Hump day look

Today is baking day for me here in the homestead. I wanted to post some great coupons for you to print before they reached their limits.

This coupon can be printed from Recyclebank and right now you can earn an easy 100 points but answering 10 quiz questions.. If you haven't checked it out I highly suggest you do.

The Glade coupon can be printed from their FB page.

All these coupons can score you some almost Free stuff at the Commi.

Baking a Pumpkin

 "Seems simple enough." I thought and you know what?! It is but I was intimidated for years by these cute little suckers. So how do I turn one of these into a pumpkin puree ready to bake with?

Cut your pumpkin in half.

scoop out all the guts (save your seeds to roast). I used a measuring spoon since it has a rougher edge.

look at all those pretty guts :) I've clearly been watching too much Dexter!

Add the pumpkin to a baking sheet fill with about 1/4 inch of water. Heat oven to 350 for 30-45 mins (for a 3-4 lb pumpkin).

Afterwards let it cool and scoop out all the flesh. Either use it right away of store in an airtight container for 2-3 days in refrigerator.


I ended up making some killer Pumpkin and toffee cookies for my husbands command. Lick my spoon has a great pumpkin toffee cookie, yum!

So get to cracking on those pumpkins, Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

Canning Fresh Pineapples

Fred Meyer has this great sale going right now for pineapple that I could not pass up! We use pineapple lots of different dishes, baking, smoothies and just eating them out of the jar. At $1.00 each, this week is a great stock up price for these babies. I purchased 8 and cut only 6 for this canning recipe. It's super easy and fast compared to other canning recipes.

What you will need:

(6) fresh Pineapples
(16) Wide mouth Pint jars with lids
1/4 cup lemon juice
Canning equipment (avail at Walmart for cheap)
4 cups sugar
12 cups water
Med stock pot
Knives



Pretty simple steps here.

• Cut the top and bottom off of the pineapple then cut (as close to the rind as possible) the rind off.
• Either use a melon baller or pairing knife to cut out 'eyes' (pardon the phone picture) 

I chose a pairing knife to cut the eyes out. If you notice the eyes are in a diagonal pattern making it the finished pineapple look pretty.. to me at least.

• Slice pineapple in half. Half the half pineapple. Cut the hard white core from the  1/4 pineapple.
• Cut the 1/4 piece into 3 then crosswise cut into about 7-8 pieces. (save cores for syrup).
• Place the sugar, cores and water in pot. Boil for 10-15 mins. (I added about 1/4 cup lemon juice)
• Prep you jars according to canning method and recommendations.
• Directly put the pineapple in prepped jars (pack them tight). Fill to 1/2 inch line.
• Pour simple syrup into packed jars
• Wipe rim with clean wet towel
• Put lids and rings on
• Can Pints for about 25 mins, Quarts for about 35 mins. 

Done!

I might dehydrate the other 2 pineapples or just freeze them for smoothies. What do you think I should do?











 

Strawberry cupcakes with Meringue butter cream

I went on a strawberry kick and bought 8lbs of these berries!! So after eating about 2lbs myself I decided I would make some yummy treats for family and friends. Now keep in mind this is a meringue butter cream so its a lot different than basic butter cream  (I actually like this kind much better)

 

 

 

 Strawberry Cupcakes:

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cake flour, (not self-rising)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 large egg white
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups finely chopped strawberries, plus small strawberries for garnish

 Meringue Butter Cream Icing:

Ingredients

• 4 large egg whites
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) strawberry jam, pureed in a food processor

Directions

1. In the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a saucepan of simmering water, combine egg whites and sugar. Cook, whisking constantly, until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch (about 160 degrees).
   
2. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the egg-white mixture on high speed until it holds stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until the mixture is fluffy and cooled, about 10 minutes.
   
3. Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low speed, add butter several tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. (If frosting appears to separate after all the butter has been added, beat on medium-high speed until smooth again, 3 to 5 minutes more.) Beat in vanilla. Beat on lowest speed to eliminate any air bubbles, about 2 minutes. Stir in strawberry jam with a rubber spatula until frosting is smooth.
   
   The source: Martha Stewart :) 
   
   
   
   
   

Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

 I came across this recipe from Joy Baker during one of my random cravings to bake something for the family. Ive always been a big cinnamon raisin bread girl, unfortunately I had none at the time I made this but a lemon type frosting sounds good too; maybe next time.

INGREDIENTS:

Dough:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 tsp. instant yeast
1/2 tsp salt
4tbsp. unsalted softened butter
1/3 cup whole milk * I used 2% milk
1/4 cup warm water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 room temp large eggs

Filling:
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg



To make the dough, combine flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a bowl with dough hook. Combine the butter and milk in a small saucepan, heat until the butter is melted. Set aside and let cool until the temp is 115- 125*F. Add the milk mixture,water,vanilla and eggs to mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until dough forms. Continue to knead until smooth and elastic, adding additional flour as need (1 tbsp at a time) until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl and is tacky NOT sticky. Knead about 3-5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat and cover. Let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until it doubles in size.

*while dough rises add the butter to a small saucepan and melt until browned. Set aside. Combine the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl and mix well.

Transfer dough to LIGHTLY floured surface and gently deflate. roll into a ball, cover and rest for another 5 minutes. Roll out into a 12x20 rectangle. Brush dough with browned butter

 Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the dough (yes ALL of it) in an even layer. Slice dough vertically into 6 even strips.

 Stack the strips on top of each other and then slice again into 6 slices.

 Place into a lightly greased (make sure to grease well) 9x5 loaf pan. Cover with clean towel and sit for 30-45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350*F. Bake 30-35 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Remove from oven and let rest for 20-30 minutes. Run knife around the edges to loosen and carefully turn the loaf out, transferring to serving plate. Serve warm but also taste yummy the day after ( it has a cinnamon toast crunch flavor to it)

 Absolutely delish and if I wasn't making Ice Box cookies now, I would make this today too. Take a try at this recipe and let me know how it turns out.

Going to the Extreme

As usual I have taken on more things besides Photography, Baking, Quilting, Party Planning, Organizing and the basic errands and to-do list I have decided after a few years of pondering that I would start my own business!! I've been researching the market and started writing a business plan. Thanks to the help of Business PlanMaker

They have tons of templates that help you step by step along with a business plan writing course. I find myself ALWAYS picking up more and more things to occupy myself from the mundane so why not add ANOTHER thing like.............................

EXTREME COUPONING

I'm sure you might have heard or even watched this very fascinating show of people who you would swear are out of their minds and hoarders. BUT they must be doing something right!!

I have a family of 5!! 3 boys, my husband and I live on a single military income and many of you might know how tight that can be. Now we're not doing bad but we certainly could use the extra stretching in our budget. I am not looking to become a hoarder who has 1year supply of toilet paper, bread,etc but I am looking to stockpile for the family for at least 4-6 months ( thats the long term goal ) but I'll be happy with just a month stockpile the first year.

This week so far I have scored a sweet deal from NIVEA body wash for men and woman...get this...this was all FREE!!!

At $3.04 - $3.97 a pop I only paid sales tax on this...now I have 9 more coupons for the woman ( which is all sold out through out town) so I plan on scoring some more before the sale is up.

So on top of my crazy busy schedule I've now added prepping for a new business and some extreme couponing. What do you do that makes you think " am I nuts for adding this to my daily schedule?"

I might be nuts but I'm gonna be saving some major moola