The sun!! It shone today on this side of the clouds! I took advantage of the cool-but-sunny weather to rake the leaves in my small backyard. This year I decided to put a layer of leaves into the four raised vegetable beds to mix with the soil in the spring so I ended up with four topped-up beds and one garbage bag of leaves.

I’m just about to turn on a movie that I picked up at the library the other day and pick up a sock that I’ve been working on intermittently for months. I can usually (or "lusually", as B would say) motor through a pair of socks in no time but I haven’t knit in ages and so these have been stuck in a plastic bag, languishing. 

So I’m off to knit and movie-watch while the dehydrator whirs on the counter, filling the house with pleasant smells and causing me to anticipate these,  raw Cinnamon Raisin Flax Crackers. And speaking of raw, I found an interesting new-to-me blog this afternoon. Bart of Raw Bart began a 30 days raw food trial this fall in his words "embarking on a journey to discover the raw food lifestyle." His tagline resonates with me personally as I’m entertaining thoughts on a constant basis about the raw food lifestyle: "Going raw. Maybe. Perhaps." I love it.

(Ah ha! I just went hunting through the archives and found a post from September 1, 2008 in which the sock in question (the first of a pair) is at about the same stage it’s currently at. It was quite a bit further along earlier today but I frogged it back to the ankle because though I’d been knitting on in denial, I wasn’t happy with the loose fit of the leg portion. So it ripped it back and took out four stitches and though it doesn’t seem like much reduction in width I think it’ll be perfect. I really need to take a picture in the daylight though; that picture from a year ago doesn’t show the colours accurately.)

B’s class is having a bit of a Hallowe’en thing tomorrow, as, I’m sure, are the majority of classes in any given school. I decided last night to send something in. I wanted there to be something (besides raw veggies, which he won’t eat) that he could have that doesn’t contain artificial dyes or flavours. His school is nut-free but I also decided to try my hand at gluten-free, casein-free baking and chose to convert the Apple Banana Cupcakes recipe that I occasionally use. It’s a wonderful recipe: light, fluffy, moist, and full of flavour.

My regular tweaks include using one cup each of white and whole wheat flour, swapping out the shortening for 1/3 cup each of oil and applesauce (or all applesauce), adding 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, using 3/4 cup of white sugar and 1/2 cup of brown or only using half the sugar, 4 tablespoons of yogurt instead of buttermilk, and chopping the two apples instead of shredding. It makes 24 regular cupcakes (I only bake them for 20 minutes) or 10 jumbo ones (drop the temperature to 350F for the jumbos and bake for 27 minutes).

So today I spent a bit of money picking up small amounts of various flours to make this all-purpose gluten-free blend. I also used coconut milk in place of the yogurt/buttermilk. I was a little nervous about how it would affect the taste and texture. I was figuring the flavours of the apples and bananas would cover any difference and was mostly worried about the texture. The batter had a weird cornstarch-slurry texture to it (if that makes sense). I needn’t have worried. I can’t find a difference between the two versions in terms of taste or texture/density/moistness. I’m impressed, if I do say so myself.

Sorry. Night lighting. The colour’s a little off.

The frosting recipe is found here. I used the "yellow" portion of the recipe. I used a dairy-free spread instead of butter and added in some brown sugar to give the frosting a slightly caramel-y flavour to go with the apples. The frosting turned out very sweet but if you make sure you’re taking a big bite of the cake with every bite of the frosting it works out perfectly. Kids being kids though, I doubt they’ll do that. The orange food colouring is natural, ordered (along with other colours) online last year when I made B’s birthday cake. The spiders, bats, and skulls were 99¢ at Zellers for a 60-count bag (20 of each) of rings. I’m not sure these rings would fit any kid above three years old but they were a cute way to complete the cupcakes since I don’t have any natural candy sprinkles.

All in all I’m super-happy with how these turned out. I mixed up a batch and a half of batter and filled the regular tins a tiny bit fuller (instead of a scant half that the full recipe works out to) and ended up with the 24 regular muffins and four jumbo ones. I’ll be sending the regular-sized ones off to school with my little alligator/dragon/crocodile who decided this morning that he doesn’t want to be a puppy after all and will just wear his costume (we’re not exactly sure which animal it is) from last year, thank you very much.

I like mushrooms. I don’t love them but I don’t mind them.

I love these though.

This recipe is based on this one from Tosca Reno. I couldn’t remember the recipe as I was making this a few minutes ago and was too lazy to hunt it down. I knew it didn’t involve hummus but I added it anyway.

Take two portobello mushrooms (though one is enough for a light meal) washed, stemmed, and de-gilled. Turn each mushroom belly-side up and spread a tablespoon of hummus* in it. Top with a tablesppon of salsa, a few baby spinach leaves, and a generous portion of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. I baked mine in the toaster oven for about 10 minutes and then broiled them a bit to further melt and brown the cheese. They smell amazing!!

*I added a tablespoon of tahini and about five or six dry-packed sundried tomatoes to this recipe as well as upping the lemon juice to 3 tablespoons and the garlic to four small cloves.

That looks questionable, doesn’t it? No matter what it looks like it smells pretty good.

I decided to try my hand at raw/dehydrated crackers yesterday. Going off this recipe from Emily at Vegan Paris and this one from Raw Genesis, I put two cups of flax seeds (one cup golden and one cup brown) to soak in four cups of water. I had planned to soak them for a few hours but I ran out of time last night and they ended up soaking from about 3pm until 8:30′ish this morning. I put them in the fridge last night and they seemed okay this morning. Soaking the seeds turns them into a gelatinous goo. I threw in a small handful of raw sunflower seeds as well.

This morning I pulled out the Vita-Mix (pricey but I’m loving it!!) and puréed up a large carrot, two stalks of celery, a few slices of field cucumber, and about half a large red pepper. I mixed the veggies into the flax goo and spread them out on three trays lined with ParaFlexx™ and turned the dehydrator to 115F. Now it’s just a waiting game. I expect these crackers will go well with some homemade hummus. Between the faint smell of the crackers just starting to dry and the applesauce cooking down to apple butter in the crock pot (I canned 10 pints yesterday), this house is a pretty pleasant-smelling place.

That’s often the way, isn’t it? Homemade food, gifts, products, and DIY projects are usually so much better than anything you can buy. I branched out today and made something that I have bought in the past, though they don’t often find their way into the grocery cart. I’m talking bagels. Cinnamon raisin bagels to be exact. Freaking awesome bagels with the recipe courtesy of Smitten Kitchen. She made these with Pioneer Woman and she loved them so there you go.

These are a bit of a process to make but I think they’re well worth it. Regular readers here know that it’s just a small family in the rainberryblue household (a family of two) so opting to make 20 smaller ones worked out well for us. I was actually aiming for 24 and figured my weight of each dough piece accordingly but somehow I ended up four short. Not sure how that happened. I baked 12 and froze the rest straight from the fridge; I’ll defrost them in the fridge and then proceed to boil and bake as usual. It also seems to be a forgiving recipe. I left my yeast "sponge" on the counter for at least 5 hours or more as opposed to the two called for in the recipe and it turned out fine. I also added gluten to the flour. I shaped them by rolling them into a rope and wrapping it around my hand and three of my fingers (like this) and then rolling the join on the counter.

I’ve eaten four of these myself already, just as they are. Not toasted, not buttered, not cream cheese’d. B had one toasted and buttered and it was equally good. I used half whole wheat flour and half white and they’re perfect. Next time I may up the whole wheat to 75%.

B had a PD day at school today (a.k.a. Professional Development day, a.k.a. a day off; are they called PD days outside of Ontario/Canada?) and I had a day off work so we puttered around the house. It was overcast and damp but mild so we headed out to the gardens to pull out the dead potato plants and see what we could find. I think I had about eight plants (maybe nine) but we didn’t end up with very many potatoes. If I had to guess I’d say we had about 20 to 25 potatoes, mostly small-ish with one or two mid-sized ones. I used some in tonight’s supper and the rest we’ll have another day. Here’s the method I used to plant my potatoes and I plan to do the same next year, possibly with more plants.

a one-gloved B (the other could not be located) proudly displaying the first potato he dug

B craves this kind of attention and being involved in what I’m doing. Throughout the time it took to dig through the potato bed, there were numerous hugs/squeezes around the waist and declarations of, "I love you!" and "We’re best friends right, Mommy?" and "I love digging tomatoes!" (tomatoes are tomatoes and so are potatoes a lot of the time)

a super-duper lovely headless-and-blurry shot of me with my jeans rolled up to keep them dry

After we dug the potatoes we brought them in and washed them and I then sliced some of them to put in the crock pot for tonight’s supper. (See the menu posted yesterday for the recipe.) We ate lunch, went to the library, where B got out the same Mighty Machines videos that he gets every time we go (borrrr-ing!) and a couple of books, and then came back home and made some super-yummy Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip muffins. We then ate supper, went to skating (B’s in a learn to skate program), came home, did the bedtime routine, and B went to bed. PD day done!

It’s been awhile since I’ve participated in Menu Plan Monday and it feels good to be back. I won’t say how long it took to come up with this menu but it wasn’t a five-minute thing despite its simplicity. And I really should have cleaned out my fridge, freezer, and deep freezer before I made the menu plan so I could make the best use of use-it-or-toss-it items but I didn’t.

Monday: Slow-Cooker Pork Chops, carrots, edamame
Tuesday: Pasta Roll-Ups with Turkey and Spinach, salad
Wednesday: Mexican Lasagna, salad
Thursday: Moroccan-Spiced Tomato Chicken, brown rice, brussels sprouts
Friday: leftover lasagna
Saturday: leftover Moroccan Chicken
Sunday: Thanksgiving dinner at my mom’s (Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend!)

There are many, many more menu plans to be perused over at I’m an Organizing Junkie.

Today is a day off school for B and as the weather is still rainy (it’s been raining for two weeks) it might be a challenge for us to spend the day inside without going crazy and getting on each others nerves. I have some bananas to use up so muffins are likely in the works. I also grated up a zucchini the other day and froze it so zucchini muffins are also an option. If the rain holds off long enough in the morning B and I will dig some potatoes for the Slow Cooker Pork Chops. We may also head down to one of the garden centres to pick up some apples for making applesauce later in the week on one of my days off. I wish we had orchards around here but the nearest ones are at least two hours away and my work schedule isn’t meshing well with the weekend, when B is off school.

Now it’s off to bed for me for a few hours of sleep before my mom drops B at home on her way to work. I worked a night shift tonight (4 p.m. until 2 a.m.) so he slept at her place tonight.

Another week, another menu plan, and another week dedicated to clean eating. Like last week, I’ll be using the same two cookbooks and the Clean Eating magazines that I have up to this point. Snacks will be simple (eg: grapes and a few almonds, cottage cheese and fruit) and smoothies will be aplenty.

This week’s line-up is as follows:

Monday:
Breakfast - smoothie with spinach and flaxmeal added
Lunch - Mango Chicken Salad Wrap (ECD F&K, pg 239)
Supper - Baked Salmon with Orange Glaze (Spring 2008, pg 82)

Tuesday:
Breakfast - Spinach Frittata (Spring 2008, pg 57)
Lunch - Orzo Primavera; spinach salad (ECD Cookbook, pg 81)
Supper - Smothered Mushrooms, corn with tarragon (Jan/Feb 2009, pg 79)

Wednesday:
Breakfast - Omelette Wrap with Spinach (ECD F&K, pg 203)
Lunch - Warm Salmon & Couscous Salad; fruit (Spring 2008, pg 89)
Supper - Shrimp, Spinach and Mushroom Barley (May/June 2009, pg 83)

Thursday:
Breakfast - Crock-Pot Porridge; smoothie (ECD Cookbook, pg 9)
Lunch - Black Bean, Avocado and Chicken Wrap; fruit (May/June 2009, pg 31)
Supper - baked chicken breast; Quinoa with Sun-dried Tomatoes (ECD Cookbook, pg 77)

Friday:
Breakfast - Morning Hot Cereal; smoothie (ECD F&K, pg 207)
Lunch - leftover quinoa; yogurt
Supper - Chicken, Spinach and Ricotta Quesadillas (May/June 2008, pg 74)

Saturday:
Breakfast - Whole-grain Pancakes; smoothie (ECD F&K, pg 208)
Lunch - Dinosaur Kale Quinoa Wrap; yogurt; fruit (Spring 2008, pg 72)
Supper - Pasta Roll-Ups; spinach salad (Spring 2008, pg 64)

Sunday:
Breakfast - Morning Hot Cereal; fruit; yogurt (ECD F&K, pg 207)
Lunch - unknown (heading to Toronto to pick B up from the aiport)
Supper - also unknown at this point

Don’t forget to head over and check out Organizing Junkie for more ideas. By the end of the day, hundreds of bloggers will have posted their plans for the week’s meals.

Today is my second full day of eating clean. I did have a chocolate bar last night (a Kit Kat that was split with a co-worker) but other than that I’ve been doing well. I’m just about to head for a nap before night shift tonight but am cooking up some supper to take with me. I also rescued a chicken breast from the fridge, spread it with jerk seasoning (recipe here), broiled it, sliced it, and froze it for future chicken wraps like the one I had planned to make earlier this week and didn’t.

Tonight’s supper (and portions for three additional meals, held in the freezer) is Shrimp, Spinach and Mushroom Barley from the May/June 2009 issue of Clean Eating. In one word, it is amaaaazing! Very tasty.

Shrimp, Spinach & Mushroom Barley (serves 4)

1 cup pearled barley
3 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
3 shallots, chopped
2 cups mushrooms of your choice, chopped
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups baby spinach
1/2 lb cooked shrimp, peeled and chopped
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup fresh sage, torn
Kosher or sea salt, to taste

In a medium pot on high heat, bring both barley and broth to a boil. Cover and let simmer on low to medium heat, so liquid doesn’t boil over. Set timer and cook for 50 minutes.

In a non-stick skillet, sauté shallots and mushrooms in oil for 5 minutes over medium-high heat.

Add spinach and lightly sauté for about 3 minutes, until bright green.

At 50 minutes check on barley. When there is no more remaining broth, add shrimp and pepper to barley; turn to medium heat if not already. Cook for 5 minutes.

Add shallot-mushroom mixture, sage and salt to barley. Stir and cook 5 to 10 minutes. Best if enjoyed within 4 to 5 days in fridge, or store for 6 months in freezer.

*Note: barley can take up to 60 to 75 minutes to soak up broth. Be certain to not add remaining ingredients if there is a lot of broth left or it will never evaporate.

Nutrients per 1 1/2 cup serving: calories 320, total fat 5g, saturated fat 1g, carbs 50g, fiber 10g, sugars 3g, protein 19g, sodium 310mg, cholesterol 85mg.