As promised, Homemade Pop Tarts

One of the things I love about my husband is how versatile he is.  He is book smart but also street smart.  He loves to hunt, great at cooking.  He is a man's man, but a tender tender heart.  (I promise, I will get to the pop tarts).  A few years ago we decided to dive in to the world of canning, as we'd seen his parents and grandparents do.  There is no way I would continue canning if he didn't help me with it.    It is hard hard work, but worth the reward.  He really loves it as much as I do, and for that I am thankful!  Over the years we've learned how to make many jams and jellies, along with pie fillings, canned green beans, pickles, tomato sauce and more.  What I love about the jams and jellies is that they can be used for far more than spreading on a biscuit!  My boys like to use it as a topping to their oatmeal, I use apple jelly and butter on top of a pork recipe, and most of all...we love to stuff our homemade pop tarts with our home made jams and jellies!!

Below is the recipe we use from 100 Days of Real Food.  They are easily frozen so I tend to make them in bulk, with several different varieties.  This is a great food to let your kids help with.  Mine love to help roll out the dough, spread the jelly and press the ends down.  On the morning of, pop one in the toaster and voila!  Another fresh, warm breakfast at your service.  AND it's all real food.  Winning.  

Whole-Wheat Toaster Pastries (a.k.a. Pop Tarts!)

SERVES: 7 – 8 TOASTER PASTRIES

ADAPTED FROM THE HOMEMADE PANTRY

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ¼ cup whole-wheat flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup cold, unsalted butter (2 sticks)
• ½ cup water plus ice
• 1 egg beaten with a splash of water
• 7 – 8 tablespoons
• jam or jelly (we prefer either homemade jam or an all-fruit spread that’s sweetened with fruit juice concentrate as opposed to sugar or high-fructose corn syrup)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Put the flour and salt in a food processor with the dough blade and pulse it together briefly.
3. Meanwhile fill a glass measuring cup with ½ cup water and add a few ice cubes to it.
4. Take the cold butter straight out of the fridge and cut it into ½ inch chunks. Sprinkle the pieces of butter on top of the flour in the food processor. Be careful to spread out the butter as opposed to letting it all clump together in one piece.
5. Turn on the food processor and blend until the mixture resembles a crumbly meal. While the food processor is still running add ⅓ cup water through the top. Watch the dough come together and add 2 – 3 more teaspoons of water as needed so a dough ball will form. If some of the dough is in a ball and some is stuck to the sides that is okay…you can fix it with your hands. At this point the dough could be stored in the fridge in plastic wrap for up to 3 days or in the freezer (in a freezer safe container) for up to 6 months.
6. Remove the dough from the food processor and put it on a lightly floured counter or large cutting board. With a rolling pin (and another sprinkling of flour) flatten out the dough to one big rectangle or square that’s no more than a quarter inch thick. Trim any uneven ends and use those to patch other edges as necessary.
7. Using a knife cut out 14 to 16 rectangles of dough. Actually you could make them any shape or size that you want at this point. Lay half of your dough shapes onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Spoon about a tablespoon of jam down the middle of those bottom dough pieces.
8. Top them with matching dough shapes and seal around the edges by pushing down with a fork. Make a few holes in the top with the fork as well. Lastly, brush the tops of the uncooked toaster pastries with the egg wash.
9. Bake at 375 degrees F for 18 – 24 minutes or until golden brown. Cool the cooked pastries on a cooling rack (if you have one) then either eat them right away or store them in the fridge for 3 days or the freezer for several months. They can be eaten cold or reheated. Enjoy!

Family favorite

Often times I get the idea to blog.  You know, sit down an write a post start to finish.  And then after the flood of ideas and wondering where to start I realize that there is not a single thought in my head that make a coherent sentence by the time I actually have the time to SIT DOWN and write a single blog post.  True story.  You would be astonished at how long it took me to write the above three sentences which are more than likely grammatically INcorrect.

But hey, since we are on a roll....

You know what I love?  Food.  You know what I love more?  Chocolate.  That's true, but not where I was going with this.....

I love blessing those whom I love with food.  One of the most satisfying things for me is to get up early before my family (which lets be honest.. It's a pretty rare occurrence since I have a 3 1/2 yr old 5 am wake up call) to feed them a warm meal.  

Side note: have we mentioned I have 2 small boys and 1 large boy who eat us out of house. and. home.  So praise the dear LORD these children of mine love oatmeal.  No, but really.  They do.  By the bowls full.  Especially when it is stuffed with fresh peaches, warm cream and a tad bit of vanilla.  

Back to warm breakfasts.  This summer a favorite was fresh peaches n' cream oatmeal.  I don't like oatmeal, as its not generally something associated with chocolate, but if I did I am confident I would love this combo.  At other favorite is homemade pop tarts.  Sounds scary, but it's not so bad.  I will share the recipe soon.  But seeing as we are halfway through this glorious North Carolina fall, I'm going to share with you a family favorite from my favorite cookbook at the moment, Deliciously Organic.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Muffins, by Deliciously Organic

4tbsp unsalted butter, softened

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 1/3 cups whole cane sugar or Sucanat

1/2 cup puréed pumpkin

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (we love King Arthur)

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/3 cup whole buttermilk

1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional-but so good!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In mixer bowl, beat together butter, coconut oil, and sugar on medium-high speed for about two minutes.  Turn mixer to low and add the pumpkin.  Add eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition.  Mix in vanilla.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves in a large bowl.  With the mixer on low, add half of the dry ingredients, followed by half of the buttermilk.  Repeat process and mix until just combined.  Fold in pecans.  Spoon batter into oiled muffin cups until 3/4 full.  Bake 23-25 minutes, or until golden brown.  Cool for 5 minutes before serving.  

And that's that!  This recipe makes 16 muffins.  We usually double and freeze for another day.  Check out the freeze post for an interesting twist on fresh muffins!!