Recipes To DELIGHT & NOURISH!

autumn lentil soup, apple bread pudding, and the last of the summer salads

Hello my friends,

I posted yesterday on our social media pages about our children, in this case, our boys. Here’s what I wrote:

I have a lot of unpopular opinions. Here's one: kids need to be taught how to work. Really work. To work in the rain, to work when they're tired, to work when they don't want to. In essence, they need to be taught to contribute in a meaningful way and to be long-suffering in their efforts. You can preach the principle of work to them all you want, but there's only one way to train them how to do it. Make them do it. Now. Our boys made it through the first delivery of firewood, relocating hundreds of pieces to the wood shed and preparing their chopping station for winter. They'll be completely in charge of the wood: from offloading it from the trailer, to splitting it with an ax, to chopping kindling with hatchets, to keeping the three fireplaces in our home stacked with wood daily. They're 11 and 10. And they're totally capable. Not only are they capable of doing hard things, but they thrive emotionally when they do it. To be frank, I think we'd fair a lot better if we opened our mouths less and invested more time into tasks like this that are intentionally hard and tedious. I want my children to have calloused hands and sturdy footing. Whether they grow up to be a lawyer, a tradesman, or a farmer, it makes no difference - may they never shy away from what is good, true, beautiful... and difficult.

The same can be said for the home-cook, fighting and scratching their way through endlessly misleading labels, overly processed foods, endless aisles of pseudo-food in the grocery stores, and rising prices. It’s unnerving and endlessly infuriating for those of us left in the kitchen doing our very best to actually nourish our families. To be the one left at the countertop, making decisions that can help or hurt, is a high-calling indeed. So let me encourage you, my dear friends:

• The work you’re doing in your kitchen is valuable!

• The efforts of your labor will not return void!

• You’re capable of cooking from-scratch in a way that nourishes! Yes, you!

This is the time to rise to the occasion, step into the hard work ahead of us, and accept the challenges that come with from-scratch cooking. I hope our recipe-trio for October not only inspires you to belly up to the stove but also continues to fan-the-flame in your kitchen. Your wellness and health are worth the effort! This month, we’ve focused on cost-effective recipes, humble ingredients that come together to both delight and nourish. May our hands be strengthened and blessed by the work.

Apple and Almond Bread Pudding

 Late summer is apple harvest here in our valley and the time of year when we’re able to fill baskets from our various apple trees for the season ahead. I use all manner of bread for this pudding - even toasted sandwich bread will do. The extra step of toasting yields a better textured result and the almond liqueur adds a wonderful depth of flavor (though absolutely optional). Plums are a delicious alternative to apples here - play with the add-ins and find a flavor you love!

Autumn Lentil Soup

Nourishment comes in many forms and in this case, it comes in the form of a simple soup that somehow is greater than the sum of its parts. Halfway between summer and winter, this soup nestles very well into the harvest at hand during this season. Staples like lentils, potatoes, and sausage mingle with fresh tomatoes, carrots, onions, and herbs. It’s delicious reheated so I often double the recipe to have lunch on hand for a few days during the week.

Green Bean & Tomato Salad

Green beans are a treasure to eat fresh - they’re vibrant, hearty, and a fleeting gift of the garden. Rather than preserve too many of them, we simply eat as many as we can while we can. This salad is so wonderfully simple but always a treat to have on the table. Use it to celebrate the last of the garden bounty!

Also worth noting, every Cooking Community member get access to it all. So whether you support The Elliot Homestead here or there, we’ve got you covered. Over in our Cooking Community, we offer 5 new recipes each month, along with instructional cooking videos for each one and an exclusive, private online social community of home-cooks.

For us, it feels quite humbling to know that our content is valuable enough to you for you to financially support our efforts. I hope the $7/month that our paid newsletter supporters spend each month is like buying yourself a nice latte and tucking in with some high-quality, no-ad content that brings beauty and value to your days. With your support, you literally allow us to nurture our family. I pray that our content, in turn, nurtures yours. Enjoy the printable recipes!

Printable recipes below!