A New Twist on an Old Breakfast Favorite

It seems like we are always having the same things for breakfast over here. French Toast is one of my kiddo's favorites that we have at least once a week. This morning I switched things up a bit. I mashed a very ripe banana into the dish first before I added the rest of the "dip" ingredients. YUMMY! I also added a bit of crunch by dipping the moist bread into a crushed cornflake and wheat germ blend before throwing on the griddle.

Banana French Toast
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 egg, beaten
11/2 cups milk (might have to add more or less, depending on the thickness)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
Sliced bread
oil or butter for griddle
Mash banana in a bowl that is suitable for dipping the bread. Add egg and mix. Add milk and mix. Add more milk if too thick. Add vanilla and cinnamon. Dip sliced bread into mixture. Place moist bread on warm, oiled griddle. Cook until both sides are golden, and no liquid comes out when bread is pressed on with spatula.

To add some crunch-
1 cup of a cornflake, wheat flake type cereal, or a crisp rice type cereal. If using the flake type, crush with the bottom of a glass. Might have to crush the rice cereal just a tiny bit.
1/4 cup wheat germ
Mix crushed cereal and wheat germ together in a bowl suitable for dipping bread. After bread is dipped in wet mixture, dip in cereal mixture. Add to pre-warmed, oiled griddle. Remember to add more oil or butter to griddle before adding next batch or the topping will stick!

Almost Daily Bread

So I have finally gotten myself back in the habit of making my own bread!! It has been months since I last bought a loaf of bread or a bag of buns. Logan is now bringing a lunch to school, so I have been making a loaf about every other day. I use my bread machine on the "dough" setting and bake my breads in the oven. I try to switch up my recipes and will be sharing my family's favorites.

White Bread

3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 cup of wheat flour
2 teaspoons of yeast

Place ingredients in bread machine in order suggested by the manufacturer.
Select basic bread setting, normal crust if cooking in machine.
OR Select "dough" setting if oven baking. When "dough" cycle complete, punch down dough and form into loaf, place in greased bread pan. Let rise again for about an hour.
Pre-heat oven to 350 and bake for 25-30 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool on wire rack. Enjoy!

Homemade Graham Crackers

The kiddos are huge graham cracker fans.  We eat them like they are going out of style.  Since I try to cut out on preservatives by making what I can at home, I thought I would give homemade graham crackers a try.  Would they notice?

The first time I made them, Logan helped me. We used the same cookies cutters we used for our Christmas cookies. I think he was expecting the finished product to taste like the cookies, so he wouldn't eat them.  The next time I made the graham crackers I cut the dough into rectangles so they looked more like the store bought ones, and he loved them. Kids are weird.

Graham Crackers

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup butter or shortening (I use butter)
* 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I use light brown sugar, because that's what I have, but dark brown sugar     might make them darker)
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (sometimes I use a little more)
* 2 cups whole wheat flour (I use graham flour)
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon cinnamon (we like cinnamon, can use less or omit)
* 1/2 cup milk

* cinnamon sugar to sprinkle on top

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter (or shortening) and brown sugar. Stir in the vanilla. Combine the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Cover and chill dough until firm. It may seem really hard after chilled, but it softens when rolled.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into rectangles, or use a cookie cutter for fun shapes. Place 1/2 inch apart onto the greased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crisp. Edges will be golden brown. Remove from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.

Ciambotta (Italian Vegetable Stew)

Fall is perfect stew weather!! I made a great vegetable stew this week, and would like to share the recipe. I suggest making it the day before, as stew always taste better the second day, and the third day. This makes a HUGE batch!! It took me almost 2 hours to chop all the veggies. Hey, I was interrupted a lot by the kiddos ;)  I also added some extra spices - basil, parsley, red pepper flakes, and more salt and pepper then it calls for. I think I will omit the red pepper next time, however, because it was a bit too spicy for the kiddos.  Oh, and I also peeled the eggplant because I'm not a fan of eggplant skin.  I found this recipe on Epicurious.com, which is my current favorite recipe site.

Ciambotta (Italian Vegetable Stew)
recipe by Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez from Gourmet Today Cook book.

* 1/3 cup olive oil
* 2 medium onions, chopped
* 2 celery ribs, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
* 3 carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
* 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
* 1 1/4 pounds eggplant, cut into 1-inch pieces
* 1/2 cup water
* 1 (28-ounces) can whole tomatoes in juice, drained, juice reserved and tomatoes chopped, or 1 3/4 pounds fresh tomatoes, chopped
* 2 red bell peppers, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
* 3/4 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
* 1 1/4 pounds zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
* 3/4 pound boiling potatoes (about 2 medium), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces


Preparation

Heat oil in a 7-to 8-quart heavy pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add onions, celery, carrots, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until pale golden, about 10 minutes. Add eggplant and water and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until eggplant is slightly softened, about 10 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes with juice and bell peppers, then reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook green beans in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan of well-salted boiling water until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a large bowl. Add zucchini to boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer with slotted spoon to bowl with green beans. Add potatoes to boiling water and cook until just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and add to beans and zucchini.

Add boiled vegetables to stew and simmer, stirring, until all vegetables are very soft, about 15 minutes. Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

I served the stew with a home made cheese bread. YUM! Enjoy!

My Favorite Pancake Recipe

We are HUGE breakfast eaters. Pancakes are our favorite! Tonight I am even making them for dinner. This is the best recipe I have found and I love it because you can actually make the mix ahead and store it in your fridge for up to 3 months. I think you can get 3 batches of pancakes out of one batch of mix. This recipe is from "Whole Grains For Busy People" by Lorna Sass, a cook book that I have mentioned before. Enjoy!

Pancake Mix

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients. Store in refrigerator for up to 3 months in an air tight container.


Pancakes

1 large egg
1 cup of buttermilk (I never have buttermilk on hand, so I replace it with yogurt and milk to equal 1 cup. Enough milk added to the yogurt to make it not so thick. Or you can use a cup of milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon added.)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup pancake mix

Mix all ingredients. Drop about by about 1/3 to 1/4 cup scoops onto a buttered and heated pan/griddle. This batter is pretty thick, so you will have to flatten it a bit when cooking :) I usually get about 10 pancakes out of a batch.

I almost always add other things to my pancake batter. Fruit is good- apples, peaches or bananas. I will add spices too, depending on what fruit I use. 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and/or cardamon.  I also use flavored yogurt if that's what I have in the fridge. Tonight I might add coconut and raisins (never tried this before, might be an update on the outcome!).

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

When I was at the flea market on Sunday I found a cook book called "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld (yup, Jerry's wife). The recipes all have a hidden ingredient of some kind of veggie puree. This one has carrot puree. Just steam some carrots and stick them in the food processor with some water until they are pureed. Since I do this for Sophie's food anyway, it's kinda convenient. I made these as a special breakfast treat. Enjoy!!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

non stick cooking spray
1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy)
1/2 cup carrot puree
1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons trans-fat free soft tub margarine spread (yeah, I don't buy this stuff. I used about a tablespoon of slightly melted butter and they were fine)
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt (I used a tad more to make up for the lack of margarine)
1 large egg white ( I accidentally dropped the yolk in there and it came out fine)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup low sugar strawberry, blueberry, or grape preserves (I used raspberry. This is perfect for cleaning out the fridge and using those jellies that you have no clue how long they have been in there for. They are getting cooked, right, so that will kill anything>LOL)

Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter, carrot puree, sugar and margarine with a wooden spoon until well combined. Stir in the yogurt and egg white.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until just combined, but do not over mix- there should be some lumps in the batter.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups and drop a spoonful of preserves on top of each.

Bake until the tops of the muffins are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center, 20-25 min. Cool on wire rack.

Store in an air tight container for up to 2 days, or wrap individually and freeze for up to a month.

Carrot Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's a cool day in my neck of the woods. A great day to bake some cookies. Here is my favorite "healthy" cookie recipe. Gotta sneak those veggies in any chance I get!

Carrot Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup fat free milk
1/3 cup canola oil
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup raisins

In a large bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, milk and oil. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and nutmeg. Add to egg mixture and mix well. Stir in chips, oats, carrots, and raisins. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets covered with nonstick cooking spray. Flatten slightly. Bake at 350 for 10-13 min or until golden brown. Remove to racks to cool. Makes about 7 dozen.

Sometimes I substitute some of the all purpose flour with wheat flour- the cookies just end up a bit squishy.