Brown Rice Pancake

I like this! It is so quick to make in the morning, and much better for you - contains no wheat, sugar or dairy. And, you can get creative with it and try something new every time.

I use Lundberg rice - have visited their local (Sutter County, CA) facility and toured the fields. The company is family owned and 4 generations are involved. They are sustainable farmers, and are moving more and more of their fields to organic (this takes 3-5 years per field). Look for Lundberg in the natural foods aisle of your grocery store (and sometimes in bulk bins). I bought a 25 lb. bag of Lundberg Brown Rice from Costco recently.

The night before:

Soak 1 cup of brown rice overnight in 7/8 cup of water

In the morning, place in a blender and grind until it is batter consistency.

Then mix in:

1 egg

1 t. Baking Powder

1/4 t. salt.

Put the batter in an 8-inch well-oiled skillet, COVERED, and bake for 30 minutes. You can go out and feed the horses, and when you get back, breakfast is ready.

That is the basic recipe. But I always like to have fun with my recipes. So this morning, I swirled in cinnamon and raisons before I baked it, and afterwards, drizzled on Geauga County Maple Syrup.

You could swirl in jelly or preserves - or add an in-season fruit. I may try swirling in applesauce next time I make it.

There is no sugar in this recipe, so if you want it is sweet, you have to add something to it. It's very versatile!

Logan likes his with a poached egg.

Apple Cake Dessert

One of my favorite evening snacks during the fall - This is much easier to make than Apple Pie, and to me, much tastier!

Apple Cake

4 to 5 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into six equal slices
1 stick butter
3/4 cup sucranat

1 stick butter
2/3 cup sucranat
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream (or Yogurt - either way is great)
3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 small Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped finely (use an Apple Peeler to do this)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a 9 to 10-inch skillet, melt butter over low heat. Add 3/4 cup sugar to the pan and stir around, then place apple slices, wedge side down, in the pan. Don’t pack them too tightly, but try not to leave overly large gaps. Allow this to cook over low/medium-low heat while you make the cake batter.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat 1 stick of butter and 2/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and eggs. Add sour cream and mix well. Gradually add flour mixture until just combined. Gently stir in 1 chopped apple.

Remove skillet from heat. Spoon batter over the top, then spread gently so batter is evenly distributed. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until cake is golden brown and bubbly. Allow cake to sit in skillet for five minutes, then invert onto a serving plate. Don’t worry if some of the topping isn’t perfect—it’ll taste perfect!

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Adapted From: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/09/apple-cak

e-in-an-iron-skillet/

Granola

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bring to a boil:

1 cup Sucranat

1/2 cup Water

1/2 cup Oil

1 t. Ginger

1 t. Cinnamon

Add 1 t. Vanilla once you turn off burner.

In a separate bowl, mix together

2 Cups Oats

1 Cup Rolled Barley

1 Cup Rolled Rye

(If you don't have Barley and Rye, just use Oats)

1/2 Cup Sesame Seeds

1 Cup Coconut

Combine the liquid ingredients with the dry ingredients.

Layer the granola on a baking sheet. Use a good baking sheet, otherwise it will burn. Or Glass Casseroles if you don't have a good baking sheet or stone. Oil whatever sheet/casserole/stone you are using. I use glass with a fair amount of oil. It doesn't burn.

Put in oven at 350 for 10 minutes. Then turn down heat to 150 and cook for about 1 hour. Then turn off the oven and whenever you get to it, take out the granola and it's ready!

At the end, you can add :

1 Cup of crushed/ground Flax Seed

but don't cook the flax!!! (Can make the flax rancid)

Also you can add dried fruit and nuts at the end too, like a 1/2 cup of split almonds, or raisons, just do it after the heat.

Quick, Easy, Nutritious Comfort Food - Kitcheree

This is an Indian Recipe that provides a perfect amount of protein, nutrition, and is so easy to make - I make it when I really don't have time to cook as the only item for dinner.

Basic Recipe:

1 cup rice (Basmati is best)

1/2 cup mung split beans (look for these in bulk bins at the grocery store - yellow lentil things)

1 tablespoon oil (I use Ghee, or Clarified Butter)

4 cups of water

Heat until Boiling. Turn off burner and let it sit for 30 minutes. Season with salt, and anything you want.

During the summer: Shred a zucchini or squash and add to recipe.

For something different (this can get a little boring when eaten a few times a week):

Use Brown Rice instead.

Use Tamari or Shoyu (this is another kind of Soy Sauce) as seasoning

Use Split Peas instead of Mung Beans

My favorite seasoning for Kitcheree:

Warm up 2 tablespoons of Ghee

Add 1/2 t. of mustard seeds and 1/2 t. of cumin seeds

Wait until they pop.

Then add 1/4 t. of tumeric

Then put over cooked Kitcheree.

Yum.

**BEST TO SOAK ALL BEANS FOR 6-8 HOURS BEFORE COOKING**

Helps with digestion :-)

Homemade Applesauce

This was my favorite thing that my dad would make for us growing up. It takes the right kitchen tools to make this quickly, so encourage you to make it everyday during the fall.

6 - 8 In Season Apples - pick them yourself for better energy :)

Get an Apple Peeler (WITH CLAMP not suction cup)

Peel and core the apples.

Boil on the stove with about 1/4 c water for 10 minutes.

Then transfer apples to blender. Add cinnamon, and a little sweeter if you wish. Blend to the consistency you like. I like mine really smooth.

This is an amazing blender - you will use it in more ways than you ever imagined (you better for the price) :

Chai Tea - From Scratch

Logan and I have this every morning.... wakes you up and helps to digest.

2 cups of water

3 cloves

6 cardamom pods

1 bay leaf

1 cinnamon stick (or 1/2 t. powder)

1/8 t. vanilla powder

1/8 t. red pepper (to wake you up!!)

1/2 t. ginger

Simmer for 10 minutes

Then Add:

2 t. Loose Black Tea

1/4 c. Sucranat

Simmer for 3 minutes

Then add:

2 c. Whole Milk.

Done. Yummy. You'll wake up and warm up now :-)

German Apple Pancake Recipe

A fabulous Sunday Morning breakfast recipe for the fall! It has the consistency of bread pudding or french toast, not cake. I picked the apples off of a tree that Feather and I found this week on a trail ride off trail. The tree must be from 1850's gold mining time. It is old, and in the middle of no where. Probably the area was a homestead for a gold miner. Yummy Apples that probably haven't been enjoyed for generations!

This is one of my favorite's and so easy to make - you can make the batter the night before.

Paired with : Chai Tea and Homemade AppleSauce

German Apple Pancake or Dutch Baby

Batter

8 eggs
1 cup unbleached flour (half whole wheat and half white flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of salt
2 cups of whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Apple Mixture
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sucranat, divided two containers
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
4 medium granny smith apples, peeled and sliced.

1.To make the batter, blend the eggs, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Slowly add in the milk while constantly stirring. Then add in vanilla and butter. Set batter aside for twenty five to thirty minutes or refrigerate if preparing for the next morning.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
3. To make the apple mixture, combine sugar (1 of 2 reserved containers) with cinnamon and nutmeg. Now melt butter in two cast iron or oven proof skillets. Make sure to work the butter along the sides of the pan. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture into both pans. Now place the apple slices into the bottom of pans trying to avoid stacking. Try to get all the apples to cover the bottom surface or avoid stacking. Now sprinkle remaining sugar over apples. Once the mixture become hot and starts to bubble, pour batter into both pans.
4. Place both pans into oven and bake for 15 minutes. Then reduce temperature to 375F and bake for another 10 minutes.
5. Once removed from oven, allow pancakes in skillet to cool briefly then dust with confectioners sugar and squirt a little lemon over the pancake. (The Dutch Baby Effect).
6. Serve while still warm.

Recipe from: http://www.squidoo.com/apple_pancakerecipe