Magical Granola Dust

I think that every parent walks the line between feeding their kids healthy food and feeding their kids food that they don't have to fight with them over. With my kids being more active lately, they need more energy, and they always seem to be "staaaaaaarving". So, when I can find recipes that they enjoy that are easy and nutritious, I feel like I've hit the jackpot.

Granola dust is one of those recipes. I came across the idea from a Jamie Oliver recipe, and adapted it to better suit my kids' tastes. It's packed full of nutritional powerhouses like oats, nuts, seeds, and antioxidants, and I tried to keep the sugar down while still making it sweet enough that my kids don't feel tempted to add their own. 

I'm Baaaaaaack... And I Brought Butternut Vanilla Bean Jam!

It's been a while. I'm sorry about that. Life has been hitting hard, and actually reality has been taking priority instead of the blogosphere.

But I'm back, and I think you'll enjoy what I've got. You see, just because I haven't been blogging doesn't mean I haven't been cooking and creating! So, now I have a backlog of recipes to get out to all of you. But let's not get ahead of ourselves...

Today's recipe is one that I'm really thrilled with. Long story short, one of my littles was home sick today, and I got a little extra play time in the kitchen. I had seen a while back a picture of some pumpkin jam, and I found the idea intriguing. Today, my butternut squash called out to me instead, and I decided to throw in some vanilla beans, since I like the combo of vanilla and squash. 

Orange-Spinach Muffins

Saint Patrick's Day is coming soon, and as usual, I'm trying hard to figure out ways to make everything green without using that dropper of food coloring that no one's body really needs.  And, how fortuitous, my local grocery happened to have bunches of organic spinach priced at two for a dollar!  I've done spinach muffins before, using a recipe from Weelicious, and the kids were okay with them, but they were nothing they requested again.  I've also had good luck with a savory Parmesan muffin that included spinach, but that seems more like a hearty winter muffin than a bright springy muffin.  So what flavor could I use to bring in the spring and help sweeten up the spinach flavor to make a sweet, delicious muffin?

I went with orange, and I'm so glad I did! Now, mind you, I don't hide things from my kids, so they all watched as I grabbed a bunch of spinach and threw it in the food processor.  And the looks and comments were quick and skeptical.  "No way that's going to taste good, Mom."  "I don't think I even want to know...or try..."  "Maybe not spinach."

Everyone's a critic.

Until I got the batter mixed and let them have a lick...after which it was, "Wow, I can't wait for these to be baked!" and "Baked?  How about we just eat the batter?"

As we poured the batter into the muffin cups, my middle child suggested that we sprinkle just a little sugar on top...just in case.  And because we like the crunch it gives.

After they were baked, they didn't disappoint.  They were really green, but tasted bright and citrusy.  The kids all ate them with gusto, and before long, they was nothing left but a few tiny green crumbs on the plates.

So, here you are: Orange-Spinach Muffins!

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and prep a muffin pan either by greasing it or putting in liners.

In a food processor, put in about 2 cups loosely packed spinach, and the juice and zest or 2 oranges.  Blend it until it's well chopped and blended.

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 cup of sugar.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl or 4 cup measuring cup, mix the spinach mixture, 1 egg, 1/4 cup oil, and just shy of 1 cup of milk.

Pour the wet mix into the dry mix, and stir until just combined.

Scoop or pour into muffin cups, 3/4 full.  Sprinkle lightly with a large grain sugar and bake for 25 minutes, until starting to turn golden and a toothpick will come out clean.

Enjoy on their own, or with butter or cream cheese.

Honey Poached Pineapple

Some things are too good not to share.  But then again, some things are so good that you want to hoard them all to yourself, and hide in a closet eating a whole bowl of them without sharing with anyone else.  I'll let you decide where this one falls, but I will say this: Honey Poached Pineapple is a revelation.

I feel extremely lucky to have a library that appears to appreciate good cookbooks, and I recently checked out Fresh Happy Tasty, an amazing cookbook by Jane Coxwell.  It's a great source for flavor-packed recipes and gorgeous food-porn type photos.  On first skim, there were at least a dozen recipes that I couldn't imagine not trying, but this one stuck in my head the hardest.  The honey poached pineapple recipe looked simple, but my foodie senses were tingling, especially when she mentioned serving it with fresh mint, because mint and pineapple are one of those flavor combinations that make me absolutely swoon with happiness.  So, I grabbed a fresh pineapple and gave it a go!

It doesn't take long, and I know that a lot of people will scoff at the idea of cooking a pineapple in any way, but I'm telling you right now, this stuff is magical.  It's sweet, but has such great depth of flavor.  Your tongue and your belly will both be happy.  Happier than happy.  Ecstatic!

The original recipe called for half a pineapple, but really, what are you going to do with that other half?  Plus, once you taste the poached pineapple, you're immediately going to regret not making more, so why not just go all out and poach the whole thing?

Now, I'm not sure that I can pull off this first prep paragraph without sounding like a spoiled, pretentious snob, so please note the sarcastic tone in which I'm going to throw it all out there like Martha or Gwyneth, and please bear with me.

When preparing pineapple, I find it best to use the method of Hawaiian natives (or a girl who lived in Hawaii that I met once).  During my time on the islands (honeymoon, over a decade ago), our wonderful guide (on one river kayak tour) demonstrated this traditional (or not) method of slicing a fresh pineapple straight from the pineapple fields (or her knapsack), and I was enticed both by her skill and by the deliciousness of the pineapple (probably because I was starving from all the paddling and that was the first food we'd had in an hour or two).  As the scent of plumeria (which it turns out I am highly allergic too and spent a couple of days with a swollen face from sinus issues) filled the air, I knew that I had found my true Ohana (which means family...I learned that from Lilo and Stitch).

But seriously, that woman did wonders with a knife, and I have used her pineapple prep method ever since.

Cut off the top and the bottom of the pineapple.  Then cut it into quarters.  Slice the outside rind off in strips.  Then take out the hard core with an angled slice.  After that, you can cut it however you need for what you're making.  For this recipe, cut it into cubes, about an inch big.

In a large pan, stir together 2 cups of water and 1 cup of good honey.  Someday I'll write a post all about honey and bees, but for now, suffice it to say that my stance is to get your honey locally.  Bring that to a boil.

Add 2 cinnamon sticks, one vanilla bean that has been sliced lengthwise and had the seeds scraped into the mix, and the zest of an orange.

Reduce the heat and add the pineapple.  Give it all a stir.  The next trick is to take a sheet of parchment paper (the book calls for waxed paper, but you know how I love parchment paper) the size of your pan and crumple it up.  Then uncrumple it and place it on top of the pineapple brew in the pan.  It helps keep more of the liquid in the pan, which, believe you me, is a very good thing.

Simmer it gently for 12-15 minutes.  Check it once in a while to make sure that the simmer is not too vigorous.  The pineapple will deepen it's yellow color, and it should be tender.  And it will smell fantastic!

Take out the cinnamon stick and let it cool slightly before serving.  If you want, you can store it in the fridge for several days.  I took a couple of jars to a friend's house for brunch, and it was a hit with everyone who tried it.

The suggestions in the book are to try it over yogurt with a little granola.  Mine never made it that far.  My preferred method is to spoon it into a bowl and then eat every last morsel, including sipping the poaching liquid.

This dish is sweet enough to stand as a dessert as well, and would be great as a healthy end to a meal.  It's full of flavor, and feels like a real treat, but without a ton of added ingredients.  Truly phenomenal.

Honey Cardamom Dutch Baby

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you might already know that I am big on breakfasts.  Bacon is a close friend of mine.  Muffins and I are tight.  Waffles practically stood up for me in my wedding.  You get the idea.  I just love breakfast foods!

So, one of the breakfast foods that I think everyone should make at least once in their life is a good Dutch baby.  And I'm not just saying that because I'm half Dutch.  They are simple, gorgeous, and delicious.  Everything I adore in a breakfast food!

Potato Leek Pancakes

Chicago has a great holiday tradition of holding a Chriskindlmarket downtown, and, of course, I go there for the food.  I have to grab my tiny ceramic boot of mulled wine (more for the boot than the wine), the bite-sized nibbles of glazed gingerbread, the aromatic candied nuts, and a plate full of the crispy hot latkes.  My family has learned the routine, minus the wine for the kiddios, and we look forward to heading down and gorging ourselves through the market.

But there are times when you want a good latke and there doesn't happen to be a handy Old World German market around.  Then, you have to take matters into your own hands.
One of the things I love about doing the CSA and my garden is being able to stretch the veggies out into the winter.  I had a bed full of leeks in my garden, and they have kept pretty well in my fridge for months!  And the CSA brought us plenty of potatoes that keep very well in the pantry.  And leeks and potatoes happen to be an awesome combination!

Potato leek soup is pretty much a given, but once in a while, I like to stretch and make some Potato Leek Pancakes.  Same great combo of the oniony flavor of the leeks and the starchy potatoes, but in snackable bites!

Honey Nasturtium Muffins

So, I have to admit...the kitchen alchemist in me has been at work again.  This time, I present to you: Honey Nasturtium Muffins!

The inspiration behind this was pretty basic.  Flowers and honey.  I started looking at the nasturtiums growing in my garden and trying to think of new ways to use them.  Nasturtiums have a radish-like peppery flavor, and as I watch a bee dive in and out of flowers, I started thinking about how that might work with the sweetness of honey.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Overnight Waffles

I've talked before about my love of Mollie Katzen's overnight waffle recipe.  The waffles come out just perfectly: crisp, light, full of flavor, yet able to take on whatever we want to throw on top.  At some points of the year, it's almost a weekly thing.  And while "overnight" would imply that it's time consuming and labor intensive, it is simple and (except for the overnight sit) quick.

The only problem with the original recipe is that we needed more waffles!  But a double batch was too many.  I found that a batch and a half worked out about right, and we still have a waffle or two to freeze for popping in the toaster another morning.  So, here's what I did, recipe adapted from Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe by Mollie Katzen.

May's Preserve Trifecta Part Three: Honey Lavender Apricot Butter

Okay, so we've gone over the Meyer Lemon Rosemary Marmalade and the Rosemary Rhubarb Jelly from the amazing cookbook Preserving by the Pint, so that means that it's time for the last one I promised you: Honey-Sweetened Apricot Lavender Butter!

My family goes nuts for the short apricot season, and every spring, when I see those first apricots hit the markets, I know that they're going to be tough and tart, not sweet and squishy like they should be, but I almost always end up buying them anyway.  Those fuzzy little flirts.  This recipe is fantastic because even if your apricots are less than perfect, they cook down into a nice fruit butter.  The sweetness of the honey and the floral notes of the lavender round it out nicely, making it a perfect early summer spread to enjoy on your back porch.

May's Preserve Trifecta Part Two: Rosemary Rhubarb Jelly

All right, so I've already shared the Meyer Lemon Rhubarb Marmalade, and now it's time to continue on the rhubarb train with Rosemary Rhubarb Jelly, another great recipe I tried from Preserving by the Pint!

Banana Lavender Honey Cake

So, it happened again.

Against my will, a culinary worm entered my brain and refused to be ignored.  "Banana lavender honey cake," it whispered.  "Dooooooo iiiiiiiiiit."

We did have really brown bananas sitting on the counter...and lavender and honey in the pantry...so it was pretty much meant to be.

Crunchy Millet Muffins

As someone who enjoys cooking and eating, I have a lot of bizarre stuff in my cupboards.  One time, a friend of mine counted 8 different kids of rice in my pantry.  Which, for me, is not an oddity.  One of the things in my pantry that is usually there but that I have a mental block with using is millet.  I love the taste of millet, and the crunch of it, but I don't have a lot of good recipes that use millet, and I have a hard time finding ways to incorporate it into the family's meal circuit.

Millet is a grain, most popularly found in...well...birdseed.  I know, I know.  But it's also a staple crop in many parts of the world.  It's also kind of a "superfood".  Millet is full of iron and calcium, as well as B vitamins, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, and potassium.  It's also gluten-free.  Oh, and Koval distillery makes a mean millet whiskey.

Sorrel Cardamom Muffins

Sometimes, I get a culinary idea in my head and I just can't shake it.  I am driven, like an insane artist, to create whatever it is that takes hold of me.  Sometimes it's genius, sometimes a disaster.

Meet sorrel.  Sorrel is a leafy herb.  It's tangy and tart, and very refreshing.  It's fun to mix in salads, soups, and even drinks.  I got some on a whim and planted it last year, not realizing that it was a perennial.  Until it was the first thing to pop up in my garden this year, that is.

Speck 'o the Green - Lemon Zucchini Muffins

So, I can't let St. Patrick's Day pass without throwing a "green" recipe your way.  But I also have a little sickie at home today who woke me up at 4 this morning, so I'll make this short and sweet.  (Get it?  Sweet?  Because we're making muffins!  Which are sweet!  Ha ha ha.)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Grease or paper your muffin tin.  I like these as mini muffins, but regular muffin size will work as well.

As with almost all muffins, you want to mix your dry ingredients together, your wet ingredients together, and then combine the two with minimal stirring.  So, here we go.

Breadveggies: Gingered Carrot Zucchini Bread

If you've ever planted a zucchini plant, you're probably familiar with how overwhelming they can be once they start producing.  There's even a "Leave a Zucchini on Your Neighbor's Porch" day.  I try to shred and freeze as much as I can to keep up with it, and that means that I have a frozen stash of zucchini on hand for most of the rest of the year until the next garden zucchini-fest comes around.

I'm always on the lookout for ways to use that zucchini, and this Gingered Carrot Zucchini bread recipe is one of my go-to's for several reasons.  One: it is delicious.  Two: it is easy.  Three: the recipe makes 2 loaves at once, so I can either give one away or freeze it for later.  Four: it's a nice way to show kids that vegetables aren't scary.  I mean, this bread has not one, but TWO vegetables in it, and it's fantastic!

Banana Snack Cake...No, Even Better...Banana BACON Snack Cake!

I'm not a huge baker, but I do love a good quick bread or muffin that I can throw together and see results quickly.  I love having something warm from the oven for an afternoon snack for my kids to come in from the cold to.

I also like recipes for getting rid of mushy bananas.  My family tends to go through banana phases, where sometimes I can't buy enough, and then other times, I'll get 5 and 3 of them will go brown.  I hate being wasteful, so I package and freeze the mushy ones for baking, if I'm not ready to bake with them right then.  I have quite a few bags of mushy bananas in my freezer at any given point.

Cinnamix and Cinnaminis - Reinventing "Sweet Cinnamon Sprinkle"

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I'm not big on processed food.  But you also probably realize that I take everything in a balance.  Sometimes, there are the rare processed foods that I use because either there are no good natural substitutes for and I can't live without them, or there are better options but they are amazingly time-consuming and high-effort.

Then, sometimes, that food gets discontinued, and my hand is forced.

What this all about?  Cinnamon rolls.  You see, Pampered Chef had this wonderful little "spice mix" called Sweet Cinnamon Sprinkle.  And on the label of this spice mix was a recipe for Easy Cinnamon Rolls.  And that recipe delivered what it promised in its name.  They were easy, they were cinnamony, and they were great for a breakfast treat.  I'd whip some up maybe a couple of times a month, easy enough to do on school mornings, and they were always a big hit.

Cornmeal Waffles

My family is big on breakfast.  For little Mr. Picky, it's probably the only meal all day that I can be sure he will eat really well, so I try to make it a good one.  Pancakes and waffles are always a hit.

Waffles used to intimidate me.  Like, a lot.  But some recipes, like Cooking Light's Bacon Maple Waffles would be so irresistible that I would overcome that hesitation.  Then I found Mollie Katzen's recipe for Amazing Overnight Waffles, and waffles became a regular occurrence.  It creates the most perfect waffles: tangy, crisp, delicious.  But the fact is that I don't always have my act together enough to remember or think to prep batter the night before.

Enter a Better Homes and Gardens breakfast magazine, and their recipe for Cornmeal Buttermilk Waffles.  Quick, easy, made of things that I usually have on hand (except the buttermilk...we'll get to that!), and just different enough to be interesting.

Here's what you do:  Get your waffle maker prepped.  For me, that means spraying it down with coconut oil and plugging it in to heat.  You want it to be nice and hot when those first waffles go in, so it doesn't turn into a sticky mess.  I have a 4-square Belgian Krups that we've had since we got married.  It's got dings and smudges and it has a wonky leg that I have to keep re-supergluing, and there are probably fancier machines on the market, but with some things, I'm just a "stick to what works" kind of gal.

Nutty Sweetness...Oh, and I Made Chestnut Jam Too.

I have a thing for chestnuts.  And yes, I'm starting to realize that I say that about a lot of foods, but it's true.  Different foods are, in some ways, like books to me.  They can transport me to another place or time, bring back memories, or open my eyes to new horizons.

Chestnuts are one of those foods for me.  They always make me feel like I'm on a picnic in the European countryside, or cooking with an elderly woman in her Italian villa, or walking down the dark streets of London in winter with some roasted chestnuts to warm my cold hands, or snacking with friends in my Parisian dream kitchen (although they never snack in France, so that one is a stretch).  Those fantasies are actually a little odd, now that I think of it, because some of my favorite chestnut snacks come from the Asian market, where I can't read 90 percent of the packages, but if I see a picture of a chestnut, I will snatch it up and gobble it down.  Tiny round pancakes sandwiched with a rich chestnut jam are always the first thing I head for at the candy shop in Chinatown.  But somehow, they still feel very European to me.

Catching the Gingerbread Man

It snowed here yesterday.  Enough to pile up and stick.  The kids immediately put out the bowl for snow caramel, and I immediately took beef out of the freezer to slow roast into a delicious stew.  We had a Christmas pageant at church that all 3 kids were in, and then we drove around on our annual tradition of seeing some holiday light shows.  By the time we got home, Chinese take-out in hand, it was a bit late for us to send the kiddos out into the snow, and everyone was pretty wiped out anyway.

Today, the kids all were excited about the snow.  The girls left to their bus stop 5 minutes early for the "annual traditional" first snow snowball fight.  Little man was upset that I had to drive to drop him off this morning because I screwed up my foot last week, so he settled with knocking snow off of everything he could get his hands on before I told him to get in the car, and a promise from me that he could have some snow time after school.