How to Make Whole Wheat Sourdough Muffins

Embracing Motherhood How to Make Sourdough Muffins

I have tried so many different recipes for sourdough bread, and I never found anything that really worked (or that I really liked) until I stumbled across this recipe and found the perfect solution! Who needs to make loaves of bread when you can have these perfect, single size, delicious little muffins? We love eating them toasted for breakfast with butter or cream cheese, as an “English muffin” for an egg sandwich, with lunch meat and cheese for a portable school lunch, or as a bun for hamburgers. Everyone who comes over LOVES these muffins!

The sourdough process is extremely beneficial for your health because it is the best way to get rid of the phytic acid in the grain. Phytic acid prevents us from absorbing phosphorus and it leaches valuable minerals from our bodies. (Read my blog: The Dangers of Phytic Acid and What to Do About It to learn more.) It also breaks down the sugars in the grain which makes it easier to digest.

Ingredients

1 c. Sourdough Starter (Blog Post: Sourdough Starter Recipe)
2 c. Raw Milk (Blog Post: Why We Drink Raw Milk)
4 c. Fresh Ground Flour (I get my wheat berries here, but you can find some similar here too. I use this grinder. You could also just buy some organic sprouted grain flour here.)
*2 T. Raw Honey (Optional: It helps to neutralize the sour flavor. Get some here.)
1 ½ t. Real Salt (I buy my Real Salt in bulk here, you can buy a shaker here, or a refill pouch here.)
2 t. Baking Soda (Optional too, I think it just helps them rise a bit better.)
Coconut Oil (To grease your hands and the pans. This coconut oil would be best, but on our budget, I buy this.)

Materials

Mixing bowl
Towel or saran wrap
Stirring utensil
Baking sheet (I use the standard baking sheets I’ve had forever, but in a perfect world where money was no option, I would love some stone baking ware like this.)

Directions

Part 1: Mix it Up and Let it Sit

Mix together the sourdough starter and the milk. I usually don’t mix it until it is completely dissolved, I just try to stir it up for a bit to make sure it mixes more evenly when the flour is added.
*Add the honey. If you are going to add the honey, now would be a good time. My raw honey is usually solid at room temperature, so I put it in a glass cup and microwave it until it melts. (I added this when I first started making these to cut down on the sour flavor, but now that my family is used to it, I don’t add this anymore!)
Add the flour until you achieve a solid, but pliable consistency. When you use freshly ground flour, it has plenty of phytase that will break down the phytic acid. (Read more about the dangers of phytic acid here.) If you don’t have the time to grind it fresh every time you use it, you can always leave your flour in a sealed container on your countertop at room temperature. Just don’t freeze it or it will kill the phytase.
Cover with a towel (or saran wrap) and leave in a warm undisturbed place for 8 hours. It is best if it can be slightly warm during this process (but not over 90°F). I usually just tuck mine away on the counter during the warmer days, but if it’s cold, I’ll put it on top of the stove and turn on the stove to like 200°F.
*Notes: If you’re just starting to get your family used to the taste of sourdough, I would start out only letting it sit for a few hours. This will still be enough time for the sourdough to break down some of the phytic acid. Then, you can gradually increase the time to 8 hours, and you can even leave it overnight if that’s more convenient. If you set it out and 8 hours later, you’re not ready to make your muffins, pop it into the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.

Part 2: Make Your Muffins

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
Get the dough ready. The dough mixture should have risen to almost double its size by this time, and you’ll need to use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to loosen the mixture before dumping it onto your countertop. (*If it didn’t rise, it probably wasn’t warm enough, or maybe the starter isn’t good anymore.)
Add dry ingredients and knead. Sprinkle your salt and baking soda on top of your lump, grease up your hands with some coconut oil, and knead the dough to mix everything in. *If your dough is too soupy, you can add a little bit of flour at a time until its more stiff and pliable. **It is very important that you don’t add the salt until the end because it hinders the fermentation process. You don’t want to skip it though because it tightens the gluten structure and prevents the dough from getting too sticky.
Sourdough Mixture Ready to Make Muffins
Grease the baking sheets. I like to use coconut oil.
Make dough blobs. Make sure your hands stay nice and greased up with coconut oil and then pull apart a little blobs of the dough, roll them in your hands until they are formed into nice little cookie dough balls, and place them on the baking sheets. (This recipe should make enough for two sheets of muffins.)

Rolling Dough Into Balls (Yes, my pans are atrocious!)
Flatten the blobs. Use the palm of your hand to press them down, and then even out with your fingers.

Flatten the Dough Balls
Place the muffins sheets on top of the warm oven. Cover with some towels and leave them to rise for about an hour. (If you don’t have an oven underneath your stove, you can turn your stove to warm and place them inside with the door open.)
Covered Sourdough Muffins
Bake at 350˚F for 10 minutes.
Place in Ziploc bags and store in the fridge or freezer. I like to cut them in half and toast them or use for sandwiches, English muffins, hamburgers, etc.
Sourdough Muffins Fresh Out of the Oven

*I adapted this recipe from The Fresh Loaf, which is a GREAT resource for all bread making.

Tips and Tricks

Cutting these little buggers in half can be a little tricky, but my husband came up with a way that works really well even on the thinnest of muffins. First of all, hold the muffin up on its side and insert just the tip of the knife all around the edges (almost like you’re scoring it). Then, gently saw back and forth while rotating the muffin in a circular motion until you get to the middle. Walla!

cutting technique for homemade sourdough muffins

How to Cut These Sourdough Muffins

These muffins are kind of little, so they can get stuck in a toaster. I prefer making them in my toaster oven.

Toasted Sourdough Muffins with Butter

These muffins taste great with an egg sandwich, with scrambled eggs, or my favorite…sunny side up eggs!

Check out my sourdough starter recipe here, or take a peek at some of my other sourdough recipes like these sourdough pancakes and sourdough pizza crust.

February 21, 2020/by Stacey Maaser

The Best Way to Make Kombucha

Beverages, General, Recipes

Kombucha is a beverage produced by fermenting sweet tea with a living culture of yeast and bacteria. There are numerous health benefits associated with drinking kombucha, but it’s the amazing taste that keeps my husband and I coming back for more!

Health Benefits of Kombucha

Detoxifies Your Body – Because it is rich in enzymes and bacterial aids, it gives your pancreas and liver a break.
Prevents Cancer – It is high in glucaric acid which studies show can help prevent cancer.
Prevents and Treats Arthritis – It contains glucasamines which increases synovial hyaluronic acid production that preserves the cartilage structures which prevents arthritic pain and enables connective tissue bind moisture which increases lubrication and flexibility.
Aids Digestion and Gut Health – Because it is a probiotic beverage it has such benefits as improved digestion, fighting candida (which is an overgrowth of harmful yeast), mental clarity, and mood stability by basically crowding out the bad bacteria in your intestinal tract.
Boosts the Immune System – It is rich in anti-oxidants which boosts your immune system and energy levels.

Ok, so you’re convinced…drinking kombucha is great, and you want to do it! But where do you get it? Well, if you’re fortunate enough to live near some eclectic health stores, you should be able to buy some off the shelf for $3.50 – $4.00 a bottle or you could buy it in bulk online, but you might just be better off making it yourself! It sounds a little daunting to set up, but once you get a system going, it’s easy to maintain and you can tailor your kombucha to your specific liking. Here’s how we do it.

Ingredients/Materials Needed to Make Kombucha

Brewing Jars – You will need glass jars for the first fermentation. I like doing two jars at a time for a continuous brew for both my husband and I who have different brews, so we use a total of four gallon sized jars. This is the perfect system that allows each of us to drink 2-3 bottles a day and have plenty to share with guests! These plain glass gallon size jars are perfect. You’ll need to cover them with a double layer of paper towel secured with a rubber band.
Tea Pot – I picked up my tea pot at a thrift store ages ago and I love it’s wide mouth that enables me to add my loose leaf tea and sugar. You can find something similar on Amazon, or just make do with what you have.
Strainer – After brewing your loose leaf tea, you’ll want to strain it as you pour it into your container with something like these. You could also put the loose leaf tea in a diffuser like this.
Filtered Water – If you’re lucky enough to have well water, great! Use that. We have city water with no flouride (Yeah!) But while flouride isn’t good for you, it won’t really affect your brew (just your health). What you DO really want to watch our for is the chlorine. Chlorine may kill bad bacteria, but it also kills good bacteria, and it can kill your scoby. Chlorine is a gas and it will evaporate if you leave your water to sit out for 24 hours. You can also boil your water for 10 minutes to do the trick. If you want to invest in a good water filter, I have heard that the Big Berkey ones are the best.
Bottles – If you choose to do a second ferment (which I highly recommend because it creates a bubbly and slightly alcoholic – like less than a nonalcoholic beer, but still nice – beverage) then you’ll need glass containers (preferably dark in color) that can be sealed tightly. (You can also just pour the kombucha directly from the spigot and drink it that way too. This is known as continuous brew kombucha.) I really like using these bottles. I purchased 2 cases because I brew two gallon sized jars for both my husband and I (four all together) and this number of bottles works well with that. You’ll also love this bottle brush is great for cleaning out the bottles. *If you like to drink commercial kombucha from the store, you could just reuse those bottles. I just don’t think they provide as good of a seal.
Tea – It takes 8 tea bags for each batch of tea. I find that the rough equivalent of loose leaf tea is a good handful. 🙂 I started out buying tea from the grocery store, but there so many chemical contaminants in commercial tea that I find it’s better (and cheaper) to buy bulk organic tea on Amazon. There are many different types of tea to get, but it’s best to start with black tea to activate your kombucha. This is what I use to brew my husband’s kombucha. Once it gets going, you can choose different kinds of tea based on your preferences. I seem to be constantly pregnant or breastfeeding and/or just trying to avoid caffeine, so I use red raspberry leaf tea which not only tastes AMAZING, but has wonderful health benefits for women. *Special note: Red raspberry leaf tea has antimicrobial properties that will actually attack the scoby. To combat this, I trade out my not so good looking scobies with new baby scobies from my husband’s batch about every 6-8 weeks or so.
Sugar – If you’ve got the money, go ahead and buy the organic sugar, but being on a budget, I just get the cheapest kind from our local grocery store. I go through about ten pounds of sugar once every six weeks or so.
Scoby (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast) – A scoby is the mushroom looking culture made up of bacteria and yeast that makes kombucha. The best thing to do is to find a friend who brews kombucha and to get one of their scobies. The scoby, or “mother” as it is so creepily called (Don’t tell your friends, “I kept my mother in a dark closet,” or you’ll really freak them out!) can be purchased online as well.

Directions for Brewing Kombucha

Brew the Tea – Boil a kettle of water and add a handful of the loose leaf tea (roughly the equivalent of 8 tea bags) and one and a half cups of sugar per gallon size batch. You’ll have to play with the right sugar amount depending on a variety of factors. If your kombucha is tasting too sweet, you’ll want to pare down the sugar to just a cup, but if your kombucha is too vinegary, you’ll want to add more sugar, like closer to two cups.
Ingredients for Kombucha
Let it Sit – After coming to a boil, the tea needs to steep. You don’t want to add hot water to the scoby because it can kill it, so let it sit until it’s room temperature.
Add the Tea and Water – Use a mesh filter to pour the tea into your gallon sized jars then fill to the top with filtered water. If you get a scoby online or from a friend, it should come with about a cup of liquid from it’s original brine. You’ll always want to leave at least a cup of the kombucha from the previous batch for the new batch. *Cleaning note: About every 6-8 weeks (or whenever the jar starts to look dirty), you’ll want to transfer the scoby and a cup of the leftover kombucha into a temporary bowl, clean out the jar, and put the scoby and the kombucha back into the jar.
Cover it Up – The kombucha needs to stay covered to keep out little critters, but it also needs fresh oxygen, so cover it with a folded paper towel or cheese cloth and put a rubber band over it to keep it sealed up.
Store in a Dark Place – Now the kombucha needs to “brew” for 5-7 days. It does best in a dark place where it won’t get disturbed. We brew four gallon sized jars in a rotational schedule, so I’ve set aside a nice cupboard space just for them. During the storage process, you’ll want to check on it periodically to make sure the scoby hasn’t risen up outside of the liquid. If it does, just push back down. *You’ll notice that I have a small jar in the back, that is to collect fruit flies! Basically, I add apple cider vinegar, water, and a bit of soap, then cover with saran wrap, cover with a ring, and poke several holes in the top of the saran wrap to catch the fruit flies.
Storing the Kombucha Tea Jars for Fermentation
Bottling – After your gallon sized jars have fermented for 5-7 days, you can taste test it to see if it is ready to bottle. The scoby essentially “eats” the sugar, but if the sugar is completely gone it will taste vinegary. If it gets too vinegary, it will start to lose its health benefits. If this is happening, you’ll want to bottle your kombucha sooner or add more sugar. If it tastes super sweet and not very carbonated, you might want to leave it to ferment for a few more days. These batches of kombucha below are nice, bubbly, and ready to go!
Two Kombucha Jars with Scobies

When bottling, you can pour right from the spigot into the bottle. Now, for some reason, I find that some spigots work better than others, so with some batches, I put a pouring lid on my glass jar and use a funnel to pour the kombucha into bottles. (You would also do this if you’re just using glass mason jars that don’t have spigots.)

Lid and Funnel for Pouring Kombucha
Store the Bottles – Once you seal up your bottles, you’ll want to store them for the second fermentation in a dark place where they will be undisturbed for another 5-7 days. Since my husband and I drink two different brews, I label his bottles “Scott”.
Storing Kombucha Bottles in a Cupboard
Move to the Refrigerator – Once you put the bottles in the refrigerator, it will stop the second fermentation process, so make sure they have been allowed enough time for this.
Store Your Empties – I know this might not really seem like part of the process, but the more you can create a streamlined system that everybody is aware of, the easier it will be to maintain the entire process. We have decided that it’s easiest to store the used bottles under the sink until it is time to brew again. To clean the bottles out, we just rinse them out with hot water. After about a year of doing this, we noticed there was some build up on the inside of the bottles, so we bought one of these brushes. It works wonderfully!
Enjoy! – Some people like to drink a kombucha first thing in the morning, others enjoy one after a nice meal, and some may enjoy sipping on one throughout the day. I personally enjoy one first thing in the morning, one around lunch time, and one in the evening. I typically like to drink one when I’m a bit hungry (not starving or it will give me an upset tummy) because it helps stave off the hunger.

Warning: If you brew it right, your kombucha bottles will form their own little mothers. We call this the “goober”. You might be tempted to spit it out, but it is literally the best part of the kombucha and FULL of probiotics. So, bottom’s up!

Caution: If you are just starting to drink kombucha for the first time, go slow and watch how it effects you. It is detoxifying your body, so you’ll want to beware of that, especially if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. I think it’s best to slowly sip on one or limit yourself to one cup at a time if you are just starting out and gradually work up to being able to consume an entire bottle in one sitting.

New Scobies: You will notice that after about 2-4 weeks, another scoby has grown on top of your original scoby. You can leave it there for awhile and it should be fine, but eventually it will need to come off or it will make your kombucha too vinegary. Find a spot between the two scobies, work your way from the outside it, and slowly separate. I usually just throw mine away, but I have heard of people making scoby jerky out of them, and of course you can always save it in a small glass jar with some kombucha to give to a friend who wants to start brewing kombucha.

Variations: If you’re just not into the kombucha flavor, you can add some extra ingredients to the bottling process to give it a better flavor. Some things I have enjoyed adding (separately) are freshly juiced ginger root, tart cranberry juice, and homemade elderberry syrup.

Sugar in Kombucha: There is a lot of controversy about how much sugar remains in the kombucha after brewing. Technically, the sugar added at the beginning of the process should be “consumed” by the scoby as part of the fermentation process. FDA regulations, however, require labels on commercial kombucha bottles to state how much sugar was added at the beginning of the process versus what is left behind at the end, which can be confusing. Basically, people who are on keto diets (so no to low carbs, i.e. sugar) still recommend drinking kombucha, so there you go. If you taste the sugary tea at the beginning of the process and then compare that to the taste at the end of the process, you will see that there is no way that the sugar content from beginning to end is the same. If your kombucha tastes sugary at the end of the process, let it sit for a few more days and then adjust the amount of sugar you add in the beginning.

In Conclusion

It may seem overwhelming at first to get a system going, but I promise you that it’s not that hard to maintain and the benefits FAR outweigh the efforts. I usually spend about 20-30 minutes a couple times a week on the entire process. And once you get the initial start up costs out of the way, buying the tea and sugar is a nominal fee to keep up with. So what are you waiting for? Go start making that kombucha already!

Here’s a great place if you have any troubleshooting questions along the way.

Homemade Continuous Brew Kombucha

Recipe Type: Beverage

Cuisine: Kombucha

Author: Stacey Maaser

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Serves: 4 batches

Enjoy the health benefits of kombucha without the cost by making your own!

Ingredients

Brewing Jars – 2 to 4 gallon size glass jars, iced tea jars with spigots, or gallon sized mason jars
Tea Pot – A teapot with a wide mouth top so you can easily throw in your tea and sugar
Strainer – A mesh strainer for straining out the loose leaf tea
Filtered Water – Use a good water source because your scoby is alive and needs a healthy source of water
Bottles – 12 to 24 grolsh style flip top bottles (or old store bought kombucha bottles) for an airtight seal
Tea – Black, organic, loose leaf tea is best, use different teas (like red raspberry leaf) once your kombucha is established (about 4-6 weeks)
Sugar – Whatever sugar tickles your fancy, you’ll go through a lot of it, but you just need one cup per batch to get started
Scoby – Buy a scoby online or get one from a friend

Instructions

Brew the Tea – Boil water, add a handful of loose leaf tea (or 8 tea bags), add one cup of sugar
Let it Sit – Let the tea steep and then cool
Scoby and Liquid – Put the scoby and the liquid it came with in your gallon sized jar
Add the Tea and Water – Use the wire mesh strainer to filter out the loose tea
Cover – Cover the glass jar with a folded paper towel or cheesecloth and a rubber band to let it breathe and keep out the bugs
Store in a Dark Place – Let it sit undisturbed for 5-7 days
Bottling – Pour the kombucha from your gallon glass jars into individual bottles
Store the Bottles – Keep undisturbed for another 5-7 days for the second fermentation
Move to the Refrigerator – Move the bottles you want to drink to the refrigerator

June 24, 2018/0 Comments/by Stacey Maaser

Best Cupcake and Frosting Recipe for Kids

Desserts, General, Recipes

I have made a TON of cupcakes for my little ones and tried many many different variations, and this cupcake recipe is by far the best. I love using it because it works really well with the ingredients that I use regularly like freshly ground whole wheat flour, raw milk, and pastured eggs which are all great things for children to eat! The cream cheese buttercream frosting that I use for these cupcakes is low in sugar and full of flavor, which is also great for kids!

Cupcake Recipe

This recipe will make 24 regular sized cupcakes or 48 mini cupcakes.

Ingredients

1 ½ Sticks Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
1 ½ Cups Sugar
2 Eggs (pastured are best)
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 ½ Teaspoons Baking Powder (look for aluminum free)
¼ Teaspoon Real Salt
2 ½ Cups Flour (I like mine freshly ground, but sprouted flour is the best for eliminating phytic acid if you can afford it.)
1 ¼ Cups Milk (raw milk is best)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375° F.
Beat the butter, sugar, and egg together until smooth.
Add the vanilla, baking powder, salt, four, and milk. Mix until smooth and creamy.
Julian Adding Milk to the Cupcakes

Julian Mixing Ingredients for the Cupcakes
Pour into individual baking cups (Sometimes I use baking cups and other times I just spray the pan with some olive oil and go without.) until they are about two-thirds full. I usually like making one pan of regular sized cupcakes and one pan of mini cupcakes.
Cupcake Batter Poured into Muffin Trays
Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Cupcakes Baked and Cooling

Cupcakes and Mini Cupcakes

Frosting Recipe

This will make enough to frost 24 regular sized cupcakes or 48 mini cupcakes. It’s the perfect consistency when at room temperature, but keep in mind that it will harden quite a bit when refrigerated.

Ingredients

1 Stick Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
1 8 oz Package Cream Cheese (room temperature)
2 Cups Powdered Sugar (You could really even get away with only one cup, just taste it first.)
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
*1-2 Teaspoons Milk (wait until the end)
*Cocoa Powder, Red Food Coloring and Strawberry Extract (optional)

Directions

Make sure butter and cream cheese are soft to the touch before you get started.
Combine all of the ingredients and mix until smooth and creamy.
Ophelia Making the Frosting

Whipped Frosting
If you want to thin out the frosting a bit, add one teaspoon of milk at a time until it is the desired consistency.
Separate into different bowls to make different flavors. I like to divide mine into thirds and add 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder to make chocolate, a few drops of red food coloring and strawberry extract to make strawberry frosting, and leave one plain vanilla.
Ophelia Frosting the Cupcakes
Spread the frosting onto the cupcakes once they have fully cooled. You can get fancy by putting the frosting into a little baggie and cutting the tip off to make a cool design or use some frosting tips too.
Fancy Frosting
Lightly cover frosted cupcakes with saran wrap and refrigerate.

Frosted Cupcakes

In Conclusion

When my kids get a sweet tooth, I’d much rather make something like this from scratch rather than let them have packaged processed food full of many awful and unhealthy ingredients. Yes, they are getting some pure sugar, but they are also getting some really healthy protein and fats as well. Enjoy!

May 5, 2018/0 Comments/by Stacey Maaser

A Quick and Easy Pizza Crust Recipe

General, Pizza, Recipes

It’s always nice when you can plan ahead and have some healthy sourdough pizza crust ready for your baking needs, but sometimes you just need to make a meal right away without all of the prep work. This pizza crust recipe is basic, simple, quick, and still full of delicious and healthy ingredients. It is enough for one large pizza, 2 small pizzas, or 2 trays of pizza muffins.

Ingredients:

1 c. Hot Water
1 t. Raw Honey (You can use regular honey or sugar too. The yeast just needs something to “eat” so it can rise.)
2 T. Coconut Oil (I like to buy my coconut oil in bulk here. You could use olive oil.)
2¼ t. Active Dry Yeast (one package)
2½ c. Freshly Ground Flour (I get my wheat berries here and grind them. You can find some similar here too.)
1 t. Real Salt (I buy my Real Salt in bulk here.)
1 t. Aluminum Free Baking Powder or Baking Soda

Directions:

Water: Get the water as hot as you can and put it into a large bowl.
Coconut Oil, Honey, and Yeast: Add the coconut oil first so that it will melt, then add the honey, yeast, mix, cover with a towel, and let sit for 10 minutes. It should be nice and bubbly when you uncover it.
Water, Honey, Coconut Oil, and Yeast After 10 Minutes
Flour, Salt, and Baking Soda: Stir in the flour, salt, and baking powder or baking soda. (You definitely don’t want to add the salt earlier as it will prevent the yeast from fully activating.) *To give the dough extra flavor, you could also add some garlic powder, onion powder, basil, and oregano at this time.
Notice the Consistency When All Ingredients are Mixed Together
Knead: Grease your hands with coconut oil, and knead the dough until all of the ingredients are mixed together. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky. If it’s too stiff and crumbly, add some water.
Knead Into a Ball
Flatten: Start to flatten the dough.
Flatten the Dough with Your Hands First
Roll the Dough: Make sure there is a nice coating of flour on the countertop and that your dough isn’t too sticky before you start rolling. Start from the center and roll out until your dough is bigger than your pan.
Roll the Dough
Put in Pan: Carefully lift up the dough and place it on your baking sheet allowing to hang over the edges.
Place the Dough on the Baking Sheet
Pinch the Edges: Use your fingers to pinch the edges of the dough until it’s nicely formed.
Form the Edges
Toppings: Add your sauce, cheese, and toppings. For more info on these steps, check out my blog: How to Make a Homemade Pizza.
Add Toppings
Bake: Bake for 15-20 minutes at 450º F (18 minutes usually works for me). Time can vary depending on your oven, number of toppings, etc. When the edges are brown, it’s a good indication it’s done, but if you cut into the middle and it’s still doughy, cook for a few minutes more.
Bake and Serve

In Conclusion

Pizza is a family favorite in this household and when it’s made from scratch, it can be a very healthy addition to any diet. If I have time, I prefer using my sourdough pizza crust to make a pizza, but in a pinch, this quick easy recipe works for me. You might also like to check out my recipe for pizza muffins, which are a really big hit with the kids!

April 25, 2018/0 Comments/by Stacey Maaser

Simple Homemade Hummus Recipe

Fruits and Veggies, General, Recipes

One of my favorite snacks in the whole world is homemade bread topped with homemade hummus, green olives, and fresh tomatoes from the garden. This hummus recipe is easy to make, super nutritious, and oh so very delicious!

Homemade Hummus

Ingredients

2 15 oz. Cans of Garbanzo Beans (drain and save the liquid)
½ Cup Tahini (make sure it’s evenly mixed)
¼ Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Lemon (juice from one lemon or more if you like it tangy)
2 Cloves of Garlic (peeled and sliced, more or less depending on taste preference)
1 t. Cumin (Some recipes don’t call for this spice, but I think it’s what completes the flavor.)
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
*Blender (You could also use a food processor.)
*Parsley (as a garnish, optional)

Directions

Drain the liquid from the garbanzo beans and add them to the blender. Set the liquid aside to add later as needed to get the blender going.
Add the rest of the ingredients (tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper).
I like my hummus on the thicker side, so I try to add as little of the reserved garbanzo bean liquid as possible which is usually about half of a can.
In order to blend everything evenly, I use a large spoon to stir, blend, stir, blend, repeat until the consistency is nice and creamy.

In Conclusion

By having some delicious homemade hummus prepared ahead of time, you can be sure that when hunger strikes you will have a healthy snack on hand. I love chopping up fresh carrots and celery and using the hummus as a dip or putting it on top of my homemade bread. Delicious!

Hummus on Homemade Bread

September 1, 2017/0 Comments/by Stacey Maaser

Super Simple Homemade Bread Recipe

General, Grain, Recipes

When we were first married, my parents got my husband and I a grain grinder. Since I was so busy with teaching, my mom actually taught my husband her famous bread recipe. He was the main bread maker in the family until we had two kids and I became a stay at home mom.

Scott is teaching his sister how to make bread in our old apartment back in 2006.

Here’s an old picture from 2006 where Scott is teaching his sister how to make bread.

When I have the time, I actually prefer making sourdough muffins (I never have been able to master a sourdough bread loaf recipe.) because it breaks down the phytic acid, but this whole grain bread recipe is great for when I just want a quick and simple loaf of bread.

This recipe will make 3 loaves. Before you get started, preheat the oven to 350° F. Also note that while this recipe is simple, it does take about 2 hours start to finish until you’re eating bread. (Don’t worry though, it’s not so much work as it is waiting.)

Ingredients

6 c. Flour – I use organic prairie gold wheat berries that I order from Country Life Natural Foods (you can get prairie gold wheat berries on Amazon too) and grind my grain fresh with this grain grinder. If you are just looking for flour, this sprouted grain flour is the best. (Sprouting is another way to break down phytic acid.)
1 c. Hot Water – Many recipes will call for warm water, but I like mine scalding hot to dissolve the coconut oil and honey. I make sure it’s not scalding when I add my yeast though!
2 T. Coconut Oil – I buy my coconut oil in bulk from Country Life Natural Foods and keep a large yogurt tub full of it on my counter for greasing pans and cooking. If you don’t need such large amounts of coconut oil as I, then you should check out Nature’s Way Coconut Oil. *You could also use extra-virgin olive oil instead of coconut oil.
2 T. Raw Honey – The yeast needs something sugary to consume, and I think raw honey is the best, but you could also use regular honey or even plain old sugar. I like finding local sources for raw honey, but you can find organic raw honey on Amazon as well.
8 t. Yeast – I usually pick up something like this Red Star Active Yeast at the grocery store, but these individual yeast packets are really handy too.
Salt – You’ll be sprinkling some salt onto the dough during the kneading phase (any earlier and it can kill the yeast). I like using Real Salt because of the taste and high mineral content.
*3 Bread Pans – I like using glass baking pans. You could also trade out a loaf of bread for a pizza crust.

Directions

Activate the yeast. In a large bowl, combine the hot water, coconut oil, and honey. Stir until the coconut oil and honey until dissolved. Sprinkle in the yeast, gently stir, and cover with a towel for 10 minutes.
Activated Yeast
Add the flour. The mixture should be nice and frothy from the activated yeast at this point. Add 3 cups of flour, stir, then add the remaining 3 cups, and mix everything thoroughly. If it seems too wet, add a bit more flour. If it seems to dry, add a bit more water.
Knead the dough. Dump the dough onto a floured table and knead the dough by folding it in half and rolling it over itself, turning the dough, flipping it over and repeating this process over and over again. Try to knead for 5-10 minutes. The longer you knead the dough, the more it activates the gluten and sticks together. You’ll notice a change in the texture after kneading for a bit.
Kneading the Dough
Break into three loaves. Evenly divide the dough into three lumps and continue kneading each one for about 5 minutes each. (You’ll be surprised how much easier it is once it’s divided!) As you knead, sprinkle salt onto the dough about 3 times for each loaf.
Three Loaves
Let it rise. Grease your pans, roll the dough into the shape of a hot dog bun with a crease on the bottom, and place inside of the pans. Set them on top of a stove that’s pre-heating or somewhere warm for about 40 minutes to an hour. To help the dough rise faster, sometimes I’ll open the oven door with the pans on top or put them inside the oven set to the lowest setting with the door open.
Dough Baby
Bake. Once the dough has doubled in size, it’s ready to bake! Bake at 350º F for about 35-40 minutes. You’ll know when it’s ready by the bready smell!
Two Bread Loaves and a Pizza Crust Ready to Bake
Eat! There is simply nothing better than a fresh warm slice of bread topped with butter and honey. This is our traditional reward for a bread well done!
Fresh Baked Bread

Fresh Baked Bread with Butter and Honey

In Conclusion

There is something so satisfying about making your own food from scratch. My kids always love helping me make bread and eating the dough along the way. I love this recipe because it’s simple, easy to follow, and makes the most delicious bread ever. Another favorite snack I love to enjoy with my homemade bread is a fresh slice topped with homemade hummus, chopped green olives, and fresh tomatoes from the garden. Yum!

Homemade Bread Topped with Hummus, Green Olives, and Tomato

September 1, 2017/0 Comments/by Stacey Maaser

Healing Chicken Soup Recipe

General, Recipes, Soup

This is just your basic chicken soup recipe, but when each component is carefully prepared from the roasting of the chicken, to the making of the stock, to the preparation and addition of other ingredients like the soaked barley, it is truly a masterpiece. I like to make some sort of soup every other week or so (especially during the cold months) because it makes a great “go to” lunch, dinner, breakfast, or snack. Whenever I am too busy to prepare a meal or feel hungry and tempted to eat a pile of cookies or go to McDonalds, I just put my soup on the stove and minutes later I have a nice, delicious, healthy, and nourishing meal.

Ingredients

1 whole roasted chicken (4-5 pounds, preferably pastured)
Bone broth (If you’re in a pinch, you could also use bullion cubes and water.)
2 cups soaked barley -or-
- 1½ cups basmati rice
- 3 8 oz cans garbanzo and butter beans (or 3 cups dry beans, soak overnight)
2 carrots (cut in half then sliced in ¼ chunks)
4 celery stalks (sliced in ¼ chunks)
1 medium onion (sliced and diced)
3 teaspoons Real Salt (add to taste)
½ teaspoon pepper (add to taste)
Optional: I like to add variety to my soup, so sometimes I’ll add a few garlic cloves, 1 cup chopped leeks, 1 cup chopped bok choy, and/or whatever else is leftover in my fridge that could be chopped up and sounds like it would be good in soup like zucchini, broccoli, parsley, or green beans.

Directions

Bake the chicken. Check out my roasted chicken recipe here, but basically, you’re going to season your 4-5 pound chicken (I use garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and throw a stick of butter in the cavity) and bake at 350° F for 1.5 hours.
Roast Chicken
Cut it up. Let the chicken cool, cut it off the bone, and leave to soak in its own juices.
Make your bone broth. Read more about making bone broth here, but basically, you’re going to low boil your bones, skin, etc. with cold filtered water and a dash of apple cider vinegar (to draw out the minerals) for 24-36 hours (or at least overnight). Then, drain the broth and use it for your stock. I like using a large 7 quart pot for making my broth so that I can use half for my soup and freeze the other half for later use.
Straining the Bone Broth
*Pre-cook the veggies. This is an optional step because you can certainly just cook the veggies in the soup, but it adds a TON of flavor. In a large wok, melt some butter then add minced garlic and diced onion, then add whatever vegetables you are using. Season with a bit of Bragg Liquid Aminos, Real Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano powder, and basil powder and cook (covered and stirring often) until wilted but still firm (about 8 minutes).
Add the veggies and chicken, then pour the broth over. By adding the veggies and chicken first, you ensure that you don’t add too much broth!
Chicken Soup with Carrots, Celery, Bok Choy, and Leeks
Add your starch. If you’re trying to eliminate starches, you don’t have to add them, but I think it makes the soup taste more complete. If you’re going to soak your barley (which gets rid of phytic acid), make sure you do it properly, especially by rinsing and draining it enough (otherwise your soup will be really cloudy). If you’re in a hurry, you can just go with some quick barley. Barley is the healthiest option, but to mix it up, I like to either add beans (like butter beans and garbanzo beans) or some basmati rice (which has the least amount of arsenic and no phytic acid).
Chicken Soup Over Rice
Bring to a low boil. If all of your ingredients are pre-cooked, you’ll just want to bring it to a slow boil (keep it at about a 3-4, low-medium heat) until it boils, then turn it off and leave it covered. If you need to cook your veggies, turn it down to a rolling boil (keep at about a 3) for about 10 minutes or until the veggies are soft but still firm and the starch is tender.
Salt and pepper to taste. I like to wait until all of the flavors have had a chance to simmer together before adding my salt and pepper. Then, I’ll add a bit at a time, stir, taste, and repeat until the flavor is just right!
Enjoy! When everything is just right, get out your bowls and enjoy some soup! It’s also really good to serve some piping hot sourdough muffins with this meal.
Chicken Soup with Carrots, Celery, Bok Choy, and Leeks

In Conclusion

Chicken soup make with organic, pasture raised chickens using properly prepared broth and grains is just about one of the healthiest meals you can eat. I love making a pot whether it’s summer or winter for a nourishing go to meal that can last my family through the week. Read more of my soup recipes here or my chicken recipes here.

August 23, 2016/0 Comments/by Stacey Maaser

How to Make the Best Roasted Chicken

Chicken, General

This is a very basic recipe for roasted chicken, but sometimes the best meals stem from simplicity. I like to make a roasted chicken about once a week. My kids love eating it cut up into bite size chunks when it’s fresh out of the oven, and my husband always gets first dibs on the legs! After I pick all of the meat off, I’ll boil the bones to make chicken stock and the extra chicken will either go into a pot of soup, or I’ll use it for some other meal.

Ingredients

1 4-5 pound chicken (Organic and pastured is best, look for a local farmer, or check it our here.)
1 stick butter (Pastured butter like Kerrygold is the best!)
1 teaspoon Real Salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon oregano powder
1 teaspoon basil powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder

Directions

Thaw the chicken. If the chicken is frozen, try to remember to put it in the fridge for a day or two until it thaws out. If you’re in a pinch, fill the sink up with warm water and let it soak for an hour. (Don’t try to cook the chicken frozen!)
Get the oven ready. Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
Prepare the chicken. Once the chicken is thawed, pull out the giblets (I throw them away), rinse with cold water, pat dry with a paper towel, and place in a roasting pan. (I like using a glass pan).
Season. Sprinkle the seasonings generously all over the chicken, especially inside the cavity. I actually never measure my seasonings, I just try to coat the chicken evenly.
Butter. Put the stick of butter inside the cavity of the chicken. (You could also rub some of the butter into the skin of the chicken. Just do it before you add the seasonings.) *Butter is not to be feared as we have so previously and erroneously thought. Read more here.)
Seasoned Whole Chicken Ready to be Cooked
Bake. Bake at 350˚F for 1½ hours.
Roasted Chicken
Let cool. Let cool for 15-20 minutes before cutting. (This gives the juices a chance to settle in.) If you notice that the juice is really pink or that the chicken is still pink, cook for another 20 minutes and check again. If you’re the type who likes to check the internal temperature, it should read 165˚F.
Cut into pieces. Peal the skin back and cut horizontal lines in the breast followed by vertical lines. (Save the skin for your bone broth!) Then cut down at an angle until you get big chunks of breast meat falling off the bone.
Pre-Cut Chicken Breast from a Roasted Chicken
Soak the meat in the juice. Let these chunks of meat soak in the juice of the chicken. Cut the rest of the meat off the bones as much as possible. (To remove the chicken legs, find where the two bones connect and gently saw through the cartilage.) Leave the legs and wings intact if it suits your fancy. (My chicken legs never make it past my husband; they’re his favorite part!) Let all of the meat soak in the juice, sprinkle with a fresh bit of salt, and serve!
Roasted Chicken Meat Cut and Ready to Serve
Save the scraps. Save the bones, skin, and all other remnants to make a healing chicken broth and/or use the chicken (and all of the juice of course) to make some delicious chicken soup!

Variations:

You can use any combination of the following variations. Try a few things out. See what you like and don’t like. Get creative and try something new!

Cut a lemon in half, gently squeeze both halves into the cavity of the chicken, and place both halves in there as well.
Peel some garlic cloves (about 4-6 nice sized ones) and place them in the cavity of the chicken.
Use rosemary, salt, and pepper only.
Chop up some big chunks of onion and place them around the chicken.
Cut up some potatoes (or leave them whole) and place them around the chicken.
Cut up some carrots and celery into big chunks and place them around the chicken.

August 23, 2016/0 Comments/by Stacey Maaser

How to Make a Nourishing Chicken Bone Broth

General, Soup

2018

Making a good chicken bone broth (or chicken stock as it is also called) is one of the simplest and most nourishing things you can make. You can use it immediately to make some chicken soup, put it in a Ziploc bag and freeze it to use later, freeze it in ice cube trays to have little bursts of “bullion” to use whenever you need it, or you can simply sip a nice hot mug of it instead of coffee or as a snack/meal replacement.

Health Benefits of Chicken Broth

I love making soup of any kind because it provides a nice complete meal that can feed my family at a moment’s notice for the week, but I especially like making any kind of soup with chicken bone broth because it is pretty much the most healing and most nutritious food there is.

Chicken bone broth is easy to both digest and metabolize (two things that are very different yet people think are the same…I’ll be exploring this in more depth at a later time). This makes it perfect the perfect food when you are trying to heal from any chronic illness or are sick with the flu or the common cold.

During digestion, the gelatin found in bone broth is a hydrophilic colloid that attracts and holds liquids, including digestive juices, which helps to support proper digestion. In her book, Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon also states that chicken soup,

“Has a natural ingredient which feeds, repairs and calms the mucous lining in the small intestine. This inner lining is the beginning or ending of the nervous system. It is easily pulled away from the intestine through too many laxatives, too many additives…and parasites.”

Chicken broth also contains valuable minerals including calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulfur chondroitin, glucosamine, and a variety of trace minerals that are in a form your body can easily absorb. When your body is healing, you NEED these nutrients from nutrient dense food to heal.

Another cool thing about bone broth is that because of the anti-inflammatory acids such as arginine, it helps to inhibit infection caused by cold and flu viruses. In her article, Broth is Beautiful, Sally Fallon explains,

“Science validates what our grandmothers knew. Rich homemade chicken broths help cure colds. Stock contains minerals in a form the body can absorb easily—not just calcium but also magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and trace minerals. It contains the broken down material from cartilage and tendons–stuff like chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine, now sold as expensive supplements for arthritis and joint pain.”

My Recipe

Ok, so are you ready to make some broth? For such a simple meal, there sure are a lot of different recipes for bone broth. With four young children underfoot, I like to cook food that’s as nutritious as possible as simply as possible. This is why I don’t add anything (except apple cider vinegar, which helps to draw out the minerals) to my bone broth. You can surely get creative and add whatever you’d like, but if you’re looking for simple, you’ve come to the right place!

Ingredients

1 4-5 pound whole roasted chicken (Preferably organic and pastured, the stock will not gel properly with a battery-raised chicken.)
One large pot
Cold filtered water
1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar (This pulls the minerals, especially calcium, out of the chicken bones.)
*Optional: Carrot tops and pieces, celery stalks and leaves, onion skins and onion, parsley, and salt (I usually don’t add any of these ingredients except the salt, and I wait to add that at then end so that I can salt it to my taste preference. If you’re going to add parsley, wait until the very end.)
Advanced: Chicken feet (Provides a more gelatinous broth.)

Directions

Roast your chicken. You can read more about my roasted chicken here, but basically, I stuff mine with a stick of butter and season with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano powder, basil powder, and bake at 350° F for 1.5 hours.
Roast Chicken
Pick off the meat. I like to cut my breasts into cubes before cutting off the bone. Then I methodically pick off all usable pieces of meat, cut into bite size pieces, leave all pieces to soak in the remaining chicken juice, cover, and store in the refrigerator until the next day.
Pick the Meat Off the Bones
Save all skin, bones, and other parts. I do typically discard the giblets (unless my cats want to eat them), but other than that, every last little scrap goes into my pot including the carcass, bones, skin, and any other little tidbits. I also like to leave just a titch of meat on the bones for extra flavor.
Save ALL of Your Chicken Scraps
Cover with water. After filling the pot with your chicken scraps, fill to just about the brim with cold filtered water.
Chicken Bits Covered with Water
Add the apple cider vinegar. You have to be careful that you don’t add too much or you will really taste it. You might want to start with just a teaspoon and adjust to taste. Even though 2 tablespoons would be most effective, I usually only add about a teaspoon because that’s the flavor I like.
Slow boil. Bring the water to a slow boil and skim any scum that comes to the top. (These are impurities.)
Cover and simmer. Cover and reduce to a low rolling boil. (On my stove, this usually hovers around a 2 or 3.) Ideally, you’ll want it to simmer for a good 24-36 hours for the maximum benefit, but at the very least, just let it simmer overnight.
Bone Broth Cooling
Cool and strain. Turn off the burner, let it cool, then strain into a separate bowl through a colander. You’ll notice that the bones will be soft and break apart easily. *Do not feed them to any animals, it will tear up their insides.
Straining the Broth
Enjoy! Time to put your broth to use.
- Chicken Soup: Add some chicken, celery, carrots, and soaked barely to make a simple chicken soup.
  Chicken Soup
- Egg Drop Soup: Bring it to a boil, add some Bragg Liquid Aminos, Sriracha, and eggs to make an egg drop soup to die for.
  Egg Drop Soup
- Store in the Freezer: Store your stock in Ziploc bags in the freezer. (Just be sure to lay them flat instead of plopping them on a rack where they will freeze while seeping through the cracks and then rip open when you try to take it out later….um, personal experience!)
- Freeze into Cubes: Freeze in ice cube trays to save for smaller size portions to use instead of those MSG laden “bullion cubes”.
- Sip It: Pour into a mug to sip on. Sometimes, I like adding some Bragg Liquid Aminos and Sriracha for a spicy oriental flavor!
  Bone Broth in a Mug

In Conclusion

If there is one food that you could add to your family’s meal plan that would make the most difference, I would say that bone broth is in the top ten for sure! If you’re not much of a cook, don’t worry! You can hardly get this recipe wrong! If you are, there are certainly a lot of variations you could try to make this a gourmet dish. As we enter another cold winter season full of viruses, I’m sure that I’ll be finding ways to incorporate this bone broth into our diets on a regular basis.

See more ideas for what to make with this broth in my soup section.

August 23, 2016/0 Comments/by Stacey Maaser

The Best Chicken Cordon Bleu You’ll Ever Taste!

Chicken, General, Recipes

Embracing Motherhood chicken cordon bleu

This is the best chicken cordon blue recipe I have ever had the pleasure of eating. The taste is amazing and complex, but it is seriously easy to make.

I have so many other blogs that I want to write right now, but I just have to take a moment to share this recipe that I stumbled upon for chicken cordon bleu because it is soooooo good! I have tried making this before, and I always felt like I needed a sauce to go along with it, but the way that all of these ingredients work together makes a sauce or any sides even…irrelevant.

Ingredients

4 Boneless Chicken Breast Halves
1 lb of Deli Ham
1 lb of Swiss Cheese
1 Cup of Melted Butter
4 Slices of Bread (I prefer sourdough.)
Seasonings: Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Paprika, really…whatever you fancy

Directions

Preheat the Oven: to 350º F
Cut the Chicken: Use a really sharp knife to cut the breasts into layers that are ¼ thick.
My Workstation for Chicken Cordon Bleu
Ham and Swiss: Top each chicken breast filet with a slice of cheese and then ham.
Roll It: Roll, tuck the ends, and secure with a couple of toothpicks.
Butter: Use a glass bowl to melt the butter (the shallower the better), then dip the entire roll in it. Make sure the butter gets into every crevice.
Breadcrumbs: Use a blender, or crumble by hand, the slices of bread. Add your preferred seasonings and mix. After dipping the chicken in butter, roll it around in the breadcrumbs.
Baking Pan: Place the chicken rolls into a (preferably glass) baking pan. You can squish them together pretty closely.
Ready to bake!
Cook: Bake for 40 minutes at 350º F.
Ok…so a few are missing already. 🙂
Serve: Serve alone or with noodles or rice and some sort of veggie like broccoli or asparagus.
Kid’s Plate of Chicken Cordon Bleu