Soaked Porridge

I have been on a mission to revamp our morning eating. Most days we eat a bowl of cereal, milk, and a cup of juice. It is easy and predictable plus it is immediate, my kids have never been ones to wait for food in the morning. Although we always have organic cereal it is not the most nutritious meal and is often times filled with sugar. So now I am starting the process of creating more go to easy breakfasts for our family.
This porridge recipe comes from the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon although I adapted it slightly. She has many variations in her book but this is or favorite!


Soaked Porridge
1 cup oats, rolled or cracked (we use a 5 grain cereal)
1 cup warm milk
2 tbsp plain whole milk yogurt
1 cup water
Butter
Milk
honey, maple syrup, or turbino sugar

In a bowl with lid mix the warm water and yogurt then add the oats. Cover and let sit overnight or up to 24 hours.
In a saucepan bring 1 cup of water to a boil with an optional dash of salt. Add the soaked oats, cover and reduce heat to medium low. Let simmer for 3-5 min.
When at desired consistency spoon out into bowls and top with butter, milk, and natural sweetener of your choice.

We have been adding berries, bananas, and or stone fruits to our porridge which makes it even better. Some almond slices or ground flax seeds are delicious as well.

*Afraid of using too much butter and or milk stop listening to the media and start researching for yourself. The right kinds of dairy organic, pasture raised, and full fat is actually incredibly good for you. Start your research with the book Real Food by Nina Planck and find out for yourself.

Nut Butter Drops

We make lots of drops around here. They are perfectly sized for snacks, freeze great, and travel well plus the kids love them. I have made these with almond butter, cashew butter, peanut butter and sunflower butter.

Nut Butter Drops

¼ cup butter 

¾ cup rapadura sugar or brown sugar

½ cup nut butter
2 eggs 
1 tsp vanilla

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

½ cup all purpose flour  

¾ cup whole wheat flour 

2 tsp baking powder  

2 cups rolled oats

Optional Additions

½ cup chocolate chips

½ cup coconut flakes

½ cup dried fruit

Preheat oven 375°. In a large mixing bowl cream butter and sugar with a stand or hand mixer. Add nut butter mix until well blended. Beat in eggs one at a time then add the vanilla and applesauce. Mix together the flours and baking powder in a separate bowl and then slowly add to the butter mixture. Stir in oats and any desired additions. Scoop tablespoon size drops onto baking sheet or stone. Bake at 375° for 10-12 min. until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack, serve slightly warm, store in an airtight container for 3-5 days, or freeze for later use. 

Pancakes

We love pancakes around here. They are an easy morning breakfast and a simple snack but my number one reason for loving pancakes is that it is one of the few meals that my husband can make without any help from me. He is our go to pancake man and it sure is nice to have someone else make a meal every once in a while! While delicious with maple syrup I love to make homemade fruit syrups for our pancakes.

Pancakes
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup oats finely ground
1 tbs brown sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs slightly beaten
2 cups milk
4 tbs applesauce or oil

add in options
1 cup fresh or frozen berries
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1tbs cocoa powder
buttermilk instead of milk

Mix together the flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder if using. The dry mixture can be stored in an airtight container until ready to use.
In a separate bowl combine the eggs, milk, and applesauce. Add the egg mixture to the dry mixture and stir to combine. You want the dry mixture to be moist but still slightly lumpy.
Heat a large skillet over med low heat. Lightly grease the skillet with a spray of olive oil. Pour 1 tbs to 1/4 cup batter on to the hot skillet. Optional-sprinkle the berries or chips over the top of the pancake. Cook till the sides look slightly golden and the top is bubbly about 2 min. Flip the pancake and cook for an additional 1-2 min on the other side.

To keep the pancakes warm while I cook the rest I place them in a glass dish in the oven with the temperature set as low as it can be set.

Veggie Bread

I made this last week for our trip to Alabama. We used walnuts and cocoa powder this time and called it chocolate bread! It freezes wonderful and thaws quickly.

Veggie Bread
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup applesauce, oil, or softened butter- any combination will work as well
3 cups shredded veggies such ass zucchini, squash, or carrots
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Optional Additions
1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts such as walnuts or pecans
1/2 to 1 cup dried fruit such as cranberries, current, or raisins
2 tbs cocoa powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Beat together the eggs, sugar, applesauce or oil until well blended add the veggies, and vanilla and mix thoroughly. In a seperate bowl mix together the flours, salt, baking soda, spices, and cocoa powder if using. Slowly add the flour mixture to the veggie mixture one cup at a time until blended. Stir in any nuts, fruits, or chips. Pour into 2 loaf pans or 4 mini loaf pans. Bake at 350º for 50-60 min.

Serving Ideas
For Breakfast or snack make the bread with nuts and chocolate chips. Cut the bread in slices and using peanut butter and sliced bananas make sandwiches.

For dessert make the bread using the cocoa powder and nuts. Cut the bread into slices top each slice with a small amount of homemade whip cream.

Top with cream cheese frosting for a yummy treat!

Egg and Cheese Pitas

I have been working on breakfast around here. We eat mostly cereal and the occasional pancakes but I want more variety. While on vacation I used what we had to make some delicious breakfasts for our family. The first combined a favorite for my kids and left overs from dinner.

Egg and Cheese Pitas
3-4 pita pockets
8 eggs
1 cup cheese
Roasted bell peppers or other cooked veggies

Toast or bake pitas just enough to warm them up. Cut a slit in the top and split the middle of the pockets set aside to fill later. Heat a large skillet over med high heat meanwhile crack eggs and whisk together until blended. Spray oil in pan to coat and add the eggs. Cook and mix till done we like our eggs well done here no slimy mushiness. Remove the eggs from heat add the veggies and cheese and mix well. Fill the pitas with the egg mixture. Add a bit of ketchup if desired.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

We have a rule at our house that we do not buy sweets if we want a sugar treat/dessert we must make it our selves. So this summer the kids asked for ice cream sandwiches and I was happy to help them make some. These are absolutely delicious and can be made as big or small as you would like. They take a bit of time and are fairly messy but well worth it in the end. We ended up with about 20 of them which I think is just enough to last us most of the summer.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup salt
2 cups all purpose flour

In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and the sugar. Beat in the eggs and then the vanilla. In a separate bowl mix together the cocoa powder, flour, and salt. Slowly beat into the butter mixture. Beat until well combined gather into a ball cover and refrigerate about 1 hour.
Roll out the dough onto a well floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick. Using the shape cutter from an ice cream sandwich mold* cut out and even number of shapes. Be sure to ave a top and bottom for each sandwich.
Place the cookies on a baking sheet and bake for 8 min at 375º. As I took the hot cookies off of the baking sheet I gently pressed the shape cutter back over them to be sure they were still the correct shape. Some needed a little trimming before cooling and I put the mold impression on half the cookies before they cooled. Allow the cookies to cool completely.

Putting together the sandwiches
This is where I am happy I had the molds. Using very slightly softened ice cream, it must not be too hard or too soft or you will end up with a big mess, follow the mold instructions to put together the cookies. Place them in a single layer on a freezer tray and freeze till solid. I put the tray in the freezer and the ice cream in a large bowl filled with ice. Each time I made a sandwich I would put it on the tray in the freezer. This way nothing melted during the process.

*We used some Tovolo Ice Cream Sandwich Molds to create ours. I am not one for using many fancy gadgets but these made the sandwich making quite easy and I would recommend them to any one making these. The recipe for the molds came with a brownie type cookie but I like these better. They took a bit more work but I think it was well worth it since I like a crunch in my Ice cream Sandwich.

Ice Cream

We love ice cream! Growing up my family made homemade ice cream at every holiday and family gathering. It is so much tastier then the store bought and very easy especially if you have and ice cream maker. With a good base the possibilities of flavor combinations are endless. Here is the basic ice cream we make it Philadelphia Style because It is delicious and a bit easier then making an egg custard ice cream. When we add egg yolks to the ice cream we do not cook them. We believe, after much research, that when properly handled fresh farm eggs (not the store bought junk eggs) are safe for raw consumption.

Basic Vanilla
1 cup milk
2 tbs- 2/3 cup sweetener
2 cups heavy cream
dash of salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract

In a small sauce pan stir the milk and sugar over low heat until the sugar dissolves. In a large bowl mix together the cream, salt, and vanilla. Add the milk mixture to the cream stir till combined, cover and refrigerated for 1 hour. Place in ice cream maker following manufactures instructions. Makes about 4 cups ice cream.

Options
-Add 3-6 egg yolks to the cream mixture for added vitamins, protein, and nutrition.
-Use sugar, maple syrup, or honey as the sweetener.
-Replace the milk and cream with a combination of yogurt, sour cream, and or dairy kefir, the more cream in the mix the richer the ice cream. 
-Replace milk and cream with non dairy substitute which as nut milk or coconut milk/cream.

Flavor Ideas
Chocolate- Add 1/2 cup cocoa powder and up to 1/4 cup more sugar to the milk before heating.

Peppermint- Replace the vanilla with 1 tsp peppermint extract and add 1/4 cup crushed peppermint candy to the ice cream following manufactures directions.


Pumpkin- add 1 cup pumpkin puree, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp nutmeg to the cream before refrigerating.


Fruit- Instead of vanilla extract add 1 1/2 cups of mashed fruit or 1 cup of pureed fruit. Some good options are berries, peaches, plums, even melons will work. Depending on the sweetness of the fruit more or less sugar may be needed.

Mint/Basil- Add 1/3 cup fresh basil or mint leaves to the milk and sugar before heating. Let cool and blend until smooth before adding to the cream mixture. Add 1/4 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate to the ice cream following manufactures instructions on the ice cream maker.