The Urban Homemaker Blog

Month: September 2011

  • An Urban Homemaker’s Breakfast: Part II

    One of my homemaking goals is to use what I have and enjoy the process of finding the recipes which are now becoming traditions.  Breakfast is also a favorite mealtime and I have recipes that I am asked to share over and over again. These items may use a same basic ingredient at times, but when you buy in whole grain bulk embrace it!

     

    Special Pancake- aka German Pancake, Puff Pancake:

    This recipe is often requested and I make it for guests or just on Saturday mornings when I have more time. I have everything to make this and by the time the oven preheats the batter is ready to go and once again I have used one of my favorite kitchen tools: The Vita-Mix Blender. For small batches of flour, I can quickly mill the soft white wheat for this recipe in the dry blade container and then switch to the wet blender container and mix my batter!

    We triple this recipe as our family of 5 will eat it! I use a Superstone: Deep Dish Baker and a 9×13.

    Preheat oven at 425. Spray pan with olive oil, smear bottom of Deep Dish Baker with 1 T coconut oil or butter.

    Into blender:

    3/4 C milk

    3 eggs

    1/4 tsp salt

    1/2 tsp vanilla

    2 T sugar

    1/2 C freshly milled soft white wheat ( or 1/4 C white flour & 1/4C  hard red or white wheat) (Lighter the flour , lighter the rise of the pancake. More whole wheat the denser the pancake, but just as yummy!)

    Mix till blended, pour, then bake! This recipe serving will fill a pancake pan. Double it or triple it and use bakeware sizing which is appropriate, i.e. 9×13= doubling, deep dish baker=single, both= triple!!!

    Favorite toppings include- but not aren’t limited to: syrup, lemon juice and powdered sugar, vanilla yogurt and fresh berries, jam of any variety. Yogurt with jam is our favorite!

    There is more!

    On the go?- Make it ahead! or heck, surprise everyone and take it camping already made! I made this dish for 10 of my closest triplet mom friends who came for a girls’ “Mother’s Escape” Weekend, i.e no kids, no husbands, just us girls! and it was a hit. I take it often to brunches with an empty bowl to take home. It is yummy..

    Cold Porridge!

    I make this for visitors with a blender muffin and fresh fruit! You make this recipe the night before guests or for a camping trip. It is welcomed all through the day!

    1 C oatmeal- ( can sub 7 grain flakes)

    3/4 C milk

    1/4 C nuts of choice (almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, seeds: pumpkin!)

    1/4 C sugar

    1 large GREEN apple (unpeeled coarsely grated)

    1/3 C raisins or currants (optional)

    2 T lemon juice

    1/2 C plain yogurt or vanilla

    Mix into a pretty batter bowl , cover and refrigerate over night. Garnishes: fresh whipped cream, honey, nuts, muesli, and fruits. This makes 4 large helpings. I double this for when guests are present.

     

    May you enjoy-    Kathy

     

     

  • An Urban Homemaker’s Breakfast

     

    May I be completely honest? I am burned out with the same old, same old breakfast items and due to the fact that I own a plethora of whole grains I might as well move beyond baked goods and stretch the proverbial wings.  So here is my creativity for 2 breakfast options for the busy and not so busy “Urban Homemaker” come the wee hours of a work/school day… Let me back up and provide a bit of background: I have 2 big boys and 1 big girl, all age 8, and all three grow so fast I am shocked at the difference from a few months ago to now. I also feel motivated as I was when they were born to put into them the good things in life and leave out the bad as much as I can. In doing so, I happen to enjoy the pay off and the cost savings with living “granola like” and making my own. Also, I find myself a worker-bee right about dinner time through bedtime and can prep these breakfasts the night before and then place the welcomed postie note on the coffee pot so my dear Mr. Urban Homemaker can preheat the oven on occasion! The other night my croc pot was on making the house smell WONDERFUL.. I  simply got motivated by a friend’s FB request for croc pot recipes:

     

    Slow Cooker/Croc Pot Apple Spice Steel Cut Oats

    2 cups diced apple 2 Cups Steel Cut Oats 1 cup dried cranberries 1/4 cup almond meal 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans 3 cups water (Filter it! Multi-Pure water filter) 1 cup milk 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 2 teaspoons butter Directions

    1. Combine the oats, apple, cranberries, almond meal, pecans, water, milk, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and butter in a slow cooker. Stir it up good, and then lid on-don’t touch till morning! Cook on Low overnight for 8 hours.
    2. I start this at 11pm for an 8am eat…. adjust if you have to be out of the house!

     

    Another FAVORITE: Banana Baked Oatmeal

    I got the original recipe from Sonrise Mountain Ranch in Cimarron, CO. I have tweaked it some to fit our preferences! But they get all the credit. Spray a 9×13, preheat to 350 degrees In Mixer, place the following: 1 C Coconut oil (sub. Olive or your choice) 4 Eggs 1 1/2 C Sugar 1 tsp Cinnamon 6 C 7 Grain flaked (can sub Oatmeal) 1T +1tsp Baking Powder 2 C Milk 1 C Mashed bananas ( about 2 medium) 1/2-3/4 C Chopped nuts * Mix all ingredients together, bake for 45 min at 350 degrees F. ** Kid-friendly version: mix all, but the nuts, together, put into pan, sprinkle chopped nuts on half, bake for 45 min *** Can make this the night before storing in the fridge. ****Toppings: Syrup is always good, but Vanilla yogurt +/- berries are fabulous! I mainly serve it with yogurt. This baked oatmeal is a favorite year around, at potlucks, made into muffins and frozen and used for an on the go breakfast! We love it for lunch and a midafternoon snack! Leftovers are fought over. So there you have it.. Two options for everyday or a special day, using the healthy whole grains your body needs to fuel it till lunch! May they soon become a family favorite and a tradition that brings the family together!

     

  • Pumpkin Spiced Latte: for Free!

    I have figured out the best way to keep my house picked up and to have the occasional “Pumpkin Spiced Latte”- for free! A friend just emailed out that the wonderful fall spiced latte is back in town!

     

    Well then, I must explain, so you, Ms Urban Homemaker, may enjoy one too!

    The Jar: Plain, Simple, and brimming with items with a $.25/ea bounty on their heads.

    At the end of most days or at least an hour or so after the first and only warning I might give to the collection of nick-knack toys here and there on the floor, I go hunting! I pick up handfuls of little toys that are my eye sore or end up in my sweeping pile- OR the very toys I step on barefoot in the dark no less and I place said items into the jar.
    The jar collects many wonderful items! They gleam from the glass! They call to their owners who long ago forgot to put them in their place! The guilty party in this house happens to be a trio of 8 yr olds who can and do forget to pick up after themselves.

    Fast forward days or weeks later and a bit of the jar catches their eyes. They know the jar can’t be opened without ransom. So the prized, long, lost item is found and the $.25 ransom is paid. Often I get generous (especially when I know a Nerf gun fight is being prepped for) and hold a 5 for $1 sale. Oh my boys love this; I made, literally $5.75 last week.

    Bottom line: Yes, I occasionally reward my efforts and my cleaner home with the occasional well desired Pumpkin Spiced Latte, but it also is a nice way to return the cash back to the kids by offering them to work a chore for money. That money can and does go around and around, but man, I hold out for the latte.. especially now that I heard they are back in town and I have a long night ahead.

    ~I will warn.. The ransom payment is often painful for the guilty, so ransom cash flow happens not too often, but when it does, may you enjoy!

    Kathy