Donuts? Really!?

Every once in a while, a special breakfast treat is in order and that means something fun, yet still somewhat healthful. Today I tried my hand at mini GF donuts made with coconut flour, eggs, and honey. Everyone gave them an enthusiastic thumbs up. Tyler was so excited he took the time to even make some chocolate glaze. Watch out Dunkin’ Donuts!

Cold cereal?

Cold cereal was something I did away with many moons ago. I have been making Tyler granola for a few years, which is good in yogurt, but leaves something to be desired as a cold cereal replacement. Then I ran into a recipe for raw, dehydrated cereal while searching through the plethora of raw food cookbooks from the library. I actually found several recipes with the same concept, but I modified it a bit, mostly to reduce the sugar and add more fat.

I call these Cereal Crispies. What a treat to have quick, cold cereal again. A handful topped with raw milk and fresh berries….yummmm!! I make these about every 2 weeks now. The recipe below makes a lot (I doubled the original recipe because we go through it so fast); it makes about 3 dehydrator sheets worth.

4 cups buckwheat groats (raw are green), soaked for at least 1 hour (I usually do more, like 4 to 6 and then have been sprouting them a little, which is just leaving them out in the strainer and using the sprayer on them with water a few times until I see little nubs)

½ cup maple syrup

3 to 4 tsp vanilla extract

4 heaping Tbsp cocoa powder

4 Tbsp + coconut oil (soft or melted)

4 tsp sea salt (sounds like a lot, but it does taste good)

Place the soaked groats in a fine-mesh colander to drain. Rinse with water to get rid of extra starchiness. Place in the bowl of a good processor and add the remaining ingredients. Pulse until well combined but not thoroughly pureed. It should look somewhat like soupy oatmeal. Divide between lined dehydrator trays spread about 18 inch thick. Dehydrate at 115 degrees for 8 to 12 hours or until the top is dry to the touch and the liner peels away easily. The crispies should be quite brittle at this point, flip pieces over to continue drying on the other side for an additional few hours or until they are completely dry and crunchy. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container, or keep in the fridge to maintain maximum freshness, they should last up to a few weeks. Adapted from a recipe in Raw Food Real World Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis.

Green eggs and bacon?

I have been wanting to try my luck at green eggs and “ham” lately. One morning last week I decided was the time to try it out. I whipped my eggs with a sprinkle of spirulina, fried them up and added a dash of parmesan cheese. They turned out greenish, not as green as I was hoping, but we read Green Eggs and Ham during breakfast and Tate totally loved it!

Egg and Ham Cups

I have been seeing more and more easy, fun ways to cook with muffin tins lately. This breakfast was tasty and fast, with easy clean up (which has been on my priority list lately). Grease up a few muffin tins, take a slice of ham (I used turkey ham, but I am guessing anything sliced will work) and make a little basket in the tins (cut it around the edges if you want it to be cleaner), crack in an egg (pastured preferred), sprinkle on some salt and cook in a 400 degree oven for about 12 to 15 minutes (depending on how firm you want your egg). Voila! This idea came from Kid’s Fun and Healthy Cookbook, which has some creative ideas and mostly whole food based recipes.

Breakfast Soft Serve Ice Cream

We like breakfast ice cream, an idea inspired by Missy Chase Lapine in her book The Sneaky Chef. The recipe changes every time I make it, but today we took:

2 avocados

a 10oz bag of frozen strawberries (organic of course)

a pour (maybe 1/2 cup) homemade dairy kefir (could use anything, coconut milk, regular milk, almond milk)

1 T raw honey (plus a few drops stevia to bring up the sweetness just at touch)

1 T vitamin C-berry powder

a big blob of raw cream

I threw all the ingredients in my nifty food processor and let 'er rip.

Tate said, "mommy, you make nice ice cream!" I politely said "thank you!" But inside I am totally doing back flips because my precious first born totally digs this nourishing breakfast!