Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This week Cynthia of Feeding Big asked us share some back-to-school recipes. Yes, back-to-school. It's hard to believe that summer vacation is almost over. Sad, but true. Grateful for our annual summer camping trip. We're ten years in to a ten-day trek around Northern California. This year, we went down the Eastern Sierras, camping in Lassen National Forest and Inyo National Forest. So darn picturesque. Jake and I love creating these memories for our boys. It makes their eight-week summers seem a little less short! Manns at Little Virginia Lake Manns on the trail to Crystal Lake Manns above Marsh Lake Okay, back to the reason for this post...some great lunch box ideas from my blogging friends.   Creamy Cantaloupe Pops by Family Around the Table   Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips by Caroline's Cooking   S'More Thumbprint Cookies by A Day In The Life On The Farm   Bean and Bacon Soup by Palatable Pastime Warrior P...

This month's BreadBakers' theme is Ancient Grains, hosted by Robin at A Shaggy Dough Story . Ancient grains are generally accepted to mean grains that have remained largely unchanged/un-hybridized over the last several hundred years, which means NO MODERN WHEAT. Here's what our creative bakers came up with. Ancient 4 Grain Breakfast Bread from Cindy's Recipes and Writings Ancient Grain Carrot Bread from The Schizo Chef Barley Flour Donut Muffins from I Camp in my Kitchen Blueberry Peach Quinoa Oatmeal Muffins from Magnolia Days Buckwheat Savoury Pancakes from Mayuri's Jikoni Dimbleby's Breastfeeding Bread from Food Lust People Love Eggless Sorghum and Pearl Millet Banana Muffins (Eggless Jowar and Bajra Banana Muffins) from G'Gina's Kitchenette Foxtail Millet Bagels from Cooking Club Garlic Cheesy Einkorn Crackers from The Wimpy Vegetarian Injera Bread from Spiceroots Little Millet Banana Bread from Sara's Tasty Buds Mille...

Have I mentioned my boys' (yes, all three of them!) recent obsession with Alton Brown's show Good Eats??  They watch it on Netflix and, honestly, I'm impressed with his ability to inspire my crew into the kitchen. My husband actually set foot in the kitchen and made A.B.'s Mint Julep ! They were all watching an episode that included granola bars and protein bars and asked, "Can we try?" Of course! I'm always looking for ways to eliminate packaged and processed foods from my shopping routine. Homemade granola bars seemed a perfect project as we head back to school this week. adapted from Alton Brown's Granola Bars recipe: here My husband is doing a gluten-free and dairy-free experiment, so I skipped the wheat germ, opting for flaxseed meal. I added in chia seeds and hemp seeds. I also subbed in olive oil for the butter. But I stayed true to the original process and will be making this weekly, I think. Ingredients 2 C old-fashion...

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  BreadBakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Rocío of  Kids and Chic  has selected oatmeal breads as our theme. She wrote: "Oats of any kind: rolled, flour, steel cut, quick cooking, etc. Your bread can be sweet or savory but it's got to have oats!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Oatmeal Bread Basket #BreadBakers Oatmeal Bread themed #BreadBakers: Agave Oatmeal Sour Dough Bread from My Catholic Kitchen Applesauce Oatmeal Bread from Hostess at Heart Banana Oatmeal Loaf from Basic N Delicious Blueberry Currant Oatmea...

It's time for Group B's July 2015  Secret Recipe Club   reveal. This month I was assigned to  Fit Mama Real Food   which is written by Heather. She's wife to Jacob, mom to Hunter and Zoe, real food lover, crazy crafter, and group fitness instructor. And she has some really delicious looking recipes. I am definitely going to try her Crusty No Knead Dutch Oven Bread   (I am all about no-knead breads!), Chicken Kebab Salad , Pomegranate and Almond Butter Deep Dark Chocolate Brownie . But, for this month's SRC reveal, I decided to make Heather's  Creamy Millet Porridge . Serendipitously, I had just ordered some grains from Bob's Red Mill when I found Heather's recipe. And millet was in my order! Given that I've never cooked with millet - and really no idea what I wanted to do with it when I placed the order at  Bob's Red Mill  - this was the perfect introduction to it! In case you're unfamiliar, millet is an ancient grain that has...

I have read about savory granola, but never made it myself. I've made sweet granola tons of times - Coconut Lychee Granola was one of my favorites! - and had some rolled oats leftover from my Mushroom Ginger Oat Congee so I decided to give a savory version a try. Thanks to some prepped herbs from Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices * , an intriguing sauce from Not Ketchup , and hops from a friend's garden, this was delicious, unique, and not too difficult. You'll see this on a salad, instead of croutons, for my dinner party this weekend: A New Year, a menu inspired by seeds, sprouts, and buds. Ingredients 2 C rolled oats 1 C raw shelled pistachios ½ C raw pumpkin seeds ½ C raw sunflower seeds ½ C raw pecans ¼ cup raw sesame seeds 1 T fennel seeds 1 T white sesame seeds 1 T black sesame seeds 1 t chia seeds 3 hops blossoms, dried and pulled apart 1 t  freshly ground salt ½ t freshly ground pepper 1 large egg white, beaten ¼ C olive oil 1 T gin...

What's the saying about repaying kindness with kindness? I usually repay kindness with - what else? - food. So, when my friend Marne offered to help me with the boys this week, I offered to make her whatever she wanted. She picked meatloaf...and she doesn't eat gluten...hence, the gluten-free meatloaf. She remembered a sweet-soy glazed meatloaf that I had done versus a ketchup-glazed one. Ingredients  Makes 4 mini meatloaves 2 lbs ground turkey 1 large egg 2 T chia seeds 2 T gluten-free flour 4 T gluten-free tamari or soy sauce 1/2 onion, peeled and diced 1/2 fennel bulb, trimmed and diced 1 shallot, peeled and diced 1 T minced ginger 2 C mushrooms, sliced 1/2 C sliced raw almonds freshly ground sea salt freshly ground pepper splash of olive oil splash of rice wine vinegar Sweet and Sour Chili Sauce 1/2 C rice wine vinegar 1/2 C organic granulated sugar 1 T minced garlic dash of ground cumin dash of ground cinnamon freshly...

A couple of weeks ago I opened up a package from Quirk Books with a few cookbooks to test and review.* Perfect timing...the holidays seem to be party after party after party. So, I delved first into  Tiny Food Party! by Teri Lyn Fisher and Jenny Park who are the creative forces behind the blog Spoon Fork Bacon . The book is divided into four delicious sections: Tiny Snack Party - Adorable Appetizers; Tiny Dinner Party - Itty-Bitty Entrees; Tiny Dessert Party - A Little Something Sweet; and Tiny Cocktail Party - Darling Drinks. While many of the recipes might already be part of your party-food repertoire, Teri and Jenny add their own flair to make the dishes fantastically original. For instance, they kick up caprese skewers a notch by drizzling it with a balsamic glaze; and they give deviled eggs a special twist by adding kimchi. Who would have thought?!? For me, a winning cookbook is one that has multiple recipes that intrigue me, one whose recipes I actually try, and on...

Inspired by a limeade version by Girlichef , I decided to make my own version this morning for breakfast. The only thing I've really done with chia seeds is a Raw Warrior Pudding ; I did put some in a Chocolate Zucchini Bread  once. But I've been trying to think of ways to use them more. I always have a bag in my pantry because Riley likes to eat them by the teaspoon. I'm not sure if he actually feels a difference in his energy, but once he read that Aztecs used them to promote stamina, he was sold. He'll ask for it before they have to do the mile-runs in PE. I suspect that he just likes the story, but you never know. 3 medium Meyer lemons, halved 3-1/2 to 4 C cold water 1/3 C organic powdered sugar 2 T ginger syrup 1/4 C chia seeds Place the powdered sugar and ginger syrup in a quart-sized mason jar. With a mesh strainer over the top, juice the Meyer lemons directly over the jar. Fill the jar with cold water and screw the lid on tight. Shake to d...

The lesson this morning: don't be afraid to improvise. I had a zucchini from my High Ground Organics CSA box and most of the ingredients for my usual zucchini bread, but I had to wing it on some parts. It turned out perfectly risen and delicious nonetheless. Just keep your proportions of wet to dry as constant as you can. 2 C white whole wheat flour 1/2 C chestnut flour 1 C raw turbinado sugar 1 t sea salt 1 T + 1 t baking soda 1 t ground cinnamon 1 t ground nutmeg 1/2 t ground ginger 1/2 t ground cardamom 1 C organic sour cream 2 eggs 3 T olive oil 2 T coconut oil 2 T chia seeds 1 T unsulphered molasses 1-1/2 C grated zucchini Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together all wet ingredients. Mix all dry ingredients. Mix until just moistened. Spoon into a prepared pan. Bake until golden brown - about 45 minutes - and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Last night Ulla and I attended a free raw foods workshop at our local library where I hoped to learn more about the benefits of eating raw and, possibly, get some great recipes. Sadly, I do not think that that presentation was geared toward anyone who already has a fruit basket in her kitchen, has had a subscription to a CSA for several years, and is not a gadget-kinda cook. I barely use a blender; I am certainly not going to start using a dehydrator, a Vita-mix, a spiralizer (I still don't know what that is!), and more. No joke, one of the other attendees actually asked, "If it says 'organic' that means it's 'gluten-free', right?!? Half way through the introductions, I kept thinking: "Hi, my name is Camilla, and I love a tasty burger...cooked at 400 degrees with two slices of bacon!" Terrible, I know. But true. Still I pride myself in being open-minded, so I came home and did some more reading about eating raw, why people eat raw, and how you...