Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes

My favorite mother-in-law, affectionately "Nana" far and wide, made these amazing pancakes for us this morning. This is my quick intro. Love you Nana!

Let batter stand to thicken, about two hours. Cover and refrigerate.

2 c oats
1/4 c flax seed, golden, milled
1/2 c all-purpose flour
3 T sugar
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

2.5 c 1% buttermilk
2 large egg whites
2 T Egg Beaters 99% egg substitute (or just use the yolks from the eggs)
2 T unsalted butter, melted
1 t vanilla extract
pecans

Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl.

Whisk buttermilk, eggs, butter & vanilla in bowl. Add to dry ingredients. Whisk until blended.

Let batter stand to thicken, about two hours. Cover and refrigerate.

Working in batches, ladle onto hot skillet in 1/4 cupfuls

Top with warm maple syrup, berries, and toasted pecans

Ranch Dip

I had no idea ranch dip was so simple to make and so much better than the store-bought stuff. Try it and you'll make this all the time.

In a large bowl, whisk the following:
- 1 c mayonnaise
- 1/2 c sour cream
- 1/2 t dried chives
- 1/2 t dried parsley
- 1/2 t dried dill week
- 1/4 t garlic powder
- 1/4 t onion powder
- 1/8 t salt
- 1/8 t ground black pepper

Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

adapted from allrecipes.com

Juicing

Like thousands of other people, we watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead and have since become juice converts. We did a juice fast for two weeks and it was amazing how it changed us. We felt great, we were never hungry, our skin glowed, we slept amazing, and woke up energized. It was a hard commitment to make, but seeing how good we felt is what kept us going.

Now going into the holidays and the cold winter days that bring on colds, I'm back to thinking of juicing and getting more veggies into our bodies. It's early today and my sweet P has waken up yet, so I'm going to jot down some juice recipes and links I found this morning.

P.s. we're here in Salt Lake for another week so I thought I'd throw together my own quick five-day plan to get us through this week (and my scant supply of kitchenware). These are very fruit-heavy at the beginning of the week, based off of a strategy from a 30-day plan from the Williams-Sonoma site. Sounds like a good way to convince a toddler of juicing.

Now: adapted plan from Williams-Sonoma
Whenever: solid recipes from Raw Foods Diet
After Thanksgiving: 15-day food-juice reboot plan from Reboot your Life


Mucus Buster
- 1/2 pineapple
- 2 plums
- 2 grapefruit

Detox
- 5 carrots
- 4 celery
- 1 small cucumber
- 1 beet
- 1 apple
- 1/2 lemon


Day 1
- 1/2 pineapple
- 1 c. strawberries
- 1 pear
- 30 mint leaves

Day 2
- 2 c blueberries
- 2 kiwi
- 16 strawberries
- 2 c mint leaves

Day 3
- 1 small orange
- 1/8 pineapple
- 2 carrots
- 1/2 lemon

Day 4
- 1/4 pineapple
- 6 kale
- 2 c. spinach
- 1/2 cucumber

Day 5
- 6 kale
- 2 c spinach
- 1/2 cucumber
- 4 celery
- 2 apple
- 1 piece ginger
- 1/2 lemon

Day 6
- 1 pear
- 1 apple
- 1 beet
- 1 carrot
- 1.5 c chard

Whole grain pizza crust

From my friend, Mo, who made good pizza crust, amidst chaos with 4 kids. Must work.

1.5 c warm water
1.5 T honey or sugar
.5 T dough enhancer (Bosch store)
3/4 c cooked crack grain (kamut, oat groat, wheat, whole millet, whole quinoa) - nutritional option
1.5 c flour (high gluten preferred)
1 T yeast

Mix well. It'll be a little runny. Let it sit and sponge for 10-15 minutes. Then pulse to release air.

Add:
2 T olive oil
2 c flour (to separate sponge from salt)

On top of flour add:
1 t salt

Mix/knead. Add flour a little at a time while mixer is kneading until the dough pulls away and cleans sides and bottom of mixing bowl.

Then knead 10-15 minutes.

Form into a ball (should weigh about 2 lbs). Oil top of ball if you want, let it relax 5-10 minutes. Roll out to desired size and thickness. Place it on a piece of parchment paper. Oil top if you want. Let it rise a bit. Put toppings on. Bake at 450-500 on oven stone for 5-9 minutes.

Lemon Butter Sauce for Salmon

If you like lemony stuff (especially for fish) I could drink this stuff. We had this with salmon cooked on the bbq, orzo pasta with sundried tomatoes, steamed broccoli, and salad with poppyseed dressing. Mmmmm.

1 c dry white wine
3 lemons, peeled and quartered
2 T lemon zest
2 T minced garlic
1 T minced shallots
1 t salt
3 turns freshly ground black pepper
dash Worcestershire sauce
dash hot pepper sauce (optional)
1/2 c heavy cream
1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter cut up, at room temperature
1 T finely chopped fresh parsley

1. Heat a skillet or frying pan over high heat. Add wine, lemons, garlic and shallots and cook for 3 minutes.
2. Break up and mash the softened lemons in the pan with a wooden spoon or a wire whisk.
3. Add the salt, pepper, Worcestershire and hot sauce if using, and stire until the mixture is a little syrupy (about 4 minutes).
4. Add the lemon zest.
5. Stir in the cream and cook for 1 minute at high heat.
6. Reduce the heat to low and add butter, a few tablespoons at a time, while continuing to stir the mixture.
7. Remove the pan from the heat and turn off the range. Keep stirring the sauce to blend in the butter until it is completely melted.
8. Strain the sauce into a bowl; press down on the mixture to extract all the liquid.
9. Stir in the parsley, and serve the sauce warm.

Mango and Black Bean Quinoa Salad

Last night, we came home around dinnertime from a trip, so I wanted to throw something together pretty quick. A little quinoa with extra fruits and vegetables and a vinaigrette put together a pretty filling, vegetarian dish. The leftovers were pretty good too!

*Note: The recipe calls for cooked quinoa. I used about 3/4 cup dry quinoa and cooked it in chicken broth to get the 2 cups cooked (I measured out the two cups cooked and had a bit leftover in the pot).

*Serves 4-6

3/4 c. dry quinoa, rinsed, and cooked in either vegetable or chicken broth. I actually had neither, I so I cooked it in half/half water/pineapple juice to give it some flavor. once cooked, have ready at room temperature or chill it
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium mango, peeled and diced
4 green onions, white and green parts thinly sliced
1 cucumber, peeled, quartered, cut into smaller chunks
1 avocado, cut into small chunks
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

4 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon sugar (as needed)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper


Place the cooked quinoa in a large bowl. Add mango, cucumber, green onion, black beans, and cilantro.
In a small bowl combine vinegar, olive oil, and lime juice. Whisk until the dressing is smooth and pour on top of salad. Toss to combine and add salt and pepper (add more to taste if desired). Chill the salad for at least one hour before serving.

Mango Avocado Shrimp Salad

The other night for dinner, we made this shrimp salad. It was fresh, filling, so simple to make and really good. The secret was purchasing shrimp already cooked. I grabbed some tequila-lime shrimp for a little extra flavor from the Whole Foods meat department, and the whole meal went together in a few minutes.

Luckily we had some last-minute company to share it with, and although I'd normally pull together a more traditional meal for company, this actually worked out great. A nice evening walk after dinner to the ice cream shop and some great conversation pulled off a great night. Definitely making this again. And so, up it goes on my blog of favorite recipes.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons grapeseed or vegetable oil

1 tablespoon sugar 

2 large firm-ripe mangoes (2 lbs. total)

2 medium firm-ripe avocados (1 lb. total)

2/3 cup each thinly sliced green onion and chopped cilantro 

1 tablespoon minced fresh hot red or green chile (or 1/2 tsp. dried red chile flakes) (I omitted this)

1 pound (70 to 110 per lb.) peeled cooked shrimp

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, whisk together lime juice, oil, and sugar until sugar dissolves.
2. Dice mangoes and avocados into 3/4-in. cubes; add to bowl. Add green onion, cilantro, chile, and shrimp. Mix gently. Serve or cover and chill for up to 1 hour.

adapted from: myrecipes.com