{Banana Oat Blender Pancakes}

Two and a half years into this gluten free thing and I haven't found a really great pancake recipe...until now. That sounds so dramatic, but I've tried several and they just aren't the nice, easy to cook item that I'm looking for. Nomi was completely baffled by the answer to his perpetual question of "What you feed me now?" (The older kids tend to get the generic response of "A big plate of wait and see, with a side of eat it or starve!", thankfully they appreciate a little sassing and have started declaring that to be their favorite meal.) But back to Nomi... Pancakes? What on earth is a pancake? Have you tried describing that to an almost three year old? Who doesn't eat bread?? There are no comparisons to draw. You make me a cake? Not exactly. You make me oatmeal? Not quite... You make me cooked banana? (oh so doubtfully) Needless to say he didn't budge from his perch on the hearth, where he can see but not quite touch everything happening on the stove. The first bite sold him and he began spouting all of his lovey words, declaring them to be "'licious", and yours truly to be "so 'dorable"...so clearly these are pretty good pancakes. So how about a recipe? Seriously give them a shot, whether you're gluten free or not!

2 cups gluten free oats

1 1/2 cups milk (cow/almond/coconut etc)

1 large ripe banana 

1 tsp cinnamon

1-2 heaping Tbsp honey (preferably raw and local) or maple syrup

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1 egg

coconut oil for cooking

(I was working with smaller bananas so I used 1.5)

Add first eight ingredients to your blender and blend away until everything is mixed in. Try to make sure your honey and powders are towards the center so you don't have to try to scrape them off of the sides...it's such a pain! Once everything is well blended add the egg and blend just until combined. This batter tends to be stiffer than regular pancakes, but if you think it's too stiff to pour easily, now is the time to add a bit more milk (1-2 Tbsp should do it). Scrape the batter into a mixing bowl now because it's much easier to get all of it now while you don't have a hot skillet and pancakes burning. Ahem. 

Heat your skillet with a few tsp of coconut oil or butter, and when it's hot pour about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side on medium/medium low heat. These don't bubble as much as normal pancakes so watch them! These are great plain or with your favorite toppings. Some ideas would be maple syrup (of course), a dollop of creamed honey, butter, peanut butter...Nutella if you're looking for something glorious. One recipe makes about 12-14, 1/4 cup sized pancakes, I will certainly be doubling the recipe for my hungry eaters, tripling if I wanted to think about leftovers!

Bon A Petiet

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,’ said Piglet at last, ‘what’s the first thing you say to yourself?’ ‘What’s for breakfast?’ said Pooh. ‘What do you say, Piglet?’ ‘I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?’ said Piglet. Pooh nodded thoughtfully. ‘It’s the same thing,’ he said.”

- A. A. Milne, ‘The House at Pooh Corner’ 

In the Kitchen

Apple Berry Crumble from the Whole Food Kitchen workshop...so good!

Cinnamon Rolls

A few weeks ago I had decided that my personal mission for the summer was to find a go-to, simply amazing, cinnamon roll recipe. Two recipes in and I've already got it! :) My friend Sarah Jane over at Romantic History shared this recipe here, and they are every bit as good as she makes them sound! I made them whole wheat, and they did beautifully. My only advice is to not skimp on the 10 minutes of kneading (although my arms sure wished I would!!), the dough becomes magically soft and elastic when you're approaching the ten minute point, it completely effects the whole process. :) Since my Grammy asked, I'm re-posting my own cook book's version here...

Sarah Jane's Maple Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

1 and 1/3 c. milk

2/3 c. maple syrup

2/3 c. soft butter

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. salt

6 c. flour (I used white whole wheat)

2 pkg. yeast

Filling:

1 c. packed brown sugar

4 TB flour

3 TB cinnamon

1 stick cold butter

In a saucepan, warm milk, syrup and butter til butter is melted - do NOT boil. Cool to a warm temperature beneficent to yeast. When nicely warm to the touch, put in yeast. Stir in eggs and salt. Mix in 3 cups of flour. Add enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out onto board or floured counter and knead for 10 minutes. Pat dough into ball, place in greased bowl and cover with a towel.

Let rise for 1 hour.

Punch dough down and divide into two. Roll each ball into a rectangle, appx. 12" x 18". Combine filling ingredients in bowl, cut in butter to make a crumbly mixture. Spread filling evenly over rectangles of dough. Roll up each rectangle into a fat log. Cut each log in half, then cut each half into 5 rolls. Place 15 rolls on a baking sheet. The remaining 5 rolls put into a separate baking sheet. Cover and let rise for forty minutes.

Preheat oven to 375. Bake rolls for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from oven and top with a clean towel. (if you don't do this the rolls will get hard on top). Let rolls cool beneath towel while you make the icing.

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

3 TB butter, melted

3 TB maple syrup

1 to 2 TB milk

Combine the powdered sugar, melted butter and syrup in a bowl. Add in enough milk for desired consistency. Spread over warm rolls and let rolls cool, uncovered, completely. When cool put into an air tight container.

These have been a HUGE hit over here, so I think they will become our Saturday breakfast. I can make them up on Friday afternoon, so there's not any coin flipping for who has to make breakfast (vs. sleeping until b'fast is done), which I'm sure Joseph will like, since *somehow* he always draws the short straw on that one... ;-)

A New Favorite

(picture from here)

I made this for dinner last night while on the phone with my very best friend. :) This means two things, 1) I got to talk to Anne for 1-1/2 hours! -and 2) This is so easy that you can do it while paying no attention at all. ;) This is definitely one of my favorite recipes now!

Chicken and Rice Pot Pie

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry (you buy it pre-made, and I just defrosted one sheet in the microwave for about 1.5-2 minutes at 50% power, just until it unfolds without breaking)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I had them pre-baked in the freezer, so I just cut those up into cubes) cut crosswise into 1/2" pieces

salt and pepper

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 teaspoons flour

1 cup instant rice (they say white, but I used brown and really loved it)

1 3/4 c. chicken broth

1/2 c. heavy cream

1 cup frozen veggie mix

(They say 3 scallions, but I forgot them and liked it without)

Okay, here is the actual recipe, and I'll just add what I changed in parenthesis.

1) Cut puff pastry sheet into 6 evenly sized pieces, and bake on lined (parchment or a non stick mat etc.) baking sheet until golden brown and crisp, about 15 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Melt 1 Tablespoon of the butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook half of chicken until no longer pink, 1 to 2 minutes per side; cut into cubes and transfer to medium bowl. Repeat with additional 1 Tablespoon butter and remaining chicken. (I already had cooked chicken, so I just cubed and and set it aside.)

3) Add flour and remaining butter to (now) empty skillet and cook until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. (I just used a bit over 2 Tblsp. of the butter since I didn't need to cook the chicken). Stir in rice, broth and cream and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, covered, until rice is nearly tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in frozen veggies (and scallions), and chicken along with any accumulated juices. Simmer until sauce is thickened, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Top with puff pastry and serve.

So quick and easy! I really loved it. ALLOT. I might try tossing in an egg or two, for more of a stir-fried rice feel, because, well, I just love it! I like this so much in fact that I might just make up a double recipe on the weekend and eat if for lunch all week. Love it!! Funny fact: I used to hate rice, like, I just couldn't eat it. E.V.E.R. Then, when I was pregnant with Jenny I started having this weird craving for pork fried rice...which turned into anything involving rice. Now it is my side dish of choice and I can't stop eating it! Weird, huh?

My favorite chili

This morning I woke up feeling more than a wee bit under the weather. Not at all what I had been planning on, but I guess with everyone else in the world being sick right now, we were bound to get our turn at some point. There are two kinds of flu, and rumors of strep in our area...I hope it's none of those, but if it is, I find myself hoping for flu instead of strep... I guess we'll know in a few days! Maybe it's just a fluke. So anyway, I wanted to share my favorite chili recipe with you all today. It is my fall back meal, because it is so easy and fast. If you brown hamburger and freeze it ahead of time then it is also one of those one pan meals. :) Between the grocery store, and taking advantage of a food co-op sale, I can find most of these things organically, so don't see cans and despair (if you eat organically that is!).

My Mom's Chili

2 cans dark red kidney beans

2 cans black beans

2 cans corn

2 large cans diced tomatoes

1 (small) can green chilies (I think they come diced?)

2-3 Tbsp chili powder

1-2 tsp cumin

1 lb. cooked ground beef

Mix all ingredients together in a large pot and bring to a boil. Turn down and allow to simmer for an hour or two. I always serve this over cornbread. I haven't found a very good recipe yet, so I use my favorite mix, the blue Jiffy box. If you have a good recipe let me know!! This is also really good with sour cream or shredded cheese on top.

I'm off to go pull together the coffee before Bitty gets up (btw, Bitty is Joe's sister who is currently living with us while she goes to school). Then I think the day will be one of those days when you have to just go into survival mode before breakfast. :) Fresh sheets, tidy a room or two to be sick in, read lots of stories (especially those new ones, Thank you Grammie!! Bob hasn't put his new dog book down!) and try to get healthy before we get sicker.

Success!

I'm so excited! I have finally made a really good soup without any recipe! :D I've been trying to do this for about 4.5 years. ;) It is still simmering away in the crock pot, so hasn't had the official tasting by the crowd that it will get at dinner time, but I keep tasting it and it is really yummy! I am also pleased to say that it is mostly organic! Almost all of the veggies are from our CSA share, and the hamburger is from a cow that we got from a local family as well. Neither of which are certified organic places, but if they aren't organic they are 99% better than Wal*Mart, and really they mostly just lack the certification.

I also thought I would share my current knitting project. Although it certainly doesn't look like it yet, this is the first of a pair of slippers for Jenny. :) Once I finish all the knitting, it gets folded all up and seamed to make a cute boot slipper, then you felt it to make it nice and warm and sturdy. I really can't wait to share the finished product with you! As soon as I finish these I have yarn for a pair for Anthony; the same grey and navy.

I am also about to take a big leap in my knitting/mothering adventure and knit my first pair of longies! For those who don't know, they are the out most layer for some styles of cloth diapering

. Made out of wonderful wool, they are supposed to be amazing. And the fact that they are absurdly cute doesn't hurt either. ;) I just have to locate the proper needles and then I will be starting those! My Anthony is very sensitive to man-made fibers, which makes my desire to dress us all in only natural fibers even more important. It has been a challenge to find diaper soakers (the cloth part that looks like a diaper) that do not at any point use micro-fleece. I have found a few Etsy shops that sell BEAUTIFUL diapers made from organic bamboo/cotton fleece (!!!!!!), and I have splurged on one to try, but think that if it all works for us like I hope, I will start making my own. I am excited to start this next step, and will keep you all posted as I learn about it! :)

I don't know if I will be able to post tomorrow, since it is a busy day for us. It is our first year celebrating Michaelmas, (not only a fun Catholic feast day, but also a way to incorporate the Waldorf that I love so much!)and in the evening it will be my first yoga class! I am taking it with my mom and possible my sister, so even if we aren't crazy with the class we will have fun together, and it will be a nice break from the littles! This is our first class, so we will be able to decide if we will be making it a weekly thing or not. I know that some avoid yoga because of the religious background, but I really feel this is something my body needs (I have really messed up joints), and I am taking a "glean what works" approach to it. :)