happy birthday jonathan!

i can't believe this guy is already 3 years old!

happy birthday sweet jonathan! 

love and miss you, uncle buck and auntie signe

diy thursday: cold brew

I love coffee. I love the taste and the aroma. And sometimes cold brew is the way to go. The great thing about cold brew is that it is a lot less bitter providing a much smoother flavor. It is less acidic and since many people have a hard time with the acid in coffee this allows them to drink coffee without much trouble (and if you want to make it even less acidy you can use decaf coffee). If you do make caffeinated cold brew then there is less caffeine per cup as well. Cold brew is also easy to bring if you are going somewhere where they don't have a coffee maker. Just bring some cold brew and you have coffee for the week without the need for a coffee maker. And to top it off cold brew is super easy to make.


Cold Brew Coffee

Ingredients

Ground coffee
Water (I use filtered)
French press or substitute (I use my Eva Solo Cafe Solo -just a little plug for danish design:))
Glass jar with lid or other container


Directions


In your french press add your coffee and water (1/3 cup ground coffee per 1 cup of water).

Stir the coffee and water together.

Let it sit covered for 24 hours.

Then pour the concentrated coffee into your glass jar. This is why is it helpful to use a French Press or my trusted Eva Solo as it helps keep the grounds out of the coffee concentrate as you pour. But you could also use a coffee filter instead.

Store the cold brew concentrate in the fridge.

When you are ready to use then add some cold brew to a mug or glass depending on whether you want hot or iced coffee. Add as much as you would like depending on how strong you like your coffee.

Then add either hot or cold water  - and voila... you have a fresh cup of low acid smooth tasting coffee.

ENJOY!

milling mondays: whole wheat chocolate chip cookies

This weekend I decided to make some good ole chocolate chip cookies. And they were GOOD! These whole wheat cookies are crunchy yet soft and they have a hint of salt making them just a little more interesting than most chocolate chip cookies. And they are of course filled with chocolate goodness. YUMM. 

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

recipe adapted from babble

Ingredients

8 1/2 oz whole wheat pastry flour (soft wheat berries)

8 1/2 oz whole wheat bread flour (hard wheat berries)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp coarse salt

1 1/4 cups unsalted butter

10 oz brown sugar

8 oz granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

6-8oz bittersweet chocolate chips (dark chocolate, I used 60%)

6-8oz milk chocolate chips

Directions

If you mill your own flour, grind your soft wheat berries on the pastry setting for the pastry flour.

Then grind your hard wheat berries on the bread setting for the bread flour. I of course use my WonderMill. Sift the flour twice in order to make the cookies less dense. Since you will be sifting the flour make sure to grind a little more flour than you need since you will be removing some of the bran. 

Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a stand mixer cream together the butter and sugars. 

Add in one egg at a time mixing well in between each.

Then add the vanilla extract. 

Add in the flour mixture and let it mix until just combined. 

Finally, add in the chocolate chips. 

Refrigerate the dough for about 24 hours, no longer than 72 hours. If you need to make the cookies right away or only after a couple of hours of chilling ... then that is ok too. I have made it both ways, and they are both YUMMY (the texture is slightly different when chilled longer). 

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F.

Bake the cookies around 12-15 minutes until golden brown, but still soft. 

Let them cool on a rack.

ENJOY!

diy thursday: getting rid of a toilet bowl ring

Let me start by saying: I clean our toilet bowl every week! In the above picture it doesn't appear that way:( We have hard water and even though I clean every week I continue to have this STUBBORN toilet ring in my toilet bowl. Granted, we don't use our guest bathroom toilet as frequently so the water probably sits still for longer than our other toilet - but still, it is embarrassing to have guests come to use our toilet and then it look like I haven't cleaned in a month or two. I have tried everything to get rid of this stubborn ring. First, I tried using my trusted white distilled vinegar. Vinegar is usually great at getting rid of hard water stains ... but not a toilet ring like this. I also tried using bleach, to no avail. Then finally I read somewhere that you can use a pumice stone. A pumice stone? Really? I wasn't sure it would work and was a little worried it would scratch the porcelain. But for $1 I thought I would give it a try. AND IT WORKED!!!!! Why have I used so much time trying to clean the ring and within minutes for just $1 it had disappeared. AMAZING.

As mentioned all you need is a pumice stone.

After cleaning the toilet bowl  (I prefer to start with a clean slate) get the pumice stone wet and start rubbing it against the toilet ring. And it will start disappearing before your eyes.

This is such an easy and natural solution. It takes no time and no chemicals are used.

Mission accomplished!

milling mondays: whole wheat carrot cake

I really like a good moist carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and this recipe delivers just that. Sometimes carrot cakes can be a little dense and dry and this cake is not that at all - even with the whole wheat flour it is still moist an light. Yummmm.

Whole Wheat Carrot Cake

modified from cooking light magazine

Ingredients

9 Tbs butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

2 egg whites

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups whole wheat flour (1 1/2 cups soft wheat berries and 1/2 cup hard wheat berries)

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup buttermilk (or a great substitute is 3/4 cup milk with 3/4 Tbs lemon juice)

2 cups shredded carrots

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl mix together butter and sugars until well blended.

Add the eggs and egg whites one at a time. Beat until light and fluffy.

Then add the vanilla extract.

If you mill your own flour, then grind your soft and hard wheat berries. I use my WonderMill on the pastry setting. Sift the flour twice to make the cake less dense. 

Then mix the whole wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a separate bowl. 

Next add to the sugar mixture the flour mixture and buttermilk alternating each, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, mixing after each addition. 

Finally stir in the shredded carrot. 

Pour the batter into a parchment paper lined 9x13 cake pan. 

 Bake the cake for about 30 minutes until an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Let the cake cool. When ready to serve add some cream cheese frosting. 

ENJOY!

happy first birthday aksel

happy first birthday sweet aksel! we love your laid back personality full of smiles and cuddles. 

we miss you and wish we could celebrate with you.