Maple Oatmeal Bread and "Tricky" recipes

My friend Kelly emailed me this recipe recently. I tried it last weekend and since it made two loaves, I shared with her and her family, and in turn they shared brownies with me, it worked out pretty good :) The recipe has real maple syrup and coffee in it! So yummy.
This is the oatmeal heated up with the syrup, butter, coffee, etc.
The bread turned out to be a little sweet. I made some honey butter that went really well on it! Here is the recipe:

5 3/4 or 6 1/4 c all purpose flour

2 pkgs yeast (5 1/2 tsp)

1 1/2 cups prepared coffee (the darker the better)

1 cup quick cooking oats

3/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/3 c butter

2 tsp salt

2 eggs

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour and the yeast. In a saucepan heat tje coffee, oats, maple syrup, butter and salt over medium low heat just until warm and butter is almost melted.

Add flour mixture along with eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl. Beat on high for 3 minutes

Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can. Turn dough out on to a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic about 3-5 minutes. Shape into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease. Cover; let rise until doubled, about an hour.

Punch dough down. Turn on to floured surface; divide in half. Cover, let rest 10 minutes. Lightly grease two loaf pans and set aside.

Shape dough into 2 loaves by patting and rolling. Place into prepared pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled. (30-45 minutes). Preheat oven to 375.

Bake for 30 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

I have had the cookbook, The Sneaky Chef for a few years now. I got it back when Lane never wanted to eat anything good for him. He has gotten much better but Reese was gone a few nights last week so I made some "tricky" dinners. The first one is Tricky Taco Soup. It was really good and I would have served it to Reese too, it doesn't taste like kid food. It has a sweet potato/carrot puree in it and a white bean puree too. The cookbook gives you a bunch of recipes for purees to sneak into your kids foods. The soup was really flavorful and Lane would never know that "stuff" was in there.
The next night I made pizza and decided to mix some of the sweet potato/carrot puree in with the pizza sauce. I also made a homemade whole wheat crust. It turned out really well. If anyone wants the soup recipe, just let me know. For now, here is my pizza crust recipe, I use it ALL the time.

Place ingredients in a bread machine in the following order:

1/2 cup warm water

1 T olive oil

1 1/2 cups flour (for wheat I do 1 cup all purpose and 1/2 cup wheat flour)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp yeast

Set your machine on 1 lbs loaf and dough setting. It is enough for one pizza. I roll mine out with some cornmeal on a pizza stone and let rise about 30 minutes before I put the toppings on and bake at 425 for about 15 minutes.

I'll try to take some pictures of Estelle this week and post them. Another busy week ahead. Lots of appointments. I am sick of dr appointments! Also, Estelle got her first cold last weekend and it's still hanging on. Poor baby, we've had a few rough nights and I am feeling quite sleep deprived. I've been feeling things getting on top of me lately and the lack of sleep can push me over the edge. Praying for sleep, healing (I haven't been too well lately either), and for peace.

Busy, Busy!

We have been busy, once again, I am not sure what we've been busy with! It's been a little rainy recently and the other day Lane pointed out this gorgeous rainbow outside the window!

Lane had a four day weekend. On Friday we went to our friends the Hansen's. Lane's highlight was mini golfing. Or as he calls it, "pit pit golf." Kristian, Hunter and Jason all got to meet Estelle for the first time and Elaina got to see her again, she has changed so much since she saw her last. The rest of the weekend we really laid low. It was so nice to not have anything to do. Estelle got her first cold, poor thing had a fever and has has a really stuffy nose mainly at night.

I got to watch our friends Kyle and Leah's kiddos last Wednesday. Charlie will be two soon and Lucy is 4 days older than Estelle. It was so fun to see those two together. I am excited for them to get to be good friends. Since our cousins are so far away, we need to have good friends for our kids!

Speaking of cousins, we've got a new cousin!!

Reese's brother Mason and his wife Amanda welcomed their first baby over the weekend, Abigail Marie. Abigail and Estelle are 3 months apart, lots of fun times to be had with those two.

Not much of a menu the past week. Reese has been gone a lot, so lots of easy stuff like pancakes and ravioli for dinner. I've been slowly working on the identity theft thing. We will pretty much have to prove to the IRS that Case is our son, which is just ridiculous! And I've been working on getting fraud alerts out on his social security number and checking his credit report, but since he was a minor, it gets complicated. I am trying to keep a good attitude about it, if that's possible. It is so important to us that this person doesn't get away with this. I am not about seeking revenge, just stopping it, it's more about honoring our sweet baby Case and keeping his identity his, not someone else's. Please pray that it will get fixed and that it won't cause too much stress to our family, as if we need any more of that!

How I love these four!

Estelle and I
Case and I
She's got him wrapped around her finger! Daddy loves his baby girl!
This kid is loving having another baby in the house! He is so good with her and proud of her too!
Little Miss all ready for her first Valentines party last week! She even gave Valentines to all her little friends.

Painted initials for the boys...

we made hair clips for the girls...

and made some chocolate covered cherries for the mama's! I printed off the valentines from graphicsfairy.com, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the vintage look! Happy Valentines Day!

Randomness + menu

We've had a busy week. I can't really tell you what we've been busy doing, it just has been. I am tired. I've been trying to simplify, it's not working, I am going to keep trying.

Here is what we've been eating this past week:

Wednesday: Orange chicken and rice (the orange chicken from Costco, from a box, GASP)

Thursday: Ruebens and pasta salad

Friday: Flank Steak Fajitas

Saturday: Tortellini with tomato cream sauce and salad (recipe below)

Sunday: Mexican Corn and Bean soup with cornbread

Monday: Calzone with Salad

Tuesday: Pulled Pork Sandwiches, baked beans, salad

The tortellini was wonderful! I got it out of my Taste of Home Simple and Delicious magazine this month

Tortellini with Tomato Cream Sauce ( don't have a picture, too busy)

1 pkg (16oz) frozen cheese tortellini (I used buitoni's fresh cheese tortellini)

1 small onion, chopped

2 T olive oil

3 garlic cloves

1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1 1/2 tsp dried basil

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Additional cheese for sprinkling

Cook tortellini according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add the tomatoes, spinach, basil, salt and pepper. Cook and stir over medium heat until liquid is absorbed, about 3 minutes. Stir in cream and cheese. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 8-10 minutes or until thickened. Drain tortellini; toss with sauce. Sprinkle with additional cheese.

So on to bigger things than food. Once again our family has been reminded of how cruel this world can be. This week we found out that Case's identity has been stolen. Someone is using his social security number. I was sick. I was angry. I questioned why this happened on top of everything else. Isn't it bad enough that our baby died, now someone steals his identity to make money? Well, we can't let it go on. Reese made a lot of phone calls and filed a police report, we will see what comes of it.

Today my devotional really hit home, especially after finding all this out. The author of the book had two infants die because of a fatal genetic disorder. I am going to type the whole thing out because I think it is the best way I've seen someone describe why it is we suffer.

"Many people have asked David and me if we believe God "chose" us to have two children with a fatal syndrome, sometimes adding that they believe "God knows whom he can trust with these things." But that has never rung true with me. All I have to do is look around and I realize that human suffering surrounds me- regardless of whether or not those who suffer are people of faith.

While we firmly believe that nothing comes into our lives that does not pass through the sovereign hands of God, we don't believe that God picked us out for this. The fact that we have had two children with this fatal syndrome is the natural result of two parents who have the genetic predisposition for it. We live in a world where sin has taken root and corrupted everything- even our genetic code.

Death, disease, destruction- much of the evil that happens in this world, in your world, in my world- are the results of living in a world that is under a curse. And so some of the suffering that you and I experience is the natural result of living in a fallen, broken world. Faith does not insulate us from this. Romans 5 :12 helps us understand: "When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned."

This world is broken, and we regularly experience that brokenness in the form of suffering. So we should expect natural disasters, deadly viruses, defective genes- because this world is broken and will continue to be broken until the return of Christ. he will usher in a new era with a new heaven and a new earth that is no longer cursed like the one we are living in now. In your search for a cause for your suffering, could it be simply that the brokenness of this world had touched you personally and painfully?" (from the One Year Book of Hope by Nancy Guthrie)

I think this answers all my questions as to why has all this happened. I live in a broken world. But....I have this verse on my refrigerator, it sums up what we as Christians have to look forward to.

"And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." Revelation 21:4

And because I can't post without a picture and because Estelle is so adorable, here is a picture of her :)

Italian Beef Sandwiches

First I will show off Estelle in her Bumbo seat. She feels like such a big girl sitting up and watching everything going on around her.
These Italian Beef Sandwiches in the crock pot turned out really good. They were a little spicy, so if your family doesn't like a lot of spice then I wouldn't use the pepperoncinis, or just use less. I also put the rolls under the broiler with some provolone cheese on one side.

3-4 lbs beef chuck roast

1 oz pkg Italian salad dressing mix

2 tsp Italian seasoning

8 oz jar pepperoncini peppers

10 1/2 oz can beef broth

pepper and garlic powder to taste

6-8 kaiser rolls

Combine ingredients, except rolls, in a slow cooker. Heat on low setting for 6-8 hours. Remove roast, shred and return to slow cooker until warmed through. Spoon onto toasted rolls to serve, use juice for dipping.

Little Miss Estelle

This little one is keeping me on my toes! We went to do this "photo shoot" in her room the other day (Feb 1st), I got her all nakey and laid her on her tummy and she rolled right over. I got all excited and rolled her back on her tummy and then she did it again! She will be 12 weeks on the 5th, this is the earliest any of my babies has rolled over.

Estelle is very curious with her big blue eyes and she is really social. She loves her bouncy seat and swing because they have animals that move around on them and she will just stare and smile and talk at them.

I am really enjoying my days with Estelle. I am trying to stay home more just to hang out and enjoy her.

Here is our meal plan for the week too. I have a couple new crock pot meals that I am going to try, I am hoping to simplify things a bit on the week nights.

Wednesday: waffles and bacon (Lane's fave is breakfast for dinner)

Thursday: Italian Beef Sandwiches (crockpot) with chili potato wedges

Friday: BBQ chicken salad

Saturday: Chicken and Noodles (a Pioneer Woman recipe here)

Sunday: Taco Dip and Salad (plus lots of super bowl snacks)

Monday: Homemade Pizza

Tuesday: Cranberry Dijon Pork Roast (crockpot) with Sweet Potatoes and peas

Also the here is the link to the Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad that I made a couple weeks ago.

The Jansen's Visit!

Vance, Michele and boys (Hazel got sick and had to stay with Grandma and Grandpa) came down for a visit last weekend. The first day we hung out in San Diego, went to the beach and had dinner in Old Town. The boys had a blast boogie boarding and playing in the sand.
For the next two days we went to Disneyland. Kristen sent Estelle some Minnie ears and socks that she was sporting the first day (until she pooped through her outfit and then they didn't match the new one).




We watched the World of Color show at California Adventure. It was AMAZING! I also got to go on lots of rides that I haven't been able to the last 2 times because I was pregnant. The Tower of Terror is my new favorite and California Screamin' is a blast.
These boys were so silly! I love how they all get along so great. Watching them do all their weird boy things is so much fun :)
Estelle pretty much just hung out in her stroller. She was very good and slept really well in the hotel. It was a great weekend with some really great company, and Kristen and her girls even came to meet us the first night. It was great spending time with everyone! Now time to catch up at home this week!