Swedish Pancakes with Rhubarb Compote

What a perfect morning to kick-off to the long weekend. I kind of forgot how much I love rhubarb. Tangy and sweet, rhubarb might actually be one of my favorite fruits. Or is it a vegetable because it doesn't have seeds on the inside? Just a sec, let me consult Google...

{cue elevator music}

It's a vegetable. Unless you live in the United States... apparently the US courts can mess with science and declare it a fruit. Don't even get me started on that.

Parker and I ate some (ok, a lot) of the compote out of the bowl with a spoon while I finished cooking the crepes. I worked two pans today! I seriously feel like I can take on anything now that I have mastered the two-pan crepe technique. Bring it on.

I found breakfast to be particularily photogenic this morning. Or maybe it was the idyllic morning that translated to the photos- the three of us at the breakfast table on a long weekend, a second cup of coffee, the sun peeking through the clouds. Either way, I'm very pleased with life at the moment.

PS There was also barbequed bacon. Oh yes.

SWEDISH PANCAKES WITH RHUBARB COMPOTE

Serves 4

An Amy Original

Rhubarb compote can be spread on toast, stirred into yogurt, spooned onto pork chops... you'll find lots of uses and excuses to make it, trust me.

• 1 recipe Swedish Pancakes
• 1 1/2 cups sliced rhubarb, fresh or frozen (don't even bother thawing if using frozen)
• scant 1/4 cup sugar
• splash vanilla extract

While cooking the crepes add all other ingredients to a small pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Uncover and lower heat to a simmer until rhubarb is soft, stirring occasionally. Mash to desired consistency. Continue to simmer until thickened.

My Grandma's Pancakes

Swedish pancakes, crepes, Grandpa's pancakes. It doesn't matter what you call them so long as you call them breakfast sometime very soon. It's a long weekend coming up. Perfect for spending a little extra time making something special for breakfast.

As kids we would go up to my Grandparents house on the lake almost every weekend. Us kids- my brother, cousins, and I- would get up early on Saturday and go with Grandpa on his morning walk to the "treat store" (when the grand kids weren't there I'm pretty sure he just called it the store where he got the newspaper). If you weren't up by the time Grandpa left for his walk you were left behind. We would get home and have some "crepes" that Grandma had started making at the butt-crack of dawn in order to feed the hordes.

I use quotations on "crepes" because these are not your dainty French crepes that are not to brown when cooking. These are big, spotty Swedish pancakes. Only Grandma is Estonian. They're not pancakes- those are fluffy and you put maple syrup on them- so we just called them crepes. We would get home from the treat store with our candy that we were not to eat until after breakfast and sit down to stuff our faces with crepes.

In hindsight, I'm not sure why we had to wait to eat our candy. Now that I think about it, the crepes probably weren't much better on the healthy scale. We always ate them with strawberries and whipped cream or applesauce with cinnamon sugar. When I was a bit older I also started to eat them with lemon juice (from a bottle but now I'm a snob and use fresh) and sugar. The crunch of the sugar with the tartness of the lemon is my favourite. Jam is good too. Or you could eat them like Grandma- standing at the counter after everyone had finished eating, holding a crepe smeared with lingonberry jam in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

I wish I could say that this is Grandma's recipe, but she doesn't have a recipe. She's been making crepes so long that she just mixes stuff together, tastes the result, and tweaks it if needed. Perhaps one day I'll get there, but even recipes I know off by heart I still look up just to be sure. So I cobbled together a recipe from a bunch of different recipes for Swedish pancakes online. These are very close to Grandma's. If you're really good you can work two pans at once in order to crank them out faster like Grandma used to.

PS I wish I had taken made the crepe in the lead photo look nicer, like the one below. Or used a smaller plate at least. But I am digging the breakfast table setting so I went with that one. I guess I don't do my best food styling at 7:30 am. My apologies. 

One Year Ago: Mystery Box Dinner and The Reveal

Two Years Ago: Bulgar Salad + Three Corn Cornbread

Three Years Ago: n/a

GRANDMA'S CREPES

Serves 8 (2 crepes per person, although members of my family have been known to eat 5 in one sitting)

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup butter, divided (to grease the pan)

Toppings:

• Applesauce and cinnamon
• Jam
• Berries- thawed from frozen are good, then you get some nice berry juice
• Lemon and sugar

Heat an 8 to 10 inch skillet over medium high heat. Whisk together milk and eggs in a large bowl. Add flour, sugar, salt and whisk until mostly smooth.

Once pan is heated add a small pat of butter and spread around the pan to coat. Add a soup ladle of batter while turning pan so that batter coats it evenly. You'll get a feel for how much batter to add for the next one on this first crepe- you don't want your crepe too thin or too thick. Even if they're not perfect, they'll be rolled up so don't sweat it. Flip once the crepe is golden on the bottom, about 45 seconds to a minute. Cook until browned on second side.

Transfer to a plate, stacking subsequent crepes on top. If crepes cool before eaten, warm one at a time (i.e. the one you're about to eat) in the microwave for 15 seconds. Spread desired filling all over the crepe or just down the middle- everyone has their preference- and roll up.

Breakfast Smoothie

I forget which movie it is from, but there is a dialogue in said movie where the dad says to his daughter, "What are you drinking?"
"A smoothie," she replies.
"What's a smoothie, like a milk shake?"
"I guess so, only smoother," his daughter says.

Smoother, indeed. Smoothie is a strange word, isn't it? Think about it. Smoooooooth-ie. Anyway, I have one almost every morning. I pack as much good stuff as I can into my smoothies to set me up for the day. If lunch ends up being a pemeal bacon sandwich from the cafeteria downstairs (read: no vegetable to be found), oh well, I had my nutrition-packed smoothie for breakfast.

I don't have a recipe for my smoothies, but I do have a basic formula. A least one fruit, something green, something high in fiber, some protein, and some dairy. Sometimes on ingredient fills a couple quotas: black beans provide protein and fiber. Or berries give fiber and fruit.

Here is a list of stuff I've used for each category of my formula. Items with a * are the ones that usually make the morning cut, if you're interested.

Fruit and Veg:

• Apple (skin on, cut into chunks)*
• Banana*
• Mixed frozen berries*
• Pumpkin puree*
• Carrots
• Nectarine
• Fresh or canned peaches
• Fresh, frozen, or canned pineapple
• Mango
• Kiwi
• Cranberries

Protein:

• Protein powder (duh)
• Tofu
• Beans or other legumes- kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, lentils
• Nut butter
• Nuts
• Chia seeds
• Egg (I've never actually thrown in a raw egg, but I've thought about it. My Grannie used to make us "egg nog" with milk, raw egg, and vanilla for breakfast all the time before school and we were fine. But definitely follow guidelines for consuming raw eggs)
• Cooked quinoa*
• Whey leftover from making ricotta cheese (yep, I'm that "thrifty")

Fiber:

• Oats* (throw in raw, or cook in the microwave with some water for a smoother smoothie)
• Ground flax*
• Chia seeds
• Cooked quinoa
• Beans or other legumes- kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, lentils

Dairy or Dairy Alternative:

• Yogurt* - plain, vanilla, Greek, etc. Whatever was on sale that week, basically
• Milk
• Rice milk
• Almond milk

Something Green:

• Spinach*- fresh baby spinach or thawed frozen spinach
• Kale
• Arugula (in a pinch, but it's a very strong flavour)

Other Miscellaneous Add-Ins:

• Turmeric (doesn't really add any flavour but it's a super food that is good for inflammation among other things)
• Honey or maple syrup when using plain yogurt to sweeten it up a bit
• Fresh ginger
• Cinnamon*
• Pumpkin pie spice

There you go. Mix and match to a healthy breakfast and a hall pass to eat a greasy lunch. Also really good for tricking your kids and/or husband into eating spinach.

One Year Ago: Overnight Oatmeal,

Two Years Ago: Cranberry Coffee Cake

Three Years Ago: n/a

Soft Scrambled Eggs

I had the best day with my son, Parker, on Friday. I'll be honest- the first year was rough and made me not want to have any more kids. He's 19 months now, so it's just beginning, I know, but so far the toddler years are so much fun! Sure, he has tantrums and sometimes screams at the top of his lungs in the middle of the grocery store, but at least we're now getting some sleep. Everything is doable if you have more than 4 hours of sleep a night.

Parker and I started the morning by watching Samantha Pynn's (I love her interior design style) show Summer Home and drinking coffee (me, not the kid obviously... worst parent ever). Then we went for a long walk. Long time-wise; it was only 1 km to the store but it took us 45 minutes. Parker wanted to pick up every stone, compare every pine cone, chase every robin, and touch his forehead to every tree branch within reach (I've said it before and I'll say it again- my kid is weird and awesome). We went to the grocery store, baked a pie (I cooked, Parker ate gobs of pureed pumpkin the whole time), made a pizza. To end the evening Parker had a fun bath where he "washed" all of his sea animal bath toys. I love getting to know this wild and crazy guy.

Then to top off that wonderful day, Saturday morning I made the best scrambled eggs of my life. I will never make scrambled eggs any other way again. Sure, there are lots of ways to make scrambled eggs- even microwaved scrambled eggs are decent. But nothing compares to these Soft Scrambled Eggs from Bon Appetit this month. They are custard-y, buttery, and don't take all that much longer than your standard scrambled eggs. Mother's Day is coming up and your mother wants you to make her these eggs. Trust me.

SOFT SCRAMBLED EGGS

Bon Appetit April 2012

The above link also has a video on how to make these eggs, with great tips on the technique. I cooked mine a little further than how they do it in the video- personal preference. Also, I started the eggs just above medium heat and then reduced to medium-low when they started to cook. I have a gas stove, but if you are using electric I would stick to medium-low the whole time as you don't have the instant temperature control of gas. Also, I use salted butter for everything. So although the original recipe calls for unsalted, salted is fine too but you probably won't need to season with more salt.

• 4 large eggs
• 2 tbsp butter, divided
• pinch cayenne pepper or ground black pepper (I prefer black pepper, but the eggs won't be as uniform in colour)
• salt to season, if required

Combine eggs, 1 1/2 tbsp butter, cayenne in a small saucepan. Place over medium-low heat, whisking gently and constantly while scraping bottom and sides of pan, until eggs are just thickened, creamy, and small curds begin to form, 3–4 minutes total. (If mixture begins to stick to pan while cooking, remove from heat; whisk gently for 30 seconds, then continue cooking over heat.) Remove from heat. Add 1/2 tbsp butter; whisk until melted. Season with salt if needed. Serve immediately.

Perfect Overnight Oatmeal

Overnight oatmeal + Tassimo coffee = out the door with a hot breakfast and caffeine in less than 5 minutes.

Alright, so I know oatmeal isn't all that time consuming to make, but do you have 10 minutes to boil and stir before heading out to work? I don't. And I only work part time.

I start work at 8am on Sundays. Which means I wake up at 7:00 in order to be out the door by 7:20. I refuse to get up any earlier than 7. It's just not right. So I need a breakfast that can be cooked and eaten in less than 5 minutes, or can be warmed up at work. There's always Timmies, but I don't want to endure their coffee just for a bagel that sometimes they forget to toast.

I used to bring dry oatmeal and add hot water from the water cooler (is that an oxymoron or something? Hot water from the water cooler?), but it was never quite right. Sure, it was hot and ready (my fave, lol) but that is more like oats in hot water than oatmeal. There is a difference.

I'm giving a recipe, but it's really more a guideline. Tonight as I'm writing this, I am eating oatmeal that I mixed this morning to bring to work for dinner (somehow we are out of bread and crackers, my usual go to's if I can't find something to bring for lunch), and I added dried cranberries, candied ginger, walnuts, and cinnamon. I'm hoping it will keep me full long enough to avoid a vending machine visit at 10pm. 'Cause that's never pretty.

One Year Ago: Creamy Mushroom Fettucine with Spinach

Two Years Ago: Nada. I was newly preggo. 'Nuff said.

PERFECT OVERNIGHT OATMEAL

An Amy Original

Serves 1

• 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats (don't use quick-cooking!)
• water
• spices i.e. cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, etc
• any combination of add ins: dried cranberries, nuts, seeds, raisins, chopped fruit, frozen berries (no need to thaw), pumpkin puree, chopped crystallized ginger, etc
• milk to serve, if desired
• sweetener to taste, if desired (maple syrup, honey, brown sugar)

Place oats in a bowl or to-go container. Add enough water to just cover oats. Stir in any spices and add ins. Cover and place in fridge overnight. In the morning microwave until hot. Add milk and sweetener if desired.

On Kale and Man Food

A funny thing happened in our kitchen last weekend. Tyler was making pancakes for breakfast on Saturday morning*. I suggested that he make them with whole wheat flour at least to make them healthier. He refused, saying something to the effect of "don't mess with man food". I was in charge of making BLTs**. I made BKTs instead. Bacon. KALE. Tomato. Take that man food.

I think kale can stand in for lettuce almost all of the time. Tyler seems to agree, cause he assembled sandwiches for us the next meal using... you guessed it. Go on, healthy up your bacon man-wich with some kale.

*Since I have starting working at 8am on Sundays, Tyler has learned to make pancakes. He keeps telling me how much Parker loves pancakes, but I hadn't witnessed the pancake phenomenon until this weekend. Wow. The kid goes bananas for pancakes. He ate more than I did. Incidentally, he also goes bananas for bananas. I wonder what would happen if we gave him banana pancakes?

**Are BLTs global, or is this a Canadian acronym? Just in case, BLT stands for Bacon Lettuce Tomato sandwich.

Baby Food Part 2: Textures

I knew when Parker was around 8 or 9 months old that I should be starting him with some finger foods. I was very nervous about this. I reviewed baby CPR online, then I gave him a quarter of a Cheerio (actually, a Nutrio- Cheerios for babies). He cried like was trying to alert the neighbours of a crime. I fished the offending food out of his mouth before he inhaled it and we tried again in a couple of days. He then worked up to half Nutrios, then whole ones.

Does this count as a finger food?

I also started leaving some larger pieces of food in his purees and giving him some soft foods to eat with his hands- banana, cooked sweet potatoes, avocado. Now, as I mentioned in the previous post, he won't eat anything off of a spoon. Except oatmeal, actually. It took me a while to figure out what to give him that he could eat with his hands but it would still be really nutritious as lots of it end up on the floor. Any fruits and veggies, raw or cooked if they are hard, are a go, cut into small pieces. Also we discovered he loves butter chicken and Thai coconut chicken. Usually now we give him small pieces of whatever we are eating, so I try to plan meals with this in mind. He also LOVES these muffins.

Below is a what he ate yesterday, for example, and then some recipes that Parker loved. Bonus: they are good for the grownups too. Hopefully this helps anybody reading this who is completely confused as to what to feed the baby.

NOTE: Parker is still waking up in the night for a bottle, although we working with a (amazing!) naturopathic doctor to wean him off of formula altogether and he slept through the night last night finally! You may notice that there is no dairy in his meals- we suspect he has a dairy sensitivity, so we have eliminated dairy for the time being.

Breakfast 9 am: 1 cup Berry Oatmeal, 1/4 peach, 1/4 banana water from sippy cup
Bottle 10:30
Lunch 2:00: Barley Risotto (offered, he only ate 2 bites) + bottle
Bottle 6:00
Dinner 8:00: 1/2 cup roasted vegetables, some canned tuna, 1/2 a tomato, handful Nutrios, water from sippy cup
Bottle 9 pm

BERRY OATMEAL

Makes 3 baby servings

I made another double batch today and froze some in a muffin tin in 1/2 cup servings. When frozen, pop them out of the muffin tin and store in an airtight container. You could also change up the fruit to make different flavours i.e. grated apple and cinnamon, pumpkin with pumpkin pie spice, peaches, etc

• 2/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp molasses
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 1/2 cup frozen berries
• 1/4 cup ground flax
• 2 egg yolks

Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add oats, simmer until water is almost all absorbed and oats are cooked. Add molasses, ginger, flax, and berries. Stir until berries are thawed. Add egg yolks, bring back to a boil, stirring constantly. Mash berries with back of a spoon or potato masher (some oatmeal will get mashed too, that's ok). Store any uneaten portions in fridge up to 2 days, or freeze. You may need to add some water to leftovers when reheating as it will thicken.

PUMPKIN PIE FRENCH TOAST

• 2 slices whole grain bread
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp milk or water
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• butter for pan

Mix eggs, milk or water, pumpkin, and vanilla in a shallow dish. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Soak bread in egg mixture for 30 seconds each side. Melt a little butter in the pan, add saturated bread. Cook until golden brown, flip, and cook same on other side.

ITALIAN VEGETABLE CASSEROLE

Adapted from Everyday Italian

Makes 6 side dish servings, or many more baby servings

Leftovers are good to toss into pasta. Vegetables can be changed up depending on what you have.

• 2 medium potatoes, scrubbed clean and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 carrots, scrubbed clean and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 fennel bulb, thickly sliced
• 1/2 red onion, sliced into large pieces
• 4 tbsp olive oil, divided
• salt and pepper
• 1 large zucchini, cut in quarters and sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 ripe tomatoes, sliced into 1/2 inch thick sliced
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Toss both types potato, carrots, fennel, onion in a large bowl with 2 tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper to season. Spread in a 9 x 13 glass baking dish. Layer zucchini, then tomatoes over vegetables. Drizzle with remaining olive oil, season with salt and pepper. 

Mix together breadcrumbs, Parmesan, dried herbs in a small bowl. Top vegetables with this mixture. Bake 40 minutes. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

I love Sundays, and this Sunday was no exception. Sleep until the baby wakes us up around 8:30 or 9, play with the baby and the dog in bed for a while, eat a weekend breakfast, then cook, read, or nap while Tyler watches football and hangs out with the baby. What could be better?

One question though... Why is it that having a drink while still in your pajamas seems so trashy? It was one o'clock in the afternoon last Sunday and Tyler and I wanted to have a beverage but we both agreed that we should get dressed first. Even if you don't shower, I feel you at least need to change out of your PJs into track pants. Agreed?

Tyler loves pancakes on Sundays. I'm not a huge fan of pancakes, but these are really good. They have more flavor than regular white flour pancakes. Plus basic pancakes are pretty nutritionally devoid, but these are a healthy start to the morning, with or without the berry sauce. I haven't tried this, but you could probably freeze cooked pancakes and thaw to eat on weekdays too.

These pancakes would also be great with chopped up apples or bananas in the batter like my dad used to make us on weekends. Just don't top with chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, sprinkles, and whipped cream as my brother and I were allowed to do once for some reason. Pancake sundae for breakfast = tummy ache for the rest of the day.

One Year Ago: Tomato Bruschetta + Fresh Pea and Feta Spread

WHOLE WHEAT BUTTERMILK PANCAKES WITH MAPLE BERRY SAUCE

Makes 6 large pancakes

Dry Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1/4 cup flax meal
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 tbsp melted butter, cooled or canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

•  Maple Berry Sauce (below)

Preheat a large non stick pan over medium heat. While pan is heating, mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix wet ingredients in a large bowl. Add dry to wet and stir until just combined.

Spray pan with cooking spray. Pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook until pancakes look set around the edges, there are holes from bubbles in the middle and the bottom is lightly browned. Flip, cook until lightly browned on second side. Serve with berry sauce or other pancake topping of choice.

MAPLE BERRY SAUCE

Thaw 1 cup frozen mixed berries. Blend until smooth. Stir in a glug* of maple syrup and a dash of cinnamon.

*Yes, that is the technical term

Breakfast Club Sandwiches

I'm back on the bacon train! I've been off bacon since I first became pregnant because it made me feel sick, even just the thought of it. Slowly but surely over the last month, however, I've been becoming friends with bacon again. As a result of my temporary bacon aversion, I haven't made weekend breakfasts for a while. I saw Ricardo Larrivee make these sandwiches on his show this past week (side note: does he play for the other team or is he just French? Talk amongst yourselves) and I've been thinking about it ever since, so made this on this holiday morning and it was fantastic. Tyler high-fived me, so I take it the breakfast club sandwich gets the husband stamp of approval as well.

BREAKFAST CLUB SANDWICH

Adapted from Ricardo and Friends on The Food Network

Serves 2 (recipe is very easily multiplied to serve more)

• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 slices bacon
• 6 slices sandwich bread
• Mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip if you live in my house)
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 2 leaves Romaine lettuce

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly beat eggs, milk, salt, pepper in a small baking dish. Put bacon on a baking sheet or broiler pan. Bake eggs and bacon in oven until bacon is crisp and golden and eggs are set- about 10 minutes for the bacon and about 5 minutes more for the eggs. Remove bacon to drain on paper towels. Cut eggs in half and fold each half over itself (like you would an omelet).

While bacon and eggs are cooking, toast bread. Spread one side of 4 of the slices with mayo, spread both sides of the remaining bread with mayo (this is your middle piece of the club sandwich).

To assemble each sandwich, place egg on the mayo side of a slice of toast, top with double-mayo toast, top that with 2 slices of bacon, tomato, lettuce. Top sandwich with another slice of toast. Slice in half or quarters diagonally to serve. 

Oh-Ma-Gah-Good Granola

I've bookmarked and cut out of tons of recipes for granola. I finally made some and I'm sorry I waited so long. I now crave this stuff. This particular recipe- via Bitchincamero, via the New York Times- is so good. Not too sweet due to the olive oil, perfectly crunchy, just a hint of gingery spice. Oh, and maple syrup is one of my favorite things. The granola smells so delicious while it is baking I dare you not to try some every time you take it out of the oven to stir it around (you know, just to make sure it's cooking ok). I eat it with plain Greek yogurt (Astro Balkan Style Yogurt is a good grocery store option) at work as a snack. Actually, I didn't have time to eat a snack at work today. I'm going to have some right now. Out.

OLIVE OIL GRANOLA
Adapted from Bitchincamero who adapted from the New York Times

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup roasted, salted sunflower seeds 
• 1 cup pecan halves, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom
• 1 cup dried cranberries
  

Preheat the oven to 300°. Mix all the ingredients, except for the cranberries, in a large bowl.

Spread the oats onto a rimmed cookie sheet and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so. Remove from oven when the oats are crisp and golden.

Toss with the cranberries and let cool.