Breakfast Muesli with Raisins and Flaxseed

This past week, I decided to participate in a recipe swap with a few ladies from the message boards I frequent.  I wasn't sure what I was going to end up getting, but I did request something dairy free to be adaptable for Gary.

This week's theme was breakfast items. I shared the strawberry pancake recipe that Gary loved so much! I received this breakfast muesli. I was concerned when I got this, because I've actually never seen Gary eat oatmeal. I've always been the oatmeal/yogurt/cereal type breakfast person, and he was the meat and potatoes type. Little did I know, his dad used to make oatmeal with eggs for him all the time! I also love how this was prepped and left alone overnight, so it was great when we were rushing out the door the next day!

I originally started out to halved this recipe since we were going to be out of town for a few days. I accidentally poured too much maple syrup in, so I ended up making the full amount. Glad I did, because we actually loved it and ate quite a bit of it in one sitting on it's own.

I did have a few adaptations. I omitted the wheat germ since I didn't have any on hand. I subbed the cranberries with these giant plump raisins I had, and I ended up using the quick oats since it was all I had. I thought I had regular, but I was mistaken. Nonetheless, it worked out fine. I also used almond milk to keep it dairy free.

Check out Taste of Home Cooking for the entire recipe swap round up!

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Muesli with Raisins and Flaxseed
adapted from: Baby Food Scoops

ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (I used raisins)
1/3 cup wheat germ (I omitted)
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 cup maple syrup (may alternatively use agave nectar or sorghum)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
3 cups milk (I used almond)

For serving: yogurt, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, chopped nuts (pecans, almonds, walnuts), fresh fruit

For drizzling: maple syrup or agave nectar

directions:
Combine first seven ingredients (through vanilla) in large bowl.

Pour milk over mixture, stirring to combine.

Cover and chill at least 4 hours (or overnight).

to serve:
Place yogurt in a bowl or custard cup.

Top with oat mixture and add desired toppings.

Drizzle with additional maple syrup or agave nectar, if desired.

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Chicken Katsu (Japanese Fried Chicken)

We recently got new smartphones and we were playing around with it. I downloaded the allrecipes dinner spinner app and showed it to Gary. He immediately started playing around with it and was amazed! He bookmarked a few recipes to try, and this was the first that he wanted to make since it seemed simple enough.

It was indeed simple, and tasty…but I’m a sucker for anything fried! The only thing we would change about this would be the tonkatsu sauce that we made. We found one on All Recipes as well (mentioned in the comments of this recipe, but it ended being totally inedible. Since we were fine with it plain, we omitted the sauce. We halved this recipe to feed the two of us.

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Chicken Katsu
adapted from: allrecipes.com

ingredients:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup oil for frying, or as needed

directions:

Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper.

Place the flour, egg and panko crumbs each into separate shallow dishes. Coat the chicken breasts in flour, shaking off any excess. Dip them into the egg, and then press into the panko crumbs until well coated on both sides.

Heat 1/4 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place chicken in the hot oil, and cook for 3 or 4 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Mine were a bit thicker, so I cooked a little longer, about 5 minutes per side.

Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to soak up the oil. Slice and serve over jasmine rice and top with tonkatsu sauce (optional).

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Vanilla Bean Cake with Lemon Lime Curd & Swiss Meringue

This cake was a slight adaptation of one that I previously made. My sister requested a lemon and vanilla cake like the one I’ve made previously for her daughter’s birthday. I decided to use the same recipe but adapted it slightly.

From what I recall, the first one I made had thick layers of cake. I wanted to fill the layers in between with some more curd, so I made a lemon layer and a lime layer. You can’t really tell, but they are two different flavors. I also took into consideration my family’s tastes since they don’t like sweets. I decided to make a Swiss meringue buttercream to use up the extra egg whites from the extra layer of curd. It was a perfect complement to the cake!

Although the curds tasted different when I was making them, they sort of meshed together in the end and tasted the same. None-the-less, the cake was a nice an refreshing spring cake.

Vanilla Bean Cake with Lemon and Lime Curd Filling and Swiss Meringue Frosting
cake and frosting adapted from: Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes
curd fillings from: Williams Sonoma

ingredients:

cake:	lemon curd:	frosting
3 1/4 cups sifted cake flour	5 egg yolks	5 egg whites
1 1/2 TBSP baking powder	1/2 cup sugar	1 cup plus 2 TBSP granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. salt	1/4 cup fresh lemon juice	pinch of salt
1 TBSP vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean	Grated zest of 2 lemons	1 pound butter (4 sticks)
1 cup plus 2 TBSP milk	6 TBSP (3/4 stick) unsalted butter	1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 3/4 cups sugar	lime curd:
5 large egg whites at room temp	repeat above, replacing lemon w/lime (about 3 limes)

directions:
prepare curds:
In a heavy saucepan before turning on the heat, combine the egg yolks and sugar and whisk vigorously for 1 minute.

Add the lemon juice and zest and whisk for 1 minute more. Set the pan over low heat and cook gently, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool, stirring occasionally. Cover tightly and refrigerate before using. Makes about 1 cup.

repeat with lime curd

*make sure the remaining 5 egg whites are in separate bowls. 5 will be for the cake, 5 for the frosting.

bake the cake:
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and flour or spray two 9-inch round cake pans. Set aside.

Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, stir vanilla seeds into milk.

Cream butter in your mixer with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed. Gradually add sugar, beating until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture to batter, alternating with the milk, and betting until just combined after each addition.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter to lighten. Gently fold in remaining whites in 2 batches.

Divide batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out cleanly when inserted in the center. Allow to cool completely on wire racks before frosting.

make the frosting:
Place egg whites, sugar, and salt in the heatproof bowl of your stand mixer. Place over over a small pot of simmering water. Whisk vigorously until the mixture is warm to the touch and no longer grainy. (test this by rubbing it with your fingertips.)

Transfer the bowl to the mixer. Using the whisk attachment, starting at low speed, and gradually increasing to medium-high. Whisk until stiff peaks form and continue to whisk until fluffy and glossy, about 10 minutes. At the end, the bottom of the bowl should be cool.

Reduce the speed to low. Cut the butter into tablespoon sizes, and gradually into the bowl. After adding all the butter, whisk in the vanilla.

Switch over to the paddle attachment, and continue to beat on low to get rid of all the air bubbles. Scrape the bowl, then continue to beat until completely smooth.

assemble the cake:
Cut each cake in half. You should have 4 layers now.

Place one layer on a cake board. Place some frosting in a piping bag or freezer bag. Pipe a line of frosting along the edge of the cake layer.

Pour lemon curd in the center and spread into an even layer. Place other cake layer on top. Spread a layer of frosting. Add the third cake layer, then top with the lime curd. Add the final cake layer, frost cake with remaining frosting and decorate as desired.

Store in fridge until serving.

Tofu Parmigiana

Lately, I’ve noticed that we’ve been eating a lot less meat for several reasons. One being that good meat is really expensive. We’ve been a bit picky lately. Another is that, for us, eating less meat is better overall. Since we usually have chicken, it gets kind of boring.

I’ve wanted to try to work more with tofu. Gary has tried, but some recipes didn’t turn out that well. I first showed this recipe to Gary, thinking he would turn this down, but I was so surprised that he was willing to try it (he’s said no to lots of recipes I’ve thrown out there). I couldn’t wait to try this out since I’m sure he’s missed his Italian food since going dairy free.

This recipe turned out fantastic, and you definitely won’t miss the meat! I adapted it slightly since I didn’t use dairy, my substitutions are noted below. I’ve been using Daiya for a little while now, and I think it worked very well in this recipe.

Tofu Parmigiana
adapted from: Prevention RD

 printable recipe

ingredients:
1 (14 ounce) package extra firm tofu
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs (I used panko seasoned with 1 tsp each of basil and oregano)
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided (I used nutritional yeast)
2 teaspoons dried oregano, divided
salt and pepper, to taste
1 egg, beaten
2 TBSP olive oil
16 oz marinara sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 ounces  shredded mozzarella cheese (I used Daiya mozzarella shreds)

directions:
Preheat oven to 400° F.

Slice tofu into 1/4 inch thick slices (I was able to get 10 slices), and place on paper towels in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Place another paper towel over the tofu, and place another cookie sheet on top and add weights on top to press the  water out of the tofu for 20 minutes (I used full juice bottles).

In a small bowl, combine bread or seasoned panko crumbs, 2 tablespoons parmesan or nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon oregano, salt, and black pepper.

Coat tofu in beaten egg and one at a time, press tofu slices into crumb mixture, turning to coat all sides.

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook tofu slices until crisp on one side, turn, and brown on the other side.

Combine tomato sauce, basil, minced garlic, and remaining oregano. Place a thin layer of sauce in an 8 inch square baking pan. Arrange tofu slices in the pan, slightly overlapping 5 in each row. Spoon remaining sauce over tofu. Top with shredded mozzarella and remaining TBSP of parmesan or nutritional yeast.

Bake at 400° F for 20 minutes. Serve over your favorite pasta.

Serves 4-5 (Based on our appetites. I ate a quarter of it and I was full. I’m also a light eater. Gary ate about 1/3 of it)

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Did you know today is Oatmeal Cookie Day? Well, now you do! It’s actually Lacy Oatmeal Cookie day. Oatmeal cookie day is actually 4/30, but the two always get interchanged. I still made oatmeal cookies none the less.

Gary has always had a soft spot for oatmeal raisin cookies. It may as well be both our favorite cookies (although I like most cookies). I was looking at the food section on Yahoo and saw this post come up. I thought it would be a great healthier cookie, and it just so happened that today would be oatmeal cookie day.

I saw that this recipe had milk in it, so I would probably sub the milk for soy. I would also use ghee for the butter, since Gary didn't have a reaction to it like he does milk and butter. Then I had the idea to use the coconut oil and coconut milk I had on hand in my pantry already. I suggested this to Gary, and he thought it sounded good as well. My other sub was making this with these huge plump raisins we had, since raisins ARE his favorite! My cookies didn’t quite spread like the original recipe, probably because my raisins were huge and didn’t allow it to spread too much.

It smelled absolute divine while baking, and Gary couldn’t wait to try one. Gary ate one and loved it, then proceeded to grab another one. He thought it had a nice coconut essence to it.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
adapted from: A Bicycle Built for Two

 printable recipe

ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup solid coconut  oil
1 large egg at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon coconut milk
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup raisins

directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a bowl, mix the whole-wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix the brown sugar and granulated sugar together. Next, cream the sugar with the coconut oil until light and fluffy. Add in the egg, vanilla and milk and mix until smooth.

Mix the dry mixture into the wet until blended well. Once smooth, stir in the oats and the raisins.

Grease a cookie sheet. Using a tablespoon size cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto the sheet and place 2 inches apart.

Bake in preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies (I got 26).