Author: keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

Homemade Brownies

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com
Homemade brownies are so FAR superior to ones from a box and almost as easy.  Box ingredients include fillers and unpronounceable items.  Brownies don’t need corn syrup and hydrogenated soybean oil and artificial flavors.  No, thank you.
This is the recipe I use as our go-to brownie recipe.  I decrease the butter to 1/2 cup, instead of 3/4, and I decrease the sugar to just over 1 cup, instead of 1 2/3.  It is still quite delicious and even a bit more moist.  I also like making these in muffin cups, instead of a pan, so we can freeze them easily.  
As an environmentalist, I love that there is less waste when making homemade too, since you can buy in bulk.  And, even though I do use the Toll House recipe as a basis, I like that I don’t have to actually support the Nestle company. Homemade also means you have control over the ingredients, so you can do things like decrease the sugar, use organic ingredients, etc.  Doubling or halving the recipe becomes much simpler with homemade.  You can also mix and store dry ingredients together ahead of time.
 
Twice a year, on Mother’s Day and my birthday, my kids and husband bake a peppermint brownie recipe from a children’s graphic novel called Bake Sale.  These are definitely a special treat, and if you can check out the book from your library, I recommend copying out the recipe!
If you’re not going to eat or share all the brownies in time, I find that brownies actually freeze quite nicely if I cut them into squares (or bake them as cupcakes) and store them in a Pyrex container.  Frozen brownies are an excellent thing to have on hand!
If you haven’t made brownies without a box in awhile, I highly recommend giving it a try!

Homemade Ice Cream

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com
We just made a small batch of homemade ice cream, and every time we make this I cannot believe its delicousness!!  
If you want to binge eat ice cream, this probably isn’t the way to go, but if you really, truly want to appreciate and savor ice cream, you must try to make it from scratch.
Our family does not have an ice cream maker, and for as rarely as we make this and as delicious as it still comes out, I really don’t think it’s necessary.  I’ve pieced this recipe together from different sources, which, I, unfortunately, have not done a good job documenting.  Again, my apologies.  I’m usually very good at referencing my recipes.
This recipe is for Mint Ice Cream.  (Alana Chernila has some great ice cream recipes in her cookbook, and there are plenty of choices online.)  Many of the online mint recipes call for green food coloring, but I truly don’t think it’s necessary, and I do my best to avoid food dyes when possible.
Ok, so, here’s the recipe:
In a saucepan, combine: 
2cups heavy cream
1 cup sugar
Heat gently, until sugar dissolves.  Remove from heat.  
Then, add:
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp peppermint extract
Stir well.  Let cool, if needed.  Pour into heat-resistant/freezer-safe container, like Pyrex.
Freeze for one hour.  Remove and stir.  
Freeze for another hour.  Remove and stir.  Add:
1 cup mini chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
Repeat the freeze and stir process about two more times before letting the ice cream sit in the freezer for a longer period of time–5 or 6 hours.  
Or, if you like soft ice cream and are feeling impatient, as I usually am, just skip letting the ice cream sit for those extra 5 hours and enjoy this scrumptious treat as is!

Rosemary Bread

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com
Years and years ago, a friend gave me one of my favorite “simple gifts.”  It was a small ceramic pot with rosemary.  On the pot, she had painted a rectangle of chalkboard paint to label it, and she had attached a recipe for rosemary bread.  I’m not sure where she got the recipe, but this one I’ll link to is almost identical.
It’s been awhile since then, and, sadly, the potted rosemary didn’t travel this far.  We buy bulk dried rosemary at the natural food store.  Chopping it by hand is probably more authentic, but I once ground it in the coffee grinder to a fine powder, and I love the way it disperses in the bread.  So, I’ve been doing it that way ever since.
This bread is so delicious!  We love just breaking off warm bits right out of the oven and pairing it with some good cheese and Kalamata olives.  A good tomato soup also goes well with it.  The bread freezes amazingly well, once cooled, so I love just doubling the recipe.  (But, truth be told, we’re usually into the freezer loaves the very next day!)  The recipe I originally received suggests sprinkling the tops with a little bit of garlic salt, which I like.
Here is the very similar recipe.  I hope you enjoy!
Try adding some homemade butter!

Arugula Pesto

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com
I love pesto!  And years ago when I started making it, I was a purist, making it with basil and pine nuts.  But pine nuts, as delicious as they are, are EXPENSIVE.  And basil was hard for me to find in large quantities.  So, I was very excited when I stumbled across a recipe for pesto that uses arugula and walnuts instead.
I feel like the Parmesan is difficult to replace, other than with maybe a Romano.  I’ve tried using cheddar when I’m out of the others, and it just doesn’t quite work.  I’ve also tried leaving the cheese out altogether.  And while it’s passable, it’s just not the same.  But the arugula and walnuts do truly work!  For me, anyway.  I’ve taken to just putting the ingredients in a bowl and using the immersion blender.  Then, I freeze leftover pesto in cubes and put them in a Pyrex for a later date.  
This is a very similar recipe to the one I use, although I only use 1/2 cup of olive oil.  I love to double it when I’m making it, so I have extra in the freezer.
Delicious on pasta, but also on quinoa or as a dip.  I’m sure many other possibilities as well.
Hope you enjoy!
NEW NOTE:  We were clean out of walnuts last time I went to make this.  I balked at my husband’s initial suggestion to use sunflower seeds instead, but it actually worked very well!  There are many recipes that do use sunflower seeds specifically with arugula, but I just used the recipe above and replaced the walnuts with sunflower seeds.  An even cheaper option, so I’m excited!

Broccoli Fritters

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com
Love, love these broccoli fritters!  There are lots of recipes like this out there, and, in fact, I think the one we used to make got lost in the shuffle, but we do enjoy this recipe VERY much.   (Excuse the “leftovers” look of the photo, as I forgot to take one when they were fresh; I was too busy eating them!)
So, we don’t often have the parmesan cheese on hand, but we almost always have hand-grated cheddar in Pyrex containers in the freezer, and that works perfectly for us.  I also usually just use frozen broccoli we have in the freezer.  I don’t even thaw or cook it ahead, to be honest.  I just mix all the ingredients together and then cook them. (I do find that chopping the broccoli as small as I can helps.)  If you’re lucky enough to have a grill press-type appliance, I highly recommend using it for these.  I always try to make more of these fritters with the intention of freezing leftovers for future use, but they always disappear very quickly.
Anyway, for us, it’s a super simple recipe since we usually have the ingredients.  I love these as snacks, a side dish, or, on some nights, one of the main parts of our meal.  
Hope you enjoy them too!