Build-Your-Own Patriotic Parfait

Happy Independence Day! 

I think I've mentioned before that I LOVE the 4th of July. Every single aspect of it. And I am so thankful that we live in the land of the free. I hope you're celebrating our freedom with family and friends on this HOT summer day. We're enjoying some family and friend time with our dear friend Ian! 

And what better way to start the day than with a Patriotic Parfait! (love the rhyme there, don't you?) 

The Recipe: Patriotic Parfait

What you need:

1/3 c homemade granola

1/3 c plain yogurt

1/3 c blueberries

1/3 c strawberries 

sprinkle (or 2) of almonds

Combine the ingredients however you'd like and enjoy! 

And just for fun here's a random bit for you. My most memorable July 4th actually occurred on July 5th. It rained on July 4th that year so we saved the fireworks for the next day. I was 16 (turning 17 soon) and we were setting off fireworks in our cul-de-sac. My dad let me hold a roman candle and it backfired, exploding in my hand. Little bits of debris landed on my arm and my ears were ringing. My mom freaked out and ran into the house forgetting the number to 911, while my dad tried to console me. I was screaming I'M DEAF! I'M DEAF! when my dad said, "Can you hear me?" I said, "YES!, but I'm deaf!" 

As it turns out my hearing was fine, 911 wasn't needed and I had some burns on my arm (and the scars to prove it). Lesson learned: don't hold roman candles!

Have a blessed day!

Heart-shaped Pancakes

I know Valentine's Day is done and over, but that doesn't mean you can't have heart-shaped pancakes year round! I made Sweet P pancakes for Valentine's Day along with a blueberry smoothie (it would've been strawberry, but I used them all in the pancakes!).

Shaped pancakes are such a simple and creative way to make meals fun for kiddos. Sweet P loved these heart-shaped pancakes and asked for them again and again and again (so I made them again on Saturday). These were made with a little bit of almond flour (we get ours at Trader Joe's) and SO yummy!

The Recipe: Heart-shaped Pancakes

What you need:
1 1/2 c of whole wheat flour (organic if you've got it)
1/2 c of almond meal/flour (if you don't have/can't find almond meal, use another 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour or oats)
1 1/2 c organic soy milk (or regular milk)
1/4 c water
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 c frozen strawberries (without syrup and organic if possible)
1 organic egg
1 tbsp flaxseed (optional)

Turn on skillet to medium-heat. Drizzle olive oil in the pan. Heat frozen strawberries in microwave for 1 minute. They should soften and make juice. Blend strawberries with immersion blender or leave whole (I wanted them juicier). Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in egg, milk, water and strawberries. Stir until moistened and easy to pour.

Pour into metal cookie cutter to form heart (or cut after you've cooked the pancakes). Allow pancakes to cook for 1 minute, then flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes or until cooked thoroughly. Yields 6-8 medium sized pancakes

I only had 3 frozen strawberries so I added some MonaVie to try to make the batter pinker. It never really did get as pink as I had hoped, but I blame that on the whole wheat flour (and lack of strawberries). The strawberries gave them a good flavor though, so I'd like to try it again when I have more.

I is for Pancakes?

Auntie RoRo pinned this (though she can't remember) for Sweet P on Pinterest some time ago and I finally decided to try it this week when we did letter Ii. I wish I could take credit for the brilliant idea, but it's from Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons. She used grilled cheese for the cone, but I decided we'd do pancakes.

Nana Nancy left Saturday morning so I decided to make pancakes for Sweet P as a treat. This was so simple and it turned out super cute!

What you need:
bananas
strawberry (or raspberry)
pancakes

Cut the pancake into a cone shape. Place bananas in the shape of a scoop of ice cream and top with a strawberry). I drizzled hers with honey to make the criss cross of the cone, but it didn't really show up in the pictures.

Enjoy! Such a fun and simple breakfast!

Almond Butter Granola

We LOVE granola around here. I try to make a huge batch and then store it in an air tight container so we can munch on it for awhile. It's a big hit, especially since we don't eat cereal (don't even ask). And Sweet P LOVES "gwanowa". I have a tried and true recipe that I use (you can find it here), but I wanted to switch it up a bit so here we go:

The Recipe: Almond Butter Granola

What you need:

6 cups oats

1 cup honey

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tsp vanilla

4 tbsp almond butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup shaved almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour oats and spices into a bowl and stir. Add honey, olive oil, vanilla and almond butter to a separate bowl. Stir until well blended. Pour honey mixture onto oats and gather with your hands to coat the oats. Spread onto a cookie sheet (you'll need 2) and bake for 10 minutes. Take out and toss, then return to oven for another 5 minutes (repeat). Add almonds after the 3rd time out of the oven. Place sheets bake in the oven for 5 more minutes. Allow to cool completely. Add raisins and store in an air tight container.

YUM! This is so good with yogurt, soy milk or on ice cream! You can also add fresh fruit on top.

Sweet P had a blast helping with this and kept saying "Taste it" while she was stirring the oats and spices. Silly girl!

Easter Inspired Lunches

We've made a lot of Easter-themed lunches this week. Here are a few of them:

Bunny Theme

The bunny is a cheese and mushroom quesadilla with raisin eyes and nose and yogurt mouth. Celery, carrot and grape flowers, carrot sun and hummus cloud. The random rock on the left is a mushroom. There were 2, but a little hand snatched one before I shot this.

Cross Theme

From top left: grapes with bunny toothpick, pumpkin seeds, plain yogurt with cinnamon and banana pancakes cut into crosses and hearts.

Flower Theme

Top (from left): Sauteed asparagus, dehydrated banana chips, leftover stir fry

Bottom: Flower-shaped whole wheat mini bagel with melted cheese

Banana Muffins

I made these for a playdate one morning (and left one behind for the starving Farmer) since we had an overabundance of bananas. When the Farmer's soccer team goes on trips, he brings home LOTS of bananas. This time is was about 3 dozen (not kidding). We dehydrated most of those, but let about 10 get nice and brown. And these muffins were born.

The Recipe: Banana Muffins

What you need:

3 to 4 overripe bananas

1/2 c sugar

1/3 c melted butter

1 egg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c rolled oats

1/3 c walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mash bananas in a large bowl. Add sugar, melted butter and the egg and mix until combined. Mix in cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, flour, oats and nuts until moistened. Pour mixture into well-greased muffin tin.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Makes 12 regular, 36 mini or 6 large muffins. YUM!

**I used 4 bananas. This makes them very moist (and I don't know about you, but I don't like dry muffins). I also used only 1/3 c sugar and 1/4 c of butter because that's all I had in the house! They turned out great and I'm all for less sugar and fat in a muffin. I also didn't have any nuts, but am pretty sure they would have been AMAZING if I did. These are SUPER easy and quick. They taste great with butter or cream cheese.

I also made an egg-free, butter-free, sweetened with honey version for Sweet P that I'll post as well.

Did you make this recipe? Let me know how it turned out!

Potato Pancakes

I got this recipe from Elizabeth at A Whisk and a Prayer. That woman has some seriously delicious recipes. Okay, so this is the first one I've tried, but just LOOK at her pictures! I'm drooling over every post!

She called them Irish Potato Farl, but since I was going more for Potato Pancakes and didn't cook them exactly as it called for, I called them Potato Pancakes. I also didn't have any butter (gasp!) so I had to make a few adjustments.

The Recipe: Potato Pancakes

What you need:

2 cups of hot boiled potatoes

1 cup of whole wheat flour

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp cream cheese

Boiling potatoes: Peel potatoes and cut into fourths. Boil on high for 25 minutes or until tender. Drain water and mash potatoes in the pot.

Remove 2 cups of boiled potatoes and transfer to a large bowl. Mash in olive oil and cream cheese. Gradually add flour, stirring until it forms a dough of sorts. It will be a bit sticky and doughy. Form balls with your hands, then pat into pancakes.

Pour olive oil onto griddle and cook pancakes until both sides are browned.

So yummy. I tried a bite with ketchup, but ate the rest with syrup. They reminded me a bit of crepes, but so much better. And we had mashed tatas for dinner that night!

Carrot Pancakes

Sometimes I think people shudder at what I feed my kid (or what my kid will eat). Last night on the phone to Auntie K, I said, "Can you believe Sweet P is eating homemade pizza with a pesto base, dried tomatoes, spinach and broccoli? Would you have eaten that?" Auntie K's response, "Who makes that for their kid?" Um, well, me. And Auntie K meant that in the nicest way possible. She keeps me up to snuff on nutrition since she's a biology major who knows lots about that kind of stuff (that and my Science Guy husband). Auntie K always reminds me to wash Sweet P's hands (and my own) after we play in the dirt because a cat might have pooped in it. What would I do without her?

Whew, what a tangent. All that to say I'm gonna share my carrot pancake recipe with you. I wasn't sure how these would turn out, but ya know, if you can make carrot cake and carrot muffins, then why not pancakes? I desperately wanted them to be pumpkin pancakes, but I refuse to give Sweet P things out of a can (you know I'm a nutso, right?) so I nixed that until I figure out how to bake my own pumpkins. I really wanted to buy a sugar pumpkin at Trader Joe's today (Yes!!!!!!! we finally got one!!!! grand opening today!!! that should be it's own post, really), but I had the Farmer with me and he's the voice of reason and said, "No." to the pumpkin. Grr. Sheesh, where is this post going? Here's the recipe. And along with it (please don't gag, I tried it and it was good), carrot yogurt to dip them in.

The Recipe: Carrot Pancakes

What you need:

1 cup organic whole wheat flour

1 cup organic oats (uncooked)

1 tbsp flax + 3 tbsp water (egg replacement)

1/4 c organic plain yogurt

3/4 c steamed carrots (mashed)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp honey

About 1 cup of water

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.

Add yogurt, olive oil, carrots and honey, stirring slightly. Combine 3 tbsp water and slowly add cup of water until pancakes reach your desired consistency. They should be somewhat runny, but thick. Heat a skillet or griddle on medium heat and drizzle olive oil in the pan. Drop small amounts of batter into skillet (or large amounts depending on what size you want them). Cook for 1 minute and turn. They may need a bit longer if they are still moist on the inside. Repeat until you've used all the batter.

Carrot Yogurt

1/2 c organic plain yogurt

2 tbsp steamed carrots (mashed)

sprinkle of cinnamon

Mix ingredients together in a small bowl. Dip pancakes in yogurt.

You can of course use shredded carrots for the pancakes, but I wanted to use mashed for better consistency. It also helps since I use water instead of milk to make it thicker instead of runny. I made these for Sweet P on Halloween morning, hence the pumpkin shaped pancake. She LOVED dipping them in the yogurt and then licking the yogurt off. She didn't quite get the concept of actually taking a bite of the pancake with the yogurt on it, but we'll get there! Keep leftovers in the fridge or freezer.

The Perfect Fall Day

Today was the perfect day for pumpkin carving. And apple cider. And pancakes. And, and and. The Farmer was home this morning so I cooked up some oatmeal pancakes for us. Sweet P had some muffins, she's not eating much these days since she has bronchitis (yep, my poor sweet bun).

We gobbled those oatmeal pancakes down with mugs of apple cider from Center Grove Orchard in Cambridge, IA. Love that place and their cider and their honeycrisp apples AND their apple cider donuts! After breakfast we headed out for some pumpkin carving! (with pumpkins from the farm). As you can see Sweet P was in on the action.

I had hoped this would be a great sensory activity for her, but she wasn't the least bit interested in touching the pumpkin with her hands. The only time she did was when the Farmer was picking out the seeds (for roasting) and I asked her if she could help and she picked up a piece of pumpkin and plopped it in the bowl. Oh well, maybe next time.

Yours truly carved that pumpkin and I have to say that with that little tool of the Farmer's it was the easiest pumpkin I've ever carved! And it doesn't look half bad. I'm a traditional jack'o'lantern kinda gal, nothing fancy. And yes, that is an ice cream scoop we're using!

After Sweet P's nap, I made oyster crackers snackers and pumpkin seed/date cakes. But you'll have to wait another day or two for those. And we finished the day with Potato Leek soup (more on that soon, too). Now Sweet P is in bed and the Farmer is at the Drake soccer game (go Bulldogs!).

What fall crafts or activities did you do today?

The Reason I Love Summer Saturdays

High above the crowds on Auntie K's shoulders

I love the Des Moines Downtown Farmer's Market. We don't even buy any produce anymore because we grow our own, but I love the atmosphere and the people watching. And now that Sweet P is 1, I love it even more because she LOVES dogs. And everyone knows there are plenty of dogs at the DTFM.

My first time this year was with my family last weekend. I have to admit the raspberry whole wheat cinnamon roll wasn't as fabulous as I remembered so it might be time to find a new favorite.

Gammie tried a pupusa (can't go wrong there) and I thought maybe I should start getting one of those. But then I remembered that was the Farmer's poison (and he's funny about ordering the same thing).

Auntie Rosita had french toast and I only contemplated that for a second before I remembered how much I dislike soggy bread.

Sweet P can't wait to try kettle corn, can you tell? We bought two large bags and one was gone before the day was over.

So I'm on a mission to find a new breakfast favorite at the Farmer's Market. In 2008 it was breakfast burritos, last year it was raspberry whole wheat cinnamon rolls. What will this year bring? I guess I'll just have to go again next weekend to find out! And while we won't be participating at the DTFM, we will hopefully be making our first farmer's market debut this year...I'll keep you posted.

Banana Baby Muffins

Sweet P loves muffins, just about as much as she likes baby pancakes. In fact, baby pancake batter can also be used to make muffins. I was trying to figure out a way to make the batter last longer than the few pancakes it was making so one day I decided to pour it into some mini muffin tins and bake it. And wa-la! Banana Baby Muffins were born. As with most of the recipes around here, try other things besides bananas like sweet potatoes, pumpkin, blueberries or apples for a new twist on the muffins. And don't forget to mix up the spices (pumpkin pie spice, ginger, coriander)!

Banana Baby Muffins

2/3 c organic oat flour*

1/4 c oats

1 tbsp organic ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water

1/4 c water

1 mashed organic banana

1 tsp cinnamon (or nutmeg)

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp organic plain yogurt

1 tsp organic olive oil

*I make my own by grinding organic oats in a coffee grinder.

Mix dry ingredients. Add flaxseed and 3 tbsp water and mix well. Combine water, banana, yogurt and oil until you have a smooth consistency. Grease a muffin tin with organic butter or olive oil. Pour batter into muffin tins. Bake at 350˚ for 15-18 minutes.

Mini muffins are so easy to take on the go and have great stuff in them. If you remember the flaxseed and water act as an egg replacement so this recipe is wheat, egg and milk free. These all make great mama muffins as well!

They go really fast around here...which reminds me that I need to go make a new batch. We'll be trying out apples today. What do you put in your muffins?

Mommy Smoothie

Who says babies have to have all the fun? Smoothies are a great breakfast treat. They remind me a of milkshake which makes me feel like I'm eating dessert for breakfast. This one is loaded with great stuff for you, so don't feel guilty...drink it up!

Mommy Smoothie

1/3 c vanilla soymilk

1/2 scoop protein powder (optional)

1 tsp agave nectar

3 tbsp plain yogurt

1 tbsp ground flaxseed

1 small banana

4 large strawberries (whole or chopped)

1/2 c spinach (yep, spinach)

1/4 c frozen blueberries

1/2 c ice cubes

Blend together in a high speed blender and serve with a straw. Can be 2 servings if you'd like, but I drink it all. You can't even taste the spinach and I've even started putting it in Sweet P's smoothies! She loves it (and so do I).

The only reason I added protein powder is because we have it and I figured why not? The Farmer had a wisdom tooth out last week so we bought it for him to put in smoothies.

This smoothie is a great pick-me-up and great for on the go moms.

G-G-Granola

Around here, we love granola. Love it. But. Granola can get pricey. And high in calories depending on where you get it. With all that to worry about, why not make it yourself? That way you not only know what goes in it, but you save money too!

So after looking at a bunch of different granola recipes, I came up with my own. I decided I wanted to use only raisins (because they don't have a ton of added sugar in them) and sliced almonds (rather than spend an arm and a leg on 3 different types of nuts). It's really yummy and great with soy milk (or regular), in a yogurt parfait and as a snack! I'm sure it'd be fabulous on top of ice cream, too.

The Recipe:

G-G-Granola

What you need:

3 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 tsp each of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg

4 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup agave nectar (you can also use honey)

1/4 cup brown sugar (unpacked)

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/2 to 1 cup raisins

1/2 cup sliced almonds

2 baking sheets

Preheat oven to 325˚. In a large bowl, combine oats and spices. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, agave nectar, brown sugar and vanilla.

Pour the wet ingredients on top of the dry ingredients and using your hands, combine them by gathering the oats into a fist.

Continue until oats are thoroughly covered with olive oil mixture. Dump onto baking sheet and spread out evenly, leaving a few clumps here and there.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove and use a spatula to stir and flip the granola. Return to oven and bake for 5 minutes. Remove, stir and flip granola and add almonds. Return to oven for 5 minutes. Remove, stir and flip granola and return to oven for 5 more minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Add raisins and serve! Or transfer to a container for later. Yields 4 cups of granola.

Time: 30 minutes.