Blueberry Pancakes

Ok, I'm not sure that making pancakes from a mix should constitute a blog post, but when that pancake mix is a gluten free mix, some serious altering must be done, so maybe a blog post was called for after all.

Personally I'm a big fan of all things Bob's Red Mill. To this I added buttermilk instead of regular milk, melted butter instead of oil, and (here's the kicker) I whip my egg whites separately, and then fold them in as the last step. To this batter I also added lemon zest and vanilla extract. Blueberries were added during the cooking process, and what resulted were fluffy, bright pancakes that tasted so delicious the average bear would have believed they were chock full of our dearly missed gluten.

Bananas Foster Quinoa

Big news, friends!  It looks like my celiac has unfortunately caused secondary lactose intolerance.  So, no gluten, no dairy.  Going dairy free is really pretty good for just about everyone.  The health benefits are unbelievable, and thanks to vanilla soy milk, I'm still able to happily enjoy my favorite food:  cereal!...although, I'm pretty limited to Chex these days--good thing those are so delicious!  The hard news here is what do I eat for dessert now?  Not too many options.  Also, comfort foods are a little hard to come by.  So what did I cook to ease the pain of a strained back this morning?  Bananas foster breakfast quinoa!!!

I know I've already mentioned the joys of breakfast quinoa on here, but this really took the cake!  Here's what you need for one serving:
-1 cup vanilla soy milk (or any other dairy substitute)
-1/2 cup quinoa
-sprinkle of cinnamon
-1/2 Tbsp. Earth Balance buttery spread (doesn't that sound terrifying?!  actually, it tastes just like butter and       there's nothing weird in it either)
-1 Tbsp. brown sugar
-1 banana, sliced

Okay, in a sauce pan, bring your soy milk to a boil.  Then add your quinoa and cover.  Reduce the heat to low and let cook for 15 minutes.  Next sprinkle in a little cinnamon, recover, and finish cooking on low for about 8 more minutes.

In the mean time, add your "butter spread" and brown sugar to a saute pan, and let them get nice and bubbly and a little thick before adding your sliced banana in an even layer.  After a minute or so, flip your banana slices and revel at the beautiful caramelization!  Yum!!!  Then just top your quinoa with your bananas, and you have the most deliciously comforting breakfast or dessert you could ever hope for!

School Lunch

I’ve recently started working at an elementary school’s after school program.  I am the 2^nd and 3^rd grade leader, in charge of 22 extremely rambunctious kids who have been sitting quietly for seven and a half straight hours and certainly aren’t about to be quiet for one minute more.  The job is challenging but rewarding even though some days I’m “the meanest person EVER!” referring back to the whole trying to stay somewhat quiet thing. 

Last week, I asked some of the kids what they had had for lunch that day.  The vote was split:  “Pizza!” “Nachos!” When I laughed and said that that must have been a pretty fun lunch, they just shrugged their shoulders.  “Nah, it wasn’t very good,” they replied.  Really?!  We’re serving them nachos and pizza, and it’s not even good by an 8-year-old’s standards?!  Now I would love to talk about the fact that Congress just decided to consider the tomato sauce on school pizza to count as a vegetable, but instead I’ll just tell you about what I used to eat at school:  Lucy lunches.

I think Lucy was my friend in preschool, although I couldn’t tell you for certain, because the only thing I remember about Lucy was that she had the best lunches.  Most kids took sandwiches in their lunch boxes, mainly peanut butter and jelly.  Lucy on the other hand never had sandwiches.  She always had a mix match of smaller items:  apples slices, tortilla chips, carrot sticks, string cheese.  I don’t know what about this was so exciting, but it is still to this day my favorite type of lunch.  Not only was it fun, but it was healthy!  And she and I both Loved our lunches, which is more than my kids could say about nachos and pizza. 

What I’ve Been Eating

Chinese New Year’s Dinner:  White rice with stir-fried bok choy, carrots, and spring onions and fried shrimp with spicy garlic honey glaze.  This was Amazing!

Sushi:  Veggie rolls made with cucumber, carrot, and avocado.

Breakfast Quinoa:  Bring ½ cup of quinoa, 1 cup of vanilla almond milk, a cardamom pod, and sprinkle of cinnamon to a boil.  Then cover and reduce to a simmer for about 15 minutes or until the quinoa is translucent.  Serve hot with a little brown sugar.  The perfect thing to fulfill that oatmeal craving!  (Celiac Fact:  Less than 2% of people with celiac disease react to oats, but with my track record, I’m not taking my chances!)

Snob Diet

I recently heard about the newest fad diet out there right now called the Snob Diet.  I love that this is being marketed as a “hot new diet,” seeing that this has in fact been the way that cultures have been surviving for thousands of years.  The key here is to cut out cheap, unhealthy foods including the ever-terrifying “diet” foods and to substitute whole foods.  Brilliant!

In every article I’ve read about this diet, the main selling point is this:  instead of eating lots and lots of non-fat, no sugar added frozen yogurt, you can actually eat a normal amount of premium (read “high fat”) ice cream and actually lose weight!  Well, of course people are freaking out over this!  However, people seem to get a little more skeptical when they hear what else this diet entails…Cooking. This fact has made dieters deem this diet option completely unreasonable.  Several reviewers take issue with this diet’s “assumptions that everyone has the time/mental energy” to cook their food. 

Trust me, guys, I know firsthand that cooking every meal and snack that you consume can be hard.  It eats up your free time and some days can be really draining.  But here’s the bottom line.  Cooking your food connects you with your food.  Something about putting in the time to chop, stir, and cook gives you an understood appreciation of your food that you can’t get from just buying something premade at the store.  So get in the kitchen and start cooking!  You and your family will appreciate it, and you may just lose a few pounds in the process!

What I’ve been cooking:

Stir-Fry:  Always keep some cooked brown rice in your fridge.  It only takes 10 minutes to throw a quick stir-fry together using whatever else happens to be in your kitchen at the time.  I make my staple stir-fry with carrots, celery, onion, and egg.  Add a little soy sauce, chicken stock, and cayenne, and you’re ready to eat!

Potato Hash:  This is by far William’s favorite dish these days.  Julienne a couple of Yukon golds (we conveniently use a mandolin), toss them with a little oil, and bake at 350 for about an hour, stirring a couple of times.  Top with crumbled bacon, green onions, and a fried egg.  This is a perfect cold weather dish!

Playing with Flour

       If you can't eat gluten, skip this post!  Tomorrow is William's birthday, and I'm breaking my rules and cooking with flour.  Although he really doesn't like sweets, William does love my apple nut cake.  William was so excited this morning because he found Buckycubes--these really cool magnets--online and bought them.  He was confused why I was so upset by this announcement.  I bought these for his birthday months ago, and they've been hiding in my closet!!! The best laid plans of mice and men, am I right?  So now I'm making apple nut muffins to go with his now millions of birthday magnets. 
     My neighbors are never going to want to be friends with me after today.  To keep little particles of flour in the air out of my mouth, I've been wearing a scarf tied around my face all morning.  Yes, sadly this is necessary.  It was also embarrassing when my neighbors walked past my windows and saw me baking while wearing what seemed to be a cowboy outfit.  I couldn't exactly run after them yelling, "No, no, it's okay!  I'm just trying to keep airborne flour particles out of my mouth!"  Nonetheless, the muffins are cooked and, I must say, look and smell delicious!

Apple Nut Muffins

• 1 1/4 cup white flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, well packed
• 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla

 Mix all of the ingredients together.  It's going to be VERY thick!  But that's a good thing.  Then fold in:

• 2 cups diced granny smith apples (about 2 medium sized apples)
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Fill muffin tins 3/4 of the way full, and bake for 40 minutes at 325C.  Makes 24 delicious muffins.