dill pickles

  

today, we made refrigerator dill pickles. easy, cheap, fun, delicious. dinah and i planted a garden this spring and grew cucumbers for just this purpose: summertime pickling.

our backyard garden is doing well this year, and we've had a large bounty of cucumbers already, and twice as as many coming up behind the ones we've already harvested.

dinah's garden

hello there cucumber

the kids helped me harvest the cucumbers (probably the best part if you asked them), and dinah helped me peel garlic, break off sprigs of dill, and measure out the salt, red pepper flakes, and apple cider vinegar. i did the cutting and arranging of cucumber spears and pouring of hot brine. charlie stood by, eager to help, but mostly just sat on the countertop watching us, swinging his toddler feet clad in dinah's too-big rain boots while grasping a too-big cucumber we weren't going to use.

this year, i used wide mouth pint size canning jars and filled seven. i'm not sure how many cucumbers i used. lots. a large pile of them...probably like 30-40 small cucumbers.

refrigerator dill pickles

you'll need:

cucumbers

jars

garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

fresh dill

red pepper flakes

salt

apple cider vinegar

water

for the brine:

2 c. apple cider vinegar (use a high quality vinegar; one with "the mother" (i use bragg's organic raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar))

2 c. water

3 TBS salt

place in each clean jar:

2-3 smashed garlic cloves

a small handful of dill

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

once everything is placed at the bottom of the jar, pack in the cucumber spears or coins. leave about an inch of space from the top. i usually top with a sprig of dill for good measure. once arranged, pour the hot brine over the pickles until covered. secure the lids and leave out until they've reached room temperature and then store in your refrigerator. let them sit for 48 hours before trying them. they will store in your refrigerator for several weeks, though they'll never last that long around here!  

healthy zucchini bread

with its cool crisp mornings and hot afternoon rain showers, late summer also brings a bounty of zucchini. the end of summer is one of my favorite times of year. not just for all the squash, but for the turning of the seasons and the relief and comfort that brings me. i can still enjoy the easy-breezy feeling of summer, but the days are growing shorter and less stifling and the nights are becoming cooler and more quiet.

with the abundance of zucchini, dinah and i have been cooking and baking with it often. we made skinny chocolate muffins last week (that were just meh, so I didn't keep the recipe), and we made calabacitas, minestrone, and ratatouille earlier this month as well. this week though, we made my favorite: zucchini bread. there are a million zucchini bread recipes out there and it's a bread that's pretty difficult to screw up, but following our trend of healthy snacking this summer, i found a healthy, but also delicious and very moist zucchini bread recipe. it turned out great. i got the recipe here, but made a few changes, like using less honey and adding extra cinnamon and a handful of chocolate chips.

healthy zucchini bread

1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon (mine were heaping, i really like cinnamon)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/2 c. plain whole milk yogurt
1/4 c. coconut oil
1/4 c. organic raw honey
2 TBS brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. grated zucchini, be sure to squeeze ALL the water out
1/4-1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan. in a large bowl, combine flours, and other dry ingredients. in a different bowl, whisk the egg into the yogurt, then mix in oil, honey, brown sugar and vanilla. add in grated zucchini, then fold in flour mixture. once combined, throw in a handful (or two) of chocolate chips. pour into prepared pan. bake for 45-60 minutes. mine took an hour and ten minutes, or so. just bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. remove bread from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack. apparently, there are only like 150 calories per slice, so eat up!

Cranberry Orange Bread

fresh cranberries

at least once a week, i try to have a lazy morning with my kids. the kind of morning where we eat breakfast in the den, watch a movie, read books, cuddle, and stay in our jammies. no play dates, no visitors. just a morning to rest and do nothing at all.

this morning was our lazy morning this week. it was also a very chilly morning; only 19 degrees! the cold weather makes for a perfect lazy-baking-day! with the sugar overload that comes this time of year, we decided to do a sugar-free nom instead. this bread uses applesauce, orange juice, and honey as sweeteners instead of refined white sugar. it still tastes sweet, but is hopefully a healthier treat. plus, it's a great holiday loaf, with pretty red cranberries.

the citrus and sweet cranberry aroma filled the entire house, which was a perfect compliment to lazy-day couch cuddles in our jams.

cranberry orange bread

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 TBS baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup honey

grated rind from one orange

2/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (about two large oranges)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/4 cup fresh cranberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (we used walnuts)

grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees. grate one orange and set the rind aside. squeeze two large oranges, set juice aside. in a medium sized bowl, mix dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) and set aside. in a large mixing bowl, mix together applesauce, orange juice, rind, oil, and honey. slowly add in dry ingredients. fold in cranberries and nuts. bake for 45-55 minutes.