Pancakes From Scratch

Description: I wanted so badly to find a pancake recipe that worked for my family. I just couldn't find one. So here is what I came up with after many failed attempts.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

4 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

5 Tbsp. canola oil

1 1/2 cups goat's milk or water or whatever kind of milk you use

2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed mixed with 4 Tbsp. hot water

3 tsp. baking powder

Preparation: Sift dry ingredients together and then set aside. Mix wet ingredients together in bowl. Add dry ingredients a little at a time until completely combined. Heat griddle and brush on oil. Once hot you can start pouring pancakes. To make mine the same size I use a scoop with the scraper inside to pour them onto the griddle. Once bubbles are formed and begin to pop, you are ready to flip over. Serve warm with whatever kind of butter substitute you use and maple syrup . The unused pancakes will freeze nicely for a hurried morning. You can defrost in the microwave and then pop in the toaster and your family will have homemade pancakes even on the busiest morning.

Alterations: You can add just about any kind of fruit to this batter. We like to use blueberries, apples and even sliced bananas to the top of the pancake before flipping over. I also added Enjoy Life chocolate chips one time for a special treat!

Rating: My kids give this 5 stars. It doesn't compare to pancakes you would order at a restaurant, but we think it is a good allergy friendly recipe for pancake lovers.

Avocado (Fake) Milkshake

Description: I know it sounds gross, but my kids love it! We eat a lot of avocados in our home due to the high fat diet my son must be on. This is one of those crazy concoctions I found on line and made it work for our family.

Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado

1 1/2 cups goat's milk or whatever kind of milk you use

3 Tbsp. sugar

2 scoops Rice Dream, vanilla flavored

Preparation: Slice avocado in half lengthwise and remove seed. Scoop out and dump into a blender. Add all of the ingredients into blender. Puree or crush, or whatever your setting says to do for a milkshake. If it is too runny just add a few cubes of ice and puree again until ice is crushed.

Alterations: You could use a vanilla flavored milk in this drink with great success. And, coconut milk ice cream is a very creamy alternative.

Rating: I have to give this 4 stars because I couldn't convince my husband to try it no matter how much I begged. The kids, however finished off their milkshake and asked for another, but I was out of avocados.

Red Beans and Rice

Description: I am from New Orleans. Enough said?! We eat red beans and rice almost every Monday night.

Ingredients:

1 pound of red beans

2 stalks celery, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

2 yellow onions, sliced thin

8 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp. thyme

1 Tbsp. parsley

1 package sausage

1 smoked turkey leg or ham hock

4 cups chicken broth

4 cups water

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation: Wash and pick over beans to remove stones and bad beans. Soak in water for 8-10 hours. Dice sausage and put in large pot. Cook on high heat for about 5 minutes. Add onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic to sausage. Continue to cook until onions turn translucent. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil. Then, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 2-4 hours. The longer you cook them, the thicker and creamier your beans will be. Before serving, take the back of a heavy spoon and mash some of the beans against the side of the pot. Then give a good stir before serving over rice. Most southerners serve this with cornbread, but since we can't have corn in our house anymore I serve them with dinner rolls. (A recipe for another day!)

I always make a double batch when I cook this and we get 5 meals out of it when I do that; one for now and four for later. Which means that I only have to cook it once a month and we have beans for every Monday night.

Alterations: My husband likes to put a few dashes of Tabasco on his before he eats, because he likes a little spice. If your family likes food spicier, add a dash or two of cayenne pepper to the pot when you add the other spices.

Rating: As my husband shovels spoonfuls into his mouth before I put the rest away for another meal he gives this meal 5 stars. I hope your crew enjoys it as much as mine does.

(Fake) Chocolate Chip Muffins (with pumpkin)

Description: When we have a play group at our house, these are always the first muffins to be devoured. The kids have no idea that this muffin is so good for them :)

Ingredients:

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup goat's milk (or water or whatever kind of milk you use, unflavored)

1/4 cup canola oil

2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed dissolved in 4 Tbsp. hot water

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 cup flour

2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. wheat germ

1/3 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Preparation: Preheat oven to 350. Combine pumpkin, milk (or water), oil, flaxseed dissolved in water, vanilla and sugar in mixing bowl and mix to combine. In sifter, put both flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and sift onto wax paper. Then slowly pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Finally, add wheat germ and chocolate chips and stir until well mixed. I like to bake these in a 24 - mini muffin tin. It is so much easier for the kids to eat and they don't make as much mess with the little muffins. Fill tins about 3/4 full and bake immediately. The mini muffins will bake in 12-15 minutes, the larger muffins cook for about 20-25 minutes. To make sure they are done, simply tap the top of a muffin in the middle of the tin and if it bounces back, they are done.

Alterations: Using fresh roasted and pureed pumpkin is so much better than the canned pureed pumpkin. I won't say this often, but with pumpkin you won't believe the difference in taste! You can also make this into a loaf instead of into muffins. If your family is not used to whole wheat flour just start small by using 1 1/3 cup white flour and 1/3 cup whole wheat flour. They won't be able to tell it is in there.

Rating: These muffins get 5 stars from my crew as well as all the kids that come to my house. (Sometimes they even ask to take some home with them.)

Pureed Veggies

You will see a lot of pureed veggies in my foods. It is a great way to get extra veggies into your kids diet. I was given a cookbook by the wife of a famous comedian, I am sure you know which one I am talking about ;) We could not use any of the recipes because they all contained something that my son was allergic to. But I loved the idea of including the purees into the foods to give them an extra boost. It has been an amazing journey with some good and some bad combinations. You will only see the good combinations here! After bagging I label and lay flat in the freezer. Once frozen I put them in a basket in the freezer for easy access. I put them in snack bags because it is the perfect size for 1/2 cup of puree. It may seem like a lot of work, but you won't believe how wonderful it feels to know that your kids are getting an additional serving of vegetables with every meal! The first night I did this I had a smirk on my face the entire meal. My husband kept asking me what I was so happy about. I later told him that he had just eaten butternut squash and he was shocked.

Steaming: carrots, squash, broccoli and cauliflower are the vegetables that I steam, puree and freeze in 1/2 cup portions.

Roasting: sweet potatoes, butternut squash and pumpkin are the vegetables that I roast in the oven at 350 until fork tender and then puree and freeze in 1/2 cup portions.

Raw: zucchini, apple (cored and seeded), banana and spinach I puree raw and freeze in 1/2 cup portions.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Description: These meatballs are packed with butternut squash, but you wouldn't be able to tell if I had not just told you! I get a request for these at least once a week, that's how good they are! This recipe makes enough for 2 meals worth of spaghetti and meatballs. We eat it one night and freeze the other half for a busy night.

Ingredients:

4 cups marinara

1 pound ground meat

1 pound ground turkey

1 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs (check ingredient list, the only brand I have found to use is found at Kroger called Panko)

1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped

2 tsp. oregano

2 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. dried parsley

2 tsp. garlic salt

1/2 cup butternut squash (roasted and pureed)

1 Tbsp. wheat germ

Preparation: Preheat oven to 425. Combine all ingredients, except marinara, in a large bowl and mix well. If you like large meatballs use a large scooper to get equal sized meatballs. For smaller ones use a small mellon baller for equal sized meatballs. We use the smaller one because we have young kids and it is easier for them to eat. But do whatever you like! After rolling all the meat into balls, place on foil lined baking sheet and put in oven. Cook for 5 minutes and then remove pan to turn them and cook for another another 5 minutes. Larger meatballs will cook for 10 minutes before turning and then for another 5-10 minutes depending on size. When cooked, remove from pan and put into a pot of marinara to absorb a little of the sauce for about 30 minutes on simmer. They are cooked and ready to serve whenever you are.

Alternatives: To make this a wheat free meatball simply switch out the breadcrumbs for Holgrain brown rice crumbs or wheat free crackers crushed up and remove the wheat germ. You can serve it over spaghetti squash or rice noodles as well for a wheat free meal.

Rating: This also gets 5 stars from my crew. I have to cook them when my husband is not home because he will devour half a dozen before I can get the food to the table.

My Marinara

Description: This marinara is so delicious that all of my friends use this recipe and none of us buy canned any more. It makes a lot, about 3 meals worth for my family, so use a large pot. I use a 5 1/2 quart pot when making a single batch of this and a 12 quart pot when I make a double batch.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup EVOO

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, finely chopped

2 green onions, sliced

8 cloves garlic, crushed

1 Tbsp. dried parsley

1 Tbsp. dried basil

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. white pepper

3 medium bay leaves

1 26 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 26 oz. can diced tomatoes

2 15 oz. cans tomato sauce

Preparation: Pour EVOO in pot. When heated add onion, bell pepper, garlic and green onions. Cook until onion is transparent and bell pepper turns bright green, about 5 minutes. Add all of the seasonings and stir around for a minute or two. Stir in all 4 cans of tomatoes and then fill each can about half way with water to get what was left in the can. Pour those into pot as well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 2-4 hours. The longer you cook it the deeper the flavors will be. I put a pot on after lunch and it is ready for dinner. I serve it with spaghetti squash when it is in season or whole wheat pasta and homemade meatballs. (Recipe to come later.)

Alternatives: If you like a chunky sauce then use 2 26 oz. cans of diced tomatoes, if you like a smoother sauce then use 2 26 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes. If you like a little more heat add 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper to it as well. To have a wheat free spaghetti night use the spaghetti squash with salt and pepper, to taste, on it or with rice noodles.

Rating: This gets 5 stars from everyone who has ever tried this recipe. I would love to know what you think!