Breakfast Frittata

This is one of my "go to" breakfasts lately.  I make it the night before and reheat it in the mornings for a quick on the go breakfast before I go workout.  I've been getting up a lot lately at 4 am for my Crossfit workouts which sucks in itself.  So I don't want to have to wake up extra early to make breakfast when I don't really want to eat at 4 am.  So I reheat a slice of this and eat it as I'm walking out the door.  I get sad everytime I run out and have to run to the store to immediately make more.  I don't know why I haven't been making this for myself for years!  I do make my own homemade sausage to go in it but you can use store bought sausage too.

Sausage and Vegetable Frittata

4 eggs
4 oz. sausage
1 c. spinach leaves, torn
1/2 tomato, diced
4-5 button mushrooms, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
1 tsp. olive oil 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook your sausage in a skillet and remove with slotted spoon and set aside.  In the same saucepan add your diced onions and peppers and sautee until just tender.  Add in your mushrooms and sautee another minute or two. Now throw in your tomatoes and spinach and once stirred to combine dump your whisked eggs over the top and stir just enough to get everything coated and spread the egg out evenly.  Toss the entire skillet in the oven and bake about 20 minutes or until eggs are firm.  Slice, garnish with avocado and enjoy!

No Oat Oatmeal

So I miss oatmeal.  I use to eat it quite often for breakfast but since switching to Paleo I don't get to eat it anymore since no grains allowed, including no oats.  So when I saw this recipe at 
PaleoPlan.com I knew that I had to try it. I was really shocked at how good it was.  I wasn't expecting it to be so creamy and delicious.  I didn't pulse the nuts to death so there was a nice texture left to them.  The banana made it the perfect sweetness without having to add any extra sweetness at all.  It's a bit high on the calorie side (being about 400 calories a serving and this makes 2 servings worth so if you eat the entire thing you've just eaten about 800 calories!) Though it has nothing but good for you things added into it.  You can really use any nuts you like in this dish, you don't have to use the ones I call for. 

No Oat Oatmeal 

1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup pecans
2 tbsp. ground flax seed
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp. almond butter
1 banana, mashed
3 eggs
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (add more if desired)
1 handful of fresh berries (optional)

Add walnuts, pecans, flax seed and spices to a food processor and pulse mixture to a course grain (make sure to stop before it is ground into a powder). Set aside. On a medium heat stir together eggs and almond milk until the consistency starts to thickens and becomes a loose custard. Using a wooden spoon you will start to notice chunks of "custard" scraping off the bottom of the pan, keep stirring.  It'll thicken pretty quick once this starts to happen.  I like to then switch to a whisk to remove the lumps in the custard then once smooth adding ingredients.  Thoroughly blend the mashed banana and almond butter together and add it to the custard, mixing well. Stir in the course nut mixture. At this point remove from heat and stir until your desired consistency is reached.  Top with berries.  Thin out with almond milk if needed. 

Spicy Italian Sausage - Paleo

-Hmmm, not sure what is wrong with the color background on here, will have to fix that later!

So I can't eat regular sausage anymore because of my new diet.  It has added sugar and nitrates which are a big no-no.  So since I can't live without sausage I decided to make my own.  My husband and I looked at a ton of recipes and found bits and pieces from different ones we decided to use to come up with our own sausage recipe.  I use lean pork with vinegar and spices and it is absolutely divine.  I could eat this all day and all night.  I will honestly never buy sausage again.  I make this in big batches and freeze them in logs like the ones you buy in the store.  That way I always have sausage on hand.  Since I'm unsure of the fat content in the ground pork at my grocery store I buy a pork tenderloin and grind it myself then I know it is a lean meat.  I bet this would be really good with ground turkey as well.   

Spicy Italian Sausage 

1lb lean ground pork
3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
3 tbsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. salt
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1-tbsp. fennel seed
1/8-tsp. crushed chili peppers
1-tbsp. paprika

Combine all ingredients and allow to rest at least 30 minutes before cooking.  Or roll into logs in plastic wrap and freeze for later use.  

Pumpkin Almond Flour Waffles - Paleo

My kids really aren't on board with the no grains thing in my house even though my husband actually finally is interested in a better diet in our house.  So to help my kids get on board without feeling deprived I made them these Pumpkin Almond Flour Waffles.  They were really good.  My kids liked them, though my daughter kept telling me she was sure I put nuts in her waffles and she doesn't like nuts, she still ate 3 of them.  I'm not sure yet how well these freeze and reheat but will find out soon.  I doubled the original recipe because my family tends to eat alot!  I tasted mine and immediately thought of how awesome these would be with fresh berries.  This is a recipe I'll definitely be making again for my kids.   

I found the original recipe at PaleOMG.  

Pumpkin Almond Flour Waffles

1 cup pureed pumpkin
1 1/2 cup almond flour
1/3 cup canned coconut milk
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
4 tablespoon maple syrup
4 eggs, whisked
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger

Heat up your waffle iron.  In a medium sized bowl, mix together coconut milk, eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla.  Then add the rest of the dry ingredients and pumpkin and mix together. Add a bit more coconut milk, if needed. The batter should be runny but have a bit of thickness to it.   Ladle into your waffle maker. Be careful, they expand a bit. Cook until done.  I found they were a bit fragile removing them from the waffle iron so just be careful with them.  

Amish Friendship Bread

One of my closest friends here in Japan gave me this friendship bread.  I've never had it before and never heard of it before but the idea of it is really a cute idea.  You make a starter and it has to sit for 10 days.  You add something to it on day 5 and day 10 then you split it into 4 batches.  You keep one batch and then you remove 1 cup and place it into three separate containers that you then give to your friends with the instructions for them to keep the starter and eventually end with bread while they then do the same thing and give three of their friends a starter.  It think it has been a while since making bread here in my house so everyone was very excited.  It certainly didn't disappoint either.  It was really tasty.  It has the texture and density much like a banana bread but with cinnamon instead. The original recipe claims that you cannot use anything metal and must use plastic or wooden utensils and a plastic or glass container/bowl when making this so not sure how true it is but passing that tid bit on as well. 

Amish Friendship Bread Starter:

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F)

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes. Stir well.  In a 2 quart glass or plastic container, combine 1 cup sifted flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or the flour will get lumpy when you add the milk.  Slowly stir in warm milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Loosely cover the mixture with a lid or plastic wrap. The mixture will get bubbly. Consider this Day 1 of the cycle, or the day you receive the starter.

For the next 10 days handle starter according to the instructions for Amish Friendship Bread below.

Amish Friendship Bread Recipe

Day 1 - receive the starter (the recipe for the starter is below)
Day 2 - stir
Day 3 - stir
Day 4 - stir
Day 5 - Add 1 cup each flour, sugar and milk.
Day 6 - stir
Day 7 - stir
Day 8 - stir
Day 9 - stir

Day 10 - Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Divide into 4 containers, with 1 cup each for three of your friends and 1 cup for your own loaves. Give friends the instructions for Day 1 through Day 10 and the following recipe for baking the bread. After removing the 3 cups of batter, combine the remaining cup of Amish Friendship Bread starter with the following ingredients in a large bowl:

2/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 to 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
(**optional) 1 cup nuts/1 cup of raisins

Using a wooden spoon beat by hand until well blended. You can add 1 cup raisins and 1 cup nut. Grease a loaf pan with butter, sprinkle with sugar instead of flour.
Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.  Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick and if it comes out clean it is done.  Otherwise bake an additional 10-15 minutes until done.  If it starts getting too brown while cooking cover with aluminum foil and finish baking. Cool 10 minutes, remove from pan. Makes 1 large loaf of Amish Friendship Bread.

Pumpkin Pie Protein Shake

So that time of year again when every time I go into the kitchen I come out having made something pumpkin.  Even my protein shakes have turned pumpkin these days!!  I have a protein shake almost every single day.  Sometimes it is my lunch replacement meal other times just a post workout snack.  I'm usually a chocolate peanut butter protein shake kinda gal but I was in the mood to try something different today.  Of course you can leave the oats out if you can't handle the texture it gives them but I don't mind it, I enjoy it.  I suggest keeping your pumpkin in the fridge before making this.  I don't add ice to my shakes because I have the worst blender ever so I put my pumpkin in the fridge to keep my shake cold. 

Pumpkin Pie Protein Shake

1 1/2 c. almond milk (original)
1/3 c. pure pumpkin
1/2 c. old fashioned rolled oats (dry)
1 scoop vanilla (soy) protein powder
1 ripe banana
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Add all ingredients into the blender and puree until smooth.  We as smooth as you can get a shake with oats.  The longer it sits the thicker it will get because of the oats so you may have to adjust the amount of almond milk you add to it.  Enjoy!

Coconut Banana French Toast

I needed to do something with the leftover coconut milk liquid in the bottom of my can after making chocolate coconut whipped cream so I decided to use it for french toast.  I loved the flavors that the coconut and banana gave to the french toast.  My daughter wasn't pleased with the banana chunks part as the banana is mashed then added into the liquid and when cooking it bakes into the french toast.  I loved that, she wasn't pleased.

Coconut Banana French Toast

3 eggs
1/4 c. coconut milk
1 mashed overripe banana
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
6-8 slices of bread

Preheat your skillet or griddle and make sure it is greased with either butter or oil.  Whisk together the coconut milk, eggs, mashed banana, cinnamon and vanilla together.  Dip slices into the egg mixture and then place onto the hot griddle.  Cook until both sides are golden brown.  Dust with powdered sugar to serve. 

Pumpkin Banana Bread

So you know how the story goes.  You buy one too many bananas and they are getting a little too ripe to eat so it turns into banana bread time.  Of course, what time isn't a good time for banana bread?  Banana bread is delicious.  Wanna know what is even better than banana bread?  Pumpkin banana bread.  My kids devoured this bread and begged for more.  What felt really good about that is the fact that it was healthy so I didn't mind them having an extra piece.  And of course, do you know how delicious banana bread is with a cup of coffee for breakfast?!  I tweaked this recipe I found here just a bit - Cooking Light.

Pumpkin Banana Bread

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder 
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
2 large eggs
3 large bananas, overripe
1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp. ground cinnamon 



Preheat oven to 350°.  Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar into a mixing bowl and whisk to combine.   Mash the bananas until desired consistency, I like a little bit of chunk left to mine.  Whisk in the pumpkin puree and melted coconut oil.  Add in the eggs one at a time and then the vanilla.  Now add the flour mixture into the pumpkin banana mixture and whisk until just blended but don't over mix.  Pour batter (it will be a thick batter) into a bread pan and bake 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. 

Protein Packed Banana Nut Oatmeal

Yum!  I just love oatmeal.  This oatmeal is one that I make quite often and it is super filling.  Lots of fiber, lots of protein and lots of flavor.  My son loves this too.

Protein Packed Banana Nut Oatmea

1 c. water
1/2 c. old fashioned rolled oats (dry)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use soy)
1/4 c. almond milk (original)
1 ripened banana
1 tbsp. chopped almonds
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Start by cooking your oats in the water according to the directions.  Once the oats are fully cooked add in your protein powder.  It will get really thick really fast.  Then use your  almond milk to thin it out to the consistency you enjoy.  Mash in your banana or chop into chunks, add in the vanilla and top with nuts.  Yum! 

Pancake Cups

Peanut Butter Banana Nut Pancake Cups

My kids beg for these almost every morning since the first time I made them.  I originally saw this recipe on pinterest (here - Real Mom Kitchen) and though they don't come out exactly as it says it is a HUGE hit in my house.  The middle sinks in just a bit so it looks like a bowl.  Of course, I modified it to fit what we like a bit better to make it healthier.  I actually love making these because everything goes directly into a blender then poured into a muffin tin so little mess and little clean up.  Plus my kids use almost no syrup this way which I really like.

We've done quite a few variations of this now.  We've done it with peanut butter and bananas.  We've done it with chocolate chips and peanut butter, we've done it with blueberries and lemon zest and we've done it melted jelly or jam over the top as well.  YUM!!!  This makes 24 pancake cups.  If you want just 12, cut the recipe in half.    

Lemon Blueberry Pancake Cups

Peanut Butter Banana Pancake Cups

6 whole eggs
1 c. almond milk
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 c. vegan butter melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. honey

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Add your eggs, milk, flour and vanilla into a blender and let it whirl until smooth.  Add in your butter and honey and again let it whirl.  Pour into a muffin tin (well greased) and fill it a little under half way full.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Allow to cool a few minutes then remove from pan and add your toppings of choice.  I like to add a dollop of peanut butter, sliced bananas and chopped nuts to mine.

 

Whole-Grain Pancake Mix

I'm always so jealous of people that can wake up and make a pancake breakfast for their family out of a box of mix.  It seems so quick, so easy and I've never been one to do that.  I do everything from scratch so of course I spend a great deal of time in the kitchen having to prepare things.  I love the idea of making a huge bag of pancake mix and then just adding in your oil, eggs and milk when it is time to whip them up for breakfast.  It saves so much time on my part and is still just as delicious.  I found this recipe at King Arthur Flour.  I didn't add the oil into the mix like the original recipe called for but opted to add that at the same time as the eggs and milk later on and I opted to make them 100% whole grain and not use the all-purpose flour but add extra whole wheat flour and oats instead and it worked just fine that way.  I liked to write on my bag what I need to add so there is no confusion.  1 cup of the pancake mix + 2 tbsp. oil (such as canola) + 1 egg + 1 c. milk.  This bag makes about 7-8 1 cup servings. 

Pancake Mix 

4 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
4 c. old fashioned rolled oats

3 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Pancakes:

1 c. homemade pancake mix
1 c. almond milk
1 large egg
2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 batch of the pancake mix made as stated above can make about 8 small pancakes.  The nutritional information for them is below.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION - 97.4 Calories * 5.0g Total Fat * .5 Saturated Fat * 1.3 g. Polyunsaturated Fat *  2.4 g. Monounsaturated Fat * 23.1 mg. Cholesterol * 27.5 mg. Sodium * 31.3 mg. Potassium * 11.4 g. Total Carbohydrate * 1.5 g. Dietary Fiber * 2.6 g. Sugar * 2.5 g. Protein

Baked Oatmeal Snack Bars

I'm in love with this oat bar recipe.  It has no added sugar and is an awesome post or after workout snack for me.  I wrap them in individual pieces of plastic wrap for a quick grab and go bar.  If you aren't use to eating your oatmeal plain you might want to add a bit of sugar to this recipe but I love it.  You get a perfect amount of sweetness from the dried fruit. I found this recipe on Kath Eats. 

To up the protein a bit I added a scoop of protein powder to this recipe that you could of course omit. 

Baked Oatmeal Snack Bars

1 1/2 c. rolled old fashioned oats
1 scoop vanilla soy protein powder
1/4 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1/4 c. ground flax seeds (or any seeds you like)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. almond milk (original)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix dry ingredients.  Mix wet ingredients. Pour wet into dry. Stir to combine. Pour into a 9×9 baking dish either coated in cooking spray or lined with parchment. Bake for 40 minutes. Cut into 9 squares. 

Makes 9 servings

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION -  227 Calories * 13 g. Fat * 20 g. Carbohydrates * 31 mg. Sodium * 7 g. Sugar * 6.8 g. Protein * 4.6 g. Fiber

Apple Cinnamon Oat Waffles (Gluten-Free/Dairy-Free)

I've been trying and trying to find the motivation to continue with my blog but I feel like I started strong doing so many of my favorite desserts and baked goods and then when I started dieting and losing weight I stopped all of that completely.  For a while I felt like there wasn't a point to continuing without cookies and cakes but I think I'm just going to revamp my blog to fit the new me.  Recipes that reflect all the healthy foods we eat in our house now.  The world of dairy-free and gluten-free is very new to me still so there are so many new recipes that I can't wait to try and share with you all.   Over the last 6 months of healthy eating and exercise I've lost 25lbs and feel stronger, healthier and more motivated than I ever have before.  The world of healthy food isn't nearly as terrible as I once thought it would be.  Not to mention I like having a place to store all of my favorite recipes since my husband seems to hate it when I leave browsers open with 15 different recipes I want to keep or try and have no where to put them! 

Anyways, this recipe is soooo good!  I love to make big batches of this and freeze them for my kids for weekday breakfasts.  This recipe has applesauce in that keeps the waffle moist.  Sometimes using oat flour in recipes the oats can get a bit dry so I like the addition of applesauce. This recipe is both gluten-free and dairy-free and my current favorite!

Just a quick note.  Coconut oil is temperamental to use so if you rather use butter or oil in it's place go ahead.  The coconut oil you have to melt since it is a solid at room temperature.  Then you add it into the cold milk and eggs mixture whisking very quickly to combine then quickly pour in your dry ingredients to try to not give the oil too much time to lump up and turn solid again, which it will do so you just need to move quickly with it.  

Apple Cinnamon Oat Waffles

3 c. old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
2 tbsp. sugar
1 1/4 c. original almond milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
2 tbsp. coconut oil
1 tsp. cinnamon


Place oats in your food processor and pulse until fine like regular flour.  To not waste an extra bowl go ahead and then add in your baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar into your ground oats and give a pulse or two to combine.  Beat eggs in a separate bowl just lightly, then add in your vanilla and almond milk. Melt the coconut oil and quickly whisk into the egg and milk mixture.  Then add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  Allow to rest 5 minutes before scooping out about 1/2 c. mixture into a pre-heated waffle iron.  If freezing allow to cool completely before freezing or they will stick together.   

Makes 6-8 waffles.

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
6 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		257.8
Total Fat		9.8 g
	Saturated Fat	4.9 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	1.4 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	1.9 g
Cholesterol		61.7 mg
Sodium		61.2 mg
Potassium		83.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate		36.9 g
	Dietary Fiber	4.5 g
	Sugars	10.4 g
Protein		7.4 g

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
8 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		193.4
Total Fat		7.4 g
	Saturated Fat	3.7 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	1.1 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	1.4 g
Cholesterol		46.3 mg
Sodium		45.9 mg
Potassium		62.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate		27.7 g
	Dietary Fiber	3.4 g
	Sugars	7.8 g
Protein		5.5 g

Quick No-Rise Monkey Bread

So I went to a friends house a while ago and her and her children had made monkey bread and I thought it would be something my kids would love doing.  Normally I don't by canned biscuits, in fact I haven't eaten a canned biscuit in probably 5 years now, but I wanted my daughter to be able to make breakfast all by herself for everyone.  The kids had a great time making it and they loved it.  Personally I could taste that it wasn't a homemade from scratch dough but the look on my kids faces making this and being able to say they cooked breakfast all by themselves beat out any negative thought I had about the canned biscuits.  I found this recipe at the Pillsbury site.   

Monkey Bread

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cans (16.3 oz each) Pillsbury® Grands!® Homestyle refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, if desired

1/2 cup raisins, if desired

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 12-cup fluted tube pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large -storage plastic food bag, mix granulated sugar and cinnamon. Separate dough into 16 biscuits; cut each into quarters. Shake in bag to coat. Arrange in pan, adding walnuts and raisins among the biscuit pieces. n small bowl, mix brown sugar and butter; pour over biscuit pieces. Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in center. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn upside down onto serving plate; pull apart to serve. Serve warm.

Blueberry Banana Streusel Muffin

I found this recipe on Chef Heidi Fink's blog and adapted it just a bit to make it what I was in the mood for.  These muffins were so good!  I don't know why all my muffins don't have an amazing streusel topping!  

Blueberry Banana Streusel Muffin


1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
6 Tb melted butter (I use non-dairy)

3 medium bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1-1/2 cups small fresh blueberries  
 
Streusel Topping
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup pecans, chopped
1 Tb all-purpose flour
2 Tb melted butter (or non-dairy buter)



Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 12-cup muffin tin, including the top of the muffin tin, and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour and the baking powder and the salt. In a large bowl, mash the bananas well. Add the egg, beat well, then add the sugar and vanilla and beat again. Finally, add the melted butter and stir until completely mixed. Before you mix the wet and dry ingredients, make the streusel. Place the pecans, brown sugar and flour in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter and stir well to mix. It should not be too wet. Add a bit more flour if the streusel seems too wet. Set aside.  Now, mix the muffin batter. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients along with the blueberries. Use a wooden spoon to stir the ingredients together until just mixed. There should still be dry streaks of flour visible.  Scoop batter into muffin tin and top with some of the streusel topping.  Bake 16-20 minutes or until golden brown. 

Dutch Baby Pancake

My family likes when I make this because they think it looks fancy and is special but truth is this recipe is so easy! You basically throw everything into a blender, pour it into a hot pan, bake, and poof, your awesome mom!  I got this recipe from Melissa D'Arabian at Food Network. 

Dutch Baby Pancake

3 tablespoons butter (regular or non-dairy)
3 eggs
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup milk, heated 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave (I use almond milk)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Pinch salt
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the butter in a large, ovenproof, nonstick saute pan and place in the oven. Meanwhile, in a blender, combine the eggs, flour, warm milk, sugar, vanilla extract and pinch of salt, and blend on medium-high speed until uniform. (If mixing by hand, combine the eggs with the milk until the mixture is light yellow and no longer stringy, about 1 minute. Add the flour, sugar, vanilla, and pinch of salt, and whisk vigorously to remove the lumps, about 30 seconds.)


Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven. The butter should be melted. Swirl the butter around the pan to coat completely, and then pour the remaining butter into the batter and pulse to blend. Pour the batter into the hot pan and return the pan to the oven. Cook until the pancake is puffed in the center and golden brown along the edges, 20 to 25 minutes.


Using a spatula, remove the entire Dutch baby from the pan and place on a cooling rack for a few minutes to allow the steam to escape without condensing along the bottom and rendering the pancake soggy. Dust with confectioners' sugar when cooled slightly. Slice the pancake into 8 wedges on a serving platter or cutting board.

Blueberry Crumb Cake

I love wild blueberries.  I mean regular blueberries are good but wild blueberries are awesome.  The fresh blueberries here are way too expensive and look sad but I can get frozen wild blueberries so I buy those and use them.  Since Spring is around the corner, well for us anyways.  I know many people in the states it has been unseasonably warm already but for us in Japan it is still cold and jacket weather.  I decided to make this blueberry crumb cake.  As it was baking in the oven all I could think about was eating a nice big slice of this cake with a Grande Soy Carmel Macciato.  I don't have coffee in my house anymore since giving up dairy because what's a cup of coffee without half and half?  My wonderful husband voluntarily gave up coffee as well since he knew how much I loved it and how hard it was for me to do.  I watched everyone in my house eat this cake for two days while I patiently waited for my Starbucks drink.  Today was finally that day.  After a trip to the doctors office with my kids I found a parking spot next to Starbucks.  That sounds easy but here there is no parking, parking is a thing nightmares are made of.  Even here on the Navy base, parking is non-existent.  With sick kids I can't just walk and get my coffee but I snatched up that spot and had to carry my sleeping 2 year old into Starbucks to get us all some drinks before heading home and heating up that amazing blueberry cake.  It was well worth the wait.  This cake is amazing, especially the topping with the layer of sugar sprinkled over the top.

1/2 stick non-dairy butter (or regular)
1 Tablespoon (additional) non-dairy Butter
3/4 cups Sugar
1 whole Egg
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 cups All-purpose Flour
2-1/4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
3/4 cups Almond Milk (or whole milk)
2 cups Fresh or frozen Blueberries


FOR THE TOPPING:
3/4 sticks non-dairy Butter (or regular)
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 cup Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine flour, baking powder, and a salt. Stir and set aside.

Cream 1/2 stick plus 1 tablespoon butter with cinnamon and sugar. Add egg and mix until combined. Add vanilla and mix. Add flour mixture and milk alternately until totally incorporated. Do not overbeat. Stir in blueberries until evenly distributed.  Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Pour in batter.
In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients and cut together using two knives or a pastry cutter. Sprinkle over the top of the cake.  Sprinkle 1-2 tbsp. of sugar over the top.  Bake cake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Cut into squares and serve with softened butter.

Cinnamon Whole Wheat Waffle

Another new waffle recipe, I know how many waffles can one person make but my kids love waffles and I like experimenting with new recipes.  I found this waffle recipe at A Little Nosh.  I love the cinnamon in these.   

2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups almond milk
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat waffle iron.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, oil, honey, cinnamon, and baking soda until well combined.  Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk together just until large clumps disappear.  Spray waffle iron with cooking spray and pour some batter into the center.  My waffle iron takes about 1/4 cup batter for each waffle.  Cook until lightly browned.

If you want to freeze these, just cool to room temperature.  Lay waffles on a baking sheet and flash freeze them.  Once they're frozen, you can put them in a large freezer bag and just take out however many you need.  Toast in the toaster oven until warmed through.

 

Whole Wheat Berry Crepes

So I wanted to try something different for breakfast the other morning than our usual pancakes and decided to make crepes instead.  My daughter calls these the rolled pancakes and her favorite is to have hers spread with peanut butter and then rolled.  I personally like filling mine with frozen fruit that I reduce down into a syrup.  The first time I made these they took me quite a bit of time using just one pan.  Next time I made these I had two pans going at once so it made breakfast move along a lot faster and less complaints from the very hungry people in my house sitting at the table waiting.  My daughter wakes up and immediately goes and sits at the table and starts waiting for breakfast.  No pressure on me at all.  If I take too long in the kitchen grumbling starts.  Of course, because she is sitting at the table her little brother has to copy everything she does so then he immediately climbs into his seat too.  So now I have two kids sitting at the table and I haven't even had a chance to brush my teeth and walk out into the kitchen and even start breakfast yet!  I have some silly kids.  You can also lay these flat to cool and freeze them for quick breakfasts later too.  I like this recipe because you just add everything into the blender and let it whirl.  Makes clean-up easier.  You want to make sure you use less than a full ladle full of batter to a sprayed pan and hold it off the burner turning it all around allowing the batter to coat the entire bottom of the pan for a very thin even circular layer.  I have a thin spatula that once the first side is cooked you just really quickly flip it.  It may take a try or two to get the hang of it.  I usually ruin my first one every time.     

Whole Wheat Berry Crepes

1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
2 c. almond milk
2 egg whites
1 whole egg
1 tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. orange zest
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Add all ingredients into the blender and allow to mix until nice and smooth.  Heat a pan (or two) on a medium-low temperature and spray the pan with a non-stick spray.  Ladle about 3/4 of a ladle full of batter onto pan and coat bottom entirely creating a very thin circular crepe.  Flip after cooking about 2-3 minutes on one side.  Keep warm in a tea towel while you make the others.  Lay flat and fill with your favorite filling, such as jam, fruit, or peanut butter.  Roll and serve.