Organic Hamburger Buns

There is nothing like a juicy ole' burger with a wonderful soft bun, toasted or plain it is something that summers are made of.  We love a good burger but we don't love all the nasty stuff they put in the buns at the store, so, for the most part, we make our own.  Here is our plain Cottage Roll Buns and they are wonderful for all kinds of things, burgers, chicken breasts, veggies, you name it!

We make this by hand most times but sometimes when time is something we need to scrimp on, we put it in the bread maker and let it roll.  These are easy, and pretty fast to make.  This recipe will make 5-6 big rolls.

Ok, here we go. This is a 1 1/2 lb loaf bread maker.

 Put the following in - in the order that your bread maker recommends.

Ingredients:

1 1/8 Cup Spring Water
3/4 Tbsp Organic Raw Sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil melted but not hot
1 1/4 Teaspoons Celtic Sea Salt
3 Cups Organic Flour
2 Teaspoons Dry Yeast

Directions:

We put the water, sugar and oil in the bread machine. Follow with flour, salt, and yeast. Make sure that you put the machine on "dough" cycle.  I have forgotten this so many times. Then you have a loaf and slice it and make what my gramma calls "patty melts".

When the dough is finished take the dough out of the bread pan and make  5-6  that are of about equal size.  Place on your cookie sheet and cover with a light cloth (I use flour sack towels or my great Aunt Anna's apron ... covered with love, right?) in a place that is warm and not drafty.  Let rise until the rolls are doubled at least in size.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F.

When they have risen, uncover the rolls and place in a hot oven for 20 minutes.  They will be just lightly golden but not brown and will be soft.  Turn out onto a rack and slice in half to use as a burger bun.  ENJOY!!!!

To do this by hand:

In your bowl add liquid ingredients (oil and water) that have been warmed (not hot) with your sugar. Sprinkle your yeast on top and cover and let set in a warm draft-free place in your kitchen till bubbly.   Slowly mix in the remaining dry ingredients. With a spoon or fingers start mixing until combined fully. Let rise for 20 minutes then begin kneading. Let rise again. Pull it out of the bowl shape it into 5 -6 balls and put on your baking sheet and cover with a light weight cloth.  Put it in a warm draft-free place and let rise again.

Pre-heat oven 350 degrees F.

When they have at least doubled in size put in oven and bake for 20 minutes.  Turn out onto a wire rack to cool and cut in half for burgers.

Enjoy!!!



Have some butter ready, because there is nothing like warm right out of the oven French Bread. :)

Organic Cottage Ranchero Pepper Cheese Bread

Organic Pepper and Cheese Bread

We have been trying to come up with some new and exciting burgers for the next competition and I had an idea for this dough used for burger buns.  They came out so light, fluffy and tasty.

Ingredients:

1 1/8 Cup Water
3/4 Tbsp Organic Raw Sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil (melted)
1 1/4 Teaspoons Celtic Sea Salt
3 Cups Organic Flour
2 Teaspoons Dry Yeast
Chopped  canned jalapeno peppers, we used what would probably be 2 peppers but do this to your taste
Red Pepper flakes approx 1/2 tsp or to taste
1/2 cup shredded cheese (we used organic cheddar)

Bread Machine Way:

Put the water, sugar and oil in the bread machine. Follow with flour, salt, and yeast. You can either set the bread machine to "French" or "dough" (I use dough that way I can take it out and shape it into a round loaf or a plain loaf or baguettes)

Directions:

 Choose the dough setting on your bread machine.  Dice up several Jalapenos and put them in your dough.  Add in 1/2 cup of your favorite cheese.   Here you have to choose if you want rolls (or hamburger buns) or a loaf, etc.  After you shape it into the desired shape leave to rise in a warm draft-free
place until it looks like it has doubled in size. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

The "By Hand" Way:

In your bowl add liquid ingredients (oil and water) that have been warmed (not hot) with your sugar. Sprinkle your yeast on top and cover and let set in a warm draft-free place in your kitchen till bubbly.   Slowly mix in the remaining dry ingredients. With a spoon or fingers start mixing until combined fully. Let rise for 20 minutes then begin kneading. Let rise again. Pull it out of the bowl shape it into whatever shape you want and let rise again. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

I Arise From Dreams of Thee

I was writing late into the night a book I have been working on and I just hit a dead end. 

I hopped into bed trying not to wake my sister and slipped under the covers so tired that I could not keep my eyes open.  Sleep slipped in sweet and deep and there you were creeping into my dreams so tenderly. 

No, I do not speak of love but of doves. 

They crept into my sleep and with them came my story, no longer at a dead end but flowing freely. I could not wait to open my eyes to begin writing but yet I was savoring every minute of the dream.  How fitting that the symbol of the Holy Spirit would help me to honor God with my words and my heart.

When I awoke in the morning and left the house to do my chores, there were two of you in my chicken aviary.  You just let me come and pick you up, you were not even frightened of me.  In a few days, there were three of you, then four.  Within a week or two there were 12, then more, all of you so sweet and gentle.  I was amazed and honored by you choosing me and my sister to befriend.  Thank you, Lord, for letting me receive such a sweet and humble blessing. Here you are in my sister's hands, so trusting and beautiful.  Thank you for such an experience, Lord.

Blessings!

How To Build A Chicken Tractor

Here is my journey on making a great chicken tractor.  We tried letting them roam in a fenced area but hawks, buzzards, and neighborhood dogs really have a taste for free range birds and so we had to do something to protect our little guys.  I started out with 2x2's and used 4- 8' sections on the top and bottom of the sides.  Then I cut 3' pieces to make the side slats.  For the front and back, I decided how wide my hen house would be and made it that size.  This depends on how many birds that you are going to house.  I did 3' wide.  Inside one of my openings I measured and made another rectangle inside of my opening for a door.  I actually have 2 of these, one on the end that is going up against the house and one on the side for the inserting of food and water.

 From here I begin screwing the wood together.  I didn't take a photo but to get the rabbit fencing on I used screws and washers to hold it taught on the outside edges and the slats that run down the sides.

For the top, I used chicken wire, but if I do this again I will use a stronger wire like the one I used on the sides.  You can see the washers on the top and they really hold the wire on nicely.   I finished up with a set of hinges for the door and a way to lock the door.  If you have a big predator problem you would want to use a better way to latch the doors. Note to self.  Never get inside a chicken coop with the latches on the outside with Cottage Girls around.  LOL!

For our other blog post on how to build a self-feeding chicken feeder click on the link.  

Organic Cucumber Salsa

 

Ingredients:

3 organic tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic

1 small organic sweet onion

1/2 organic cucumber

Himalayan or Celtic Sea Salt

fresh parsley or cilantro

2 tsp lemon juice

Garlic powder to taste

Directions:

Chop tomatoes cucumber. In a food processor chop onion and garlic and add to the tomatoes. Add lemon juice, salt and parsley. Serve with chips or over chicken breast, taco salad or anything else you can come up with.

 

Breakfast Sausage & Egg Muffin

These are a real treat.  I like to make them for my family with rounds of egg and serve them on the English Muffins that I make.  Mmmmmmmmmmmm  Are they wonderful!  Perfect to make ahead and heat up to take on the road to work in the AM and then you don't have to stop and get the terrible fast food.

Here is the sausage patty recipe. Click on the link below for English Muffins.

Ingredients:

2 lbs packs of ground pork, turkey, beef or desired meat.
1 tsp Celtic Sea Salt
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Sage
3 Tsp Organic Raw Sugar

Directions:

Mix  well and form into of your desired size patties. Put into heated skillet and cook.  If your meat is quite lean add coconut oil to your pan and melt well first before adding the meat.

English Muffin Recipe Here 


I hope you enjoy these.  Let us know what you think!

Second Rate Dreamer?

We all have them. Those well-meaning (at least we hope) family or friends spiritually gifted with discouragement or negativity (Oh, hate to break it to you people but nowhere and I mean nowhere can I find that as a spiritual gift).  (I once had someone tell me that they had the gift of manipulation, SERIOUSLY People!  What bible are you reading?) Well anyway, we all have them we have all felt the stings of their words and or attitudes. We have all heard “You can never do that” or “you’ll never amount to that” “You’re not good enough”.  The condescending you are too young, too old, too fat, too thin, too tall, too short, not beautiful enough, too pretty (I seriously heard this before), you are too stupid, too smart, not cool enough, wear funny clothes (Hey, I like my clothes!).  Those that take your dreams and say they are not good enough, take your vision and snort in derision.

Well, I got news for you! What good have they ever done with their life? How have they changed the world for the better with their negative comments and their picking other people apart? They are so busy tearing you and I down that they are wasting their life away well picking at everyone else. So respectfully don’t listen to them. They don’t know your heart like God does, and the only one you have to please is God.  God has called YOU, yes You!  The one sitting in your seat or gripping your smartphone, the one standing in your shoes (no not the ones your sister has borrowed).  God has a special call on your life and it is a call no one but you can fulfill.  Can you say no? Yep  Can you go your own way?  Yes, you can but Oh the blessings that you will never know because of it.  This reminds me of a missionary woman that I read about one time.  Every day she prayed for a husband and every time a boat would come she would go to the boat to meet him and every time he was not there.  At the end of her life, she was still alone, and someone asked her why she never married.  She re-told the story  of how she prayed that God would send her a husband on the next ship to share her life with and how she would go to meet him.  The person then asked if then her God was unfaithful in not sending her husband to her and could therefore not be trusted.  She said gently, Oh no, that was not the case.  She said gently that God had indeed called him, but he simply said no.  How sad,  and how much he missed.  I wonder if he listened to those negative people in his life?

I almost pity those nay-Sayers, because they are missing out on Gods plan for their lives. So pray for them and move on. Don’t carry their baggage with you, drop it and move on because it’s hard to run holding a bunch of suitcases right?

Run toward those righteous dreams that God has put in your heart. Because no matter what, the one person that matters will be with you (Judges 6:16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you,”)

Romans 8:31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Called to be...More

You Were Called

Called To Be More! 

                     

Satan is looking for our weaknesses. He is looking for our faults and fears. He doesn't have to tempt us with evil, he only has to get us to delay or detour for a "Good" reason from God's plan for our lives.

An interesting thought is it not? Our hesitations and fears are keeping us from being all that we can be.

What would have happened if Esther had said no I'm afraid I can't do this. I'm just an orphan. I'm just one person. But she didn't she stepped up handed her future to God and obeyed. That doesn't mean she wasn't scared -I'm sure she was terrified- but she had the courage and obeyed anyway. Courage doesn't mean that you're not afraid. It means that despite the fear you act.

I'm here to tell you that one girl - yes that's you- can change the world. That doesn't mean you're going to be famous. That person will always remember you. Or that you will be a star. - though all those may happen- Sometimes it's just getting the door for someone and giving them a smile. Other time it's getting your hands dirty. Or giving someone a cup of water. You don't know what is going on in someone else life.
Mother Teresa put it this way "We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."
What you are called to do may feel small or terrifyingly huge. But without us, the "Ocean" would be less.
So here is my challenge to you, change the world. Even if it is just for one person. Change it.

Organic French Bread

Organic French Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/8 Cup Water
3/4 Tbsp Organic Raw Sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil Olive Oil
1 1/4 Teaspoons Celtic Sea Salt
3 Cups Organic Flour
2 Teaspoons Dry Yeast

Directions:

Put the water, sugar and oil in the bread machine. Follow with flour, salt, and yeast. You can either set the bread machine to "French" or "dough" (I use dough that way I can take it out and shape it into a round loaf or a plain loaf or baguettes like you see above)

 If you choose the dough setting after you shape it into the desired shape leave to rise in a warm place until it looks like it has doubled in size. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

The By Hand Way

In your bowl add liquid ingredients (oil and water) that have been warmed (not hot) with your sugar. Sprinkle your yeast on top and cover and let set in a warm draft-free place in your kitchen till bubbly.   Slowly mix in the remaining dry ingredients. With a spoon or fingers start mixing until combined fully. Let rise for 20 minutes then begin kneading. Let rise again. Pull it out of the bowl shape it into whatever shape you want and let rise again. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Have some butter ready, because there is nothing like warm right out of the oven French Bread. :)

Food, Fun, Friends and Horses

Food, Fun, Friends, and Horses

We girls were invited over the weekend to a great event located at R Lit Ranch for a horse obstacle
course.   We provided the food and the photography and they provided the fun! What a great time, great food and great company.

The day was beautiful, windy but beautiful but many of the contestants were afraid by the weather threats of storms.  Since not everyone didn't show up they had a fun day and we were able to ride around and take pictures of the people enjoying the event.  We got some great shots of the people and the horses having a GREAT time.

Today we spent the day there again photographing the practice event and they let us ride this amazing animal.  He is a Tennessee Walking Horse and his name is Ash.  Isn't he beautiful?  Now we are so sore we can barely move but we had a wonderful day.  Thank you, Trisha and Scott for an unbelievably great day.

Oh, let us know what you think of the photos.  We will have more up in the next couple of days and if you really like them you can order a copy by emailing us at rosevinecottagegirls@gmail.com

~Rosevine Cottage Girls
B&C ~

Chocolate Cookie Crumble Mocha Frapp

This is great if you have leftover coffee and don't want to just throw it away.  When the day is hot and sultry or you just want a treat but don't want to fork over $20.00 for 4 drinks at that Fancy Coffee Place (Can I get an amen?) This is a perfect way to get that done.

Ingredients:

Take 7 cups ice
5 cups organic milk (we use goat milk)
1/3 cup organic heavy cream
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
3 Tbsp Organic Raw Sugar, Raw Honey or Stevia to taste
2 Squares Organic Dark Chocolate
2 Cups of Cold Coffee

Related Post: Snowflake Hot Chocolate

Directions: 

Place these ingredients into a blender and blend well until you no longer hear the cracking of big pieces of ice in the blender.  Pour into 4 glasses and top with whipped cream.
Take 2 Organic Chocolate Sandwich Cookies and separate them.  Use one- half of cookie per drink and crumble over the whipped cream.

Grab a straw and enjoy!

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