Lunch with my ladies!

We don't just like pizza, we LUV pizza. My oldest says the pizza we make at home is "Dangerous pizza! Because it tastes so good you want to eat it all!" So today my lunch with my little ladies was all their favorite toppings on a quesadilla! I know, not a new concept, but it was just so tasty I had to share. One of my secrets is to use tomato paste so it doesn't get soggy and instead of Italian seasonings, we use Dilly Herb blend so it tastes like the cheesy breadsticks from our favorite pizza delivery. I like things a little spicier so I add a bit of crushed red pepper to mine. Super yum!

And we really like the thick slices of the Open Nature uncured salami. Lots of flavor but not too spicy for the girls.

Dutch Babies!

One or more of the girls have been sick with a head cold in the last two weeks. It finally caught me and the last few days have been miserable. Last night was the first decent sleep I've had in about 4 night. So today with some newly found energy, I decided to make a yummy breakfast treat! Dutch babies! Apple cinnamon Dutch babies to be exact. And while I was at it, why not make an apple syrup to go with?! It came out so good, and while it has a lot of steps it really didn't take that long and it was SOOO worth it! My littlest declared it "Dwishes Mama!" Don't you just love toddler speak? Anyhow, here is a drool worth picture and the step by steps. Please try it and let me know what you think.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Meyer lemon

3/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp cinnamon 

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 large apple

3 eggs

1/2 cup half and half

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/2 cup AP flour

4 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup apple juice.

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 425*

2) Into a small sauce pan add the zest from the lemon, juice from 1/2 the lemon, 1/4 cup of the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Set asside.

3) Peal and core the apple (I used Fuji). Cut it into quarters, then each quarter into 3 wedges for a total of 12 wedges. Then chop each wedge into 1/4 pieces. Add the chopped apples to the sauce pan, tossing to coat. Place over medium low heat and let simmer, stirring occasionally.

4) Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and set aside. Add remaining 2 tablespoons to a large 10 or 12 inch cast iron skillet (or any frying pan that can be used in the oven), and place in the oven to melt the butter and preheat the skillet.

5) This is a good time to check on the apples and stir them. Next, beat the eggs, half and half, and almond extract in a large bowl. Add the flour and whisk until thoroughly combined. I like to use an immersion blender but a whisk will work just fine. Lastly add the melted butter and whisk or blend forming the pancake batter. Set aside.

6) Drain apples, returning liquid to the pan. Set aside.

7) Remove cast iron skillet from the oven. Tilt to coat with the melted butter. Add the pancake batter into the skillet. Sprinkle apples on top. Return the skillet to the oven and bake until a medium brown and puffed up (10-12 minutes). Turn off the heat and let the pancake sit in the cooling oven for an additional 10 minutes. Pancake will puff up during cooking and deflate while it cools.

8) While the pancake is cooking, finish the apple syrup. Add the 1/2 cup apple juice and remaining 1/2 a cup sugar to the the liquid from the cooked apples. Squeeze the remaining 1/2 a lemon into the mixture & heat over medium low heat, stirring occasionally. The syrup will be ready when the pancake is ready.

9) Slice the pancake, drizzle with the apple syrup, and enjoy!

Fall Smoothie

The farmers market was glorious this past weekend! We picked up delicious organic strawberries, perfect bok choy, adorable baby potatoes, raw peanuts, crisp apples, raw honey, beautiful fuyu persimmons, fantastic pluots, and the makings for some really tasty pico salsa. We are still able to get the best of summer fruits and veggies, at the same time get yummy fall favorites. We are so blessed here in California! 

This morning I combined 2 of our weekends treasures, raw honey & fuyu persimmons with some pantry goods to make a fantastic creamy non dairy smoothie! Wonderful fall flavor packed into a cool summer treat! My 3 girls and I gulped it down. I'll need to make a double batch next time!

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup water

1/3 cup slivered almonds

1 cup cooked pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

2 fuyu persimmons

1/2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp stevia

2 tsp raw honey

Pinch of salt

ice cubes (if you want it cold)

DIRECTIONS: 

Throw it all into a high powered blender and process until smooth. 

NOTES: You can use all stevia or all honey if you want. I tried it with the stevia first and felt like something was missing. I added the pinch of salt and the honey and it was perfect! The honey added a depth that was lacking. You could also make it with almond milk instead of water or add some chia seeds if you are looking for more protein. Enjoy!

D is for Donut!

Each Friday as part of our homeschool preschool, we end the week in the kitchen making some sort of yummy treat. And this week we made quite possible THE BEST THING TO EVER COME OUT OF MY KITCHEN!! We made baked apple cider donut holes. Maybe they don't count in your book as donut holes because they aren't fried in a vat of oil. Fine. Call them a muffin, call them whatever your creative heart comes up with. Just make them. I promise you'll fall in love. You might even get someone to fall in love with you if you can manage to share them. They are THAT good.

I INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE BATTER

1 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 egg, beaten 

1/2 cup apple cider (I used Trader Joe's)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Non-stick cooking spray

FOR THE SUGAR COATING

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp cinnamon 

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp ground ginger

2 Tbsp melted butter

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Spray with a mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

3) In a large mixing bowl, add all they dry ingredients and mix with a whisk. Set aside.

4) In a small sauce pan over medium heat combine the cider, sugar, vinegar, & butter until the butter is melted and everything is combined. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, stirring to combine.

5) Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until there are no lumps.

6) Fill each mini muffin cup 2/3 full with batter.  I use a small ice cream scoop.

7) Bake at 350 degrees for 6-7 minutes. 

8) While the donut holes are baking, make the sugar coating. In a small bowl melt the butter for the sugar coating in the microwave. Set aside. In another small bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Set aside.

9) Allow to donut holes cool in the pan for two minutes. Remove each muffin and dip the top in melted butter, then roll in the sugar and spice mixture. Do this for each donut hole and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Enjoy right away. You can store left overs in an air tight container - if you have any!

Night Before Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal

We are at the end of the month and getting low on groceries. Last night I was racking my brain trying to figure out what I could make for breakfast. I scoured my pantry and then Pinterest. Apparently I'm late to the game with this whole baked oatmeal thing. There are tons of recipes out there and I will definitely be trying out more. And as usual, I tweaked a few recipes to come up with something that worked for our tastes and what I had in the house. I really liked that I can make this the night before and then just pop it in the oven in the morning. Everyone loved this for breakfast with a dollop of jam (the kids had apricot while I indulged in some peach bourbon vanilla jam. Oh so good!) You could change it up by adding dried fruit like cherries. Or I could also see adding chocolate chips for an afternoon snack. Mmmm. Peanut butter and chocolate. I might have to make me some of those tomorrow!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup milk

2 Tbsp butter, melted

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp almond extract

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups old fashioned oats

DIRECTIONS:

1) Liberally grease an 8 x 8 inch pan with butter. 

2) In a bowl, whisk the wet ingredients until combined: milk, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, peanut butter and brown sugar. 

3) Add in the oats, baking powder, and salt, mixing well. Pour into your prepared 8 x 8 pan.

4) Cover and refrigerate overnight. 

5) In the morning, take it out of the fridge, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake it for 30-40 minutes.

B is for Bodacious Bubbles!

We had a blast in our home school preschool today! We are studying the letter B, so today was Bodacious Bubble Day! First I had the girls use straws to blow in a bowl of really soapy water. I just used dawn. We talked about the size of the bubbles when you blow with all your might vs the size of bubbles when you blow gently. My 4 year old really got into it and observed all sorts of things about the bubbles. She loved it.  My 3 year old on the other hand, accidentally sucked the soapy water up the straw and after much tears & sputtering declared she didn't think she wanted to do bubbles anymore. I guess I should have been more specific in my instructions. Sometimes I forget that is she ONLY three.

Next, I made a bubble blower out of a clean toddler sock, a small 8oz water bottle. and a rubber band. There are various blogs that say to cut off the sock & use duck tape to secure the sock to the bottle. I wanted to be able to use the socks again, and since it is just dish soap and water, we will toss the now REALLY clean wet socks into the next load of laundry. The rubber band seemed to keep the sock on just fine for us. If however you are willing to sacrifice the socks, go check out Rainbow Bubble Snakes on the Housing A Forest blog! Totally cool! I might even try the rainbow bubble snakes in the bathtub with the kiddos when it gets too cold to play outside.

Bubble snakes! Even my 3 year old gave it another go after seeing all the fun!

My 4 year old REALLY loved this activity and kept playing for over 45 minutes!

And then we just had fun playing with the big piles of bubbles all over the grass. Good clean fun!

Not Your Typical Banana Bread

This week in our home school preschool we are studying the letter B. In preparation I bought bananas early in the week last week so that they would be perfect for our cooking segment. I found an unusual vegan coconut maple banana bread recipe over at Honeyed Home that I wanted to try. There is a great shortcut Michelle mentions for ripening bananas if yours are not quite banana bread ready - definately go check out her site.

I tweaked the recipe based on what I had on hand (for example I didn't want to use ALL my bananas, so I added peaches which needed to be used). I also added a maple glaze for extra yumminess. I brought it to share with my bible study ladies, and my kiddos gobbled the remaining leftovers. It was gone so fast, I forgot to get a picture! The girls and I will be making this recipe into muffins in a few days, so I'll update with a pic of those.

Maple Peach Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS:

2 very ripe small bananas

1 cup cooked peaches

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup almond meal

1/4 cup flax meal

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1/2 cup organic coconut oil, melted at room temperature

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Coconut oil spray

GLAZE:

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp melted Earth Balance spread

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan with coconut oil spray.

2) In a large bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients.

3) In a food processor blend all the wet ingredients.

4) Add wet ingredients the the dry ingredients and fold until just combined. 

5) The batter will be thick like a brownie batter. Dump the batter into your prepared loaf pan and spread with a spatula.

6) Bake for 45 - 50 minutes or until it is golden brown and passes the toothpick test.

7) Once the bread is completely cool, mix all the glaze ingredients and drizzle on the bread.