We’ve been in celebration mode around here and midnight approaches as I type this post. Independence Day is big stuff in our family. Not only is it the birthday of the Good Ole’ USA – it’s Smuffy’s birthday as well. I’m afraid the announcement of July’s First Friday Freebie has only existed in the recesses of my mind due to all the other things at the top of my list.
Now that the fireworks ash has settled, let’s take a look at July’s Freebie –
Everyone loves a little word art these days and this bit of wood and metal is just the thing to remind us that the smallest things in life that bring us the most joy. When we lose the ability to appreciate a baby’s cooing, a flaming sunset, the purring of a kitten or the idea of winning a gift we can keep for ourselves or give away to bless someone else, we likely have become obsessed with things that don’t really matter in the long run.
This 6”X6” wooden reverse box-top is deep enough to sit on a shelf without toppling if you choose not to hang it on the wall and the raised metal lettering is eye-catching and stylish for anyone’s décor. I left the corner protectors on for this photo, but you get the idea.
All my Freebies
occur on the First Friday of each month and last for one day only, so share
with all your friends and family TODAY through social media, that dinosaur of a
thing called email or that rarely used technique of communicating called
conversation.
Good intentions
will not help you enter to win before midnight tonight so you had better
navigate to the comment section now and do that before you forget!
To enter to win
the wood and metal reverse box-top décor, all you need to do is “Leave a
Comment” on this post, saying, “I enjoy the little freebies!” You’ll need to do that before midnight
TONIGHT, June 5th, 2019!
First Friday
Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.
You can subscribe by going to the right sidebar or use the menu to
navigate to the “Contact” page and subscribe to Midwest Storyteller
if you haven’t done so already.
Confirming your subscription through the confirmation email you’ll
receive is absolutely necessary, so don’t forget that!
Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest are great ways to share First Friday Freebies
with your friends. They won’t know if
you don’t tell them!
Subscribers win every single month! See past gifts and their winners on my “Freebies”page.
Remember, a winner
will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight
by leaving a comment which says, “I enjoy the little freebies!”
I send First Friday Freebies out to any winner who lives within the continental United States. For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, CLICK HERE.
Glitches
happen. If you subscribe and do not
receive a confirmation email for some reason, please email me and let me know
at barb@midweststoryteller.com
Freebies last one
day only! Enter now so you don’t forget!
We’ll never be able to say that it doesn’t pay to try, try and try again. Let’s meet (again) the latest winner of my First Friday Freebie –
Donna
from Bunceton, Missouri!
I
would like to start out by saying (“scout’s honor” if I had been any sort of
scout, but I wasn’t, so you’ll have to take me at my word) that this monthly
drawing is not rigged. Perhaps you’ve
noticed that Donna has now won the First Friday Freebie three times. Perhaps you
didn’t notice, and in that case, I’m sorry I brought the whole thing up.
The
other thing that maybe some of you know and many of you don’t is that Donna is
also my sister! There is nothing in the
rules that says that my relatives can’t enter to win, but this is getting
ridiculous! No matter how I adjust my
poker face, or display the backs of the little slips of paper with entries
written on them, Smuffy’s hand just randomly snatches Donna’s name out every so
often as though by some magnetic force.
Anyway,
congratulations, Donna!
I hope you enjoy your set of handcrafted, up-cycled, sparkly gift bags and I hope they bring joy to whomever you bless when you give them away with gifts inside.
The gift bags were an art project of mine. If you’d like to see how I take store merchandizing bags and turn them into beautiful gift bags, click here. To see the original freebie offer, click here.
To all my readers, I’d like you to climb on board the “Stop Donna Express”! I can only think of one way to stop my sister from becoming like one of those Jeopardy contestants who just can’t seem to go home and that is if YOU lower her odds by entering to win and share Midwest Storyteller with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest (or be old fashioned about it and tell them to subscribe so they’ll be able do the same. Subscribers receive an email on the first Friday each month reminding them to leave a comment that will enter their name in the drawing.
A freebie offer appears the first Friday of every month. Check out my Freebies pageto see the winner and their free gifts they’ve won here at Midwest Storyteller.
June’s drawing is right around the corner – June 7th, to be exact. Donna is bound to enter, but the question is, will you?
I’m offering you two today with FREE printables! (I always aim to please.)
The journey toward
a good gluten-free pancake has been a frustrating one. When I started my clean eating journey, I
couldn’t help but think that all those poor dears out there in cyber-land who
posted their recipes on the internet for the rest of us were living in a state
of such desperate deprivation they no longer knew what a pancake was! If it held to a disc shape and supported a
pat of butter and a drizzle of syrup, they thought they had something.
In the beginning,
I ate no grains at all for three months to give my system a total rest.
I started with coconut flour pancakes. The best coconut flour version I found after much trial and error were made from a recipe by Dr. Bruce Fife in a wonderful book called, “The Coconut-Ketogenic Diet”. I’ve poured over that book and made many of the recipes and contacted Dr. Fife and received permission to share short quotes and recipes here on the blog. We’ll save that for another day as we are on the subject of sourdough. I mean no disrespect to Dr. Fife when I say (while I linger upon this tangent for a few more seconds) that this is a really bad title for a really great book! It should be called something like, “A Manual for the Human Body and a Bunch of Stuff About Coconuts I Betcha Didn’t Know”. You’ll learn a lot about yourself even if you never follow his weight loss plan . (I didn’t.) You’ll find it right here on Amazon.
Now, let’s take that sourdough starter and make some real pancakes. As always, I tinker with recipes until I feel like they are worthy of passing on to you. This one began with a recipe I found at www.artofgluten-freebaking.com I’ll be going back to that site for more ideas now that these pancakes are such a hit with Smuffy. He says they’re the best pancakes I’ve ever made for him. The original recipe made lots more pancakes, so feel free to double my recipe if you have a large family. I changed a few other things as well as using the Gluten-Free Flour Blend I shared here on the blog.
Another
aggravating situation one finds oneself in when walking away from most grains
is the agony of the unfulfilled pizza craving.
Yes, I know all those people out there are mushing cauliflower together
and calling it pizza crust, but sometimes you just want real pizza – pizza you
can pick up in your hands and bite into its crispy crust instead of forking it.
Again, I found a recipe and started tweaking. This great version of Gluten-free Sourdough Pizza Dough, originally given by Emily at www.fermentingforfoodies.com got me off to a great start. With a few changes to align it with my commitment to clean eating, I’m really pleased to be enjoying pizza again.
Pizza and Pancakes – isn’t life grand? Let’s get that sourdough out of the refrigerator and let it poof up on the counter for a couple of hours and get started!
1 tablespoon refined coconut oil, melted and cooled
1 extra-large egg,
beaten
Instructions:
The night before (or at least 2 hours before)
make a “sponge” by mixing the sourdough starter, ¾ cup milk and half the flour
in a large bowl, stirring until combined.
The mixture may have lumps and that’s fine.
When
you are ready to make pancakes or waffles, preheat the griddle to medium-high
or heat the iron.
Mix
the remaining flour, salt, soda, and baking powder together in a bowl and
stir. Add to the sponge, along with the
remaining ingredients and stir until well blended, adding more milk if needed.
For
pancakes, oil the surface of the griddle with coconut oil and pour 1/3 cup
portions of batter onto the surface, cooking until edges appear dry and bubbles
form over the surface. Flip and cook for
an additional minute.
For
waffles: Grease the iron with oil before
making each waffle. Follow your iron’s
directions, which likely require a cup of batter and five minutes cooking time
for deep pocket waffles.
YIELD: 8 or 9 pancakes.
I’ve actually not made these up into waffles yet, so I can’t testify
as to how they turn out.
Now that we’ve had a fabulous breakfast, let’s move on to pizza!
Mix all ingredients together in a large
bowl. You want a fairly firm dough, so
you may have to add a bit more flour depending on the feel.
Allow
to rest, covered, in a warm place for 2-4 hours.
Divide
into two balls and roll out onto parchment paper. Crusts will be very thin. If you prefer a thicker crust, you may not
want to divide the dough. If you like
thin crust, but don’t want to bake them both at once, wrap one of the dough balls
in parchment paper and then in plastic wrap to freeze until needed. Thaw overnight or for several hours prior to
rolling out for baking.
Pre-bake
the crusts in pre-heated 425° Fahrenheit (or 200° Celsius) oven for ten minutes
by placing the parchment directly on the oven racks or on a preheated pizza
stone, whichever way gives you the crispness you desire.
Remove
crusts from the oven and top with your favorite ingredients. Return the pizza to the oven and take an
additional ten minutes or until the cheese is melted and crust is beginning to
brown.
When it comes to pizza, Smuffy is in love with the pizza sauce I make it with my homemade tomato paste from the tomatoes in our garden. Did I mention that Smuffy is the local Tomato King? At least he was last year! Take at look at his tomato patch. It actually got quite a bit bigger than this!
You must know,
however, that while tomato paste is as easy as putting the little darlings in
the food processor, making a puree and then simmering them on the stove until
they are as thick as the paste you buy in the store, there is a down side. It takes a good long while. San Marzano paste tomatoes are ideal, as they
have little juice and speed things up a bit, but still, you’ll need to do it
when you are going to be around the house for a while. Also, I’ve found that two pounds of tomatoes
yields 1 cup of paste – so there’s that to consider.
Once I’ve
slathered my pre-baked crust with ½ to ¾ cup of pizza sauce, I love to go crazy
with the veggies. I mound the pizza high
with fresh spinach (but only my half as Smuffy doesn’t care for it) and then
follow with thin-sliced onions, green pepper, sliced mushrooms, turkey pepperoni
and six ounces of shredded mozzarella.
We prefer turkey pepperoni as it tastes the same to us, yet doesn’t leave a giant grease puddle under each slice. Use anything you like. Here’s one I made with chicken.
If you’ve been
looking for gluten-free options for pancakes and pizza, I think your family
will really like these recipes. Please
comment and let me know! Happy cooking!
Soon I’ll be
sharing a faux-carb pizza dough along with my recipe for home-made pizza sauce
with no sugar or artificial sweeteners. (Try to find that in the stores!)
What’s all the fuss about eating healthy? We shouldn’t just survive, we should thrive! Check out my Thrive! page.
There’s still that
Smuffy story brewing and I think Phoebe June has some thoughts on spring she’d
like to share, so stay with us!
Be sure to
SUBSCRIBE, so you’ll receive an email reminder each time Midwest Storyteller
has something new.
The First Friday Freebie for March has found the perfect home!
Ruth
of St. Louis, Missouri!
Ruth was kind enough to email me a photo. She assures me that she is an avid reader and is tickled pink to receive her free autographed copy of “Pathways of the Heart” by Diane Yates. There’s something mysterious in the way Smuffy’s fingers reach out for just the right name. It’s as though, somehow, they just know.
Congratulations,
Ruth! You’re going to want to read the
continuing story, “All That Matters”, too.
Here’s a photo of them both.
If you’re feeling sad that you didn’t win this book by Diane Yates, remember you can visit www.dianeyates.com for access to her books, blog and more. Another thanks to Diane for donating a copy of her book to Midwest Storyteller. For my thoughts on “Pathways of the Heart” and an interview with Diane Yates, click here.
If you’d like to see the original freebie offer, click here.
Of
course, I’m giving away another freebie on the first Friday of every month, so
be sure to subscribe, if you haven’t already, and watch for the email you’ll
receive on Friday, April 5th.
Visit the Freebies page where you can see what subscribers of Midwest Storyteller have been winning.
MORE
ABOUT FREEBIES: A winner will be chosen
at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on the day of the
drawing by leaving a comment as instructed in the post. See the recently revised rules below.
And now, here are the Freebie Rules.
These four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on April 5th.
Oh, and Happy Spring! It’s been a long winter and I’m lovin’ this!
“Share”,
“like” and “pin” this post! You’re
friends will want to enter to win, too!
Enjoying
the Freebies? Leave a comment! If you’re on your computer, scroll back up
under the title of this post and let me know what you’re thinking. On various devices, you may find “Leave a
Comment” at the bottom of the post.
I just heard the
extended weather forecast. Cold. Snow. More
arctic air has us in its sights and it looks like March is not going to lure us
outdoors in our shirt sleeves, at least those of us who live anywhere in the
Midwest. But, then again, it just snowed
in Las Vegas, so I suppose few of us here in the U.S. will escape the
chill. We may dream of tiptoeing through
the tulips, but it’s only a dream, lest we catch cold.
That makes March the perfect time to curl up with a good book! I want to give a special thanks to Diane Yates for providing this month’s First Friday Freebie!
If you’ll remember, I recently did an interview with Diane and a review of her first book, “Pathways of the Heart”. You can catch up on that here in case you missed it. In my post, I shared about how I met Diane, how much she has helped me in my writing endeavors and my thoughts and gleanings from “Pathways of the Heart”.
Now, Diane is
graciously giving one of you the opportunity to receive this autographed copy
of “Pathways of the Heart” absolutely free!
What better way to curl up with a cup of tea (or hot chocolate) and
pretend the cold winds aren’t howling
outside?
To enter to win “Pathways
of the Heart”, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post,
saying, “I’m ready for a good read!”
You’ll need to do that before midnight TONIGHT, March 1st,
2019!
First Friday
Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, so hop on over to the right sidebar or
use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page and subscribe to
Midwest Storyteller if you haven’t done so already.
Your friends will
enjoy the stories, recipes, laughter and, of course, the FREEBIES here on the
blog, too, so share with all your friends and family through Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest.
Subscribers win every single month! On the “Freebies” page, you’ll be able to see what they’ve been winning.
Once again, a
winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before
midnight tonight by leaving a comment which says, “I’m ready for a good
read!”
And now, here are the complete rules:
Four simple steps!
Don’t let the day
slip away! Subscribe now if you haven’t
already, and confirm in your email before you forget!
Spring, I promise,
is on the way. It’s never failed me
yet. Well, except for maybe last year
when it came for two days and then vanished.
I’d have thrown a temper tantrum, but it was 90 degrees and so humid
that I couldn’t muster up the energy.
May our 2019 bring delightful days that, like treasured loved ones, come
early and stay late!
Comments or
questions? I’d love to hear from
you! Please leave a comment telling me
what good books you’ve read lately. I’m
curious – what is your favorite book of all time?
My most recent First Friday Freebie went to a familiar face! Let’s take a look at the winner –
Donna
from Bunceton, Missouri!
Donna has won once before and her name popped up again this time when Smuffy did his duty, following my instructions to and “picked a card – any card”.
Congratulations, Donna! I hope you enjoy your “Love Deeply” word art plaque from Hobby Lobby, not just as Valentine décor, but all year round!
Here’s
another view of Donna’s gift.
If you’d like to see the original freebie offer, click here.
A freebie offer appears the first Friday of every month. Check out the freebie page to see what people have been winning here at Midwest Storyteller.
Subscribe now and you’ll be notified via email
of March’s drawing. You never know what
it might be.
The
next First Friday Freebie drawing will be on Friday, March 1, 2019 and only
SUBSCRIBERS can win!
A
winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before
midnight on the day of the drawing by leaving a comment as instructed in
the post. See the recently revised rules
below.
And now, here are the Freebie Rules.
These
four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on March 1st.
“Share”,
“like” and “pin” this post! You’re friends will want to enter to win,
too!
Enjoying
the Freebies? Leave a comment! If you’re on your computer, scroll back up
under the title of this post and let me know what you’re thinking. On various devices, you may find “Leave a
Comment” at the bottom of the post.
Welcome to
February! I love gift-giving and I wish
I could send this First Friday Freebie out to all my subscribers as my Valentine to you. Ah, if only…
But, I can send it
out, as always, to the winner of the February drawing!
Let’s take a look –
During this month when we celebrate love and take special time out to tell people how much they mean to us, this wooden plaque serves as a great reminder. It measures 5.91”X7.87” and has a hinged easel attached so you’ll be able to tuck it in amongst the décor on your mantle or anywhere else you choose.
I love that it is
not “seasonal”. After all, love never
goes out of style or out of season, does it? You can display it year round and it will add
a great “farmhouse touch” to your home’s décor.
Roaming through aisles of home décor never goes out of style either and I hope you enjoy this Hobby Lobby find.
To enter to win
the “Love Deeply” plaque, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on
this post, saying, “I LOVE First Friday Freebies!” You’ll need to do that before midnight
TONIGHT, February 1st, 2019!
First Friday
Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, so if you’ve not become a subscriber
to Midwest Storyteller yet, give yourself a little love gift by heading over to
the right sidebar or using the menu to get to the “Contact Me” page
and subscribe if you haven’t done so already.
Share Midwest
Storyteller with all your friends and family through Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter and Pinterest so they can enter to win and begin enjoying all the great
stories, recipes, tips for healthy living, product reviews and more!
Subscribers win every single month! Visit the “Freebies”page to see what they’ve been winning.
Once again, a
winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before
midnight tonight by leaving a comment which says, “I LOVE First
Friday Freebies!”
And now, here are
the complete rules:
Four simple steps!
The clock is
ticking! Subscribe if you haven’t
already, confirm in your email and comment to enter before midnight tonight,
February 1st!
Enjoy this
sparkling winter month by letting those you love know just how special they are
to you. Hint: This First Friday Freebie
would make a great gift for your Valentine!
I’ll be honest. If the super bowl failed to take place, I probably wouldn’t know it until I got out and about and some grief-stricken fan informed me and even at that, I’d give it a shrug, try my best to register sympathy and concern and force myself to say, “Really? Oh, my!”
But they had better not cancel National Hot Chocolate Day! I’m into this one – big time! I can hear your shouts of “Amen!” to that. It gives us all permission to stop, smell the cocoa and just be still for a bit while we enjoy that mug (or, in my case, tankard, says Smuffy) of smooth chocolate wonderfulness.
But what about those of us who are watching the waistline or those who have come to the realization that, if we care about our health, sugar has got to go?
Speaking of love, within that post is a great recipe for Eat ‘Em All Chocolate Covered Strawberries – another way to indulge without the sugar and without sacrificing yummy flavor. This recipe will carry you through Valentine’s Day without the guilt.
Click on the FREE PRINTABLE banner at the bottom of the original post and you’ll be able to easily print those out to add to your recipe collection.
I’m off now to find my tankard and indulge. In case you’re a little foggy on where to begin, let me show you the ingredients that will help you get the most out of National Hot Chocolate Day –
That’s right! All you need to make your day complete:
Cozy Chair
Furry Throw
One Tankard (or maybe two) Not Apologizin’ Hot Chocolate
One Sleepy Kitten
Gather your supplies and enjoy!
SUBSCRIBE NOW – First Friday Freebie Day is on the way for subscribers only!
READERS TAKE NOTE: This soup recipe was posted prior to my eating according to the Trim Healthy Mama plan or becoming a THM Certified Lifestyle Coach. It would qualify as an “S Helper” or a “Crossover” depending on the amount of sweet potatoes you add or the amount of soup you consume. Keep that in mind when planning your meal. This one is WORTH IT, so at least have it for special occasions!
For those of you who read my earlier post about this fabulous soup but never took the time to stir up a batch – this is for you!
Each year for the last six years, I enter a soup in a contest that our church sponsors for the benefit of the area food bank. Soups – LOTS of soups – are judged (rather scientifically, I must say) on taste/flavor/texture, appearance, Originality/Creativity, Appeal (Would a wide variety of the general population want to try this soup?) and Aroma. “Golden” (but most certainly not food safe) ladles are awarded to the top five soups. Then, the soups are served to the throng of two hundred or so salivating soup lovers at $5 per cup for the winners and $1 per cup for all the others. I’ve taken home five golden ladles so far.
So, what can I say? I am some sort of Soup Queen, I suppose. Just don’t ask me to make gravy. I mean that – never let me make the gravy!
This year, I decided to re-enter my soup that won five years ago. I invented this soup just after I made changes to my eating plan that included getting all sugars and grains out of my diet, so if you are looking for gluten-free recipes that won’t make you feel that you are missing out on a thing – this one’s for you! It’s a winner twice over for a very good reason. It is fabulous!
The original post gives detailed instructions on how to make Creamy Leek Soup with Chicken and Sweet Potato here, and it also offers a free printable recipe so check it out and, by all means, make a batch!
I did have a friend tell me that she used a substitute for the cream to accommodate her dairy-free diet and still her husband said it was the best soup he’d ever eaten in his life!
Here I am, honored to stand with the other winners (minus Larry, who somehow wandered off just before the announcement).
All the great recipes on my Food Freedom page come with free printables, so you can put them all in a notebook and try them out soon. I do my best to offer you healthy recipes that won’t make you feel deprived or overworked.
We are due to have a high temperature here tomorrow of 4 degrees. Sounds like soup weather to me!
NOTE TO READERS: These recipes are old family favorites that appeared here on my blog prior to myeating according to the Trim Healthy Mama plan or becoming a THM Certified Lifestyle Coach. While they taste fabulous, I cannot recommend them for healthy lifestyle or blood sugar control. However, I am working on adapting them to the plan so watch for future posts!
I promised to share this “award winning” recipe. I believe it was back when the trees were shedding their leaves of red and gold. Lately they’ve been laden with heavy snow – perfect weather to cozy up with some real comfort food and a bean story!
This recipe is an old favorite for my family. I found the original in one of those tiny booklets that came with the old-style Crock-pots. You know the kind I mean – the tall, skinny crock that did not lift away from the heating base, making it very difficult to clean. Their thermostats seemed to come with unexplained variances. My mom’s didn’t seem to have a LOW setting. It just boiled away no matter how you adjusted the knob while mine, on the same setting, would make you wait a couple of days for your dinner.
That little book
contained an entry that did little to tempt the imagination or the palate. It offered up, simply, the “One Pot
Dinner”. I’d never tried the recipe
because, frankly, it just didn’t strike a chord within my romantic nature. I’m the “Anne of Green Gables” type and am
inclined to agree with her theories on naming things. (Example: Why call it Barry’s Pond when you can call it
The Lake of Shining Waters?)
I have always been
this way.
Anyhow, a dear
friend of mine, upon hearing me say that I’d been in one of those moods that
leaves me only two options – escape for a change of pace or give in to a crying
jag – took pity on me and offered the use of her cabin in the woods. It may not have been a villa perched on the
Italian coastline, but it had three gleaming attractions. It was free.
It had indoor plumbing. It wasn’t
my house. I jumped at the offer.
I got excited. I wanted to crawl into Timber Hill and forget about the rest of the world. Our daughter would take a friend. There would be no TV and one emergency cell phone. We’d play a few board games. Smuffy would fish, explore and read books. I would read and take naps.
Ahh! Thanks, DeDe, for the memories (and the sanity check).
The last thing I wanted was to make endless trips to town for restaurant meals or supplies. I started charting meals like a paid planner. I wanted everything we ate to fit in with that log cabin feel. We would make homemade pancakes. I’d take homemade cinnamon rolls along to warm. Cornbread sounded good. For a main dish that would leave us lots of great-tasting leftovers, I wanted something special – something new. Research led me back to the lack-luster little Crock-pot book.
If these beans,
which sounded like they had possibilities, were going along on my grand
adventure, they simply couldn’t go as the “One Pot Dinner”. I re-named them “Timber Hill Beans” and they
were a huge hit, especially with Smuffy.
In all the years we were graciously invited to spend our fall retreat at
Timber Hill, we never left home without the namesake beans.
When our church
began to sponsor an annual “Souper Bowl of Caring” as a benefit for the area
food bank, they asked for soup – a lot
of soup. People brought in slow-cookers full
of deliciousness in hopes of taking home a golden ladle in a contest for top
soups.
Smuffy gave me a
meaningful look and prophesied, “If you take Timber Hill Beans, you’ll win!”
“You think
so?” I hadn’t given much thought to
entering the contest and I’d never really thought of those thick, hearty Timber
Hill Beans as “soup”.
“I know so!” He seemed certain of it.
I did come home with a golden ladle,
thanks to Timber Hill Beans and Smuffy’s encouragement!
I can’t help but wonder,
though, if “One Pot Dinner” would have ranked a little lower with the judges.
You may remember our educational and slightly embarrassing discussion on the subject of beans. You can refresh your memory here. Along with tips on cooking beans and avoiding their after-effects, I shared my own recipe for “Hearty, Healthy, Homemade Pork and Beans”. You’ll find a free printable recipe in the post. I now use these in my Timber Hill Beans to avoid the mushiness that usually results from overcooking canned beans, not to mention all the sugar and other nonsense that the canned versions contain. You can prepare these and the bacon a day or two before assembling this recipe. If you choose not to follow this simple, from-scratch step, you’ll need to substitute 4 (14 ounce) cans of pork ‘n beans and use care to avoid over-cooking them.
The other beans in this recipe are also not of the canned variety. If you absolutely do not want to rinse and soak your beans, you can use one can of kidney beans and one can of butter beans (drained and rinsed), but – I promise – you’ll be happier with the end results if you avoid the cans.
If you’re planning meals and feeding supper to hungry people, the best way is to brown the meat, prep the bacon and pork and beans a day or two before. Then, soak the beans overnight, get up in the morning dump everything into theCrock-pot, set it on LOW and don’t give it another thought until supper other than checking it when you get home to see if you need to adjust it to the WARM setting.
Let’s get cooking!
Timber Hill Beans
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef or venison
1/2 pound uncured bacon, baked on a broiler pan in a 200-250
degree oven for about an hour. (Should
not be crispy, but have the better portion of the fat cooked out.)
3/4 cup red kidney beans, rinsed and soaked overnight
3/4 cup butter beans, rinsed and soaked overnight
1 cup catsup
1/4 cup palm sugar or raw honey
1 Tablespoon liquid smoke (or to taste)
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 Tablespoon Celtic sea salt
Instructions:
Drain beans and rinse well. Brown ground meat and onion in skillet. Drain off fat. Cut bacon into one inch pieces. Place all ingredients in slow cooker. Stir well.
Cover and cook on LOW for 5-9 hours or on HIGH for 3 hours.
LOW is best in order to avoid sticking.
Makes 14 cups.
Over the years, I’ve
tweaked this recipe to take out refined sugars, avoid mushy canned beans and bring
it to “golden ladle standards”, so please comment and let me know how you like
it.
Normally, I steer away from adding corn to our diets anymore, mostly for the reasons given in this article by Dr. Axe and at the advice of my holistic M.D. Once in a while, however, Smuffy says the occasion calls for cornbread, I give in and we cheat. I’m giving you my Gluten-free cornbread recipe which includes a dry mix that you can whip up in a “jiffy”, if you get my drift. (Perhaps you don’t if that little item is available only here in the Midwest.) I hate having my cupboards full of endless little boxes and packets and feeling like I have to run to the store for something as simple as cornbread mix. Years ago, I figured out the secret to that little box mix everyone uses and I’m sharing it with you today.
A word about buttermilk: Smuffy and I often have differences of opinion on foods, but on buttermilk, we agree. We hate the stuff! It does make a fabulous batch of pancakes or cornbread, but we always had to throw out the leftovers. Keeping a dry buttermilk mix on hand solves the problem beautifully. Grocery stores will most likely have Saco“ Buttermilk Blend” in their baking section and if you can find a way to order in bulk, you can get a great price on a one-pound bag of buttermilk powder from Frontier Co-op Wholesale Store, where they have member and non/member pricing. They both keep well on the back bottom shelf of the refrigerator for what seems like forever.
Gluten-Free Cornbread or
Corn Muffins
(You may use all-purpose wheat flour rather than corn flour in
these recipes. If so, omit the xanthan gum and one of the eggs.
This option will, of course, not be gluten-free.)
Ingredients:
1 cup yellow organic, non-GMO cornmeal
1 cup organic, non-GMO corn flour
1/4 cup dry buttermilk powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup water
1/4 cup raw honey
2 tablespoons melted butter
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Stir in the
beaten eggs, water, honey and melted butter, mixing just until there are no dry
areas.
Pour into greased
muffin tins or a 9″X9″ baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees for
about 25 minutes. Remove from pan immediately.
Now for that mix to
keep help you whip up things in a “jiffy”.
Cornbread Mix for Recipes in a “Jiffy”
Mix the following ingredients together and in a “jiffy”,you’ll have the equivalent of the commonly used boxed mix.
1/2 cup yellow organic, non-GMO cornmeal
1/2 cup organic, non-GMO corn flour
2 Tablespoons dry buttermilk powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
Add 2 Tablespoons raw
honey to the recipe’s wet ingredients.
Thanks to the great folks at Crock-Pot.com for the original “One Pot Dinner” recipe and for all the improvements to the Crock-pot over the years. The newer versions, with their removable crockery, warming features, digital settings and – best of all – those clamp-on lids that put an end to nasty spills in the car have made life so much easier. Check out their latest products here. Hey there, sports fans! They even have NFL logo pots!
I confess to having four slow-cookers. My new favorite is this in-between size I found one day out flea-marketing. I like to think of it as a casserole. I find myself using it all the time.
Click below for your
free printable for Timber Hill Beans and Gluten-free Cornbread!
If you prefer biscuits over cornbread, check out my Zesty Pumpkin Soupwhich comes with a bonus recipe for Billy’s Biscuits. This savory soup is not what you’re expecting!
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