Merry Christmas! Reindeer Pancakes

Merry Christmas!  Today was a memorable and exhausting day.  And to kick off Christmas 2012 I treated the family to extra yummy yogurt parfaits (honey greek yogurt layered with Bob's Red Mill granola and fresh berries), and reindeer pancakes.  The pancakes were so cute and really easy - you just need to make 3 different sized circle pancakes, some bacon and have fruit (or chocolate chips) for the eyes/nose.

Make a large pancake for the head, medium pancake for the 'muzzle' and two tiny pancakes for the ears.

To create the antlers I took two slices of bacon and cut them in half and made in to a 'Y' shape.

The blueberry eyes and raspberry nose were stuck to the pancakes with some yogurt.

Enjoy your reindeers and Merry Christmas to you!  I think I need to make these again soon, they were so cute!

Making Machine

Blake likes to tell me that I'm a 'maker'.  I make, bake, cook, create all sort of things in all sorts of mediums.  So I guess he is right!  Today I put my 'maker' skills to action and made a batch of pumpkin butter (my kids are addicted - on toast and waffles it can't be beat), a huge batch of gingered carrot soup and a week's worth of muesli.  The latter two recipes are part of my 28 to Great challenge.   I wish the pumpkin butter was part of the healthy menu suggestions... I could eat a whole jar!  Click here for my pumpkin butter recipe.

I'll be honest, I wasn't very excited to try the muesli because it seems a little like 'horse food'.  But, when you add the suggested plain nonfat or lowfat yogurt, nonfat milk or almond milk with about a half cup of berries and a splash of honey, you have got a pretty tasty breakfast!

And the gingered carrot soup is fantastic.  The flavor is really kicked up a notch when you serve it with chopped cilantro!  Give these recipes a try - they are all perfect for the fall.

Both recipes are courtesy of barre3 and Julia Sarver of Glow Health Coaching.

Morning MÜESLI
4 servings
1/2 c. rolled oats
1-2 tablespoons raw walnuts
1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut flakes (optional)
1 tablespoon flaxseed meal
1/2 c. organic berries
Sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg for flavor (optional)
Top with a little milk (organic dairy or unsweetened coconut, almond or hemp milk)

Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl.
Top with coconut or almond milk and enjoy.

You can also pour 4 ounces of boiling water over the meal if you want to create a semi-oatmeal type breakfast.



Gingered Carrot SoupServes 8

This is a perfect light soup for lunchtime. Be sure to use the regular coconut milk, not the Lite version, to get the full benefits of the milk.

2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 medium leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons minced gingerroot
4 tablespoons dry sherry or white wine
3 lbs carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
4 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground ginger
sea salt to taste
1 can coconut milk (Native Forest, full-fat)

Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the leek and gingerroot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to brown—about 5 minutes. Add the sherry and carrots and stir to cook for about 1 minute.

Add the broth, ground ginger, and salt to taste and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a moderate simmer, cover, and cook until the carrots are tender— about 30 minutes.

Puree soup in batches and bring back to pot. Add coconut milk and stir.

Return the soup to a clean pot and reheat briefly. Do not let soup boil. Add additional coconut milk if desired. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

A Healthy Breakfast Option

I'm participating in a '28 to Great' challenge with barre3.  The amazing owner, Sadie Lincoln, asked for volunteers to participate in a trial of a new workout program she is putting together.  I jumped at the chance to work closely with her while getting fit with other women around the country.

Turns out this trial is 28 days of specific workouts (via an online library of barre3 workouts) as well as a new look at the way I eat.  Included in the program are lots of healthy meal options and suggestions of what to eat and avoid.  I'm three days in and feeling great but really missing flour and sugar! I think my body was meant to survive only on those two items...  I also see no mention of wine or coffee in the food list - we'll see how this goes!

One of the breakfast suggestions is an egg scramble with sauteed onions and parsley.  I added a clove of garlic too. Eggs are a great source of protien and help keep you full longer than many of my usual breakfast choices.  It was excellent and I recommend giving it a try... just dice up some onion and garlic and saute for a couple minutes.  Add in some parsley then add two eggs that you've beaten lightly. Stir to cook and enjoy!

Raspberries!

Today we headed to Remlinger Farms to pick raspberries. I figured the kids would like it for about five minutes, but much to my delight they picked berries for almost an hour. 

We ended up with almost 6 pounds of berries.  This then leads to the dilemma of what to do with all the berries.  We ate quite a few right out of the box.  Some on yogurt, ice cream, cereal... then I found a recipe for raspberry (or blueberry) muffins and we gave it a try.

The muffin batter was so thick it didn't let the berries sink very far!

In to the muffin tins!

After they came out of the oven it was hard to resist eating one right away.  What a treat!

This was a great recipe for raspberries and I may try again with blueberries since they have been on sale at the market recently.  Enjoy!  Click here for the link.

Breakfast Cookies

There seems to be a trend on Pinterest.  Tons of recipes or photos of breakfast cookies or premade oatmeal, or some other quick breakfast idea.  After reading through most of these recipes there was so much focus on Splenda or fake sweeteners (which I am opposed to) as well as all natural ingredients or gluten free.   

I was on a mission to find a breakfast cookie that was semi healthy, easy to make and had a flavor that we'd actually enjoy eating.  After toying with a recipe I found during a massive internet search, I think I've come up with a great finished product.

The dough is thick and holds up well. 

It holds up so well that I actually had to flatten the cookies slightly before baking to ensure the center would heat through.

The end product is similar to a moist granola bar.  The flavor isn't what you'd expect from a cookie... remember, these are breakfast cookies and are aimed to be semi good for you.  Give these a shot and let me know what you think!

Jodi's Breakfast Cookie

2 very ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 c. apple sauce
1 3/4c. uncooked quick-cooking oats,
1/4 c. skim milk
1/4 c. raisins
1/3 c. chocolate chips, optional (If you exclude, use 1/2 c. raisins)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a bowl really well.  Let stand for 5-10 minutes so the oats can soak up some of the liquid. Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon and heap the dough onto a Silpat lined cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes and let cool.  Store in an airtight container.

Banana Bread Muffins

Tomorrow I am in charge of bringing snacks to C's cooperative preschool.  Last time I brought snacks I made homemade mini banana muffins and dried craisins.  Most kids ate two muffins and one kid even tried to fish one out of the garbage can!  Gross...  Needless to say, it was easy to decide what to make for tomorrow.  Banana muffins!

When B was in coop preschool almost every parent brought homemade treats, or very creative store bought treats.  Now that C is in coop preschool, on the other side of the lake, we've found that no one brings anything homemade.  Treats are usually from a can, crackers, or individual slices of banana.  This may explain why kids were shoving the homemade banana muffins in their mouths or eating them out of the garbage can?  The whole phenomena is shocking to me.  I'm not sure why, but I figured where we live now would be filled with health minded parents and had some 'extra' time, or would want to provide something yummy for their kids at preschool.  Apparently people on 'this' side of the lake have less time?  Don't even get me started on the discussions about food when a nutritionist came to the classroom.

Okay, enough of my rambling.  Back to the bananas!  Today I tried a new banana bread recipe and it was quick, easy, and chock full of banana.  I used mini muffin tins and made three dozen minis with one batch of batter.  And there was enough batter leftover to make five normal sized muffins.  The big guys got a few chocolate chips sprinkled on top!

I pushed the chocolate chips down a bit so they wouldn't get burnt sitting on top of the batter.

The mini muffins were so small, but they are a perfect size for a two year old's hand. And mouth!

If you decide to make mini muffins, spray the tins with a nonstick spray and start checking at 8 minutes.  You may need to add a few more minutes on to cook time depending on your oven.  I tested the cook time by baking one single mini muffin before baking the entire batch.  The larger muffins took closer to 12 minutes, but keep an eye on them!

If you want to make a loaf, use a standard 9x5 pan and grease well.

Banana Banana Bread, courtesy of many random internet searches

2 c. flour

1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
2 1/3 c. mashed very overripe bananas

Preheat oven to 350° and lightly grease 9 x 5 loaf pan.  In large bowl, combine flour, soda and salt.  In separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended.

Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 60-65 minutes until a toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is such a fun 'holiday'. When else do you get to have an excuse to drink a margarita at any time of day?  Okay, so maybe if you are in Mexico or use the "it's 5 o'clock somewhere" excuse, you already drink margaritas at any hour.  But to me, today means yummy mexican food, drinks and dessert.  Usually we don't do dessert on Cinco de Mayo, but I found a fun idea that is great if you're short on time.

Sopapilla is a traditional Mexican bread, usually fried.  It can be served as a dessert by adding honey to the fried sopapilla. If you visit the Cactus restaurants in the Seattle area, they serve a similar appetizer called "Navajo Fry Bread with Amber Honey" (which tasted more dessert-y than appetizer to me, and was fantastic). 

I found a sopapilla style recipe, but using cream cheese for a more hearty flavor.  It is about as fast to make as any dessert I know, aside from scooping ice cream...  And no frying necessary! Plus, it could be used as a special breakfast treat in addition to dessert item.  I guess we'll call this recipe Creamy Sopapilla? Or Sopapilla Dessert (or Breakfast) Bars? 

Grab a container of Pillsbury (or store brand) crescent roll dough.  Carefully unroll the dough and divide in half (four 'triangles' per half) and pinch any seams together so you end up with two square pieces of raw dough.  Lay one square in an ungreased 8x8" baking dish.  Set the other square aside.  You may need to stretch the dough a bit to get it to cover the bottom of the dish.

Take one 8oz package of cream cheese and soften in the microwave (keep a close eye on it while heating... maybe 1-2 minutes at half power).  Mix in 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp good vanilla.  Spread over the dough in pan.

Carefully set the other square of dough over the cream cheese mixture.

 Melt a couple tablespoons of butter and spread across the dough, then sprinkle with some sugar and cinnamon.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned and slightly firm.

Let it cool slightly before cutting and serving.  I cut in to nine squares and served with a small scoop of chocolate ice cream.  This dessert was a big hit and I plan to make it again for our Mother's Day fiesta next weekend. 

Other ice cream flavors that would be tasty are coconut, mexican chocolate and dulce de leche. Don't skimp on these ice cream flavors... go with a brand that uses fresh ingredients so the flavor isn't flat.

*This recipe can be doubled.  Just use a 9x13" pan, 2 cans of crescent rolls, 2 8oz packages of cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons good vanilla, and about 1/4 c melted butter.

Nutella Croissants

In my pantry we have a jar of Nutella and a jar of Trader Joe's Almond Chocolate spread (their take on Nutella).  I can't seem to get rid of them.  I know, I know.  Some people can't keep these spreads in their house because they are so addicted.  And some buy them by the Costco case (yes, I called you out Samar!). 

I had never tried Nutella until a few months ago when my friends urged me to buy some.  I love chocolate.  I'm addicted to chocolate.  But hazlenut flavored chocolate on toast isn't my thing. Don't get me wrong.  I do enjoy dipping apple slices in the both of these spreads, but spreading chocolate on the toast isn't my thing. My kids would disagree.  They could eat Nutella or the chocolate almond spread on anything.

Then it hit me. One of my favorite breakfast treats is a nice chocolate filled croissant.  What if I took premade croissant dough and put a little spoonful of Nutella on the dough before rolling up and baking? 

A tablespoon of Nutella on the wide end of the triangle shaped croissant dough (Pillsbury or Kroger brands work great).

Roll up like you would normally.

Sprinkle the tops with some sugar and cinnamon.

Bake as directed on the croissant dough's package.  I cooked for a few minutes less than suggested...

The kids loved these little treats.  They're small, so good for a afternoon snack or as breakfast along with some fruit.



PB Banana Oatmeal Squares

Thanks again to Pinterest I came across an interesting breakfast or snack idea.  The oatmeal based bar is sweetened with brown sugar, peanut butter and banana.  No butter or oils.  I have an embarassing amount of over-ripe bananas so this was a must try recipe.  I did alter the original recipe slightly to match my own tastes.

The dry ingredients wait for the...

wet ingredients of milk, peanut butter, vanilla, banana and egg.

Combine and spread evenly in a greased 8x8" pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until the center is slightly firm.  The end result was a very moist (too moist for my husband and son) treat that I enjoyed as a breakfast and snack.  My daughter liked it, but didn't love it.  The results shocked me.... usually anything that contains peanut butter is a huge hit with my husband so I will try to make this again, but will cook even longer to see if it makes a difference (and I"ll update this post if it does!). 

And why not experiment by adding some Craisins or mini chocolate chips?  The addition of those items will raise the sugar content, but will give a nice flavor boost.

PB Banana Oatmeal Squares, adapted from gingerbreadbagels.com
1 1/2 c. quick cooking oats
1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1 Tbsp white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c. milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 large mashed banana
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter

Mix together the quick cooking oats, light brown sugar, sugar, baking powder, kosher salt and ground cinnamon.  Add in the vanilla extract, milk and egg. Mix the ingredients together.

Then add in the mashed banana and peanut butter. Combine all of the ingredients.

Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 8 by 8 inch baking pan and spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until slightly firm in center.

Cheese Danish

I've been holding on to this Cheese Danish recipe by Ina Garten for over a year now.  Waiting for the right time to try it out.  I figured I should stop waiting and just make it already.  My husband is at a bachelor party for the next four days and I'm sure the kids would love an excuse to eat something other than oatmeal or cereal for breakfast. So, today was the day!

I had everything I needed except the Ricotta cheese.  I can tell the colds my children have been suffering from is making its way to my head because I stared at this package of Ricotta cheese for about five minutes.  "Ricotta con Latte".  All I kept wondering was if this was coffee flavored?  I looked all over the packaging and then came to the realization that coffee flavored ricotta would be gross.  And that it was the name of the company's ricotta product.  I think I need some cold medicine, stat.

Cream cheese, ricotta, egg, vanilla and lemon zest get mixed together.

And become a beautiful mild yellow color.

Cut a two thawed sheet of parchment in to eight squares (four per sheet).  Put a glob of the ricotta mix in the center.

Brush an egg wash around the edges and fold up two opposite corners.  Note - I think my filling should have been refrigerated for 10 or 15 minutes to prevent it from spreading on pastry.  The waiting for the pastry sheets to fully thaw took longer than planned so my mix was a little warm.

After just 15 minutes in the oven, the danishes were ready!

Not the most gorgeous end result, but the creamy, lemony flavor of the danish was very good.  Both kids loved these and I do plan to make again.  The end product makes it seem like a very labor intensive recipe.  But with using premade pastry and a quick filling, this could easily be done the morning of a brunch or made the night before and baked the morning before an event.

Next time I may omit the lemon zest and try vanilla bean?  You could even mix in a handful of mini chocolate chips or chopped fruit?  Yum!  Thanks, Ina!  Click Here to view the recipe on Food Network's website.

French Breakfast Puffs

There isn't anything 'French' about these breakfast puffs, but thats what my grandma always called them.  And I don't mind if the name doesn't exactly reflect the baked good because they are such a delightful breakfast or afternoon treat.  A basic breakfast muffin dough that is topped with melted butter and a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.

I loved coming home from school or walking in to my grandma's house and smelling these warm muffings, fresh from the oven.  As I got older, my grandma would make a batch and package them up for me to take home.  I now make this recipe every few months, whenever I want something sweet but don't want to hassle with pancakes or a run to the bakery.  My kids and husband are just as big of fans of this treat as I am.  Light, sweet and and perfect with a cup of tea or coffee.

The dough doesn't take much time to make.  Just make sure your butter is soft (set it out on the counter for a few hours or overnight, or zap for a few seconds in microwave), and use a hand mixer to make it go faster.  But a hand mixer really isn't required!  I use an ice cream scoop to make my muffins very similar in size.

The finished product (against a very snowy backyard!).

5 1/2" and still counting and its only 10am.  Keep it coming Mother Nature! We've got plenty of warm muffins to keep us warm today! 

And by this evening our 4 1/2' tall snowman had grown quite a bit! (and yes, thats our hose caddy helping to hold him up...he got a little too heavy today!) 

French Breakfast Puffs, courtesy of Charlotte Smith

(click on above graphic to enlarge)

Quick Appetizer Ideas

Today I hosted a small group of women for a photography class taught by professional photographer Erin Schedler.  Due to a forecast for snow this weekend, I wanted quick and easy appetizers... I wouldn't know how many gals would show up until the class actually started.  Snow was dumping outside (and still is!) and I was hoping to eliminate lots of leftovers.  My solution? Picking foods that my family likes and that could be used in future meals.  I also picked foods that didn't require guests to use forks or spoons.

I found mini cinnamon rolls at the grocery store.  About 12 for $4.  I put them on sticks that I use for cookies or other projects and stuck them in a vase filled with uncooked rice.  For a dip I mixed 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and a few tablespoons milk (you may want more/less milk depending on consistency you want).  This is a great buffet brunch idea!  And a thank you to pinterest for giving me this idea!

I sliced up two bell peppers and displayed on a platter with baby carrots and ranch dressing.  I also skewered grapes, strawberries and pineapples and placed on the same platter for a colorful display.  Plus, everything looks a little fancier when its on a skewer. And no need for utensils! 

I had a bag of Trader Joe's kettle corn (SO good), that I placed in a bowl with a scoop.  Guests can then scoop the popcorn in to cups.  Warning... this kettle corn is really good so you'll want to make sure you don't have many leftovers. Otherwise you'll eat it all yourself...  

Do you have any favorite appetizer ideas that require minimal work but look great and are popular with your guests?

Winter Food Ideas

Just because Christmas is over, doesn't mean you can't serve festive foods to the kids.  What about snowman pancakes?  Two round pancakes with a bacon slice used as a scarf, chocolate chips for eyes/buttons and some mini marshmallows for snow!

And a really fun idea I recently saw online... fruit candy canes.  Slice some bananas and strawberries and shape in to a candy cane. 

My kids gobbled both these ideas up! 

Pancakes and Applesauce

This morning we had the urge for pancakes.  Instead of our usual boxed mix I felt like making my grandma's from-scratch pancake recipe.  I still recall my grandma making these pancakes on special occassions... any holiday (orange for Halloween, green for St.Patrick's, pink for Valentine's....), birthdays and any other reason for a yummy breakfast.

I also remember the torture.  The torture of waiting for the egg whites to be beaten and then folded gently in to the batter.  When you're five years old, this is a painful process knowing how good the end result tastes.

The flour, egg yolks, etc are mixed together in a bowl.

The egg whites, sugar and cream of tartare are beaten until stiff in a separate bowl.

Fold in the egg whites to the flour mixture.

Heat up your griddle or frying pan and pour batter on.  Start with a single small pancake (1/4 c. of batter) and test if your griddle is too hot or cold, and adjust if necessary.  You know your pancake is ready for flipping when the edges firm up and bubbles are rising through the batter. 

These pancakes put every box mix to shame.  Tony and I were amazed at the difference between taste and consistancy and have promised to never make a batch of box mix pancakes again.  I realize this is a brave pledge, but the extra effort (maybe an extra five minutes and having to use a hand mixer) is so worth the flavor.  I now know why we all loved grandma's pancakes and appreciate the effort she put in to her special breakfasts even more now.  Thank you grandma for your special recipe that immediatly brought back memories of you in your bathrobe, standing at the kitchen counter, mixing the batter.  I cherish these newly recalled flashbacks.  I felt like a kid again.

And I have my mom to thank for asking my grandma for her pancake recipe and writing it down.  In pen.  My grandma had the knack to write recipes, very lightly in pencil and many of her recipe cards are now hard to decipher.

Grandma Smith's Pancakes, courtesy of Charlotte Smith

After breakfast, our neighbors dropped by with a bag of fresh picked apples from their property in Winthrop.  What a treat!  We discussed the recipe options and Blake was set on fresh made applesauce.

I peeled all the apples and gave B a plastic knife.  He sliced a few apples (with supervision!) but because it is a tough job, I cut the rest while he watched. 

Jodi and B's ApplesaucePlace peeled apple slices (8-10 apples) in a saucepan with 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup apple juice or water, and a pinch of salt.  Cover and simmer until apples are tender and you can mash with wooden spoon.  Keep an eye on the apples and stir often so the sugars don't burn!  You may find that you need to add a little more sugar depending on sweetness. 

Optional flavor additions....

teaspoon of cinnamon

tablespoon of unsalted butter

Or add both cinnamon and the butter!