Scones Both Amazing and Just Ok

I've made two batches of cranberry orange walnut scones, but I ran out of oranges and decided to make cinnamon ones instead. They are ok, but a bit lacking in flavor. So, I'll share the method and recipe for the cranberry ones, since it is pretty much the same, but the pictures are from the cinnamon scones.

First, combine the dry ingredients.

Grate the butter in, yes grate, it is the easiest way to get that butter integrated quickly.

Use a pastry cutter or two forks to get that butter to the size of crumbs. Then add the cranberries and walnuts and stir to combine.

Add the milk and stir just until moistened.

Divide the dough in half and pat it down with a little flour.

Cut each disc in eight pieces and put all 16 on the baking sheet or sheets if you need more. Bake for 13-16 minutes, let them rest for 10 minutes while you make the glaze. Glaze them up and enjoy them!

Orange Glazed Cranberry Scones

Adapted from Mom Loves Baking

Makes 16 scones

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour (I prefer unbleached)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons orange zest

5 tablespoons very cold butter

1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh cranberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup milk ( I used 2%)

1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons orange juice

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and orange zest in a large bowl.

2. Grate the butter with a fine cheese grater directly into the bowl and use a pastry knife or two forks on the butter and flour until it looks like smallish crumbs.

3. Add the cranberries and walnuts and stir to combine.

4. Add the milk and stir just until moist. It will be quite sticky. Divide the dough in two.

5. Sprinkle flour on the counter or a cutting board, sprinkle the top of the dough with flour and pat both halves into roughly 7 inch circles. Cut into 8 pieces each and place on a baking pan lined with parchment paper.

6. Bake for 13-16 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let rest on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before glazing.

7. To make the glaze, combine the melted butter, powdered sugar, and orange juice until combined. Pour into a small ziploc bag and snip a small hole in one corner. Pipe the glaze liberally onto the scones and put them on a cooling rack, if you can keep from eating them all at once.

Slow-Cooker Sunday: Balsamic Beef Roast

I love a good roast. The kind that you can't even slice because it is falling apart at the lightest touch. Pair it with some sweet and tangy glazed carrots and I am one happy lady. I also love freezer to slow cooker meals. I made a huge batch about a month ago and this is, by far, the favorite of all four of us. I don't have any pictures of the prep for the roast, but it could easily be done the morning of instead of doing it freezer meal style.

This is one of those meals that I actually messed up when prepping. I doubled the amount of balsamic by mistake. Turns out it was not as much of a mistake as I thought. It is delicious. the balsamic and orange zest are perfect together and the resulting drippings make a gravy that is just to die for. Seriously, you need this roast in your life.

First comes the easiest portion of this meal: the roast. The beef, carrots, and all the fixings go straight in the slow cooker. Turn that bad boy on low and let it go for 8-10 hours.

Once the roast is tender, pull it out and then separate the carrots and the drippings. The drippings will go toward an amazing gravy.

Melt half a stick of butter in a pan and add the carrots. Then add the brown sugar. Let it melt into the butter and reduce for 5-10 minutes on medium heat. This will thicken it up and help it stick to the carrots.

While the carrots are working, make your roux. The key to a smooth gravy is a smooth roux. Melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter and add 2-3 tablespoons of flour. Whisk it until smooth and then let it bubble over medium heat for 2 or 3 minutes.

Pour in 2-3 cups of the drippings and whisk. Let it simmer for a bit to thicken and make sure to taste for salt level.

As soon as the gravy is the flavor and thickness you want, serve up that roast with a big old pile of carrots and a nice piece of crusty bread for sopping up the gravy.

Balsamic Beef Roast and Glazed Carrots

Adapted from: New leaf Wellness

Serves: 4

Roast:
2 pound boneless beef chuck shoulder roast
2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
5 cloves of garlic, minced
Zest of 1/2 an orange

Carrots:
Carrots from the roast
1/2 stick salted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar

Gravy:
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups drippings from the roast

1. Put all ingredients for the roast in a large slow cooker. Turn on low and let cook for 8-10 hours
2. Remove the beef and separate the carrots and drippings
3. Melt the butter for the carrots over medium heat. Add the carrots and brown sugar and stir to coat. Allow the carrots to cook in the glaze for 5-10 minutes.
4. Melt the butter for the gravy over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Allow this roux to bubble for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add about 2 cups of the drippings to the roux and whisk until smooth. Let the gravy thicken and taste for seasoning.
6. Portion the beef, top with gravy, and serve with carrots.

Homemade Bread: It's Not as Scary as You Think

Show of hands, who loves homemade bread? I'll just assume that every single one of you raised your hand because, really, is there anything better than a big slice of warm bread slathered in melty butter and jam? Maybe, but I find that claim to be dubious. Making your own bread can be scary. I know, I've been there, but this recipe is easy, awesome, and very much not scary. It is the gateway to all kinds of bread baking adventures. Once you go homemade, you may never want to go back.

This is the full ingredient list. This is it. Super easy.

First, mix the water, milk, and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Then add the yeast and stir a little to help it integrate.

Let it sit for about 10 minutes until it is frothy on top. See the difference? That is the yeast starting to do it's thing.

Don't let not having a stand mixer stop you from making this bread. It is 100% possible to do it without one! Mix the flour and the salt in a stand mixer or large bowl.

Mix on speed 2 and slowly add the water. If using a bowl and spoon, just mix it like you would anything else. 

The dough will look shaggy at first, that is normal. If you are doing this by hand, sprinkle some flour on the counter and knead that dough for 7 minutes. It is an arm workout and a great stress reliever. For stand mixers: knead the dough on speed 2 for 7 minutes.

It will clean the sides of the bowl and be smooth and just a little sticky at the end of the kneading.

Form a ball and put it in a lightly greased bowl. Cover it with a towel and let that beautiful dough rise for 1 hour.

After the hour is over, punch the dough down and divide it in half.

Put it in two lightly greased loaf pans, cover it with a towel, and let it rise for another hour. While it is rising, preheat your oven to 365 degrees fahrenheit, 180 celsius.

After the second rise, put the pans in the oven and let them cook undisturbed for 27-30 minutes, resist the urge to peek at them unless you have an oven window. They should look like these beauties. Get them out of the pans as soon as you can so that the bottoms don't overcook. Make sure you let them cool at least 15 minutes before slicing. It may feel like an eternity, but it is important to let the bread rest. Once that 15 minutes it up, slice off a chunk and chow down on the amazingness that is homemade bread.

Never Fail White Bread

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 tablespoons warm milk
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons yeast
• 6 cups all-purpose white flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

Recipe

1. Pour the water and milk into a bowl and stir in the sugar .
2. Sprinkle the yeast on top, stir very lightly, and leave to bloom for around 10 minutes, until foamy.
3. Add the flour and salt into your stand mixer with the dough hook attached or a large bowl.
4. Pour the yeast water into the mixer and knead until a dough begins to form. Continue mixing for an additional 7 minutes either by hand or in the stand mixer.
5. Use your hand to work the dough into a ball and return it to a lightly greased mixing bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and leave to rise in a warm place for around 1 hour or until doubled in size.
6. Punch the dough down and divide it into two. Form each bit into the shape of a loaf and place into two greased pans.
7. Cover with a kitchen towel and leave to rise again until doubled in size.
8. Bake at 365F/180C for 27-30 or until slightly golden on top.
9. Tip out onto a wire rack and leave to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Recipe adapted from Pink Recipe Box

Spaghetti Night

If there is one thing I can count on my whole family eating every time it is spaghetti. With or without meat, all three of my boys are spaghetti fiends. My favorite thing about it? It is one of the least expensive meals I can make. One pound of spaghetti and a quick homemade red sauce make for some seriously good eats.

I start out with getting a pot of water going for my pasta and then start in on my sauce. I saute some onion and garlic for a few minutes until they get soft and fragrant.

Then comes the easiest part, I open up a can of crushed tomatoes and a can of tomato paste and in the pot they go.

After the tomatoes go in, I throw in some Italian herbs, salt, pepper, and a touch of sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes. One of the problems of being an intuitive cook is that I hardly ever measure my spices and seasonings, but I'll do my best to get a decent measurement in the recipe. I cook by taste when it is something like this. Once it tastes right, I let it simmer while my pasta cooks.

Basic Red Sauce

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3-5 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 6oz can tomato paste
• 1-2 tablespoons italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon salt
• cracked black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon sugar

1. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until softened and slightly browned
2. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and stir to combine
3. Season and adjust as needed
4. Simmer until heated through

Note: You can add one half to a full pound of ground beef or sausage to this sauce to up the flavor

Menu Planning and Shopping Lists

We are having leftovers for dinner, not much to say or post about that, so I figured y'all might like to know how I menu plan and take care of my shopping list. I am a huge planner. I hate not having a plan, no, hate is an understatement, I LOATHE not having a plan. Dinners are no exception. I usually menu plan on Thursdays and shop on Fridays because that is what works for our one car family right now. Once the Hubby is done with school and has a real job, that is liable to change, but for now, it works.

My budget is about $100 a week. It is all SNAP benefits. We are super blessed to have such a seemingly large budget after living on $25 a week when there were just three of us. I am grateful every day that we can feed our boys healthy food and not have to worry about where our meals are going to come from. I'm also grateful that one day I will be able to feed them healthy food without needing government assistance. Anyway, not that I am off that tangent, let's get back to the good stuff. I keep my latest grocery receipt so I know exactly how much I have left for the month and that helps me make a meal plan that keeps me on budget.

As you can see by my super fancy dinner board, I am all about the latest technology. In all seriousness though, I've had this white board since high school and it always serves me well. I like being able to check what we are planning on having as easily as walking into my kitchen. It also helps keep the Hubby informed which reduces "what's for dinner?" Now I only hear it from the almost 4 year old, aka, the Bean. We do have a sort of theme for a few nights a week. Fatty friday, Seafood Saturday, Slow-cooker Sunday, and Meatless Monday. I also try and include breakfast for dinner once a week because it usually goes over well with the picky littles.

I have a plethora of cookbooks. My favorites are definitely Budget Bytes and my flowery binder full of magazine pages and printed recipes. Seriously, if I had a dollar for each time I have told people about how much I love Budget Bytes, I would be rolling in lot of money. Sadly, I am not getting paid, but I will keep sending people there anyway. I use her recipes frequently and have not disliked one yet.

But of course, my favorite menu planning resource is my Pinterest. I love Pinterest. Organization and delicious food all in one place? Oh yes! It can be hit and miss sometimes, but I almost always go to my food boards first when it comes to menu planning.

Before I start, I always ask the Hubby what he wants for meals. Sometimes he has ideas, sometimes not. He is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, but thankfully he will eat just about anything I put in front of him. Once I get, or don't get, ideas from him, I get to looking for recipes. I check what I have on hand and try and make recipes that can use what we have in the chest freezer and pantry. I can't pass up a good meat sale, so I usually have meat portioned and frozen already. Once I settle on proteins, I head to Pinterest and my cookbooks. I jot down my ideas on whatever scrap paper is around and then transfer it to my super fancy whiteboard.

Once I know what we are eating, I go meal by meal and find out what I need to buy. I use the Wegmans app to make my shopping list because it sets everything up by aisle. It is awesome. It also shows the price per item and rough total. Huge blessing! Once all my other weekly staples are on the list, I double check it and I am set to go shopping the next day. So, if you've made it this far, bravo! This the end of my novel about menu planning and shopping lists.