raspberry•mocha smoothie

Today's my day, all day long.  It's my day every Thursday, now.


At first, I felt guilty for signing my kids up for preschool on the same day-- all day, every week, in the summertime, no less.


The first day they were both gone was actually kind of excruciating for me.  It was way too quiet.  I felt lonely.  I missed them.  I (as mentioned above) felt guilty.  


It was the first day I'd been alone all day in, if my memory serves me correctly, just over five years since my oldest was born!


I also didn't know what to do with myself that day.  I ended up engrossing myself in bills and spreadsheets on the computer, and since there was no one around me nagging me that they were hungry, forgot to feed myself lunch.  I was so happy to pick them up at the end of the day and embrace the loud, dirty, crazy messiness that is my little boys again.


But that's not happening today.  I'm on my third week of this schedule and I've got the hang of it now.  I'm completely happy that it's silent around here.  And happy that I got to make my smoothie today with espresso in it.

'Cause if I make smoothies tomorrow when my boys are around, you know they'll want some...  


And trust me: they do not need the espresso.



the veggies (er, fruit and stuff):

• 2 large (lungo) shots of espresso, or about 3/4 cup strong coffee, cooled for as long as you can stand it
• 1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt or silken tofu
• 3 generous TBS chocolate syrup

the love:

1. Throw it all in the blender and mix until smooth.  This makes one large smoothie or two small ones.  But, it's best enjoyed alone in complete, glorious silence-- so you should really drink it all yourself.

chocolate cake•muffins

Chocolate cake for breakfast?  Wasn't this in a Cosby Show episode?  
Bill feeds the kids cake for breakfast and they all start chanting, "Dad is great!  He gives us chocolate cake!"*
Now Mom's great.  'Cause that's what I just did.

You might say, "Isn't this basically your Insane Chocolate Cake, with some flax meal and almonds mixed in?" 
And I might say, "Don't be ridiculous!"
But really, it is.  
But in all fairness I also cut back the sugar. 
You might also say, "Isn't it a little crazy to feed your kids chocolate cake for breakfast?"
But I say this recipe has some redeeming nutritious elements to it (whole grains, banana, omegas...).  We had these muffins for breakfast with some Greek yogurt, and felt pretty good after that.
And, oddly enough, no one complained...

the (non)veggies:

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3 TBS flax seed meal
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 TBS apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 medium banana, mashed
• 2 cups cold water
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds

the love:

1. Preheat your oven to 350° and prep 24 muffins' worth of pans.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, brown sugar, flax meal baking soda, salt, and cocoa.  Smash any large lumps of brown sugar with the back of your mixing spoon.
3. Make three holes in the flour mixture, and put the vanilla, vinegar, and oil each in a separate hole.
4. Dump the mashed banana and the water over the top of everything and stir it all together until it's just combined.  Fold in the almonds.
5. Scoop the batter into your prepared pan and bake for about a half hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
6. Serve for breakfast, a snack, dessert-- whenever really-- and prepare for cheers.

*I couldn't find the Cosby Show clip, but here's a hilarious classic Bill Cosby standup clip about chocolate cake for breakfast: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRmN4KnfPxQ

bread•cheese & fruit

I had a parenting class to get to last night, and about an hour from the time Brock got home from work to when I had to leave to make dinner and eat with everyone.  Perfect night for bread, cheese and fruit-- an old fave.  This one was featured in one of my first posts, cheater•meals, but it had been a while since we'd had it.   
I'd forgotten how easy, yummy and kid-pleasing it is.  Take 10 minutes to dig through the fridge and pantry for whatever looks good then slice a few things, arrange them on a platter, and you're done.

Last night, I found some smoked gouda, grape tomatoes, pistachios, pears, strawberries, sharp white cheddar, blackberries, hummus, some crackers, and white and whole grain french breads.  

So easy, and everyone's happy.  

Just as long as we can stand Owen asking for more blackberries every two minutes.

And I had plenty of time to have a nice relaxed dinner (between dishing out additional servings of blackberries) before heading out the door...

cherry•almond biscotti

Until she moved to Alaska last winter, my friend Mandy and I would get together regularly for afternoon tea time.  

That was back when my kids both napped regularly, so we'd sit and have a nice relaxing chat, sip our tea and nosh some treats while my boys snoozed away.

Ahh...

But Mandy left me and Owen rarely naps now, so my quiet afternoon tea has turned into a less quiet and relaxing but slightly more caffeinated afternoon coffee break.  

One thing that made today's coffee break a little more like the good old days was these cherry-almond biscotti.  I also had a little reminder of my friend Mandy with me: the lovely hand screen-printed napkins she made for me.  

If you love the napkins as much as I do, you can buy them at her Etsy store, HomesteadingRoasters.etsy.com (and it looks like she'll ship them for free right now).  If you need some good fresh-roasted coffee to go with your biscotti, she's got that, too.  

She's also good company for a quiet afternoon chat, but I'm not sure you can get that through her store...

the veggies (or other stuff):

• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup milk (I use almond milk)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 TBS oil
• 2 TBS lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder*
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup sweetened dried cherries
• 1 cup sliced almonds

the love:

1. Preheat your oven to 350° and line a large baking sheet with parchment.
2. Whisk together the flax meal and milk in a large mixing bowl until it thickens slightly.
3. Mix in the brown sugar, oil, lemon juice, and extracts.
4. Stir in the oats.
5. Add the flours, salt, baking powder and soda, and stir until just combined.**  The dough will be very thick and sticky.
6. Fold in the cherries and almonds.
7. Using floured hands, divide the dough in two and shape each chunk into a long log.
8. Place the logs lengthwise on the pan and flatten until each one is roughly twelve inches long and three inches wide.
9. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden and crispy on the outside.
10. Let the "loaves" cool on a rack (but hold on to your pan and parchment) and reduce the oven temperature to 250°.
11. Slice the biscotti in 1/3 to 1/2 inch sections and spread out on your pan.
12. Toast for about 40 minutes, or until mostly crisp in the middle.
13. Let cool and serve with afternoon coffee (or milk).  Makes about three dozen.

tips:

*Double the baking powder and soda at lower elevations.

**My standard mixing disclaimer: most recipes will tell you to mix the dry and wet ingredients separately, then stir them together-- this is to prevent clumping and ensure even mixing.  I'm lazy and don't like getting out and washing an extra bowl, so I do it all in one bowl.  To make up for it I try to mix the dry ingredients together on top of the wet before I really stir it into the the wet stuff.  If this is offensive to you, by all means, get out another bowl...

breakfast•bars

School day mornings are hectic.  I really don't make it easy on myself by staying in bed 'till the last possible minute, then trying to get myself ready in ten minutes while simultaneously trying to get both of my boys dressed.  But, I'm not a morning person.  
Neither is Oliver.  I often end up waking him up a little too late, and feeding him (and myself) breakfast when we return home after getting Owen to school.  But this doesn't cut it on mornings when he goes to school, too.
The other morning I ended up handing him a Kashi banana chocolate chip bar to nosh in the car.  I figured this made a fine in-a-pinch breakfast, but these bars are not cheap.  I made a vow to not make a habit of them. 
But that sure was handy...
Next I made another vow to come up with a recipe for a breakfast bar-- something with all kinds of healthy stuff in them that I could hand to the kids once they're strapped into their car seats, or as they're standing there trying to wake up, wondering why Mommy's always running around like a crazy woman first thing in the morning.  
These bars are my solution.  Bake them the day before, and they're just as handy as the Kashi ones.  I don't know for sure, but I'd suspect these have less sugar, too.  My bars are just barely sweet.  They're not one of those breakfast treats that could also pass as dessert (although maybe with a drizzle of maple frosting or topped with a scoop of ice cream...), but those things always leave a person feeling crappy an hour or two into the day, anyway.  My bars are a wholesome, hearty (yet still yummy) start to the day that will keep you feeling good 'till lunch (or maybe snack time when you go back for more).

So, this morning, I had these around to hand to the kiddos amidst the craziness.  They're easier for them to handle (and therefore a little less messy) than a muffin, but they gobble them up as if they were their favorite muffins.  So, breakfast was taken care of.  Next was to get Oliver's lunch packed, gather Owen's snow clothes, get everybody dressed, fix everyone's hair...  
I always manage to get my act together, but I usually get Owen to school somewhere between five and fifteen minutes behind schedule.  But really, is it reasonable to expect a preschooler to be at school at 7:30 in the morning (or to expect his morning-challenged mother to be able to get him there by that time)?
If I can manage to (at least sort of) meet this crazy expectation, my reward is some quiet time with a cappuccino and a breakfast bar when I return home.  
Whew!

the veggies:

• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder*
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup flax seed meal
• 1 1/4 cups almond milk (or whatever kind of milk you have on hand, divided)
• 1 really ripe banana
• 1 cup shredded sweet potato
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped dates
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds (or other nuts, chopped)

the love:

1. Preheat your oven to 375° and oil a 10 by 15 inch baking pan.**
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flours, baking powder and salt.
3. In a blender, blend together the flax meal and 1/4 cup milk for about a minute, until gooey. 
4. Scrape down the sides of the blender pitcher, then add the banana, sweet potatoes, 1 cup milk, canola oil, maple syrup and vanilla and blend until smooth.
5. Add the oats to the blender and pulse a couple times, until most of the oats are mixed in.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the bowl and stir until just incorporated (batter will be pretty thick).
7. Fold in the dates and almonds.
8. Spread the batter evenly into your prepared pan, and bake about 25 minutes, or until firm in the center.
9. Cool slightly before cutting into bars,*** and cool completely before storing in an airtight container until breakfast.

tips:
*Double the baking powder if you're at low altitude.
**A slightly larger or smaller pan would also work fine with these, but would obviously affect the thickness and texture.  My theory: thicker bars would be more muffin-like, and thinner ones would be chewier and possibly less messy in the car.
***I like to cut them widthwise into four, then lengthwise into four to make 16 big rectangles.

smoothies•verdes

Owen's always pretending to be a spy these days.  According to him, a spy is someone who goes on a secret mission.  There are two types of spies, depending on the intent of their mission: good and bad.  I'm pretty sure he learned this from watching Cars 2.  
I've gone on my own secret mission lately: to sneak more green vegetables into my kids (and myself and Brock).  While my kids might beg to differ if they ever found out, I consider this a good mission so I'm calling myself a good spy.  This smoothie recipe is the result of my good spy efforts.  
My cover was almost blown the other day when I was making these and Owen saw the contents of the blender pitcher just before I fired up the blender. 
"That's not lettuce in there, is it Mom?" asked Owen.  "I don't like lettuce."    
"Lettuce!?" I laughed nervously, "That's just the stuff that makes it green.  Don't be ridiculous -- lettuce in a smoothie?!"
Hmm...  Lettuce-- I hadn't thought of that...
Anyway, Owen seemed satisfied by my answer and I managed to avert that disaster. And, I was so excited to see both of my kids happily slurping down their smoothies.  Brock and I liked it too-- it was fruity, slushy and sweet, but not crazy sweet, like some smoothies.  And I couldn't taste the greens!  Woo hoo!  Get out the "Mission Accomplished" banner and the flight suit-- I was ready to declare it a success...
Until I made them the next time and Oliver didn't want any.  Drat!  At least the rest of us were still excited about them.  But for Oliver, I had to go super-stealth: I dumped it in an opaque sippy cup with a little extra juice and called it juice.  And, voila-- he happily slurped it down and my mission was again accomplished.  Whew-- that could have been embarrassing, with the banner and flight suit and all...

the veggies:*

• 2 cups lightly packed spinach**
• 2 cups lightly packed torn kale, stems and tough center veins removed
• 1/2 avocado, scooped from the peel
• 1 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
• 3 cups frozen mangoes and/or peaches***
• 2 cups apple juice

the love:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender until smooth, pulsing to break up any larger frozen fruit chunks.

tips:

*If someone's on to you and you need to go super-stealth, you could try my method above (mix with extra juice and serve in an opaque cup) or you could hide the green-ness of this with the bold color and flavor of berries.  Let's call them Smoothies Rojos: Substitute the mango and peaches with strawberries and raspberries, and the apple juice for cranberry-raspberry juice.  You could also use vanilla or strawberry yogurt instead of plain to sweeten it a little more.
**I like to buy the big 16 oz clamshell packages of pre-washed baby spinach for this-- it's super-convenient (just throw it in the blender), and much cheaper per ounce than the smaller clamshells.
***A combination of both fruits is nice-- it seems to have a more complex flavor that covers up the greens a little better.

grandma gen's•spiced glazed nuts

The sanity level in my household is already questionable-- I don't need the craziness of Christmas pushing anyone over the edge.  This is one reason why I try to keep the holidays simple for my family (without taking away too much of the fun).  But there are some things you just can't skip-- the things it just wouldn't feel like Christmas without.  For example, Grandma Gen's Spiced Glazed Nuts.

Every year, my Grandma Gen would show up for our Christmas celebration with a big holiday-themed cookie tin full of these nuts.  We would dig into them while we opened gifts, and they'd be gone a lot sooner than something containing so much salt, sugar and fats (albeit good fats) should be.  
My mom says the recipe actually came from a next-door neighbor of ours when I was young, but at some point Grandma got a hold of the recipe and made it hers.  
She just turned 90 and I wouldn't be surprised if she's still making these nuts this year (they're that good, and she's still rockin' it well enough to whip out a few pounds of Christmas nuts).
Since I haven't been back to Minnesota for Christmas in years, I've started making them myself.  And now I can't help but to double the recipe, pack some into holiday-themed bags with ribbons and hand some out with our Christmas cards.  It's a nice little gesture that people really seem to appreciate.
And these people don't have to know how ridiculously easy they are to make...


the veggies (or nuts, etc):*

• 1 lb roasted, salted mixed nuts, plus a little extra**
• 1 egg white***
• 1 TBS cold water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt

the love:

1. Preheat your oven to 225° and line a large sided cookie sheet with parchment.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat together the egg whites and water until bubbly.
3. Add one pound of the nuts and mix until evenly moist.  If there's egg mixture pooling at the bottom of the bowl after mixing, add some extra nuts then stir some more.
4. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, cinnamon and salt.
5. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the nuts and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
6. Spread the nuts out evenly onto the cookie sheet.
7. Bake for an hour to 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes or so, until the nuts are no longer gooey (they will still be a little sticky until they're completely cool).
8. Cool completely and store in airtight containers, such as Christmas tins or bags, and  don't forget to share.

tips:

*I often double this recipe, which seems to work fine-- just make sure you use two pans to give the nuts enough room.
**I usually get a big thing of mixed nuts and a smaller can of cashews.

***If you or someone you're gifting to can't have eggs or are vegan, you might try this recipe for Eggnog Spiced Nuts recently posted on Peas and Thank You.  These nuts looks equally (if not slightly more) tasty, but a little less simple.  

carrot-nut-raisin•breakfast-snack-dessert cookies

I don't get much alone time with Owen these days.  So it was perfect timing today when he woke up early from nap (while Oliver was still sleeping).  I happened to be making cookies, and once they were done we brewed some blueberry tea and had our own personal tea party.  Owen was thrilled.  I'm not sure if it was because he was getting special alone time with his mama, because I was letting him pour his own tea using his own tea set, or because I was letting him eat cookies in the middle of the afternoon.

While eating his treat he said to me "I wish we had a cookie tree in our yard so I could go out and eat cookies whenever I want".  I didn't tell him that even if someone miraculously bred a tree that grew cookies on it there's still no way it would grow in our hardiness zone (but maybe at Nana and Papa's in Florida?).  
In any case, it was a sweet few moments.  Owen got to eat a cookie for snack, and I got some time with my big boy.  I didn't tell him that these cookies are so full of healthy goodness (and vegan, to boot, if you care about that sort of thing) that I would consider letting him eat one whenever he wanted if he asked nicely enough.  Instead, we'll have them again as dessert after dinner.  And if there are any left, I'll probably have one for breakfast with my coffee...

The veggies (etc):

• 3/4 cup margarine, softened (I like Earth Balance)
• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 TBS ground flaxseeds
• 3 TBS water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unbleached white flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder*
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup grated carrots (about one large carrot)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

The love:

1. Preheat your oven to 375°, and prep a couple cookie sheets (I line mine with parchment).
2. In a big bowl, beat together margarine and syrup until well incorporated (the mixture will look pretty strange at this point-- almost curdy).
3. Beat in the flaxseeds, water and vanilla.
4. On top of that, add the oats, then flours, baking powder and soda, salt and cinnamon.  Mix the dry ingredients together as best you can before stirring into the wet.**
5. Fold in the carrots, raisins and nuts.
6. Drop the dough onto your cookie sheets (I do about 1/3 cup-size scoops for about 16 really big cookies) a couple inches apart.
7. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until cookies are just a little firm to the touch in the middle, and a little golden on the edges.
8. Cool the cookies on the pan for a couple minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.  Eat them in the afternoon with blueberry tea on a tiny plastic tea set or whenever, really.

Tips:
*This recipe is adapted to the ridiculously high altitude at which we live.  If you live at a more reasonable height above sea level, you might want to double the baking powder and soda.
**I'll give the same disclaimer I gave with my pancake recipe: Most recipes will tell you to mix the dry and wet ingredients separately, then stir them together-- this is to prevent clumping and ensure even mixing.  I'm lazy and don't like getting out and washing an extra bowl, so I do it all in one bowl.  To make up for it I try to mix the dry ingredients together on top of the wet before I really stir it into the the wet stuff.  If this is offensive to you, by all means, get out another bowl.


Where credit is due:

Beyond the Moon Cookbook, by Ginny Callan, has been on my shelf for many, many years.  I especially love her baked goods, which are heartier and healthier than most and often contain whole wheat and honey.  My cookie recipe is a veganized and further-fortified version of one of hers.