Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

I don’t know why, but Gary is obsessed with pancakes. He said he used to eat it all the time when he was younger. If it were up to him, pancakes he would have pancakes everyday for breakfast. Since he doesn’t make it himself, he gets it when I’m in the mood to make them .

I came up with the idea for apple cinnamon pancakes. I doubt I’m the first one to think this up, but it sounded good to me. I searched, but didn’t really find what I wanted online. I went to my cookbooks, and found this recipe for buttermilk pancakes with optional add-ins and leveraged the recipe from there.

I did use the book’s adaptations for whole wheat flour. I also made this dairy free by using the soy milk vinegar mix for sour milk. I also added a teaspoon of cinnamon, because I think it goes great with apples.

I expected the pancakes to be a little sweeter than normal because of the apples, but I didn’t find it sweet at all. It had a hint of apple flavor, so it wasn’t too prominent. The whole wheat makes it very filling, and I felt full for a while afterwards. It’s also pretty healthy since it comes out to less than 100 calories per pancake. Although it wasn’t quite as expected, it still came out nicely. I will use this again as a good base for other flavors in the future.

Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon Pancakes
adapted from: Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook 14th Limited Edition

  printable recipe

ingredients:
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 TBSP packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 TBSP vinegar plus enough soy milk to equal 1 1/2 cup total (or 1 1/2 cup buttermilk)
3 TBSP canola oil
1 medium apple, peeled and grated (I used gala)

directions:
In a measuring cup combine vinegar and soy milk. Let sit for 5 minutes (skip this step if using buttermilk).

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Whisk to combine.

In another bowl, whisk together the soy milk mixture, egg and oil. Add to the flour, and stir until just combined.

Grate apple and add to the batter. Stir well to combine.

Using a ladle, pour 1/4 cup batter onto a hot griddle. Cook until surface has completely bubbled, then flip and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter.

Serve with maple syrup.

Makes about 12 pancakes.

Quinoa with Black Beans and Mixed Vegetables

 

For some reason, I always thought I’ve tried quinoa before…but apparently I haven’t. I’ve always mistaken it for couscous. I guess it’s an honest mistake, since they’re both of similar size, and I’ve never really seen quinoa before. I’ve been hearing so much about this super food, that I wanted to try it for myself.

We usually have rice to accompany our meals, which is natural to us since we grew up doing that. Other than pasta, we’ve never really ventured out of our little box in the grain department. I’m glad I tried this. Quinoa has a sort of nutty taste to it, and a texture that sort of pops in your mouth. It’s hard to explain, so it’s best you try it for yourself if you haven’t.

I boiled the quinoa in chicken broth to give it a little more flavor, but you can definitely use water or vegetable broth to keep it vegan. I’m a huge fan of using shortcuts such as canned beans and frozen vegetables. I think it helps a lot when it comes to easy meals. The frozen vegetables I used contains peas, carrots, green beans, and corn.

This was a great first attempt at making quinoa and having a different grain as a side. I can’t wait to try it again! Gary enjoyed this as well, but in the end he suggested using the bean and vegetable mixture in rice. Well…I guess you really can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but as long as I’m making dinner, he’ll eat it :).

Quinoa with Black Beans and Mixed Vegetables
a Cathy original!

 printable recipe

ingredients:
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock or water for vegan)
2 TBSP oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (or an equivalent amount of fresh)
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
salt and pepper to taste

directions:
Rinse and drain quinoa. Add quinoa and chicken stock in a 1.5 quart sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, add oil to a pan on medium-high heat. Add in onion, garlic, vegetables and beans and cook for about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally to mix.  Cook until vegetables are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.

Add the quinoa to the large pan of vegetables and mix well, adding more salt and pepper as needed.

Serve 4 as a side.

Cornflake Crusted Baked Chicken

I’ve heard of cornflake chicken before, but never made it before. I was left with a whole box and a half of cornflakes after making the chocolate covered cornflakes, and was at a loss as to what to do with it. I had every intention of following the instructions on the back of the box, and make it that way, but one of the ingredients was milk. I then decided to veer away from that recipe and made up my own, still keeping the cornflakes as a crust. Gary was a little hesitant, because he thought it would taste weird, but it didn’t at all!

I started off with a batter and coat recipe and took it from there. I originally added the amount of water posted below, but added more because the batter looked thin. I adjusted it back and think it will work better this way. I also adjusted how I originally seasoned the chicken. I originally seasoned the batter instead of the chicken, so the flavor was all gone once baked. I’ve revised it to show the seasoned chicken and crust instead.

Even though Gary was a little wary, he thought it was pretty good. The crunch was there, and you can’t really tell that it’s cereal. I will definitely try this again with my changes noted below.

Cornflake Crusted Bake Chicken
a Cathy original!

 printable recipe

ingredients:
3 cups cornflakes, crushed
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
4-6 drumsticks
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup flour

directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a sheet pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a food processor, crush the cornflakes until it equals ab0ut 1 1/2 cups of crumbs. Place in a wide bowl, mix in red pepper flakes, onion and garlic powder and set aside.

Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.

In a large tupperware container (or a tightly lidded bowl or zip top bag), mix the egg, water and flour. Add chicken and cover. Shake to coat completely.

Using tongs, remove chicken from bowl, shake off excess liquid and coat with cornflake crumbs. Transfer to a single layer on baking sheet. Repeat until all chicken is coated with crumbs.

Bake for 45-50 minutes in preheated oven, or until juices run clear.

Serves 4.

Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream

 

Remember when I went to the Vietnamese restaurant when we went to Quincy? That was my first time trying Vietnamese coffee. Since then, I’ve been addicted…well not really, but I came to love it. My usual coffee addition is half and half, sometimes 1 packet of sugar in the raw. When I have extra sweetened condensed milk leftover from recipes like this one, I use it in my coffee, so it’s a win win for me!

As I tasted this ice cream for the first time, it reminded me of the coffee candy I used to eat at my grandmas. When we were kids, my grandma always had a bowl of candy which included the coffee candy, one of my faves!

Like authentic Vietnamese coffee, I brewed the coffee with my french press. If you don’t have one, I highly recommend one. It makes coffee just that much better, and less bitter. I’ve also used it for cold press coffee, which came out wonderfully without any bitterness at all.

This recipe called for just a little over a can of sweetened condensed milk. Although I would use the remaining sweetened condensed milk in future coffee cups, I think I will try this recipe using only one can of sweetened condensed milk. I wasn’t a fan of opening a second can to use about 1/4th of it. I didn’t measure the ingredients by weight. What I did first was pour the coffee into a large measuring cup, then added enough sweetened condensed milk to that to make 3 cups. Then added the half and half and pinch of coffee. Everything was done in the cup until it was time to pour it into the machine to churn.

Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream
source: The Perfect Scoop

 printable recipe

ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (600 g) sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) brewed espresso (or very strongly brewed coffee)
1/2 cup (125 ml) half and half
big pinch of finely ground dark roast coffee

directions:
Whisk together all the ingredients in a large measuring cup. Cover and chill the mixture in the fridge for a few hours. Pour contents into ice cream maker and freeze per your manufacturer’s instructions.

Makes about 1 quart.

My Twist on Sloppy Joes

When I was a kid, I don’t think I ever had a sloppy joe. If you think I was deprived, of course not. I grew  up eating homemade Chinese food. On rare occasions, we would order pizza. The only times I would probably see American food was during lunch at school. Even then, I wasn’t a fan of sloppy joes, beef patties, or stuff with ground meat. Heck, I was the one that ate only the jelly half of the pb and j sandwiches, but I digress.

The other day, I saw an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and it featured sloppy joes. After I saw it, I really wanted a sloppy joe, but I remembered I’ve never really had one. His recipe was a bit too complicated, and I decided to make one up, my way. It was my way to incorporate vegetables and other stuff Gary wouldn’t otherwise eat.  I originally wanted to use kidney beans, but I didn’t have any in the pantry. I ended up using small white beans, which worked out very well.

Sloppy Joes with Beans
a Cathy original!

 printable recipe

ingredients:
2 TBSP canola oil
1/2 lb ground turkey
1 small onion, quartered
3 cloves garlic
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
2 stalks celery, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 (15 oz) can small white beans, drained and rinsed
1 TBSP tomato paste
3/4 cup honey bbq sauce
1 TBSP chili powder

directions:
In a food processor, add in onion, garlic, carrots, and celery and grind for about 5-7 seconds, or until all the pieces are uniform. Or, you can dice them up into small bits. Drain and rinse beans.

In a hot pan on medium high heat, add in oil. Add in ground turkey, and cook until no longer pink.

Add vegetables and beans to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in tomato paste and barbeque sauce. Stir to coat thoroughly. Add in chili powder to taste. Stir to coat evenly and let cook for another minute or 2.

Scoop onto burger buns and serve.

Makes 4 sandwiches.