Recipe: 5 Grain Morning Cereal

5 Grain Morning Cereal is a combination of highly nutritious whole-grains that have been toasted, then just before cooking you grind the amount you need for that morning's cereal.

5-Grain Morning Cereal ("Feeding the Whole Family" by Cynthia Lair)
1 cup wheat berries
1 cup millet
1 cup spelt
1 cup brown rice
1 cup quinoa

Place all grains in a fine strainer; rinse and drain.
Toast grains in a 350 degree oven, spread the grains on a cookie sheet and toast until there is a nutty aroma (about 12-15 minutes)

Store in a jar in your cupboard until ready to use.

To make cooked cereal: (1 cup dry makes 4 servings)
1 cup toasted cereal mix, ground fresh
3 cups water
pinch of salt

Grind toasted cereal mix in a small electric grinder. Combine ground cereal, water, and salt in a small pan. Stir constantly and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low, cover, and simmer 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

*bonus! you can shorten the cooking time to about 5 minutes by starting the grains and hot water the night before and letting sit (without any heat) overnight.

On Christmas Eve morning we gathered the bowls together and started preparing the mix-ins as the cereal heated up.
We added:
freshly ground flaxseeds
chopped pear
chopped apple
chopped banana
frozen raspberries (from my parent's garden)
peeled and chopped mandarin oranges
dried cherries
chopped walnuts
1 tsp. sucanat to each bowl

Recipe: Citrus topped Waffles

Sunday time is waffle time and I continue to experiment and make little adjustments on this waffle recipe.
This time I used Coach's oats and added sliced clementine's on top. I didn't even need a sweetener.

gluten-free, sugar-free, oil-free

1/3 cup almonds (put these in food processor first and pulse a few times)
1/2 cup Coach's oats
1/3 cup corn flour
1 banana
1 egg
1 egg white
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp. real salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla

blend and pour in hot waffle iron.

Nova Boys + Girls + Babies

These Nova Friends...they rule.

Nova Friends-round 1

Holiday: Gift Idea

A weck jar and a small spatula,
my favorite things in the kitchen.
There are endless things you could fill the weck jar with,
but I love the idea of filling it with something beautiful and delicious
and homemade from your kitchen.
granola
trail mix
mini cookies
cinnamon toasted nuts
do you have a signature treat? fill it with that.

Recipe: Oatmeal Cake

1 1/4 cups boiling water
1 cup oats (quick or rolled)
1/4 cup butter softened
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup dates pureed with a little hot water
1/4 cup evaporated cane juice (or succanat)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 cups whole grain flour (from the wheat I ground at my sisters)

Pour the boiling water over the oats and let stand for 20 minutes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a pan (this time I chose a 9 inch round, but I usually do a 9x13)

Cream the butter, applesauce, evaporated cane juice, and pureed dates. Beat in the egg. Then add the oat mixture and vanilla, mixing well.

Combine the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and flour. Add this to the oatmeal mixture and stir to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until tester comes clean.

Slice and top with whipped cream and fresh or frozen berries.

*This is a cake I've always loved of my moms. It's a perfect after dinner dessert with company because it's not to rich or heavy and pretty with the whipped cream and berries. I wanted to bring a dessert to dinner with friends this week, and decided on this cake. I knew I wanted to adjust the original recipe and the substitutions I made turned out to be a success so I made it again for Sunday dinner at my sisters. Dates pureed with a little hot water in a food processor is an easy way to substitute sugar and doesn't take out the sweetness of the dessert. Dates are so sweet! Applesauce is the easy go-to for oil/butter in baked recipes and only adds to the desired moistness. I suppose you could play around with different flours too. Lots you do with this basic recipe.
Eat with people you love.

Check out//illustrated version of Food Rules

Remember when I blogged about Food Rules?
A new, updated version with illustrations by Maira Kalman came out!
Beautiful illustrations for Michael Pollan's rules.
I love his food philosophy. Real food, around a beautiful table, with people you love...less complicated, more enjoyable. It's the way to live.
And I'd like to have a blown up illustration of Maira Kalman's in my kitchen.

Gifting

cutting board

candle
cloth napkins
mixing bowls
utensils
ipad app (i'll need the ipad to go with this one)

This is what kitchen dreams are made of.