Best Ever Crepes

So it's easy to lump crepes into the class of evil foods (right along with chocolate cake and their ilk). This is mostly because I (and every other normal American human) think it's not really a crepe unless it's slathered in Nutella and dipped in whipped cream. This, of course, is a perfectly acceptable way to eat a crepe. However, there are (gasp) other ways. And they, too, are delicious. And sometimes even (double gasp) nutritious.

For this crepe, I used a good dollop of ricotta and a bit of peach butter, and--not to brag or anything--but it was perfectly divine. The ricotta gave it a creamy feeling while contributing protein and calcium instead of just fat and sugar (sorry whipped cream; you know I love yo anyway). The peach butter was lightly sweet. And the crepe itself is higher in protein than a normal pancake or muffin. And we use just a smidgen of whole grains in ours to help it along the path of virtue.

It makes for an inexpensive breakfast and a downright tightwad dinner. The crepes themselves run about $.10/crepe and I cannot eat more than two if they're filled (if not, all bets are off). And the fillings don't have to be expensive. A few tablespoons of ricotta add another $.25 and the peach butter is probably just $.10 (plus a lot of love to make that stuff). That's a solid meal for $.50 (though it is missing vegetables...)

(Psst. Want homemade recipes for either of these. Look HERE for a perfectly divine (and utterly cheap) ricotta. And HERE for peach butter so good you know it's made from love and sunshine (which it is).)

Have a look HERE for my original post on crepes plus a filling of brown sugar peaches. (Plus a pretty profound poem if I do say so myself; I mean, you won't want to miss it.)
Or HERE for a pumpkin whole wheat version.

Best Ever Crepes
Makes: a booty load (I'm guessing it makes between 20-30 crepes; we always have leftovers)
Prep and cook time: 30 minutes
Cost: $2.05 (that's about $.10/serving; even if you do splurge on Nutella, that's a VERY cheap meal)
(eggs: .50, milk: .60, flour: .30, other stuff: .15, butter: .50)

Note: These directions are given to you as Maren gave them to me. I always make mine this way with an extra cup of milk added at the end. Would it matter if you added it at the beginning? I don't know. I just do it as she said because hers were the best and I don't mess with that.

Whisk together:
4 eggs
3 C milk

Combine:
2 Tbsp sugar
3 C flour (I use 1/2 C whole wheat and 2 1/2 C all-purpose)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Add dry mixture to egg/milk mixture.

To this batter, add:
1 C milk
1 tsp vanilla

Whisk it all together. It might be a little lumpy at first, but whisk for a minute or two and most will go away. If you still have some lumps when you make the crepes, don't worry, the crepes will still come out just fine.

Heat skillet to medium or just below. Plop a pat of butter on the skillet. You want your skillet nice and non-sticky--whether that happens with plenty of butter or with a good non-stick pan is up to you. Pour the batter onto the skillet and tilt the skillet so that the entire face of the skillet is covered with a thin layer of batter. It won't be thick like a pancake, or even close. It'll look like this:

Now you're going to let the crepe cook until there it's kind of cooked all the way through--there won't be any (or much) raw batter-y patches left and it will be just barely golden brown on the bottom (it takes 1-2 minutes usually). If it's not done enough you'll have a really really hard time flipping this baby. At this point you'll flip it over to give the other side a chance to color just a bit. I think that authentic French crepe makers don't always even flip theirs, but I like to.

Continue this process until you're done. If you've got too much batter, you can save it as batter or you can make it all into crepes. They reheat very well.

Note: Your first crepe will probably be a disaster. I don't know why this is a law of the universe, but it is. I suspect that your pan is still warming up and stuff. Anyway, if your first crepe tears and crumples and looks a mess, do not despair. Set it aside for the baby or the dog, re-butter your pan and do it again. I promise that the next will (almost surely) be much much better. If it discourages you too much, dip some in Nutella and eat it. That should make you feel much better about the world.

Another note: If, however, your crepe is burned on the bottom, turn down the heat and wait a couple minutes before continuing.

Continue making and flipping until you have crepes coming out of you ears. 

Then eat. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Honey-Lemon Turmeric Energy Bites

For the last couple weeks, I've been a little sick and a lot busy. That's not the greatest combination. It means my lovely sweet food blog sometimes gets shoved to the back burner. The good news is that it also means I have this fantastically healthy, get-back-on-your-feet-or-prevent-you-from-falling-off-your-feet-in-the-first-place recipe for you. (Yes, I do enjoy hyphens; why do you ask?)

Anyway, when I was lying around revising my second novel and taking care of my kids and feeling pooped, I stumbled upon a recipe that used turmeric in these energy balls. In case you don't know, turmeric is, apparently, the golden elixir of health. It's an anti-inflammatory, good for your joints, good for your gut, lowers your risk for lots of dreadful diseases, slows aging. You know, magic elixir stuff.

Unfortunately, we here in America don't eat it with a whole lot of stuff. We might put it into a delicious Indian dish here or there. But this takes time and isn't what we want to do when we're already feeling a bit under the weather.

On the mighty Pinterest, I've found (and pinned of course) several recipes for using it in teas or milks. But I've yet to make any of those teas or milks because they seem a little unfamiliar and weird, and I just haven't taken the plunge. But granola-bar-esque energy bites. We Americans can totally get behind this. They're easy to make and eat and people won't see a yellow turmeric milk and freak out. They don't even taste turmeric-y. The honey lemon is a beautiful foil for the otherwise spicy pungent turmeric. 

And peeps (does anyone still say peeps wait--did anyone really ever say it in the first place except me and my sister-in-law?), they have more than just the mighty turmeric. They've got almonds and dates and chia seeds, raw honey and lemon zest. It's like a deluge of health trends all in one ball. You're welcome.

Also I got to use my new Valentine's gift to make them:

Romance--right there. 

And I may have tried rolling some of them in powdered sugar like tiny little anti-oxidant encouraging tea cakes:

Don't judge.

Though the truth is that I liked them without the powdered sugar even better (that was not a truth for my daughter, who wolfed those powdered sugar ones down).

Honey-Lemon Turmeric Energy Bites

adapted from Natalie's Food and Health
Makes about 18-24
prep time: 15 minutes
Cost:

12 dried dates, pits removed
1 C oats
1/2 C almonds
1/2 C coconut (I used sweetened, but unsweetened would work too and you would feel more superior)
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric
juice from one lemon (4 Tbsp)
zest from lemon
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 Tbsp honey

First soak your dates in some water and make sure there are no bits of pits in them. (Reserve a bit of the water if you think about it.)

While they're soaking zest and squeeze your lemon.

Put the dates in a food processor and whiz it. Mine didn't all pulp up, and that was okay.

Now add the oats and almonds, and whiz them in the food processor. Add coconut, chia seeds, and turmeric. Whiz. Whiz until everything is pretty ground up.

Now add the lemon zest and juice, the vanilla and the honey. Whiz. I needed a bit more liquid, so I added some of the water I'd soaked my dates in. (Normal water will likely work too.). I just needed a couple tablespoons of it.

Whiz whiz whiz until everything starts to come together in a ball.

Then roll into balls. Coat with more coconut or lemon zest. (Or powdered sugar or lemon zest mixed with sugar if you are a less upstanding human being.)

Eat 'em up (but not, like, all of them unless you are a teenage boy. But if you are a middle aged woman, remember that turmeric is great and all, but eating all of these is, like seven million calories--of goodness, yes, but still...)

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Grains to Try for the New Year

Since January is still with us and perhaps some of us are still even with January, I thought that it might be a nice time to talk about grains. (Why, yes, I am a very exciting person. Thank you.)

One thing I've been trying to do this year is to be a little more interesting in the kitchen (and you see that, with this fascinating post about the fascinating topic of grains, I'm clearly accomplishing this). Because seriously, wheat just gets so so boring. Wheat and rice and maybe some corn. Let's mix it up a bit, shall we?

Quinoa: 

What you need to know. It's the only non-meat food containing full-chain amino acids, plus it's high in iron. If you buy it and it's not been pre-rinsed, it will have a soapy taste, so rinse it. You can make it the same way you make oatmeal and you can eat in like you would oatmeal or use it as an easy rice replacement. You can also make pancakes. And they're awesome.

Quinoa Oat Pancakes



Farro: 

What you need to know. Farro is actually wheat. But it's an ancient variety of wheat that is supposed to be better for you (and easier on the digestive system) because it hasn't been cross-bred and GMO'd and what not. At any rate, it is super delicious, so who cares how healthy it is (you do, of course, because you are a good person, I know). This farro recipe is the type of thing that give vegetarianism a good name. It is one of my all time favorite recipes and it's perfect January comfort food.

Farro with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Tahini Dressing



Black Rice:

What you need to know. It's even healthier than regular brown rice due to its black (really, a very deep purple) color that contains boodles of anti-oxidants. It takes longer to cook than white rice (about the same cook time as brown rice, so plan for that). It also has a nuttier, sweeter taste than regular rice. I fell in love with it a few years ago and made tons of stuff, but then when I went to share something with you, I found that I only had this wrap on this blog. It's a pretty great wrap, but know that there's tons of other stuff you can do with it, like make rice pudding.

Black Rice Wraps



Barley: 

What you need to know. Okay, barley isn't as exciting as these other grains (told you I was an exciting person). But this casserole is. So make it. Also, barley is still high in vitamins and fiber and delicious.

Broccoli Barley Casserole



Chia Seeds: 

What you need to know. Okay, first they're not a grain at all. They're a seed. I know I know--I'm cheating. But they're a very nice seed and you can eat them with so much--tossed into smoothies or over cereal. I often eat them with grains so I'm including them here darn it. They're loaded with omega-3's that are easily accessible by your body. Also high in vitamins and B vitamins. Also, delicious. Especially with these oats.

Refrigerator Oatmeal with Chia Seeds and Maple

Homemade Bisquick--No Shortening and a little Whole Wheat

I'm not exactly Princess Biscuit. But every once in a while a recipe calls for Bisquick and it sure is nice to have a little ready-made mix on hand. I'm not going to judge you if you use the actual Bisquick from the actual store, but if you want something a little more whole-foodsy, well, here you go. It uses butter instead of shortening (which I think makes it so much more flavorful), and a big of whole wheat (though I didn't go all crazy there, but you could). 

Homemade Bisquick--No Shortening and a little Whole Wheat

adapted from Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Makes about 2 C

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cost: $.70

flour: .10, whole wheat flour: .10, butter: .50, 

1 C all purpose flour

1/3 C whole wheat flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C (1 stick) butter, melted

Mix it all together--get the butter incorporated as well as possible. And you're done. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Black Rice Wraps

Never heard of black rice? It's okay; I hadn't either. And then a few weeks ago, there I was at our co-op picking up my raw milk, like a properly crunchy mother. And there in the bulk bins was black rice. It was beautiful, like little slivers of onyx. Which may not have quite been enough to win my heart except that my picky picky son who loves rice wanted to buy some. So we did. Just a little to test it out.

I had no idea what to do with it. Did I cook it like normal rice? Were there dishes people made with such a food? Turns out that black rice is actually crazy healthy. It's a whole grain rice with all the anti-oxidants associated with purple foods (think blueberries and acai berries). In ancient China the nobles did what nobles do and they took it all and forbade the peasants to have any at all. Thus, it is often called "forbidden rice." Which, I don't know, just makes it seem even more cool, doesn't it (not the whole repression of peasants thing, but the title--"forbidden rice")?

For our first foray into Forbidden Rice, we made...wait for it...rice. That's right--I wanted to see how it would taste when we just made it, well, like normal. And guys--it was really good. I mean, I don't want to amp it up too much and make you think it will taste like chocolate. It is still rice and all, but it was very very tasty rice. It had a more complex flavor with more depth and nuttiness--I would almost say sweetness (you'll be seeing a black rice pudding on here soon). So it had the whole grain goodness of brown rice with the semi-sweetness of white rice. And then it had something else--something complex and nutty. Also, it's a very very dark purple when cooked. Seriously, I loved it.

Maybe that's unfortunate because for rice (motto: cheapest food on earth), it is expensive. Not quite organic raw nut expensive, but definitely much more expensive than we normally pay for our grains. Ours rang up at a little over $4/pound. Also, you will probably not find it in a normal grocery store. You'll likely find it in a health foods store or perhaps an Asian market. It is the hope of my heart that it gains popularity in the U.S. and becomes a bit more accessible and less expensive (less "forbidden" if you will--ha ha, why am I too funny). For now, I will enjoy it for what it is--which is not a cheap side dish, but a wholesome and delicious main course. Or--as is sort of the case in today's dish--a delightful and complex component of your next burrito. 

People often use black beans in burritos. I like black beans okay and they're good for you, but my family won't touch a black bean so they usually get left out. But this. This was better than black beans and without the texture of black beans (which is what my family dislikes). Yet it added the color and a pleasant textural contrast to the wrap. It was just good. And simple. And the family didn't hate it. And you don't need a ton so nobody has to break the bank.

Here's how we made them.

Black Rice Wraps

You'll need:

tortillas
Ground beef
Pork and beans
Cheese (sharp cheddar is my favorite, but knock yourselves out with whatever)
salsa
cream cheese
black rice
corn, cooked/warmed

Step 1: Cook your black rice. It's like cooking brown rice.
-Add 1 C rice to a pot with 2-2 1/2 C water.
-Cover.
-Bring to a boil.
-Reduce to simmer.
-Cook for 40-45 minutes or until very tender.
-Note: If you'd like to reduce your cooking time, you can soak your rice for 1-8 hours. Then your rice needs a bit less water and only takes about 25 minutes to cook. Of course, then you have to have several hours of foresight, but it is my understanding that there are people like this in the world. As for me, I think these wraps are just the perfect way to use up leftover rice. Then you've got a 15-minute meal and you don't waste you $4/lb rice. Win win. 

Step 2: I made a batch of cheap ground beef by using my favorite beef cheapening technique: I combined ground beef and a can of pork and beans (yeah, you heard me). Even for chief bean hater among us (that'd be my husband), this is a hit. The pork and beans adds a bit of a sauce and a bit of something barbeque-y to the beef, which he loves. The ratio is 1 pound ground beef to one can of beans.

Step 3: Warm your tortilla (if you wish).

Step 4: Layer tortilla with beef/bean mixture, then a scoop of cooked rice, then cheese, corn, salsa, and sour cream.

Step 5: Wrap it up. Told you it was good.

Farro with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Tahini Dressing

So I've stopped hurling desserts at you. You miss them don't you. I know; I know. Everyone's just like, "That woman has a problem" and then when the Nutella-filled dessert items stop coming...

But don't miss them too much. Because some healthy foods are just so good and so deeply satisfying that they practically make you swoon in just the same way. There are many many great meals out there, but some of them just stumble into the realm of perfection--where the flavors balance perfectly and the textures balance perfectly and the flavors and textures meet and then balance perfectly again. This is one such meal. When I read about the tahini dressing, I thought, "Umm, I don't know; tahini is just so bitter." But seriously--it is the perfect balance to the sweet roasted potatoes and the chewy farro. I thought the pine nuts sounded amazing, but then I forgot them and it was still amazing. I'm sure it'd be doubly amazing with them. I mean, it's a perfect meal.

And if perfection isn't good enough for you, it's also vegan. And easy.

Farro is part of the wheat family. Per the bag my farro came in it comes from older varieties of wheat and is therefore something that even people with gluten intolerances can eat because it has not been modified (GMO-ed) over the generations. I hope that's true and it makes sense to me, but I can't promise anything. In a nutshell, farro comes from certain types of wheat (the whole portion of the wheat--it's a whole grain), but not just any wheat could be considered farro. When cooked it should be chewy and pleasantly toothsome. I got mine from my sister in D.C. You can order it online, but then it's a good deal more expensive. Mine was $6 for 3 pounds, which is a good price.

It can be a side or a main dish. It can be left very basic or pumped up with vegetables (I used asparagus in the picture above) or even chunks of chicken.

Farro with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Tahini Dressing
adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen
Serves: 8 as side dish portions; 4-6 otherwise
Prep and cook time: 20-25 minutes
Cost: $4.80 (That's just about $1.20/meal, but you can cheapen it further by leaving out the pine nuts as I accidentally did--it was still awesome)
sweet potatoes: .75, farro: 2.00, stock: .40, pine nuts: 1.50, other stuff: .15

Note: Okay, I get that farro is weird. It's actually wheat. And it's amazing. If you don't have it you could use barley, which will take longer to cook (or even brown rice in a pinch). But truly the farro is something special. Try it if you can.

2 medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice (about 4 C total--I probably had a little less than this)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper
2 C farro (I don't know if you can even buy this locally, but you can order it online)
4 C vegetable stock (or chicken broth)
1/2 C toasted pine nuts
sliced green onion for garnish

Dressing:

1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp Tahini
1/2-3/4 tsp salt
dash pepper
1/4 C olive oil

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Coat the diced sweet potatoes in olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper. Spread on a cookie sheet and roast for about 30 minutes, tossing/mixing them every 10 minutes or so. You want them to have some good color on the sides by which I mean at least one or two sides should be more brown than orange, even though that can be scary, but it creates a caramelized-type flavor that is unbeatable.

While they're roasting, cook your farro. To do this, put the broth into a pot and heat it. Add the farro. Stir and let it simmer, uncovered for about 15-20 minutes (depending on the type of farro you have, this could take longer--it comes in different sizes). You can stir it occasionally. When done, it should be chewy, but not crunchy. If there's any broth left, pour it out.

When the sweet potatoes are ready, add them to the farro.

Then make your dressing. To do that, just mix all those dressing ingredients.

If you happen to remember, toast your pine nuts. You can do this by tossing them in a hot skillet and stirring them around for a minute or two. Or (if you don't want to dirty another pan) you can put them on the cookie sheet and back in the oven, stirring them every minute or two until they're lightly browned and aromatic.

Add the pine nuts to your farro/sweet potatoes. Then pour the dressing on, mix it up, and garnish with green onions.

You can add other vegetables if you wish. I've made it with and without the asparagus and loved both.

I also think that if you'd like to un-vegan it, chunks of chicken would be delicious with it.

We served it as a side for burgers and I found it so good I could have skipped the burger.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Coconut Granola

This month for Secret Recipe Club, I had The Bad Girl's Kitchen. Run by Min, it actually invites other bloggers to post things as well.

I chose the Coconut Granola because I love love love both coconut and granola (tonight I might make the curried chicken with coconut rice, so clearly I have coconut issues). The granola is pretty basic, but it uses extra coconut and coconut oil as the fat. By the time you're done mixing, your hands will smell like angel breath because, ah, coconut and vanilla and nut. I mean, even if you hate to eat all those things (and, seriously, who are you), it still smells awesome.

A word on coconut oil: The new health darling is cold-pressed, extra-virgin, organic awesomeness. It smells like coconut and infuses a coconuty flavor into things. The cheaper coconut oils are fine to use, but they won't be as coconut-y as their healthier, better-quality brothers.

Coconut Granola
adapted from The Bad Girl's Kitchen
makes a whole heck of a lot (about 10-11 cups)
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30-40 minutes
Cost: $5.50
oatmeal: .60, nuts: 2.00, fruit: 1.00, coconut: .75, honey: .50, coconut oil: .55 (guessing here; not sure), other stuff: .10

Note: I halved this and just used 1 pan.

Note: If you like your granola sweeter, you might want to up the honey to 3/4 C.

Note on coconut: If you really love the stuff, I'd go ahead and use even more; it's just good.

6 C oatmeal
1 C chopped nuts (I used cashews and almonds
1 C dried fruit (chop it if it's big--I used some dates, some figs, and some cranberries)
1 C dried coconut (I used raw/dried, but the store bought stuff will work too and make it a little sweeter)
1/2 C honey
1/2 C coconut oil (melted)
3 Tbsp dark brown sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract

Heat oven to 300 degrees.

In large bowl combine oats, nuts, dried fruit, and coconut.

In microwave-safe bowl, combine honey, melted coconut oil, and dark brown sugar. Heat in microwave until sugar melted. Stir in vanilla.

Pour wet over dry and stir well. It takes a minute or two--you want all the dry parts to get some of the good wet stuff, so take your time and use your hands if need be (they'll smell awesoooommme).

Spread onto two baking sheets.

Bake for 15 minutes. Mix. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. After that, check it at five minute intervals.

Remove from oven when it's a lovely golden brown.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Quinoa Oat Pancakes

I suppose that since it's January it's about time I post something Utterly, Unapologetically Healthy (UUH--quite the acronym, isn't it). And I don't know what says "Utterly Unapologetically Healthy" better than quinoa--that grain of the gods, superfood of the Mayans, iron-filled, full-proteined, and now suburban mother pantry staple. Sure we're going to put that UUH  food in pancakes and you're probably going to pour syrup on it (I myself would never do such a thing to a UHH food). And one day soon you will thank me for it.

Let me tell you something personal. In the last several months my oldest child--the almost debilitatingly picky one--has been struggling with some tummy trouble. I'm not sure what's going on with him yet, but I suspect that no matter what it is his limited diet (wheat products for breakfast, dinner, and lunch) isn't helping his gut. Recently we tried a little gluten-free stint (we tried this for just over a week until I read that I won't get an accurate reading on blood tests if he's not eating gluten). Our gluten-free experiement was as they say in France--Outrageously Successful (OS). (And, no, they don't really say that in France.) My son had been feeling lousy enough for the past month to try almost anything. Which is saying A LOT because every other thing we've ever tried (bribes, threats, peer pressure, shopping together, cooking together, being strict, being loose, every thing every book/magazine has ever suggested) hasn't done much to sway him in his eating until now. But recently we've tried all kinds of new foods. Strangely this tummy trouble and the no-gluten limitation sort of seemed to give Mark the freedom to let go of all his conceptions and pre-conceptions and just try some stuff with an open mind. All kinds of food. All kinds. Why only last week, he polished off two bowls of African peanut soup (peanut butter, coconut milk, onions, garlic, butternut squash, tomatoes, peppers, etc.). This being the child who routinely used to refuse new breakfast cookies (sugar, fat, whole grain, maybe something healthy) because "it smells like banana." So, yes, we've really improved leaps and bounds. Truth be told, Mark's still not too hot on meat. But tons of other things have been OS with him. These pancakes were one of those things. In our pre-tummy-ache-life, he would have seen them and noticed that they sort of looked like they had texture and he would have refused him outright. Even if I forced him to have a bite or two, he would have insisted that he didn't like them just on principle. But this time...this time--He LOVED them (OS for the UUH). My kids ALL loved them. As he snarfed them down, he said, "Mom, these are even better than regular pancakes." So I tried one too. And he was right. They are better than normal pancakes. 

They're a simple and not too crazy way to break out of the All-American wheat for breakfast, lunch, dinner rut. Because I know that there's at least someone out there with a bag of quinoa in her pantry who's terrified of touching it.

Quinoa Oat Pancakes
adapted from A Pretty Life In the Suburbs
makes 10 large, 20 smallish pancakes
Prep and cook time: 20-30 minutes (but quinoa must be pre-cooked, so that's another 15-20 if you've got to cook it)
Cost: $.90
oat flour (homemade in blender): .15, eggs: .20, buttermilk (milk and vinegar--we didn't have the real stuff): .20, quinoa: .30, other stuff: .05

Note on Quinoa: Quinoa can be found in most health food stores. It's usually cheaper if you can buy it from the bulk bins. You prepare it as you would oatmeal--2 C water to 1 C quinoa. Bring to a boil. Simmer until liquid gone and quinoa tender. You can just eat it like oatmeal too and it's good. It also freezes really well cooked, so if you make more than you need, you can freeze it to make these pancakes later, or to serve it as a side like you would serve rice, or to have as your breakfast grain like you would oatmeal.

Another important note on Quinoa that I almost forgot: Quinoa has a natural soapy coating if you don't rinse it before cooking (this is why pests never ate it in ancient times). So if you got it from bulk bins, rinse it before cooking. That said, if you should ever happen to forget to rinse it first (not that I would ever forget anything like that), you can rinse it afterwards and the world will be right. That said, if you even forget that and still make it in these pancakes you won't be able to taste anything soapy (though if you eat is as you would oatmeal, you probably will).

1 1/2 C oat flour (you can make your own in a blender--cheap and easy)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp sugar
pinch salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 C buttermilk (if you don't have any combine 1 1/2 C milk with 1 1/2 Tbsp white vinegar)
1 tsp vanilla
1 C cooked quinoa

First you've got to cook your quinoa (rinse it first if it's from bulk bins). If you eat it on a regular basis, this is the perfect way to use up leftovers. If you're terrified of the stuff, see the note above.

Combine oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt.

To this add buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk.

Then stir in the cooked quinoa. This batter will seem thinner than normal batter. You can let it sit for a few minutes and that will get the baking powder and soda working and make the batter a bit thicker, but it will also poof up a bit when heated, giving you a normal pancake. If you're nervous about thinness, add a couple more Tbsp oat flour.

Pour batter onto a buttered skillet and cook over medium heat. Flip and repeat.

PRINTABLE RECIPE 

Really Easy French Toast Casserole

There are plenty of French toast casseroles out there right now--some decadent, some soggy, some fussy, some divine. I was searching for one because one week after church my three-year-old took a loaf of blah white bread that was leftover from the soup kitchen (um, I think--she sort of just showed up with this loaf of bread). And then she proceeded to whack it against things--the floor, the walls, her brother--whatever her little arms could reach. By the time it got home that poor loaf was nothing more than chunks and crumbs, but I'm pretty sure it's a sin to just waste the leftover soup kitchen bread that someone gave to your three-year-old. So I made the easiest French toast casserole ever. And I'm glad I did. Not only was it very easy, but it was also the perfect vehicle for using up leftover nubs of bread. You don't have to run out and buy challah or French bread or anything whatsoever. You just have to take that dry nasty slice that one of your children left on the counter and throw it in a big bowl to dry (or the freezer). You can make it healthier if you usually eat whole grain breads. Or not, if you don't. Also, when served it tastes a LOT like regular French toast. Not fancy or overly sweet, but very French-toasty. And nobody had to stand around by a hot skillet dipping bread in an egg batter for 20 minutes either (yeah, that makes me sound pretty lazy doesn't it?).

We ate ours as a breakfast-for-dinner with syrup and fruit on the side. But the next day. Oh, the next day. The next day I cut it and then pan-fried it in a bit of butter until each side was golden and, dear Hannah, it was completely amazing in every way (better than a donut people).

Really Easy French Toast Casserole
adapted from Taste of Home
makes 1 9x13 inch pan-ful
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 40-50 minutes
Cost: $2.05
bread: .80, eggs: .80, milk: .40, other stuff: .05

Note: You can make this ahead and let it sit in your fridge overnight. This is what the instructions tell you to do. I made it just before dinner and let it sit 5 minutes and then baked it (rebel without a cause, that's what I am). It was not soggy in some spots and dried out in others. However, if you're using a dense type of bread, you're going to need to give it a longer sitting time, so it can soak up and then distribute the milk/egg mixture. My cheap white bread just soaked that egg up. Your nice challah and wheat combo might not. So let it sit until it soaks up most of the egg/milk mixture.

Note: Since it is that pumpkin time of year when we put pumpkin into everything, I subbed out an egg for 1/4 C pumpkin puree. Glad I did--I mean I was going to serve a pan full of white bread to my family and tell them they could put syrup on it. I'm sure some traces of vitamin A didn't hurt.

Note: Ideally your bread will be on the dry side. My mother always had a bowl of drying bread in the kitchen. We usually made bread pudding with it (this recipe is a lot like bread pudding, only with less sugar). However, if your bread isn't dry, no biggie.

1 loaf bread (or enough to GENEROUSLY fill that 9x13 inch pan)
8 eggs (or 7 eggs and 1/4 C pumpkin puree)
3 C milk
4 tsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp salt

Set oven for 350.

Grease your pan. Grease it, I say.

Place bread cubes into pan.

In separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt (and maybe some pumpkin puree). Pour this over bread.

Refrigerate overnight or for 8 hours.  Remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking (this is the type of step that makes me wonder why do the do-ahead step at all, but I think it works for some people). Alternately, you can skip the whole fridge thing and just wait till your bread has soaked up your egg/milk mixture.

Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes. The original recipe said to cover the pan. I missed that step and was actually happy with the crispy top I got. So, it's up to you--crispy top or not. Remove from oven when knife inserted comes out clean and the center seems set.

Serve with maple syrup or powdered sugar or whatever your poison happens to be.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Refrigerator Oatmeal with Chia Seeds and Maple

(Look, it matches my countertops.)

Cold oatmeal. Who ever would have thought that that would have become a thing? Of course, to be fair, cold oatmeal of the cooked and cooled variety is a completely different beast that refrigerator oatmeal--oatmeal that is soaked in milk, yogurt, or a combination thereof, left overnight and then eaten the next day. 

Still, when I first heard of this last summer, the thought of it was just weird. One of my friends was telling me about their Swiss (I believe) friends who would eat oatmeal this way all the time. Well, not to be outdone by the Swiss, I went home and poured some milk in oatmeal, let it sit overnight, and tried it the next morning with a raspberry sauce. With every spoonful, strings of snot-like starchy substance hung from my spoon. When the raspberry sauce mixed with it, it looked even more repulsive. I could barely choke it down. 

Lucky for me, about that time recipes for refrigerator oatmeal started popping up all over the place online. Everyone was doing it. Everyone was raving about it. You could even make a week's worth and have all your breakfasts ready and waiting each morning. Now try that with hot oats. 

But it took me a while to hop on the bandwagon. I wasn't sure what I'd done wrong the first time, but I wasn't eating snotmeal again. It could have been the quick oats, or the type of oats (some people say generic kinds are starchier, though I don't think I agree), too much or too little milk. I didn't know. My friend suggested trying it with yogurt. And I did. And I'm glad I did. Because there was no snot. Since that time, I have found that even if I do part milk, part yogurt, I have success. And the thing is that it wasn't just like it was better now because it wasn't slimy. It was beyond better. It was creamy, fluffy, perfectly textured oatmeal. It was delicious. 

At first, I was still flavoring my oatmeal in much the same way I would hot oatmeal--with brown sugar and raisins. That was good and all, but I've come to realize that one of the fun things about refrigerator oatmeal is that it can be made with all kinds of fun add-ins and that this, too, can be done the night before. 

When I went to my sister's house over Thanksgiving, I found a combo I really really adored--oatmeal with chia seeds and maple syrup (the real stuff, but you only need just a bit). This was my first experience with chia seeds. I was, after all, raised at the height of chia pet commercialization. Who knew that one day the seeds that sprouted on your little chia pig would be the next hot super food? 

Vegans have known about chia seeds longer than the rest of us because, when combined with water, they form a gelatinous substance that can be substituted for eggs in baking. They're also noteworthy (for vegans and the rest of us) because they're super high in omega-3's (yet, unlike flax seed, don't have to be crushed or ground to access it) and because they can fill you up and are good for digestion (if you drink enough water, which you should). If you want to read a great article on the health benefits of chia seeds, check it out HERE. 

You can generally find them in health stores. They're going to be the cheapest if you buy them from bulk bins. You can buy them off of Amazon if your town doesn't sell them. You can also find them in different colors, but all are purported to have the same health benefits. 

Here's to a healthy, delicious breakfast that can be made for the week in 5 minutes or less. 

Refrigerator Oatmeal with Chia Seeds and Maple

Serves 1 (but can be multiplied)

Prep time: 2 minutes

Cost: $.30

oats: .02, milk: .03, yogurt: .10, chia seeds: .10, maple syrup: .05

1/4 C oatmeal (regular oats are best, but quick will work too)

1/4 C milk

1/4 C plain yogurt (Greek or regular)

1 1/2 tsp chia seeds

1 Tbsp real maple syrup (or honey)--I use a fairly low grade, but it is the real stuff

Combine all ingredients. Cover with lid or plastic wrap. Put in fridge overnight or longer. Eat. 

Note: You can mix up a big batch, put individual size servings in Tupperware or small mason jars and then you have a quick, transportable breakfast for each day of the week.  

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Scottish Oatcakes (aka Gluten-free Crackers)

It's time for this month's Secret Recipe Club contribution. This month I had Shelley at C Mom Cook. She had plenty of recipes that were family-friendly, but still interesting. That's right up my alley. One that caught my eye was these Scottish Oatcakes. They are not a cake or even a cookie, but a cracker. A cracker made almost entirely from oats.

Which is why it seems almost magical to me how good they are. Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't expect them to be bad or I wouldn't have made them, but I was surprised by how very tasty and flavorful something could be that was basically grain and water with a pat of butter and maple syrup. Now I have to tell you something. As I made these, I wasn't sure how they were going to turn out. To look at the dough (a grey blob of oatmeal) and expect it to turn into a cracker that was not only edible, but enjoyable was a small stretch of faith. And then as they were cooking, I was a bit like, "These are never going to harden up." But taste good, they did. And harden up, they did. They're the best homemade cracker I've ever made. And super simple to boot. Also, my girls and I had a great time cutting them into different shapes. We ate them with hummus (me and Savannah) and peanut butter (everybody else). Delightful.

Scottish Oatcakes (aka Gluten-free Crackers)
adapted from C Mom Cook
Makes about 20-24 largish crackers
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20-30 minutes
Cost: $.35
oatmeal.25, butter: .06, syrup: .04

2 1/2 C oats (Shelley used old-fashioned; I used quick)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C water
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp maple syrup (I used the real stuff and recommend this or honey)

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine oatmeal, baking soda, and salt in bowl.

Heat water and butter until butter melts (this could be done in a saucepan or the microwave).

Pour liquid into the center of the oatmeal mix and stir it up (a bit quickly--you want to get the water well-incorporated before in is absorbed into the oats). If you're using quick oats, the water will get sucked up pretty quickly. If you're using old-fashioned, it will seem wet at first, but will absorb and make a dough-like blob.

Dust work surface with oat flour or wheat flour (depending on whether you need these gluten-free or not). Roll dough until it's about 1/4 inch thick. (This is thicker than a store-bought cracker will be. Go thinner if you wish to and can. I liked the thickness.) Cut into squares or if you're an exciting person, use cookie cutters to cut shapes. The advantage of the cookie cutters is funness. The advantage of the squares is that you don't have to re-roll the dough at all. I will confess that by the 3rd or 4th re-roll, my dough was starting to fall apart a bit. It still made tasty crackers though.

Place crackers on baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes (I did 30), flipping them over every five minutes or so. I know that this seems like a pesky instruction, but it ensures that the crackers don't steam themselves and get nice and crisp. Also, this recipe is so simple a little extra flipping didn't seem too painful.

When cooked, they'll be crisp and just barely turning golden. (Note: They'll firm up even more as they cool.)

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Leftover Tuesday: Rice Pudding

In keeping with my unofficial theme of Spring Break Snacks this week, I decided to use leftover Tuesday to make a sweet breakfast.

I realize that this recipe may shock all of you foodies out there who cannot even imagine rice pudding made of anything but arborio rice, stirred lovingly in its pot until creamy and perfect. And I'll admit that rice pudding made this way is truly something special. But if you grew up in my house where your mom could turn the food budget on a dime, you may be familiar with this rice pudding stepbrother--a concoction made from leftover rice, milk, eggs, and sugar. It is not quite the superstar its arborio sibling is, but it is still delicious and, if you serve it for a lazy Tuesday morning breakfast, still something pretty special. (I craved it after every pregnancy/birth I ever experienced.) The other great thing about it is that you can use any varieties of rice, including brown rice (or probably even farro) to make it and in this way it can be a little more wholesome. And if that's not good enough for you, know this: it takes a mere 5 minutes to throw together. Take that foodie rice pudding.

Here's our cast of leftovers and staples (minus the milk, which I forgot; will there ever be a week when I don't forget something in the line up?):

Our final product was a little mushier than usual (though it still tasted great)--usually the rice grains maintain more of their shape/texture. I think there were 3 reasons for this. First, we were using basmati rice, which I think tends to fall apart easier. Second, it had been frozen, which breaks down the structure of foods a bit. Third, my daughter was stirring and she was fairly zealous about it.

Leftover Rice Pudding
Serves 4
Prep and cook time: 5-7 minutes
Cost: $.65
rice: .15, eggs: .30, milk: .10, sugar: .10

2 C cooked rice
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 C milk
1/2 C sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
splash vanilla
handful raisins, optional

Combine all ingredients (except vanilla and raisins) in a sauce pan. Heat on medium, stirring often. Eventually the mixture will come to a sort of gentle boil and begin to thicken (at this point, stir constantly). Once it is thick, you're done. Take it off the heat and add your splash of vanilla and raisins or other dried fruit if you wish.

You can serve this warm or cold. I like both, but cold is my favorite.

You can eat it for breakfast (though I must warn you it's not the most virtuous food choice in the world) or as dessert. If you're having it for breakfast, you can add raisins or other dried fruit. If you're having it for dessert, you can still add the dried fruit, but a dollop of whipped cream is a nice touch too.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Farro Risotto

Traditionally risotto is an Italian rice dish made with Arborio rice--a short fat rice that is creamy and dreamy. After reading Lisa's post from 100 Days of Real Food here, I wanted to try a whole grain version, but I didn't have quick cooking brown rice and I sure didn't want to stand by the stove stirring for an hour or more. Not to worry. Because I had my own dreamy creamy solution to the whole grain problem. Farro. Remember farro? It's a whole grain in the wheat family. It even has the decency to be Italian. It cooks up quickly (at least my pearled farro does) and is creamy and toothsome in texture.

Risotto is still a hands-on dinner. It requires your presence. You have to stir it--not constantly, but regularly. Sometimes that can be a problem if there are 8 trillion other people requiring your presence while you're trying to cook dinner. However, if you can keep everyone in the kitchen so you can watch your pot, you should be fine. The other great thing about it requiring your eye and a bit of your attention is that you can finally clear out that dishwasher that should have been cleared out that morning. And maybe make up a nice golden batch of slowly sauteed onions (a la French onion soup) to be eaten with your meal or saved to make soup later.

Farro Risotto
adapted from 100 Days of Real Food
serves 2-4 depending on whether it's a side dish or main course
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Cost: A little sketchy since my farro was a gift and I'm not sure how much it is, but about $2.10
(onion: .05, farro: .50, grape fuice: .10, stock--I used homemade so free; otherwise, about .30 if you use chicken granules, spinach: .30, chicken: .50, other stuff: .05, Parm cheese: .30)

1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp grated onion (this is probably about 1/4 C chopped onion, but I grate mine so as to disguise it from those who don't like its texture)
1 C farro
1/3 C white grape juice (traditionally white wine, but we don't have it on hand. If you're a teetotaler like us and don't have any white grape juice, you can use more chicken stock or water and throw in a tsp sugar)
3 C chicken stock (I used homemade)
2 C spinach
1 C shredded chicken
1/3 C Parmesan

1. Heat olive oil in a pan (medium heat). Add grated or chopped onion and stir until fragrant, but not brown.

2. In the meantime, heat your chicken stock in a saucepan. (Why do you do this? You want it to be warm so that it doesn't cook or significantly slow the cooking process as you make your risotto. Keep the stock on the stove at a low simmer as you prepare your risotto. You don't want it boiling like mad as it will boil too much away while you make your risotto, but you don't want it cool either.)

3. Add farro (to the oil/onion mixture, not to the stock) and stir for a couple minutes to lightly toast the grain. (Why do you do this? It helps the grain hold its texture throughout the cooking process.)

4. Add the white grape juice to the farro and stir until it's absorbed (this won't take long at all).

5. Add a ladle-ful of stock to the risotto and stir. Keep stirring occasionally as the stock absorbs. (Why do I have to stir occasionally? Because this releases some of the starches and gives the risotto the appropriate texture when it's done.) Every time the stock is almost absorbed into the farro, add another ladle-ful, stirring occasionally until it absorbs. This is how you're going to spend the next 20 minutes. Simmer, stir occasionally, add another ladle-ful of warm stock, help your child spell 'continent,' and repeat.

6. In the meantime, chop the spinach and the chicken (we had leftover chicken from a roast chicken; otherwise you can use canned or boil a breast or skip it altogether and go vegetarian).

7. When you're just about to your last ladle or two of stock, add the spinach and the chicken and stir.

8. Add the last of your stock. Stir. Taste. This is important. The farro shouldn't be mush; it should be chewy and toothsome, but it shouldn't be rock-in-the-center either. If it's not done, add another 1/2 C of water and stir, allowing that to absorb. Note: You want a little bit of fluid to remain when you take this off the heat. It will probably absorb before you eat your meal, but if you let all the fluid get lapped up and then take the pan off heat, the bottom might dry out before you (finally) get all the kids to sit down at the table.

9. Add salt and pepper and taste, adjusting your seasonings if necessary.

10. Add Parmesan cheese and give it a stir or 2. Serve nice and warm.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Linked to Fusion Fridays

On Farro and Feelin' the Love

Cheap Eat Challenge, Part 2: Watch as our family of 6 eats on $10/day.

You know all those really lame articles that show up on Yahoo and the like about what to buy--or what not to buy--for so and "important" person who you clearly must not know well or care about much because you're reading a Yahoo article about what to buy them. Yeah, you know the ones. And how they're always either eliminating every generic or potential gift you could possibly think to give someone (no jewelry, no kitchen appliances, no perfume, no sweaters, etc.) or suggesting these super ridiculous things like really really expensive marshmallows or scarves or diamond earrings, or, well gift cards or something (or maybe that one was on the 'don't buy' list--oh, I do get so confused by it all). 

Anyway, this season I have a tip of my own to share. Farro. Wikipedia defines it as a specific species of wheat in whole form. You can't buy it in Evansville. I'd never even heard of it until my sister sent me a recipe she and her family love, only I had to sub in barley because farro was not to be found. And then the last time we visited her, she gave me this big old bag. Well, this month I finally got around to using it and I realized what's been missing all my life. It's so good. It's better than barley and better than wheat and, like, 800 times better than brown rice. It's a toothsome and kind of sweet and--this is going to sound weird--almost creamy--at any rate, it has a rich, lovely mouth feel and taste. It cooks up in 15 minutes (at least the type she gave me does). I LOVE it. And you will too if you love grains at all. Also, it is a whole food. And a traditional food. And sometimes an Italian food. And I think we all know that that makes it automatically cool.  

Not to sound bossy or anything, but seriously buy some. For yourself and those you love and those you barely know, but have to get a Christmas gift for anyway, because there are rules about these things apparently:

(P.S. Although it looks and sounds lovely and classy, I should let you know I haven't tried this actual brand of Farro because--did you miss the part about my sister giving me a bag?--but I intend to after my bag runs out because--did you miss the part about it being unavailable in Evansville?--yeah, that's why.)

This type, which my sister got me at Costco (or somewhere surprisingly everyday-ish like that), I know is awesomely good. It's not yet for sale on Amazon, but we should all go request that it become available:

And if you think I'm nuts and you're totally going to go out and buy a sweater or some expensive marshmallows for your boss, okay whatever, but maybe you should check out Dave Barry's suggestions for the year. I'm quite sure that's what I'll be doing tonight instead of wrapping gifts or practicing the songs I'm supposed to play for church on Sunday or any of a number of things I ought to be doing instead. (I love you, Dave, and I'm totally voting for you for the Republican nominee.)

You might like this one too. (P.S. Do you think Dave would be offended if I named a chicken after him this spring? I'd like to pay tribute and I'm out of sons.)

Homemade Kettle Corn

Cheap Eat Challenge, Part 2: Watch as our family of 6 eats on less than $10/day.

Lately my toddler, has been on a bit of a hunger strike. Toddlers, should you have the good fortune of knowing one, do that. It's not a strike exactly, nothing in the Gandhi school of hunger strikes: toddlers will eat foods resembling sweets and there is no noble cause for which they are suffering, or more accurately causing you to suffer (unless, of course, you consider the consumption of only cookies a noble cause, in which case food striking toddlers have high causes indeed).

Generally, a toddler on a food strike just doesn't want to eat a few little foods, you know, accessory foods, things like meat, cheese, pasta, rice, most breads, soup, most sandwiches, casseroles, most fruits, vegetables, and any of a number of foods they ate and thoroughly enjoyed just last week, sometimes even pizza. And, while I do enjoy a (healthy I assure you) love affair with breakfast cookies, I refuse to feed them to my child only and always. A cruel lot, we mothers.

Fortunately for me, Emma also loves popcorn. We've been making a lot of it, often for lunch since she's been turning up her nose at the PBJ's I give her. (And by turning up her nose, I do mean opening the sandwich up, smearing the contents all over her face, her hair, her clothes, her chair, and any unlucky creatures who happen to come within arm's reach; and then throwing the remnants on the floor and screaming merrily.)

Popcorn is lovely on many levels. It's a whole grain that only takes a few minutes to pop. And I can sweep it off the floor instead of crawling around with a washcloth looking for smears of it.

However, I do occasionally find myself wanting to change it up. Cue, kettle corn.

Until recently, I considered it kettle corn a miracle of county fair/Orville Redenbacher Frankensteinian science, but no my friends--it is real; it is natural; it is wonderful. Below I will unveil it's many (fine, few) secrets.

1. You can make this with canola oil. It's fine. It's even good. I tried it and we ate it and we were happy. But if you want to make it really really taste like kettle corn and to be just so wonderfully good, you should make it with coconut oil. In fact it is so much better with coconut oil that, if you like kettle corn, I would say it's worth purchasing coconut oil for this purpose alone. (Afraid of coconut oil; don't be. Have a look here at it's many benefits.)

2. Heat your oil first, then add the sugar and the kernels together. Do not add the sugar with the oil. You will risk burning the sugar. And while you can sprinkle the sugar on at the end (a la salt), it's better and more kettle-corn-like if you add it in with the corn kernels.

3. You can probably kind of sort of do this in a popcorn popper, but to get it really good, you'll need to do it on the stove top. Have a look here to see how easy peasy (and super fun) this is. Someday I will make a video. Pinky promise.

Homemade Kettle Corn
Makes, I don't know, let's say 4 cups
Cook time: 7-ish minutes
Cost: $.10

1/4 C popcorn kernels
2 Tbsp coconut oil
2 tsp sugar
sprinkle salt (optional and I didn't do)

Note: If you do use canola oil for this, you'll need a little more; I don't know why. Try 3-4 Tbsp, but really put the coconut oil on your shopping list. A lot of Walmarts are even selling it now.

Put oil in a 2 quart pot (one that has a lid). Add 2-3 kernels popcorn with the oil. Put lid on and turn heat to medium. Let the oil heat, tilting the pan occasionally (especially if your stove top is uneven like mine). When the kernels pop, you know the oil is hot enough. Add the rest of the kernels and the sugar. Put the lid on. Tip the pan to swirl the kernels in oil and sugar.

Every few seconds, tilt or shake the pan (shake it from side to side, not up and down and hold the lid on with your other hand). Your kernels will start popping. Keep shaking the pan every few seconds. When the popping slows down considerably, take the pan off the heat. Take the lid off, but be careful of renegade poppers; they could burn you. Sprinkle on a bit of salt if that's your thing (another sprinkle of sugar wouldn't hurt either).

PRINTABLE RECIPE

How to Pop Popcorn in a Pot

Cheap Eat Challenge: Watch as our family of 6 eats, or tries to, on $6/day.

Popcorn is one of those foods that sort of drops off my radar and then, blammo, one day I get a fearsome craving for some, nice and hot with a sprinkle of salt if you please. (Also, if everyone could please say, 'how to pop popcorn in a pot' three times quickly, I'd really appreciate it.)

Yesterday was one such day. As I shook those kernels over the stove, it occurred to me that some might not know how to prepare popcorn in such a way. I know that when I was young and single and my cooking skills consisted of boiling water for pasta and opening a can of spaghetti sauce, I had no idea. And then I lived in Taiwan for a couple of months with a bunch of girls who'd get occasional hankerings for American food. I'm guessing we couldn't buy it in the microwave variety. Or perhaps we didn't have a microwave. At any rate, people would pop it up in the pan and I learned how too.

Which is great for so many reasons. It takes popcorn from processed to whole food (or, rather, you are in complete control of most of the processing). It's much much cheaper than popcorn in a bag. It makes it so you don't have to buy the one-use gadget that popcorn poppers are. And you have no idea how wickedly fun it is for toddlers and young children to watch (just be sure you've got the old lid on first). It's, like, the best magic trick ever.

My oldest daughter asked to have some in her lunch and my youngest daughter was grunting in demand for the popped corn, and it occurred to me that this was a tidy snack to take on walks or send in lunchboxes. And it is much healthier than fruit snacks. Can I get an amen?

How to Pop Popcorn in a Pan

Oops--I'll take pictures to go with next time I make popcorn, but I promise that it's such an easy thing, you don't really need them.

1. You'll need a pot with a handle and a lid that fits well.

2. Pour enough oil (I use canola) into the bottom of the pot to coat the bottom. It needn't be thick, but it should cover the bottom of the pan.

3. Set heat at medium and place 2-3 kernels of popcorn in the bottom of the pot. Put the lid on and wait for them to pop. When they pop, you know you're oil is at the right temperature. (Of course, if they immediately burn, your oil is way too hot and if they take forever to pop, you've got it too low or a bum bag of kernels.)

4. Add enough kernels to cover or almost cover the bottom of the pan in one layer. Be sure--as in absolutely positive--that you don't have more than one layer of kernels. Err on the side of too little. If you've got too much and it's more than one layer on the bottom of the pan, your kernels will likely burn.

5. Put the lid on and give the pan a gentle shake (side to side, not up and down) so that the kernels roll a bit and get coated with the oil. Let the pot sit on the heat until the kernels begin popping--it should only take a few seconds.

6. Shake the pan gently side to side every few seconds. You can pick it up slightly off the burner to do this. The kernels will go nuts and pop away. When the pot is full (and it will get full--another reason not to layer up the popcorn kernels), take it off the heat, remove the lid (watch for any stray poppers), and salt it. You can also add butter, but I usually don't as I find the oil gives it all the fatty oomph I need.

7. Eat it. It's much better hot.