Bean Soup

I love recipes that I can make over and over again a million different ways. This is one of those recipes I can make every week and make it different every time. Choosing different beans or combinations of beans makes a big difference in this soup. I use any veggies I have on hand and decide on spices as I am mixing things together.

Bean Soup

3 cups veggie broth

2 cups water

1 cup dried beans

4 cups chopped veggies

2 bay leafs

2-4 tsp spices

Rinse and sort through the beans. Soak beans in water for 12-24 hours. Rinse beans and place in water. Wash and cut up the veggies. In a crock pot place the veggies, veggie broth, spices, and beans. Cook in crock pot on high for 4-5 hours till the beans are soft but not falling apart. Cook for another hour and puree all or part of the soup for a thicker soup. French Bread or biscuits are a wonderful side with this soup.

Leftovers can be frozen and reheated in the oven or on the stove top.

Toppings

Cheese

Sour Cream

Avocado

Salsa

Veggies We like

Corn

Carrot

Bell Pepper 

Squash

Zucchini

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Soaked Granola

Granola is so very versatile and can be very healthy. Unfortunately most store bought granola is full of sugar. Finding a reasonably priced organic granola that does not list sugar as one of the top ingredients is next to impossible. Plus we have been trying to eat more traditional soaked and sprouted grains and a soaked granola is not available. My solution of course was to make my own. We love it around here especially with homemade yogurt. The best part of this recipe is that you can mix it up however you like change the grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, even the amount of sweetener to your taste. We use an organic 5 grain rolled cereal I buy in the bulk bins instead of oats in all of my recipes but regular old fashion rolled oats will work great.

Soaked Granola

4 cups oats

¼ cup chopped seeds

½ cup chopped nuts

¾ cup buttermilk or kefir

1 ½ cups water

⅓ cup coconut oil

¼ cup butter

¼ cup maple syrup, honey, or combination

½ tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup shredded coconut

1 ½ cups dried fruit

Mix together the oats, nuts, seeds, buttermilk, and water. Cover and let soak in a warm place for 12-24 hours. 

Heat the oil, butter, sweeteners, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla until melted and well mixed. Mix the oat mixture and the butter mixtures together. Then spread out the mixture in a large baking sheet. The oats need to heat slowly and be turned often over a long period of time. Bake the granola at 250º turning the mixture at least once every hour for 2-4 hrs. Remove the granola from oven when the it reaches your desired crispiness. Cool completely then mix in the dried fruit and store in an airtight container.

Soaked Pancakes

My kids love pancakes! They can be topped with any number of things but maple syrup is their favorite.

We have started soaking our pancakes along with all our other breakfast grains, it is incredibly easy to soak your grains. Two of the biggest pluses to soaking grains is that you can use all whole wheat flour and you get part of the mixing work done the night before making morning prep easier.

Soaked Pancakes

2 cups wheat flour

2 cups buttermilk

2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 egg beaten

4 tbs applesauce

1 cup milk

Mix together the flour and buttermilk. Cover and let soak for 12 to 24 hours in a warm place, inside the oven is my favorite place. If it is cold in the house I turn just the oven light on which keeps the oven just the right temperature.  

Combine the egg, applesauce, salt, and baking soda in a separate bowl. Add the egg mixture to the soaked mixture stir together until well mixed. If needed add milk 1-2 tbs at a time until you reach the desired consistency. Mix in any add ins* you would like.

Place a small amount on butter or coconut oil on a warm skillet. Pour 1 tbs to ¼ cup batter, depending on how big you want your pancakes, on to the hot, lightly greased skillet. Cook 2-3 min on each side. Adding more butter/oil as needed between batches. 

Serve immediately or keep warm in oven set at 200º. Serve with


Any leftovers can be stacked in a freezer container separated by wax paper and frozen for later.

Warm up frozen pancakes in a toaster oven or oven set at 350º for 5 min.
 

*Add In Ideas

1 cup fresh or frozen berries

½ cup chocolate chips

½ cup finely chopped nuts

Some of our favorite pancake toppings include

Syrup

Applesauce

Homemade fruit syrups

Butter

Whip cream

Honey

Cream Cheese

Cornbread

Cornbread is one of my favorites. We love it with chili or baked beans.

Cornbread

2 eggs – lightly beaten
1 cup milk
¼ cup melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup cornmeal
½ cup ap flour

¾ cup wheat flour
4 tsp baking powder
3 tbs honey
1 tsp salt

Place in Bread machine on Quick bread/cake following manufactures directions

Or

Mix together dry ingredients and set aside. Mix together wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Mix until just blended the batter should be lumpy. Pour batter into a square pan and bake 400º for 20-25 min. Until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean

Chili

When the weather gets cold we love Chili and Cornbread! This version is quite mild but if you like spicy chilli increase the Chili Powder and/or add a hot pepper. Make this up in the morning and it will be ready for dinner. It is also very versatile change up the beans, liquid, and veggies however you desire. 

Chili

4 cups cooked beans*

3-4 cups liquid*

1 Barley

1 Onion

2 cloves Garlic

2 cups veggies*

1 cup Corn

3-4 cups chopped Tomatoes

1-2 tsp Chili powder

½ tsp Salt

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Oregano

½ tsp pepper

¾ tsp red pepper flakes

2 tsp cilantro

Coarsely chop the veggies, onion, and garlic. Place all the ingredients in the crock pot set on low for 6 hours.

Leftovers can be frozen and reheated. Defrost on the counter for 2-3 hours or in the fridge for 24 hours. Warm up on the stove top to serve.  

Below are some of the beans, liquids, and veggies I have tried and enjoyed in our chili. 

*Beans- Kidney, Pinto, Black, Navy, Garbanzo

*Liquid- Broth, Water, Whey, Bean juice

*Veggies- Eggplant, Zucchini, Carrots, Celery, Bell Peppers

Sour Cream

Well it took a few tries but I finally got a delicious batch of sour cream. It was actually my husband who figured out what I was doing wrong when he said maybe it needs to be kept warm. It was so simple I had completely overlooked it and now I am feeling very silly. Anyway I now know exactly how to create the most wonderful sour cream and although it will not save me as much money as the yogurt it is definitely cheaper to make my own especially when we are talking organics.

Sour Cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup buttermilk*

In a pint size mason jar pour in the cream and buttermilk, screw on the lid and shake to mix well. Place in a warm area away from direct sunlight (I used my oven with the light on overnight) for 12 hrs. After 24 hours when it seems to be slightly thick place in the fridge and cool completely. It will thicken up a bit more once it is cool.


*I have read that you can replace the buttermilk with either sour cream or mock buttermilk, 2 tsp white vinegar plus enough milk to make 1/4 cup let sit for 10 min before mixing in to the cream. If I get successful results from either of these methods I will be sure to update.

Candy Corn

For the last 3 years we have been making our own candy corn. Conventional candy corn is often filled with chemical dyes, high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, and gelatin all things we avoid in our house. Although it is quite a process to make candy corn (the shaping and cutting is the longest part) it is well worth it. I must say it tastes so much better then store bought and it has the added bonus of not having any nasty chemicals.
Next year I think I am going to increase the honey and decrease the agave (which is really just a very processed sugar just like corn syrup). 

Candy Corn

2 1/3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

Pinch of salt

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup agave nectar or corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla
5 tbs butter

1 cup sugar –the candy corn base will turn out the color of the sugar

Use white sugar for a real white base, turbinado sugar for a slightly off white base, and rapadura sugar for a brown base.

Natural food coloring

Sift together the powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.

In a saucepan combine the agave, honey, vanilla, butter, and sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly.

Reduce heat to medium and continue to boil for 5 min, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
Add the sugar/cornstarch mixture to the agave/honey mixture. Mix well until fully incorporated a whisk works well. 

Let sit for 20 minutes or until slightly warm and easy to handle.

Place the dough on a large sheet of wax paper or other nonstick surface.

Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. Add food coloring to one section of dough at a time. Kneading the dough to work in the color until it is evenly distributed and the dough is smooth. Repeat with the other 2 pieces. If leaving a section white knead it until it is smooth but do not add any color.

Most Halloween candy corn is white, orange, and yellow but you can use any colors you like. 

Roll the dough into long ropes, dividing them as needed so the ropes are easy to handle.

Line up the dough with the other colors and gently squeeze them together to form a long rectangle.

Using a sharp knife cut the rectangle into triangles. The tips will alternate colors.

Smooth out the edges and dust or roll in cornstarch to make them a bit less sticky.

Lay them out in a single layer on a surface lightly dusted with cornstarch. If possible let them sit for 24 hours to dry out. Not many of mine ever make it this long! 

*The dough can be used to make any shape you want- Try making little orange pumpkins out of the dough or just break off little pieces and roll them in to a ball for a much quicker way to make little candies.