Snow and Soup. Snow and soup. And playing.
It’s been snowing so much lately, and I feel like we have barely left the house. Scotty must have shovelled 4 feet of snow off our deck today from just the last couple days. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Yogurt
Pear, Orange & Yogurt Babycakes
You know in all honesty, I think I like making pancakes more than Calla likes eating them. So many different kinds from Classic, Wholegrain, Buttermilk to Yogurt. With or without fruit in them or on them. Served with maple syrup, honey, yogurt or jam. The options are endless, and they are relatively easy (and fun) to make. One day maybe I’ll even venture into making different shapes, letters or adding a little food coloring to make some fun colored ones. Right now, I’m just not that creative, so the traditional circle (of all sizes) is my specialty.
Calla will take a bite or two out of the pancake, then proceed to grab it in her hands, squish it together, break it apart, poke at it and eventually fling it off the highchair. Or very innocently dropped it off the side with a mischievous ‘Oh!’.
For these particular ones, instead of grating or dicing the pear and adding it to the batter, I sliced them then placed a piece on the uncooked side before flipping them. They stayed super moist with the orange juice and yogurt, and small since I only used about 1/4 cup of batter for each one.
I froze about half the pancakes for a later date when I’m in need of a quick breakfast or snack.
Pear, Orange & Yogurt Babycakes
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 Eggs
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
Zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1 tbsp butter for frying, or oil
1-2 Pears, thinly sliced
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients and set aside. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk eggs. Add remaining liquid ingredients to eggs and stir well to combine. Pour wet mix into dry mix and gently fold together until just combined. If you find the batter a little too thick, add more milk. A little to thin and runny, add a bit more flour. Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Slice pears and set next to pan.
Brush pan lightly with butter. When it sizzles, at 1/4 cup of batter to pan, in the shape you desire. Add one or two slices of pear to each pancake. When small bubbles appear on the uncooked surface and edges begin to dry, flip over. Careful they don’t land on each other or sides of pan in the flipping process. Cook a few minutes more then remove from pan. Add a little butter and continue with remaining batter.
Serve with a little maple syrup, fruit puree or on their own.
Morning Glory Muffins
Around 6, 6:30 we wake up.
Heading into Calla’s room she’s standing, smiling and bouncing on the bed, ready to be picked up and hugged.
Let Cliff out to do his thing, change Calla and start the coffee.
While preparing Calla’s breakfast I pulled out one of these muffins.
Pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds and it’s ready to be enjoyed with Calla as she eats her breakfast.
Carrots, apple, yogurt and sunflower seeds make you feel pretty good about eating these muffins.
They taste pretty great too.
Change the sunflower seeds for pecans, the yogurt for sour cream and I could be going out on a limb here, but maybe even change up the apple for pear.
Add raisins, flax seeds and coconut and you’ve got one heck of a versatile muffin.
Morning Glory Muffins (adapted from Confessions of a Tart)
Makes 12 large muffins
1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Salt
2/3 cup Brown Sugar
2 1/2 Cups Grated Carrots
1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds
1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries
3 Large Eggs
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
3/4 Cup Plain Yogurt
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Large Apple, cored & shredded
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 12 Cup Muffin tin, or line with paper cups.
Mix together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl. Whisk in brown sugar.
Toss shredded carrots, sunflower seeds and dried cranberries in flour mixture.
In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Mix in shredded apple.
Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir until batter just comes together.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. About 20-25 minutes. Cool in muffin tins on wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove from muffin tin and cool on wire rack completely.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge up to 5 days or in the freezer up to 30 days.
Chickpea Burgers, Kale & Cilantro-Cucumber Yogurt
Over the last two weeks, our Wednesday night meals have been falling short.
Crab cakes falling apart, pork tenderloin with little flavor, needless to say I was disappointed.
I tend to take it quite personally when recipes and meals don’t turn out, and when they do turn out, well, I feel like I need to share them with everyone I know.
With our past failures, I was particularly keen on making this Wednesday night meal a success and was beaming with happiness when this proved to be one.
The 3 components of these pitas work together beautifully.
Combining the sauce (without the mango) from these spring rolls and chickpeas, creates a flavor similar to this hummus, but more intense with the garlic and onion.
Softening the Kale in a jalapeno-lime marinade adapted from this site, takes the bitterness out of the kale, and has become my favorite way of eating kale and a firm believer that this chewy green vegetable can actually taste incredible.
Topping the burgers with a creamy cilantro-cucumber yogurt is the simplest and most fitting sauce.
Stuff those ingredients in a fresh, warm, homemade pita is absolute perfection.
Cilantro-Cucumber Yogurt
1/2 Large Cucumber, juliened
Salt
1 Cup Plain Yogurt
1/4 Cup Cilantro, chopped
Line juliened cucumber on paper towel and sprinkle with salt. Allow to sit for 15-20 minutes to remove moisture. In a small bowl, mix together yogurt, cucumber and cilantro. Set aside.
Jalapeno-Lime Kale (adapted from Not Without Salt)
1 Bunch Kale, thick steams removed and chopped
1/4 cup Fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped (unless you like spice, keep the seeds)
1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
In a medium bowl, add chopped kale, lime juice, olive oil, jalapeno, cilantro, salt and cumin. Mix together, with you hands if you like, and set aside for 30 minutes.
Chickpea Burgers
1 19oz Can Chickpeas, drained & rinsed
2 tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Lime, Zested & Juiced
1 tbsp Fish Sauce
1 tbsp Soy sauce
1/2 tsp Sambal Oelek Hot Chili Paste
1/2 Large Yellow Onion, diced
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 Cup Panko Breadcrumbs
Olive oil
In a small saucepan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium high heat. Add diced onion and minced garlic, and cook for a few minutes until they brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a blender or food processor, add chickpeas, sesame oil, lime juice and zest, fish sauce, soy sauce, Chili paste and breadcrumbs. Pulse until combined, but not smooth. Add garlic and onion and pulse a few more times.
Form into patties, should make about 7 small ones. In a medium saucepan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil on medium high heat. Add chickpea patties and cook about 4-5 minutes per side, or until browned. You may need to cook in 2 batches.
Half Whole-Wheat Pitas (adapted from The New Moosewood Cookbook)
1 Cup Water, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1 Tbsp Honey
1 tsp Salt
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
About 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
Extra Flour for rolling
Olive oil for bowl and baking sheet
In a medium-sized bowl, add water and sprinkle in yeast. Let stand for 5-10 minutes, until it starts to foam.
Add honey and salt and stir until everything dissolves.
One cup at a time, whisk in flour. Once it thickens, use a wooden spoon to mix. Once you cannot mix with the spoon, mix together with your hands. Turn onto a floured surface and knead dough until smooth. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and oil the top surface of the dough ball. Cover with a tea towel and let sit for about an hour or until doubled in bulk.
Punch down dough and turn onto floured surface. Knead for about 5 minutes, then divide into 6 pieces. 12 if you prefer smaller pitas. Using your hands, form each piece into a smooth ball. Then flatten with a rolling pin into a very thin circle, no thicker than 1/8 inch. (the circle does not need to be perfectly round). Let circles rest about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 500F. Place baking sheets in oven for a minutes or two to warm. Brush sheets with olive oil. Place pitas on sheets, making sure circles don’t touch. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until puffed up and lightly browned. Remove from oven and wrap in a damp tea towel.
Banana Buckwheat Pancakes & Berry Salsa
You have 45 minutes, ready….. and Go!
Dishes, laundry, shower, eat, sit, about to bring that re-heated for the 5th time coffee to my lips and…. oops she’s up.
Nap times lasts 45 minutes (about 3 times). Sometimes I can get all of those things done. Sometimes I can get one chore done. And some days I say “Screw the dishes, I’m making Pancakes!!”
There is so much going on with these pancakes, so many flavors. Smashed sweet ripe banana mixed in with heartier buckwheat batter, topped with creamy honey greek yogurt, a sweet & spicy berry salsa and of course maple syrup. They were kind of intense, but in a good way.
If you haven’t noticed I’m starting to build a small obsession to fruit salsa. Ever since the Watermelon salsa a few weeks ago, I keep imagining other fruits to use. I feel like Kiwis might be next…
Sometimes I get a little impatient when cooking pancakes. I heat the griddle too hot, add the pancake too soon, don’t wait for enough bubbles or forget about them completely. Today, I am happy to say, worked out so great. They take some time, you definitely cannot rush pancakes. But they are worth the wait.
Trick is, wait for the griddle to heat (water drops should sizzle), melt a little butter, and add batter evenly. Wait for air bubbles to pop throughout the whole pancake, especially the middle, then flip. After the flip, it should only be a minute or so until cooked.
Banana Buckwheat Pancakes
2 Cups Bob’s Red Mill Buckwheat Pancake & Waffle Mix
2 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups Milk
1 Banana, Mashed
In a medium bowl, whisk together mix, eggs and milk until just combined.
Heat a skillet on medium high heat. Once heated (butter or water should sizzle when added), add batter using a 3/4 measuring cup.
Flip pancake after a few minutes and air bubbles have popped throughout the pancake.
Cook for an additional minute or until cooked.
Serve with greek yogurt, berry salsa (recipe below) and maple syrup.
Berry Salsa
1 Cup Blueberries, diced
1 Cup Strawberries, diced
A few Mint Leaves, finely chopped
A few Cilantro Leaves, finely chopped
1/4-1/2 Lime, juiced
1/8 Red Onion, diced
1/4 Jalapeno, diced
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and taste for seasoning.
Instead of dicing the berries, you could use a food processor, however I find there’s something almost therapeutic about dicing. Salsa will last a few days, but tastes the best fresh on day 1
