Chef Maki Makes Mixes (Muffins)

Multigrain Muffin Mix
8 cups flours (I used barley, oat, soft wheat, rye, a little flax, and millet,)
1.5 cups fructose
3 tablespoons baking powder
1.25 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg

Combine everything in a large bowl and put into gallon size zippy bag.

To make muffins later...
Preheat oven to 375 degrees or toaster oven to 350.

In a bowl, mix together:
1.5 cups baking mix
1 tablespoons corn oil
1 egg
1/4 cup water
½ cup milk
3/4 cup berries, raisins, apples, etc. if desired.

Bake for 20 min in oven or 15 in toaster oven. I use the aluminum bake cups that you can put directly on a cookie sheet so you don’t need a muffin tin and it fits in the toaster oven. Makes 6 nice sized muffins.

No picture, but they tasted quite good!

For Pancake Mix, click here.

Chef Maki Makes Mixes (Pancake)

I've had to make some dietary adjustments for one child, so I have been experimenting in the kitchenfor quick and easy things to feed him. It is nice to have things premade, or at least partly made in order to get them to the table more quickly! The following recipe you can substitute the oat flour for a mixture of several other flours and that still meets with the approval of the eater. :)

Oat Flour Pancake Mix

12 cups oat flour (just grind flakes in blender or food processor until flour-like)
1/4 cup baking powder
1.5 tsp salt

1 tsp fructose or 1/2 tsp sugar

Mix ingredients all around and store in a labeled Ziploc baggie. When ready to use, in a bowl, mix together:
1 egg, whisked
½ cup almond, soy, rice, or regular milk
½ cup water

Then add 1 cup mix. Let the batter sit for about 3 to 5 minutes. Yes, it will be thick.

Put a little corn oil in a skillet on medium low heat. Ladle in batter and cook on one side until round air holes appear on the top side--be patient, it takes a while. Flip the cake over for a short while to lightly brown the second side.

Stupid picture of imperfect multigrain pancake...

This is best served with blueberry or strawberry sauce which is made by mixing together:

Fruit Sauce
1 cup water
1 Tbs cornstarch
½ to 1 ½ cup blueberries or strawberries
Sweetener of choice (honey, agave nectar, fructose, etc.)
Bring mixture to a slow boil over medium heat. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

For Muffin Mix, click here.

Chef Maki's Honey Poppy Seed Salad Dressing

I was concerned that this wasn't going to turn out so well, but it met with rave reviews at our Easter dinner get-together. Yay! So, I am sharing the recipe. It is wonderful with salad, especially one with berries and spinach included.

Honey Poppy Seed Salad Dressing

1/2 cup honey

1/2 tsp mustard powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 TBS (about 1/4) of a finely grated onion (include juice)

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup corn oil

1 TBS poppy seeds.

Put all ingredients in a mason jar and shake vigorously until well mixed. Sorry, no photo this time. It looks quite pretty over the salad, however. :)

Don't forget to do your Spring Clean for 5 Minutes today!

"Oatmeal Raisin What? Cookies" from Chef Maki

I am sure you have heard of a lot of strange things in your life. I am sure most of you won't dare try this recipe. But, they are really, really yummmmmmmy. Seriously.

Oatmeal Raisin What? Cookies

Beat together until smooth:
¾ cup mashed beans (white or butter beans) Mash them in blender or little food processor.
¾ cup butter (half of this can be applesauce)
½ cup fructose
1 ¼-1 ½ cups dark brown sugar (I like the dark kind because it has more molasses left in it than the light kind & I hope that means a little less processed!)

Add:
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla (use the real stuff, not imitation)
(or more) This ingredient is a must have!

In a separate bowl, mix together:
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder (Rumford aluminum free)
½ tsp baking soda
2 ½ -3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cloves

Add the two mixtures together thoroughly, then add a little at a time:
1 ½ cups white flour

Stir in half at a time:
4 cups regular rolled oats (not quick)
1-2 cups raisins.

Drop or roll into balls and lightly press cookie down on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.

Here's the approximate size I make them.

This recipe makes about 8 dozen small cookies. Either cut the recipe in half, or freeze half for another time, or both!

Here is the little food processer I use for small jobs, in case you are interested. :)

Fit for 5 here!

Makiavelli Teams up with Chef Maki

Learning about fish? Having a themed party? Wanna do something different, just for fun? This may work for you! Bake zucchini bread in pie tins like this: Turn out one of the zucchini breads whole onto a cookie sheet. Cut another of the breads into quarters, using one quarter for the fish tail. Cut another piece for a top fin. Add a small piece of candy, raisin, or date for the eyeball and there's your fish!

Now that was easy, wasn't it?!

It isn't too late to join in on doing the Fit for 5 challenge this month. Have you reported back lately? It's okay if you haven't. This is just a friendly reminder to get moving! ;)

See show & tells here.

Homemade Cold Cereal with Chef Maki

Cold cereal can be expensive and not nutritious, so here are a couple of alternatives. Both very yummy and pretty simple to make. Pardon the picture quality. I really should stop taking pictures with my phone, but it is so convenient! :)

Graham Crunch

1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2/3 Cups Almond Meal (Buy like this or just grind up almonds until powdery.)
3/4 Cups Dark or Medium Brown Sugar
2 Cups of Milk
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
4 Crushed Graham Crackers (1 graham cracker = 1 rectangle that can split into 4 parts)



Mix all the ingredients thoroughly together with egg beater. Spread thinly on 2 large, buttered cookie sheets. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.



While baking the second cookie sheet, scoop the cereal from the first cookie sheet and put it in blender or food processor (1/2 at a time) and do a few quick pulses of the blades. (You should have large crumbs.) Put the cereal back on the cookie sheet. Take the other cookie sheet out of the oven and do the same. (Yes, it is still hot.)




Now put both cookie sheets back in the oven and turn the oven off. (They can slightly overlap if needed.) In the morning, put the now crunchy cereal into an airtight container.

Enjoy with sliced fresh strawberries and milk if desired. Also makes a good topping for a fruit & yogurt parfait with homemade crockpot yogurt.





Muesli/Granola Stuff

I call it granola if it has been oven toasted, Muesli if it is eaten without baking. The beauty of this recipe is that you can just throw in whatever you have on hand and it tastes good. I make huge batches, so whereas I may throw in a whole cannister of regular oats, you may just want a couple of cups. Use some or all of these ingredients.

These four are the foundation, so I highly recommend using these:

Oats
Whole Wheat Flour (about a 1 part flour to 6-8 parts oats)
Oil (approximately equal parts oil & honey)
Honey


Here's the optionals:

Shredded coconut
Nuts of any kind--walnuts, almonds, pecans, peanuts, etc.
Seeds of any kind--sunflower, sesame, etc.
Dried fruit of any kind--raisins, craisins, dates, apples, apricots, etc.
Spices--cinnamon, pumkin pie spice, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, etc.
Wheat germ


Mix together everything except the oil and honey. Then, pour the oil and honey over the top and remix. Taste test it. Add more spices and honey if needed. If you are doing muesli, you are now ready to eat it. If you want granola, put it on a cookie sheet and bake at 300 for about an hour, stirring it around every 20 minutes. If making granola, I suggest not adding the fruit until after you have baked it because the fruit tends to get hard and crunchy otherwise.


See some of my other breakfast tips here and here.

Did you do your Fit for 5 today?

Baking soda tips here.

More recipes at Tammy's Recipes blog carnival.

Broccoli Hater's Broccoli Salad from Chef Maki's Kitchen

Broccoli Salad

Mix together:

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2-3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup plain yogurt (homemade crockpot yogurt here)

2-3 TBS sugar

Add:

4 Broccoli stalks & flowers, in small, bite size pieces

1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

1 -2 cups red grapes, halved (or not)

1/2 pkg turkey bacon, cut in small pieces (no need to cook if package says it is already fully cooked)

1 cup shredded carrots

Mix it around to coat. Serve. Yum! Even my broccoli haters like this salad. This salad gives you a flavor packed treat in each delicious bite!

In the picture, you see no red grapes. This is because I had none this go around, so I substituted raisins. It looks prettier with the red grapes. {My picture isn't too pretty anyway since I took it too close up, but you get the general idea.} I also subbed green onions and yellow onion for the red onion, for the same reason. You can make several variations and still have a yummy salad.

Homemade Ranch Dressing & Random Kitchen Tips from Chef Maki

Anytime you cook something in the kitchen, it is nice to have a prep chef handy to get the ingredients and do other odd jobs.Always make sure to watch where you splash and splatter, especially if your view while cooking resembles mine.

For this particular recipe, let's begin with the end in mind. Voila! Homemade ranch in a mason jar.

This ranch is quite tasty and doesn't have any ingredients in it that I can't pronounce. (My Mama taught me that the more things on a label's list of ingredients you can't pronounce, the less likely it is to be a healthy product. -- you know, like dianalyne guanalytic sulfonate or some such junk.)

You will need:

• 1 cup Mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup Plain yogurt (click here for easy homemade crockpot yogurt.)
• 1/4 cup Milk
• 1 tsp Dill weed
• 1 Large clove minced garlic (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
• 1 TBS Dried parsley
• 1 tsp Onion powder

You can try fresh dill, parsley or minced onion, but add more fresh than what is listed for dried above. Just whisk all the ingredients together with a wire whisk. If you make it in the blender, it will be runnier. After it is all mixed, pour it into a mason jar for storing in the fridge. When serving, use a spoon or pour it into a measuring cup that has a pour spout.

http://www.tammysrecipes.com/

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Canadagirl

http://rtheyallyours.blogspot.com/

Banana Bread for Noble Monkeys from Chef Maki

Start with 5 or 6 of these:Use one of these:

End up with this:

Seriously, here's the recipe for this very yummy banana bread. (And I am not even that fond of banana bread!) The gang scarfed this one down in no time flat.

Noble Monkey Banana Bread

In a mixing bowl, beat:

• 1 stick Softened butter
• 5 to 6 Really ripe bananas
• 2 Large eggs
• 3/4 cup Dark brown sugar (don't pack the sugar when measuring)

Mix these together in 4 cup measuring cup (pictured above)

• 1 cup Whole wheat flour
• 1 cup White flour
• 1 tsp Baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

Use a wooden spoon to gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Then the batter goes into an 11 inch round baking dish. (Mine is Pampered Chef stoneware.) Sprinkle the top liberally with sliced almonds. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

p.s. I got the brown sugar idea from allrecipes.com. I had never done banana bread with brown sugar before and I think that is what makes the difference. Anyway, check there for other recipe ideas.

p.p.s. Find two more food blog carnivals here & here.

Chef Maki Disguises Christmas Leftovers in New Dinners

We had a wonderful, cozy Christmas with just our family. No big get-togethers, just us. (I suppose that is always a big get-together.) We enjoyed spending our day together playing, reading, eating, etc.

But, now we have a ton of leftovers!! I like leftovers. It means less cooking. However, some people prefer not to eat the same exact thing over and over, so I try to be creative. Here are a few things I usually do with our Christmas/Thanksgiving leftovers.

Casserole (Definitely needs a better name.) This dish is awesome for the cook because it can easily be assembled as you are putting away the leftovers after Christmas dinner. Start by simply lining the bottom of the pan with gravy. Next, make a mashed potatoe rectangle around the edge of the pan. After this, put turkey pieces all over the middle section. I like to put dark meat on one side, light on the other. In a line down the midde, over the top of the turkey, place the leftover corn. Around the corn is the spot reserved for the leftover stuffing. Cover the dish with foil. You can freeze this for a later meal, or serve it in a couple of days. All it requires is for the gravy to start bubbling so you know it is heated through. Just heat it up, covered at about 350 degrees. The pictue below shows the casserole before being heated up. (It is still in the fridge since we haven't eaten it yet!)

I usually cook a Christmas ham too. That allows for making Ham and Bean Soup. To make this, save your ham bone and the liquid that you cooked the ham in. Soak the beans overnight. Cook the beans in the morning. Allow the ham bone to simmer for many hours in a large pot along with the reserved liquid and extra water enough to cover the bone at least. After simmering for as many hours as you wanted it to, remove the ham bone. Then add diced celery, onions, carrots, and whatever other veggies suits your fancy. Add half the cooked beans. Mash up the beans with your potatoe masher. Add the other half of the beans. Simmer until veggies are tender. Usually you don't need to add any other seasonings if you had enough broth left over. If the soup happens to be bland, add a ham bouillion cube. Serve with leftover dinner rolls (if you still have any!) or crackers from the Swedish Christmas party!

Potatoe Pancakes can be made by adding an egg or two to your mashed potatoes. Take a small ball of the mashed potatoes, flatten it, then pat it in seasoned flour. (Salt & pepper or your favorite all purpose seasoning) Then fry the pancakes in a skillet with melted butter.

Homemade Turkey Noodle Soup is a wonderful way to use up the rest of the turkey. If your turkey carcass isn't all in pieces, boil it in a large pot of water to make a great soup stock. Adding celery leaves, diced celery, carrots, onions, garlic, basil and leftover gravy add nutrition and flavor. Make homemade noodles, or add a package of egg noodles.

Sandwiches with leftover meat make a great meal when accompanied by all the side dishes that didn't get finished!

What good ideas do you have for leftovers?

Chef Maki's WWW Blueberry Muffins

Sitting around the dinner table today, I tried to distract members of my family from talking about items not appropriate to talk about at the dinner table. (Ever happen to you?) My distraction technique was to throw out the first question that came to mind. "Hey! Tell me what I should blog about next?"

Some ideas I actually got:

What I should blog about next? ("Well, you said to tell you that!")
Best films you can watch with your family
How to create nothing (Followed by a guffaw, chortle, snort)
A thankful list
How to deal with a husband who is never around even when he is around
Traditions
Chubby walking
How to eat yams ("That would be boring.")

Perhaps I might blog about one or two of those interesting suggestions, but for today, I am lazy. Therefore I am pulling out this wonderful recipe to share with you so that I don't have to think. Well, I have been thinking about making some of these for about a week, so they have been on my mind. Hope you try them out. They really are quite delightful.

Wonderful Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

3 cups Whole wheat flour
1 cup White flour, divided
2 Tbs Baking powder
½ tsp Salt
½ cup Honey
½ cup Butter
2 cups Milk
2 Eggs, slightly beaten
Grated peel from one small lemon
½ bag (8 0z) frozen blueberries

Mix all dry ingredients except ½ cup flour. Add wet ingredients. Stir until just mixed, but not smooth. Mix ½ cup flour with ½ bag of frozen berries. Add to batter. Spoon into greased muffin pan (about 2/3 full). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 375 degrees.

Someone want to make me some? I am still feeling too lazy to cook.

Please?

Pretty please?

Pretty, pretty please?

Pretty please and cheesy grin?

Okay, enough begging. Enjoy.

{View Kitchen tips from others at www.tammysrecipes.com}

Chef Maki Makes Crockpot Yogurt!

About 6 to 8 months ago, my industrious sister explained to me the procedure she uses to make yogurt. I didn't have the tools she had, so I did some looking around and experimenting on my own and came up with this method that I find to be very easy! Now I make it 2 or 3 times a month.

Why homemade yogurt? It is much less expensive than buying a bunch of little cartons of premade yogurt. It is healthier too because I control what goes in to it. And, of course, most everything seems so much tastier when homemade.

Just for fun, want to know what I spent on the last batch of yogurt? I bought gallon of milk for $1.88 and paid $.95 for the Brown Cow Plain Yogurt. So, for under $3.00 I made an entire gallon of yogurt! Occasionally I see the 32 oz yogurts on sale for $2.00, but that isn't even close to a gallon. (But you knew that, huh.)

A GALLON? What am I going to do with a gallon of yogurt? Well, you could cut my recipe in half if you want, but you can do a lot with yogurt. It keeps a really long time too...that is if you don't have a lot of kids. In which case it disappears before you can turn around and say, "I love my crockpot." Here are some of the things I do with my homemade yogurt.

**Use in place of sour cream. If you use it with build your own burritos you can claim it is sauce instead of sour cream in case you have skeptical eaters.
**Add it to fruit shakes for an extra creamy delight
**Make fruit & yogurt parfaits for breakfast by layering flavored yogurt, granola and various fruits and berries in a bowl. If you use a see through bowl, it makes a pretty presentation. (Yes, I am stealing this idea from my sis. You can see her other great recipes at her unprocessed recipes blog.)
**Combine yogurt with a little lemon and sweetening for a yummy dip for apples and other fruit. **Make salad dressing with it.
**Drizzle over pancakes or waffles (My favorite recipe here)
**Eat it as regular yogurt

Here's what I do to make the yogurt:

Ingredients:
1 gallon of whole milk
4 oz or more Brown Cow plain yogurt (Can use other brands, but this is best. Find in health food section usually)

Pour the milk into the crockpot first thing in the morning. Turn the crockpot on low. I tuck my thermometer along the edge of the lid. When it gets to about 178 to 180 degrees, turn the crockpot off and remove the lid. This site says that you can actually just turn the crockpot on for 2 1/2 hours and not worry about the temperature. This will probably work just fine. I haven't tried it yet, but the people that commented said it works too.


When the milk has cooled to 120 degrees, scoop out about 1 cup of the milk and mix it with the yogurt. (The site mentioned above says do this after the crockpot has been off for 3 hours) Add this mixture to the crockpot.
Put the lid back on the crockpot and cover it with a couple of nice fluffy towels and/or a big ol' Mexican blanket like I did. Then, just leave it alone. You don't need the thermometer or anything. Just let it sit. NO PEEKING!

When you are ready to go to bed at night, remove the towels. Take the crockpot off its base and put it in the fridge. In the morning you will have tantalizing yogurt to eat for breakfast. This yogurt is not a thick custard style yogurt. It is creamy and smooth, but not terribly thick.

Sweeten it with jam, fruit, honey, stevia, sugar, or whatever you can imagine.

Transfer the contents to a sealable container and enjoy until it is gone. Then make some more because it is so simple!

Chef Maki's Christmas Recipes--Pepparkakor and Warm Cinnamon Milk!

Here's a couple of promised recipes from my Christmas traditions post. The first recipe has lots of fattening stuff in it, but the cookies themselves are very thin, so if you can keep yourself from eating lots of them, you should be in good shape. (Ha ha, that has a double meaning.) But, then again, it is Christmas and so we indulge a bit, huh?

Kungen’s Pepparkakor (The King's Pepparkakor)

2.5 lbs unbleached white flour, (use ¼ of this in whole wheat for best coloring)
2 cups sugar or 1 cup fructose
1 ¼ cups maple syrup (real)
1 egg
2+ Tablespoons ginger
½+ Tablespoons cloves
1-3+ Tablespoon cinnamon
1-2 Tablespoons cardamom (can make w/o)
1 Tablespoon baking soda
1 lb butter
1 cup whipping cream

Mix about 2 lbs flour with baking soda. Mix in the butter with your fingertips. Wip the cream to a hard meringue-type state. Mix together the sugar, syrup, spices (the + sign means we usually add more than it says) and egg, then add that to the whip cream. Add the flour and mix until it is a smooth dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for a minimum of 24 hours. Two days is better.

Work the rest of the flour into the dough. Use a rolling pin, roll the dough extremely thin. Use cookie cutters, including hearts, little people, flowers, etc. Put onto cookie sheets. Bake at 425 degrees for about 5 minutes. Let the cookies cool a bit before removing them from the cookie sheet. This makes about 350 cookies—plenty to share with friends.

Every year, and I mean EVERY year, we make these. Here's an old picture from when my older kids were tiny and we baked in the downstairs kitchen at Mormor's (My mom) house. The rolling pins used by Bub and Nanner are the ones my sister and I used as kids, directly from Sweden with the cute red handles. I still have mine and we still use it every year.



We make lots more cookies now than we did when Patchy, Nanner and Bub were small. No, I don't increase the amount of dough. There are actually two reasons. 1) Not as much dough finds its way to little bellies and 2) The kids know how to roll the dough very thin on their own! Occasionally they have gotten it so thin it is almost see through--now that is too thin!

Warm Cinnamon Milk Mix

2 C. powdered milk
1 C. powdered creamer
1 C. sugar
1/2 Tbs. cinnamon

Fill a cup or mug 1/4 to 1/3 full with the mix. Add several drops of vanilla, to taste. While stirring, fill the cup with boiling water, keep stirring.


We first received this from someone as a Christmas gift. It was put into a mason jar and decorated wit the instructions attached. It is really super yummy for dipping pepparkakor!


If there are any other recipes you are really wanting from the Christmas traditions post, let me know. I'll probably share a few more closer to Christmas. Maybe I'll video them actually in the making.

Chef Maki Provides Breakfast Tips and Shortcuts

Here are some ideas for breakfast that may be helpful in your quest to provide less expensive and healthy meal options for your family.

~~Rather than buying Honey Bunches of Oats or a similar product, combine corn flakes, homemade granola and dried fruit chunks in a large plastic jar. It is cheaper and healthier!

~~Sprinkle a handful of sliced almonds over your morning Cheerios.

~~Try one or several new oatmeal toppings: honey, raisins, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, coconut, chopped nuts, fresh or canned fruit, molasses, wheat germ, pumpkin pie spice, dried or frozen fruit, sesame seeds, soy milk, syrup, etc.

~~Put frozen blueberries in cream of wheat or other hot cereal to cool it down for little ones.

~~Mix one box of frosted shredded wheat with one box of regular shredded wheat rather than eating only the frosted kind. This works well with toasted oats and honey nut toasted oats too.

~~Gather fruit that is getting overripe and put it into a smoothie or protein shake.

~~Put leftover cookie crumbs into your homemade granola.

~~Freeze leftover waffles and pancakes on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. When frozen, transfer them to large Ziploc bags for easily separated delights that are good for a quick, pop-in-the-toaster breakfast.

~~Wash up fruit when you bring it home and place it in large bowls in the fridge for easy access for the kids and hubby (and yourself!) for breakfast and snacks.

Please feel free to share your tips and tricks in the comments section. Also, you can find more tips here where "Tips on Tuesday" is being hosted. (See Oct. 21, 2008 entry)

Chef Maki Shares: What to do with Pears!

I had a request from an email subscriber. (I like requests.) This subscriber is coming in to an abundance of pears. What to do? What to do? Sure, I have ideas. Part of having a large family means obtaining great quantities of food when it can be had for a great price and/or free! This also means having to figure out what to do with this inexpensive food that you acquired.

Here's what I came up with for pears...

1. An addition to fruit salad

2. Sliced on cereal

3. Thin slices to put onto a spinach salad with strawberries & poppy seeds.
--For dressing, whisk together
2 T sesame seeds
2 T poppy seeds
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup raspberry or apple cider vinegar
1 T finely grated onion
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
-- Pour over mixed baby spinach leaves, red onion rings, sliced almonds and sliced strawberries. Decorate the top with sliced pears.

4. Slice them, put them in a single layer on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Freeze until solid, then pack into large zippy bags. Good to throw in smoothies later. And, strangely enough, my kids actually enjoy eating frozen fruit, especially on hot days.

5. Spiced Pear Sauce--very easy!
--puree in blender with cinnamon & nutmeg. That is it! The cinnamon and nutmeg not only make it taste yummy, but also keeps little people from frowning upon brown pear sauce. Pears turn brown easily once pureed, but if the kids know it is cinnamon pear sauce, they will assume that it is brown because of the cinnamon. That way you don't need to add any preservatives. This keeps about a week in the fridge (never lasts that long around here) or you can freeze it.

6. Pear Popsicles--Just puree the pears and pour into popsicle molds. (Buy them at the dollar store or Target or Wal-mart.) This makes a nice sweet treat for later.

7. Can them. You can do this without an official canner. You just need a very large, sturdy pot. Click here for info from Ball.

8. Make raspberry filled pears. Simple, elegant, delish! Watch the video for how to.

Watch for Chef Maki to return with more cooking ideas in future blogs. :)

Filling Hungry Teenage Boys & Wannabes with Food and Teaching Moments

The never-ending battle is always hard-fought. You struggle down the grocery aisle with carts filled beyond intended capacity. You scrimp, you budget. You cook, you bake. Yet, they still come in at all hours of the day (and into the night) with the same boring question that always begs a new and exciting answer. “I’m hungry…what’s there to eat.” And just who are these people? Yes, they are the bottomless pits with hollow legs—TEENAGE BOYS!!

Even though they can drive you crazy with their continual requests, there is much to be said about opportunities for teaching when it comes to food.

For instance, have you noticed how the very foods that keep you full for the longest periods of time tend to be the same foods that are nutritious? Teach them this concept!

One fun way to teach is through stories.

My mother used to (actually still does) like to tell a story about when she first came to America. {A little background is in order here. Mom has lived here in America for decades, but is originally from Sweden. Swedes eat good hearty breads. They enjoy loaves of rye and solid, dark loaves of round wheat breads. They like the stuff you can really sink your teeth into and savor.} Mother went to the American grocery store looking for a loaf of bread. She looked left and right at dozens of loaves. Finally she picked one up, surprised at the lightness of the package.

She stared at the uniformly sliced, very pale, white slices. Thinking there must be some mistake, she put one hand at the opening of the package of bread and one hand at the other end. Then she squeezed it like an accordian. To her amazement, the entire loaf became one paltry slice. In horror, she recoiled, and as she did, the bread seemed to spring back into shape of its own free will. She couldn’t believe such an object was meant for eating.

This was the beginning of how my Mom taught me to love good whole grains. Mom has a flair for telling wonderful tales that I am sure are only slightly exaggerated. ;)

Now I teach my own kids. Whole grains are best. They stick to your ribs much better than the white stuff.

That just reminded me of another Mom story. I bet you weren’t aware of this, so I’ll let you thank me later. It is a proven fact that doughnuts do not digest well. Mom told us of an article she had read in which scientists were cutting open a human cadaver. Inside the man’s stomach the remains of undigested, seven-year-old doughnuts were found! This gave no doubt to my mind what the man’s cause of death had been. I still don’t eat doughnuts to this day…

There you have it. Whole grains + no doughnuts = healthy life. Of course there’s a whole lot more to it, but goodness, think of all the fun you can have as you teach your children to love healthy eating.

Also with food, you can teach them to use good manners. Use your fork. Say please. Don’t talk with your mouth full. Keep your legs under the table.

Keep your elbows off the table.

What do you feed them to fill them up physically while you try to fill them up mentally? Here’s a couple of favorites:

Bill Jerone Burritos (Named after I mistakenly thought that is what my father-in-law said when he actually said, “Build Your Own”)

Place all or most of these ingredients buffet style on the table or counter.

Very large tortillas (and some small ones for the Wannabes)
Hot Cooked rice (I like brown—it is more filling!)
Hot Beans (kidney, chili, black, whatever) seasoned as you like.
Hot Ground beef, or shredded chicken
Chopped tomatoes
Corn
Onions (chopped)
Olives
Grated cheese
Chopped cilantro
Peppers
Anything else you have in the fridge that looks good
Sour cream or plain homemade yogurt
Salsa (homemade is best, or use store bought with fresh tomatoes, garlic, lemon juice & onions thrown in.)

Each eater grabs a plate and fills their tortilla with desired ingredients.

Feather-light Wholegrain Wheat Waffles

Beat until stiff and set aside:
3 egg whites (save yolks)

Mix together:
1 ½ cups wheat flour (can use ½ wheat, ½ white if you want)
1 Tbs baking powder
½ tsp salt

Mix together and then add to the dry ingredients:
1 ½ cups milk
2 Tbs oil
2 tsp vanilla
3 egg yellows

Fold in the egg whites gently. Pour into waffle maker a scoop at a time. Yum! I usually at least triple the batch and then freeze the leftovers on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. When they are frozen, I put them in a zippy bag in the freezer to use for later breakfasts.

Here’s something I do for tiny Wannabes. First, I start with a raw fruit or vegetable like celery.

I wash them and cut them into small pieces. Then I put them in a small pot to boil, like these carrots.

When the fruit or veggie is nice and soft tender, I remove it from the pot and put it in a sealable container and put it in the fridge so that it is ready when baby is. Those are apples in the picture below. To keep things simple, I cooked these items one right after the other. When I was done I had several small meals ready for my little person to eat without a lot of trouble for me to fix when he is ready to eat.

Hopefully, like my Mom taught me, I am teaching by hungry boys (and girls) good, healthy ways to eat and I am doing it with fun and humor. What are some of your favorite, most filling and simple things to fix? Share, share! Also check out this unprocessed recipe blog for more good recipes.