Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Ninety-Four (Enjoying the Last of Summer Bliss - Homegrown Basil, Walnut Pesto on Spelt Right Pizza Dough)

End of the summer bliss, on to too much homework!

School is upon us along with so many other obligations and distractions that this every day blog is becoming more like a once a week blog.

But we are still here.  Still talking about healthful and tasty foods for your kids.  Still sharing our recipes, albeit at a slower pace as the pace around this house kicks in to high gear.

Just to pose a question out there to other parents, do you think your kids are getting too much homework?  Spencer still is befuddled by the idea of being in school for 8 hours and then having 2 to 3 hours of homework piled on after school.  When is there time for a kid to be a kid?   I tend to agree with my kid.  Enough is enough.

For our end of the summer treat, we picked the remaining basil from the garden and made a pesto with walnuts, evoo, garlic, sea salt, and grated parmesan cheese.    We placed the wonderful pesto on Spelt Right pizza dough, along with slices of garden tomatoes, and a bit of grated mozzarella, and baked at 450 for about 10 minutes.   The result was a yum, and a longing for the summer that is soon to be fall.

A Day of Remembrance - Blog Dedicated to the Goodrich Family

I have little to say on baking today, but much to say in few words about a remarkable family, the Goodriches of Bennington, Vermont, who have touched more lives in a positive light, spanning more miles and more cultures, than anyone I know.   You can begin to learn their story here The Goodrich Foundation

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Ninety-Three (For this Labor Day, Dessert First Please, Pure Decadence with a touch of Maine Style)

Recipe: Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) of butter - REAL BUTTER (let sit at room temperature)- no margarine no way no how
1 and 1/2 cups organic cane sugar (this stuff has sooo much flavor)
2 TBL pure molasses
1/2 teaspoon baking SODA (whoops, I said powder earlier)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon REAL VANILLA - no fake stuff here
1 and 1/2 cups VITA SPELT organic or nonorganic white spelt flour (I use organic)
1 cup VITA SPELT organic or nonorganic whole spelt flour (I use organic)
1/2 cup Trader Joe's Just Almond Meal
6 ounces, Ghiradelli semi sweet chocolate chips
6 ounces, Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips


Recipe: Chocolate Milk

Oakhurst 1% White Milk
Trader Joe's Organic Midnight Moo - Chocolate Syrup
Angela Adams Lulu rock.

Directions for cookies:

Preheat oven to 375F. In a large bowl, beat butter until smooth.  Add sugar and  molasses.  Keep beating until smooth, add in eggs and vanilla.  Keep mixing.  In separate smaller bowl, mix together spelt flours, baking soda and almond meal.    Beat flour mixture into butter mixture, slowly adding in the flour.  It is great to have kids doing this by hand because it gives them a work out.   Stir in chocolate pieces.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake in 375 oven for about 10 minutes.  Because these are spelt, they tend to flatten out.  Done when edges are slightly brown.  Transfer to a wire rack for cooling.   YUM!!


Directions for Chocolate Milk:
Pour milk in Angela Adams Lulu designer rock (that means glass in designer lingo).  Add in desired amount of chocolate syrup.  Stir.

Suggested serving:  Perfect project for bored 8 and 9 year olds on a beautiful Maine Labor Day Weekend:  Serve two cookies each to two mischievous girls with chocolate milk delicately poured in an Angela Adams Lulu rock.  And for a special treat, serve BEFORE lunch or dinner, AND THEN, send girls outside to play until lunch (Spelt Right Pizza) is ready.

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Ninety-Two (Goat Cheese, Fresh Basil and Tomato Fitayer)

What's with the Eight Ball?  Well, late August and early September have been record breakers for heat in Maine and we simply could not stand eating in our kitchen.  It was too darn hot!  So, after making some lovely fitayers and heating up the kitchen a bit with the oven, we headed down to the basement and had dinner on our pool table.   Much cooler down there.

Preheat oven to 450 F

Ingredients: One Spelt Right Pizza Dough (fully thawed and risen inside of bag), fresh basil, 1-2 fresh tomatoes, soft goat cheese.



Divide dough, make 6-8s, stretch or roll to 1/4 inch thick, place on lightly oiled baking pan. About 4-6 will fit on pan. Spread about 2 teaspoons of goat cheese in center of dough, add chopped tomatoes and basil, make triangle with dough. Bake at 450 for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Ninety-One (The perfect breakfast prepared the night before for hectic school mornings)

It's been a while, but I am back!!!  I had every intent of posting a recipe a day.  I cook everyday, right?  So, why can't I post a recipe a day?  Well, it is not that simple.  Life gets in the way of great intentions.  This summer has been a crazy and HOT one and I am happy that it is winding down.  I made more trips to Boston than I can count on two hands, Emma is off to college, Olivia started 3rd grade in a new school, Spencer is now at the "top of the food chain" being an 8th grader in middle school, Grandma may or may not be moving in, I am a student again - as a member of the Maine Center for Economic Development's Top Gun class, I completed my continuing legal education courses so I am a lawyer in good standing of the Maine Bar, we continue to grow Spelt Right Baking Co., and my house is a MESS!

Here's a great recipe for mornings.  Scrambled eggs with whatever else you want stuffed inside of Spelt Right Dough.   Thaw and fully rise one Spelt Right dough.  Preheat oven to 400F.   Divide dough into 8-10 equal size balls.   Scramble 6 eggs anyway that you like the best on pan on stovetop.  We use a little milk in with our eggs, added some grated cheese, and sliced mushrooms, though spinach would be great too.  Be creative here.     Make small rounds about 1/4 thick.  Scoop egg filling in center.  Make triangle shape (or calzone shape if you prefer).  Place on lightly oiled baking pan.   Bake until brown on top.  

Can be placed in fridge covered in plastic for 2-3 days.  Take out as needed in morning and put in toaster oven.  Also can be frozen and then microwaved.   Great protein boost and quick breakfast

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Ninety!!!(Another great calzone compliments of Guest Chronicler Laura of the 'Hey Spelty' Blog)

The following recipe and commentary are from Laura of the Hey Spelty blog.   Laura is located somewhere outside of the Great State of Maine, but I learned about her blog from a friend.  She has discovered, like many other people, that the industrial wheat (aka common wheat) makes her feel not so great, and that the ancient grain spelt is a wonderful alternative for her.  She also has other food allergies and sensitivities so her blog may be especially useful for some of our readers with a range of food allergies.  Here is another calzone recipe that she posted.  

Laura speaking, "I've really gotten on a calzone kick lately.  they are easy to make in advance and are great to pack for lunch.  sadly, dairy still seems to be a problem for me, so i've had to rethink my typical filling ideas. a friend suggested using caramelized onions instead of cheese and while nothing will ever replace cheese (glorious cheese), these are so tasty that i don't miss it."

sausage and onion calzones made with Spelt Right dough
makes 4

1 ball Spelt Right pizza dough, thawed
2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
1 link hot italian sausage, removed from casing and chopped
1 link sweet italian sausage, removed from casing and chopped
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, spelt flour for dusting

allow pizza dough to rise at room temperature until roughly doubled in size

heat some olive oil in a large skillet, add sliced onions and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until they have caramelized to a medium brown color.  this usually takes around 30-45 minutes.once onions are caramelized, transfer them to a medium bowl.

in the same skillet, brown the sausage, breaking it up into small chunks as it cooks
after sausage cooks, drain excess fat and add sausage to onions

add lemon zest and chopped thyme and mix well

preheat oven to 450

line an inverted sheet pan with parchment,
divide dough in to four equal sections
stretch and flatten each section into a flat disc

place 1/4 of the onion/sausage mixture onto one side of each flattened round of dough
fold the other side over the mixture and crimp shut

transfer each calzone to the baking sheet

top with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes

using a sharp knife or scissors, cut slits in the top of each calzone to allow steam to escape

bake for roughly 15 minutes or until golden brown

serve with tomato sauce

yum!

Although, I have not yet tried Laura's recipe, I am going to give it a TWO THUMBS up.  It looks and sounds so good.

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Eighty -Eight (Guest Chronicler Steff Deschenes - A bagel with the fixins' and a story!)

Here is a post from one of my FAVORITE fans, Steff Deschenes, and the author of The Ice Cream Theory

About the picture:
I'm always looking for a filling, nutritionally beneficial snack that taste awesome and will sustain my energy (and metabolism) levels for long stretches of time since I'm always on the go.  My latest, favorite food that does just that uses Spelt Right bagels.  I take a Spelt Right bagel, toast it, and spread a thin layer of Tofutti "cream cheese."  I then sprinkle walnuts and raisins on it, and top it all off with a drizzle of agave syrup.  It's vegan, it's organic, and it tastes DIVINE.  I have a part time job as a beer model, so I'm also super calorie conscious.  This great bagel has 400 calories (including ALL OF THE FIXINS' on top) and while that may seem high, I'm not concerned because every single calorie is made up of GOOD stuff.  Good for your body, mind, and soul; good for you!  And believe it or not, the body really does react positively to food items, regardless of calories, that are made up from organic, plant-derived ingredients made from people who care!

The write-up:

Over a year ago I made the decision to live an organic, more sustainable lifestyle.  For me, it seemed that the best way to do this was to focus my attention on what I was consuming.  I decided that I was going to transition my lifestyle into being 65 to 75% organic, locally-sourced, and vegan-oriented.

As a result I had to ret each myself alot of gastronomical and lifestyle habits.  I eradicated from my palate both sea and land animals, eggs, and the majority of my dairy content (I have a bit of an addiction to ice cream and cheese - I consume both on a much smaller scale than I once did [and smaller still every day], but they're still present, in serious moderation, in my life); and, from my day to day life, I removed any products that contained any animal byproduct or were tested on animals.

It was a huge change, but one that ended up being perfect for me!

As I've become more educated and experienced in these lifestyle choices, it now baffles me how well we take care of our homes, or cars, or computers, or even our hair and make-up, but how thoughtless we can be towards taking care of ourselves.  Everything we put into and onto our body is incredibly important, effecting how our bodies operate.  Everything from our auto-immune system, to our cardiovascular system, to our reproductive systems are affected by the things we're consuming or applying.

Knowing full well that our bodies react to what we put into it and onto it, we should be averse to then putting synthetic materials, hormones, pesticides, or any other unnatural junk near us!  This body is the ONLY ONE I GET, so I'm gonna take care of it the best that I can.

I've become quite the advocate for health and wellness.  And while it's clearly easy to preach from a soapbox, I've found the most effective way to educate and encourage friends and family to a physically healthier, more socially conscious, more compassionate lifestyle is simply by cooking for and eating with them. 

As a result, I'm always excited when I find new foods that fit into my personal requirements (of being organic, locally-sourced, vegan-oriented - or best yet, all three at the same time!).  I remember stumbling upon Spelt Right bagels when I was reading the Down East magazine featuring them as the Best of in 2009.  I thought the concept was great - it was a food product that recognized all the junk on the market and was trying to proactively change that.

That's a cause I can support!

I bought my first bag of Spelt Right bagels (Maddie's Choice) immediately following reading the article and fell in love instantly.  Bagels had always been one of my favorite foods, but they also felt really heavy - I could physically feel myself being weighed down after eating one.  Even more so as my body naturally went through the process of purging and cleansing itself from all the years of (unknowingly) eating gunk.  So, I was excited when I discovered Spelt Right, but even more delighted at how absolutely wonderful their baked goods taste!

I've been supporting Spelt Right since that first bite through purchasing their products regularly and by word of mouth advertising.  My family and friends are all now converted, able to recognize how heavy and destructive wheat can be over the excellent qualities of spelt!

And it's organic.

And it's local.

And it's vegan-oriented.

What's not to love about Spelt Right?