Sweet Potato Pie/Casserole

This recipe was posted on Food Network as a pie recipe but we make it to serve as a side dish and serve it warm. 

Crust:
10 whole graham crackers, finely ground
1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 stick butter, melted

Filling:

1 40 oz. can sweet potatoes, drained
2 large eggs
1/3 cup dark brown sugar (original called for ½ cup)
1/2 cup whole milk (original called for cream)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:  1 T. brown sugar

Crust Prep:  Heat oven to 350. In a bowl, stir the graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar until well combined. Add melted butter and mix until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Press firmly and evenly on the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate or casserole dish to create a crust, being sure there are no cracks. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven.

Filling Prep (while crust bakes): Drain can of sweet potatoes. Combine all filling ingredient in bowl and whisk until very smooth. Pour the filling into the partially baked crust. Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon brown sugar over top and bake in the center of the oven until set, about 40 minutes (adjust time based on size of dish - bake until center is set and doesn't jiggle).

Pie/casserole can be served warm or room temperature.

Adapted from Dave Lieberman’s recipe from Food Network.

Yes, Santa Claus and Elves are Real

My children were asking too many questions this year. They love the magic of Santa and of Snowflake, their Elf on a Shelf. In fact Snowflake has become more significant than Santa due to her daily visits and letters back and forth. However, it was time.  Snowflake left the following note this morning.

Congratulations!  You figured out the secret.  I didn’t want to tell you because it brings me immense joy to see you wake up each morning to find me and read my letters. I also enjoy reading your letters and seeing how you have developed as a writer.

 

You are the embodiment of the spirit of Christmas and are an elf’s dream come true.  Never stop believing in the magic of Christmas.  The truth is that there is a Santa Claus and I truly am magic but this is only possible with help from millions of parents and grandparents and even children who have the spirit of giving in their heart.  To be a Santa or an elf, you need to be willing to give to others without them knowing that you are the one giving. We do not give for recognition’s sake but because God wants us to be generous to others. That is what I love about you… your spirit of giving.  Always keep that alive. 

It is of utmost importance that you not spoil the secret for other boys and girls.  Think of all the joy you have had over the years and you do not want to spoil that for anyone else. Please tell your brother that he needs to keep the magic alive also.

And now that you know the secret, I am yours to keep and hold and love until you have a little boy or little girl that needs an elf and some magic and the spirit of Christmas. Merry Christmas and God bless you!

Your elf and friend forever,

Snowflake

Where are the Role Models?

I know this is a tough morning for 50% of the country but please know that Hillary's loss had nothing to do with her gender any more than Trump's win had anything to do with his moral qualifications or lack thereof. It is so easy to look for places to place blame when things don't go how we think they should. We had 2 flawed candidates and America rejected one of those candidates more than the other one. Are we that shallow of a country to believe that someone deserves our vote because of their gender? Shouldn't it be more about their qualifications or in this case, their lack of corruption? In this election, I realize that it is a fine line but we didn't have much to work with this time.

There will come a day when a qualified woman is elected to President of the United States. I want that woman to be someone my daughter can look up to, not because of her gender alone but because she represents women in a way that makes me proud of that important first. It is not a noble accomplishment when tainted by criminal activity and elitist, progressive policies. It is just just gender politics. That is what children do in class elections. The boys vote for the boys and the girls vote for the girls.

As for Trump, I am not jumping for joy that we elected a man who caused so many to vote for him out of fear of electing Hillary. I will accept it as a win though because he is, in fact, better than the alternative... I hope.

Electing Trump does not mean that America is racist or devalues women or that sexual assault victims now need to live in fear. It just means that the other candidate was viewed as more flawed and did not get as many electoral votes. We need to stop looking to presidents as positive role models for our children.  Neither Trump nor Clinton deserve that title.  One is a womanizer and the other one is married to one and has made excuses for her husband for decades.  Stop giving these people so much power over your lives.  

Moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, neighbors, friends, teachers, pastors...and above all, Jesus Christ.... those are the role models for your children. If you are fearful that your president is a poor role model for your children, find them some better role models. Our president is one person in this world out of billions. I think you can do better.

Ted Cruz's Real Position on Ethanol

Wait, what?  This is a blog about milled flour and food. Why are you talking about politics? First of all, ethanol absolutely does affect our food supply but I will leave that for another post. Secondly, the truth is that my focus has shifted over the past few years because our country is in serious trouble.  We are at a crossroads and with it being 4 days until the Iowa caucus, I'm jumping right in.... with Ted Cruz and ethanol  - that is the hot button issue with many Iowans so it needs some clarification.

I do not pretend to be an expert on the ethanol industry however in the short time I have researched the issue, I have come to the conclusion that the ethanol lobby serves one purpose: lining the ethanol lobbyist's pockets with our money.  I live in Iowa. I absolutely support farmers however I do not support lobbyists who get paid to make deals with politicians at the expense of taxpayers and the free market.

I received the following letter in the mail this week. It answers my questions better than anything I have seen. Please take the time to read it if you have any concerns about Ted Cruz and his position on ethanol. It was written by an Iowa farmer, David VanderGriend, who is intimately involved in the Iowa ethanol industry and was a pioneer in the field. In fact, the VanderGriend distillation unit was the first exclusive fuel alcohol still ever registered in U.S. That was in 1979.  This farmer appears to have built his livelihood on the ethanol industry. Here is his letter:

From the Desk of
DAVID VANDERGRIEND

Dear Fellow Conservative,

You and I don’t know each other well, but I am going to write today as if we are old friends.

Why? Because the subject of this letter—Iowa’s agriculture economy—is personal to me. And when agenda-driven political attacks threaten Iowa’s farming communities, I take that very personally and am inclined to take action as well.

That is why I decided to write you this letter today. You have received lots of slick attack mailings against Senator Ted Cruz claiming he is somehow “against the farmer” or “anti-ethanol.” These claims are false. While all these mailings harp on Sen. Cruz’s opposition to the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), that fact alone does not make him anti-ethanol.

To the contrary, Senator Ted Cruz is pro-ethanol. And in my opinion, he is the forward-thinking leader for Iowa agriculture we need working for us in the White House.

And believe me, I am in a position to judge which candidates will really help Iowa’s economy, and which candidates are just telling us what we want to hear. After growing up on a farm outside Sheldon, Iowa and experiencing the importance of farming on the economy of rural America, I have made it my mission to help sustain agriculture by finding innovative ways to turn grain into renewable energy such as ethanol. I have been involved in ethanol since the very beginning and have built over half the ethanol plants in Iowa.

In short, no one is more personally and financially invested in ethanol than I am.

And I can say the accusations being leveled at Senator Cruz on ethanol are untrue. Some have stated Sen. Cruz won’t even meet with industry leaders. Well, he’s met with me several times, and
he and I have had in-depth discussions on ethanol and the best ways for the federal government to help Iowa’s ethanol industry grow in the future. And let me tell you, this man is not the ideologically-rigid, anti-ethanol demon his opponents are trying to portray him as in all these ridiculous ads.

Is Cruz anti-mandate? Yes. In fact, he is against all federal mandates, including those supporting the oil industry in his home state of Texas.

But does that make Ted Cruz anti-ethanol? No. Not at all.

Anyone who thinks the two are inseparable may not be seeing the big picture for ethanol, or understand what is really going to determine our fate.

The RFS helped ethanol producers gain access to consumers at first, but moving forward, it will not do anything to drive demand in a way that really helps the industry grow in a free market with consumers choosing the fuels they like.

It’s sort of like the recovery I recently made from hip replacement surgery this past Thanksgiving. At first, I needed two crutches just to walk across the room. A month later, I could get around with just one crutch. After a few more weeks, all I needed was a cane. Today, I don’t need anything——I’m walking around on the two feet God gave me, and nothing else. No canes, no crutches.

Well here’s the deal: for ethanol. the RFS is the crutch. At first it’s necessary, but if you rely on it forever, you can’t go very far, or very fast. The time has come that our goal for the ethanol industry must be to stand on our own. That’s the only way to get where we need to go.

How do we do that?

By getting rid of all the Environmental Protection Agency regulatory roadblocks that Washington has layered in front of us during the past 20 years, we will then be able to move forward with sunsetting
the RFS.

Which presidential candidate really gets this?

Senator Ted Cruz. He has studied this issue closely himself, and is committed to a real forward- thinking agenda that will help the ethanol industry grow over the next decade:

• Eliminate unreasonable and unfair caps on the blend rate. 
• Remove government restrictions that artificially limit market demand for E15 and E30 blends.
• Ending Catch-22 regulations that nonsensically prevent mid-level blends from serving as test fuels.  
• Enforce anti-trust laws to ensure the oil-and-gas industry can’t block access to the market for ethanol producers.

The bottom line is if we can eliminate the regulations holding us back, that will open up a market three times bigger than the RFS. The farmer and the ethanol business in Iowa will have a future we can
plan, without worrying about arbitrary rulings from bureaucrats working at the EPA.

Over the years, I’ve met plenty of candidates who just say they are “pro-ethanol.” They will reflexively support the RFS because they don’t understand the issue and figure it’s the easiest way to get our votes.

Senator Cruz is better than that, and in my opinion, he is the most enlightened, principled ally ethanol has in the entire field of presidential candidates, because he has actually spent the time to learn and understand our issues.

Iowans like you have a serious responsibility to choose wisely in this Republican Presidential Caucus. For my part, I’ve given all the candidates serious consideration, and I wholeheartedly support Senator Ted Cruz, because as president, he will help ensure the ethanol industry in Iowa and nationwide will have a strong and vibrant future.

Thank you for your time today. I hope you will join me and offer Senator Cruz your support in the February lst Iowa Caucus.

Respectfully,


David VanderGriend,
ICM, Inc.

Source: Letter sent via U.S. Mail to Iowa voters by Keep the Promise I

P.O. Box 473 * Wall Lake, IA 51466
Paid for by Keep The Promise I. Not authorized by any candidate
or candidate's committee. www.keepthepromise1.com

Coconut Fudge (a.k.a. Brain Fudge)

1 cup (scant) coconut oil 
3/4 cup peanutbutter or almond butter
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup honey or agave nectar or sugar
dash of salt (optional- last time I forget the salt and it tasted fine)


Make sure coconut oil is liquid when you measure it since that will affect your measurement. Melt all ingredients in saucepan.   If you use sugar, you may end up with a grainy texture if the sugar is not fully dissolved.  Since I use honey or agave nectar, I just get the mixture warm enough to melt the ingredients so they can be well mixed. The original recipe used 1 tsp. stevia instead of sugar which I have not tried yet.  Given the fact that the conversion between stevia and sugar is 1 tsp. to 1 cup, my version is actually less sweet than the stevia version.
Allow to cool partially but still pourable.  Pour into candy molds or into a container with a flat bottom (mixture should be between 1/4 and 1/2 inch deep).  Place in fridge to solidify, and then into freezer to store. Mixture may be very runny so it can be difficult to move the containers when still warm.  

This fudge is better eaten frozen than from the fridge. If you have trouble getting the fudge out of the pan, lay the pan on a warm towel for just a few minutes and then try popping the entire amount out onto a plate and then you can break into bites and then store in the freezer.  This will make it much easier to just grab a bite out of the freezer.


Note: This is one method we use to get more coconut oil in our diet.  It isn't going to taste as fabulous as a traditional fudge however it is tasty enough that we feel like we are still getting a treat and the ingredients are healthy.  We use peanut butter because my kids do not like it with almond butter however that would be my preference to make it healthier. We have noticed some benefits in eating coconut oil for adhd and executive function issues.   We found this connection by accident when reading an article on alzheimer's and coconut oil so we decided to try adding it to our diets to see if it helped with other brain issues like executive function.  Disclaimer:  I'm not a doctor. I'm a mom who figured out what works for my family.  You may or may not see similar benefits.

This is the article that prompted me to try coconut oil.  https://www.bulletproofexec.com/podcast-transcript-13-how-to-upgrade-your-brain-with-coconut-oil-ketones/

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is my favorite cake - banana cake with penuche frosting.  It has special memories for me.  I remember my grandma making this cake a lot so I think of her whenever I bake it especially since I use her cake pan with all its dents and scratches.  The pan must be 50 years old but it is still my favorite.  Once my cousin, Michael and I tried making this cake at his house.  I don't remember how it turned out but we had a ball trying to figure it out, including how to spell penuche so we could find the recipe.  This is now my daughter's favorite cake and I love being able to share the memories and make some new ones.  A few years ago, she wanted a banana cake for her birthday but she wanted it to be an actual banana shaped cake because that's what she thought a banana cake was so we made a banana shaped banana cake with penuche frosting.

2011 Food Photo Album

Many of our activities at home revolve around food.  Here are some new things we tried this past year. 

Rolls rising in the Iowa winter sunshine (works well when the oven is being used for other things)

My one and only attempt at making pita pockets

Thanksgiving Morning: Cornbread made from popcorn kernels I milled. Delicious!!

Laura loves to press tortillas!

Samuel planned and made this meal! (Daddy grilled the steak)

 Food Face plates that Santa brought.  The kids love to decorate their food face - the only rule is they have to eat what they take for decorating.  It actually gets them to eat things they normally wouldn't.