Pancakes and Blue berry syrup

Blueberry Syrup recipe:
1 bag frozen or fresh blueberries
agave nectar or maple syrup
Combine the blueberries and a little water and bring to a boil then simmer on low for 1-2 min. Transfer to a blender and add sweetner- blend and put in a glass jar. You can keep this for quite some time in the fridge.

 We served this pancake at our 4th of July community breakfast we put on last year and everyone raved about them and much preferred them over the yucky white ones you make out of the bag. Yahoo!!
The trick to pancakes is to NEVER flatten them with the spatula while cooking. These are real buttermilk kind, fluffy, soft and full of flavor and nutrition.
Recipe:
2 C soft wheat and barley mix flour (or as always just wheat)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 C honey
1/4 C oil (coconut melted)
2 eggs
2 C buttermilk or water or milk alternative

Combine all ingredients and let sit for a moment to soak together. Then put on a greased pan (use coconut oil) and do not press down on them when flipped. Watch them rise and then eat with pure maple syrup or blueberry syrup and fruit.

Potato Salad

This potato salad always gets compliments and is so very easy.
Recipe:
Around 5-6 Red and Gold pototaos cut
2 green onions chopped
5-6 Hard boiled eggs chopped
dash of dried mustard
S&P
Vegan mayonaise (we like veganaise)
Combine and serve

Black bean burger

I came up with this one night when we have some leftovers and all the fixins for a burger but no burgers. I wondered why all of the black bean burgers on the web look so lifeless but mine came out the same way and when you bite in- you get a wonderful surprise. It is much more flavorful than it looks.
Recipe:
In a food proccesor combine:
1 C chickpeas
1 C black beans
1/2 C oats
handful of fresh parsley
handful of bell pepper chopped
1 egg
S&P
Put in a hot pan with melted coconut oil and cook.
Serve with burger fixins.
(I think I will try adding some carrots and sweet potato next time too)

Veggie cups

I have to give credit here to a friend of mine who served these at her little boys birthday party. I thought it was such a great idea and tried it at home for a snack before lunch. They really like it.
Recipe:
(Cut all the vegetables in stick like shapes)
Cucumber
Jicama
Carrot
Red, yellow or orange bell pepper
Celery
Broccoli
Or any combination you like
Put dressing in the bottom of a slender dish and stack the veggies on top. Voila!

Oven Fries

These are easy to make if you plan ahead just an hour before. I love sweet potatoes and my family prefers the regular ones. Although, if I have leftover sweet potato ones, I just mash them up in another meal the next day, like burgers or mac and cheese etc. 
Recipe:
2 sweet potatoes peeled and either sliced rounds or cut into triangle fries like pictured
2-4 regular (red or gold) potatoes the same
1-2 Tbsp olive oil or better yet melted coconut oil
S&P and rosemary or any herbs and spices you like
Combine together in a large ziplok and layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment (which happens to be my best friend in the kitchen :) )
Bake at 350* for 35-45 min give or take. Try flipping once to get even crispiness.

Perfect brussel sprouts

This is so easy and if they are on sale or you get them fresh it is a great way to use them up.

Just Quarter the sprouts and steam them
then saute them in a little butter or coconut oil with some s&p and enjoy hot!

Southwestern Rice

This is a made up dish that incorporates a lot of leftovers around here and we like to have it for lunch either in a burrito or with good quality corn chips or for dinner as a side. This is also a great packed food for get togethers and potlucks.

Recipe:
Brown Rice cooked
1 can black beans drained or 2C cooked black beans
1 can corn or 2C frozen and thawed or leftover corn
green onions
2 tomatos chopped
1 avacado diced
southwestern seasoning and Real Salt to taste
Mix together and enjoy

Greens and Fruit smoothie

I love smoothies especially for on the go snack or breakfast. This one is a go-to here. And trust me you can't taste the greens. The smoothies finished below are of smoothies without any berries and you can hardly see the greens as is. We love to change around the ingredients and see what we come up with.

Ingredients:
1-2 C of spinach or kale (with kale- strip the leaves off and discard the stem)
1 orange peeled
1 C homemade non-dairy milks (hemp, almond, cashew etc) we love hemp!
1-2 bananas fresh or frozen
2 C mixed fruit of ANY kind (we like berries and they hide the green well)
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
Other great additions are coconut oil, frozen coconut milk, probiotics, and filtered water

1. Put the greens and milk in first and blend till smooth (if you have an awesome blender such as a vitamix or blendtek then no need to seperate the steps)
2. Add in the fruit, flax seeds, and any other add ins and put in water or milks as needed then blend till smooth
3. enjoy as a smoothie or freeze into popsicles for later

9 Grain brekfast cereal

This is a great porridge cereal- we call it pioneeer cereal. My boys love to eat it and get really messy.
It have just a couple of ingredients and hadly any clean-up.

Recipe:
2 C water
1/2 tsp Real Salt
~3/4 C Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Cereal
Agave, Maply Syrup or Honey
Milk of choice

 Bring water and salt to a boil and add cereal
Turn down to low and simmer covered for 5-10 min
add sweetner and milk
Enjoy!

Banana Raisin Oat muffins

Ok so I have been absent for a while- really just reading and getting to know some more wonderful food blogs. I'm excited to say that I have found some really good ones lately and have been experimenting more. This is not new to us but we have been having different forms of this muffin a lot lately. I'm not sure why but I have been craving moist, flavorful muffins a lot and this is what we have been coming up with. I have adapted this recipe from already pretty healthy to over the top healthy.

Recipe:
Combine in a large bowl:
1 1/2 C soft white wheat and barley flour (you could use all soft white)
1/2 C rolled oats
(I also like to make them with 1 C barley/wheat flour and 1 C oat flour, unless I'm too lazy to grind the oats to flour)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp real salt
cinnamon (the recipe calls for 1/4 tsp but I just dump it in cause I love cinnamon)
Then add:
2 ripe bananas mashed
2 eggs
1/2 C honey
1/4 C maple syrup ( I never mesure my sweetners- just through um in until it looks good ha!)
1/3 C coconut milk or water
1/4 C melted coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C raisins
Mix till moistened

Put in muffin tins and bake at 375* for 15-18 min Yum Yum!
Variations:
Put chocolate chips in place of raisins
Omit banana and put in applesauce
Swap cranberries for raisins and add some orange peel and orange juice