Apple pancakes

I was trying to make this apple stuffed pancake recipe that was described on a couple different blogs I found, but when the technique proved too difficult for me, I decided to go another direction.

These are kind of a cross between traditional pancakes and hash browns. I don’t really have a recipe for them to share, but I can describe what I did.

I started out with a basic pancake batter recipe. In my case, I used Jamie Oliver’s one cup pancakes. Then I added grated apples, rolled oats, very thinly sliced almonds and sunflower seeds until the batter was just holding everything together. I spooned it out on the heated pan prepared with butter and flattened with the back of the spoon into a pancake shape. Once browned on one side I flipped it and browned the other side.

They’re pretty hearty with some crunch and lots of texture.

Edited to add: I guess I was in a bit of a rush to share this recipe. I’ve made these enough times now that I’ve perfected the ingredient amounts. Hope this helps and is a little more specific than my vague instructions above.

-1 cup flour (I am currently using a multigrain mix of whole wheat and leftovers from our gluten-free days, use whatever you have)
-1 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1 egg
-3/4 cup milk
-2 tbsp maple syrup
-couple dashes of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice (optional)
-1 or 2 (depends on the size) firm apples or Asian pears
-1/4 cup sunflower seeds
-1/4 cup thinly sliced almonds

Apple picking

This afternoon a moms group from our church went to a farm in Ojai to pick apples and see animals (they called it a petting farm, but seeing as how the animals are behind fences, you can’t really pet them). The kids had a blast. Then just the kids and I went to this vegetarian restaurant/market up there that serves mainly things they’ve grown themselves.

Gourmet Lisa: Cinnamon Apples with Maple Almonds and Millet

You know I have to be feeling quite a bit better if I am posting about food, cooking, coming up with a recipe and all this in the morning, no less.

I plan to talk about natural ways of balancing and healing the thyroid that I found in a subsequent post, but the steps I started taking about a week ago have already shown major improvements in the way I am feeling. Last night I made dinner for the first time in weeks and this morning I was up for something a little more complicated than pulling out cereal for the kids.

With the lack of cooking and appetite around here our CSA fruits and veggies have been building up. I had a whole big bowl full of apples and citrus and we are getting more this morning. Something had to be done.

Ingredients:
• 3-4 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• cinnamon
• butter or your favorite alternative (despite my beliefs about butter being most traditional and thus best for you, we use Earth Balance buttery spread when making stuff to share with the kids because of Bean’s dairy allergy)
• puffed millet
• maple almonds (I get these at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s has some cinnamon almonds that are equally delicious, or you could use your favorite candied nut)

Place apples, butter, and a few dashes of cinnamon in saucepan over medium heat. Stir until coated and butter is melted. Cover and cook until apples are slightly soft.

I made two batches this morning and the second batch got a little too soft for my liking so the apples lost some of their tang and crisp. So you have to watch and test to see where you like them best.

Once your apples are to the point you like them, remove from heat. Using a hand chopper, finely chop a good sized handful of the almonds. Add to pan along with about the same amount of your puffed millet.

Stir together until well combined and then serve.

You can use this recipe in a number of ways: eat plain by itself, top yogurt or pancakes or ice cream with it, mix in with some granola, the possibilities are up to you and your level of creativity with food. Enjoy!

Daily, 12/4

A few years ago, pre-kids I was over at Talia’s and laughing because I caught a glimpse of her kids’ lunch plates and noticed they had eaten their apple slices like you would eat an orange slice, leaving the peel behind. Well, guess who started doing the exact same thing all on her own at breakfast today?

Kids are weird.

Almond Yogurt Apple Dippers

Remember in preschool when you would get peanut butter on apples? Well, I guess I must be doing something wrong because I can never get the nut butter to stick to the apples when I try to recreate this at home. Anyway yogurt, almond butter and honey happen to be some of my most favorite things right now and I combined them into this yummy treat that can be had as breakfast or a snack. Unlike a thick nut butter, the apple slices can scoop and dip into this easily. And unlike the apple dippers you see in fast food restaurants and grocery stores with carmel (pure sugar) as an attempted healthy alternative to things like chips or fries, these actually are healthy. *Bean loves it.

Ingredients
-1/2 cup homemade crockpot yogurt (I like to use 1/2 gallon raw milk + 1 quart raw cream + yogurt starter and then I strain about half of it using a seive lined with muslin then I mix it back with the unstrained half for optimum consistency)
-2 tbsp almond butter with sea salt
-1/2 tsp raw unfiltered wildflower honey
-1 tsp flax meal
-1 apple, sliced

Mix all ingredients together except apple. Use apples to dip in yogurt mixture.

*But Bean is allergic to dairy, right? Well, I’ve been doing some reading and researching about casein allergies. I’ve found a few places that talk about raw milk and yogurt helping to cure them. A few places also said that it made them worse. So we’re trying it out and watching carefully for any problems or reactions. I also read that there are different kinds of casein. Humans and certain breeds of cows (Frisians, Guernseys), sheep and goats produce milk that has type A2 casein and most other breeds of cows produce milk with either type A1 only or a mixture of A1 and A2. So, she may just be allergic to type A1 casein. I think it’s all very facinating. Facination is good, it keeps me from being frustrated with food allergies.