Saturday Breakfast

Saturday's are perfect for a nice breakfast with the girls. My Husband works so if I get going early enough he can join us. This usually is not the case though. I purchased a waffle maker last night. I'm loving it I used my no fail pancake recipe for this. I did plain, blueberry & chocolate chip.. YUM!





Waffle's/Pancakes
1 1/2 cup Whole wheat flour (you can use white wheat as well)
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons raw sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups milk
2/3 cup melted butter or vegetable oil

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and butter or oil. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients, stirring just till combined. if you want to add blueberries just place them on top after pouring the batter in. I make plain first, then did blueberry, then added mini semi sweet chocolate chips.

Cook the waffles as directed in the instructions that came with your waffle iron.
makes about 16 8" waffles. (you can cut this in 1/2 but I always double so I can freeze some they work well in the toaster as pancakes or waffles)

with my iron I use 1/3 cup of batter, cooked them on medium setting for 3 minutes for plain, and 3 1/2 minutes for ones with blueberries and chocolate chips.

They where amazing.

Food For thought Friday..

Today was one of my Favorite days of the week. Food shopping!! (with out kids mind you) it was bliss. I was a little bummed that I didn't get out sooner such bad weather. I think everyone had my idea of stocking up for these bad weather days. The store was a little picked over. However I was able to get most everything I needed. Tomorrow is a big baking day for me. I will be making Pita bread, Hummus, Hawaiian sweet bread and I finally got a waffle maker so Whole wheat blue berry waffles are for breakfast.. YUMMMM

I thought I would share a simple Hummus & Pita bread recipe with you this evening.

I love that Hummus is so versatile and easy to make. You can store Hummus for 1 week in the fridge or freeze up to 3 mts (6 mts if you have a deep freeze)

Hummus

1 can chick peas drained and rinsed
1 clove garlic chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 pinch of sea salt and pepper

Blend ingredients in a food processor or blender until fairly smooth.
I of course use organic ingredients and I use a sea salt grinder and pepper grinder.
we eat tons of hummus so I quadruple this recipe. if you like you can add about 1/4-1/2 cup tahini but I omit that as I find its just fine with out it.


Whole wheat Pita bread

Ingredients (found at recipezaar)
4 cups whole wheat flour (or 2 cups whole wheat flour and 2 cups all-purpose flour)
1 tablespoon dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water (120-130F degrees)
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 500°F.
Sift together 2 cups of flour and the yeast.
Add water and salt and mix well.
Gradually add in the remaining flour just until the dough begins to clean the sides of the bowl. Once this happens, stop adding flour (so, you might not use all the flour the recipe calls for.).
Knead the dough for about 4 or 5 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Be careful not to over-knead the dough.
Form dough into 10 balls.
On a floured surface, roll each ball into a 5-6 inch circle, about 1/4 inch thick.(Be sure to sprinkle a little flour on both sides to prevent sticking).
Place on a non-stick baking sheet and allow to rise 30 minutes, or until slightly raised.
Just before you place the pan in the oven, flip each pita over on its other side.
Bake on the bottom rack of the oven for 5 minutes. (The instant hot heat will help them puff up).
When the pitas come out of the oven they will be hard, but they will soften as the cool.
Store them, while they're still warm, in plastic baggies or an airtight container.
Cut the pitas in half crosswise and stuff with your favorite fillings
Pitas can be reheated in a 350°F oven or in the microwave.

I like to cut them into triangles with the pizza cutter and crisp them in a 350 degree oven for a bit to make them more like chips of dipping in the hummus.

Think about it Thursday..

Sometimes the morning rush really gets me crazy. Baby wants to Nurse, Erynn can't find her uniform tie, Aria has a massive knot that needs brushed out, My husband can't find his keys, and Morgan wants to watch PBS and eat NOW! The big kids leave at 7:30, my husband an hour later and I have a baby and preschooler to tend to. Breakfast being the most important meal of the day often we are quick to pop a waffle in the toaster or quickly pour a bowl of cereal so we can get a cup of coffee (or hot tea if your like me) and check emails before we take on the day. This by no means was an ah-ha moment but everyone loves the simplicity of tossing dinner in the crock pot, so why not toss in breakfast the night before?

Organic Cranberry Crock-pot Oatmeal




Ingredients
2 cups Organic old fashioned rolled oats (some prefer steel cut organic oats)
handful or so of Organic Dried Cranberries (or dried fruit of your choice)
1 pinch of Sea Salt
1 tsp organic vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups milk (this can be soy, goats or almond milk)
2 cups cold water
Raw honey, raw sugar or organic brown sugar to taste


Directions
Spray Crockpot with non-stick spray. Combine ingredients in crock-pot; cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Near the end of cooking, thin with a little milk if needed.
Serves appox 8

It's really that easy. Think about it!

New Blog

Welcome to my new blog. We spend a lot of time in our tiny kitchen its not the chefs dream by any means but it does the job just fine. My husband is a full time chef and he makes some amazing meals whereas my skills are in the area of baking. It's a good fit. Don't get me wrong I can cook, but I really like to bake. It's hasn't done well for my figure over the years but we are really trying to introduce more healthy, low-fat and organic options into our family menu. I will try to post our weekly menu as well as some recipes and some info from other favorite cooking blogs and such. I hope you enjoy this blog. Cooking for a family of 6 can be a challenge especially with a picky child or two in the bunch. We make it work.. and make it fun.