7 Quick Takes

{1} This crazy heat is sapping all my energy and desire to do anything.  I've taken the kids to the pool a handful of times this week.  I'm thankful for my air conditioning.  I'm praying for the people fighting the Colorado fires and for all those affected by the fires.
{2} Despite my lack of energy and desire, I had fun taking my kiddos to our church's Little Angel program several mornings this week.  Little Angels is like VBS for the younger ages.  My friend who organized and led it this year did a FABULOUS job!  And, I got to meet some new moms and make some new friends :)
{3} I also got outside to water the garden a couple of times.  My efforts in the heat have been rewarded!  I harvested some lovely tomatoes :)  This is the first lemon cherry tomato we picked a week or so ago.

{4} So pretty!

{5}  The best breakfast (when making a smoothie will wake everyone up) when it's hotter than Hades

Toast with avocado smashed on top and sprinkled with salt and pepper.  Also, tomato slices on top makes it yummy too.
{6} Another fun baseball season has come to an end...thankful we don't have any games in this crazy heat!

{7} Watching this relationship grow has beautiful and frustrating at the same time.  He loves her to the moon and back...which means he wants to play with her ALL THE TIME (that means he likes to wake her up!), he wants to carry her around, he wants her to wrestle with him.

Almond Butter Strawberry Waffle Sandwich

Mmm, this sandwich is so yummy and perfectly filling.  It makes a great breakfast, snack, or dessert.

This sandwich came about out of my desire to finish off the waffles, a few spare strawberries, and a need for protein.  I liked it so much that I had to make it again...but I used up the last of the waffles.  I did, however, have some GF bread and GF cinnamon raisin bagels.  It still tasted fabulous!  So, you've just got to try it!  Breakfast is such an important meal and should be treated as such.  Eating protein (the almond butter) in the morning will help energize you as well as help you to feel full longer.  The strawberry provides some sweetness as well as a small amount of fiber.  This is sort of like a grown up PB&J...and kids love it too :)

Ingredients
waffle (can be dairy free and gluten free)
almond butter--1-2 tablespoons
2 strawberries, sliced
cinnamon
honey--a teaspoon or so, optional
Directions
Heat or toast waffle (or bread or bagel).  Spread the honey on the waffle then spread the almond butter over the honey.  Top the almond butter with the strawberry slices and sprinkle with cinnamon.  These are great open faced or topped with another waffle.
Serves 1
Enjoy!

Coconut Berry Smoothie

There's no doubt about it, summer's warm temps are here and here to stay.  The warm temps are great for getting out to the pool, playing in sprinklers and on the slip and slide, eating lots more salad and fresh fruits and veggies as well as more smoothies.  I LOVE smoothies and have been making more of a variety than my usual kind of frozen fruit, yogurt, OJ, and spinach.  I came up with this new one recently and was pleasantly surprised at how yummy and fresh it was.
It was super quick and easy to throw together with only 3 ingredients:
Frozen berries (couple of handfuls)
1 can coconut milk
honey (sweeten to taste)

Throw all of these in your blender or use an immersion blender like I do.  Mix it all up. Then enjoy!

Do you have a favorite smoothie?
Linked up at A Little Nosh

Peanut Butter Crispies

These have been a yummy treat and even breakfast here.  It's got some protein, fiber, carbs, healthy brain fat, and a bit of sweetener.

Peanut Butter Crispies (Inspired by this recipe)

Ingredients
scoop of peanut butter (or any nut butter of your preference)
scoop of coconut oil
a sweetener of choice--sugar, honey, agave, maple syrup, coconut sugar*--but not too much
crispy rice cereal (I use Barbara's Brown Rice Crisps--they're gluten free)
Directions
Place the nut butter, coconut oil, and sweetener (if using) in a microwave safe bowl.  Heat in microwave for about 20 seconds to warm and soften.  Stir the ingredients in the bowl.  After mixed, add in some cereal and stir to coat the cereal.  Enjoy warm or stick it in the fridge to harden.  My kiddos like this with a couple chocolate chips on top :)
*Check out this info about Coconut Palm Sugar.  I need to research it more, but it is worth it!  Coconut oil is so important and nutritious for us.  Our brains and cell walls need the healthy fat in coconut oil.  Chocolate Covered Katie has some fabulous treats using coconut oil!

Chocolate Pancakes, shh, they're healthy!

I made some chocolate pancakes for us to have for breakfast.  They are gluten free, dairy free, and healthy.  Healthy as in made with buckwheat and quinoa healthy!  And oh do they taste GOOD.  They're delicious plain, with some peanut butter, with some jelly, with some peanut butter AND jelly.  I bet they'd be great with some marshmallow fluff too :)  We will be enjoying these along with some berries (and I bet a couple people in my house will have some with peanut butter and banana slices!) for breakfast.

GF/DF Chocolate Quinoa Pancakes
Ingredients
2 cups GF all purpose flour* (I use Silvana's blend from Cooking for Isaiah)
1 cup buckwheat
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2-3/4 cup sugar (could sub another sweetener if desired)
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4-1/3 cup milled flax seed
2 eggs**
1-2 teaspoons vanilla
2-3 cups almond milk (or rice, soy, cow milk)
2-3 Tablespoons oil (I used olive oil)
1/2-1 cup cooked quinoa (I used some that was left over from a previous recipe. To make the quinoa, use 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa, mix the 2 together in a pot, bring to a boil, simmer for 10-15 minutes. Let cool before adding to batter.)

Directions
Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Add in the eggs, oil, vanilla, quinoa, and 1-1.5 cups of the almond milk.  Mix well.  Slowly add in more almond milk until your batter is the consistency of thick pudding (if you want thinner pancakes, use more milk to thin out the batter).  Let batter rest while the pancake griddle heats up.  Use about a 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake.  If your batter is nice and thick, use the back of a spoon to help spread it in to a round pancake shape.  Cook until the edges are done then flip to finish cooking.  For me, this made over 2 dozen pancakes--plenty for breakfast for the family as well as some to stash in the freezer.
*Can be made with regular all purpose flour
**Can be made egg free by using more milled flax seed (3T=1egg)
Enjoy!

Leave a comment here and let me know if you give these a try.
Linked up at A Little Nosh and Momnivore's Dilemma 

Soaked Oats WORKED!

Oh my, I am SO EXCITED!!!! Soaking the oats for 24 hours then cooking them up super fast this morning worked!  Each boy was full after only ONE bowl.  I couldn't believe it.  AND, they each said they LOVED the oatmeal.  I'm so happy that they like something that's quite healthy for them.  Are you intrigued?  Do you have insatiable appetites to fill?  Are you wanting to improve the food you eat?
Here are a couple of resources that I have read:
Some excellent info at Momnivore's Dilemma blog--she's got several great posts about nutrition
Soaking Grains at the Kitchen Stewardship blog--she's also got several recipes there too
There are many more out there including a book, Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.
When I asked Nicolette of Momnivore's Dilemma for some resources about soaking grains, she recommended a few other blogs:
Nourished Kitchen
Food Renegade
Kelly the Kitchen Kop
Cheeseslave
I haven't made my way through those blogs, but I bet there's plenty of great info to read there.

Quick Soaked Oatmeal

Adapted from Kitchen Stewardship*

In a pot, combine about 1 cup of water (bring this water to a boil in the microwave first), 1 cup of oats, and a bit (I just used the cap so it was about 1/2 teaspoon) of Bragg apple cider vinegar. 

I bought the medium sized bottle at Target for about $5.  This stuff is incredible!  Check it out.

Leave the lid off for a couple of hours so that the chlorine from the tap water can evaporate.  Cover the pot and leave it alone.  You want the oats to soak for about 24 hours.
Just before cooking, add about a cup more water to the pot. (I didn't measure any of my water or oats, just threw it together.)  Bring to a boil and stir for a few minutes--3-5 min.  Serve.  That's it!  So fast. 
Can serve with dried fruit, milk, cinnamon, brown sugar, butter, etc.

*I needed to keep our dairy free.  At that link she explains some of the reasoning and science behind soaking the oats.

Heathier Breakfast and Soaked Oats

My kids eat dozens of eggs!  I'm trying to cut some eggs out of the breakfast routine and add more healthy variety.  I've been reading about the importance of soaking grains before eating them.  I'm trying to fill my kids up more with less food--crazy, right?  Some say that eating soaked oatmeal is more filling than eating today's regularly prepared oatmeal.  My kids love oatmeal and often eat it as a snack.  Tomorrow they will be served oatmeal that has been soaked.  I'm really hoping that they like it.  I say tomorrow because in my reading I've learned that the oats are best and healthier after soaking for 24 hours.  I'll let you know how it turns out.
This morning marked the second time I made Cream of Buckwheat for breakfast.  The first time I made it was a couple of weeks ago.  I made just a small amount to see if the kids would like it.  There was nothing left in the pot after they ate :)  Success!  Today I made it again, made more so that Jaime and I could have some too.  I told Jaime I packed it for his breakfast as he was heading out the door.  I know there was a slight groan.  However, later I got a text--he really liked it and was pleasantly surprised that he liked it.  Yea, double success!!!  Oh, I like it too.  Cream of buckwheat is gluten free and can be made dairy free as well.  I found the cream of buckwheat at Whole Foods on the same shelves as cream of wheat, oatmeal, and such.

source

Making the cream of buckwheat is very simple and doesn't really take any longer than making oatmeal or eggs.  The 2 times I've made it, I've cooked it in vanilla almond milk to make it sweet (terrible, but I knew that would ensure the kids would at least try it).  I love cream of wheat with some butter on it.  I am looking forward to making cream of buckwheat without the vanilla milk and adding some butter to it.

Cream of Buckwheat--Gluten and Dairy Free
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups vanilla almond milk (any milk or water will work)
1/2 cup cream of buckwheat
couple dashes of salt (optional)
Directions
Bring the milk to a boil, add the cream of buckwheat and salt, stir, bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir frequently for about 10 minutes.
I serve it with some walnuts, dried fruit, and cinnamon on top.

Pancake Muffins

These pancake muffins are ridiculously easy, quick, and so much fun to customize!  They can be made ahead and frozen or enjoyed fresh from the oven.  I made some the night before that were gluten free and dairy free for the kiddos for breakfast in the morning.  Then in the morning I whipped up some regular ones for the hubs and myself.  I can tell you right now, these will be a regular breakfast/snack item for some time to come! :)

Basic Pancake Muffins

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt (use a little less if using regular table salt)
1 egg
3/4 c milk
1.5-2 tablespoons melted butter (could sub oil or applesauce)
Mix-Ins (see below)
Directions
Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl then add the wet ingredients and mix well.  Divide batter between muffin cups (I like using the silicone cups because the muffins pop out so easily. If you use a metal pan, don't use paper liners, just spray with oil.)  Bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes.  Depending on your mix-ins, this makes 9-12 muffins.
Mix-Ins
The list here is endless! Let your imagination and taste buds lead you :)
cooked sausage
cooked bacon
chopped apple
nuts
wheat germ
dried fruit--cherries, cranberries, blueberries, etc.
fresh berries
pumpkin
couple teaspoons sweetener--sugar, honey, brown sugar, agave, etc
vanilla
banana
peanut butter
chocolate chips
spices--cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, etc
herbs--basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary
chopped ham
cheese--Oooh, so many cheeses to choose from!

For gluten and dairy free
I used Silvana's all purpose GF flour mix from the Cooking For Isaiah cookbook.  You could likely use any all purpose GF flour mix, just know that they vary in flavor and texture.  Use your favorite.  For dairy free, I used almond milk and Earth Balance DF/GF/SF butter.
For the muffins I made a few nights ago, I used about a 1/3 of a pound of cooked chicken sausage and half of an apple chopped up--the kids LOVED them the next morning with some eggs.

For the more mainstream muffins I made, I used wheatgerm (couple tablespoons), chopped apples (half an apple), cinnamon (about 1 teaspoon), vanilla (1 teaspoon), walnuts (couple small handfuls), and dried cranberries (couple small handfuls).  Two of these babies along with a cappuccino and I was one happy and full mama! :)

Double your recipe and stash some in the freezer for those rushed mornings or those mornings where the kids are up and hungry and you want to stay in bed.  What? I know I'm not the only one ;)

 Inspired by this recipe.

Weekly Breakfast Menu

To help mornings go faster, most items are prepared either the weekend before or day before and frozen.  Frozen pancakes taste great after being toasted!  Even the breakfast muffins and eggs cups can be made ahead and frozen then microwaved before eating.

Monday--Breakfast Muffins (sausage, broccoli, and eggs) and fruit smoothie
Tuesday--Cauliflower Pancakes, Pumpkin apple muffins, pumpkin granola**
Wednesday--sweet potatoes topped with apples, granola,  nuts, and honey
Thursday--coconut yogurt, buckwheat pancakes (maybe add granola in to batter), sauteed apples
Friday--ham, spinach, and egg cups, cinnamon raisin toast

This Sweet Potato Sausage Bake would be great to try on a chilly morning.
**I've been playing with this recipe for a few weeks now.  It is my favorite granola recipe so far and is super easy with simple ways to change it up.  Give homemade granola a try--I think you'll like it and it'll save you money at the store :)

Breakfast Recipes

How about some tasty, warm, and nourishing breakfast recipes today?  Sounds good to me on this chilly autumn morning.  These are all gluten free and dairy free!
I love keeping a few cans of pumpkin puree on hand so that I can add some to so many things besides the recipes here.  My favorite is Farmer's Market Organic Pumpkin.

First recipe up is a long time family favorite.

Rice Pudding
Ingredients
2 cups cooked white or brown rice (use up left over rice or make fresh rice)
2 cups (separated) milk or milk substitute (I use vanilla almond milk)
2-4 tablespoons sugar (if using a sweet milk, can cut back on sugar)
few dashes of salt
1 egg
raisin, nuts, craisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla--all optional
Directions
In a pot, combine the cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, salt, and sugar.  Heat over medium high heat and stir.  The higher the heat, the more often you'll need to stir so that it doesn't burn or stick to the bottom of the pot.  Once most of the milk has thickened and been absorbed (15-20 min), crack your egg in a separate bowl (I use a large cereal bowl or small mixing bowl).  Use a fork to beat the egg.  Add remaining milk to the egg and use fork again to mix.  Spoon a spoonful of the hot rice mixture in to the egg bowl.  Stir the egg mixture rapidly. (You are tempering your egg.)  Add more rice to egg mixture and stir again.  I do this about 4-5 times.  Then slowly add egg mixture back in to the pot and stir while adding it in.  Continue to cook and stir over medium heat for at least 3-5 minutes.  I usually cook mine longer so that I can get a nice thickness.  During this time, add in the vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg if using.  Also, nuts and dried fruit can be added at this time or can be added on top when serving.

Pumpkin Buckwheat Pancakes
Ingredients

1 cup buckwheat (despite its name, buckwheat IS gluten free)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2-1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 egg
1/2-3/4 can of pumpkin puree
water
Optional--chopped apple and/or chopped nuts



Directions
Combine all ingredients except for the water in a bowl.  Stir and mix it all well.  The batter will be thick.  (If you are making this the night before for cooking the next morning, stop here, cover, and refrigerate.)  Slowly add water and stir to get desired consistency for pancake batter.  I usually use about a cup of water added in 1/3 cup amounts.  Heat skillet over medium heat.  Add a bit of oil or butter to the pan.  Just a small amount so that the pancakes don't stick. Pour or spoon desired amount of pancake batter in to pan.  Cook until bubbles on top start popping and the under side is browned, then flip and cook another 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Serve with applesauce and or maple syrup (cheddar cheese and apples are also wonderful with these!)

Pumpkin Quinoa Pudding
Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1-2 cups milk or milk substitute
dashes of salt
2-4 Tablespoons sugar (I used cinnamon sugar)
1 egg
1/4-1/2 cup pumpkin puree
cinnamon and/or pumpkin pie spice
Directions
Combine quinoa and water in a pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for about 15 minutes until all the water is absorbed.  Add 1 1/2 cups milk, dashes of salt, and sugar.  Stir and cook over medium to medium-high heat until most of the milk is absorbed and thickened.  In a separate bowl combine the remaining milk, egg, and pumpkin puree.  Add a spoonful of quinoa to the egg mixture and stir.  Do this about 4-5 times to temper your egg.  Then slowly pour the egg mixture back in to the pot and continue stirring.  Cook and stir for at least 3 minutes or continue until desired thickness.  During these last minutes, add in the cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.  Also, raisins, nuts, or other dried fruit can be mixed in or served on top.

When I serve the rice and quinoa puddings, the kids like theirs with a bit more almond milk added on top.
Linked up at
    *Today's Creative Blog
    *Momnivore's Dilemma

Cherry Cream Cheese Rolls

This week I wanted something just a little sweet to munch on.  I took my inspiration from my other rolls and created my Cherry Cream Cheese Rolls.  YUM!  While it cooked, the house smelled so delicious, slightly cinnamon-y and sweet.  On a cool morning with a cup of coffee, these are perfect!  My husband enjoyed some after work and for dessert.
Cherry Cream Cheese Rolls
Ingredients
Bread dough (I used a half of my bread recipe*)
about 1/2 cup dried cherries
2-4 oz cream cheese
some cinnamon sugar or just cinnamon
fresh lemon zest from about a 1/4 of a lemon

How To
On a cookie sheet, use your hands to spread dough out in a rectangle.

Then drop chunks of cream cheese on top of the dough.  I spread mine out some using a knife.  A spatula would work too.

Sprinkle some cinnamon or cinnamon sugar over the entire area.

Next, sprinkle the dried cherries all over the top.

Then use a zester or a fine grater to zest some lemon over the top.  I only had about a quarter of a lemon and this amount worked just fine.  It was enough to give the roll a little zip.

Next, start at the widest end and roll the bread up.  Slightly pinch the end to seal it to the roll.

This time, I baked the roll whole like this instead of cutting it up.  I did cut a couple of small slashes in top of the roll. It turned out beautifully.  If you prefer a darker crustier finish, now would be the time to beat an egg and brush it over the top and sides of the roll.
Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes.
Let cool slightly then slice in to serving size rolls.

Enjoy!*When I make my bread dough, some times after the first rise of 1 hour I will split the dough in half and put each half in a baggie and freeze it.  This way I always have some dough on hand.  Just take it out of the freezer and let thaw either over night in the fridge or for a couple hours on the counter.  Once thawed, it is ready to use.

Blueberry Muffins

Since tomorrow is the first day of school, I've been busy yet again baking and prepping food for the busy mornings with starving (their word, not mine!) boys and to quickly pack healthy filling lunches. Today I've made gluten free and dairy free blueberry muffins (again), rice pudding, French bread, and meatballs.  Okay, so the meat balls are also for dinner tonight for meatball subs, but the leftover ones also make a great lunch!  Since John Paul and Penelope finished off ALL of the granola I made last week, I'm going to have to make more along with some regular granola.  Still to make tonight are some dairy free waffles for Alexander and some gluten and dairy free pancakes.

The GF/DF blueberry muffins are SO good and easy.  The recipe I use is a variation of these Berry-blue-Blueberry Muffins.  I'm so happy to have found this recipe and that it is a family favorite.  I plan on playing with it some more and changing up the berries as well as trying it with some pumpkin or sweet potato for the autumn.

Blue Berry Muffins***
about 2 cups of blueberries (I used frozen ones that we picked earlier this summer)
2 cups all purpose GF flour (I use Silvana's blend from the Cooking for Isaiah cookbook--LOVE this blend!)
1-2 tablespoons GF flour
2/3 cup sugar (I don't always use this much)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup almond milk (if I use vanilla almond milk then I don't add as much sugar)
1/2 cup applesauce
2 eggs
some vanilla depending on which almond milk I used

How To
Put the blueberries in a smallish bowl/measuring cup and dump the 1-2 tablespoons of flour over them.  Gently tap the sides of the bowl to knock the flour to the bottom.
In a medium bowl, put the 2 cups flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt.  Mix together.  Then add the milk, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla.  Mix all together. Then add the blueberries and stir them in.
Heat oven to 350.  Grease your muffin tins.  This batter makes 12 regular sized muffins and 24 mini muffins--a fantastic amount!  I bake them at the same time for 10-12 minutes, take the mini muffins out, and let the regular sized ones bake 7 minutes or so.
This morning I forgot the eggs until I had measured about half of the muffins out!  I just dumped it all back in the bowl, mixed up the eggs with a bit of milk, poured it in the batter bowl, and mixed it all in.  They still turned out great! :)

They were super good with my berry spinach smoothie!
***If you don't need/want to make these gluten free then just use regular all purpose flour.  If you don't need/want these to be dairy free then use regular milk.

Almond Butter

As mentioned before, I'm frugal and when it comes to buying or making nut butters, there's PLENTY of money to be saved when making your own, not to mention that you can make them healthier too.  This week I made 2 types of almond butter--regular (or plain as my kids call it) and chocolate.  Both start out the same, both are gluten and dairy free, both are SUPER easy, and both are pretty darn tasty!
Start buy buying raw almonds.  I get mine at Whole Foods in the bulk section.  FYI--they are really on sale this week, as in $2 off/pound!
Almond Butter
Ingredients
raw almonds
a bit of salt
some oil (I used both extra virgin olive oil and some Earth Balance coconut spread)
How To
Roast your almonds (for this batch I used about 3 cups of almonds) on a baking sheet for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees.  Keep an eye on them and give them a little stir half way through.  This step is not necessary, but it adds some great flavor!
Remove almonds from oven and either let cool on the pan or pour into your food processor and let cool some there.  Be careful, these nuts are HOT!

After some time, whiz them around in the food processor with a bit of salt (I always use Kosher salt--the bigger pieces of salt--instead of table salt, just personal preference) to start chopping them up. 

In this picture they are course ground.  If you keep going and don't add any fat, you'll have almond flour.  However, today I'm making almond butter so I keep going and add the fat.  I added a few tablespoons (sorry I just poured it in and eyeballed the amount) of EVOO.  It was still pretty thick and I was beginning to run out of EVOO so I thought I'd try adding the coconut spread.  It worked great.  Since my nuts were still warm, it just kinda melted right in when I turned the processor back on.

See how it's beginning to look like almond butter?  I dare you not to try some at this point!  It was so yummy when it was warm.  You can keep adding the fat until you get a desired consistency.  I keep our almond butter in the fridge, so it thickens more in there.  I just stick some of it in the microwave to soften it a bit before spreading on bread.

Chocolate Almond Butter
Follow same recipe as above, but mix in some cocoa powder toward the end.  When I made ours this time I just stirred in the cocoa powder in the jar.  Just taste it a bit as you go and add more cocoa powder until desired flavor.

The 3 cups of almonds made 1 1/2  jars of almond butter.


Honey Almond Butter
Follow almond butter recipe, but add in some honey.  Easy!

Of course a sweetener can be added to any of these, but since a favorite sandwich in our home is almond butter with honey and cinnamon, I don't add any sweetener (honey, agave, sugar, molasses) to my butters when making them.
Almond butter can be used to make sandwiches, used in smoothies, enjoyed by the spoonful, cookies (replace the peanut butter with the almond butter), etc.  So good!  Also, almonds are a good source of calcium.
Enjoy!