Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 c. whole-wheat flour
• 2 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. baking soda
• 2 ¼ c. buttermilk, plus 3 T. for brushing on
• 3 T. melted butter

First, preheat the oven to 450 and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and sprinkle with flour.

Next, combine all of your dry ingredients in a large bowl with a whisk.  Pour in the buttermilk and mix until thoroughly combined with your hand(s) or a wooden spoon. Be careful not to over mix.  The dough will be moist and sticky but should hold together well.  Turn it out onto a well-floured surface.

With clean, floured hands, pat and shape the dough into a round, about two inches thick and transfer it to the baking sheet (or a pizza stone works great).

Then, with a sharp knife, make an “X” in the center of the loaf, about halfway to the edges and about ¼ to ½ inch thick.  Lastly, combine the butter and 3 T. of buttermilk and brush it all over the top of the loaf.

Bake it for 20 minutes, then turn down the oven to 400 and brush on some more butter/buttermilk mixture.  Bake another 25-30 minutes until deep golden brown.  It should sound hollow when you tap on it.

Brush on a little more butter/buttermilk and let it cool for about 30 minutes on a wire rack.  Spread on some goat cheese and/or jam; or serve it up alongside some hearty stew or a crisp green salad.  You really can’t go wrong with this one.

Cheesy Beer Quick Bread

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Here’s what you’ll need:

• 4 large ripe avocados
• 1-2 limes
• 1-2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 2-4 garlic cloves, pressed or minced finely
• Cilantro, to taste, 2-4 T. (can be omitted)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Optional additions: bacon, jalapeno

Liberate the avocados from their skins and pits and into a large bowl.  With a fork, spoon, potato masher, or your hands, mash the avocados until they are creamy but with some nice chunks left.

Squeeze in the juice of at least half of a lime (about 1 tablespoon of juice), then add half of the tomatoes, garlic, onion, cilantro, and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Mix well.

Taste the guacamole and add more of any of the ingredients you feel it needs.  Some people like it more garlicky; other folks like a lot of onion; then there are the cilantro-haters…. the key to great guacamole is balance.  Once you have the flavor you like, cover tightly.  If using plastic wrap, press it down so it is touching the surface of the guac, allowing in little to no air.  Refrigerate for at least 15-20 minutes for the flavors to meld.

Serve your fresh guacamole with tortilla chips or spread on whole-grain toast.

The post Fresh Guacamole appeared first on Homestead.org.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Nonstick cooking spray or baking cups
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. whole-wheat flour
• 1 c. quick-oats
• 2/3 c. sugar
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 t. baking powder
• ½ t. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ½ c. honey or vanilla Greek yogurt
• 4 T. melted butter, cooled slightly
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1c. fresh blueberries

Start out by preheating the oven to 350.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs, yogurt, butter, and vanilla together well.  In a smaller bowl, stir the flours, oats, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together with a wooden spoon, then slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet.  Next, carefully fold in the blueberries.

Spray your muffin tin, or line them with baking cups, and spoon in the batter.  You can fill them pretty full as these muffins don’t rise a whole lot.

Bake them for 20-25 minutes until golden brown, and the tops feel springy when you touch them.

Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before digging in.

https://www.homestead.org/cookbook/desserts/easy-no-bake-reese-s-bars/

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For some reason, I had imagined them hard, dry, and crumbly.  So much so that I had no desire to ever try one until I came across these.  Let me tell you, I’m so glad I gave them a chance.  If you, too, are a scone virgin, I’m about to blow your mind.

Scones are basically biscuits!  That’s right: warm, soft, flaky, buttery biscuits! What we call “cookies”, the Brits call “biscuits”, and their name for this fluffy, fresh-baked treat is “scone”.  The main difference between what we know as a biscuit and a scone is that scone dough has flavors baked in.

They can be sweet or savory; made with fruits, herbs, cheese, and/or meat.  The combination that made me finally decide to give them a try was ham, cheddar, & chive scones, but you can customize this recipe with any flavors you like.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 T. sugar
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1/2 t. garlic powder
• 1/2 t. kosher salt
• 1/2 c. (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter, cut into1/2-inch cubes
• 3/4 c. buttermilk
• 1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/3 c. diced ham
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh chives

Start out by heating the oven to 425F and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Next, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, garlic powder, and salt.  Once the dry ingredients are well blended, sprinkle in the cold butter cubes.  With your hands, pinch the butter cubes into the flour until it is all incorporated and you have a sandy-looking mixture.

Pour in the buttermilk and stir it in until you have a sticky dough.  Then, stir in the ham, cheese, and chives, just until they are evenly distributed.  Be careful it to over-mix the dough.

Finally, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it a few times until it holds together in a ball.  Sprinkle a little more flour to prevent sticking and flatten out the ball with your hands, or using a rolling pin, until you have a circle about 8 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick.  Cut the circle into eight wedges and transfer to your lined baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve immediately, or store cooled scones in an airtight container.

Whole-wheat Irish Soda Bread

The post Ham, Cheddar, & Chive Scones appeared first on Homestead.org.

If you don’t have an hour to wait for the baking, your overripe bananas will freeze perfectly, allowing you to use them whenever you’re ready.  You can use whatever kind of flour and oil you prefer, and even sweeten with honey instead of white or brown sugar.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 c. flour
• 1 c. quick oats
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/2 c. oil
• 3/4 c. sugar or honey
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 overripe bananas, mashed
• 1 c. raisins or nuts (optional)

First off, preheat your oven to 350° and flour a 9×5 loaf pan.

Mix your flour, oats, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, mash your bananas and add your sugar or honey, oil, and eggs and stir until well blended.

Finally, add the dry ingredients into the banana mixture and blend thoroughly.  If you want raisins or nuts, now is the time to add them.

Pour into your greased and floured loaf pan and bake for 60-70 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

That’s it… just let it cool for ten minutes or so and dig in!  Mmmmm… banana bread.

Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake

The post Banana Oat Bread appeared first on Homestead.org.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 1/2 c. dry pearl/Israeli couscous
• 2 1/2 c. beef stock (chicken or vegetable stock or water are also fine), approximately
• 1/4 c. olive oil, approximately, divided
• 1c. finely diced yellow onion
• 3-4 T. minced garlic
• 8 oz. mushrooms (any kind will do; I’ve used baby portobellos)
• 3 T. fresh thyme, chopped
• 1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped
• Salt and pepper
• Parmesan cheese for topping

In a large skillet over medium heat, add half of the oil.  Once the oil has heated until it is shimmering, add the onions with a sprinkle of salt, and let them sauté until they are translucent.  Add the mushrooms and another pinch of salt and continue to sauté until the mushrooms have lost most of their moisture and both are caramelized and deep brown.  This may take up to 15 minutes, so turn the heat down a little if you need to.

While the veggies are cooking, put a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat and add the remaining oil.  When the oil is shimmering, add the dry couscous.  Stir it well to coat with oil, and then stir it often to prevent it from burning.  You just want to toast it until it darkens a few shades, which should take about 5 minutes.  So don’t walk off and take the dog out or anything.

Once the couscous is nicely toasted, the veggies should be ready.  Pour about 1/4 cup of your stock into the veggie pan to deglaze all the brown bits from the pan, and pour it into the pot with the couscous.  Add the rest of the broth and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the herbs after 10 minutes.  When most of the liquid has been absorbed, try the couscous for doneness.  If you find it still a little too al dente, add a splash (1/4 c.) more broth and simmer another 5 minutes.

Serve hot and topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.  Yum!

If you like mushrooms, you’ll love this Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup recipe.

The post Garlic-mushroom Pearl Couscous appeared first on Homestead.org.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• A bag of frozen tater tots, thawed (I used Ore-Ida mini tater tots, but the regular size will work just fine.)
• Cooking spray
• 16 eggs
• 2/3 c. 2% milk
• 1 ½ c. 2%-milk cheddar cheese
• 8 oz. diced lean ham
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Minced parsley (optional)

First, preheat the oven to 350 and spray 24 muffin tins with cooking spray.  Next, press the tater tots into the bottom of the tins using a small glass or measuring cup.  I used five of the mini-tots per tin, three regular tots would also work.

Fill the cups with about a tablespoon each of ham and cheese.

Scramble your eggs with the milk, salt, and pepper.  Pour the egg mixture to nearly fill the cups; you only need to leave about 1/8 of an inch at the top.  Sprinkle the tops with a little bit of minced parsley, if you like.

Bake them for about 15 minutes or until they are just set and browning around the edges.  Remove them from the oven and let them continue to set-up in the tins for 10 minutes or so.

Plate them up and enjoy them right then, or freeze and reheat them later. There you have ’em… mini breakfast casseroles… or lunch or dinner!

The post Mini Breakfast Casseroles appeared first on Homestead.org.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 c. uncooked brown rice
• 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 c. frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 1/4 c. scallions, chopped
• 2 T. fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 c. salsa
• 1 t. cumin
• Juice of one lime
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Diced avocado for topping (optional)
• Diced jalapeño for topping (optional)
• Lime wedges (optional)

Cook the rice according to package instructions (or in an Instant Pot).  While rice is still warm, stir in beans, corn, scallions, cilantro, salsa, cumin, and lime juice; season to taste with salt and pepper.  If you like, top it off with some with diced jalapeño and/or avocado and serve with lime wedges.

If this recipe is up your alley, you might also enjoy my Grilled Corn, Tomato, & Avocado Salad.

The post Southwest-style Brown Rice appeared first on Homestead.org.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 3 lbs. fresh asparagus, bottoms trimmed
• 2 medium yellow onions (about 2 cups, chopped)
• 2 T. butter
• 6 c. reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 4 oz. 1/3-less fat cream cheese, softened
• 1 c. fat-free half & half
• 2 T. fresh lemon-thyme (if available), or
• 1 T. lemon zest and 1 T. thyme
• White pepper and salt, to taste

In a heavy 4-5 quart pot, melt the butter over medium heat and add the chopped onion.  Stir to coat the onion with butter, sprinkle in a pinch of salt, and reduce the heat a little.  Cover the onions, but stir them every few minutes until golden and lightly caramelized.  That’ll take about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the tops off the asparagus (about ½ to 1 inch) and set aside.  Cut the remaining stalks into 1-inch pieces.

Once your onions are tender and golden, add the 1-inch stalk pieces to the pot and cover with the chicken broth.  Add the lemon thyme (or regular thyme and lemon zest), white pepper, and salt.  Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer until the asparagus is very tender.  I let mine go for about 30 minutes.

While that’s going, make a small bowl of ice water, and put on a small saucepan of water to boil.  You only need a few cups to blanch the asparagus tips.  Salt the water well (Chef Mario Batali recommends enough salt as to make the water taste like seawater when cooking pasta.  I follow this same rule when blanching veggies), and bring to a boil.  Drop in the tips and boil for just a couple minutes to bring out the bright green of the tips and to soften them just a bit.  With a slotted spoon or the like, transfer the tips into the ice water to stop the cooking and preserve the beautiful color.  Drain onto a cloth or paper towel.

Back to the stove, remove the pot from the heat; add the softened cream cheese and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.  If you don’t have an immersion blender, a regular blender or food processor will also work.  Just be sure to go in small batches to accommodate your particular machine and divide the cream cheese between the batches.  And be careful of (very) hot splashes.

At this point, you can either stir in the blanched tips, save them to garnish each bowl, or divide them for both.  Served hot or cold, this tasty soup is sure to become a regular in your recipe rotation.  Makes about 12 servings.

Looking for more low-calorie soups? Try this Detox Cabbage Soup.

The post Skinny Cream of Asparagus Soup appeared first on Homestead.org.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/8 c. fresh lemon juice
• 1 t. Dijon mustard
• 1/4 c. minced red onion
• 1 T. minced garlic
• 4 cans white albacore tuna
• 2 ribs celery, finely diced
• 1 red bell pepper, seed and finely diced
• 1/4 c. kalamata olives, chopped
• 1/4 c. minced parsley
• 1 T. capers
• salt and pepper to taste

Start with the dressing.  Whisk together the oil, Dijon, and lemon juice in a small bowl, or in a dressing shaker.  Add the minced red onion and garlic.  Give it all a good mix and set aside.

In a larger bowl, add the tuna, celery, bell pepper, olives, capers, and parsley and toss to distribute all the goodies evenly.

Give your dressing one last vigorous mixing and pour over the tuna mixture.  Incorporate the dressing and season with salt and pepper.

Serve Mediterranean tuna salad in lettuce cups, tortillas, or a crusty baguette.

https://www.homestead.org/cookbook/mediterranean-salad/

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