Banana Breakfast Cookies

Cookies for breakfast?? Yes! Bretta, this recipe might even help reform your "cereal killer"!

In addition to the novelty of such a meal, it's breakfast you can make the night before! Perfect for mornings when you need all the help you can get (which is, in my case, every morning).

Banana Breakfast Cookies

1 banana

1/3 cup peanut butter (natural style) or almond butter

1/3 cup applesauce

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp. honey

2/3 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/3 cups oats

1 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash banana in a medium mixing bowl. Add peanut butter, applesauce, egg, honey, and vanilla, whisking each ingredient in thoroughly. In a small bowl gently mix flour and baking soda until thoroughly mixed. Add flour mixture to banana mixture and stir until blended. Add oats.

Drop by the teaspoonful onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper, or pregreased. Bake 10-12 minutes.

Midnight Cereal Killer =))

Here is the "Midnight Cereal Killer":

He seems cute and harmless BUT....has been known to wake up in the middle of the night and DEMAND CEREAL =)) 

OK, so in an attempt to make our three year old a little more independent in the mornings (as he has been waking up at 5:30 or 6 am...yikes!!), we have been setting out some dry cereal and a drink near his room. Then when he wakes up early he can get a snack and play with his toys for 30 minutes or so before accosting the whole family!! 

Great idea, right? WRONG!!  Now he knows that there cereal is out there just inches away and it can be accessed in the middle of the night. So why not wake up and grab it?!?! Logical to a 3 year old. When daddy attempts to take it way after a midnight run to the cereal, the "Cereal Killer" goes silent and grunts when you try to pull the container way =)) Ugh, what have we done?

Now all we hear about is the cereal in the little container!!! A true monster is born. 

Will he out grow his delight in cereal? The list of things he will eat grows smaller and smaller and his will grows bigger and bigger? Are we creating a monster for life or is there hope?  Any of you out there have older children that were picky? What happened? Are they still just eating cereal? 

No more "Cereal Killer's" please!
Bretta =))

Green Tea

I made the switch from coffee to green tea about 6 years ago and I swear by it. You can find multitudes of information about the health benefits of green tea and I love them.

But, honestly, for me it comes down to two things: the shaky over caffeinated feeling from a couple cups of coffee and the caloric savings of not putting milk in tea.

The shaky feeling wasn't so bad except the only way to stop it was to eat. Not a cycle I really need.
And I'm sure there are super people who can forgo milk in their coffee but lattes know my name and number and I was never able to resist their call.

So give it a try, two weeks and you might be surprised!!

Spinach Salad With Roasted Beets and Gruyere Cheese

Ok, this is more a post about feeding myself rather than feeding my family.

I have made an amazing discovery about myself:  I love beets.  This may not seem like such an earth-shattering revelation, but for me it is. You see, I am, quite honestly, a picky eater. Growing up I was like my son, to whom very few foods are acceptable. As an adult my range of culinary tastes has broadened significantly, but comparatively speaking I am still pretty picky. That is, compared to my husband. The range of foods he likes is enormous compared to mine. Since we have been together he has doggedly insisted I try new foods (similar to the way we feed our children!), and he has had much success.  I owe the fact that I eat onions to him (when we were first together I refused to eat anything with onions in it. At his stubborn insistence I finally agreed to try onions, at about age 25, and realized I loved them). There are countless other things that he has made me try and I have realized I like, but for every success he has had there have been just as many failures. He has finally accepted that I will not eat steak, no matter how it is prepared, but he is still struggling with the fact that I can't stand peppers.

Beets are something my husband, Lex, cannot stand, and I always assumed I couldn't either. After all, I never ate beets growing up, as my dad despised them also. In fact the roots (hehe) of my beet prejudice go back at least as far as my father's parents. My grandfather hated beets so much that it somehow became a joke between him and my sister. They would exchange pickled beets for Christmas as a joke.

A couple of summers ago Lex and I were invited to dinner with some friends from his work. We were served salad with pickled beets that the hostess had grown and pickled herself. There is one thing that overpowers my stubborn picky eating habits, and that is my sense of politeness.  There was no way I was not going to eat those beets. But, lo and behold, I liked them! On the way home, my husband marvelled at the fact that I ate the beets. He was floored when I told him that I liked them, and I think he thought I was lying for fear he would go to work and tell his coworkers how much I hated the beets.

Recently, a favorite restaurant of mine put a salad on its menu that contains roasted beets.  When I ordered it, Lex said, "You know that has beets in it, right?" 

"Yes, that's why I ordered it."

"But you don't like beets."

"I think I do like beets."

"No, you don't. Beets are gross."

The beets were delicious.  I only wished my salad had contained more of them.

So that is my culinary badge of honor. A healthy, nutrition-packed veggie that my grandpa hated, my dad hated, my husband hates, and I apparently love.

The recipe:

Spinach Salad With Roasted Beets and Gruyere Cheese

1/3 cup thinly sliced red onions

10 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

1/2 avocado, peeled and diced

2 large handfuls spinach

2 large beets, prepared according to Bretta's instructions for roasting veggies)

1 oz Gruyere cheese*

My go-to balsamic vinaigrette (recipe follows)

*Normally I use Romano cheese in salads, or blue cheese. But I had bought Gruyere for another recipe and thought I would try it in salad.  The result, I think, was amazing. The flavor of the cheese with the roasted beets was spectacular.

Toss all ingredients together and coat with dressing to taste.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

3-5 garlic cloves (depending on size)

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup olive oil

Press garlic through a garlic press into a bowl or salad dressing container. Add other ingredients and whisk well until thoroughly combined.

Roasted Veggies with Dressings

Really we believe you can roast just about any veggie out there! My picky husband Phil has been converted to broccoli and green beans that have been roasted. Delicious hot out of the oven or cold over a salad!

Basic Roasted Veggie Recipe with Dressings!:

2 potatoes – cut into 1 inch pieces
2 carrots – peeled and cut into 1 inch slices
1 beet - peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 onion – peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 pepper or 1 broccoli stock or fresh green beans.  (Go crazy and try roasting something new, rarely have we gone wrong….maybe skip the cucumber but otherwise go for it)

Dressing Ideas:

Basic Dressing:
1/8 cup olive oil
4 Tablesoopns balsamic vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Asian Dressing (Adapted from Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites)
1/3 cup Braggs Liquid Aminos
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon dried ground ginger
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 fresh pressed garlic cloves

Caribbean Dressing (Adapted from Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites)
3 tablespoons Braggs Liquid Aminos
1 tablespoon grape seed oil
2 tablespoons red whine vinegar
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar (or 4-6 drops dark liquid stevia)
½ teaspoon driend thyme
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root
1 large pressed fresh garlic
dash of cayenne if you would like some extra spice

Other Dressing Ideas:
Store Bought Curry 
Fresh Lemon Juice with Olive Oil and Parmesan Cheese


Preheat oven to 450 (or 425 convention). Place all root veggies on a metal baking tray. Place all other veggies on different metal baking tray.   Cook root veggies first for 15 minutes, then flip, stir them and put back in the oven. Add second tray with other veggies into the oven. Add dressings and cook both trays for another 10-15 minutes.  Veggies should turn out crispy not burnt! 

Eating on the Road

If healthy cooking at home is a challenge doing it on the road could be considered a royal pain in the tookie. 

If we let it be. 

With a little bit of preparation you don't have to deal with a malnourished cranky carload.

You can have a well fed cranky carload.... but the crankiness can be blamed solely on your husband's inability to stop at a decent hotel the first night of your road trip.... this might be getting a bit personal so let's talk food ;)

We are used to being on the road but normally we travel in a motorhome in which I can function as well as when I'm at home.  I once baked cookies... but that probably wasn't very safe so let's move on.

This two week trip is in the car. 

The most important thing is to have a really good variety of healthy options as even favorites can make you want to throw them out the window after too much repetition. 

Here is a quick list of ideas to include;

Hard boiled eggs

Peanutbutter

Flax crackers

Cherry tomatoes

Trail mix

Cuties

Sticks of cheese

Hard salami

Carrot sticks

Bananas
Hemp Hearts
Sugar Peas
Dried seaweed
Aussie Bites
Apples

Celery sticks
Dried fruit
Nuts
Bars

Bottles of water (I know the wasteful argument, and the drinking out of plastic one too, but I have brought reusable water bottles and filled them with gallon jugs of water and it was too much to fathom on this particular trip. We, as you can see, are stuffed to the hilt.)

Some other related items to have along; cups (to serve smaller items), paper towel, a knife (use a piece of cardboard as a cutting board to chop salami and apples.)

Go full boar or supplement meals out, either way you'll be better off in so very many ways!

Carrot Cake Muffins

It is so easy to fall into bad habits.

During summer break, I am all over snacktime. I am in tune to my kids' hunger patterns, as they have been with me all day for the last three months.  I remember that neither one of them really wants to eat a big lunch or dinner, they are mini-meal eaters. I get in the habit of mindfully preparing mini-meals throughout the day, differentiating less between snacks and meals, just trying to make sure that all the food I offer (or most) is purposeful and healthy. Often we are at the beach or camping, or engaged in some other fun summer activity to which sitting down to eat a meal is secondary. We live in a place where summer is perfect, magical, beautiful, but if you blink you might miss it. One must take advantage of every sunny, blissful hour. Having healthy snacks at the ready is key.

Then in September, when school starts, I am still rocking the healthy, mindful, homemade snacks and including these in lunches (my daughter Hayden is the only one who eats lunch at school, as Ben is in kindergarten which is half-day. But Ben has become hyper-vigilant about fairness and equity, and I have accepted his demand that his lunch be the same as Hayden's, whether served at home or not).

The pace begins to pick up within a few weeks, and suddenly--or perhaps subtly--the lunches become more pre-packaged. I am still very picky about what goes in their lunches, but I begin to buy the single-serving versions of the foods I find acceptable, and I begin to broaden my spectrum of "acceptable". I am still packing fresh fruit and sandwiches, but also single-size yogurt, applesauce, raisin boxes, Annie's Bunnies, kids' energy bars.

The afternoons get shorter and shorter as they are filled up with homework, after-school activities, dental appointments, etc. The pre-packaged snacks that were for lunches only and only one per day per kid become so tantalizingly easy as every day becomes a race to the finish. Pretty soon my kids get in the habit of picking one of these options at the end of the school day (again, Ben is already home but has a snack with Sis in the name of equanimity), albeit one they didn't already have for lunch.

The weeks go by, and then, sometime in the deepest chasms of winter I realize that, with the exception of breakfast and dinner (which, as per their aforementioned eating habits, they don't eat much of)  my kids are eating boxed, bagged, and bottled everything. "How did this happen?" I ask myself, and then it dawns on me, I have not baked since Christmas.

Enter the carrot muffins I made yesterday. They are almost gone now, less than 24 hours later, but that's ok, I can make more! And more and more! My kids are going back to the one pre-packaged snack a day, for lunches only, and for that even they are relieved.  My baking dry spell is over.

Carrot Cake Muffins

1 1/3 c. oat flour (rolled oats processed to flour consistency in food processor)
1/4 c. almond meal
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1/4 c. cane juice crystals
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 c. coconut oil (heated to liquid form and then cooled slightly
3/4 c. orange juice
3/4 c. finely grated carrot (I used one bunch of organic carrots from the grocery store, though clearly a "bunch" is not a standardized form of measurement)
1/4 c. Craisins

For topping (which is optional, without it the muffins are delicious, but the topping bumped it up to the treat category for my kids, and earned it the "cake" moniker):

3 oz. cream cheese
2 tbsp. honey plus more for smoother, more glaze-like constistency (a glaze was what I was going for, and I probably doubled the amount of honey before I decided a little dollop of thicker topping was ok and gave up chasing that elusive, translucent glaze)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare 18 muffin cups, either with liners or grease and flour.

Whisk together oat flour, almond meal, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl use a mixer to combine eggs, cane juice crystals, and coconut oil. As the coconut oil mixes with the other ingredients it will inevitably start to solidify, and the batter will look a little chunky. Just keep calm and mix on. It will all even out in the end*. Add orange juice, vanilla extract, mix well. Add flour mixture slowly while mixing, until thoroughly blended and smoothish. Set mixer aside. With a wooden spoon or spatula fold in carrots and Craisins.

* I tried to mitigate the solidifying of the coconut oil by having all other ingredients at room temperature. But this isn't always realistic; who sets the eggs and juice out an hour in advance? I found that thoroughly mixing on medium-high yielded perfectly well-mixed, if not slightly lumpy, batter.


Fill muffin cups 1/3 full (or use more batter per muffin and just make less muffins).  Bake about 15 minutes. While muffins are baking, heat cream cheese and honey in small saucepan on low heat, whisking constantly. 

Top muffins with a small dollop when sauce and muffins are still warm to try to achieve the glaze consistency (ok so I didn't entirely give up on achieving that effect).

Chicken Soup from Stock

This is where it gets fun for me. 

Hopefully you enjoyed the slow cooker chicken from the other day. 

But wait there's more. (My infomercial impression.)

After  dinner clean the meat off the bone and store. 

Throw all the chicken parts back into the slow cooker (yea for not having to clean the slow cooker right now!!)

Add a bottle of almond champagne (I love you Jess, but I could not stomach the almond champagne but I did find a good use for it :)

and top off with water, set it to slow and long and leave it for the night. 

The next morning strain and refrigerate.

When you're ready; that night or within the week it's time to make chicken soup. 

Heat stock in a large pot with the chicken you cleaned off the bone and a cup of corn. 

Prepare toppings.

Have each person put desired toppings in bowl and ladle hot soup over. 

Soup
Stock from slow cooker chicken
left over chicken from slow cooker chicken
1 cup corn

Toppings
Avocado, sliced
Cheese, cheddar and mozzarella mixed
Flax Tortilla Chips 
Red Onion Chopped
Cucumber Chopped
Hot Sauce

y

Heirloom Kitchen Essentials

Ok, we are not going to list the basics you should already have in your kitchen like quality knives and pans! I mean if you are going to cook at all, we will assume you have this sort of thing covered. 

Here are our must haves that we couldn’t live without that you may not already possess: 

• Toaster Oven – Great for reheating, toasting nuts and quick heating! We put our microwave in the basement and haven't touched it since getting a quality toaster oven. 
• High Quality Blender – Endless uses, finally got a quality one and will never look back! Skip the “cheap China junk” (sorry China).
• Air Popper  – I know popcorn are favorites with Jessica and Erin. With an air popper you can have healthy pop corn in minutes and season how you want! I know nutritional yeast had become a favorite seasoning all around.
• Cast-Iron Skillet – Fantastic for baking, you grandma knew it was a good piece of equipment. Takes a little getting used to, but so much better for you than flaking non-stick in your food.
• Garlic Press – Garlic and onions go with almost every cooked meal. Some argue the press isn’t as good as chopping, but come on as parents we are into save time wherever possible!
• Salad Spinner – Having fresh lettuce and spinach are a must! COOKS HINT: Plus you can spin cut tomatoes to deseed very easily.

Asparagus Omelete, Turkey Bacon, Fruit Salad

 

Asparagus Omelet, Turkey Bacon, Fruit Salad (serves 4-5)

1 package turkey bacon
a dozen or so sprigs of asparagus
4-5 eggs
3/4 cup milk
4-5 tablespoons of cream cheese
coconut oil for pan
variety of fruit  - for us today it was blueberries, apples, cuties, and bananas





Cook Turkey Bacon and Asparagus on hot griddle while cast iron pan is heating.

Mix eggs and milk in bowl and when pan is hot, pour just enough to cover the bottom - the equivalent of about one egg plus milk. Add chopped, cooked asparagus and 1 tablespoon of cream cheese. Loosen sides, fold in half serve with fruit salad and bacon.






For the fruit salad chop the bigger items and mix together.

You're welcome for that little piece of advice.

But, honestly, some mornings I need my hand held.

Kale Breakfast Bowl

Kale Breakfast Bowl

Bunch or two of Kale
Olive Oil
Nutritional Yeast
Scrambled Eggs
Black Beans  
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Bacon ~ any flavor will do;  turkey, tofu... go hog wild.....sorry
Salsa
Greek Yogurt

Obnoxious right?? Not having any quantities!?!
This is more of a "to taste" recipe and it will depend on the size and tastes of your family.

Method

Cook bacon on griddle or cover and bake in oven, 

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Fill with Kale, not layered too thickly but bunched.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Bake the Kale at 385 (such an overlooked cooking temperature) for about 5-7 minutes, until crispy but not brown. You'll have to experiment with your oven to get your personal cooking time down.
When you take out of the oven sprinkle with nutritional yeast and salt to taste.

While the kale is cooking scramble eggs with milk. You can add the cheese to the eggs now and make cheesy scrambled eggs or you can save for later. 

And at the same time heat beans in a small pot.

Then throw it all in a bowl and serve or let everyone assemble their own like a taco bar sort of thing.

Ben's Skewered Snacks

My husband Lex came up with the idea to have a party of sorts, just the four of us, where we would each come up with a dish to make and bring to the party, which was held downstairs in the family room (an auspicious occasion, as I normally exercise my right, as the sole vacuum operator/floor cleaner of the household, to ban food from carpeted areas of the house).

Lex made wings, I made guacamole, and 10 year old Hayden called dibs on dessert: she made ice cream sundaes (not a healthy choice, as was originally planned, but it was a party after all, and Lex and I are suckers for ice cream). Ben was devastated that his sister had monopolized the dessert fare, and was rendered inconsolable about not getting to make a sweet treat ("but you said we could make whatever we wanted! You said!!"). Then I remembered my secret weapon: the little plastic swords used to skewer olives and other garnishments for drinks. I bought a pack of them a couple of summers ago after Ben had found one on the ground and fallen in love with it. It broke, of course, after a few blissful hours, and heartbreak ensued. We were boat camping at the time, and we went to a marina that afternoon where my husband the hero came back from a short visit with the bartender carrying several "drink swords". When we got back, I bought a pack for emergency use only and have kept them stashed way up in the cupboards. I produce one every once in a while when nothing but a tiny plastic sword will make things right.

Anyway, Ben was thrilled to incorporate weaponry into his dish to pass. 

A note on lunch meat:  Buying preservative free, additive free deli meat is something I consider an unbendable rule. The preservatives and additives in deli meats are some of the worst out there. Sodium benzoate, sodium nitrate, nitrites, they are poison, plain and simple. And caramel coloring, which, due to its innocuous sounding name I considered passable for years, until I recently read its chilling bio. Deli meat that does not contain these hazardous chemicals is crazy expensive compared with its toxic counterparts. It is so tempting to buy the pound of salami for $4 rather than the 5 ounces for $6, especially when my husband will put 5 ounces of salami on a sandwich and not bat an eye, but instead I just buy salami and other deli meats far less frequently than I used to.

The "recipe" is pretty self-explanatory (see picture). I made an assembly line of cubed cheese, salami, smoked ham, olives, grapes, strawberries, and cubed sourdough bread (at least, I tried to cube it. Ben was making skewer after skewer of all grapes or grapes and cheese, I had to get the other choices on the table before he had used all of his allotted swords). His dish was a real hit at the party! Not quite as big as the sundaes, but a lovely runner-up.

French Toast

I have to agree with Erin that breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day!! And I know I have the best chance of getting my oldest (a very stubborn 3 year old) to eat something of value. Yes, Erin I will have more to add about picky eaters (including the story of our 24 hour soup stand off). =)) French Toast is a household breakfast staple that has healthy carbs, fat, protein and fruit/veg! What else could you ask for in a meal?


FRENCH TOAST RECIPE:
Quick morning fill‘er up! I love to sneak in a veggie puree to the dip...no one including my husband usually notices! There a ton of cookbooks and recipes out there for "sneaky foods". I use a carrot/squash blend that I pre-make and freeze in advance. I put them in mini-muffin trays then bag for an easy add in!  Pre-made baby food or apple sauce are great to have on hand if you don't want to make your own! I'm all about healthy and quick....I've got things to do like go to the gym and work off that 10 lbs of baby weight that is still hanging on, not slave in the kitchen every waking minute!

3 eggs
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoon sugar (4-6 drops liquid stevia for no sugar)
1/8 cup milk (soy or coconut also great substitute)
1 Tablespoon cooking oil (coconut oil or butter is our favorite)
4 slices whole wheat bread
Optional: 2 Tablespoons of veggie or fruit puree (baby food or apple sauce work as well)

Crack 3 eggs in a shallow mixing bowl to dip bread into. Add spices, vanilla extract, sugar, milk and puree then mix well with a fork. Heat shallow pan to a medium heat with cooking oil. Dip each slice of bread in egg mixture on each side. Cook until golden brown on each side of the bread (about 4 minutes each side).

Cinnamon and Sugared Pecan Salad

 Call me transparent, but the better and treaty-er it sounds the higher my kids' enthusiasm is in eating it. 

1 head Romain

2 handfuls Spinach

1 cup blueberries

1/4 red onions diced

1/4 cup feta crumbled

1/2 cup cinnamon and sugar almonds 

(brown raw pecans in pan with a bit coconut oil, toss in jar with cinnamon and sugar to taste, keep around to sprinkle on salads)

1/2 cucumber chopped

(slice other part of cucumbers for water glasses at the table to make it a fancy meal, according to my offspring)

Dressing:

1 cup olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 clove garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Keep a large dressing made up and dress salads to taste.  

Put it all together. 

 

Must Vent!!

OK, I almost left the dinner table last night to come VENT!! Sometimes I feel like giving up on my picky household! 

The dinner scene:

Husband: "What is this salad dressing?" Translation: "I don't like it."

Three Year Old: "I don't want lasagna." Translation: "Please can I have cereal."


AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!  WHY DO I BOTHER (yes there is anger in that statement)!!

At least the four month old can't talk yet (and only drinks mama's milk).  I have hope that he will be a good eater!! 

I will wake up and try again!

Can anyone relate?? Erin, don't answer! Jessica, I know you have stories!!

Don't worry I can laugh at my pouting at the dinner table =)) 

Baked Chard Chips

This recipe found on about a million other websites and cookbooks these days! This is one of two "green things" my 3 year old will eat! The other being seaweed snacks! These take a little effort to make, but the result is worth it. 

BAKED CHARD CHIPS RECIPE
A close friend of the kale chip, which is a great one as well.

I bunch of fresh chard
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt

Pre-heat the oven to 400 (375 convection). Wash chard thoroughly and dry. Cut away the thick stocks and place smaller pieces in a medium bowl. Pour olive oil over the chard and massage until the oil has soaked in.  Spread out flatly on metal baking pan and sprinkle with little salt (the leaves will shrink up so don’t get too crazy with the salt!).  Bake for 4-7 minutes depending on your oven. Keep a look out for slightly brown edges; these can get away from you easily and they go from great to garbage!!

Your Heirloom Pantry

Here are some items that I keep on hand and stocked for back up! You might be surprised by a few things you find on the list This IS NOT a list of EVERY pantry essential,  just the ones we use that might be uncommon to your regular grocery list.

o   Good Oils -

·      Olive Oil – Used daily! Salads, low heat cooking,

·      Coconut Oil - Actually a solid until you heat it up. Good for high heat and great flavor!

·      Grapeseed Oil - very good for high heat and no strong flavor. I use instead of potentially GMO canola oils.

o   
    Sea Salt – Lots of wonderful claims of health and minimally processed

o   
    Organic Chicken Broth – Get low sodium and a list of ingredients you can understand!

o   
    Make Your Own ‘box mixes’ for Cakes, Pancakes, and Waffles - More to come on this!

o   
    Fresh Seasonal Fruits and Veggies – Local weekly pick up delivery services from are wonderful for variety and reasonable prices. Look into Community Supported Agriculture in your area.

o   
    Dried Beans – Soak overnight or get the quick soak varity…..

o   
    Canned Organic Beans and Tomatoes  - If you can’t handle dried beans or just love your can opener!

o   
   Good Vinegars -

·      Quality Apple Cider Vinegar – Apparently the cure to every ailment known to mankind and it taste great!

·      Rice Vinegar 

·      Red and White Wine Vinegar – Save the plain vinegar for cleaning and washing!

o   Romano/Parmesan – Fantastic flavor allowing you to use less then a typical cheese

o   
    Honey – Local raw has many wonderful health claims!

o   
    Soy, Almond or Coconut Milk – Wonderful to mix it up in recipes and your gut.

o   
    Butter – Yes, real butter in moderation we believe is much better for you than “plastic” in a plastic tub!

o   
    Yogurt – Greek variety has lots of protein, acts like sour cream and is so good for you in countless ways.

o   
    Liquid Stevia – Wonderful sugar substitute that come from a real plant not manufacture in one!

Trail Mix

This is a good one to have the kids make.

Send it in lunches, take a baggie to the movies, bring it to the park, keep a few small baggies in your purse.

5 parts Cheerios

1 part banana chips

1 part raisins

1 part raw sunflower seeds

1 part chocolate chips

1 part raw almonds

1 part raw pumpkin seeds

Dutch-influenced Baby

My family loves Dutch Baby, a puffy pancake baked in a cast iron skillet, served right out of the oven.

I love the name. I get hung up on the origins and meanings of names and such. Whether it's a song, a recipe, a book, a city, a wildflower, a tree, I can't let it go.

To me, why a Dutch Baby is called that is fairly obvious. When done right, a Dutch Baby comes out of the oven a beautiful bundle of perfectly golden, puffy lightness that you almost want to cuddle with. While my actual babies are not at all Dutch, they were both delightfully chubby, round in every detail, dimpled, and folded as infants. Oh, those irresistably puffy little fingers and toes...I remember realizing with perfect clarity why parents and grandparents, or anyone who loves a baby, is compelled to say, "Oh, I could just eat you up!" A well-made Dutch Baby pancake has many of those qualities. Well, kind of. I'm just saying I know why they were named after a baby.

Unfortunately my sense of humor has not evolved past seeing hilarity in referring to this pancake as if it were an actual Dutch baby. My daughter's has, years ago. In fact, I think she has always merely tolerated my ridicuous comments ("I'm not saying I understand the ways of the Dutch, just that their babies are delicious..."). My son, who appreciates the macabre much more than his sister, has even grown weary of my routine. My husband, although he is not able to eat breakfast with us most mornings, would probably say it is so overused by me that it doesn't even warrant a too-far card.

What is generally used to measure the worthiness of a Dutch Baby (hee hee) is it's puffiness factor. In this recipe, the rising quality of the pancake is foregone. Traditionally white flour is used, and dairy milk, and with the substitutions for these in this recipe you will not get that puffy of a pancake. But even the proudest, puffiest Dutch Baby begins to deflate almost immediately when taken out of the oven. I cut it in pieces before serving it, so by the time it reaches the table it is totally flat anyway. And my family doesn't miss the puffiness in the least. What is gained by replacing the white flour in this (and perhaps the dairy milk, although I won't knock dairy. I use raw milk for this just as often as soy, as raw milk is awesome) is a richer, nuttier, more complex flavor and texture. And more protein and nutrient-packed, if only slightly more complex, carbs. In other words, my kids don't get hungry again as fast!

So hence the name of this pancake; I cannot in good conscience call it a Dutch Baby, as it does not come out of the oven a puffy little bundle of joy. But it is delicious...if not barbaric (don't worry, I just gave myself a too-far card).

4 eggs
1 cup soy milk
3/4 cup whole wheat flour*
1/4 cup almond flour (aka almond meal)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup butter (or less, but a truly decadent Baby is rich and buttery)

Preheat oven to 425 and place oven rack near the bottom of the oven. Place butter in large cast iron skillet, and place skillet in oven. In a medium bowl beat eggs lightly and thoroughly mix eggs and milk. Add vanilla and salt. Add flour and almond meal and mix until smooth, but try not to over-beat. When the butter is completely melted take skillet out of oven and swirl butter around, tilting skillet to coat the sides. Pour mixture into skillet. Bake for 15 minutes. Do not open oven door, but lower temp to 350. Bake another 10-15 minutes, until golden.

I serve with maple syrup, or honey, or even jam.

* Erin discovered that using oat flour (grinding oats in food processor until flour-consistency) takes it to next level yumminess. I was too lazy this morning to grind oats. Actually I woke up late. Anyway, I made the recipe call for whole wheat flour because that is what I took a photo of this morning. However, the picture will be forthcoming as I have not figured out how to freaking get it on this page.  Ha!