It's About Time

OK, if anyone there still reads this blog, no I am not dead, or retired, or moved on to something else.  Believe me, Break the Fast is continually on my mind.  But....it's not my job, and my job, unpaid though it is, takes precedence, so The Blog must wait.  Hurray, that I have time today!

I have a huge backlog of items to post, but today I thought I'd keep it simple.  Not too many weeks ago, I was folding laundry and listening to the Meal Makeover Moms podcast.  Their focus on this particular episode was breakfast.  Yeah!  I love breakfast.  They reaffirmed everything I believe about breakfast and then addressed the conundrum that many of us, including me, find ourselves in: how to make a kid-friendly, tasty, nutritious breakfast in a very short time that will get your children from early morning to school lunchtime without crashing. Yes, we can fry eggs and bacon, but surely not every day?

The key word is protein.  Protein is what is going to get you through the morning.  Let's see: we can have eggs, bacon, sausage, and at this point I run out of ideas for the typical morning sources.  None of these is going to kill us, but a daily dose is not only boring but also not the best for overall well-being.  Don't get me wrong, I looooove bacon, and nothing beats an egg for a quick, satisfying start to the day, but come on, there must be something else out there.

Meal Makeover Moms to the rescue!  How about a peanut butter smoothie?  Well, yes, how about it?  I listened to their recipe, and then just went to my trusty blender and started in.  My beef with smoothies has always been that they don't have staying power.  Cool Guy, in particular, could do a smoothie every day, but I resist because it takes time, cleaning up time, and it isn't enough.  For that same amount of time, I could get something much more substantial on the table.  But, hey, a peanut butter smoothie might work, so I tried.

And yes, one glass of Elvis-inspired smoothie was not only tasty, kid-appealing, and full of good nutrition, but it also kept us happy until lunch.

I didn't really follow the recipe.  I just took the idea and used what I had, which I would encourage you to do, also.

Here it is.  If you try this, hope you're as happy as I.

Elvis Smoothie
1 banana
vanilla yogurt
milk
peanut butter
ice cubes

Place all in the blender.  I usually put in a few serving spoonfuls of yogurt, a splash of milk and a large serving spoon of peanut butter.  Sorry I can't be more specific.  I don't think you can screw this up.  Consistency is what you're working for, not too thick, not too runny.  The ice cubes help thin it out and give a frostiness, which is nice.  A nice touch, if you're feeling indulgent, is to add some chocolate syrup, but the shake is delicious with or without.

Confluence

Some call it zeitgeist, or serendipity.  I'm calling it confluence today.  It's where all of a sudden, ideas start appearing, seemingly randomly, and all are pointing at an idea.

I've been experiencing this lately.

The idea is answering a call, and yes, this does apply to breakfast.

Not to get too personal, let's just say that the call that I am answering is my job as a mother.  Sometimes, usually in the two dark months after Christmas, I tend to get the winter blues.  Part of it could be due to lack of fresh air and sunshine, part of it to the post-holiday letdown, though I would definitely say that has decreased over the years.  And part of it is the prospect of three more months of this weather until things just begin to get better.  Definitely retiring somewhere warm year-round.

Back to the call.  Why am I here?  What is my  purpose in life?  (I am getting to breakfast.  Bear with me.)  What in my life is meaningful?  Purposeful?  Why do I get up every morning?  This is something that each of us, at some stage - if we reflect at all - must face.  And the midst of the winter blues brings this kind of reflection to the fore.  I am here because I have a very big job to do: raise my sons to be healthy, whole, productive, and happy beings.  My job happens to be harder than some other mothers' and not as hard as others.  I have daily challenges.  I can crumple, or I can soldier on.  I choose to soldier on, though it is often by will alone that I do so in January and February.

Confluence: what was that all about?  Things run across my path.  I was at Mass yesterday, and the theme was answering the call.  I have been reading things, and those things point to my call.  Notably, I just finished the book version of Supersize Me, the documentary by Morgan Spurlock about his month of eating only McDonald's food and upping the portion when it is offered.  The upshot is that he gained an enormous amount of weight and did some major damage to his health.  In the book, titled Don't Eat This Book, he tackles many other facets of America's problem with bad eating and overall bad living.

My call is not just to avoid fast food, though I do, despite the whine factor, despite non-stop media bombardment.  My call is, among many other things, to provide food which will be the most beneficial to my family.  It must be nutritious and satisfying on all levels, even if it isn't featured on TV or accompanied by a toy.

My particular job is to make sure that my ADHD child gets a good whallop of protein in the morning to help him focus just a little bit better.  And it has to be appealing and tasty or he'll have none of it.  And it has to be joyous, a tiny morning celebration, or the day will never go in a positive direction.  I have talked before about making the morning breakfast an early version of the Family Dinner Table.  I can carve out time in the morning to at least sip that second cup of coffee while breakfast is going on, and to make pleasant conversation anticipating the events of the day, making a few jokes, and in general easing everyone into a state of mind to take on the world.

It's a tall order, and it occupies a great deal of my brain.  I also need variety, if only to keep my own psyche stimulated.

I was at first reluctant to talk about this, afraid that I would sound preachy or over proud, but then I reckoned that my thoughts might be the bit of information traveling across someone else's path to add to her own confluence.  If you've hung in so far, thank you.  On to the preaching (or motiviation.)  If you are the primary care-giver in your home, ask yourself where your strengths are.  We are all going to excel in some areas and need improvement in others.  Of late, I have been a pretty good home-manager.  I have gotten us fairly organized.  I keep a multitude of appointments each week, and I am on time, pay on schedule, and keep good records.  I get three meals on the table seven days a week.  My grocery bill is high, but not as high as an eating out bill would be.  My family consumes well above the national average in fruits, veggies, and whole grains.

On the minus side, I am not as patient with the delights of a child as some would be.  I get bored playing blocks or legos, or pushing cars and trucks around.  I don't do that as well as I should.  I like to escape to my books as soon as possible.

Whatever your own weakness, are you at all able to make it better?  Are there some tiny steps you can take to make your own home a little easier to live in?  More joyous?  Healthier?  Less stressful?  Are there things you could give up?  Are there things that are non-negotiable?  Baby, it's cold outside.  Take some time to think about this while cooped up indoors.  What is truly important?  If your world crashed on you tomorrow, what would you hold onto?  In ten years, what will you regret?  What will you be proud about?

Are you answering your own call?  Honestly?  Are you striving?

Back to breakfast: In my quest of the Holy Grail (or Grails) of breakfasts, I have stumbled on a few of late.  Stirring vanilla protein powder in a bowl of oatmeal makes Cool Guy happy while adding the protein he needs.  He likes the added vanilla flavor, and I like that it holds him until lunch.  Do I notice any discernible difference in his focus?  Not that I can tell, but then who knows how scattered he'd be without it?

The second uber-breakfast was recently discovered.  This is called a Bird's Nest.  You butter a slice of toast and then tear it up into pieces into a bowl.  Add a 3-minute egg on top, to be the egg in the nest, and then pour a little syrup over it.  When you break the egg, most of yolk soaks into the syrupy toast, and you have an absolutely wonderful taste treat.  It is comfort food at its finest.  The presentation is happy, the taste is sublime.  If the toast is whole wheat, and you include a glass of juice and a fruit, you have a perfect breakfast. Kid-appealing, good for you, better than fast food, and it only takes 5 minutes, start to finish.

If I have inspired you to examine your own calling, I am glad.  I would love to continue this conversation further.  If I have inspired you only to try the Bird's Nest, then that is enough.

Nostalgia and a Quest Ended

Do you have a food that you tasted once and have been looking for it for your entire lifetime?  My father in law was always on a quest for rhubarb pie that tasted like he remembered.  I don't think he ever found it, but he spent his lifetime looking for it.  My quest has always been for buckwheat pancakes like Mrs. Keener's.

Now you get to indulge me in a little reminiscence.  Paula Keener was a friend from grade school.  She lived in "the country," though when I go back home today, her home really wasn't that far out of town at all, but by standards at that time, she was far removed from the rest of us.  I guess since she was more isolated than the rest of us, her parents always let her invite girls over to spend the night.

Oh, we were wicked.  For some reason, Mrs. Keener always allowed Paula to invite lots of girls, or at least more than one.  But here's the problem: Mr. Keener drove a bread truck, so he had to be up and at work at, like, 4:00 am.  What is wrong with this picture?  Multiple grade school girls, dad needs sleep.  I can remember giggles, giggles, giggles, whoops of laughter, and then "Paula?  Come here."  Paula would go to her parents, and then come back and tell us that we had to be quiet so her dad could sleep.  Within 5 minutes, it would all begin again.  And this would go on all night long.

These were the days before cable TV, at least out in the country.  So there was nothing to lull us into placidness like parents have today.  No, by gosh, we relied on our own resources to be just about the worst group of guests imaginable.  And the funny thing of it was that a month or so later, we'd all be invited back.

Besides being rotten guests, I remember the mornings after.  Mr. Keener, bless his heart, would be long gone, and Mrs. Keener would be in her kitchen making some fantastic breakfast.  One morning, she made pancakes.  Now, as a kid, I never cared for pancakes.  I was a horrifically picky eater.  But, and this is funny, I was too polite to turn down the pancakes.  Oh, right.  Too polite, after an evening of total inconsideration toward Mr. Keener's sleep, I'm suddenly all politeness.  But somehow, somewhere, my parents had drilled into me something about not being my usual impossible picky self when a guest in someone's house.

So I took a tentative bite of these pancakes, and wow!  What have I been missing!  These weren't Bisquick pancakes, no sirree!  I had never had anything more wonderful for breakfast in my life!  What were these?  Mrs. Keener, probably delighted that these city heathens could at least appreciate her efforts, let me know they were buckwheat pancakes.

That detail stuck in my mind forever.  I don't think I bothered asking my mom to get the recipe or try making them.  Maybe I knew it wouldn't work out at home.  I don't know.  I just remember that once I had married, I was on a quest for the pancakes that Mrs. Keener made.

I have tried, Lord knows, I've tried.  I have bought buckwheat flour by the bucketful, and most recipes are extremely complicated and just weren't what Mrs. Keener had made.  Finally, not too long ago, I was flipping through King Arthur, and saw a recipe for them.  Do I try again?  Dare I?  These don't look too hard.  They don't require yeast like so many do, and somehow, I couldn't imagine sleep-deprived Mrs. Keener tiptoeing around her kitchen whipping up yeasted pancakes.  Nothing to lose but a breakfast and some flour and time, so I gave them a try, and there they were.  Mrs. Keener's pancakes.

They are easy as any other pancake, and taste just different enough to make you notice.  Boys liked them, and I loved them.  Compared to some other breakfasts I make now, they are good, but not the best thing on the planet.  However, they are much better than the Bisquick pancakes I was raised on.  Much, much better.

I haven't seen Paula in probably 25 or more years, and I have no idea if her parents are still around, but Mrs. Keener, her hospitality, and her wonderful pancakes will always be uppermost in my mind whenever I make these pancakes.

Mrs. Keener's Buckwheat Pancakes
(courtesy of King Arthur Flour)

1 cup buckwheat flour
3/4 cup regular flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
2 TBSP. molasses
2 cups buttermilk (I never have buttermilk.  Put 2 TBSP vinegar in a measuring glass and fill up rest of the way with milk and let it sit for a bit)
1 TBSP melted butter

1. Combine the dry stuff.
2. Combine the wet stuff
3. Mix together
4. Make the pancakes, like you would any others.

Well worth the purchase of a special flour, believe you me.

2 pancakes give you 12 g whole grains, which is half RDA.  Also, you get 2 g. fiber, vitamin A, iron, and calcium.  A healthy start to the day. 

Dessert or Breakfast?

Am I cheating?  Justifying?  I don't know.  I just know that it's good.  This morning, we had an apple cobbler with cranberries, complements of King Arthur Whole Grain Baking.  Over the past month, I've been haunting Marietta Farmer's Market, especially Lane's Orchard's Stand, where each week, new varieties of apples are available.  They recognize me now.

We are lucky.  We have a basement, and it has a kitchen (!) complete with a full sized refrigerator.  We don't have a root cellar, but we do have a mostly empty fridge "downstairs," so I decided to get as many apples now, while the gettin's good, and store them there to see us through part of the winter.  We have Grimes Gold, Firm Gold, Macleod, Winesap (tart!), Macs, JonGolds, you name it, we got it.  Have I mentioned that unless it's peach season, my favorite fruit is apples?

So it's apple season, and I have an overflowing refrigerator.  And I wake up at 5:00, while the rest of the household sleeps in since they stayed up late watching Oklahoma football on TV.  May as well do something good with all these apples.  Burt loves pies.  In fact, he always asks for pie for his birthday instead of cake.  I think I've made it known to him that a pie takes about two hours of labor, while a cake takes 20 minutes.  Still, he persists in pie.  I should be happy that birthdays only happen once a year.  And, truly, Burt wants nothing else.  No presents, nothing else.  Just pie.  So it's the least I can do.  But pie at any other time?  Sorry.  It's just too much of a time eater.  Counting the crust, which Burt prefers to be homemade, and we're talking 3 hours total.  But there are other options, and cobbler is one.

I stumbled upon a apple pandowdy recipe, and decided to try it.  The idea behind the pandowdy is that you put the fruit in the pan and then top it with a crust.  After it has baked, you break up the crust and integrate it with the filling, thus soaking the crust in the juice.  The thing that appealed to me was that the crust could be just a wreck, and no one would know.  And it should be a lot quicker than pie.

This particular recipe came from King Arthur, which, very nicely, gave me permission to reprint their recipes as long as I credited them and provided a link to either their store or their cookbook.  Credit and links duly noted.  Let me say right now that this pandowdy is the best apple concoction that I have ever made.  And believe me, I've made a lot, lot, lot of pies, cobblers, etc.  I'm a regular baking machine in the fall when it's apple season.  This is supreme.

The addition of dried cranberries is genius.  It adds a wonderful rosy color to the dish, and provides just the right tart.  For apples, I like to use as wide a variety as I can.  You know, some apples are eating apples, and others are cooking apples.  Some are tart, some are sweet.  I say just take a little of each, and then you don't have to worry about mushiness, tartness, oversweetness, or whatever.  Well, I pulled from six varieties, and it was a wonderful balance.  Let me add that if I only had one variety, I'd plow onward and make this.  I just don't see how  it could not come out good.

So is it a good start to the day?  Honestly, I don't see how anyone could question that.  In 7 cups of apples, only a mere half cup of sugar is used.  The crust is whole grain, so the carbs are not empty.  Yes, there are 6 tablespoons of butter, but come on.  You are getting SO MUCH fruit.  Live with it.

One thing that might be a little off-putting is that the main flour of this dish is barley flour.  I have a really hard time finding it here, and have gotten lucky occasionally at the local health food store.  However, this is a whole grain flour, and it adds a really nice taste, so it is worth taking the time to find it.  If I were determined to make this and I didn't have barley flour, I think I'd use white whole wheat flour instead.

When this baby came out of the oven, and I dug in, I just couldn't believe how good it was.  Cool Guy, who is not really a pie fan, became really hoggish with the crust parts, as in picking them out and taking them for himself, the rascal.

If I were to name a drawback, it would be that I doubt that the crust will retain its integrity over time.  Therefore, I ordered the family to consume the entire dish in one day.  It was going to breakfast, part of lunch,, snacks, and dessert for dinner, but by gosh, we were going to eat it in one day.  No protests.  If any is left, I guess I'll find out if the crust is any good on day 2, but I don't think that's going to be a problem.

*NOTE*  Day 2, there was enough of the pandowdy to make two small bowls for breakfast.  As I feared, the crust just wasn't as good, but overall, the taste was fine.  Certainly eat as much as you can on the first day, but enjoy it on the second, also.

Since eating it fresh is so important, I wouldn't recommend making this unless you have a lazy weekend planned.  Start to finish, it took 2 hours, and an hour of that was labor.  If I had thought to make the crust the night before and refrigerated it, if I had thought to peel and chop the apples ahead of time, it would have all gone together quickly, but I know me, and that doesn't happen often.  By the time dinner is over, this early riser is ready for bed, not another round in the kitchen.  Save this one for when you have time, but if you don't already have a favorite way to enjoy apple baking, be sure you carve out time for this.

Apple Cran-Dowdy
Courtesy of King Arthur Whole Grain Baking Book

3/4 cup whole barley flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
6 TBSP. butter
2-4 TBSP. milk

Combine dry ingredients.  Cut in the butter until it is the size of small peas.  Add enough milk to make the dough hold together.  (For me, that was all 4 tablespoons.)  Shape into a disk, and refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

7 cups peeled, cored, chopped apples
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
2 TBSP butter, cut into small pieces (I forgot to add this, and everything was FINE.)

Toss the apple slices with the cranberries in a large bowl.  Combine the brown sugar, spices, and salt, and add.  Pour the syrup and cider over the fruit and toss.  Put into buttered 9-inch square pan, and dot with butter.

Roll out crust to fit over the fruit.  Place it on top, and stick in a 350 degree oven.  Bake 50-55 minutes.  After it comes out of the oven, let it rest a few minutes, then cut the crust up, kindof turning it into the fruit.  Leave some large chunks, leave the edges alone, and leave some sticking up.

My New Favorite Breakfast Sandwich

Sometimes I amaze myself.  I sauntered into the kitchen, knew it was oatmeal time for Cool Guy, just didn't feel like having that myself, and created something new from what I had around, and am I ever glad I did.

I'm sure I'm not the first person on earth to make this breakfast sandwich, but I've never seen it before (my wide-ranging experience -- not), and I am super thrilled with it.  I think I'm calling it something like Avocado Hamwich.  For now, it's just My New Favorite.

I'm even going to go out on a limb and say that it's healthy.  Yes, I know avocados are loaded with fat, but it's the good kind of fat, the kind that doesn't clog your arteries, and also makes you feel good and full all morning long.  And they taste soooo good and have lots of other good nutrients in them.  Not only that, avocados allow your body to more easily absorb other vitamins, like beta carotein.  If you're curious, or just want to justify the avocado fat to yourself, you can learn all about avocado nutrients here.  And please don't skip the little bit of butter.  (Yes, I know that it's saturated fat, but just tiny smear of butter is what we're talking about.)  It really makes it.  Really.

I would definitely cut this rich breakfast with some fruit.  I think the perfect match would be an orange, but it's not orange season, so I had some fresh pineapple with mine.

Avocado and Ham Breakfast Sandwich


Half an avocado, peeled and mashed
little bit of butter
diced ham
1 whole wheat English muffin, toasted

1. Spread a little butter on the muffin while warm.
2. Spread with avocado
3. Top with ham.

Yum.

The Onslaught Begins

Zucchini, that's what I'm talkin' about.  The zucchini tsunami has begun.  Thankfully (?) I don't grow them, but if I go late enough to the farmers' market, they are practically giving them away.  Late, meaning that the people manning the stands want to dump their wares and get on home and will offer outrageous deals.  So it happens that I have a crisper drawerful of zucchini, yellow squash, pattypan squash, and yellow zucchini.  What's a poor girl to do?

Zucchini bread, of course!  Actually, I was lucky enough to pick up the latest issue of Eating Well magazine, which had lots of ideas for zucchini, but the bread struck my fancy.  It's easy, and good for you, too.

I went ahead and threw in a half cup of chocolate chips, to make it more tempting for Cool Guy, who resists any and all vegetables on principal, and he adored it.  My plan is to gradually decrease chocolate chips (they did nothing for me except add calories) until they disappear and are only a distant memory in Cool Guy's subconscious.

Next time I make this bread, which will be soon, I plan on converting it to muffins, following my muffin conversion strategy.  They stay fresher that way, are much easier to portion out, and any leftovers can be frozen for those bleak winter days when we have no zucchini to complain about.

Cool Guy and the vegetable story:
Last week, a water line broke in our neighborhood.  We had no water for 8 hours.  Come lunchtime, I had nothing to offer.  Oh, we had PBJ and milk, but no way of washing up, and the kitchen was a shambles from breakfast dishes still to be done.  And then there was the toilet issue.  Couldn't flush, and Cool Guy was refusing to go.  So I made a command decision to Go Out for Lunch.  My decision, my choice, so we went to the Indian place in town, which has a lunch buffet.  Lucky us.

We were a bit early, so the buffet was a bit bare at first.  No fritters, no rice pudding, no naan.  So Cool Guy took some tandoori chicken and something that looked like gravy.  Boy, did he dig that gravy.  I made the mistake of asking the waitress about the "gravy," at which she replied, "it's only spinach."  Well, that did it.  Not another bite of gravy passed Cool Guy's lips.

 I reminded him of DW, the Picky Eater, (an excellent, funny book that everyone should read) but still no dice.  Ah, well, it was good while it lasted.  And so you can understand my gilding the zucchini bread with chocolate, which was quite good.  Try some yourself, and throw in some chocolate to convert the natives, if needed.

I've Seen Elvis

That was the slogan on a T-shirt that Burt used to have a long, long time ago.  Burt likes Elvis; I don't.  I credit that to one time when I was about 9 or so, and Elvis was on TV, singing live, and dressed in a white pantsuit, fat (by those days' standards), sweating like all get out, and just totally grossed me out.  Grossed me out so much that I couldn't stand him or anything to do with him.  What a shame.  Whenever I hear him, even now, the first thing in my mind is my revulsion.  Suspicious Minds is the only song that can rise above.

But good ol' Elvis has staying power.  Cool Guy likes a lot of his music, and we all like his peanut butter/banana combo, the star of today's breakfast, which we dub Elvis Bagels.  That's right, toasted whole wheat bagels smeared while warm with peanut butter (or, better yet, toasted in the toaster oven with the pb right on) and then topped with sliced bananas.  Burt and I like it just as much as the boys.  Add a tall glass of milk, and you've got a wonderful start to the day.

No recipe necessary.

Spring Cleaning Finds, and a Bonus

Trying to follow good, healthy practices, I like to cook things when the ingredients are in season, a la farmer's market.  The following is definitely not farmers' market and definitely not seasonal.  However, in a twisted kind of way it is seasonal.

What does Spring make you think of?  Strawberries?  Asparagus?   Eggs?  What about pumpkin?  No?  NO!  Unless, of course, Spring also means Spring Cleaning, and that entails clearing out the pantry and checking expiration dates on canned goods.  Does anyone else always seem to have a can of pumpkin left over after Thanksgiving?  I always do, and unfortunately, it tends to expire before the next Thanksgiving rolls around.  And I need the room.  I do not have a limitless pantry.

Tangent: if you are interested in major pantry reorganization, please visit this Kitchen Stewardship post for a lot of really inspirational links regarding pantries, bulk food storage, and freezer storage.  I've got to get busy!

So I unearthed this can of pumpkin and no way was I making pumpkin pie.  So I did something better: whole grain pumpkin muffins.  Did you know that you can turn any quick bread recipe into a muffin recipe?  Just put the batter into muffin cups (12 muffins for one 9x5 loaf of bread) and bake for about 22-25 minutes.  If ever you have muffins left over, and we don't, you can freeze them and have them some other time.

I used the King Arthur Whole Grain pumpkin bread  recipe (see below) and added dried cranberries to the batter.  I had some of those left over too.  I had some pumpkin seeds, and sprinkled them on top, and it was a flashy, thematic addition.  (Note: I have a picture of these beauties on my camera, which seems to have died.  If it resurrects, I will put the picture up, but for now, just use your imagination.)  These muffins were delicious and loved by all at our breakfast table.  Not hard to make, though I did save it for the weekend, and the boys snacked on pumpkin muffins all weekend long.  I was happy knowing that they were snacking on something that was giving them whole grains, lots of beta carotine, plus other good stuff, rather than, say, Cheetos.

One thing I do not like is when recipes call for something like 1 cup of canned pumpkin.  A can of pumpkin holds more than a cup.  Remember, I'm trying to use up stuff, and be frugal, not throw out nearly half a can.  I decided to save the extra pumpkin and make it into smoothies for the boys.  Honestly, to me a pumpkin smoothie didn't sound that great, but Cool Guy especially liked the idea.

I put into the blender the remaining can of pumpkin, some vanilla yogurt, a pinch of cinnamon, a banana past its prime, and about a Tablespoon of maple syrup.  Whirred it up, and had a very quick, nutritious, and surprisingly good after school snack. 

So this can of pumpkin turned out to be a two-fer winner.  What do you have in your pantry?  Can you put your creativity to work and find some good uses for your orphans?

Pumpkin Muffins
(Reprinted, with permission, from King Arthur Whole Grain Baking Book)

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup regular sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 3/4 cup chopped nuts (I didn't include, since boys don't want them)
• 3/4 cup raisins, dried cranberries, or chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 375.  Grease 12 muffin cups.

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices in a bowl.

3. Cream together butter, and sugars in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy.

4. Beat in eggs, one at a time.

5. Beat in vanilla and pumpkin.

6. Add dry ingredients.

7. Stir in nuts and other addition.

8. Fill muffin cups.  They will be pretty full.

9. Sprinkle on pumpkin seeds if you have them.

10. Bake for about 23 minutes.

11. Wait about 10 minutes after taking out of the oven, and then remove from muffin pan.

I'm not going to do the math translating nutrition information between 1/16  of a loaf to 1/12 of the recipe for the muffins, but suffice it to say that you WILL get close to 20 whole grains, a nice bit of fiber, protein, vitamin A, iron, calcium and other stuff that is good for you.


Pumpkin Smoothie

• Vanilla yogurt
• banana
• canned pumpkin
• dash of cinnamon
• Tablespoon of maple syrup
• ice cube, optional

Whir it all in the blender.  Add more yogurt if the pumpkin is too strong.

Granola Girl

Does this make me a crunchy mom?  The fact that I make granola?  Do any of you dear readers make granola?  Do you know how easy it is?  And how good?  And how good for you?

What I like best about granola, besides how good it is, is that it makes a ton at once, and then for several weeks, I have at my fingertips the making for a very healthy, very quick, breakfast.

Let's face it: the boys and I don't share the same tastes.  Cool Guy could happily eat oatmeal every morning of the year, and he does ask for it for breakfast every night before he goes to bed.  Wish he could remember to brush his teeth as faithfully as he remembers to ask for oatmeal.  But after awhile, oatmeal pales for me.  I sometimes try to jazz it up a little, like last week, when I added rhubarb to the oatmeal pot, and thought Cool Guy was going to have to miss school because he was so incensed with my tinkering.

I guess granola is my way of tinkering with oatmeal so that it's not just oatmeal that I've ruined, but is something else entirely.

I've tried several different "recipes" of granola, and by far, my favorite is King Arthur flour's Maple Granola.  All granolas I've made have been good, if I do say so myself, but this one is superior.  It is perfect in its ratio of nuts, fruits, and grain, and is sweetened perfectly.

I never, ever have the exact ingredients called for in the recipe, so I make substitutions like mad, and each batch comes out differently, and always good.  This time, I used pumpkin seeds instead of sunflower seeds, and pecans rather than walnuts.  I cut out the coconut entirely because I do not like coconut at all, ever.  And I don't add the powdered milk - don't like that either.  For fruit, I used apricots, dried cherries, and dried cranberries.  A little heavier on the cranberries than the other fruits.  And I got to use some maple syrup from the local farmer's market.  It's available right now and very reasonably priced.  Sometimes, I use dry roasted peanuts, and that makes a good addition.  And I always throw in a handful of ground flaxseed to bump up the Omega-3's.

Another twist in preparation, is that I throw the whole mess into one 13 x 9 baking dish rather than portion it out between two jelly roll pans.  I do this because my rotten, lousy oven is too small to accommodate a jelly roll pan.  I have never had a problem with baking it all in my one pan, and it makes the process that much easier.

Yes, making granola is an investment in time, though most of the time is baking time, where I just plop down and watch a movie (wish) while it bakes.  But you've got to be around for it, to stir it around, and then you've got a big bowl to wash, and some containers to find to hold it all, but it is so worth it!.

This morning, another oatmeal day, before I put the water on to boil, I measured out 1/4 cup of granola into my bowl and 1/4 of lowfat vanilla yogurt.  I mixed that together, sliced a banana and mixed that in.  The granola gets a chance to soften a little, which I like, while the boys' oatmeal is cooking.  When their oatmeal is ready, so is my granola, and we sit down and eat together.  They're happy, I'm happy.

Do my boys like granola?  In a word, no.  When it comes out of the oven, they snick little tastes, but once I've put it in containers and offer it for breakfast, they want nothing to do with it.  Go figure.  I just tell them that their tastes aren't mature enough yet.  Burt loves it, and I love it, so I say, More for us.

Print out this recipe from King Arthur.  Get some ingredients together.  Give yourself a evening to make it, and then you can spend the next few weeks congratulating yourself on how frugal and healthy your breakfast is.

Scrambled Redux

I posted not too long ago about a veggie scramble, but I'm going to risk being boring and repetitive by posting about another for several reasons.

1. This one is different.
2. I love to talk about eggs, especially when fresh.
3. I love winning prizes, and this one has a prize involved.
4. It's my blog, and I'll repeat if I want to, repeat if I want to....

First, this one is different because I used potatoes and tomatoes, both leftovers from other meals.  The potatoes were the innards from baked potato skins that I had made and just couldn't bear tossing.

Second, I went to the farmers' market last weekend, and could not believe the plethora of eggs available.  It made me so happy, and I bought a ton, or rather 3 dozen.

Third, the prize.  I won a giveaway from Meal Makeover Moms and was thrilled to receive at the end of Feb. a gorgeous wooden crate of  Muir Glen fancy tomato products.  You should visit the company's website to see what all they offer.  I wanted to use those tomatoes in a special way, so for awhile was afraid I'd waste them in some dish where they wouldn't shine.  Finally, I just dove in, and used half a can on some open-faced sandwiches and had half a can leftover.  Into the eggs, they go!  And they were delicious.  And shone.

Fourth, just kidding.

The way I made the dish:

1. Melt two TBS. butter in a nonstick skillet.
2. Throw in the potato innards, and toss around until getting a little crispy.
3. Turn the heat down to low.
4. Mix the eggs (I used four) and a little milk.
5. Add to the skillet, which should be cooled down a bit by now.
6. Scramble it up, and right before it is done, throw in the well-drained tomatoes.

The point of this whole dish is twofold:

1. Get some veggies into breakfast.
2. Use up leftovers.

Any veggie that would appeal to you in the morning would work, I imagine, and it always seems to all go together well with eggs.  And it's great not to be wasteful of food, with the bonus that most everything is already cooked for you, and all you have to do is warm it and mix it all together.

We had this with some hot, buttered toast.  Total time invested was about 10 minutes.  Did the boys enjoy it?  Both said they preferred their eggs plain, but they ate about half a helping each.  It takes time, developing flexible eaters, and I'm not going to push it.  Sometimes, we have plain scrambles, and sometimes veggie scrambles, sometimes weirdly colored scrambles.

If you try adding some leftover veggies to your scrambled eggs, why don't you let me know what you tried and how you liked it?  I'd love to hear from you!

Variations on a Theme

It has been awhile since I have posted.  Never fear, I am still making breakfast; it is just that I'm not having time to write about it.  Encyclopedia's 6th grade class had their yard sale last weekend to fund their class trip, and I have gotten involved with a music ministry during Lent, that has required much more practice than I am used to doing.  Life ebbs and flows.

Earlier this week, I made "customizable" breakfast burritos.  I once tried a really bang-up breakfast burrito recipe that I loved and the boys hated.  Why?  Everything was all mixed together.  But they were open to the idea of breakfast burritos, "but please, mom, don't put in the stuff I don't like."  Simple enough.

Actually, it is easier to make it all at once in one skillet all mixed up, but if it doesn't get eaten, then it's a waste of time.  So here's what I did.

1. First I fried up 1/2 pound of breakfast sausage, crumbling it up in the skillet.  I removed it to a paper towel-lined plate.
2. Then I threw in the same skillet a diced up baked potato.  I baked an extra potato the night before.  I then removed that to a bowl.
3. Then I added a little butter to the skillet, and scrambled some eggs.
4. While the various things were cooking, I shredded some cheese, diced an avocado, poured out some salsa.
5. Finally, I placed a flour tortilla on each plate, and told the boys to customize their own burritos.  Encyclopedia chose sausage, egg, potato, and cheese.  Cool Guy had sausage, egg, and avocado.  I had it all.  We were all happy and well-fed.

As a bonus, I made another burrito, wrapped in foil and sent it to school in Cool Guy's lunch for the day.  He loved it.

So the theme is Tex Mex, and Variation #1 was the burritos.  Everything got saved and two days later, we had Variation #2, which was quesadillas.  Here's how I did that.

1. Set out the filling ingredients, and asked the boys how they wanted theirs.
2. Put a flour tortilla on the griddle and place chosen toppings on one half of the tortilla.  Fold over the empty side to make a half-moon shape.  Kindof press the top down so it will stay in place.
3. Cook it on one side for a minute or two until the cheese gets a little melty (technical term), so that it will all stick together while you flip.
4. Flip it carefully.  A spatula helps.
5. Cook it on the other side for about a minute and then remove to a plate. 
6. Cut into wedges and top with things like salsa or sour cream.

Cool Guy had cheese and avocado.  Encyclopedia had sausage and cheese.  I had everything.

The burritos took longer, mainly because I was cooking the fillings for the first time.  The quesadillas, only needing to warm everything up, took less time.  You would probably need to budget about 30 minutes for the burritos, and about 5 minutes for the quesadillas.  That's per quesadilla, if you only cook one at a time.

Are they healthy?  More or less.  We used whole wheat tortillas, and lower fat sausage.  We got in some whole grains, protein, dairy, even some good veggies in the avocado and salsa.  There are certainly worse breakfasts out there.

Are they tasty?  Absolutely.  Is it kid friendly?  Are you kiddiing?  It's Customizable!  Mine loved it.  Should you make this?  If you want something not too difficult, something different, something that will take you through the morning, then yes, yes you should.  Seriously, give these a try.

A Great Start to a New Week

What better way to start a week than with waffles?  How about Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Waffles?  Do you think that will put smiles on the boys' faces?  You bet!  Oh, Encyclopedia, who is a little too cool right now to smile for his mom, may not actually smile, but I know he's smiling inside.

Normally, this would be a definite weekend breakfast and something easy would be on tap for Monday, but hey, I was up.  Using a stand mixer makes the batter very easy, and then all I have to do is wait for the boys to get up before starting the waffles.

The recipe, which is from King Arthur Whole Grain Baking Book, calls for serving these with a banana cream.  Well, that's just a little too fancy for me any day of the week, so instead, I topped the waffles with banana slices.  We had it that way in lieu of syrup and didn't miss the syrup one bit.

What do I like about these waffles?  First, they are made with whole spelt flour, giving us whole grains and protein.  Second, they have peanut butter, which adds more protein and really appeals to the boys.  Chocolate chips just make them even better.  Finally, the fluffy texture plus the great chocolate/peanut butter combo makes them seem so special, as if I had been slaving all morning in the kitchen, when in fact, I haven't at all.

After eating one waffle with the banana, I was so full, I had to put off my morning walk for awhile.  I am sure it will hold the boys until lunchtime.

The peanut butter flavor is not overwhelming, and the chocolate chips just come in a little bit, but the whole is a quiet pb and a quiet choc, and together, it is very nice.  The Elvis banana touch really appealed to the boys.  I guess if I go ahead and SLICE the bananas instead of just handing one to them, they get eaten.  OK, fine.  I'll slice them.

Making these, I used a 3/4 cup of batter for my iron.  I think that was too much.  2/3 would be better.  My iron let that larger amount spill all over the iron and made cleanup a mess.  Hey, less batter means more waffles.  And Cool Guy just couldn't get enough of these today.  More waffles, more bananas.

Each waffle will give you

• 8 whole grains
• 12 grams fat
• 6 grams protein
• 3 grams fiber

OK, so there's more fat than I would like, but I rationalize this by telling myself that I am aware and that I just need to cut back on lunch and dinner.  The whole grains are good, and the protein is good, and adding in the bananas, I'm sure we're still way better than my pop tart measuring stick.  Is this better for you than a pop tart?  If yes, then proceed.  We can proceed.

Please, if you aren't scared off by (a) waffle iron or (b) spelt flour, try this waffle.  Everyone in your family, young or old, will LOVE it.  You've got to trust me on this.  And also, I want you to let me know after you have tried it and loved it yourself, that you know that I was right.  Please.

Banana Oat Pancakes

I already have a favorite pancake recipe, Spelt Pancakes, but these run a close second.  You like banana bread?  You like pancakes?  Then you'll love these.  They are quick and easy to mix up, and just take a few minutes to cook.  They are also Cool Guy's favorite pancake.

If you've ever smashed up a banana and stirred it into your pancakes, you know how good that can be, but using the oat flour (you can just whiz some oatmeal in a blender if you don't have oat flour) and the cinnamon and nutmeg elevates these to a higher level.  Seriously, they will melt in your mouth.  These pancakes (recipe is here) rise higher and have an almost cakelike texture compared with most pancakes.  Since they do pour out thick, I spread the batter out a bit, and I have to be careful not to have the heat on too high or else the insides won't cook all the way before the outsides burn.  But then, pancakes have always been a challenge for me.

Please don't let that or the oat flour scare you away from trying these.  They are definitely delicious, and taste almost dessert-like, while also being good for you.  Two pancakes will give you

• 18 grams whole grains
• 203 calories
• 8 grams fat
• 6 grams protein
• 3 grams fiber
• And potassium, iron, calcium, and other good things.

I could only eat one, though the boys each had two.  We served it today with some stick sausage, oranges, juice, and coffee for me.

Tastes Change (Thank God)

I'm not talking about the boys' tastes.  No I'm talking about my own.  I think you could have put me in the running as one of the pickiest kids in America.   I didn't like eggs forever.  I don't think I enjoyed scrambled eggs until my 30's.  And I didn't like eggs fried unless they were rubbery-hard and then only between bread smeared with lots of Miracle Whip.  I didn't really like toast, didn't like pancakes, didn't like homemade waffles.  Is it any wonder my mom only fed me box cereal, which I also didn't like?  Heck, if I'm not going to like anything anyway, why bother making anything?  (Although why we couldn't have French toast every morning is beyond me.)

Well.  My tastes have changed, thank God, or should I say they have "matured."  I like all those things now, and I have learned that I should never write something off entirely forever without giving it another try.  (Exceptions are canned corn and coconut.  Totally and forever.)

Which brings me to today's breakfast: broiled grapefruit.  About once a year, growing up, I would come to the breakfast table and find, much to my horror, a half grapfruit sitting at my place and a bowl of sugar next to it.  I was supposed to sprinkle the sugar on top and eat that thing.  It felt like I sat there for hours, sprinkling and sprinkling, and just could not get that grapefruit to taste any better.  Once I had flown the coop, grapefruit was on my "never to be endured again" list.

And then, again in my 30's, I found out that corn on the cob is good.  You see, my personal war with canned corn turned me against any and all forms of corn, seemingly for the rest of my life.  Poor Burt.  He never got corn at our house.  Then one day, we had some friends over for dinner, and they brought some fresh corn and made it for us, and I knew it would just be plain rude to refuse, so I put on my best face and decided to fake my way through it, choking it down with a smile.  What a revelation!  Corn on the cob was good!

What else have I been missing in my life?  Well, runny eggs on toast, for one, and pancakes and waffles.  Not to mention steak, celery, and lima beans.  And grapefruit.

I finally got up the nerve to try grapefruit again this winter, and what a treat it has been.  It's quick, easy, and good for you, and it has this juxtaposition of tastes and textures when it's been broiled.  The coolness and tang of the fruit contrasts so well with the warmth and sweet crunch of the topping.  I had some again this morning, and am so glad that I didn't let grapefruit pass me by forever.

One grapefruit, not counting the topping, has less than 100 calories, 5 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein, half of your Vitamin A for the day, and over 100% of your vitamin C.

Full disclosure: boys didn't like it.  Their tastes haven't matured enough yet.

Are there any foods that you need to try again?  Or foods that you have matured into?  Let me know!


Broiled Grapefruit
serves 1 or 2

• 1 grapefruit, which has been stored in the fridge for that cold contrast
• brown sugar, about 1/4 cup
• butter, softened, about 2 Tablespoons
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat your broiler

2. Cut the grapefruit in half.

3. Use a small serrated knife to cut the fruit away from the white part all the way around and also cut between each segment.  This makes for easy eating and takes 1 or 2 minutes.  It's worth the time.

4. Mix together the topping ingredients and spread over the cut grapefruit.  What I mixed together this morning wasn't quite enough to allow for a nice thick layer, so I just sprinkled a little more brown sugar on top.

5. Broil until the top is bubbly.

Flying Solo

Some things you just can't convert the heathens to.

Today boys are having oatmeal again, and I am having what I had planned for all of us and what quickly got deep 6-ed by the boys: cottage cheese and canned pears.  I don't know......is this something like creamed chipped beef on toast?  Something that you have to have grown up during a certain era to even conceive eating?

When I was growing up, this used to be a frequent dish at dinner.  Sometimes my mom would have a small bowl next to the dinner plate with a leaf of lettuce lining it, a mound of cottage cheese, and half a pear perched on top.  That was our salad for the night.  I loved it.  It was a nice change from the usual tiny bowl of iceberg lettuce that we usually had, and I like pears.  And cottage cheese.  Something about the combination, the sweet pears with the slightly salty cottage cheese just hits the right note.

How is it, then, that the boys have not been won over to this great combo?  I keep putting it on the table, and they keep refusing to eat it.  Is it me?  Or them?

No matter.  I like it, and they like oatmeal day after day, so we're all happy.

No recipe needed for this one.  Combine cottage cheese and canned pear halves, and dig in.  You've got most of your nutrition bases covered.

Cornmeal Rye Waffles

There is something about waffles - the homemade variety - that just screams "fancy-schmancy" to me.  What is ironic about it is that they are so much easier to make than pancakes.

• You can walk away from them for a minute while they're cooking.
• There is no awful first waffle, like there's always an awful first pancake.
• Cleanup is minimal.

What I like especially about these Cornmeal-Rye Waffles is that they have a little crunch.  It's totally a texture thing although the taste is pretty fantastic, too - a little less sweet than usual - perfect for soaking up that good maple syrup.  And then there's the smell while they cook - kindof a sweet cornbread smell.

I also like that these have lots of whole grains, protein, and other good stuff in them.  And that I feel like SuperMom for having made them.  One waffle will give you

• 161 calories
• 6 grams fat
• 5 grams protein
• 3 grams fiber
• and other good things like potassium, iron, calcium, and Vitamin A
• 23 whole grains

When I make waffles (or pancakes), I usually go ahead and make the batter as soon as I wake up, and then just let it sit until the boys wake up.  Then all I have to do is heat up the waffle iron and cook those babies.

This picture shows things right before it's showtime.  I have my waffle iron heating, my batter mixed and waiting, the plates handy, and a measuring cup and paper towel to set it on between times so I don't have waffle crud to scrape off the counter.

I used a 1/2 cup to pour the batter, and that seems about the right size for us.  It takes about 3-5 minutes to get the waffle good a crispy, and then I just pick it up carefully with my fingers and put it on the plate.

This recipe makes my favorite waffles.  They are light and fluffy yet crunchy from the cornmeal.  They are not too sweet, so we can all sweeten as we like with the syrup.  I used the Healthy Version on the right and just used regular sugar.  I always forget that this batter makes a TON, and the boys and I each have one waffle, so I have TONS of batter left.  I refrigerated what was left and will make waffles with sausage tomorrow night for dinner and will freeze any remaining waffles to toast some other time (though my boys won't eat toasted frozed homemade waffles, only toasted frozed boughten waffles.  Whatever.)

Even though today ended up being a snow day and I had all the time in the world to make breakfast, I had the batter made, waffles cooked, breakfast eaten, and myself showered all before 7:30.  The point being waffles are not nearly as time-consuming as you think they are.  And cleanup is quick, quick.  Try them out some weekend, time yourself, and then when you want waffles during the week, go for it!

Today's waffle special was served with some applesauce  on the side.  That just sounded like a really good go-with for these.

Roughy

The name for my new fruit salad: Roughy.  It's like a Smoothie, but it's not smooth - get it? 

The point is that sometimes it takes clever marketing to make things appealing to the Younger Generation.  "Fruit Salad" just doesn't stir excitement in my boys' souls.  I guess I could have called it "Wookie yum-yums," or some such, but I've got a little dignity left.  After making this salad, I realized that what I put into the bowl was exactly what I would have put into the blender if we were having smoothies.

And under the guise of Roughy, this salad got eaten.  Not that is wasn't delicious on its own, but it looked suspicious, being an amalgamation of things all mixed up together.

I served this fruit salad with oatmeal (again) for the boys and with a leftover scone for me.  Here's how I made it.

Roughy

1. Take whatever fresh fruit you have on hand (I had oranges, apples, and bananas) and cut them into bite-sized chunks.  I didn't peel the apple, and no one protested.

2. Throw in some dried fruit.  I used a handful of dried cherries and a handful of dried cranberries.

3. Stir in enough vanilla yogurt to cover all the fruit well.

That's it!  And it got eaten and requested again.

If I had had some canned pineapple, I would have used it.  I only used one of each fruit, but this could be infinitely expanded.  Total time was minimal.  I started the salad while the oatmeal was cooking, and while the boys were putting on their oatmeal toppings, I finished up the salad.  It could also be made ahead, thus allowing the dried fruit to soften a little.

Spelt Pancakes

Who has heard of spelt?  Until a year ago, I hadn't, and I'm usually suspicious of anything I haven't heard of.  Then, I got the King Arthur Whole Grains Baking Book, and became convinced that we needed more whole grains in our diet.  So, methodically, I turned to the first recipe in the book, Spelt Pancakes, went to the health food store to buy some spelt flour, and gave them a try.

And they were the best pancakes I ever had.

The hardest thing about them is keeping spelt flour stocked.  It's available at health food stores and at some grocery stores.  You can read more about spelt here, but basically, it's an ancient grain, related to wheat with more protein than wheat, and easier on the digestive system.  It has a different taste, giving the pancakes a deeper, richer flavor.  And it can be substituted for wheat in other recipes.

This recipe is very basic and very easy.  The only caveat is that the batter must sit for 15 minutes before making the pancakes, so you need to allow for that extra time, but they are worth the wait.

Pancakes are Cool Guy's second-favorite breakfast, after oatmeal,  and a special treat for everyone.  Two of these pancakes give you

• 27 whole grains (that's over half what is recommended per day
• 137 calories
• 4 g fat
• 5 g protein
• 4 g fiber

And they look just like regular pancakes, not like some sort of "health food," that my kids wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole.

We had our stacks this morning with a thin pat of butter, some real maple syrup, an orange on the side, and (for me) coffee with cream.  Fine dining in the a.m.!

My Smoothie Ambivilance

I like smoothies, really, but I don't see them as the be-all and end-all of healthy breakfasts.  Today was another snow day, so a perfect day for smoothies ----not?  Yes, and no.

One the one hand, it was cold outside, so most people would want something warm.  Not a good day for smoothies.  On the other hand, they lack a rib-sticking quality to get the boys and me through until lunchtime.  A better day for smoothies than most, since boys would be here to have something else if needed.  Mainly I chose to make smoothies today because the boys asked for them.

So my two gripes about smoothies are that they don't sustain us throughout the morning and that I hate my blender.  To combat the first problem, I could serve something else along with the smoothie, such as a breakfast meat, or even some cereal.  Cool Guy handled the problem by having a bowl of cereal at 10:30 this morning.  To combat the second problem, I am waiting to receive another blender in the mail.  I'll give this new one a try, and if it is the success that I hope it to be, I'll post about it.

The good part about smoothies is

• they are easy
• they are healthy
• boys like them
• they are quick
• they are customizable

Today's smoothie got in 100% of our Vitamin C, a lot of our Vitamin A, a good chunk of potassium, some calcium, protein, and even some Omega-3.  That's quite a whallop for such a small investment of time and energy.  And did I mention that the boys like them?

In the final analysis, I think smoothies are a good thing, but not something that I would want every day as my main source of morning sustenance.  Enjoy it for what it is: a yummy, healthy drink.

My basic recipe for smoothies is vague.  It takes a little tinkering with yourself to make it yours.

Smoothie
For two or three people

1 banana
Several serving spoonfuls vanilla yogurt (probably 3/4 cup total)
Fresh or frozen other fruit of your choice, about 1 cup (we used frozen mango today)
2-3 ice cubes if not using frozen fruit
Orange juice if needed
Optional ground flax seed or wheat germ for extra nutrition

1. Place the fruits, ground flax seed,  and yogurt in the blender and turn it on.  Hopefully your blender works better than mine.

2. If it seems too thick, add orange juice until it is of a consistency you like.

3. Pour into glasses, add straws, and FILL YOUR BLENDER WITH WATER.

4. Train your family members to fill their glasses with water after they are done with their smoothies.  Smoothie residue is the devil to clean after it dries on the blender and glasses.

You Say Tomato, I Say To-mah-to

No, I didn't serve tomatoes this morning.  Or potato po-tah-tos.  We had hard boiled eggs, one of my favorite breakfasts.

What I want to talk about is how different things are done in different families, and hard boiled eggs are a case in point.

The way I grew up, we peeled them, sat at the table with salt and pepper shakers, sprinkled those on, and munched away, using more salt and pepper as needed.  De-lightful.

Burt's family proceeds entirely differently: They put the eggs on a plate, roughly chop them, and then put pats of butter, plus some salt and pepper, and eat them with a fork.  De-licious.

I think one of the most interesting things in life is finding different ways of doing every-day, ordinary things.  De-lovely.

Are there other ways to eat hard boiled eggs? 

Both methods are equally good, but my way has the advantage of allowing a little flexibility for cooking and serving.  Burt's way requires the eggs to be quite hot, as in right off the stove, to have enough heat for the butter to melt.  I eat my plain hard boiled eggs hot, room temp, or cold.  It's all good to me.  And since I have a rotten, miserable cold right now and plan on crawling back into bed the moment I start feeling bad again, I think I'll go with the flexibility of the plain eggs today.

(Just a note: neither boy has yet taken to hard boiled eggs, but both like eggs in general now.  I'm suspecting that they just haven't had enough during all those cold cereal years, so I continue to make them once a month or so, serve the no-thank-you bite, plan on using the rejected eggs for tuna salad, and get on with things.  Mom-sick days are fine ones for the boys to pour their own cereal.)

This morning's eggs were served with whole wheat English muffins with honey, and a mandarin orange.