A few weeks ago, my new friend Amy shared this recipe with me. We were talking about breakfast fatigue. I definitely get in breakfast slumps. For a little while, I’d pretty given up on making breakfast and kept a well-stocked dry cereal shelf the kids could reach themselves. They started getting their own cereal (dry) before we got up. Too bad that only lasted a few weeks. Oatmeal, breakfast burritos, quesadillas, smoothies, bagels, cinnamon toast, baked oatmeal, muffins, waffles, pancakes. What else is there? Finnish pancakes! These are nothing like your typical lumberjack pancakes. Think: popover.

While this is easy to make, it is not a “last minute” breakfast item. You need to let the batter sit for about 30 mins and you also need the baking time – about 15-20 minutes. I have a feeling after you’ve made it a few times you can get it going first thing when you wake up or hopefully, do it in your sleep!

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 c all purpose flour (I used 1/2 c flour & 1/4 c whole wheat flour)
3/4 c milk
3 eggs
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c butter
optional: I added a TBSP milled flax seed & 1 TBSP chia seeds

TOPPING (optional)
powdered sugar
whipped cream
fresh fruit

**NOTE: This is half the original recipe. I used (1) 9″ pie pan but it’s supposed to be enough for (2) pie pans. I just didn’t have 2!**

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, milk, eggs, sugar, and salt until smooth. Let stand for about 30 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Add butter to a 9″ pie pan or I think you could use a cast iron skillet or a 9″ skillet as long as it is oven safe (and NOT Teflon coated!) I used a 9″ glass pie pan. Anyway, add the butter to it – yep, just PLOP it in there and place in the oven. When butter is melted, remove from oven, brush butter to coat entire pan and add batter.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Edges should be puffed and rise quite high.

Whatever you do, find a way to resist the temptation to open & close the oven to see how high it is!!

Dust with powdered sugar.

And slice!

Adapted from:”The Great Scandinavian Baking Book” by Beatrice Ojakagas

This is a really simple one to keep in your back pocket! You probably already have all the ingredients. Make sure you have 2-3 lemons though.

You need:

INGREDIENTS
1/2 c butter, melted
1 c sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 c milk
1/3 c lemon juice
1/4 c sugar

This is a 2 bowl endeavor which isn’t bad.

Preheat oven to 325.

1. In a large bowl, combine the sugar and butter.

2. Add eggs and lemon juice. Mix.

3. Add salt, flour & baking powder. Mix. (Normally I whisk together dry ingredients in a separate bowl but I didn’t do it this time and it came out perfect!)

4. Add milk and mix till just combined.

5. Fill well-greased loaf pan with batter and bake for 1 hour or until golden brown.

6. In a small bowl, combine 1/3 c lemon juice and 1/4 c sugar. Use a toothpick to poke holes in the top of the cake. Drizzle the lemon juice/sugar mixture over the top of the cake.

Yum!

Source: Food.com

Do you ever eat these?

(Photo taken from the Larabar website!)

We used to take them when we went hiking, skiing or kayaking. Those were the days! I always preferred these to Power Bars (old school), Tiger’s Milk & even Cliff Bars thinking they were less processed/chemically.

Also, I wanted something portable for the kids & me that wasn’t loaded with extra sugar. I can’t believe how easy they are to make. These are great little energy bars – and a healthy power snack to keep in your purse.

I think they also help keep you regular. If you know what I mean.

You should be able to get everything at your regular grocery. Nothing fills me with dread more than the thought of a trip to Whole Foods. I actually like the store but it’s not near my house, it’s pricey & it’s just a li’l too much sometimes. Holy cow I was amazed to find everything I needed at Ralph’s & Trader Joe’s!

Here’s what you’ll need:

INGREDIENTS:
1 c dried blueberries
2 c cashews
1 c dates, pitted (Medjool work best)
1/2 a vanilla bean
zest of one lemon

1. Toss blueberries in your food processor. I know, I know, in the past I’ve bragged about using my blender for everything. And I did this time too. But if you are lucky enough to have a food processor – use it.

Dump blueberries into a large bowl.

2. Now process your cashews. They should be in a fine dust. Not like mine. Here’s where things went wrong. (I chopped the dates first but they made the stickiest, crazy mess so I decided next time I’ll do the cashews first.) Anyway, by the time I got to the cashews my blender had had it. It smelled like smoke and then the two black rotors with black rubber teeth, that need to stay clenched together, melted down, spewing black rubber, followed by a VERY BAD SOUND and a less bad but still bad SMELL. After that, the blender ceased to function.

Is this where bragging gets you?

Anyway, that explains the whole cashews in my bars. Yours won’t have those. But if they do, big deal?

Before the blowout.

Add the chopped cashews to your bowl.

3. Now chop the dates. This’ll be an ooey gooey sticky mess. Like someone stepped on a giant raisin. Except in your blender. Only you’ll be using your food processor for this.

I did the blueberries & dates first!

Add ‘em to the bowl.

4. Finally, add the lemon zest & scrape out the innards of a half of a vanilla bean. That’s that really dark stuff on top.

5. This ain’t pretty but knead it by hand. You’ll want to combine it as thoroughly as you can unless you don’t mind biting into a pure clump of lemon zest.

Could my hand BE any less photogenic? Oh wait, that’s what it actually looks like in person.

6. Spread the mixture into the bottom of an 8×8 (or something close) baking dish. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes before cutting.

Bea loves ‘em!

Maddie feels differently about them.

What’s Maddie doing back there? Who didn’t fold the laundry?

These will keep well in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks according to internet lore…

Source: Use Real Butter

I have this new favorite cookbook – “Super Natural Every Day” and I am always daydreaming about the recipes. Sometimes I get caught up on ingredients I am missing but today I said “What the hey?” and made this otsu with what I had on hand. You’ll see firsthand where I made a mistake learned something.

Btw: this has TOFU in it. People have different reactions to tofu as a foodstuff depending on their experience or non-experience with it. If you’ve never tried it and are scared (is scared too strong a word?) I urge you to challenge yourself to go out of your comfort zone. Anyone who knows my husband, G, knows that he is a self-proclaimed “meat-a-tarian” with a limited palate. But he likes fried tofu. Hell, he likes fried anything pretty much. Anyway, the tofu in this dish is fried and my kids love it. It’s NOT slimy! It’s like a french fry. (Yuuuummmm, french fries!!!!) Anyway, you have to laugh at the irony of being scared of a plant based product but eating dead animals without hesitation. Especially when you think about what those animals are being fed and what is being injected into them to make them fat as well as to keep them alive despite pretty gnarly conditions. Enough with my (run-on) rant. Try this tofu! What’s the worst thing that can happen?

This is an amazing dish – the wholesome buckwheat noodles are coated in a complexly flavored sesame paste. Tofu rounds out the dish.

YOU NEED:

INGREDIENTS:
1 tsp pine nuts (if you don’t have pine nuts, double the sunflower seeds)
1 tsp sunflower seeds
1/2 c sesame seeds
1-1/2 TBSP sugar
1-1/2 TBSP soy sauce or tamari
1-1/2 tsp mirin (Japanese sake – I got it at Ralph’s)
scant 1 TBSP toasted sesame oil
2 TBSP rice vinegar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
sea salt
12 oz soba noodles
12 oz extra firm tofu
olive oil
1 bunch green onions, sliced thin on a diagonal

All the ingredients listed are from Ralph’s, Trader Joe’s, Costco or my garden. None are from specialty stores. I had the ingredients from my regular monthly/weekly shopping excursions.

**NOTE: as always, I changed some of the ingredients to make them more accessible. I’m not sure how Heidi Swanson would feel about it and I’m sure it changes the flavors but my goal is to make recipes do-able without going to any special stores just for that dish. When you have a 1-1/2 year old who refuses to sit in a shopping cart, responds to her carseat as it if were doused in battery acid, and delights in running down an aisle with her arm out to knock EVERY box of cereal off the shelf, more than a Xanax, you need to keep it simple.**

TOFU PREP TUTORIAL
If you’re not familiar with preparing tofu – this part is for you. If you’re an old pro – you will want to skip this section.

Tofu comes in a little pool of water. You need to get rid of most of that water before you fry it because you know what they say about oil and water? They don’t mix. In fact they splatter all over you. Also, think of the tofu as a sort of sponge for flavors. The more water you get out of it the more flavors it can absorb. In this recipe, you’re getting the water out for better frying since we’re just salting it.

Here’s my method:
- Remove the tofu from its package over the sink.
- Slice tofu in a few large flat pieces (3 or 4)
- Place slices together on half of a paper towel atop half of a kitchen towel (the paper towel keeps any grody fuzzies or bits & pieces that were on your kitchen towel from touching your tofu)

- Fold the the other half of the paper towel & kitchen towel over the top of the tofu, covering it completely.

- Place something heavy but not too heavy atop. I use a cast iron skillet. This presses the water out of the tofu and into the towels.

Try to press your tofu for about 15 minutes if you can.
After 15 minutes, you are ready to cut your tofu into whatever size pieces you’d like. I usually cut mine into 1×2″ pieces.

Ok. So anyway, press your tofu first thing.

Did you do it? Great! Let’s start…

1. Toast the pine nuts & sunflower seeds in a large skillet over medium heat. If you don’t have pine nuts, just substitute more sunflower seeds.
Be sure to toss them in the pan often. Those pine nuts can burn quickly! I should know, I just burned a bunch. After about a minute, add the sesame seeds.

The second you start smelling the sesame seeds, remove from heat. You are making the sesame paste now in case you didn’t realize it!

This year I’ve made it a personal challenge to make ice cream, bread, pesto, pastes (that is not a typo – I haven’t tried to make pasta yet), pizzas and soups all without an ice cream maker, bread machine, food processor, pizza stone or stand mixer. My opinion: you don’t NEED most of that stuff! That said, I WANT a pizza stone but as for all the other expensive stuff clogging up my tiny countertops – this appliances can s____ it! I do, however, concede to the usefulness of the mandolin which I also do not currently own. But that’s another story… Another WANT not a NEED.

Regardless & irregardless of what you have or don’t have, need or don’t need, you are about to make a paste that calls for a mortar & pestle but which I’m here to assure you can be made just as easily in a regular old grotty old blender. Here we go!

2. Crush seeds/nuts with a mortar pestle. What? You KNOW I don’t have one! I crushed them in my blender.

The seeds look like sand.

Damp sand.

3. Add the sugar, mirin, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and cayenne pepper to the “sand” mixture.

Stir to combine thoroughly & adjust any ingredients to your taste.

It should look something like this.

5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Read the soba noodles package direction before you go any further. They don’t cook like typical pasta.

The soba noodles will expand quite a lot so you really will need a large pot! Add salt to the water & cook according to package directions. **NOTE: save about 1/3 c of the cooking water just before draining.**

Drain the noodles when done & rinse under cold running water. (They will stick together in a huge clump if you don’t do that!)

6. Put your cut tofu into a bowl & toss with a little olive oil & salt.

Heat a large skillet to medium high and toss your tofu in there. This time I tossed in there helper skelter but usually I lay all my tofu out in neat lines as I find it easier to turn. Another instance of OCD which doesn’t seem to spill over into my housekeeping. Flip occasionally – tofu should be golden brown on all sides but not tough and chewy. Taste one to see how it is.

This is what it looks like as some of the sides are browned. You still want to try to brown those paler sides but if you miss some – no biggie.

Mmmmm a nice pile of fried tofu!

7. You’re almost done!! Save 1 heaping TBSP of the sesame paste.

Water down the rest with that 1/3 c of reserved pasta water. If you forgot to save it, just use 1/3 c of hot water. Transfer your soba to a large mixing bowl & pour the thinned paste/sauce over it along with half the green onions.

Toss to combine. Serve topped with a dollop of the sesame paste & green onions. Beautiful!

That reminds me! I forgot to tell you what I learned. When I started making this I realized I was out of sesame seed oil but I DID have some Hot Chili Sesame Seed Oil in my fridge. I thought, “I’ll just use half the amount.” The sesame paste definitely had a VERY noticeable kick to it after I did that. This really makes me mad sometimes! I spend a lot of time & energy on a dish only to do something to make it 100% inedible to the girls. You know, something like serve it with live snakes or add carrots. Or green onions. This time I played dumb about the spice factor but stealthily passed out unasked for cups of milk along with the food. AMAZING!! They both ate a lot. And drank a LOT of milk!

Next time I will use plain sesame seed oil… (Trader Joe’s has it cheapest btw.)

Hoo boy – I bought this head of cauliflower at the Farmer’s Market on Wednesday because it was $1.00. I thought I’d roast it and eat it, standing at the counter, while the kids ate their noodles. But then I realized, since I had a loaf of rustic bread all ready to pop into the oven, I better make a soup to go with it.

Last time I did a cauliflower soup, it was a creamy one with cheddar cheese and a potato. Alas, I had no potatoes having used them up in my Gardener’s Pie last week so I checked out another recipe. It was easy! I was able to do this while unloading the dishwasher, helping someone to various art supplies spread far & wide across the house, and picking up all the toys scattered across the backyard.

But I’m glad you didn’t see the kitchen/house afterwards!

YOU NEED:

INGREDIENTS:
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2-3 carrots, finely diced
2 celery stalks, finely diced
1-1/2 heads cauliflower, roughly chopped (I only had 1)
2 tsp fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried parsley flakes)
2 quarts low-sodium vegetable broth (I used Vegetarian Chicken Bullion)
2 tsp dijon mustard
2/3 c grated cheddar cheese
4 TBSP butter
2 c whole milk
6 TBSP all purpose flour
OPTIONAL: 1 c half & half

1. Saute onion in olive oil over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, until browning, stirring occasionally.

2. Add carrots & celery and cook for another 4 minutes.

I used a red onion because I had it! To me, it made no difference.

Lookit how cute and tinily diced those carrots & celery are.

Tinily?

3. Add the cauliflower & parsley. Hoo boy it’s time for me to get a new parsley plant. I need two going at all times as my poor parsley can’t keep up with the demands placed upon it. This is all I could get!

That “undead” finger is actually my pinky. So photogenic!

I only had one head of cauliflower but next time I’ll use 1-1/2 heads as my soup needed more.

Turn heat way down, cover & cook for about 15 minutes on LOW. Feel free to stir every so often.

4. Add 1 or 1-1/2 quarts of the broth. Save that last 1/2 quart to decide if you need it or not depending on how you like your soup. Heat to boiling, then turn down heat and simmer.

5. Melt butter in a small saucepan. I used the same soup pot I started my soup in until realizing that pot was way too small. So there are a few onions in there. No bigs!

6. Now whisk your milk & flour together. Add that mixture to the melted butter, stirring to combine. **Now here’s an option for you: add 1 c half & half to the white sauce you just made. I didn’t do that b/c I never have half & half in my house.** You will have a thickened sauce. Pour that milk/flour/butter mixture into the soup and stir.

7. Add 2 tsp dijon mustard to the soup as well as 2/3 c grated cheddar cheese. I think mine needed the cheese because I used 1% milk instead of whole milk. If you use whole milk AND half & half, you might want to omit the cheese. Or add it! What, me worry?

Let soup simmer for another 15 minutes. Add salt & black pepper to taste!

Serve with rustic bread

& grated cheddar to top.

Thank you.

Bea ate 2 bowls of soup. Btw: who noticed the dog bite on her (camera) left cheek?

Adapted from two different recipes at The Pioneer Woman & Annie’s Eats.