Being quarantined has led me to going through old recipe books and remembering some good food that I had nearly forgotten.  This recipe for Sweet and Sour Curry Meatballs was one a friend had shared with me in college.  I've made it here and there over the years and each time I think to myself that  I should make it more often.  It is relatively simple to make and my husband loves sweet and sour.  It isn't a hot curry, you just get the warm flavor.  There are never any leftovers! I guess that hardest thing is to remember to keep the sweet and sour sauce on hand!   If you have any in your pantry during this time of isolation, you may want to give this recipe a try! 

While we’re in quarantine, it is easy to feel very isolated from our communities and our families. Everything is cancelled and we have to stay home. It can leave you feeling a little helpless at times. But even when we’re stuck at home there are ways we can serve those around us and bring joy into others lives. 

If you’re feeling anxious or worried about all that’s going on in the world, doing service will help. First, it will help to distract you from the worries. Second, it helps you to alleviate other's worries. Third, I know you will find that the more you serve the more you will grow to love all those around you. Service, no matter how big or small, works miracles in our lives. We may not be able to change everything, but we have power to spread good cheer throughout our communities. 

I’ve been so inspired by the many posts I’ve seen of people helping out and bringing cheer in many different ways across the world. I decided to compile a list for you to refer to when you’re stuck and need an idea to fulfill your desire to serve, spread cheer, or just find a way to help.  

​This is just a small list of ways to shine your light in these times. But I hope it can inspire you. We love you! Stay safe out there!

​     One of the things that I have noticed during this pandemic is that yeast has been in short supply on store shelves. Fortunately, I have plenty of yeast to see us through the next few months if bread should become harder to get in the stores. The question is, what if I were to run out of yeast, what would I do?  This pandemic is certainly making me rethink my state of preparedness.  One family member, (Anita), sent me a link about how to make yeast with potato water and suggested I give it a try.  Since I had already been thinking about it, and because I had just sprouted wheat and ground some new flour, I decided to try to catch some wild yeast with potato water and bake some potato, sprouted wheat bread.
      The recipe Anita’s friend had given her, and she passed onto me looked something like this: 

1-1/2 c potato water
1 c flour
1 Tbsp sugar
Mix together and leave over night in a warm spot.  The next morning it will be bubbly and smell like yeast. 
​

​Simple, right!?  So, I boiled some potatoes and reserved the water.  I also reserved the mashed potatoes for the bread itself.  I mixed it all together (I used sprouted wheat flour) and lightly covered it and set it out over night.   Next morning, no bubbles, no smell.  
     I decided to Google it and see what I was missing.  Some of the things I found used the potato as well as the water.  (People making Vodka said this worked great…)  I did find methods using only the water, but the result looked thicker than mine.  Hmmm.  I decided that I needed more flour and sugar, so I fed my first mixture.  I added about ½ of a cup of flour and another Tablespoon of sugar. Success!  The next morning I had bubbles! 

It still didn’t look as bubbly as the ones I saw on YouTube though, so I decided to let it sit and catch more yeast for another day.  I fed it a little more, adding some warm water, too, so that it wouldn’t get too thick.  The next day, the bubbles were back, but they seemed about the same as before.  Maybe a few more, but less bubble than the ones I had seen on other sites.

​     I must interject here that it appears that I am not a very patient person.  I didn’t think that I was going to have to wait 3 days to be able to bake bread with this method.  So, at this point, I decided to go for it and try a small batch of bread.   I am not giving you a printable recipe like I usually do because it is by no means perfected.  But, I will give you what I have done so far.  If you see where I need to improve to make this bread better, please let me know in the comments.  

​Sprouted Wheat Potato Bread made with Wild Yeast
(That is the best title I can come up with)
 
In a mixing bowl, put together:
 1 cup potato yeast starter
¾ c warm water
1 c sprouted wheat flour
1 c mashed potatoes
Mix these ingredients together and let them sit for about 4 hours or overnight. (Overnight would be best, but I couldn’t wait any longer.)
Stir down the sponge and add:
1/3 c warm water
1 tsp salt
¼ c coconut oil
2 Tbsp honey
4 c sprouted wheat flour
Mix with the dough hook for about 10 minutes.  If the dough is too sticky add more flour.  I also turned the dough out onto a floured board and kneaded it for 10 minutes more by hand.  I added about 1 c more flour throughout this process making the total amount of flour about 5 cups.
Place the dough in the bowl and allow to rise for about 2-3 hours. 
(Mine didn’t rise very much, but I pressed on. Hopefully yours will double!)
Divide the dough into 2 well greased loaf pans and allow to rise again.  This time I let them rise overnight! 
In the morning, they had actually risen quite a bit!  Not as much as I would have liked, but an acceptable amount.
Bake the bread in a 375 degree oven for about 45 min.  I baked mine for 40 at first.  They weren’t quite done.  I put one back in for 10 min.  The crust was crunchy, but the inside was soft and dense.

​I had read one baker who said not to use sprouted wheat in this type of bread because it would likely be doughy.  Mine was a little too doughy, but I think if I had put a slice in the top of each loaf like you do sourdough, it would have help with that, letting steam out and perhaps getting a better rise while baking.  Any thoughts on that? 

​The bread does have a little sour sharpness to it.  I toasted it because it seemed too doughy.  Then with butter and Blackberry Lemon Marmalade, it tasted really good.

​Here are my notes of ideas for improvement:

​

• Patience, let the bubbles happen
• Patience, let the sponge rise overnight
• Cut a slice in the top because this is basically a sourdough type yeast.

When I bake this bread again, I will let you know how I did using these ideas.  I do have some starter left which I have fed and stored in my fridge.

​

• Wild Yeast can easily be caught!  This would be a great science experiment for the kids as well as being useful!
• I need more patience.
• I need to make more Blackberry Lemon Marmalade.  It is delicious and that was my last jar.

Please, I would love any tips!  I hope you will give this a try and learn something new while you are stuck at home.  The smell of bread baking is so comforting.
Stay healthy! 

 I don't know about you, but I am used to big family gatherings for holiday meals. Last year we hosted Easter dinner at our house and we had two different roasts. There are a few very large roasts in my freezer right now for that very reason.

I might use them to make us some freezer meals, but as far as Easter dinner goes this year, a 6 pound roast doesn't seem like the way to go for two adults and one toddler. Even when one of those adults is pregnant.

So, here we are in quarantine, but I still want Easter to be special, because it is my most favorite holiday.

I have culled through our long list of recipes to give you some ideas of things you can make.

But for my first idea I want to tell you what I've decided we're doing.

Not too far from our house is a Brazilian restaurant. It's like Tucano's if you've ever heard of that place, where they walk around with different types of meat and slice you off some right onto your plate. Right now they are doing to go orders, and they have leg of lamb. So we are ordering lamb, and I will make sides of mashed potatoes, veggies and sprouted wheat dinner rolls.

If you don't have an option like that available near you, then peruse the links below for some other Easter dinner ideas! Just click on the image to go to the blog post with the recipe.

I posted this recipe just a couple months back and I cannot stress how simple and delicious it is! I think it would be a great option for Easter dinner if you can't get your hands on some lamb or ham. It'd go great with any type of side you have on hand as well!

A couple years ago Alicia posted this recipe for Gratin Dauphinois (French Scalloped Potatoes) with roasted chicken. This is a great option because it comes with a fancy potato side as well as your main course! She tells you how she roasted her chicken and honestly, it looks so good maybe I'll make this instead of ordering lamb...

My mom posted this pan roasted chicken recipe three years ago. She talks to you about Panna (which is an awesome site by the way) and shows you how delicious her chicken turned out, next to a nice salad, which would make a great side to this or any other Easter meal!

Maybe you just want to change it up and have brunch instead of dinner. We've got you covered there as well! My mom shared this brunch menu from a few years ago. It's light and fun, and still delicious and festive so you still feel like you're celebrating a holiday instead of it being just any other day stuck at home. She gives you some good dessert options, like a yummy carrot cake roll, or vegan cookies for our non animal by product eating friends!

In this post we give you a lot of great ideas for Easter bread to go as a side to any main course. This includes the recipe of my dear Aunt Geri's sweet Portuguese Easter bread. My aunt Geri was a devout Catholic so Easter was a special holiday for her as well and whenever I eat that bread I think of her. As a bonus, it is also delicious so you will devour it!

This is the pork roast I made two years ago. (I could've sworn we hosted last year, but I have pregnancy brain so...). Anyway, if you have a larger family this roast would be perfect for you. I did it in the crock pot and just seared it at the end for a nice, carmelly finish and it was so amazing. I seriously can't wait to make this again the next time we host a large holiday meal...

Finally, no Easter dinner is complete without the deviled eggs. Although I can't have my Aunt Karen here for Easter dinner this year, I can still make these deviled eggs and send her pictures of us so she knows we're thinking of her!

I hope this list helps you have a great Easter dinner. I know it's hard to celebrate holidays in quarantine, but thank goodness for technology. As part of Good Friday my church will be fasting for an end to this pandemic so we can all start celebrating together in person. I invite you to join us, and remember the reason for this season. To celebrate the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has born our sorrows and can comfort us while we are sad and apart. Happy Easter!