Butterscotch - Oatmeal - Millet Cookies

Last week I made a millet-5 grain cereal loaf. This week I'm trying some cookies.

Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats

• 1 cup millet flour (Bob’s Red Mill brand)

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ½ cup brown sugar

• ½ cup butterscotch

• ½ finely chopped almonds

• ¼ oil or shortening

• 4 tablespoons milk

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl adding the wet ingredients last.  Once thoroughly mixed, drop dough by small spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. 

If you are using butter or margarine as your shortening, you can blend it together first with your sugar and milk before adding all the dry ingredients.  If you bake at all you already know this but someone who is new to baking won't necessarily know.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until done. Gently remove cookies from the sheet with a egg flipper. 

This recipe makes about 32 cookies formed with a teaspoon. 

These cookies break apart easily if you are not careful.  I also found them quite sweet but they have a good crunch to them which I like.  If you don't like butterscotch chips you can also substitute chocolate chips or alternate making both kinds.  I got a "thumbs up" on these cookies.

I'm joining the lovely Hannapat for the Weekly Bake. Click on the photo to join in!

November Evening

An evening earlier this week.

I was intrigued by the fast moving clouds.

Please join in with Skywatch Friday and check out more skies from around the world.

Images From The Hood

I thought it would be fun to take a few photos while out on my errands.   It was about 5:30 p.m. and as you can see the darkness falls early at this time of year.

It was the warmest temperature on record today with a comfortable 14 degrees Celsius.  The next few days it will cool off by a few degrees each day until it hits a low of 4 degrees Celsius (a few degrees cooler than the norm) on Saturday/Sunday.

A garbage can and a recycling bin side by side and a girl waiting for her bus.  I don't know how often the can are emptied.  I think a lot  depends on the weather too & what people are eating/drinking as they walk along the streets.  In summer months the cans are overflowing.

I always like the look of a bike sitting against a post or a tree awaiting the return of it's rider.  In this case, I think he was in the  barber shop getting a hair cut.

 I snapped the tree and I'm surprised it turned out. In fact I'm surprised any of these photos turned out because I took them with my camera phone.  

I even got some fairly good shots of the moon. I plan to post them on Friday for Skywatch. Until next time, keep smiling!

Millet & 5 Grain Cereal Loaf

Hello friends,

Life continues to move along at a quick clip here on the west coast of Canada. I've been catching up to a lot of things and enjoying as much as I can.

A friend and I recently went to the newly released movie "12 Years a Slave". It is a heartbreaking story about a man, Solomon Northrup, a free black man who was captured and sold into slavery for 12 long years.  After he was freed and reunited with his wife and children, he wrote the story of his capture and enslavement and the movie is based on this first hand account.  It is not a pretty movie in terms of it's content but well worth watching for a glimpse into our sordid past as North Americans.

Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.

George Santayana 

The idealist in me hopes that when we learn from our past mistakes we are less likely to repeat them. I know this isn't always true but one can have positive hopes for the future.  Slavery still goes on today (sex slaves, child labourers and others) and it is something we must be alert to and try to stamp out.

On a lighter note, I've been busily crafting and making crocheted hexagons for an afghan I'm making for Christmas. I'm also thinking of several small gifts for different people which I can make in a short time since my 3 larger gifts are taking quite a while to make. I will be making some crocheted snowflake ornaments for a few people and also some dishcloths. I started on 2 of my quilts back in September but haven't finished them off yet. I hope to do that after I've got my hexagons finished.

I haven't been baking for a long while, partly for health reasons and partly because I usually bake in the winter months when we have cool temperatures.  Well the cooler weather has definitely arrived so I've been getting the urge to bake.  I have had a bag of millet flour (Bob's Red Mill brand) that I purchased awhile back and wanted to use.  I have been experimenting with it.

Click here to learn more about millet flour. I know a number of people who eat gluten-free but so far none of them have mentioned millet flour. Instead they tend to use rice flour. When I've travelled to Kenya, I've eaten millet porridge which is rather tasty. Millet is high in antioxidants and can be helpful in controlling diabetes and inflammation. I think we will be hearing about and seeing a lot more millet flour on the North American grocery shelves in the not too distant future. Hopefully that means the price of it will also come down.  One of my pet peeves is how expensive everything is in Canada when it is "new" on the shelves and it then becomes a trendy or "yuppie" product which is not so accessible to the masses.

I baked a couple of items based on the ingredients I had on hand. I will post the results for the next 3 Sundays (including today).  I don't think this recipe is gluten free because the 5 grain cereals sometimes have wheat in them. I've long thrown out my bag so I can't be precise on the ingredients so please adapt as you need to if you are gluten intolerant.

This isn't like a regular loaf of bread. This is more like a corn meal bread type of consistency but isn't sweet. Sorry for the blurred photo but the night lighting isn't good in my home.

Ingredients

1 cup millet flour

1 1/4 cups of 5 grain cereal (use food processor to grind medium fine)

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt 

2 large eggs

3 tablespoons oil

1 cup milk

Directions

 
Preheat oven to 400 Fahrenheit.

Oil a loaf pan.
Sift all dry ingredients together. 

Beat eggs and add oil and milk.  Stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Do not over mix. Bake until golden brown.  

In my oven which is a little slow, it took 35 minutes to bake this loaf. You'll need to experiment with your oven.  I'd recommend starting with 20 minutes and increase the time as needed.

This loaf is a bit like corn bread without the sweetener.  Feel free to add a bit of sweetener if you prefer.

I had a slice with butter after cooling.  Yum!

I had better sign out now and carry on with my crafting. I've got so much to do to be ready in time for Christmas.  For that reason I'm always so thankful that we celebrate Thanksgiving in October where I live.

I'll be around to visit your blogs when I have a few moments in between crocheting.

I'm joining up with the lovely Hannapat at the Weekly Bake (click on the photo above).

                                                                Have a wonderful week!

Saving & Giving

He who does not economize will have to agonize.
~ Confucius

Sometimes I post about what I'm doing to save money from time to time (you can search "frugal" in my posts to see some of them).  Other times I post a running tally of what I've saved during particular shopping trips.  It helps to keep me on track and accountable for spending.

I was inputting all my shopping expenditures onto a spreadsheet each month for awhile.  That way I could compare the costs over the year(s).  I still have all my receipts but whether I continue to input the information will depend on how much time I have.  Right now I am busy making projects on a deadline as I'm trying to get them finished for Christmas gifts.  When I am busy crocheting or quilting, I spend so much time on projects.  I hate to tear myself away to look at receipts and input data.   I'd rather work on projects, read or get together with friends for a frugal outing.  Having said that, my major savings strategy is still to shop the sales and examine my savings.  I just do it in a more general way.

At the beginning of each month or the end of each month, it is always time to do the "big shop" for the month's food and household items.  This week savings were as follows:

• savings $9.12 Canadian on 2 weeks of meat (chicken legs, chicken backs, pork ribs, pork steak, ground beef).  Actual cost - $51.23
• savings $ 28.43 Canadian on food from the pharmacy (eggs, butter, milk, cream, canned tomatoes/beans/salmon, popcorn, toilet paper. Actual cost - $54.52
• Total cost ~ $105.75 Total saving ~  $37.55 Canadian

This week I have spent more at the pharmacy than usual because there are a number of things that were on sale that I wanted.  At the pharmacy I collect points for my purchases.  Once you reach a certain level of points you can redeem a certain amount of dollars and use it toward a purchase. I will be reaching $85 (Canadian) soon.  This is only the 2nd time I have been near  this level because I usually spend when I reach the $10 level.  When I reach $85 I will purchase multiples of things I need (butter, eggs, toilet paper, coffee, bacon, etc.).

I still have to shop at the grocery store for items which are only purchased once or twice per year (oil, lard, flour). These items are all on sale this week.  I also get a lot of savings week after week on vegetables and fruits at the local produce store.  The produce store is consistently less expensive for most vegetables.  When you add these savings up week after week they can be quite substantial.

For some time now, I've noticed that more and more things have risen dramatically in price.  Virtually everything is the local grocery store is now 30% higher in price (or several dollars more) than they were a few months ago.  I have watched prices steady increase over the past 3 years or so.  I've also noticed that some things, like toilet paper has doubled or tripled in price yet the number of sheets per roll has been cut in half.

Did you notice that the manufacturers have reduced the size of double rolls yet still call them double rolls?  Or is this only happening in my corner of the world?

You really do have to shop carefully and make sure you shop the sales if you want to keep your grocery bill close to what it was a year ago.

How about you dear reader?

Have you noticed the same things at your supermarket?

I purchased a high powered blender recently and saved a $100.00 Canadian, plus the cost of shipping and handling which was an additional $19.30 Canadian.


It arrived in the mail a few days ago.  I washed it right out of the box and promptly tried it out with some vegetables that were on their "last legs".  I didn't follow a recipe I just threw together a number of veggies. I didn't add water.  What came out was quite thick and tasty but more like cold soup than juice. I will have to read up on some recipes.  I already have a good blender but in order to use it I have to chop my fruit and veggies into smaller pieces and then I have to throw out or compost all the pulp and fibre that is extracted.

I am so looking forward to the new blender to use as a juicer. I am thinking I can simply wash the fruit and veggies and turn them  juices that retain the pulp and fibre. I will also be able to make hot chocolate and hot soups for the coming winter and ice cream in the summer!

 The new blender should save me a lot of money every month but I did notice it is extremely loud to operate. I will have to experiment before deciding if it is practical to use at different times of the day and night.  I worry about waking the neighbours or annoying them. If it really is too loud, I will have to send it back and look for a quieter version.

Well my friends you've heard what I'm doing to shave costs from the budget.

What are you doing to keep your food budget or household budget down?

Besides the ever increasing cost of food and household items, the needs in Kenya are always on the top of my mind.  The needs there are great.  The needs here at home have also been great and I've spent a lot on short travels.  Every dollar counts.

I'm still trying to raise funds for Elvis to finish his medical studies in Kisii, Kenya.  The number of those willing to help him have been small but I remain optimistic that a few more people will help out. Elvis is in his last year and time is short to come up with all the funds to help him graduate.

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.

~ Charles Dickens

Kenya is a country that desperately needs medical officers (doctors, nurses and laboratory technicians).  When Elvis is finished his training, he is hoping to work with the people in the isolated northern regions of Kenya.  They can really need medical help.  They have to travel so far just to get a simple medical check up & many go without help for even the simplest of things.

If you could help spread the word about the campaign to help Elvis or even add a donation to help him that would be awesome.


For your convenience, you can use the button on the top right of this screen.

Summer Skies

Fall is well under way here on the west coast but I am reminiscing about summer ;-)

Lazy, hazy days of summer 2013 down at English Bay.

Skywatch Friday is the place to see glorious skies from all around the world with our hosts, Sylvia, Sandy and Yogi.

Crochet - A - Long Thursday

Hi friends, it is time to check in with the Crochet-A-Long with Chrissie Crafts & Ladybird Diaries.  Last week I did make a small amount of progress on my afghan but didn't have time to post anything.

I'm pleased to report that I have an additional 28 hexies over the past 2 weeks. I now have 62 hexies. I have to weave in the ends of 20 of them. I will work on that part of the project when I have a few moments here and there.

I've been working on the hexies to the left of the photo over the past 2 weeks. I haven't had a lot of time for this project but am pleased with what I did manage to get done.

I'm not quite sure how big I will make this throw. I will use up the yarn I have now and see how many hexies I have before deciding whether to buy more yarn and make a larger throw.  I'd prefer to make it larger but I am not sure how long I want to spend on making this throw before I finish it off.  Whatever the case, I am hoping to complete this project by the end of this month and in plenty of time for Christmas.

If you missed my last post Saving & Giving, please click here. I didn't space out my posts very well this week. Please know I appreciate all your visits and your comments! I always reciprocate.

Pretty in Pink

pink and beautiful grace notes

 brighten my days but

 rains usher in the new month

I was very pleased to find these luscious flowers about 2 weeks ago. I took a few more floral photos which I will share another day during our gloomy winter months when I need a "pick me up".

I apologize to my blogging friends if you see me less these days.  Even if I don't leave as  many comments as I usually do I am still reading most of what you write or post.

I've been busily trying to catch up on my crochet-a-long but didn't have time to post an update last Thursday. I'll try to post a progress report and photos on Thursday.

I've also finished two of the books I borrowed from the library.  Reading borrowed books is the most frugal hobby one can have.

Of the two books I borrowed and read, I enjoyed Almost French best.  It is an engaging memoir of a young Aussie woman who ends up meeting a Frenchman on her travels around the world. He invites her to his country and they end up making a life together. The book highlights some of the cultural differences between France and Australia and the difficulties of making a new life in a new country.  I've read many such books and this one is one of the better ones.

The Tiger's Wife is set in an unnamed Balkan country. Although it starts off well I lost the story line along the way.  Perhaps I took it too literally while the author likely meant it to tell a few folk tales as told to her by her grandfather.  In my humble opinion I just don't think the two main folk stories in the book hold together well as one book. 

My little poem says that rains started the month of November. We had a bonus day today (Sunday) and I took advantage of it for a brief walk after church. I hope you are having some nice spots of weather too.

Well my friends that is what is happening in my corner of the world.  Come by and visit again soon :-)

Our World

Haiku My Heart

 

November

The soldiers did go away and their towns were torn down; 

and in the Moon of Falling Leaves (November), 

they made a treaty with Red Cloud that said our country would be ours as long as grass should grow and water flow. 

Black Elk

October Draws to a Close

In these closing days of the month most people will probably write about Hallowe'en.  I don't celebrate Hallowe'en so this isn't that kind of post but the photo content seems to fit the season.

This is a different sort of post for me.

I'm featuring a few photos and an attempt at a verse to go along with them.

spiders spin your web

on tangled roots standing tall

and catch bloated drops

 

  If you like to write poetry (it doesn't need to be Haiku) perhaps you would like to share a short verse about the two photos in the comment section.

That might be fun!

Haiku My Heart


If you don't want to do that, that's fine too.

Our World Tuesday



I wish you the very best for a fantastic November.

CAL # 4 & Skywatch

 

I'm a bit late today with my CAL posting with Ladybird Diaries and Chrissie Crafts.  But hey, better late than never!

Truth be told I didn't do much work on my hexies this week due to travelling and other time consuming matters.

I only made 1 more hexie and wove in the ends on two hexies. I also made the beginnings of 2 more hexie pieces.  Altogether not much progress but every little bit helps. I hope to do some crochet work later today.

I am ready for Skywatch Friday. The skies that are clear blue with the brilliantly coloured trees were taken in Vancouver last week.

A few days later I took some photos in Ladysmith, British Columbia.  Ladysmith is a small town located on the east coast of Vancouver Island.

How different the weather was there.  But it wasn't as bad as it appears in the photos. Very cloudy and misty but not raining.  The air was so damp that there was moisture on the benches, trees and trails and even spider webs.

I thought this spider web made an interesting photo.  You can see that the web caught a lot of water from the moisture in the mist.

I also loved looking up at the sky through the trees on my walks.

I'm joining in at SkyWatch Friday with others from around the globe who love to look at the sky. A big thank you to Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy for hosting this meme.

If you like the photos from my recent trip to Ladysmith and want to see more, please click here.

My Frugal Holiday

I live in a large coastal city but seldom actually get to the waterfront.  I also live very close to many small and larger islands but seldom get to visit or sight see at these places.

This week I fulfilled a small dream of spending some very quiet time in the forest near the water.  Some place where I could enjoy the quiet of nature, the beauty of the ocean and completely relax for a few days.

Though I suggested to my friend that we go as foot passengers over the ferry to Vancouver Island, she preferred to take her car if I would share the cost.  I didn't really want to pay the cost of taking the ferry over but given we were sharing the cost I thought it was a fair deal.  Neither of us had ever been to the venue before and we didn't know whether we would have inclement weather at this time of year. It is not so fun to struggle with luggage through rainy weather.

The cost of ferry for the car and two passengers was our largest expense for the 2 night and 3 day getaway (all costs in Canadian dollars).  Total round trip cost of taking the car over the ferry was $165.00 (or $82.50 each).  Gas/fuel/petrol came to an additional cost of $12. round trip which my friend paid.  The accommodation cost was $137.00 (+ tax) each.

Our rooms included 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 2 dinners, and several tea breaks each day.  Our room rates included use of the hot tub, sauna and gym (kayaks and bikes too but we did not use those).  The total cost of my portion of the holiday was $225.00.  The only additional cost I had was a $2.00 coffee (one way on the ferry).  Overall, I thought I was getting excellent value for what turned out to be a wonderful period of relaxation.  (My friend's additional cost was $55. because she decided she wanted to buy a fleecy vest with the lodge's logo on it as a memento of her holiday. This cost was entirely optional of course).

There is a variety of accommodation facilities at the "lodge".  There are numerous rustic cabins and several cosy and larger cottages. The place is extremely popular.  The vast majority of guests return at the same time of year, each year and stay in their favourite accommodations.  This makes it challenging to get the booking you would like.  I managed to make a booking about a month ago and I took whatever accommodation they gave me for a 2 night period in late October.

This little rustic, red cabin was my home for a few nights.

The little red cabin in the photo above was my home away from home.  It only had room for two single beds, a small closet, a dresser, nightstand, some lamps and a wood burning stove. Though the cabin didn't have a washroom or heating, it did have electricity and extra duvets were provided.  Washroom and shower facilities were very close by and shared by guest lodgers in a cluster of cabins located near by.  The shower room was well heated and lots of towels and floor rugs were on hand.

I made my bed for the picture.  Even though I was checking out I didn't want two messy beds in the photo.

I thought I would have a lot of free time to do crafts and read the latest of my books, Fall of Giants by Ken Follett.  There was no television, radio or internet service at the hotel but I found myself too busy to read much or do crafts.

Instead I spent a little time reading.  Most of the time I was relaxing in the lounge area and walking around the property and taking photos. I also went several times to the sauna and hot tub and spent a lot of time talking to other guests relaxing in the main lodge.  Most people were exceptionally friendly and wanted to talk to the new comers like my friend and I.

This lovely cabin was occupied by a sweet elderly couple from Ottawa, Ontario.  They were visiting with their son who stayed in a more rustic cabin with his wife.

The grounds had tennis courts, hot tub and sauna, gym facilities, and massage room. All of these amenities were located in different locations on the premises and everything except for massage services is included in the room price.  If you want a massage it will cost an additional $80 per hour. I opted for the free sauna and hot tub instead. 

I enjoy scenes like this.  There was a lot of driftwood on these beaches because the area is unprotected from the winds and waves.

It was foggy during much of my short stay but I didn't mind. It wasn't cold and the views were still very beautiful.

It's always thrilling to walk through old growth, coastal forests. These are "roads" in the photos but I also walked on dirt paths located high above the shoreline.

This is a view of the lodge from the direction of the water. I was taking the photo through the spider web which you can just make out in the foreground.

The path to the sauna and other cabins.

The main lodge had a huge lounge with a gigantic fireplace, a large dining room, a games room downstairs and rooms for guests who did not wish to stay in cottages or cabins.  Lots of boards games (backgammon, cribbage, scrabble, cards) were provided with lots of seating nooks, foot rests, throw covers and cushions for comfort.

The couple in the foreground immigrated to Canada from Israel and have been visiting the lodge for about 30 years.

On Saturday nights there is a jam session and dance for the guests. The menu is posted outside the dining room each day.

Weather on the way back was much improved. The sun was shining brightly.  However on the ferry ride it was very misty and foggy.

As we approached Horseshoe Bay, the sun was shining again though you can see some mist over the water. By the time we got to the city, the fog was rolling in.

Though the weather looks miserable it really wasn't that bad and the sun did break a few times over the course of our stay.  Sleeping in the little cabins was not cold either and we only had to build a fire each night as we prepared to retire. My friend enjoyed herself so much she wanted to return soon. Of course I enjoyed it too so we've already booked a return trip during warmer months before the summer begins.

Next time we will park the car at the ferry before boarding as foot passengers and then catch the lodge van on the other side.  The cost would be $27 (each) to park the car for 3 nights plus an additional $15.  to have the lodge to pick us up in their van once we disembark the ferry.  The total cost per person for getting to the lodge and back would then be $42.00, instead of $82.50 (each + gas/fuel/petrol).  We hope to extend our stay by 1 night which will increase our accommodation cost slightly.  If we wanted to save a few dollars more we could take a city bus to the ferry.  The savings for this approach is very minimal when compared to parking the car and sharing the cost of the parking.  It is also less convenient for transporting the luggage.  Another way we might shave a few dollars off the trip is if my friend's sister joins us.  We would save about $15. a night with a 3rd person sharing.

I don't know if I will be a lifetime guest of the hotel but I will certainly be enjoying the time I do get to spend there.