A Moment in M.O.M.'s Kitchen- Cowboy Coffee Cake

This is a family favorite! All the little cowboys, and cowgirls, in your family are sure to enjoy this treat!  


Cowboy Coffee Cake


2 1/2 Cups flour
2 Cups brown sugar
1 tsp Salt
2/3 Cup Coconut Oil
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 Cup Raw Milk
2 Farm Fresh Eggs


Mix all dry ingredients first then add in your softened coconut oil until it is crumbly. Add the remaining wet ingredients then pour into a greased, fluted pan. I use the stone one offered by Pampered Chef many years ago. I don't sell for Pampered Chef however, they have provided many kitchen tools for our meal preparation needs! Cook in a preheated 375 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes. 

A Moment in MOM's Kitchen- Sarah-Grace's Fabulous Banana Bread

My kitchen holds some of my dearest memories of heart conversations shared between sisters, mothers, daughters, and granddaughters. Our kitchen is where our hearts are expressed through culinary arts. It is where the aprons hang awaiting the next adventure! Often when Momma comes for a visit it includes her sitting at the table with all us girls working on a scrumptious meal while teaching us recipes and tips that she was taught by her grandmother. The kitchen is one of my most favorite rooms in the house! 


This week I am going to post recipes from my kitchen, per the request of my dear and precious mother! I love you Momma! Enjoy! I hope everyone else enjoys the peek into my kitchen this week as well! 


Because of His Love, 
Mrs. Joseph Wood


Sarah-Grace's Fabulous Banana Bread


2 Cups Sugar
2 Cups Mashed Banana's (about 3-4 very ripe bananas)
3 Cups Whole Wheat (we use fresh ground flour)
3 Farm Fresh Eggs
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 Cups Virgin Coconut Oil
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans


Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl, except for the nuts. In a different bowl mix your wet ingredients. Then add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture one cup at a time. Stirring each cup in till it is nicely blended. Once you have combined all the ingredients together then mix stir the nuts into the batter.  Pour the mixture into two greased loaf pans. Then sprinkle some nuts on the top to make it pretty. 


Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 1 hour or until done. Our new oven seems to have them nicely done in 50 minutes. 




We grease our pans with just a little bit of coconut oil and use our stoneware that we purchased from Pampered Chef. We also use their templates for adding designs to the top of our loaves with powdered sugar. Sarah enjoys making these into muffins as well and decorating the tops of them. Note: if we are adding the pretty designs with powdered sugar we will omit the nuts on top of the loaf. This recipe will make two loaves, not nearly enough for our family our size so we often double it without any changes or complications in the recipe. 

M.O.M.'s Mailbox- Onion and Potatoe Storage

Today, I am going to share a short but good question that came to my inbox. I hope its practicality can help others. I have enjoyed sharing with you this week. I pray that everyone has a blessed weekend with their family!

With much love,

Mrs. Joseph Wood

Question: How do you store potatoes and onions for the winter months? How do I know how much to store? Storing food is new to me so I appreciate anything you can share.

Answer: Having a well stocked pantry is something our family has practiced for the last 15 years. The Lord took us to a place where there were several families who practiced good management of their homes. They took me under their wing and taught me a great deal! Things like where to find produce for free or next to free, how to use a pressure cooker, and the basics of food storage. I have learned much more over the years from practical hands on application. There have been times the lessons were learned through disaster and other times through reading good resources or connecting with just the "right person". I say all this to say, I don't share as any type of "expert", I share as a mother who has learned the value of a well stocked pantry! So, to answer your question....

As with all produce you store, make sure you are careful when handling it. Remove any that have spots or look like they are already in the process of going 'bad'. For storing both onions and potatoes some recommend storing in rice, I have found that not to be cost effective for our family. I use straw and it works just fine! It is also important to store in a cool, dry and dark place such as a basement or a root cellar. I also spread bay leaves out where I am storing things as I have found it helpful in keeping 'pests' away!

1. Onions- This is a new method that my mother taught me after she visited. I absolutely love it!!!  We store ours in old, washed, panty hose nylons. The children will put an onion in the leg and then tie a knot. They repeat this until they are at the top of the legs. We then hang them from a rod in the pantry. I know this sounds strange but it allows the perfect amount of air needed to preserve our onions from the garden! (My mother taught me this!)

2. Potatoes. The type of potatoes you are storing makes an impact on your success as well as how careful you are in the process. If you are putting away potatoes from your garden don’t' wash them. Washing them really does impact the length of life they have in storage. You really have to consider your space limitations and most importantly making sure they are not touching each other. I like to put ours in a crate and layer with straw in-between the layers of potatoes. I am careful when I put the potatoes in the crate, just like all produce I work with. I don't allow any tossing or carelessness. I have found this is vital for the success of storing potatoes.

NOTE: Don't store your potatoes and onions together. They will produce a gas that will spoil BOTH of them!

How much to store you ask? How ever much your family will use! Don't store something just because it's a great deal or healthy. If your family doesn't eat it, you will be wasting your money! To determine how much to store, I suggest you keep track how much you go through on a weekly or monthly basis and then just multiple for that number by the number of weeks/months you are trying to store the item for. Don't try to store too much for too long!

Hope some of that helps! Thanks for your question! I always love to hear from you!

Mrs. Joseph Wood

A Moment of Training- Shh... Don't touch.... Be Still!

Teaching some basic manners to our children can mean the difference between a peaceful day out in town or a stressful disaster you fear. Over the years, I have had countless people come to me and ask, "How can I get my toddler to sit quietly through church service?" or "How I can take seven children under the age of ten into a store without stress!" Don't expect your children to sit quiet through Church or keep their hands to themselves while walking through the store. Take the time to teach your children these simple manners in your own home where you can train them without the audience of the store employees or the choir!

 

 

 

• Here are a few training moments that we do in our home:
• We practice not wiggling or talking through Church service by having the same rules applied to our daily story time.  
• We practice not touching the "pretty's" in the store by teaching them not to touch certain items in the home.
• We teach the children to eat what is given to them and receive it with thanks by teaching them to have this same gracious behavior at meal time in our home.  
• We teach the children not to cry for items they want at the store by taking them shopping in advance, for the sole purpose of training.
• We teach them all the "traps" that have been set out for them. I show the children how the store puts the children cereal down low, at a child’s eye level so they will ask their mommy for it and cry to get their way. How toys are put next to baby diapers so that siblings will cry for a toy when the mommy is trying to buy diapers. How the candy is set next to the counter so the child will cry for candy and the mommy will buy it. I talk to the children about financial responsibility and how we don't buy impulsively.
• We have a family rule that you can't ask for anything once we enter the store. If a child wants to spend their money on something they have to ask before we enter. I never change the rules. They remain the same and the children have learned how to behave very graciously in public.

  

This has been a simple training moment in our home that has been used creatively and successfully. I hope you are able to take some ideas and apply them to the training moments the Lord is creating in your own home. There are many other 'little' tips but I will save those for another post!

 

 

 

Have a wonderful day friends,

 

Mrs. Joseph Wood