Banana Blueberry Oatmeal

Here in Southern California, our hottest weather comes in September and October. It's hot, dry and pretty miserable. Sure enough, up until October 31st it was hot every day.

But then, suddenly, on November 1st, as if the weather was going off of a calendar, it started to get chilly. I mean, not chilly like the midwest or east coast in the fall, but chilly in SoCal standards (60 degrees F). It's even getting into the 40's at night on occasion. I'm definitely not a warm weather person, and prefer the weather to be rainy, cool, and moist. Ironic that I live in the desert.

The early mornings, when Dominik wakes up, are lovely. The house has been cooled down overnight and the air has a crispness to it. We put on thick socks and oversize sweaters and make a hot breakfast. Nothing beats freshly made oatmeal (not microwaved, of course, has to be on the stove) on a cool morning.

Dominik DEVOURS this. I mix up the fruit based on what I have on hand (it's excellent with apples as well) but keep the basic recipe the same. I'm pretty sure he eats a bigger bowl than I do. It's perfect because it warms us up and fills us up for the next few hours. Until snack time, of course.

Banana Blueberry Oatmeal

Ingredients:
-2/3 cups rolled oats
-2 cups nondairy milk like almond or coconut
-1 Tbsp chia seeds
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1/4-1/2 cup blueberries
-1 ripe banana
-maple syrup, optional

Directions:
1. Put the oats, milk, chia seeds, cinnamon, salt, and blueberries in a medium saucepan. Stir well and turn on the stove to medium.
2. Bring to a gentle simmer. Turn down to medium-low and simmer until thick.
3. About 2 minutes before turning off heat, dice half the banana and stir well.
4. Fill up two bowls and add the rest of the banana in slices.
5. If more sweetness is desired, add a few tablespoons of maple syrup.

Recipe: Spelt Pancakes

One of my favorite breakfast foods are pancakes. There's something so hearty and comforting about them. Pancakes can be eaten plain, with butter, with syrup, with blueberries, with bananas, with chocolate chips... the ideas are endless. They can be even be made to be savory and healthy with scallions and zucchini. Pancakes are, in every way, totally awesome.

They bring memories of waking up Saturday morning to my mom in kitchen with a big stack of hot pancakes, drinking her coffee while watching to Food Network. Although she used the Bisquick box mix, they were always better when she was the one to make them.

Now that I am home every morning with Dominik, I no longer have to rely on a super quick breakfast like granola or a smoothie. Sometimes, especially after a long night, it's really nice to be able to stay in our pajamas a little longer and make pancakes. But now that I'm more aware of ingredients I would like us to avoid, I realize that the box mix is no longer a great choice for us. It's packed with added sugar and highly processed flour. I searched and searched for a recipe that used whole grain flour and no refined sugar but I felt like it was nearly impossible. Most, if not all, recipes contained at least a few tablespoons of granulated sugar. Plus, the whole wheat pancakes that I tried to make were coming out like hockey pucks.

And then I perfected it. The most delicious whole grain, sugar free pancake recipe. The secret? Spelt flour. I use spelt flour to make baked goods like muffins because it really helps them to be light and airy like a white flour would. It's a water soluble grain, so it's easily digested and nutrients are absorbed quickly into the body. Because I omitted any sugar from the batter recipe, these are a very plain pancake. For sweetness, fruit or maple syrup can be added; just avoid fake syrup and stick to the real stuff. For a savory pancake, veggies and spices could be added to the batter. Feel free to play around. We love applesauce on ours.

Spelt Pancakes

Ingredients:

-1 cup spelt flour
-1 teaspoon baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (if making sweet pancakes, omit for savory)
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1 chia egg (1 tablespoon chia seeds soaked in 4 tablespoon water)
-1 cup non-dairy milk
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla (if sweet, omit for savory)

Directions:

1. Prepare your chia egg by mixing the seeds and water in a bowl and letting sit until it is nice and thick.

2. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Whisk milk and vanilla into the chia egg.

4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and only stir until combined, do not over mix.

5. Let the batter sit for a few minutes while the pan heats up. Put a frying pan over medium heat with some vegan butter or coconut oil and let it heat up.

6. Pour the batter into the pan, to make a pancake of your desired size. Cook for about 5-6 minutes on each side, until golden brown.

7. Serve immediately.

Chocolate Chip Cutie Muffins

I finally have a muffin/cupcake pan! The only question was, where to begin?! Muffins and cupcakes are equally delicious, but I decided to start with a muffin since I had the ingredients for something so delectably delicious.......

One of the highlighted ingredients in these muffins are clementines, often sold under the brand name, "Cuties". Clementines are a citrus fruit that originate either from Father Clement Rodier's garden in Algeria as a mandarin hybrid, or from a very close variety (the Canton mandarin) found in certain provinces of China. They are essentially a cross between a sweet orange and a mandarin. Whatever the origin, these beautiful babies are like oranges but super easy to peel, seedless, oh-so-sweet and juicy, and small enough to fit into the palm of your hand. 

Clementines are a winter citrus, so my husband and I have to wait until November through January to eat them, and we tend to go through an insane amount. They are just so easy to peel and snack on! Like other citrus, they are high in Vitamin C, which is a particularly important immune boosting vitamin during flu season. Vitamin C is also a natural antihistamine and an antioxidant. 

Chocolate Chip Cutie Muffins

Ingredients:

Dry:

-2 cups all purpose flour

-2 tsp baking powder

-1 tsp cinnamon

-1 tsp ground ginger

-1/4 tsp salt

-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less depending on how spicy you want it)

Wet:

-3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (other mild tasting nondairy milks will do too)

-1/3 cup grapeseed oil (or canola)

-1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp agave nectar

-2 Tbsp lemon juice

-5 clementines (juice 3, dice 2)

-2 tsp clementine zest

-1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and wet in another.

2. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until smooth and well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

3. Pour batter into greased muffin tins and bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.