

Filed Under: baking, How to, Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies Tagged With: cooking, Recipe

Apple-Bran Pancakes and Green Giant Giveaway winner

March 2, 2011 by Morgan Leave a Comment

Bran-Apple Pancakes. Does the word Bran make you shudder and cringe? Do images of backpacking, fast digestion, and the vegan hippie at your local organic store pop into your mind? It did for me.

Usually, as a rule, I stay away from anything that has high fiber and bran in the name. However, I am on a new eating routine and I do not want to gain all the weight that I lost so I sucked it up and pushed my digestive worries to the side and made some Bran-Apple Pancakes.

They look like normal pancakes!

Do you like my “decorative” placement of the strawberries?! That was just for you guys.

These pancakes were good. Seriously. I am not lying. They hit the spot and they did not taste weird healthy. You know what I mean, don’t deny it, that weird healthy after taste you get after consuming something that is extremely good for you… These pancakes had NO aftertaste, my kids gobbled them up and I did NOT GAIN one pound. The perfect pancake. Love it!

Alright, I also made these last Friday.

So not healthy.

Sooooo Good!

Sigh- I love you mini-cheesecakes.

Winner Time:

The winner of the Green Giant Giveaway is

# 29.

Kimberly

She said:

I like you on Facebook

Kimberly – You have 24 hours to contact me through my profile email contact!!!

Thank you everyone for playing and I do have another giveaway soon. CRAZY!

Filed Under: baking, recipes, winner Tagged With: cooking, desert, Pancakes, recipes, winner

The Barnacle baring milk jug

February 11, 2011 by Morgan 1 Comment

Today was a productive day. A day of lessons learned.

Today was originally supposed to be Baking Day! A day in which friends would gather at my house and we would bake sinfully good food and enjoy it. Guilt free! Well, that was shattered yesterday when my five year old came home sick from school AGAIN and I had to quarantine my home. So instead of being sad and depressed about the postponement of Baking day and decided to tackled projects that I have had lingering around the house….

FIRST:
I baked. Even though it was not as fun by myself, I did promise my boys and my husband baked goods. They were salivating in the kitchen this morning in anticipation as I pulled out the ingredients for “Dream Bars.”

I am getting ready! See that picture on the left hand side. Mine did not turn out as pretty but they were still good.

Middle of the baking. Now I took the liberty of circling with the handy dandy spray paint feature on the paint program three items that are always within my grasp. My phone, a needle, and a pencil. An odd combo. I am not sure what that means about me as a person but I thought I would let you in on it.

Final Product:

mmm…so good. Now I am not sure if I am allowed to share the recipe with you since it is from a book that I purchased. The book is THE HAPPY BAKER. Go buy it.

After the bars were finished I felt the urge to finally tackle my Antique Milk Jug that I bought OVER A YEAR AGO. I found it at a garage sale for a dollar and I saw it as a project.

It is really rusty and the previous owner decided that she wasn’t into antiques and tried to paint it bright yellow to make it more “attractive.” It didn’t. The paint job was bad and there are these lumps that look strikingly like barnacles.

I pulled out my trusty Naval Jelly that insured me that it will take that rust off that antique milk jug. Not only did it claim to remove the rust it also promised me that it would eat off any exposed skin and make my eyes bubble if I was not properly protected…. I was excited to use it!

Don’t I look GREAT! No make up, snazzy glasses and my awesome hair day?!

Once opened it looked like slime from Ghostbusters.

I put on my protective eye gear and gloves and got to work.

See the big pink thing dripping down – Slime.
I waited the alloted time rinsed it off and expected a miracle! Here is what it looked like-

Does this picture look familiar? It should. It is the same picture at the beginning. It didn’t look different at all. The barnacles are still there and that horrid yellow paint didn’t budge. I decided to try and sand it off and all that did was shred my sand paper. I made an executive decision. It was a dollar jug and I really wasn’t that invested in the redo. I recycled it.

Final verdict on the $1 dollar antique milk jug = Fail.

I am okay with this fail. I still have a kitchen table that is in pieces in the garage. I mademy husband move it from the old house in order for me to repaint it and move it into the kitchen. I have had this table for a year and a half. I still haven’t found my renovation motivation for that project yet.

Filed Under: baking, Cooking, Crafts, Disappointing, DIY, How to Tagged With: baking, DIY, how to

Don’t rain on my holiday parade….

November 17, 2010 by Morgan 4 Comments

The holidays are here and I am pumped. I adore this time of year. I look forward to it ALL summer. I even keep my holiday glow for at least a month or two after Christmas, and by “glow” I mean “fat.”

This year however I am going to rant and rave on my little “soapbox” also known as my blog. So many people are complaining about the holidays. Some are complaining about the money (understandable- Trust me), others about how busy they are, and still others are upset that their kids are out of school on break. Now, I am not trying to down play other peoples misery, but come on, don’t try to take me down with you!

Here are my reasons for loving the holidays: (yup- you guessed it- a list)

1. Our Savior’s birth. What an amazing gift and we get to celebrate it!!!!
2. Food and GOOD food. Women really pull out all the stops at holiday time. Yummo. (This also leads to the “glow”)
3. Awesome themed holiday shows…like this classic…Ah Friends, How do I miss you, let me count the ways

4. DECORATIONS THAT SPARKLE

5. Parties! I actually got invited to a couple last year…
6. Okay – Lets admit it… Presents

7. Cold weather.. I love bundling up. I really really really do.
8. The ambiance of everything. Stores, inside homes, outside of homes…seriously everything.

I would like to continue but nothing else is coming to mind…

Now, I am truly sorry if you do hate the holidays and have reasons that are completely legitimate. But as for the folks that just like to complain, keep it at home, please. Don’t rain on my holiday lovin’ parade!

Filed Under: baking, Becoming Homegrown, Christmas, fun, Holiday, Home, Humor Tagged With: Christmas, Fun, Holiday, Humor

The Apron made me do it….

September 8, 2010 by Morgan 3 Comments

Did you miss me…I haven’t blogged in over a week! I know that so many of you are just waiting and devouring every single word I write so the gap must have been agonizing.

I haven’t really done anything extremely creative in the last week. I have been pumping out hats from my own personal sweat shop and working on MOPS. Those two activities alone have kept me from my blogging world and now I think I am able to return.

Now I will take you on a little trip into my evening…

I have traveled back in time and have become the 1950s stereotypical housewife. I have been wearing my apron since 4pm today. I came home from a busy day went straight to the kitchen and proceeded to put on my apron. I needed to start cooking dinner but after I began I lost track of time and what I was wearing. I did my daily chores in an apron and even talked to a neighbor in my front yard…IN MY APRON.

The first shot of me in my apron right after I noticed my apron wearing trend…

Doing the dishes after dinner…There is the apron

Turning on the XBOX for the kiddos

And now blogging…in my apron.

This experience has taught me me two things;

1. An apron is convenient however makes me feel old if wearing it around the house.

I am not cute enough to pull it off

2.There is no such thing as a flattering shot of me from this angle.

PARTING APRON SHOT

Aww…that was worth it!

Filed Under: baking, Cozy Tagged With: accessory, Apron

Jersey Shore meets Chick-fil-a

August 29, 2010 by Morgan 4 Comments

I made something gross….again.

My husband is a big fan of Chick-fil-a sandwiches and spent an entire afternoon on the computer hunting down the recipe. You should had seen his face light up when he came into the kitchen waving around a piece of paper with “THE RECIPE!.” I checked it out and it was simple enough…I can actually do this….I am pretty good at making homemade chicken strips and this is very similar.

I got all the ingredients today and I was ready to cook. I was going to make my man happy! At 4:30 I began the process of marinating the chicken breasts and by 5:30 I was cooking them. My kitchen smelled great…Fattening but great.

It was mid-frying that I hit a snag. How long do I cook these things? The directions directed me to cook them until the were a “golden brown.” Well, they were golden on the outside but raw pink on the inside. My chicken breasts went from golden brown to Jersey Shore Tan, very dark and crisp.

When they were finally served up they looked alright but I did NOT like the flavor way tooo much salt. Seriously?! I followed the directions to a T. Also, I couldn’t come up with sides. I can never figure out what to serve with the main entree….

The good part is my husband actually enjoyed my Jersey Shore sandwiches. He ate two!
Here is a picture of the last one….Looks gross in the pic…

Oh-Just so you know. I have never actually seen Jersey Shore. I have only seen pictures of the “stars” and they all look extra crispy.

HERE is the good news! I made something great the next evening! Pumpkin Spice Pancakes!

YUM-O! The boys and I inhaled these pancakes! They actually look pretty good in this picture too!!!

Filed Under: baking, Cooking Tagged With: Chicken, Jersey Shore

Peach Cobbler in a Mason jar

May 17, 2010 by Morgan 17 Comments

I am in love with Mason jars. I have an odd obsession with them. Their look is clean and simple and there is a variety of way to use them other than jamming. I am currently using them as drinking glasses for grown-ups only.

Yesterday I was able to combine my love of Mason jars with my love of cobbler. I found a recipe on two different blogs of how to make a pie in a mason jar….here are the blogs….Rainy Day Farm and Life With Little Ones

I had plenty of Mason jars and an upcoming BBQ so this was the perfect opportunity to make these pies. I ran a test batch the day before the BBQ and I am very glad I did.

If you go to each of the blogs mention above you will notice they use the small variety of mason jars. I did not have any of these on hand. I figured “No big deal, I will make more filing.” Well, I was wrong. The crust came out great but after baking the pies the filling shrinks and sinks to the bottom leaving A LOT of room and dry crust on the top….

Here is the finished product of my first round-

Can you peer inside? It is pretty hollow

The next day I had an epiphany. I would make these pies into cobblers. It worked perfectly and I actually prefer cobbler to pie.

They were a hit at the BBQ and I now have a great recipe!

Now here is what I did….
I used the pie crust from Rainy Day Farm for the majority of the jars. The other recipe I used was from the old school Betty Crocker cookbook

Small Shortcake:

1 cup flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp shortening

1/2 cup milk (sweetened condensed milk works too)

Knead lightly and then smush it to the sides of the mason jar….Makes sure it is a WIDE MOUTH Mason jar. Don’t put too much dough on the sides.

The filling (also from Betty Crocker)

Mix together in a saucepan: 1 cup sugar and 1 tbsp cornstarch

Stir in gradually 1 cup boiling water

Boil 1 minute stirring constantly

Add 3 cups fruit with any juice on them

Spoon the mixture into each jar. Fill it almost to the top. Use the left over dough to make a crumble crust on top.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes… In hindsight I would have raised the temperature to 400 and lessen the cooking time.

Finally, the best thing about this concoction is the freezing aspect. Instead of baking immediately, make everything as instructed and seal it with the jar lid. Place it in the freezer so that you can have some homemade goodness later!

Make it and tell me what you think!

Filed Under: baking, Mason Jar, Peach cobbler, pie

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