Whole Wheat and Oatmeal Pancakes

Whole Wheat and Oatmeal Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 Tbsp aluminum-free baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

2 cups milk (I use almond milk, but any kind will do - even water will do in a pinch)

3 eggs

1/4 cup oil

splash of cinnamon (I recommend a large splash)

dash of vanilla (once again, I appreciate not-skimpy-dashes)

fruit (berries or bananas are delicious)

Mix and cook on a greased griddle.

Make sure they are heart shaped if you make them on Valentine's Day. These have raspberries in them. My favorite. Simple and yummy. You don't need anything to put on them, but if you're going to anyway, may I suggest 100% pure maple syrup (a little goes a long way), 100% fruit spread, more fruit, or, if you insist...

Vanilla Syrup

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup buttermilk (make by adding 1 tsp lemon juice to milk - even soy or nut milks)

1 stick butter

Bring to a boil. Make sure you use a 3 quart pan. This will cause some bubbling:

1/2 tsp baking soda

Boil for one more minute. Remove from heat. Then add:

1 tsp vanilla

Once again, a little goes a long way. This stuff tastes like caramel.

Granola!

Granola
1/2 cup whole wheat flour

4 cups regular rolled oats

7 cups assorted nuts, seeds or dried fruit of choice (such as chia seeds [they become slimy if you put them in milk, FYI, but they are so good for you, it may be worth it], hemp seeds, flax seeds, almonds, pecans, walnuts, sesame seeds, cashews, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries [Careful - most are very sugary. I found some that were sweetened with apple juice at my local health food store. They were SO GOOD!], raisins, dried coconut, etc.)

2 tsp. vanilla

4 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. nutmeg

1 cup honey

Mix flour, oats and assorted yumminess. Warm honey and add cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla to the warm honey. Combine wet and dry mixtures. Spread onto large baking sheets and bake at 325 for 24 minutes, stirring every 8 minutes. Cool and store in an airtight container. Yeah right. Mine never lasts that long.

Steamed Asparagus

A week or so ago, we were at my in-laws' for dinner. My mother-in-law made steamed broccoli that was so good I could barely stand it. She said that all she did was steam the broccoli and sprinkle olive oil and garlic salt over it when it was done. She told me that she does the same thing with asparagus. Well, it is asparagus season. And we found some lovely asparagus in the store. So, we bought some and tried her trick. The first time I made it, the asparagus didn't even make it to the dinner table. The kids kept insisting that they needed to taste it. They tasted it until it was gone. I didn't complain. What mom would? The next time I made it, I timed it better and it actually made it to the table. It was met with cheers. Success!

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

Here is my recipe for pizza. Well, pizza crust. I'll tell you what we put on it, but you can put whatever deliciousness you want on it. My kids are making dinner tonight. So, we've taken some pictures for you, too. Ignore my messy kitchen.

Super Easy Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) rapid yeast

1 cup very warm water

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon salt

Dissolve yeast in water. Add remaining ingredients and stir to mix well. Knead five times. Let stand for 5 minutes in a bowl in the oven on lowest temp.

Roll dough onto cooking stone or pizza pan (we use cookie sheets and we press more than roll).

Top with whatever you want! Bake at 450 for 9-15 minutes (depending on how thin your crust is).

Here's how we top ours:

It all started when we discovered Beano's White Pizza Sauce. So yummy. It is just oil and herbs. Until our grocery store stopped carrying it. The nerve. So, we've been trying to make our own. We brush olive oil on the crust and sprinkle basil, oregano and Italian Seasoning on top.

It is almost as good, but not quite. (Their website says that another local grocery store that I never go to has some. I may have to visit...) We then top with chopped up red peppers and some goat cheese.

(My milk sensitive ones handle goat cheese fine.)

Very yummy!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Cake

Delicious and moist. I usually make a not-at-all-vegan frosting out of cream cheese, butter, vanilla and just enough agave nectar to make a nice consistency. I'm sorry. I don't actually measure. And it's not healthy. Don't think I think it is. But it is nice for a very occasional treat.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Cake

3 cups whole wheat flour

6 tablespoons cocoa

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup agave nectar

1 teaspoon salt

5/8 cup oil

2 tablespoon white vinegar

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cup cold water

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the wet ingredients and mix until smooth. Pour into a 9 inch by 13 inch baking pan. (The pan does not have to be greased.) Bake at 325 degrees for about 30-40 minutes. Test with a fork for doneness.

Whole Wheat Bread

This is seriously the best and easiest whole wheat bread recipe ever! Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Bread

14 cups whole wheat flour (don’t use all at once!)

3/4 cup gluten flour

2 Tbsp. rapid yeast

6 cups warm water

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup oil

1 1/3 Tbsp. salt

Put 8 cups flour, gluten flour and yeast in bread mixing bowl. Add water. Mix 1

minute and let sit 10 minutes.

Put honey, oil salt and last 6 cups flour in and knead about 6 minutes.

Heat oven to 170 degrees (or “warm”).

Grease 4 pans and put dough in pans. Form into loaves. Put in the oven for 20

minutes.

Turn oven to 350 degrees (leave loaves in oven) and take out after 35 minutes. Turn

out onto rack and cool.

Basil Pesto

Basil Pesto (From Get it Ripe by Jae Steele and by the way, everything of hers is delicious. I highly recommend her book!)

1/4 lb fresh basil leaves (2 1/2 ‐3 cups)

1/2 c. pine nuts or other raw nuts or seeds

2 medium cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp. sea salt

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/3 c. olive oil

1/4 c. hot filtered water

Wash the basil, remove stems, and add to a food processor or blender along with the

pine nuts or other nuts or seeds, garlic, salt, and pepper. Pulse a few times to break

up and combine ingredients. Add the oil and water and process until desired

consistency (or coarse paste) is achieved.

Kale and Bean Soup

This is from my friend Lynne's recipe blog. It is one of our all time favorites. Don't be frightened of the kale. Really. This is yummy.

KALE AND BEAN SOUP

8 large garlic cloves, crushed or minced.

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cups chopped raw kale.

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

2-3 (15 ounce) cans beans, such as cannellini , navy, pinto, un-drained.

4 plum tomatoes, chopped

1-2 teaspoons dried Italian herb seasoning.

Salt and pepper to taste.

The recipe calls for a parsley garnish. Basil is much more delicious.

In a large pot steam (or sautee) garlic and onion in a bit of water (or olive oil) until soft. Add kale, broth, beans, tomato, herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Ladle into bowls; sprinkle with chopped parsley (or basil).