"Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start..."

So I shall post about what we eat at the beginning of the day, BREAKFAST.

We have this every day and never grow tired of it even in the summer. Love it! I make a double batch of this for Brian and me and serve with almond milk.

Banana Berry Oatmeal

1 cup of water

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 Tbsp. ground flaxseed

A dash of cinnamon

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1 banana, sliced

Boil water, add oats, flaxseed and cinnamon. Once cooked, add blueberries and banana. 

Clara likes to make pancakes. Her favorite are the Sweet Potato Pancakes. We make a full batch and freeze the leftovers to be microwaved on future mornings.

Quick Mix

(equivalent to Bisquick)

5 cups flour

3 ½ cups whole wheat flour (I do half whole wheat and half white flour)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 Tbs. baking powder

1 ½ cups instant nonfat dry milk

1 Tbs. salt

2 tsp. cream of tartar

Mix together ingredients.

Put in airtight container. Label.

Store in a cool, dry place and

use within 10 to 12 weeks.

Pancakes

2 cups Quick Mix

2 cup water

2 eggs

Applesauce Pancakes

2 cups Quick Mix

1 cup sweetened applesauce

1 cup water

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 eggs

Sweet Potato Pancakes

2 cups Quick Mix

2 cups water

1 cup mashed cooked dark-orange sweet potatoes

2 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Waffles

2 cups Quick Mix

1 1/3 cups water

1 egg

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Spicy Pumpkin Pancakes

2 1/3 cups Quick Mix

1/3 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

2 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

2 eggs

Thai Red Curry

Happy 4th of July! This recipe isn't exactly American like apple pie, but it's how I as an American make Thai food.

(I updated the photo, this was a few weeks ago when I made curry with eggplant that George picked out from the grocery store.)

Thai Red Curry

1 can (14 oz) coconut milk

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter
2-3 Tbs Thai red curry paste (depending on how spicy you like it. You can get this and the coconut milk from an Asian market, although sometimes I can find coconut milk cheaper at Macey's)

juice of 1 lime (or a tablespoon or two of fish sauce, also available at Asian market)

1 chicken breast, chopped into 1 inch cubes and cooked (optional)

1 sweet potato (optional)

chopped cilantro (for garnish, optional)

Bring coconut milk to boil in medium saucepan (if you do use chicken in this, you can do like I do and boil the chicken in the coconut milk). Add remaining ingredients and stir until smooth. You can add cooked cubed chicken if you like, and I also like to add chunks of cooked sweet potato to the sauce as well. Serve curry sauce over rice and steamed or stir-fried veggies (I use typical stir fry veggies, but I especially like to add baby corn, water chestnuts, sometimes bamboo shoots). My kids don't really like the spice of the curry sauce, so they usually just eat the rice and veggies (and maybe some sweet potato and chicken that I reserved before putting them in the sauce).