"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Tidbits ~ Flourless Pumpkin Bread

 Tuesday was our "Monday" this week.  We both took Monday "off" and spent the day enjoying it.  Tuesday was the day for thunderstorms to roll in late afternoon, so laundry went out on the line early.


I am working my way through my garden freezer goodies, and made us some flourless pumpkin bread with frozen garden pumpkin puree. 

It is a very dense, thicker bread, and with less sweetness and flavor, but by adding some extra cinnamon and nutmeg it's pretty good.

The bread is also about half the height of other baked pumpkin breads.  I test the bread about 30 minutes into the cooking time, and let it cool almost completely in the pan.  I finish the cooling on a wire rack before slicing.


Flourless Pumpkin Bread

In a blender mix all of the ingredients:

2 cups organic old-fashioned oats

15 oz. of frozen, thawed garden pumpkin puree (I measure it, as it will weigh differently depending on the thickness of your pumpkin puree).  You can use 1 can of pure pumpkin as well.

1/2 cup pure maple syrup (I have not tried a substitute yet)

2 farm fresh eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. of homemade pumpkin pie spice (or add cinnamon, nutmeg)


Pour into greased loaf pan (I do not flour the pan) and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until done in the center.  350°F.

Personally, I like a bit of of honey on this bread, but if you are watching sugar, I'm thinking a thin layer of cream cheese or your other favorite topping. 

Now that I am writing out this post, I am thinking I will make us some homemade cinnamon honey butter for this bread.  

I gifted the homemade butter one Christmas, and it was a hit.  The recipe is on my blog:  Homemade Cinnamon Honey Butter.


I'm enjoying this healthy "snack" with a tall glass of infused nettle/oat straw tea.  Remember those XL disposable teabags I bought by accident?  They work great for these infused tea (no mess after brewing).  

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Participation Plummet and Random Thoughts

 

March rolled in quicker than I expected.  I had some goals for the end of February, and here we are at March.

There seems to be a blogger participation plummet for whatever reasons.  So many blogs I used to follow, with such interesting and useful homesteading content (sometimes humorous), have left the blogging scene.  I get it for the most part.   It can be time consuming, and in winter the writing content can be very limited.  Things change for some as well.

I mean, we used to raise dairy goats (Lamancha), and we stopped doing that years ago, so I do understand change.  Life changes constantly.

I'm experiencing the humdrum of blogging.  I know spring is around the corner, but maybe like all the other blogs I used to read (and now don't post anymore),  I'm sort of falling off the blogging "thing" lately as well.  

Maybe I am the one who needs a new change.  Although we are still undergoing home repairs, and staying busy, sometimes change is a good thing.  


The rain held off, and we had a few very nice 70 degree days here.  It may stay in the upper 60's today, but thunderstorms may actually roll in later.  The weather causes that itch to clean up gardens, but I know I need to refrain for now.  It's still too early.


For the first time this year, I was able to wash and dry the bedding and quilts outside on the clothesline.

We also blew the dust off our motorcycle, and got our first ride of the year in.  The weather has been that nice. 



Here is an update on "what I am crocheting" for the time being.  I have to admit though, as the warmer days stay, I'm on hold for this blanket.  If we cool back down, I'll be back to work on it some more, and in hopes to finish before the cooler days disappear for the year.  The photo doesn't really show the colors very well.  

That is a burgundy yarn, leftover from crocheting a cardigan, and the others are heather gray, teal, and soft white.  The gray and white are also leftover project yarns.  The colors remind me of a cabin.  I wanted to use the other pattern, but his one has less ends to sew in.  

Blogger is once again having hiccups with posting.  I am having trouble with photos loading, and for the font to stay the way I type it.  I have to constantly go back and fix the post.  

I may also remove the "popular post" widget.  I am getting some outrageous view counts on some very old posts, that is not normal.  Most of my posts barely get 100 views within a few years, and some showing up in the "popular" post widget are well over that.

I am using the stats and google analytics to watch those this week.  Another reason I am contemplating continuing to blog - a lot of work to maintain for all reasons. 

By the way blogger "stats" is not working properly.  It was working the other day, but now it is not.  Anyone else having blogger issues?  Also, I tried adding a jump break on a post, and it would not work either.   I may try an entirely new blog theme.


Participation Plummet and Random Thoughts  © Mar 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart