Gathered and Growing

I want to share some of the yummy bites I cooked during the month of January. Last month, I was in such a rush and tried to fit in all the “recipes I wanted to bake” by Christmas. Then I realized, it’s okay, just take in every moment with my baby and gave myself until January 6th (Epiphany) for any last minute holiday bakes. Epiphany serves as a final, quiet opportunity to complete tasks, share joy, or finalize holiday preparations. Known as Little Christmas or Three Kings Day, it closes the twelve days of Christmastide. I had seen several recipes for savory rice Krispy treats and I finally had the chance to make my own version. Featured recipe: Herb Brown Butter Cereal Treats.

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• Sourdough Focaccia: In preparation for giving my presentation at the county extension office on sourdough bread, I needed to brush up on my skills and talking points. I prepped my starter to make focaccia. I always follow the Clever Carrot’s recipe, but decided to try cheddar and chive inclusions using the chives from my garden. I had it in the oven, but the bread wasn’t quite done for me to take to the presentation. My mom and a close family friend came for a visit. I gave them a quick lesson on sourdough starter and made two variations of focaccia: Italian herb and craisin goat cheese. I love how easy focaccia is!

• Baby Food: With an 8 month old, I’ve been making purees. He’s getting used to new textures and flavors. These silicone cubes have been my favorite for storing and prepping his solids. Easy to pop out and heat for his meal. I use these fruit feeders for just fruit and an on the go snack for him in the stroller. He loves banana and sweet potatoes.

• Freezer meal prep: Friends of ours recently had a baby and I wanted to bring them freezer meals, along with their day of meal. Nourishing freezer meals were so handy to have postpartum when we were too tired to think and cook. I took a few evenings out of my week to prep. I double batched the recipes, so not only filling their freezer, but also ours.
  • One day, I made quinoa and veggie soup in the crock pot. Once it was done cooking, I filled up 7 soup containers for the freezer.
  • I knew when I baked the cheddar and chive focaccia, I wanted to freeze half for them. TIP: thaw your bread and spritz with water before reheating in oven. It will taste just like the original bake.
  • These air fryer turkey meatballs are my go to! I baked in the oven since there were so many.
  • I had frozen broth on hand to given them. I love having homemade broth for soups and sauces. I use these cubes for freezing.
  • I made egg bites using muffin tins. I love the maple sausage and egg combo.
• Lemon Orzo Soup: I had been craving lemon orzo and this soup was perfect! Kale, homemade bone broth, carrots, onions, juice and zest of 1 lemon. I made turkey meatballs to go with it, yummy!
• Grapefruit Ricotta Cookies: Grapefruit in cookies? I know, but I love citrus anything. I found this recipe several years ago. I had gotten grapefruit in my groceries and weren’t sure what to do with them (besides peeling and eating). A melt in your mouth shortbread cookie, fluffy from the ricotta cheese, and a hint of tang from the grapefruit. I’m sure you can sub for orange. I baked the batch and gave away some in a cookie tin. This is the recipe.

Herb Brown Butter Cereal Treats

This is a twist on the classic Rice Krispie Treat. A bit Earthy, sweet, savory, nutty, and fresh all in one treat. I never thought I would like the taste of herbs in a sweet treat, but the combo is so nice paired against the pecans and cereals. I call this a cereal treat even though quinoa is a grain, it’s technically a pseudo cereal, so the name fits! I found the puffed quinoa here and I have used it in many of my granola recipes. I find browning butter such a fascinating experiment. Watching the melted butter turn into caramelized solids is so cool, which then brings out so much nutty flavor in any baked item. In the video step below, I added the marshmallows after the cereals and pecans, but they can also be added before. I also did not write down my recipe at the time, so this is all from memory. An easy to substitute or leave out kind of recipe. Original recipe from: SaturdayTable

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