Crepes

3 C whole wheat flour (or white)
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 C milk
2 C water
4 lg eggs
1 tsp vanilla
6 Tb melted butter

-Mix flour and salt.
-Wisk in milk and water till smooth
-Wisk in eggs til smooth
-Mix in vanilla and butter

-Lightly grease and heat non-stick pan (only needs greasing for the first crepe if non-stick pan).
-Pour 1/4 to 1/3 C batter onto pan and immediately maneuver pan so batter coats entire bottom surface. (For those in need of mass production, a griddle works too if you can pick it up and tip)
-Cook 1-2 minutes as you would a pancake, but this will be ready to flip a little sooner.
-Flip and cook for approx 1 min.

-Serve hot (can keep hot in a 150 degree warm oven on a cookie sheet)
-Fill with: peanut butter and jam, honey, cream cheese and strawberry jam (oh yum), fruit, veggies/cheese/pepperoni - dip in spaghetti sauce, whatever you like!
-Dust with powdered sugar, spread with a touch of maple syrup, or eat plain with filling.

Yum!!

Y: Forgot to count. Enough to feed 4 very hungry farmers and a couple mini-farmers, or probably 8 normal folk:). 

Squash or Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 C pureed banana, squash or pumpkin (thawed frozen squash worked great)
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C oil
3 eggs
3 C flour (can use half whole wheat)
2 tsp bk soda
2 tsp bk powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/4 C flax
1 1/2 C semi-sweet mini choc chips

-Mix squash, sugar and oil til well blended.
-Mix in eggs until smooth
-Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl.
-Add to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
-Bake at 400 degrees in greased muffin cups for 16-20 minutes (until lightly browned).
Y: 24 nice sized muffins and 12 mini muffins

These were very yummy and adapted from a recipe found on MoneySavingMom. I really enjoy trying to cut down the sugar content in baked recipes and am constantly surprised how huge the sugar content is in everyday recipes. One of my favorite cookbooks, More With Less is linked on the side of this blog. That book really keyed me in to nutrition in recipes and making more with less. Hope you enjoy!

Whole Wheat Waffles

A recipe with love for Valentine's Day...

5 1/4 C whole wheat flour (freshly ground or frozen if available)
3 Tb baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 C applesauce
1/2 C oil
5 eggs
1 tsp real vanilla
5 1/4 C milk

-Mix dry ingreds. in large bowl (16C+).
-Mix applesauce and oil in large bowl.. Stir in eggs until well blended.
-Add vanilla and milk to wet ingreds. and stir.
-Add wet ingreds to dry ingreds. Mix until blended well. Do not overmix.
-Heat waffle iron and spray. We use a hotel-style waffle iron we got from my parents. It is the type that you have to flip. We LOVE it. Highly recommended if you make a lot of waffles (which obviously we do - ha!).
-Add 2/3 C batter (for our size w.maker).
-Heat 'til nicely browned.
-Serve with maple syrup, fresh/frozen fruit, whipped cream, peanut butter...oh the possibilities!
-Allow extra waffles to cool, then freeze in a bag or tupperware for up to 3-4 months. I like to freeze in quarters rather than big round waffles.
-Thaw in toaster oven.

Y:~18 large round waffles (I honestly don't know! Have to count next time!)

Baked Oatmeal

1/2 C oil
1/2 C brown sugar
3 eggs
1 Tb baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 C quick oats
3 C milk (may substitute with milk powder/water or water if unable to have dairy)
cinnamon/sugar

-Mix oil and br sugar.
-Mix eggs in until well blended.
-Sprinkle over bk powder and mix with fork or whisk until no lumps remain.
-Stir in oats, then milk until blended.
-Pour into buttered 9x13 pan.
-Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar.
-Bake at 350 for ~30-35 minutes, til golden, lightly browned.
-Serve warm and top with fruit (canned peaches are sooo yummy) and yogurt (homemade plain is the way we roll) or milk, and sprinkle with a little bit more cinnamon/sugar, honey or maple syrup as desired.

Y: This would depend on your family appetite:)...it usually lasts our family of 3 three breakfasts. Cover and refrigerate between servings.

After much trial and error using three different starter baked oatmeal recipes, I'm sticking with this one. We love it. The base is from my friend Auntie J in Guinea. Interestingly, Africa is where we first had baked oatmeal. It is such a filling, fiber and protein-rich breakfast. I've seen many variations now of sugar/oil content. I appreciate leaving the sugar low. I prefer it less sweet and enjoy just sprinkling a little sugar on top if needed. Hope you enjoy!!

Monster Pancake

I struggled to get a decent picture of this! The recipe is one we brought back from Guinea, from Auntie J. So simple, so yummy! A new family favorite...Abraham loves getting to shake on the powdered sugar:)

1/2 stick butter (4 Tb)
1 C flour (can use all whole wheat)
1 C milk
4 eggs
Cinnamon (couple dashes)
Powdered Sugar

-Turn oven on to 375. Place butter in 2 small or 1 large pan (I use a 10x14 pan) in the oven to melt. Check on butter in a few minutes!
-Whisk together flour, cinnamon and milk til smooth.
-Whisk in eggs til well blended.
-Remove pan from oven once butter is melted (try not to let it brown).
-Pour batter over butter in pan. It will mix in with the butter a bit...that's fine!
-Bake at 375 or 170C for 20 min.
-Serve with powdered sugar to top or drizzle with honey and splash with lemon juice!

Auntie J's Breakfast Cake

I love this versatile recipe from a dear friend and mom in Guinea. It offers a wonderful way to use up leftovers, add interesting nutrition to breakfast, and gives plenty of options based on what ingreds you have available!!

1/2 C oil or butter
1 C sugar (or less if using a sweet **fruit/veggie below)
4 eggs
2 C mashed **banana, pumpkin, leftover oatmeal, applesauce, carrots, sw potatoes, potatoes...can also include graded stale leftover muffins, cake, etc.
1 tsp vanilla
1 C flour
1 C whole wheat flour
1/2 C quick oats or oat flour
1/2 ground flax seed
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg, if no topping used
1 C milk with 1 Tb bk powder
or
1 C yogurt with 1 tsp bk soda
1 handful dried fruit - craisins & golden raisins (our fave) or dr blueberries, raisins, etc

Topping (we halve this):
4 Tb butter, softened
2/3-3/4 C oats
1/2 C br sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves (we omit)
1/2 tsp ginger (we omit)

-Mix oil & sugar well
-Mix in eggs
-Add **ingred. and vanilla
-Mix dry ingreds in separate bowl, including bk powder or soda
-Add to wet ingreds along with milk
-Stir in dried fruit
-Pour into greased 9x13 pan
-Mix topping ingreds, if desired, and sprinkle with topping
-Bake at 350 for 30-45min, until golden brown


We generally use the first ingred listed in any of the items above with an "or," such as milk instead of yogurt. I've also used stale, grated coconut bread and just added extra milk one time, when I didn't have extra produce to use up. My rating, mmm 10/10 !!

Whole-Grain Banana Nutmeg Coffee Cake

3Tb butter, softened
1 C. Quick Oats
1/4 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 C. br sugar
1 C. Flour
1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 C. sugar
1 Tb. bk powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 C. veg. oil
1 C. milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 mashed bananas
1/4 C. chopped pecans

-Mix butter, oats, 1/4 C. whole wheat flour and brown sugar in small bowl until crumbly. Set aside.
-Mix flours, sugar, bk powder, nutmeg, and salt.
-Mix egg, oil, bananas, vanilla and milk.
-Combine last two steps.
-Spread half of mixture in greased 9-in springform pan (or any 9 in pan). Sprinkle half of oat mixture on top.
-Add remaining batter and sprinkle with remaining oats and nuts. Bake at 350 for approx. 40 min or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serve warm or cold.

Tried this out today (a rainy day - perfect for baking, of course), and mmmm - I like it! Might try a little more nutmeg next time. Good thing we had 8 brown bananas sitting around waiting to be mashed! The fruit slush recipe (6 bananas) I tweaked a little also looks like it will be yummy.
Coffee cake recipe adapted from one found at Green Mountain website.

Whole-Grain Apple Coffee Cake

3Tb butter
1 C. Quick Oats
1/4 C. Flour
1/4 C. br sugar
1 C. Flour
1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 C. sugar
1/4 C. veg. oil
1 C. milk
1 Tb. bk powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 1/2 C. chopped apples
1/4 C. chopped pecans

-Mix butter, oats, 1/4 C. flour and brown sugar in small bowl until crumbly. Set aside.
-Mix flours, sugar, oil, milk, bk powder, cinnamon, salt, and egg in large bowl until well blended.
-Stir in apples. Spread half of mixture in 9-in springform pan (or any 9 in pan) that has been greased. Sprinkle half of oat mixture on top.
-Add remaining batter and sprinkle with remaining oats and nuts. Bake at 350 for approx. 40 min or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serve warm or cold.

I have made this once, and I really liked how it looked in the springform pan! Beautiful! Tasted good, too:)! Might be even better with a little powd. sugar frosting drizzled over it. A 4/5 for me, Jonathan maybe not so high of a rating.
Recipe adapted from one found at Green Mountain website.

Simple French Toast

4 Eggs
1 C. Milk
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
cinnamon (optional)
powdered sugar
8 slices bread

-Beat eggs until mixed in wide bowl. Add and mix milk and flavoring. Quickly dip bread slices in egg mixture one at a time to moisten, then place on skillet (lightly greased if needed). Heat each side until browned at 350. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with syrup.