All-Purpose Pancakes

I had a pancake recipe that looked but I made revisions to it to use what ingredients I had. They were delicious Isabella ate 2 of them! Baking and cooking have reminded me a lot of making music these. When you know the rules, there are a lot of variations and ways to "brake" them that improve on the original!

1 cup flour (whatever kind you have on hand, I used 3/4 ww pastry & 1/4 all-purpose white)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 milk or water (I used almond milk)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/3 cup blueberries

In a bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients. Add the liquid to the flour mixture and whisk until just combined. Do not over mix; the batter should have some lumps. Gently fold in blueberries.

Heat a lightly grease a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Pour desired amount of batter into skillet and flip when bubbles begin to appear in the center of the pancake.

California Chipotle Chop with Agave-Lime Vinaigrette

Agave-Lime Vinaigrette

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons apple-cider vinegar

2 tablespoons agave (I used only 1 because I prefer my dressings less sweet and more tangy)

1/4 cup lime juice

Blend all ingredients in a blending device until smooth. Set aside.

Chipotle Chop

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 15-ounce can black beans, drained & rinsed

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat, and sauté black beans, garlic, chipotle powder, and salt for 5 minutes. Let cool.

Salad 

1 head romaine lettuce, cut or torn into bite-sized pieces. (I used 2 heads because we like salad)

1 large tomato, finely chopped (cherry tomatoes work great too)

1/4 red onion, finely chopped

1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and diced

1/2 cup cooked quinoa

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

In a large bowl, combine romaine, tomatoes, onions, avocado, quinoa, black bean mixture, and cilantro. Toss with desired amount of Agave-Lime Vinaigrette.

Fabulous Sweet Potato Enchiladas

Believe me when I say that these were SO delicious!!! Very simple to make. You must try them.

Makes 6-8 servings

1/2 cup vegetable broth, divided
1 medium onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
2 cups black beans, slightly mashed
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
Sea salt, to taste (I didn't end up adding any)
10 large tortillas
1 jar of your favorite salsa (I used a jar of red enchilada sauce instead)

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable broth in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic. Sauté until onion is translucent. Add coriander and cumin. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

3) Add remaining vegetable broth, spinach, black beans, soy sauce, and mashed potatoes. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt.

4) Place 1/4 - 1/2 cup  of mixture in center of tortilla. Roll into a burrito and place in a nonstick baking dish.

5) Once all the burritos are assembled, pour your favorite salsa (or enchilada sauce) on top and cover with aluminum foil.

6) Bake for 25 minutes.

This recipe came from the China Study Cookbook. 

Baked Doughnuts

Isabella saw these in a cookbook I had sitting around and asked to make them. It was quite fun!

Baked Sprinkled Doughnuts
Makes 12 Doughnuts

2 2/3 cups flour (I used part whole wheat part white; any combo would probably work)
2/3 cups sugar (again, probably any kind would work)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons nutmeg (unless you are a HUGE nutmeg fan, I would cut this down to at least half)
1 teaspoon salt

1 cup non-dairy milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup white or apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease two doughnut pans.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk together quickly until just combined. Don't overmix.

Using a pastry or plastic bag with the tip cut, pipe batter into the prepared pans and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let sit 5 minutes before unmolding.

Old-fashioned Glaze
whisk together...
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons non-dairy milk

Dip each doughnut into the glaze. Immediately sprinkle with topping such as sprinkles, nuts, coconut, etc.

ENJOY! (this is the only picture I took)

Rhubarb Oat Quick Bread

Because we all enjoyed it so much and because Isabella kept asking for seconds (and that's a BIG deal), I've actually made this recipe twice! Once as a loaf of bread and once as muffins. Both were fabulous! This recipe came from naturallyella.com. For those not wanting to use real eggs, I made this recipe using Ener-G Egg replacer and it worked great! I'm betting flax seeds or meal would probably work as well. 

No, this isn't my picture...I flaked on that.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ cup crushed pecans or walnuts
• 2½ cups rhubarb, divided
• ¾ + 2 tablespoons cup maple syrup
• ⅓ cup pecan or walnut oil
• 2 eggs
• oatmeal and nuts to top

Instructions

1. In a medium sauce pot, combine 1 cup rhubarb and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. Cook over medium-low heat until rhubarb is broke down, 10-15 minutes. Set aside and let cook slightly.
2. Preheat oven to 350˚and generously butter/oil a 8 or 9″ loaf pan.
3. In a food processor, pulse oats until almost flour- I still like little pieces of oats left. Pour into a large bowl and add wheat flour,spices, baking soda, and nuts.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together rhubarb puree, maple syrup, oil, and two eggs. I like to extra nuttiness the nut oil adds but you can also use melted butter or coconut oil. Combine puree mixture, dry ingredients, and the remaining 1½ cups of rhubarb. Stir until just combined (don’t over stir!)
5. Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle with oats and nuts. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Top should spring back lightly and when a knife is entered, it should come out clean. Let cool and slice!

Happy Baking!