Loy's Grapenut Bread

Easy! Delicious! Nutritious!

Loy's Grapenut Bread

Serves: 10
Loy always has grapenut bread on hand and you'll drive a long way to find any better, if then.

4 eggs, beaten
4 cups buttermilk
3 cups sugar
2 cups grapenut cereal
8 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt

Bake 45 minutes at 350*

Mix all ingredients together until blended. Divide into 2 greased loaf pans. Sprinkle with additional sugar across top. Bake.

Prudence Pennywise

So I got to talking with my Visiting Teacher about cooking on a budget. Who knew, but her sister is Prudence Pennywise, a famous blogger with a natural knack for cooking. I checked out her blog today and was instantly hooked. The top recipe was for Chicken Curry Soup in the Crockpot. The picture looks amazing, curry is my favorite, who can beat the ease of the crockpot, and it's cheap! The other recipes look just as good. This will be one I check in on regularly.

Vegan Artichoke Dip

This is one we enjoy very much when watching movies. It is super creamy.

1 pound Fresh Spinach

3-4 Artichoke Hearts

1 Cup Cashews

3/4 Cup Water

2 Cloves fresh Garlic

1 tsp. Sea Salt

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

Pinch of Cayenne (optional)

Process Artichoke Hearts and Spinach until chunky. In a blender, blend the rest of the ingredients until smooth. Stir the two together and serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

Raw Strawberry Cheesecake

So this has become our family's favorite recipe. You won't believe it's not cheese. After much trial and error, we finally found a recipe we can't do without. After one bite, you'll want another, and yet, it is so dense that a little goes a long way. This cake will last, and that's a good thing.

Crust

1 Cup Pecans

1 Cup Almonds

1/4 tsp. Salt

4 Medjool Dates, pitted and chopped

Filling

3 Cups Raw Cashew pieces, soaked overnight (or at least 3 hours)

1/2 Cup Agave Syrup

1/4 Cup Water

1/4 Cup Fresh Lime juice

1 tsp. Vanilla (preferably Danncy's Mexican)

3 1/2 Cups of Strawberries

3/4 Cup Coconut Oil, melted

Strawberry Coulis (Fancy word for pureed sauce)

2 Cups Strawberries

3 Tbsp. Agave Syrup

In a food processor, fully grind almonds and pecans. Add dates and salt and keep mixing. A nice dough should form. Press into a cake or pie pan and set aside in a fridge. This solidifies the nut oils a bit. For the filling, in a good blender, combine cashews, water, agave, lime juice and vanilla. A VitaMix is ideal for this if you have one. If not, add the cashews a few at a time along with the strawberries until the mixture is smooth. Scrape down occasionally. Add melted coconut in a steady stream. Pour the filling right over the crust and smooth out. It will look like a smoothie that will never set. Let chill in the fridge for about 4 hours or more. We couldn't wait 4 hours so our center turned out a little gooey. It was still delicious though. When ready to serve, simply puree the strawberries and agave and drizzle over the cake. YUM YUM YUM!

Oat-Sun Burgers

My upbringing was PACKED with nutritious foods (something I'm trying to get back to). As wonderful as it is to eat that way, not everything was wonderful to taste! This one, however, I remember loving. For those of you wanting to introduce some healthier items to your menu, give this one a try! Pictures yet to come.

Bring the following to a boil and simmer for 3-5 minutes.

3 cups water
1/4 cup Bragg Liquid Aminos
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp. sweet basil

Then add the following and stir:

3 cups quick rolled oats
1/2 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds (may also use chopped pecans or walnuts)

Return mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and let set for 5 minutes. Form into burgers while mixture is still hot by pressing into a wide-mouth jar ring. Remove ring and repeat.

Bake at 350* on a sprayed cookie sheet for 30 minutes. Then flip burgers and bake 15 minutes longer on second side. Serve with gravy or in a sandwich. These can be made in advance and be frozen for later use.

Sun Oat Burgers

Taylor,

My mom made these years ago but could never find the recipe again. I was thrilled to hear that you have it and have been craving them ever since. Also a great recipe to make for our husbands who are trying to trim their waist lines. PLEASE PASS THE RECIPE!

Thanks!

Softest Play-Dough In The West

I'm kind of a Scrooge when it comes to play-dough. I have to admit I hate the stuff. It's selfish really. Play-dough is messy, you have to make sure kids don't eat it, it's something you have to play WITH them, and it's SO messy! That being said, I know that kids love it. I have gotten better. I just prepare myself for the task by setting aside a good chunk of time I can dedicate to playing with it with her, and clean up. I've made a few different homemade play-doughs and this is my favorite.

5 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 Tbsp alum or cream of tartar
6 Tbsp oil
4 cups boiling water
* To make colored play-dough - add food coloring to the water, or powdered tempura to the flour.

Boil water. Add oil. Stir in dry ingredients and mix well. Knead until soft. Store in an air tight container for months.