Homemade Croutons

Add crunch to your next salad with this simple recipe. Save your day-old bread and make delicious homemade croutons. Customize this savory recipe to your liking with your own blend of seasonings.

Croutons

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 cups of day old bread, cubed

Italian Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400° F.
In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients. Stir until combined and bread is coated well.
Place crouton mixture onto a large baking pan.
Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Stirring every 5 minutes.
Allow to cool. Store in air tight container and use within 2 weeks.

Makes 8 cups.

Helpful Tip:
When your bread is getting too dried out, cut it into cubes and place in a plastic bag in the freezer. Once a large gallon bag is full, you are ready to make the croutons.

Enjoy!  Click for more homemade recipes from Sustainable Blessings.

Golden Mexican Rice

Replace prepackaged rice mix with this simple homemade recipe. Chicken broth and seasonings give this rice its distinct taste and namesake. My family loves to top the Golden Mexican Rice with taco fixings or add the recipe to crunchy tacos to make the meat stretch further (even the picky eater likes tacos this way).

Golden Mexican Rice

Ingredients
3 cups uncooked white or brown rice
6 tablespoons butter
2 cups chicken broth
3 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon taco seasoning

Instructions
Sauté rice with butter for 5 minutes, until lightly browned.
In large microwaveable dish; combine chicken broth, water and seasonings. Stir in rice mixture.
Microwave covered, on high power for 15 minutes.
Then reduce heat to 50% power for another 12 minutes.
Fluff with fork prior to serving.

Enjoy!  Click for more homemade recipes from Sustainable Blessings.

Morel Mushroom Hunting

With the passage of winter comes wet soggy ground, which are perfect conditions for mushroom growth. In our area there is one mushroom that creates a mad dash to collect it: the Morel.

This beauty was growing in our raspberry patch.

This mushroom is one of the greats! Morel mushrooms can be hard to find and have a short window of time for harvesting. The work is worth it, they are very flavorful and thus used in many tasty gourmet recipes.

If you know where to look, you can find them for free! Just think that this delicacy could be growing in your area, just waiting for the picking. Here are a few helpful tips for you to succeed on your mushroom hunt.

Be Safe
Be aware that morels contain small amounts of hydrazine toxin that is removed through cooking.
Do not eat morel mushrooms raw, ever.

Always be 100% certain of the edible type of mushroom you pick as they often have look alikes that can be poisonous. When in doubt, throw it out - do not eat.

ForagingGuide.com is a very helpful site with background on Morel mushrooms and best times of year to go looking, and what to look for.

Know the Morel's characteristics
Morels are very distinctive mushrooms that have a honeycomb-like upper portion with ridges with pits between them. The coloring range from yellow to gray-black in color, depending on the variety you find. Here in Southeastern Wisconsin, we have mostly yellow or black morels.

The best places to find Morels
Morels are commonly found under deciduous trees (trees that have leaves). If the tree is dead or dying it is all the better for morel hunting. Trees to look for are ash, oak, cottonwoods or old apple trees. These are not strict rules on where to find morels. Keep your eyes open when hunting, we had 2 morels growing on southern (sunny) side of our house right out in the grass.

Harvesting
Gently hold the base of the mushroom and twist off the ground. Or you can cut the mushroom at the ground level. Note that you do not want to take the roots. You will not want to eat the soil covered root and by leaving the root behind, some people believe that more morels will grow there in the future. And keep your spot a secret so others don't beat you to the goods next season!

Happy Hunting!

Making Birthdays Special

 Birthdays! No matter what your age, you have to love how special they can make you feel. At our house, we do several birthday traditions every year that create not only good feelings, but memories too. And the good news is we've found it doesn't cost much at all to make someone smile.

Fairies aren't just for teeth.
We have a birthday fairy to come to visit the night prior to the birthday. She leaves a trail of confetti to the birthday presents, decorates the bedroom door of the birthday girl or boy and leaves balloons. 

Wear a happy hat.
Birthday hats are a fun way to add a little silliness to the day. We have been using the same pack of a few years now. I just place them out next to the birthday presents.

Fancy-up a special meal.
Growing up, I remember my Mom always letting us use a special plate at the time of our birthday dinner. The plate is Waechtersbach's You're Special Today plate. And it really did make me feel special. Just last year I was able to find this plate at a rummage sale for a great deal!

Be in the moment.
There is always talk of what time my girls were born and where. A fun way to celebrate their moment of birth is to set a timer set to go off at the time of birth. You could celebrate with hugs and comment on how much bigger they feel.

Have your day, your way.
In our house, another way we celebrate birthdays is to pick what you want for dinner. The meal could be homemade or a modest restaurant. We have done dinner's out to Baked Macaroni and Cheese for dinner. 

My girls celebrating their birthdays together. Only 4 calendar days apart.

Just simple routine things, like opening up presents around the same time of the day, every year, can make your next birthday run a little smoother and create traditions. We always let the kids open up there presents first thing in the morning, while they are still in their pajamas. Usually we get up about 15 minutes earlier but the kids (and adults) love it.

Happy Birthday to you!

Dying Easter Eggs With Food Coloring

Spring is finally here and Easter is coming! And that means it's time to dye the eggs! This is a fun activity for the whole family, although, be sure to provide some guidance with the little ones around the dye.

Fun Fact:
The egg symbolizes new life and our rebirth in the spring time, just like through the sacrifice of Jesus giving us a new life through God's forgiveness of all our sins. But why dye the egg? In history eggs would be dyed red to represent the blood Christ shed for us. The egg can also represent the tomb where Jesus was laid after his crucifixion. The hard shell can be removed like the sealed tomb was opened on Easter morning.

The following is a traditional account of how my family dyes Easter eggs. 

Egg Dye Made With Food Coloring
(This recipe yields one cup of colored dye.)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
liquid food coloring
hard-boiled eggs

In a small cup (we have always used coffee mugs), mix together water at room temperature, vinegar and several drops of food coloring. I used about 20 drops of color in each mug, but you can adjust this however you like for a deeper or lighter color.

Prepare several different colors in this way.

Carefully place one egg in each cup of food coloring. After a few seconds, roll the egg to ensure the it's completely covered with dye equally on all sides. Watch the eggs, then carefully remove them when they reach the desired shade. Use a spoon to remove the egg and place it in an egg carton or on a paper towel to dry.

For extra decoration:
Decorate the eggs with crayons prior to dying.
Decorate the eggs with small stickers.

Homemade Chicken Broth

Homemade chicken broth is not only frugal, but easy to make after your are done with your next whole chicken recipe.  This recipe can be made following Crock Pot Whole Chicken. Here are two alternative methods for making your own homemade chicken broth.

 

Chicken Broth

Ingredients:
All the drippings, scraps and bones from a whole chicken
10 cups water, (or enough to cover the bones)
1/4 cup salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole peppercorns
2 bay leaves

Crock Pot Method:

1. Place all ingredients in crock pot. 
2. Cook on high for 6 hours. 
3. Strain broth through a fine strainer or cheesecloth.
4. Allow to cool.
5. Freeze in ice cube trays or in pint mason jars. (If freezing in mason jars, leave 1 inch of space at the top of the jar to account of any expansion of the broth.)

Stove Top Method:

1. Place all ingredients in stove-top pot. 
2. Bring water to a boil. 
3. Simmer for 2 hours.  
4. Strain broth through a fine strainer or cheesecloth. 
5. Allow to cool.
6. Freeze in ice cube trays or in pint mason jars. (If freezing in mason jars, leave 1 inch of space at the top of the jar to account of any expansion of the broth.)