Chocolate Fudge Sauce

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup 70%(or more) dark chocolate pieces
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 cup vanilla ice cream (we use our homemade ice cream but you could use any vanilla ice cream)

Melt butter and chocolates over in pot over low heat. Add sugar and stir. Increase the heat to medium and stir constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and stir the ice cream into the chocolate mixture.

This stuff is amazing and versatile. It is great over ice cream, over desserts, or even just eaten with a spoon out of the jar!

Date Cranberry Pecan Bars

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup chopped pecans minus 2 tbsp.
2 Tbsp. ground flax
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Add dates, and cranberries. Put 2 Tbsp. ground flax seed in a 3/4 measuring cup. Fill rest of cup with chopped pecans, add to above mixture. Stir until well mixed. Beat eggs until foamy. Add vanilla to eggs. Then add egg mixture to dry ingredients. Stir well. The batter will be thick.

Place batter into a greased 8″ square baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minute until center is set. Cool completely. Cut into bars.

Kyle loves to add vanilla ice cream and fresh pineapple to the bars, I think they are amazing on their own. Either way it's a recipe you have to try!

Homemade Deodorant

Mix about 1/4 c. baking soda and 1/4 c. cornstarch or arrowroot starch in a small bowl. Add unrefined coconut oil, not melted, about a Tablespoon at a time, mashing with a fork until all the dry ingredients have been mixed in. I find it takes 4-6 Tablespoons.
Optional: If you’d like a scent, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil at this time.
You could use this mixture as is and apply with your fingertips, or put it into an deodorant container. We just use our fingers to apply.

The above was taken from here which I found through my friend's post here. I find it perfectly fine to leave the mixture in a small container and apply with my fingers. I have been using this for about a month now and it is far superior to store bought natural deodorants and regular deodorants as well. No stink and very minimal moisture. I haven't noticed any oil staining either! Try it and let me know how it works for you!

Broccoli Salad with Apples and Cranberries

4 cups fresh broccoli florets
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
3 organic apples
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1 cup plain, low-fat yoghurt with probiotic bacteria
2 Tbsp Dijon style mustard
1/4 cup honey

Combine broccoli florets, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, chopped apples, and chopped onion in a large serving bowl. Blend yoghurt, mustard, and honey in a small bowl. Add dressing to the salad and toss. Chill before serving.

Meat Thukpa (Nepali Recipe)

1 lb. Tibetan noodles, similar to spaghetti, or cavatelli(I used regular spaghetti)
1/2 lb. Lamb, cut into ¼-in. slices (can be substituted with chicken or shrimps)
1/2 lb. Spinach, washed and cut into pieces
1 cup onion, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced (I used about 1 tsp. powdered ginger)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin powder
3 fresh chilies, julienned
1/2 teaspoon jwanu (lovage seeds)(I omitted this as I didn't have any)
1 bay leaf
1 cup tomatoes
1/2 cup yogurt
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cups lamb broth (I used beef broth)
2 tablespoons musturd oil (I used olive oil)
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

Cook noodles in boiling salted water until slightly undercooked. Drain and rinse. In a sauce pan heat 2 tablespoons of musturd oil. Add onions, fry till light brown. Add turmeric, garlic, ginger, cumin powder, and chilies. Stir well for 1 min. Put the pieces of lamb and brown well. To the lamb mixture add tomatoes, soy sauce, yogurt, broth, jwanu seeds, bay leaf, salt and pepper and cook until the lamb is tender. Add the noodles and stew for 5-7 more minutes. At last, add spinach and fold into the stewed noodles for a minute or so, until wilted. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with roti.

Sweet Scones

2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. butter
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup currants, raisins or dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender, blend in the butter until crumbly. Add the milk and dried fruit. Stir with a wooden spoon. With your hands, form the dough into a ball. If it is too dry, add 1 tbsp. of milk. If it is too wet, add 1 tbsp. flour. Dust a clean table top with flour. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick with a rolling pin. Using a round cookie cutter or tho open end of a drinking glass, cut the scones into circles. I used the dough scraps to make more scones by patting the dough into a round, flat circle and cutting into four wedges. Place on cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until they start to brown. Let cool 5 minutes, then serve.

We served them the Scottish way, with jam and whipping cream spread on the insides and put together like sandwiches. We had a Scottish afternoon tea party today while studying the country of Scotland.

Finnish Meatballs

1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup plain bread crumbs
1 yellow onion, minced
1 egg
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground allspice (I didn't have allspice so I used French Onion Dip Mix instead)
1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/2 cup whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, egg, cream, salt, and allspice in a bowl with your hands until evenly mixed. Roll the mixture into golf ball-sized spheres.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook about half the meatballs in the melted butter until evenly browned on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes; remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining meatballs, keeping the liquid in the skillet when finished.
Sift the flour into the skillet drippings; cook the flour in the skillet drippings until brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly stream the milk into the skillet while whisking vigorously; pour the cream into the mixture and stir until smooth. Add salt and pepper. If you aren't good at making gravy and end up with some lumps you can pour the gravy through a strainer. Return all the meatballs to the skillet; stir to coat with the gravy. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the meatballs are cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.

Homemade Chocolate Chips

1 cup coconut oil (or any solid healthy fat)
1 cup cocoa powder
5 Tbsp sweetener (liquid or granulated work fine. Use as healthy an option as possible. If using stevia extract, substitute 3 scoops, or to taste. I used honey)
2 tsp vanilla

Melt coconut oil over a very low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in cocoa, sweetener, and vanilla. (If you heat over too high of a heat or don’t remove from the heat, the coconut oil will separate from the cocoa when cooling. You can still eat it, but it won’t be as smooth.)
Pour mixture into a pan (8×8 works well).
Place in refrigerator or freezer until solid. Remove from pan, and cut into chunks of desired size with a good, solid knife.
Store in a cool place until ready to use.
Yields approximately 3 cups of chips. Has a similar taste to dark chocolate, depends on how much sweetener you use!

* when using this for chocolate peanut butter cups (see previous post) don't freeze first, use the liquid chocolate as required for the cups and freeze and make into chips whatever is left over! *

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used homemade peanut butter made from only peanuts and nothing else)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
12 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips * see note below
2 Tablespoons shortening

Cut 15 full size foil cupcake liners to about half their height. (I used silicone baking cups and did not cut them. Once the dessert was solid I peeled the silicone cups off and stored the chocolate cups in the freezer)
In a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and salt. Knead it slightly with your hands until all the sugar is moistened.
Melt the chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave according to package instructions. Or, put them in a microwave safe dish and heat on 50% power for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir, and heat in 15 second intervals, stirring after each, until melted and smooth.
Put one teaspoon chocolate in each foil liner and tilt the liner so that the chocolate covers the bottom and a little bit of the sides.
Place them on a plate or in a muffin pan and put them in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Roll 1 1/2 teaspoons of the peanut butter mixture into a ball and flatten it with your hands. Place it in the bottom of a chocolate lined cupcake liner. It should not touch the edges. Repeat with all 15 liners.
Add 2 teaspoons of chocolate on top of the peanut butter and spread it with the spoon out to the edges of the liner, letting it fill in around the peanut butter.
Store in the refrigerator. Eat cold or at room temperature.

*Instead of melting chocolate chips and shortening I made my own homemade chocolate - see next post*

Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
juice and zest of one lemon (I think next time I may even do juice from 1 1/2 lemons)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
Blueberries fresh or frozen

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, mix sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice and zest. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream mixture. Mix well. Spread in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Sprinkle blueberries on top of batter according to taste. We like lots of berries on top. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until cake tests done.

I think this would also taste good with raspberries instead of blueberries!

Icelandic Baked Fish

1 tablespoon butter
6 fish fillets or 6 cod fish fillets I used both cod and Alaskan Pollock (we preferred the Pollock but both were good)
1 lemon
salt , pepper to taste
200 g emmenthaler cheese or 200 g tilsiter cheese , grated (I used emmenthaler)
1 tablespoon mustard (I used dijon mustard)
1 cup cream
½ cup breadcrumbs

Preheat oven at 180° celsius. Butter a baking-dish. Put the fillets into the baking-dish. Season the fillets with salt, pepper and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Cover the fish with ground cheese. Mix mustard with cream and pour it over fish fillets. Cover with breadcrumbs. Bake the fillets for 35 minutes. Serve with rice or noodles.

Maple Muffins

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening or butter
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
2/3 cup real maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease the cups of a 12-cup muffin pan.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in oats. Add egg, milk, and syrup. Stir only until dry ingredients are moistened. Fill greased muffin tins 3/4 full.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and let stand a few minutes before removing muffins from the pan.

Swedish Meat Pies

1 tablespoon butter
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
2 large red potatoes, grated
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup shortening
12 tablespoons sour cream (i needed a little more than this)

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Crumble in the ground beef and add onion, parsley, dill, and grated potatoes. Cook and stir until the meat is browned. Drain any excess grease. Turn off the heat and stir in the cheese until melted. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Mix in the shortening with a fork or pastry cutter until only pea sized lumps remain. Stir in sour cream a little bit at a time until the dough holds together. Knead briefly on a lightly floured surface. Divide into eight equal portions, and pat into balls.
Roll out each ball of dough to about 1/8 inch thickness. Place a heaping 1/2 cup of filling onto each one. Fold over into half circles, and seal by moistening the edges with warm water and pressing together. Place on a baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Makes 8 LARGE meat pies.

We made these while studying Sweden during a unit study on Vikings and the areas around where they lived.

Buttermilk Honey Wheat Bread

1 1/2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Dissolve baking soda in the buttermilk. Put rest of ingredients into bread maker pan in order given. I baked it on the light crust setting and basic bread setting. A very yummy, light and fluffy bread!

Poppy seed Buttermilk Cake

1/2 cup poppy seeds
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar

Soak poppy seed in buttermilk for 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), grease a 10 inch bundt pan. Mix together cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar. Sprinkle part of the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over greased pan. This will form a thin crust over the cake. Set aside the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture.
Cream butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla.
Sift flour, salt and soda together. Add to butter mixture alternately with the poppy seed mixture. Blend well.
Put the batter in the pan in layers, sprinkling the reserved cinnamon sugar mixture between each layer. If you spread your batter thin, you should get three layers of cinnamon sugar. (I only had one layer of cinnamon in the middle and sprinkled the rest at the end so both top and bottom of the cake has cinnamon-sugar)
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Set cake on rack to cool for one hour. Goes well with whipping cream or plain by itself!

Sloppy Joe Spice Mix

1 tablespoon instant minced onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon instant minced garlic
1 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
red pepper flakes to taste (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl until well blended.
Spoon mixture into jar or container.
Label as Sloppy Joe Spice Mix.
Store in a cool, dry place and use within 6 months.
Makes 1 package (about 3 T) of mix.
Sloppy Joes: Brown 1 lb lean ground beef in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.
Drain excess grease.
Add seasoning mix, 1/2 cup water, 1 (8 oz) can of tomato sauce and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Serve over toasted hamburger buns

Vanilla Ice Cream

2 eggs
scant 3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 1/2 cups homogenized milk
2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract (I use real Mexican vanilla - fake extract won't taste the same)

In a heavy saucepan, combine the first five ingredients. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat a metal spoon and reaches at least 160 degrees F. Remove from the heat; cool quickly by setting pan in ice and stirring the mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight or freeze immediately. When ready to freeze, pour custard and vanilla into the cylinder of an ice cream freezer. Freeze according to the manufacturer's directions.

Making a cooked custard really makes better homemade ice cream. I tried the no cook recipes and they freeze quite icy and have lots of ice crystals. You can add extras into this recipe for different flavours or just add your favourite topping when serving this treat!

Whole Wheat Honey Banana Muffins

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
2/3 cup olive oil
1 cup honey
4 eggs
2 cups mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup hot water


Stir together dry ingredients.
Beat oil and honey together; add eggs and beat well.
Add bananas and beat to combine.
Add dry ingredients to wet, alternating with hot water; mix well after each addition.
Spoon batter into 24 greased muffin cups; bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes, or until muffins are golden brown and test done.Remove from oven and cool on rack.