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

carrot cake•oatmeal

I'm in a bit of a rut.  Blog-wise (I'm just not feeling the inspiration lately, but I'm still hoping to get something new out once a week) and in other ways in which I don't feel like sharing with the general internet public...
Actually-- why not? 
I'm sure many of you reading this are parents, or have felt this way at some point for some other reason...  
And that is, simply, I'm getting burnt out.  I feel lately like I'm running in circles, getting nowhere but in a place with more laundry, more dirty house, more groceries to shop for, more dirty diapers to change, and more petty arguments with my incredibly strong-willed four-year old.
I know I should be better than this-- just generally feeling sorry for myself.  But I'm not-- not lately anyway.
And I know I'll get out of this rut eventually, but in the mean time, some comfort food might help.

And why not have this for dinner?  It's quick, nutritious, and cuts down on a bit of meal time bickering with Owen (breakfast for dinner is always seen as a treat at our house).

Hmm--  I think I'm starting to feel less sorry for myself already...


the veggies:

• 2 cups oats
• 6 cups water
• a pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 3/4 cup maple syrup, plus more for drizzling on top (optional)
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 3 TBS flax meal
• cream cheese, for garnish
• about 1/2 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

the love:

1. Combine the oats, water and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.  
2. Stir in the spices, syrup, carrots, and raisins and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until oats are a good consistency.
3. Stir in the flax meal, then dish out the oatmeal into bowls.
4. Top each serving with a dollop of cream cheese, a sprinkling of walnuts, and a drizzle of maple syrup, if you'd like.  And stop feeling sorry for yourself, already...

cheater•raspberry cinnamon rolls

Weekends are a cause for celebration in this household-- especially now that we've figured out how to keep the boys from waking us up before it's light outside.  We somehow convinced them to play in their room when they wake up instead of waking us up right away.  Never mind that to keep busy this morning they decided to remove every last book from their bookshelf, covering the floor with a colossal, sprawling heap of books.  My boys have quite a lot of books, and this makes a big...

Gigantic. 

Mess.  

And this isn't the first time they've done this first thing in the morning.  Something about that pre-dawn glow makes them want to destroy their room (or is it just something about being a boy that makes them want to destroy anything, at any time?).

But, on the bright side (as in bright from the sun, as opposed to the bright of a Buzz Lightyear book light shining in your face at five AM on a Saturday), we did get to sleep in until 6:45 this morning!  This is pretty big for us.  It probably doesn't sound great to those of you who get to experience the joy of really sleeping in, but on a weekday at that same time Brock would already be on his way out the door and the rest of us would be in the middle of our frenetic race to finish breakfast, get dressed, gather school stuff and get to school (within 10 minutes of) on time. 

So anyway, I was in a celebratory mood this morning and wanted to make something special.  This something special also had to be easy and fast because my boys had worked up an appetite destroying their room, and I almost never have the foresight or energy to start cinnamon rolls from scratch the night before.
In comes the store-bought dough, which is a favorite of ours to make in the dutch oven when we're camping.   Since we're still in the depths of winter here in the mountains and we won't be rolling out the tear drop trailer anytime soon, this "cheater" version of cinnamon rolls has snuck its way into my kitchen of late.  At least the local store carries an all-natural brand...  It's still loaded with sugar, but is free of partially hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, and other offenders you might find in other store-bought dough.  

Roll in some raspberries and mix some cream cheese into the frosting, and I like to think  there's a tiny bit of something in these that's good for you (and besides, we're celebrating, right?).  
This is not the kind of cinnamon roll you can pick up and eat or pick apart with your fingers (unless you're Oliver and you just don't care).  You'll want to get out the forks because these are a gooey mess-- in a wonderful, delicious, weekend morning kind of way...
Happy weekend, friends!

the (non) veggies:

• About 25 fresh raspberries, washed
• 1 roll of pre-made cinnamon roll dough (I use a 17.5 oz package containing 5 rolls and a regular icing packet)
• 1/2 cup cream cheese

the love:

1. Preheat your oven to 350° and get out a baking pan (I like to use a pie plate for this).
2. Pop open your dough and unroll a single cinnamon roll on a plate or cutting board.  Tightly re-roll the dough, squishing in a whole raspberry every inch or two, for a total of about five berries per roll.  
3. Repeat with the remaining rolls and raspberries, and don't worry if you're loosing some of the cinnamon paste from between the dough-- just spread whatever came off back on top of the rolls once they're all rolled up again.
4. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until your rolls are golden on the edges and no longer doughy in the middle (but they will still be gooey from the raspberries).
5. While the rolls are baking, whisk together the cream cheese with the icing that came with the cinnamon rolls.
6. Let the cinnamon rolls cool for just a couple minutes before frosting (if you can stand it), then glob the frosting on thick.
7. Slice and fry up some veggie sausage and brew a cappuccino for on the side, and toast to the weekend.

peanut butter•banana granola

I worry about Owen sometimes.
Who am I kidding?--I worry about my kids all the time...
But, this particular concern is one that's really been bothering me lately.
Because of this problem I worry he's not experiencing childhood like most other children (or like I did).
I am referring to the fact that Owen doesn't like peanut butter.  He used to tolerate it but now he flat out refuses it.  This just seems wrong somehow--I have a hard time watching his self-deprivation.
But, I'm learning that I need to let go of some of my worries and focus on the bigger problems (like the fact that Oliver refuses to eat spaghetti sauce).  
Let Owen eat cream cheese and jelly instead.
But, he's also missing out on this Peanut Butter-Banana Granola.

My first version, somewhat ironically, wasn't peanut buttery enough for Brock.  So, the next time I added even more peanut butter.  This granola has officially reached its peanut butter saturation point.

Owen won't touch it, but that just leaves more for the rest of us.

the veggies (or other stuff):

• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 TBS canola oil
• 1 TBS vanilla
• 3 cups rolled oats (or 2 cups oats and 1 cup Grape Nuts)
• 1 cup puffed grains (like brown rice)
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup banana chips, chopped or broken if desired*

the love:

1. Preheat your oven to 325° and prep your biggest baking sheet (I line mine with parchment).
2. Whisk together the peanut butter, honey, water, oil and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth.
3. Add the oats, puffs, flax and cinnamon and stir well.
4. Spread the granola on a baking sheet and bake about 30 minutes, stirring a few times during baking.
5. Remove from the oven, stir in the banana chips and let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

notes:

*If you have access to a place that sells those gooey, chewy, whole dried bananas, try chopping those up and adding them to this granola instead of banana chips.  They have much more flavor than banana chips-- they're just a little hard to find.

chocolate•almond granola

Oliver's at the age (between about 20 months and 48 months), where it's best not to take him to the grocery store.  About half the time it goes just fine, and the other half it goes terribly wrong.  Once when Owen was Oliver's age he knocked over an entire (rickety) cardboard display of canned clams.  Of all things.  Who eats those anyway, and why do they need a whole display of them in the middle of the aisle?  Owen wasn't being bad-- just being your typical clumsy toddler.  I wasn't really mad at him-- just really embarrassed.  I was a little mad at Safeway, though, for trying so hard to sell canned clams.
When I do take Oliver to the store these days, I often belt him into one of those giant carts with the car on front (despite how hard they are to steer), and I usually even get him the free cookie from the bakery department.  This combination of strategies often works for about half my grocery list, then it gets difficult.  He's soon hanging out the side of his car, trying to wiggle out of his belt (why don't those things have five-point harnesses, like in real cars?), hollering "wanna walk!"  The only way to stop the hollering is to let him out of the cart.  But, as I learned with Owen and the clams, letting a toddler walk through the grocery store is not always a good idea...
So anyway, I usually try to go to the store either at the beginning of the week when both kids are in school, or on weekends when Brock's there to stay home with the kids (because Brock's almost as hard to take to the grocery store as my little boys).  But when we ran out of cereal (except for a box of Grape Nuts no one will eat) mid-week this week, I nearly panicked.  We are highly dependent upon cereal for breakfast.  
Then I remembered I used to make granola all the time.  And when I started making some this time I remembered how easy it is to make-- which is why I used to make it all the time.  This time I was feeling indulgent, so I made it chocolate.   It's really chocolatey, but not too sweet-- just how I like my chocolate.  Less than 24 hours after completing the batch, I've got about a serving left in the bottom of the jar.  I guess that means my guys liked it, too.

After I made the granola, it turned out I had to run to the store anyway to get some things for another recipe I'm working on for this blog.  This time I got lucky and the trip was uneventful.  But, I hope you're grateful I risked potential canned clam grocery store havoc for you...


the veggies (or other stuff):

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup Grape Nuts and/or puffed grains*
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/4 cup water**
• 1/2 cup craisins (optional)***

the love:

1. Preheat your oven to 325° and line your largest baking pan with parchment (or lightly grease).
2. In a bowl, combine the oats, Grape Nuts or puffed grains, almonds, cocoa, flax seed, and coconut (if using).
3. Add the oil, honey, extracts and water, and stir well until evenly combined.
4. Spread the oat mixture out evenly on your baking pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring every five to ten minutes.  The oats will still be a little soft when you first remove them from the oven, but will turn crunchy as they cool.
5. Stir in the craisins, if you're using them.
6. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.  This makes about eight cups.

notes:
*I was at the grocery store a while back looking for a different kind of healthy cereal, and momentarily forgetting that Grape Nuts are gross (on their own, anyway), bought a giant box of them.  It's been sitting around, not getting eaten and begging to be used in a recipe ever since.  It turns out this recipe is perfect-- they add a nice sturdy crunch to the granola.  If you don't want to buy Grape Nuts for this (and I don't blame you), I've also used puffed grains (such as brown rice or kamut) a lot in granola.  The puffs impart a lighter, chewier texture to granola.  Both are nice.
**I also think this recipe would be good with espresso or strong coffee instead of the water, but I didn't try it, figuring my kids did not need to be caffeinated...
***I didn't use craisins this time, only because I didn't have any.  They would definitely be tasty in this, though.

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.

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.

sweet potato•pancakes

Many people are very particular about their pancakes.  I discovered this when I recently did a google search to find out if you can make pancake batter ahead of time and refrigerate it (and it turns out you can, if you use double-acting baking powder).  I also learned that pancake-making is a serious matter.  One guy became almost belligerent when someone else suggested they like to "whip air" into their batter.  Along with a detailed scientific description of how whipping your pancake batter destroys the pancake cells (or something to that effect), he said (complete with extra punctuation and caps), "Barely mix the batter!!!  BARELY!...  Stop killing your pancakes!"  Hmm.  I suppose it's time someone stood up against senseless pancake murder.  I had no idea this was such a problem.
Since people are so particular about their pancakes, I thought I should give full disclosure as to which type of pancakes these are.  These are not quite as light and fluffy as your average restaurant fare, not terribly dense and hearty (which is actually how I prefer my cakes), but somewhere in between.  I'm not sure where they fall on the scale of crepe to blini to blintz to galette (and I'm not even sure what all those terms mean or if I've terribly offended anyone by putting them in that order), but someone out there on the internet could probably explain it to you-- quite emphatically.

The last time we had these sweet potato pancakes we topped them with Nana's home-made apple butter.  In the event that your Nana didn't give you any home-made apple butter, syrup is good, too.  But, for the love of God, make sure it's PURE MAPLE SYRUP!!!  This is one thing I am adamant about.

The veggies (etc):*

• 1 cup peeled and grated raw sweet potatoes or yams (about one small potato)**
• A squeeze of lemon juice (about 1/2 tsp) or 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of lemon zest
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 2 TBS canola oil
• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup unbleached white flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 TBS brown sugar

The love:

1. In a large bowl, combine sweet potatoes, lemon juice or peel, egg, milk, and oil.
2. Add the flours, baking powder, salt and sugar, and mix until just incorporated (remember to "Barely mix the batter!!!  BARELY!").***
3. Oil or butter and preheat the biggest, flattest skillet you have (I use a cast-iron griddle) over low to medium heat.**** 
4. Scoop in about 1/4 cup portions onto your skillet and cook on each side until golden on the outside and no longer wet in the middle.

Tips:


*This recipe does not make a ton.  The four of us usually eat it for dinner with a little fruit and a small side like some veggie sausage or green eggs and we never have leftovers.  If we're extra hungry or want leftover batter or pancakes for later, I double the recipe.

**Another google search has taught me that although sometimes you'll see something called yams at the grocery store, they're almost always really sweet potatoes.  Real yams are usually not sold in the US and are not even related to sweet potatoes.

***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.

****These have a tendency to cook fast on the outside and slowly in the middle, so I like to cook them low and slow to ensure thorough cooking.

Where credit is due:

We once had a scrap of paper in our recipe box, in Brock's writing, that said "Cinnamon Rolls: flour, yeast, sugar, butter, cinnamon", and that's it.  This is how Brock transcribes recipes.  Needless to say, I never tried the cinnamon roll recipe and it's since been thrown in the trash.  My original sweet potato pancake recipe is also in Brock's writing, but was-- luckily-- much more thoroughly transcribed.  The only thing that's missing (as far as I can tell) is the actual source of the recipe.  I think it came from a Moosewood book, but exactly which one is a mystery.  In any case, I've made this recipe my own by simplifying it a little and adding whole wheat flour (as I can't bring myself to make something containing flour and not sneak in some whole grains).  And who knows what Brock left out of it...

we do not like•green eggs and ham

My family only partially agrees with Sam I Am.  Our contention: ham is gross.  Green eggs, however, can be pretty good.  We generally like them in our house.  And we usually like them with sweet potato pancakes-- for dinner.  And some of you, like Owen, will like them with some ketchup on the side.  We haven't tried them in the dark or in a tree, but that could be fun, too...

The veggies (etc):

• 1 TBS oil, margarine, butter, or whatever else you like to cook your eggs in*
• 2 cups loosely packed fresh baby spinach leaves, larger stems removed**
• 4 eggs
• A generous splash of water (about 1/4 cup)***
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (we like cheddar or a combination of mozzarella and parmesan)

The love:

1. Measure your spinach in a large glass measuring pitcher (if you're using an immersion blender) or the pitcher of your blender.  Add the eggs and water and season with salt and pepper.
2. Blend just until the mixture is smooth (it will be a bit foamy).
3. Heat your oil (or margarine, or whatever) in a skillet over medium heat, then add the egg mixture.
4. Cook eggs, stirring frequently to prevent sticking, until almost set, then stir in the cheese.
5. Cook and stir for a few more minutes until eggs are set.
6. Serve to your freaked out family (these eggs are surprisingly green).

Tips:

*Don't skimp on the cooking fat-- these eggs like to stick.

**You could also use defrosted frozen chopped spinach-- but cut back the amount (to about 1/2 cup) and eliminate or reduce the amount of water you use. 

***I like to use water because it seems to produce a lighter, fluffier scramble.  But, if heavier and creamier is what you prefer, use milk instead.