TRUCK STOP Giveaway and Mini Blueberry Muffins

Truck Stop was released just five days ago last Thursday and author, Anne Rockwell, and I have been enjoying doing guest posts and interviews on our blog tour.  So far, here are our stops:

Just A Little Creativity

Kid Focused

A Mom’s Take

The Children’s Book Review

Five Minutes for Books

Susan Heim on Parenting

Kid Lit Frenzy

As They Grow Up

I’m also doing a giveaway of a personalized signed copy of Truck Stop on The Hungry Artist.

On Saturday I did my first signing of Truck Stop at the Greenlight Bookstore in Ft. Greene, Brooklyn.  I took part in Artist Battles with Sophie Blackall, Melissa Guion and Sergio Ruzzier.  There was a list of topics, and the kids would choose one for us to draw.  Then they would clap for their favorites at the end.  Whoever “won” would go on to the next round with a new competitor.

Me and Melissa Guion drawing the word “balloons”.

It was all quite stressful and I was sweating profusely, but everyone was so nice.   It was more of a celebration of different drawing styles.

Melissa Guion and Sophie Blackall drawing the word, “battle”

Me drawing a “moose” eating chocolate “mousse”. I didn’t realize I was being watched so closely!

At the signing table afterwards.  Do I looked relieved?  I am!

I also handed out activity sheets from Truck Stop.  Click here to download some for yourself.

This week’s recipe inspiration comes from Flatbed’s Driver’s breakfast:

A Blueberry Muffin!

I love muffins, but I love mini ones even more.  :)

Mini Blueberry Muffins with Cinnamon Sugar Topping

Ingredients:

1 cup flour, plus 1 tablespoon for dusting

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of kosher salt

½ cup butter (1 stick) softened at room temperature

½ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ cup milk

1 ¼ cups fresh blueberries

Topping

1 tablespoon demarra sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick spray and line with mini cupcake liners
3. Whisk 1 cup flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  Set aside
4. Cream butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.  Add sugar and beat until pale and creamy.
5. Add egg and vanilla.  Beat to combine
6. With lowest setting running, add ½ of the flour, then ½ of the milk.  Mix to combine.  Repeat.
7. Toss blueberries with 1 tablespoon flour to coat in a small bowl.  Add to muffin batter and stir gently with a spoon.
8. Heap tablespoons of batter into cupcake liners.
9. Mix topping ingredients together in a small bowl and sprinkle about ½ teaspoon on muffin tops.
10. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a tester inserting in center comes out clean
11. Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.
12. Remove muffins from pan to rack and cool a bit.

Yield: 24 small muffins.

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GIVEAWAY! (Sorry I tried generating one on Punchtab, but having problems with wordpress so I have to do this manually!)
I will be giving away a signed copy of Truck Stop.  The winner can have it personalized to whomever and I will also draw a picture of their choice.  The giveaway closes May 27 at 11 pm.  Then I will pick a winner and announce it in the next post!

To enter, just leave a comment — what is YOUR favorite breakfast item?

For more chances, Like Me on Facebook and tell me you did.

Follow me on Twitter and tell me you did.

Like Anne on Facebook and tell me you did.

Tweet about this giveaway and tell me you did.

TRUCK STOP Book Release and Baked Buttermilk Donuts

I’m thrilled to announce the release of TRUCK STOP, written by Anne Rockwell and illustrated by moi!!  The official Viking pub date is this Thursday, but we are kicking off our blog tour today.  TRUCK STOP is a fun picture book for young kids that celebrates all the different trucks and their drivers who gather for breakfast every day at the young narrator’s family’s truck stop diner.

When I first was offered the manuscript in 2011, I was so excited to see it was written by Anne.  I’ve been a big fan for a long time.  She`s written over 100 children’s books for all ages, on topics ranging from boats, history, mythology, to the first day of school, bugs, to the seasons.  Go check out her collection of books here!  Needless to say, I didn’t need much time to think it over and said “yes” to my editor immediately.

Most people don’t realize it, but usually the author and illustrator don’t meet or collaborate at all on the book.  Exceptions are made, of course, if they are married, related, or perhaps have worked together in the past.  So it was such a pleasure last week when I finally had the opportunity to meet Anne in person.  We had been corresponding via Facebook  for the past year after I turned the artwork in (yes, it takes a year for a book to be printed!)

Last year, during our trip to California I did research and took a lot of a reference photos at a truck stop near my hometown.

Truck Stop in Santa Maria

A large portion of the story takes place in the truck stop diner. I took a lot of photos inside.

I love that TRUCK STOP has the food component–yummy breakfasts bringing people together.   Here is the narrator (the son of the owners) helping to make breakfast and opening the truck stop diner:

One of their first guests is Maisie and her Milk Truck.  Maisie orders donuts and coffee for breakfast:

Note plates of collaged donuts:

I cut each coconut shred and sprinkle by hand!

Inspired by Maisie,  I decided to make Baked Buttermilk Donuts to celebrate the TRUCK STOP release.

Plate o’ real donuts.

Anne and I will be doing book events in the area.  If you are nearby, please stop by and get a signed copy!  We will both be at Book Court in Brooklyn at 11 am on June 1.  I will be alone at Greenlight Bookstore participating in some “Artists Battles” (I’m a little nervous since I’ll be “competing” against Sophie Blackall and Sergio Ruzzier and Melissa Guion….!) this coming weekend, May 18 at 11 am.  Come cheer me on!

In the next two weeks, Anne and I will also be doing a blog tour.  Our book will be reviewed and given away on several blogger’s sites.  I will be tweeting about it and will also be hosting a give away of a signed book here on The Hungry Artist, so stay tuned.

Here are some giveaways already going on if you want to try and win a copy!

Just A Little Creativity

Kid Focused

A Mom’s Take

The Children’s Book Review

Five Minutes for Books

Susan Heim on Parenting

Kid Lit Frenzy

For some fun free downloadable games, puzzles, and coloring sheets based on TRUCK STOP, please visit the Activity Sheets section of my website here!

Baked Buttermilk Donuts (inspired by TRUCK STOP) 

This recipe is based on this one at Heather’s French Press.  I omitted the nutmeg and used different toppings in place of the cinnamon sugar.  Also I would advise rolling dough out to 1/2″ (instead of 1/4″ as directed) and cutting out donuts with a 3″ cookie cutter or glass and holes with a 1″ cutter.  I love that these are baked instead fried!

Also, I love that you also get donut holes!

Aren’t these cute? They look like mini profiteroles.

Toppings:

White Glaze- just pour about 1/3 – 1/2 cup powdered sugar in a bowl.  Add a little bit of milk at a time and stir.  Keep adding 1/4 teaspoon or so at a time until consistency is opaque but thin enough to pour over donuts.  Decorate with sprinkles, chopped nuts, or shredded coconut.

Chocolate Glaze – Melt chocolate chips (I used about 1/4 for two donuts) in a microwave safe bowl at 20 second intervals.  Watch closely.  Stir until smooth, the coat donuts.

For filled donut:  I used the dough scraps and made a solid donut.  I filled it with raspberry jam and dusted with powdered sugar.

Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter Protein Bars

I did a fasting blood sugar test the other day.  I knew I was going to be out and about until lunch.  I knew I didn’t want to grabbing something along the way after the test, so I made these protein bars before I left the house.

You can pretty much put whatever you want in them, but this is what I used:  Chocolate Protein Powder (I used Double Chocolate Designer’s Whey because my husband uses it every day), peanut butter, oats, and almond milk.

I mixed the ingredients together in a bowl.

Then I divided the mixture into four parts and shaped each one into a log and coated it with coconut so it wouldn’t be too sticky.

Then I wrapped them up in saran and threw them in the freezer until I was ready to leave.

I ate two after my test, and they held me over until lunch several hours later.

They would be good with nuts or seeds or dried fruit added.  You’d just need to adjust the almond milk (or other liquid) to get the right consistency.  I think these taste WAY better than store bought protein bars, which I think taste either too sweet, artificial, or chalky.  Try it next time you need something on the go!

These are the general values (general because I didn’t weigh the coconut before and after coating — you will have a pile of leftover coconut):

For one bar-

Calories:  106  Fat: 7.4 g  Protein:  14 g   Carbs:  4.4 g  Fiber:  1 g  Sugars:  1 g

With a penny to give you an idea of the size

Coconut Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars

1 scoop protein powder (I use Double Chocolate Designer’s Whey) (32g)

2 tablespoons peanut butter (64 g)

1 tablespoon rolled oats

1 tablespoon almond milk or other liquid

¼ cup dried unsweetened coconut (you will have leftover)

1. Mix protein powder, peanut butter, rolled oats together.  Add almond milk and stir until mixture is a thick paste.
2. Spread dried coconut on a plate and dump mixture on top.  Divide into 4 pieces (if you want mini bars) 2 pieces (if you want 2 small bars) or shape into one large log (if you want a large bar).
3. As you shape log, roll in dried coconut (it will help to keep the chocolate from sticking to your fingers) and shape into flat rectangles.  Wrap each piece in saran.
4. Store bars in freezer or refrigerator depending on whether you want them on the crunchy or chewy side.  Note, they will still be somewhat chewy after 24 hours in the freezer, especially if they are larger.  After that though, they get crunchy.  I like to store mine in the freezer so that when I pack them for on the go, they thaw a bit and are ready to eat when I am!

Pumpkin Granola Bars Two Ways: Chewy and Crunchy

Fall is already well underway!  I can’t believe how fast Halloween is approaching.  We’ve been promoting our book, Hush Little Monster,  and doing book signings and readings.  It will continue into November.  For a list of appearances, click here.   We would love to see you if you are in the area during those times!
I was also featured on Kathy Temean’s Illustrator Saturday post over the weekend about my work and process.  Check it out here.
The coming of fall also brings…. pumpkin puree in the stores!

I thought it would be fun to develop a pumpkin recipe, and I was inspired to try making pumpkin granola bars.  I love Kashi’s because they are really crunchy and not too sweet.

I hadn’t known how hard it would be to come up with something that I would be satisfied with! The last couple of weeks have been devoted to this enterprise.  There have been “fails” along the way, but even these have tasted pretty good.  The problem has been getting it to be crunch-worthy and stick together!

Crunchy

I  initially based my ingredients on a peanut butter chewy granola bar that I will share soon in a future post.  I exchanged the peanut butter for pumpkin and applesauce, decreased the sugar, and used pepitas (roasted pumpkin seeds) instead of almonds. Unfortunately, this version of granola bar had rice cereal in it and became soggy immediately when it came in contact with the moisture of the pumpkin and applesauce!  I could hear the “Snap! Crackle! Pop!” as I was putting the pan in the oven…  FAIL!  It tasted good, but the texture was like mochi.

In the second round of my quest for crunch, I omitted the rice cereal, upped the oats, and added egg white  thinking this would help the crispiness as in Anna’s Chunky Granola.   The result was a really good, tasty chewy version of pumpkin granola bars.  They are very much like an oatmeal bar cookie.  Jamie loves these and prefers them to the crunchy version.

Chewy with chocolate chips and dried cranberries!

Unsatisfied, I pushed onto a third round.  This time, I omitted the egg white, chocolate chips, and dried cranberries, thinking less chunky ingredients would help make them stay together better when cutting.  I also baked the mixture on a baking sheet in a thinner layer than the one in the baking pan.

The result was a crunchy, tasty granola bar! Finally!  There was some breakage — they are fragile– but the resulting granola is as delicious.  I mixed it with the dried cranberries and chips that I had omitted.  This granola is addicting.

I could eat this all day long.

As a side note, this granola — and their bar counterparts (I break them up) are heavenly with ice cream! Also, Jamie has come up with a novel recipe on his own which he says he will post on his blog, involving the chewy granola bars and cookie butter.   Trust me, it is wonderful.
I could go on experimenting — adding flax seeds, wheat germ, etc., but if I did, I’d end up eating batches more of granola and granola bars, and I wouldn’t be able to fit in my jeans, so I’ll stop for now!

Crunchy?

So there you have it.  Two pumpkin granola bars with similar flavors but different textures.  Which do you prefer?  Crunchy? Or chewy?

Chewy?

Chewy Pumpkin Granola Bars

2 cups oats

¼ cup pumpkin seeds (I used roasted, salted pepitas – they are smaller and have been removed from the shell)

¼ cup pumpkin puree

¼ cup applesauce

¼ cup honey

1 tablespoon oil (see note below)

1 egg white

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon pumpkin spice

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons dried cranberries

¼ cup chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line an 8-inch by 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.  Set aside.

2.  In a large bowl, toss oats and pepitas together.  Set aside.

3.  In a smaller bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, applesauce, oil, egg white, honey, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and brown sugar together.  Pour over dry ingredients and stir until everything is coated evenly. Add dried cranberries and chocolate chips and stir to combine.

4.  Pour mixture into prepared pan.  Really press down and pack it in as tightly as you can in an even layer.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes, watching closely at the end.  Let pan cool on rack for about 5 minutes.  Run knife around edge, invert pan onto cutting board.  Cut sheet of granola in half, then into fifths, so you have ten bars.  Carefully transfer bars to rack and let cool completely.

Crunchy Pumpkin Granola Bars

2 cups oats

¼ cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas – see above)

¼ cup pumpkin puree

¼ cup applesauce

¼ cup honey

1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon pumpkin spice

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside.

2.  In a large bowl, toss oats and pepitas together.  Set aside.

3.  In a smaller bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, applesauce, oil, honey, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and brown sugar together.  Pour over dry ingredients and stir until everything is coated evenly.

4.  Pour mixture onto prepared sheet.  Shape into a square shape, and press down and pack it together as tightly as possible in an even layer about 3/8-inch thick. Bake for about 20 minutes.  Remove pan from oven and cut square in half and then into fifths, so you have ten bars.  They are very fragile, so be careful!  Of course any broken pieces can turn into tasty granola though….

5.  Return baking sheet to oven and cook for another 5-8 minutes, watching closely at the end of baking.  Let pan cool on rack for about 5 minutes.  Carefully transfer bars to rack and let cool completely.   They will harden up as they cool.

These can be stored in an airtight container.  If they lose their crispness, after a day or two, just toast in a toaster oven for a minute or two and then let cool completely.  They will be crunchy again!

Note:  I broke my resolve and made another batch today for a play date!  I accidentally forgot the oil (duh!), but they came out OK, and were still crunchy.  So oil is optional.

Healthy Desserts for Kids

Chocolate, banana, spinach smoothie!

Awhile ago, during the summer (those days seem far away!), I had the opportunity to join Katherine Lee of about.com in her kitchen for a fun afternoon of cooking and filming!

Katherine has a wonderful parenting blog on about.com, and she invited me to contribute some healthy dessert ideas for kids.  We made everything in her kitchen and the lovely Meredith filmed us.  It was a blast and such a different experience from what I am usually doing during the day in my studio!  She treated us to a fabulous sushi lunch, and we munched on the desserts we made throughout the day. 

My favorite Double Chocolate Zucchini, Banana Bread with Secret Ingredient is one of the recipes featured.

Can you guess what the secret ingredient is?

Check out the video on how to make it here.

Other super easy, practically-not-cooking recipes are:

Peanut Butter Truffles!  Remember this post?

Video is here.

Frozen Yogurt Grapes:

I never did a post about it, but the recipe is in the video.

Banana Soft Serve (minus the Magic Shell!):

All natural goodness — just bananas and a splash of milk!

Chocolate version seen here in the video.

And last, but not least:  Chocolate, Banana, Spinach Smoothie  

This the one video I never want Jamie to see, because he drinks this all the time!  It is a great after school snack.  The spinach has absolutely no flavor in the smoothie, and he has no idea I sneak it in. I sometimes use frozen spinach which adds to the creaminess of the smoothie along with the frozen banana!

Video and recipe are here.

Hope you enjoy these recipes — they are all really easy to make and are pretty healthy considering they are desserts!

Asian Chicken Salad with Peanut Sauce and Soba Noodles

Last week, we’ve so enjoyed having my mom visit us from California.  She came to celebrate her 82nd birthday.

Denis did not photoshop this photo. His comment: What 82 year old woman has that jaw line!??

Other than when we took her to visit Denis’ lovely parents in Shelter Island, she’s been in our garden weeding, picking up leaves, pruning plants–basically working her green thumb magic on it (which I sadly did not inherit)!

I wish I had “before” pictures to contrast this with! There were less flowers all around, and the rocks and back were covered in leaves and weeds!

We call her the Energizer Bunny.

Instead of eating out, she preferred me to cook “things from [my] blog” for her, so all week, I prepared various dishes for her and revisiting some old recipes.

Lots of smoothies:

High Fiber Smoothie

A ton of sushi, of course (click on each image for recipe):

Inside out rolls

Regular “maki” rolls

Inarizushi “Foxy Pocket Sushi”

With Miso Soup:

For her 82nd birthday which was the same day as Father’s Day, I made Reese’s Pieces and M & M waffles for brunch using our trusty Cadbury Egg Waffle recipe:

I bought a small bag each of Reese’s Pieces and plain M & Ms and scattered them on the batter before cooking in waffle iron.

And Crispy Fish Tempura Bites for dinner:

with Miso Green Beans:

And Rich Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache Frosting for dessert:

I used a double amount of  Chocolate Ganache Frosting in place of this frosting

Other meals were quick Chicken Quesadillas using cooked rotisserie chicken (after a long day of shopping–not much time to cook!):

I filled ours with cooked chicken, cheese, onions, and salsa

and Creamy High Protein Avocado Dip:

I discovered I don’t have to spend a lot of time searching for favorite recipes anymore — I can just do a search on my blog!

For her last night here, I decided to make something special and created my version of a chicken salad with peanut sauce, because she had mentioned she had had a great one awhile back during her many travels.  It is a quick and easy when you have leftover cooked chicken! We used more of the rotisserie chicken.  I also used my favorite peanut sauce recipe using roasted peanut flour (if you can’t find this, just peanut butter is fine–use this recipe instead minus sesame seeds) and coated cooked soba noodles and chicken with it (angel hair or vermicelli would work too).  Then I made a salad with shredded Napa cabbage, romaine lettuce, shredded carrot, julienned daikon radish, cilantro, green onions, and snow peas.  I topped the salad with the peanut sauce coated noodles and cooked chicken and garnished with more chopped cilantro and chopped roasted peanuts.

It was really good!  We had leftover sauce which I diluted with a bit of rice vinegar and used as a salad dressing over the course of the week –sans mom. 
We miss you obaachan! (Japanese for “grandma”)  Thank you for all your hard work here!!

Asian Chicken Salad with Soba Noodles and Peanut Sauce

Peanut Sauce:

¼ cup peanut butter (or 1 tablespoon peanut butter plus ½ cup peanut flour and 2 tablespoons water)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon ginger, minced

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Salad Greens:

4 cups shredded Napa cabbage

2 cups shredded Romaine lettuce

1 cup sliced cucumber

1 cup julienned carrot

1 cup julienned daikon or other radish

1 cup blanched snow peas

2 scallions, sliced

¼ cup chopped cilantro, divided

Vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

4 oz. soba noodles

2-3 cups cooked chicken, shredded

¼ cup peanuts, chopped

1. Make peanut sauce.  Process all ingredients (peanut butter to sesame oil) in a food processor until smooth.  Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
2. Prepare vegetables.  Mix salad greens together in a large bowl, reserving about 2 tablespoons of the chopped cilantro for garnish.  Set aside.
3. Make vinaigrette.  Whisk soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil together in a small bowl.  Toss salad greens with vinaigrette to taste.
4. Cook soba noodles according to package directions.  Drain.
5. Assemble salad.  Toss cooked soba noodles with shredded chicken and prepared peanut sauce (use as much sauce as you want depending on how dry or wet you prefer the noodles—you will probably have some leftover!).  Divide salad greens into four bowls.  Top with noodles and chicken.  Garnish with reserved cilantro and chopped peanuts.

High Fiber Smoothies: From Dumbledore’s “Drink of Despair” to Strawberry Bliss

Strawberry Banana High Fiber Smoothie

These days with the end of school looming and book events (not to mention book deadlines!), I haven’t been cooking anything terribly new or exciting.  I haven’t been baking either.

For my birthday, this past Sunday, I told my husband I wanted to bake my own cake, but I ended up pressed for time and resorted to a box mix! (Hangs head in shame.)

This mix is actually quite good in a pinch. You can make single servings too — 2 tablespoons mix to 1 tablespoons plain yogurt — that’s it!

I don’t have a picture of the final, as it wasn’t particularly drool worthy, but it held the candles fine!

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Quickie breakfasts have been smoothies.  There are so many great smoothie recipes out there, ranging from decadent and dessert-like to healthy green monsters made with kale.  Mine fall somewhere in the middle.

One ingredient I haven’t seen on other blogs which I use regularly in my smoothies is pysillium husk.  That’s right, people, the stuff in Metamuscil.

I buy it in raw, tasteless form at the healthy food store.

I originally tried it when I was pregnant and needed extra fiber.  I didn’t want the added sugar (I was a borderline gestational diabetic) or artificial sweeteners found in Metamuscil– it also has more fiber than Metamuscil (6.7 g unsoluble fiber to 3 g).

The downside is that it doesn’t dissolve as well in water.  And you have to drink a lot of water with it and FAST (or it turns into a gel before your gaping eyes).  The result is a nasty consistency of quicksand.

I used to gag it down as fast as humanly possible.  It was redubbed “my horcrux”, referring to the Drink of Despair in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

After giving birth, the psyllium husk stayed hidden away in the recesses of our cupboards for years.  It made a brief appearance when I tried to pass it onto a friend who was also pregnant with gestational diabetes.  She gave it back to me, saying it was impossible for her to ever drink it after trying once.

Cut to the present.  Ever since I received my beloved blender, I’ve been having smoothies almost every day.  Jamie loves them too, and we often make them for a play date snack.  I let them choose the ingredients. It’s fun to experiment.

I like really thick, creamy ones, and I’ve seen some versions made with a lot of ice and xanthan gum and guar gum to get this effect.  I couldn’t find the guar gum, and I didn’t like the xanthan gum alone, so I decided to try it with my old psyllium husk since it was still hanging out in the pantry.  I was pleasantly surprised by the results!  It thickens the smoothie beautifully.  It’s not “gummy” like the xanthun gum alone.  A side benefit is that it has all the extra fiber too.  So now, it’s become a regular ingredient in my morning smoothies.  I cannot believe it is the same evil “potion” I used to have to force myself to drink!

For my smoothies, I use:

about 3/4 cup liquid (milk, almond milk, water, juice, coconut milk, coconut water, etc.)

about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup frozen fruit (banana, mango, strawberry, blueberry, pineapple, grapes) or raw fruit (apple, orange, raspberries, etc.) or vegetable (baby spinach -haven’t tried kale yet!)

2-3 ice cubes, depending on how much frozen fruit I use

1 tablespoon raw psyllium husk powder

Other occasional extras are: cocoa powder, protein powder, roasted peanut flour, chia seeds, flax seeds, (though not a HUGE fan of using seeds, because bits still get stuck in my teeth even after blending), peanut butter, yogurt, Torani flavored syrups

I’ve also seen smoothies made with nuts (cashews soaked in milk, other nut butters), silken tofu, and avocado but I haven’t tried them yet!

My favorite breakfast smoothies these days are:

• strawberry banana (with vanilla protein powder and stevia)
• peanut butter chocolate (with peanut butter, peanut flour, cocoa powder, chocolate protein powder, and stevia)
• coconut pineapple (coconut milk, frozen pineapple chunks, dried coconut, vanilla protein powder)
• creamsicle (orange juice, milk, Torani French Vanilla syrup, vanilla protein powder)

All are made with some ice and psyllium powder!

To make, put in the liquid first, then the powder(s), nuts and/or nut butters, and seeds, if using, then the fruit, and ice.  Blend until smooth and creamy.

Have fun experimenting!

This is Strawberry Banana with vanilla protein powder, Lactaid, water, ice, psyllium powder, and a pinch of stevia — Sooo creamy and delicious!

Semi-sweet and White Chocolate Studded Speculoos (Cookie Butter)Pancakes

Oozing is allowed.

I usually don’t have dessert for breakfast, but this coming Mother’s Day, I am requesting this.  And I’m not getting it at a restaurant!

My husband is the waffle and pancake master in our home.  He makes  Cadbury Egg waffles (when in season) and Snuggle Mountain pancakes all the time, as well as black and white pancakes when he is feeling ambitious.

Half regular pancake with chocolate chips, half chocolate pancake with white chocolate chips

So when I finally got my hands on a jar of Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter a.k.a Speculoos, I knew I wanted him to create something using this decadent spread.

Made out of Speculoos, a Danish cookie.

He experimented a few weekends ago, making his usual delicious light and fluffy pancakes studded with chocolate chips and white chocolate chips, and I asked him to try spreading some cookie butter in between layers.  Voila!  A mouth watering, swoon inspiring breakfast dish for special occasions was born!

Couldn’t resist another close up of the Speculoos oozing out!
With a little maple syrup on top, these pancakes are to die for!

Hope all the Moms out there have a wonderful, pampered day on Sunday!

I made this card, inspired by my mom’s love for pandas.

Semi-sweet and White Chocolate Studded Speculoos Pancakes

Note:   If you can’t get to a Trader Joe’s (or they discontinue this amazing product which they tend to do when I fall in love with something), I’m sure peanut butter, almond butter, or any nut butter would make a wonderful substitution!

4 eggs, separated

1 cup of milk

1 cup of flour (a mixture of whole wheat and all purpose is nice)

1 tablespoon sugar

pinch of kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

butter or oil for frying

chocolate chips (about 7 per pancake)

white chocolate chips (about 7 per pancake)

Speculoos or other nut butter spread

Maple syrup

1.  Heat griddle or skillet.  A cast iron skillet produces a nice crust.

2.  Separate eggs and whip whites until stiff but not dry.

3.  Whisk egg yolks with milk and vanilla in a bowl.

4.  Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Pour egg yolk mixture into dry mixture and combine.

5.  Fold in egg whites gently.

6.  Heat some oil and butter in pan.  Pour pancake batter in pan to whatever size you desire.  My husband usually makes small to medium sized ones.  Stud each pancake with chocolate chips and white chocolate chips.  Cook on low heat until lightly browned on bottom, about 2 minutes.  Flip and cook other side.  You can keep these warm in a 200 degree oven.

7.  To assemble, spread each pancake with Speculoos and stack.  Pour maple syrup over and serve.

Man v. Food Inspired Baby Moose Omelet

Copyright: Travel Channel

Have you ever seen something so over the top, disgusting, and groan inducing you are just riveted to the spot by the sheer ostentatious display of vulgarity?

I’m not talking about the media’s coverage of the Kardashians either.  THAT I can walk away from or turn the channel.  I’m talking about the Travel Channel’s show, Man v. Food, hosted by Adam Richman.  We have witnessed him eating Habanero fritters with Habanero salsa made from ten pounds of Habanero chilis in twenty five minutes (he won).  We also saw the episode where he attempted to drink 15 (yes, FIFTEEN) large, thick, rich milkshakes in one sitting (he lost that challenge, and it wasn’t pretty!)

A spin off of Man v. Food is Man v. Food Nation.  The basic premise is that now Adam Richman is finding local people to attempt food challenges in their neighborhoods.  A recent episode, shot in Oahu, featured a tiny mom who looks to be my height (under five feet) except she must weigh 90 pounds and have 10-12% body fat.  Her challenge was to eat a ginormous Moose Omelet within an hour at Moose McGillycuddy’s Pub and Cafe.

The behemoth omelet is made of one dozen eggs (!), four different kinds of meats, four different kinds of cheeses, plus a boatload of sauteed vegetables over a layer of home fries.  It weighs 5 pounds.  In a country with skyrocketing obesity rates and all the diseases that accompanying it, and in a world where people are still facing starvation and malnutrition, it is pretty sick to see one person attempt to eat something that could easily feed at least ten people.

She ate about three quarters of it and had to call it a day, so her name wasn’t placed on their “Wall of Fame”.

I can’t say if it’s the sheer abundance of food (mostly fattening) or the anthropormorphizing of said food (it must be conquered by man) that I find so wrong.  Regardless, I can’t help watching it when it’s on.  I guess a redeeming factor amid all the grossness is that the restaurants featured are family owned and they actually seem to have delicious and interesting food, so if we are ever in the region in the future, we might search some of them out.

And days later, I was still thinking about the Moose Omelet–which really should have been called a “Monster Omelet”.  I decided to create a mini version for a brunch for four people.  I used four eggs instead of twelve, and scaled everything else back in turn.  The result was a really delicious omelet full of wonderful flavors and textures.  We all loved it and decided it was a “success”.  There is some prep work involved but it’s worth it.  And it is perfect to serve for a brunch because everything can be cooked ahead of time except the eggs.  Then when it’s time to eat, you can cook the eggs and broil the omelet and it’s ready within five minutes!

All the ingredients minus oil, butter, and seasonings

The next time we’re in Oahu visiting my family, we might just have to go to Moose McGillycuddy’s to try the original Moose Omelet (to share and bring home!), but until then, we’re happy to eat my “baby moose” sized version.

Mini version

Baby Moose Omelet

1 medium potato, washed but unpeeled

3 slices of bacon cut in half

1 medium shallot, chopped (about 2 tablespoons or so)

Dash of dried thyme, kosher salt, and pepper

¾ cup cubed zucchini (about ½ of a medium sized zucchini or a very small zucchini)

2 Italian sweet sausages, casings removed, chopped up

1 teaspoon olive oil

½ medium onion, chopped

1 plum tomato, cored and seeded and chopped

4 eggs and two egg whites (or use 5 eggs instead)

1 teaspoon butter

2 tablespoons grated parmesan reggiano

¼ cup grated mozzarella

¼ cup lite shredded cheese mix

(note:  Or you can just use about 3/4 cup of whatever cheese you have in your refrigerator instead of these cheeses)

1. The night before making omelet, pierce whole potato with fork a few times and microwave for about 4 minutes.  Let cool a bit and refrigerate overnight.  The next morning, before making omelet, cut potato into bite-sized cubes, leaving skin on.  Set aside.
2. In an ovenproof skillet, lightly cook bacon until lightly browned.  Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain, cool, and crisp up.
3. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon bacon fat from skillet.  Add chopped shallot to skillet and sauté for about 1 minute over medium heat.  Add cubed potatoes to pan.  Season with thyme, salt and pepper to taste. Stir to incorporate, then leave it for about 5 minutes without stirring – this gives the potato a nice crust.  While potato is cooking, microwave zucchini for about 2 minutes.
4. Stir potatoes again and cook until done, remove to a bowl and set aside.
5. Add 1 teaspoon oil to same skillet and add onions.  Saute for about one minute, then add sausage.  Continue to break up sausage as it browns with a wooden spoon.  When half cooked, add zucchini and continue to brown sausage.  Add chopped tomato to pan and continue to sauté until everything is cooked and vegetables are softened.  Remove to a bowl. Crumble bacon on top and set aside.
6. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and egg whites (if using) together until fluffy.
7. Preheat broiler and heat a clean non-stick skillet on stove.  Melt butter, swirl to coat, and then add egg mixture.  Push sides in as eggs cook, letting uncooked eggs fill in the spaces.  Cook until bottom is set, but top looks slightly wet and underdone.  Turn off heat.
   

   Still wet on top

8. Assemble Baby Moose Omelet. Reheat original ovenproof skillet used to cook potatoes and sausage mixture.  Return potatoes to skillet.  Spread out into one layer.  Cover this layer with sausage and vegetable mixture.  Let warm up a bit on stove, but don’t stir.  Then slide cooked eggs on top of this layer with the uncooked side up.  Cover with cheeses and broil in oven.  Check after 2 minutes.  Omelet is done when cheese is melted and starting to brown.
9. Cut into slices and serve out of skillet like a pie.

Makes about 4 generous servings.

Snuggle Mountain Pancakes

Who doesn’t love pancakes for a weekend breakfast??

My husband  makes the best ones.  You may have seen his Cadbury Egg waffles.   His pancake recipe is featured in a book app I’m very excited to share with you all.

Snuggle Mountain, written by Lindsey Lane, is a wonderful story about Emma, who climbs Snuggle Mountain all by herself to wake up the Sleeping Two Headed Giant which has forgotten all about making pancakes for breakfast.

Features of the app include:

• audio narration beautifully read by a child actor (which can be turned on and off)
• words which can be highlighted as read to encourage reading
• fun sound effects and animations throughout the story
• the aforementioned pancake recipe
• some  discussion topic suggestions related to the story
• turn pages with a finger  swipe

I have to say, I’m really proud of this book app.  Lindsey, the author, took the initiative and found a fabulous app producer, Picpocket Books, who agreed to shepherd our joint creation (originally published by Clarion Books in 2003) into the digital age, and they did a wonderful job.

One of the aspects of the app version of the book I adore is that the concept of the sleeping giant’s two heads hiding in the bed covers is made very clear with animation.  In the original picture book it was quite subtle, and a lot of readers didn’t pick up on it.

Check out and download our app at the Apple itunes Store!  It is currently on sale for $2.99.  It is available for the  ipad and will be available for the  iphone in a few days.  It is the perfect app for young children and gives them a personal interactive story experience.

Snuggle Mountain Pancakes

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar (optional)

1 egg

½ cup plain or vanilla yogurt

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons melted butter, cooled

Non-stick spray or oil for greasing skillet

1. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and optional sugar in a medium sized bowl.
2. Beat the egg in another bowl.  Add yogurt and milk and beat together.  Then stir in melted butter.  Add this mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients while stirring.
3. Heat a skillet or griddle over medium high heat on the stove.  Grease skillet.  Pour batter into pan when it is heated.  Brown the bottom in 2 to 4 minutes, then flip and cook other side for about a minute.
4. Serve immediately.  Pancakes can also be kept warmed on an ovenproof plate in a 200 F oven.