Healthy blender waffles/pancakes

These are similar to the blender pancake recipe I shared earlier, but make much better waffles :) Plus, I liked that she gave so many grain options so I can use whatever is on hand.


Amount: 2 (2 1/2-3 waffles) or 4 (4-5 waffles) or 20-24 pancakes

1. Place in blender; blend at highest speed for 3 minutes.
(3/4) 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups butter,milk, or kefir (or non-dairy alternative)
(1) 2 Tbls olive oil
(1/2) 1 tsp vanilla extract
(2/3) 1 1/2 cups brown rice or uncooked rolled oats (or other grain variations, see below) 2/3 cup grain = 1 cup flour or 1 1/2 cups grain =2 cups flour

The batter should always swirl about a vortex in the blender. If it doesn’t, slowly add more liquid until the hole reappears. This is the secret to light and tender waffles. Batter for pancakes may be thicker, but keep batter relatively thin and keep it churning.

2. Cover blender; let stand at room temperature overnight or 12-24 hours.

3. Pre-heat waffle iron at highest temperature, or griddle on medium high.

4. Just before baking, add and reblend on highest speed for 1 minute:
1 egg, optional additional liquid (if batter needs thinning for vortex or churning)

5. Blend in thoroughly, but briefly (assisted with rubber spatula, if needed):
(1) 2 tsp baking powder
(1/4) 1/2 tsp. baking soda
(1/2) 1 tsp salt, to taste

6. Pour batter onto hot waffle iron, sprayed with olive oil. Bake about 3 1/2 to 4 minutes in waffle iron until crispy.

GRAIN VARIATIONS
brown rice or millet - equal parts of each grain
kamut, spelt, wheat - kamut is a favorite! Combining with kamut and oats is our favorite!
buckwheat - reduce to 1 cup (4 servings). It expands.
barley -hulled, not pearled. Reduce to 1 cup (for 4 servings). It expands
Quinoa - Thoroughly rinse quinoa in strainer the night before 1-2 minutes; let stand in bowl of water overnight; drain and rinse about 1 more minute. This removes bitter flavor. Batter will be very thin. Fill waffle iron almost completely to the edges.
Oats - uncooked rolled oats or oat groats
I use oats in combination with other grains. I use 1/2 cup (in recipe for 4) oats, and 1 cup kamut, or half and half in serving 2.
Other additions - throw in some flax seeds!
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2007/12/tuesday-recipes-wafflespancakes.html

Easy Home-made Alfredo

I'm trying to make every thing from scratch these days so I was excited to find this easy alfredo recipe:

1 stick butter
1 1/2 pkg. cream cheese
1-2 tsp crushed garlic, to taste
up to 3 c. half and half (I just use my raw milk that has cream in it :)
3 oz parmesan cheese

Make it like a white sauce. Melt butter in saucepan over med/high heat. Add cream cheese, cut in small pieces a little at a time. Add garlic, heat and stir until smooth. Slowly add cream and parmesan cheese, constantly stirring. Cook about five minutes.

http://24hourmenu.blogspot.com/2008/08/karens-alfredo.html

Frozen Banana Treats :)

After reading that frozen bananas taste similar to plain ice cream, I decided to try my own version and was pretty excited about the results :) I slowly melted organic peanut butter, coconut milk, and 2 hershey kisses on the stove. After it cooled a little, I spread it onto the bananas and rolled them in home-made granola. Then I froze them. YUMMY and a lot healthier than ice cream! Here are the original recipes that I found, but you can roll them in whatever sounds good to you :)

Chocolate Covered Bananas

6 ripe bananas
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Peel bananas and cut in half crosswise. Insert a wooden stick into the flat end of each banana half. Lay bananas on a shallow pan (I used a small cookie sheet) and freeze for approximately three hours. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave or over hot water. With a spatula, quickly spread melted chocolate over banana, coating well. Then roll in sprinkles, crushed nuts, or rice cereal. Wrap each banana in foil and store in your freezer.

Breakfast Banana Pops

4 large bananas
2 cups fruit-flavored yogurt, Nutella or peanut butter (For easiest spreading, dilute nut butters with enough vanilla or plain yogurt so it’s the consistency of thick cake batter)
1 cup combination of chopped dried fruit, granola, crushed cereal, crushed cookies or crushed candy

Peel the bananas, cut in half crosswise, and dip them in the yogurt. Roll them in the toppings to coat. Freeze until firm. Serve when firm.

Crispy Banana Pops

2 medium bananas
1/4 cup crisp rice cereal
1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips
2 tablespoons finely chopped peanuts
1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Cut bananas in half and insert a wooden popsicle stick into the cut end of each half. Freeze until firm (about ten minutes). Combine cereal, chocolate chips and peanuts in a shallow bowl, mix well. Uncover frozen bananas and brush with corn syrup. Roll bananas in cereal mixture to cat. Loosely wrap each coated banana with plastic wrap. Store in freezer for about ten minutes or until serving time. Serve frozen.

This post is part of Kelly's SUYL desserts!

Sweet Chicken Tacos

Oh, we loved these! Its such a yummy sauce and this chicken would be great (and gluten free!) served over quinoa or rice, or just on a hamburger bun as well as on tacos :)

3 tbsp. Butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. dried mustard
1 c. Ketchup
2 tbsp. White wine Vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar instead)
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 c. Brown Sugar (I used about 3/4 cup maple syrup instead)
about 2 lbs chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

Melt butter on medium low heat. Add onions and saute. Mix all ingredients (except chicken) until sugar is melted. Then add chicken and let simmer until juices are absorbed in chicken.

Serve with:

Flour Tortilla's
Shredded Lettuce
Diced Tomatoes
Shredded cheddar cheese
Sour Cream and Guacamole
Enjoy!

found at: http://24hourmenu.blogspot.com/2008/07/sweet-chicken-tacos_20.html

Macaroni Grill Chicken Cannelloni

I love Macaroni Grill, but we hardly ever go there because my hubby doesn't really care for it. So I was pretty excited to find this recipe online! If my baby doesn't come this week, I'll try it and let you know if its as good as the restaurant! I would imagine that it would freeze pretty well, too.


Cannelloni Filling
8 ounces chicken breast (about 2), cooked thoroughly
1 ounce fresh spinach, chopped
1 ounce sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
16 ounces ricotta cheese
3 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 teaspoon table-ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
12 lasagna pasta sheets, approximate size of 5 x 6 inches

Cannelloni Sauce
16 ounces Asiago cream sauce, or your favorite Alfredo sauce
16 ounces Macaroni Grill tomato sauce, or your favorite
tomato-based pasta sauce
3 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions: Once the chicken breast has been cooked thoroughly, allow it to cool to an internal temperature of 45 degrees F.

Dice the cooled chicken breast into 1/2-inch pieces and place into a large mixing bowl. Add spinach, tomatoes, ricotta, mozzarella, pepper and salt, and mix thoroughly.

Arrange precooked pasta sheets on a cutting board and place two or three rounded tablespoons of filling mixture down the center of each pasta sheet and carefully roll pasta around filling in a cigar fashion. Place the rolled cannelloni, side by side, into an ovenproof shallow baking dish. Place Asiago sauce (or Alfredo sauce) and tomato sauce in bowl and mix until well incorporated. Pour sauce over cannelloni covering completely. Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese over top of sauce. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 20 minutes.

Remove foil and continue to bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until an internal temperature of 165 degrees F is reached. Remove from oven and serve family style or on individual plates garnished with fresh diced tomatoes, and basil or Italian parsley.

Vollmer Farm Poppyseed Salad Dressing

We joined Vollmer Farm's CSA this summer to get some organic, fresh veggies and fruit. I was so excited when they gave us a bottle of their dressing AND the recipe for it! So here it is. I love it! My version does solidify in the fridge so I usually just make enough to last a few days :)

Ingredients:
1 cup olive oil (I used my basic oil blend :)
1/4 cup sugar (I used organic maple syrup instead)
1/2 t. dry mustard
1/4 t. black pepper
1/2 apple cider vinegar
1 t. salt
1/2 t. garlic powder
3/4 T poppy seeds

Directions: Mix all ingredients and shake vigorously. Enjoy!

Basic oil blend for salad dressings

I've been wanting to make my own salad dressing since we eat salads often and are utterly addicted to Ranch or Poppyseed dressings. So I was excited to find this basic oil blend that is super healthy and I can use it in any dressing recipe I find that I like. The basic proportion is to use 2/3 of this mixture to 1/3 of a type of vinegar (my favorite is apple cider vinegar :) I found this blend in THIS book.

Basic oil blend for salad dressing
I cup of coconut oil, gently melted
1 cup of expeller-expressed or cold-pressed sesame oil
1 cup of extra-virgin olive oil

Mix all ingredients together in a glass jar, cover tightly, and store at room temperature

Yummy, healthy home-made cereal

After reading several books and articles about how processed cereal really isn't good for you at all, (click HERE and HERE for an example) I've tried to cook other things for my family for breakfast. Giving up cereal has been really hard for me, because I absolutely love it. I would eat it for several meals a day in college just because it was so yummy and quick :) So I was super excited to find a very healthy recipe for home-made cereal that my toddler, hubby, and I all enjoy! Its from THIS book. Its very crunchy and I prefer to let it sit in the milk for a couple of minutes before eating it. I also love eating it with raisins and bananas :)

Ingredients:
6 cups freshly ground whole wheat or spelt flour
3 cups whole milk, preferably unpasteurized
1 cup water
1/4 cup whey, buttermilk, yogurt, or keifer
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup melted coconut oil or butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. pure organic maple syrup

Directions:
I a large bowl, mix flour with milk, water, and whey, cover and leave at room temp. overnight. In the morning add the remaining ingredients and more water, if needed, to make a pourable batter. Preheat oven to 350. Prepare two 9x13 baking pans with coconut oil and pour half the batter into each. Bake for 35-45 min, until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and lower temp. to 200. Allow cereal to cool and then crumble up onto baking sheets. Bake until completely dry and hard, about an hour (I found that it took several hours to get as crunchy as I wanted it :) To get a uniform size, process briefly in batches in a food processor. Store in airtight containers at room temp.

Cranberry Orange Dip (in a little crockpot)

I love the combo of cranberry and orange and this is pretty healthy, too, since it doesn't have refined sugar in it :) You can reduce the amount of orange zest if you think its too tangy, but I love it! I found it on this website

Ingredients:

--8 oz cream cheese
--2/3 cup shredded swiss cheese
--2 T apple juice
--1/2 tsp orange zest
--1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries

The Directions.

Plug in your Little Dipper to get it started warming up. Shove the block of cream cheese down into it. You may need to squish it in with a spoon. I promise it will fit. Shred the swiss, and add it. Grate the orange and add the zest. Add the apple juice. Cover and let it cook for 45 minutes to an hour. When the cream and swiss cheese have fully melted, stir in the dried cranberries.

Serve with your favorite crackers or apple slices.

Smoky Bacon Wraps

These are not the least bit healthy (ha, ha) but are always a hit at parties, especially with the fellows :) And they are easy!

Ingredients:
1 pound sliced bacon
1 pkg. miniature smoked sausage links
1 cup brown sugar (maple syrup works as well :)

Directions: Cut each bacon strip in half widthwise. Wrap one piece of bacon around each sausage. Place in a foil-lined 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar (or maple syrup). Bake, uncovered, @ 400 for 30-40 minutes til bacon is crisp and sausage is heated through.

This post is a part of KK's SUYL breakfasts!