Berry German Pancakes

Oh, yummy! German pancakes are a regular meal at our home. I admit, I get bored of the same thing every time (my children do not). Berries give a bit of healthy flavor and color to this otherwise plain dish.

Preheat Oven to 450 degrees.

Place 4-5 Tbsp Butter (or milkless stick margerine) in a 9x13" pan and place in the oven while it is preheating. Pull the pan out when the butter is melted.

Beat 6 Eggs in a medium bowl. Add:
1 Cup Milk (or rice milk)
1 Cup Flour
1/2 tsp Salt

Mix until combined. Batter will be lumpy. Pour the batter into the pan with the melted butter. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of Blueberries, Blackberries, or other berry evenly over the batter.

Bake for 15 minutes. the sides and middle will be high when you pull it out of the oven, and will sink as it cools.

Serve with Maple syrup, Powdered sugar, or Applesauce.

Blueberry Lemonade

You so want to try this. It is a perfect summer drink and is so easy. I decided to make a fruit lemonade while I thought we still had blueberries growing. I was quite disappointed to discover that someone had taken the liberty of picking them without telling me. Of course I then had to buy some since my girls had become set on blueberry lemonade. You could use any berry you have, but this is just awesome as it is.

6 oz Fresh Blueberries
1 Cup Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice (approximately 3.5 medium Lemons)
1 Cup Sugar
6-7 Cups water

Mix lemon juice, sugar, and blueberries in a blender until smooth. Mix fruit with water in a pitcher. If you don't like the seeds and pulp strain through a sieve. Serve Chilled.

DanBing

We went to Taiwan back in the spring. I tried a lot of food, some I loved, some I gagged on. Breakfast in Asia is quite different from here in the states. It isn't breakfast! They eat the same things at pretty much every meal. Sorry but chicken and soy sauce covered veggies just doesn't sit well early in the morning for me. There was this little food chain called Beautiful and Breakfast my husband ran to for our breakfast a couple of times (he lived there and knew of this marvelous place). I immediately fell in love with DanBing (don-bing). This is the perfect American style Chinese breakfast food. It is super simple, which I am all about.

 To make one,you need:
 1 large square egg roll wrap
 1 beaten egg
 1/2 slice of bacon

 That is it. I eat two for breakfast, and to make things work just right only make two at a time. No worries if you want to make more, it goes really fast, so there is not a huge time commitment if you'd rather make 10. 


Cook the bacon in a medium frying pan. Keep the fat in the pan(if you don't use it, your DanBing will be dry and lacking in flavor). Pour the beaten egg into the still hot pan (just a bit above medium heat) in a square shape. Allow it to cook without stirring. Place the egg roll wrap onto the egg while it is still shiny. After about 30 seconds flip the egg/wrap over with a spatula or tongs and allow it to finnish cooking. It is done when the egg is cooked and the dough has golden brown spots. Roll the bacon up inside the egg/wrap egg side in. You can since it into 1" strips and eat with chop sticks, or just use a fork.

Milkless Cornbread

I am a corn bread lover- as long as it is light, warm, and smothered with butter and honey. When I experimented with dairy free ingredients I was very skeptical. I am happy to say that everyone likes this version better than the regular one.

Pie Crust

This simple crust is flaky goodness!

2 Cups flour

1 Cup Crisco

1 tsp Salt

1 Tbsp Vinegar (optional)

Approximately 1/3 Cup Water

Mix flour and salt. Add Crisco and cut in with a pastry blender or crisscrossing two table knives until crumbly. Add vinegar and water 1-2 Tbsp at at time mixing until all the flour is incorporated and dough is moist but not sticky. Roll out to 1/4 of an inch thick using flour. Fold dough in half. transfer to pie pan. unfold and

Milkless Quiche

Three of my children cannot have milk due to lactose intolerance and a cow's milk allergy. I adapted my delicious Quiche with Bacon and Spinach recipe so they can enjoy it too.

1/2 Bunch of Spinach stemmed and broken up

1/3 Lb Bacon crumbled

1/2 Cup Crumbled Goat Cheese

6 eggs

1 Cup Rice Milk

a dash of salt and pepper

Mix spinach, milk, eggs, salt and pepper in a blender or with an egg beater until pureed. Place bacon and cheese in Baked pie crust. Pour the egg mixture over the top of the bacon and cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.


If you are doing a crustless quiche, bake in pie pan at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Oh, goodness! I cannot bring myself to buy jam anymore. My family is super spoiled with homemade jams. The all-time favorite is strawberry.

 I make it in mass, so I wait until it is $1 per pound. You need about 2 lbs of fresh strawberries per box of Reduce sugar Sure-Jell. It will make 7-8 half pint jars of joy.Wash and prepare strawberries by cutting off stems and blemishes.

 Use a blender (I use a stick blender so my children can help)or food processor to almost purée your berries. You want there to be some small chunks.Follow package instructions: mix 3 cups sugar and pectin packet together In a medium saucepan. Add and mix in 1 cup water. Bring mixture to a boil and boil for one minute while constantly stirring. Add pectin mixture to 4 cups puréed strawberries. Stir until completely mixed together. Using a funnel, pour jam into jars. Fill to 1/2 inch from the rim of the jar. Wipe rims off. Use new and washed jar lids, tighten rings on top. Let the jam sit out for 24 hours before freezing( to make sure it is completely set.)

Use your jam on everything, ok maybe not. We like it on Rolls, Biscuits, German pancakes, Waffles, French toast, Tortillas, and good ol' PB&J.

Apple Blueberry Streusel Muffins

I do not like fresh blueberries at all, but I cannot stop eating these fresh blueberry muffins. They're moist because of the apples, sweet, and just plain yummy. I made three dozen of these bad boys and left for 4 hours. When I returned, there were only a handful left.

Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Wondering what to do with those Brussels sprouts? I was. I did half a batch of roasted sprouts with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and half with olive oil and Parmesan cheese. Hands down the parmesan won.

Chicken Salad

You can serve this salad on baguettes, crackers, croissants, or just plain bread.

Peach Cake

I gleaned this recipe off a Mrs. Frankenburg I met at one of my husbands MBA related events. I memorized the ingredients, wrote them down as soon as we got home, and tried it out. Since the only amount of anything she gave me was the eggs, I was a bit weary to try it, but oh man it was delicious! Now, she used canned fruits, but we're not limited to that if you wan't to do a tiny bit more work to crush your pineapple and slice your peaches.

Fruit Salad

The variations are endless for fruit salad. You don't have to have all these fruits, but I wouldn't use any less than five different fruits. Some people use canned fruit (particularly mandarin oranges- yuck!), but you'll find none of that here. Here's our favorite combination. This is super easy!

Orange and Chicken Salad

This is a rather light meal, but when served with rolls or biscuits, it leaves you feeling full and good about what you ate.

1 Head Green or Red Leaf Lettuce
2-3 Oranges peeled and sliced into bite sized pieces
2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1/3 Cup Ranch Dressing (I prefer Hidden Valley)

Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Cook chicken with ranch dressing until the middle is no longer pink- don't over cook your chicken. While the chicken is cooling, wash and tear lettuce and prepare oranges. Toss everything in a salad bowl. Serve cool.

Linguine Primavera

One of my favorite dishes. It is delicious with whole wheat pasta. You feel good after eating a dish so loaded with veggies, and it is filling. But, that might be because you can't stop eating it.

How to Ripen Bananas

In my humble opinion, green bananas are just eeew! Sometimes you wait and wait and wait for those bananas to ripen but they seem to become hard green bananas instead of soft yellow ones. If you place your bananas in a paper sack with an apple, then close the sack, your bananas will be ready in  say 1-3 days, depending on how ripe they were to begin with. How does this work? Chemistry. Apples emit a chemical that causes other fruit to ripen.

Lemon Sorbet

I served this with Russian Tea Cakes and Vanilla Ice Cream. The flavors and textures were perfect together. Even my brothers who are rather picky with their desserts pounded this.

Fig Pear and Cinnamon Ice Cream

My daughters call this "cookie dough" ice cream even though it tastes nothing like it. It's just right when you want something fruity with a bit of cinnamon.

Pomegranate and Cranberry Granola

You can add just about anything you like to granola, seeds, nuts, dried fruits, etc, but this combination is just what I need for some fall flavor.

Pomegranate Breakfast Bars

This is a variation of a Better Homes and Gardens recipe. They use Craisins, which tastes fabulous too.

Fresh Salsa

This stuff never lasts long, is forgiving, and I like to think is is good for you too.

3 Cups Chopped Tomatoes (or a combination of tomatoes and tomatillos)
1-2 Slices Onion, Chopped
2-3 Cloves Minced Garlic
1 Anaheim Chili seeded and chopped finely
1 Jalapeno or other small hot Chili (also seeded and chopped finely)
1-2 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Cilantro
1-2 Tbsp Lime Juice (either fresh or from the store)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut everything up, mix it in a bowl. Taste, and add more garlic, salt or Lime as needed. Serve with tortilla chips, scrambled eggs, burritos, or whatever you like salsa on.