Cinnamon Buckwheat Waffles

We have several bags of buckwheat flour from our CSA boxes. We could easily have buckwheat pancakes or waffles every weekend for the next six months and still not run out. It's delicious but not a grain that I'm used to having in such large quantities in our house.

Sometime ago when we first came home with fresh buckwheat flour, I found this recipe online, and adapted it just slightly to use straight buckwheat flour rather than a pancake/waffle mix.

It's always a good idea to check the ingredient list before starting to bake or cook. I know this, but I often forget this simple rule. Thank goodness that we have very nice neighbors who we can call on a Saturday morning to borrow baking powder and cinnamon. Without baking powder the waffles are much too dense--just a little bit of baking powder makes a big difference so they were nice and fluffy.

We ate the waffles with vanilla yogurt, Nutella,

Greek yogurt,

butter, and maple syrup.

Yum! I think that it is okay that we have enough flour to make waffles or pancakes every weekend.

Cinnamon Buckwheat Waffles

1 3/4 c buckwheat flour (from Open Oak Farm)

2 c oats

1 T baking powder

1/4 t salt

2 T brown sugar

2 T cinnamon

2 eggs

1 3/4 c milk

1/2 c butter melted

Mix dry ingredients together. Melt butter. Mix milk and eggs together. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well. If the batter is too thick, add more milk. Bake according to waffle iron directions.

Hearty Brownies

On a rainy day recently, my son and I wanted to make brownies. I decided I also wanted to see how many different types of grains from our CSA we could use, and if I could add in some additional fruits and vegetables like a Sneaky Chef recipe. My son and I thought they were chocolatey and good--and also very hearty.

Hearty Brownies

1 banana

1 c walnuts

1/4 c Scottish oats (from Lonesome Whistle CSA)

1/4 c yams

1/2 c cocoa powder (from Euphoria Chocolate)

3/4 c Red Fife whole wheat flour (from Lonesome Whistle CSA)

1/4 c rye flour (from Lonesome Whistle CSA)

1/2 c brown sugar

6T butter melted

1/4 t salt

2 eggs

2 t vanilla

Mix banana, walnuts, yams, and oats together in a food processor until walnuts are pulverized. In a separate bowl, mix together flours, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt. Then, stir in banana mixture. Melt butter then add with eggs and vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Pour into a 9x9" oiled pan and bake 350F for 20 minutes.

Butternut Squash and Bean Enchiladas

I am still trying to find recipes for the many pounds of dry beans we have from our Lonesome Whistle CSA. It is a good challenge to find a recipe that has ingredients that the adults, preschooler, and baby will all eat and enjoy. This one worked pretty well--it was more sweet than savory. Both the beans and butternut squash I dug out from the freezer. I adapted a recipe from the Moosewood Low Fat Favorites cookbook, which has a whole giant section on beans. I'm going to be spending much more time with this cookbook.

Butternut Squash and Bean Enchiladas

1/2 onion chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

chili powder

cumin powder

coriander powder

salt

2 c cooked rio zape beans (from Lonesome Whistle CSA)

1 c cooked butternut squash (from Thistledown Farm)

flour tortillas

cheddar cheese grated

salsa

avocado

Saute onion with garlic and spices to taste. Once the onion is cooked place in food processor with beans and butternut squash and puree.

Place filling on tortillas, roll up, and place in oiled baking dish. Cover with grated cheese.

Bake 350F for 20 minutes until cheese is melted. Serve with salsa and avocado.

The beans, squash, and avocado all made a good baby meal too.

Chimichangas with Beef, Beans, and Barley

One of the new challenges of using dried beans from my Lonesome Whistle Bean and Grain CSA is that I have to plan ahead a bit more. My pre-schooler told me that his favorite dinner was burritos with beans and purple barley. That's super exciting! However, on this particular day, I didn't have any beans prepared. However, he helped me get the slow cooker and beans ready. It was a good reminder to cook up a large batch (3 c dry beans and 6 c water) in the slow cooker and then freeze the cooked beans in 2 c portions.

About every 5 years we make our friend, Tom's Chimichangas. They are delicious (fried food is always great) and freeze well, but they are just a little bit more preparation work than burritos. However, I had beans prepared and barley on the stove and prepping the little delicious packets was a very nice afternoon activity. With this recipe it was also easy to vary the ingredients inside (i.e. onions vs no-onion) to make everyone happy. I froze most of them and we have been diving into the freezer for lunches.

Tom's Chimichangas

1 lb ground beef cooked

1+ t cumin powder

1+ t chili powder

2 c cooked rio zape beans (from Lonesome Whistle CSA)

1 c (uncooked) purple barley (from Lonesome Whistle CSA)

1 small can chilis

1 onion diced

olive oil

medium sized whole wheat tortillas

grated cheese

lettuce

salsa

Cook 1 c purple barley with 3 c water until soft (40-45 minutes). Saute onion with olive oil and set aside. Cook ground beef with cumin and chili powder. Mix cooked meat, beans, barley, onion, and can of chilis together. Fill tortillas with the filling and fold into a packet using a tooth pick to hold the packet together.

Heat vegetable oil in a pan (I do enough to cook one side at a time--not deep fry the whole thing) and cook chimichangas on each side until browned and "flaps" stay closed without the toothpick. Serve with grated cheese, lettuce, and salsa.

Honey Berry Bread

We have lots of rye flour in our freezer from our Open Oak and Lonesome Whistle Farms CSAs. I thought it would be worth while experimenting to see if I could substitute it into a quick bread without anyone noticing. I adapted this recipe from the Fanny Farmer Cookbook for this test.

It was quite tasty and the rye flour worked just fine with both texture and taste in this recipe. It made it a little more "earthy" than white wheat flour, but everyone liked the bread for dinner and with cream cheese for breakfast the next morning.

Honey Rye Bread

2 c rye flour (from Open Oak CSA)

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 t cinnamon

1 t ginger powder

1/2 c honey (from Thistledown Farm)

1 egg

1 c milk

1/2 c blueberries (from our garden)

1/2 c Marion berries (from our garden)

Combine dry ingredients and then mix in wet ingredients (except berries). Beat in mixer on medium speed for 10 minutes. Stir in berries. Pour into butter bread pan and bake 350F for 40 minutes.

Day Three with Chicken

When I started with the Roast Chicken and then made soup stock, I had in mind that I wanted to make chicken tetrazini. It was well worth the wait and effort! I think it was a good as my mom's!

Chicken Tetrazini

1T butter

2-3T flour

1 c milk

1 c chicken broth

5 mushrooms chopped

1 green pepper chopped

chicken cubed (Either left over from another meal or cook and then cube two boneless, skinless chicken breasts)

1 onion chopped

2 cloves garlic (from CSA)

1/4 c parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

1/2 lb pasta

Boil water to make pasta. Drain and put into oven proof pan. Melt butter and add flour to make a roux. Slowly add in milk and chicken broth to make a white sauce stirring constantly to prevent lumping. Turn off heat and stir in parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste. In another pan, saute onions until translucent. Add in green pepper, mushrooms, garlic, and chicken and cook until peppers and mushrooms are softened. Mix vegetables in with pasta and pour white sauce over the top. Bake 350F for 20-30 minutes.

Day Two with Chicken

After we ate our roasted chicken dinner, I removed the meat from the bones and saved the carcass to make a soup stock.

Vegetable and Chicken Soup Stock

Beet peels (from CSA)

Carrot peels

Potato peels

Celeriac (from CSA)

Onion skins

Kale stems (from CSA)

Garlic cloves (from CSA)

Chicken bones (from roasted chicken)

Put everything in a soup pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for a few hours. Remove from heat, drain our liquid and put in the refrigerator until fat is solid. Skim fat off and use stock.

I froze most of the soup stock in 2 c containers, but saved some to make chicken tetrazini and potato leek soup.

Day One with Chicken

I love getting many meals out of one simple chicken! I started with a roasted chicken, then used the bones to make soup stock, and then made chicken tetrazini.

Roasted chicken is very easy to prepare, and I love how the chicken tastes on the flavors of the herbs inside.

Roasted chicken

1 lemon

4 cloves garlic (from Open Oak CSA)

1 inch of ginger root

1 t each of oregano, rosemary, parsley, thyme.

1 whole chicken

salt, pepper

Olive oil

Place chicken breast side down in oven proof pan. Mix the herbs, salt and pepper together and put inside the chicken with the lemon, garlic, and ginger root. Cover the outside of the skin with olive oil. Bake 425F for 15 min/pound + 10 minutes (this one was 75 minutes).

After we ate dinner, I removed the meat from the bones and saved the carcass to make a soup stock.