Oatmeal Pancakes... on the Road! DIY Pancake Mix and Travel Options.

Welcome to summer!  That peaceful time of eagerly anticipated days of family travel, endless queries of "Are we there yet?" and the search for meals on the road.

While I love to travel, it's often hotel and restaurant food that does me in.  I can only take so many days of oil laden $18 (if we are lucky) pancakes and waffles, dripping made to order omelettes, and bacon on top of everything.

Being a mostly plant-based and dairy-free family (my kids are severely lactose intolerant making this an even more important issue to control) has its difficulties when searching for food to meet our needs.  Then toss in our travel for Liv's competitive dance team and finding not only dairy-free foods, but healthy options to sustain her through 10 hour plus days becomes nearly impossible.

But that's where a little DIY creativity finds us making our hotel neighbors positively envious as they find aromas of fresh oatmeal pancakes drifting through our adjoining doors.

Yes, I've taken to traveling with my own griddle!  A recent Amazon find of the Presto Liddle Griddle solved our breakfast issue with its small (read very packable) 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 inch cooking surface.

Traveling the last two weeks with Liv's team I planned ahead and pre-packaged several bags of our favorite pancake mix along with our new griddle.  With Almond Milk and syrup in the cooler, our plant-based pancakes were ready in minutes, and I'm proud to say I actually had a knock on the door from our hotel neighbors (a team member) saying she could smell them through the door and to please tell her we had extra!

With ingredients including oat flour, oats, chia, ground flax, and banana, these pancakes set Liv and her girlfriends off to a good start before competing, and if desired, the addition of an egg brings even more protein to the meal.  And... all for a small fraction of the price of the hotel restaurant.

Here's were I'm going to change subjects just for a minute and gush about our week!  You know that dream of winning it all?  The dream of scoring the highest score of the entire competition and coming home with an 8 foot trophy?  Well... that happened!

Pure excitement!  National 1st Place winner... Best of the Competition!

These girls attended the Star Systems Nationals in Las Vegas with over a thousand other dancers and finished the season with their large group contemporary number undefeated, and took home the highest score of the week.  Not a bad way to end the season!

For those of you following on our Facebook page, this is the same number you voted on for the Industry Dance Awards and the girls send their sincere thanks.

But back to the pancakes... which I'm thinking may have fueled the beginning of their day so well that I may be partially responsible for the win ;).  Whole grain, laced with cinnamon and banana, then drizzled with pure maple syrup.  Hotel breakfasts just don't get much better.

DIY Oat Flour

Sometimes we tend to make things harder than they need to be.  Oat flour for example.  I love it.  It lends a slightly nubby texture to many baked goods and brings a wealth of nutrition along with it.

But my local stores often don't carry it.  Hence, I found myself ordering online and paying more shipping fees than I care to admit to.  (shhh... don't tell my husband!)

And then I thought, "Why don't I just pop some oats in to the blender and make my own flour?".

And I did.  And I had oat flour ground to the fineness I desired for the particular recipe I was making in mere seconds (with no shipping fees!).

Want more of a nubby texture for your pancakes?  Don't process the aots quite as long.  Want a finer texture for crepes?  Blend a little longer.

Oat flour has become one of my go-to flours lately, and when I purchase gluten-free oats it reduces the gluten in our baked good.

 Long known to have cholesterol lowering benefits, (Oats, oat bran, and oatmeal contain a specific type of fiber known as beta-glucan - and since 1963, study after study has proven the beneficial effects of this special fiber on cholesterol levels), antioxidant compounds unique to oats, called avenanthramides are now being said to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

And if that isn't enough, according to The World's Healthiest Foods, oatmeal also has the potential to stabilize blood sugars, enhance immune response to infection, lower type 2 diabetes risks, and protect against postmenopausal breast cancer.  #superfood

After reading all these health benefits, I'm even more inspired to kick up our daily oats and I've been substituting oat flour in place of a portion of the all-purpose flour in pancakes, waffles, muffins, breads, etc.  I've even been known to add a few tablespoons into Liv's smoothies and she doesn't have a clue.

So here's to oat flour!  Make your own and save those shipping fees!

DIY Oat Flour
A simple spin in the blender - I use a Blendtec (note this post is not sponsored by Blendtec nor has Blendtec given me a blender) and within a few pulses I have transformed my oats into oat flour.  I've also used a regular blender with good results, however I wasn't able to blend quite as fine as I wanted at times.

To prepare:
Place rolled oats (gluten-free or not) into your high-powered blender or regular blender.  Pulse until pulverized, then pulse a few more times to desired fineness.  Note, with a regular blender you may have to process for a longer time.

Store in an airtight container. 

Here are a few of our favorite recipes:

Double Blueberry Muffins with Lemon Glaze

  

Power Pumpkin Pancakes

Soft Oatmeal Bread  

DIY Pancake and Waffle Mix (aka - Hotel Waffles)

DIY Nut Butters

Find Liv Life  (DIY Nut Butters) on the Blendtec Blog!

From elementary through high school, the all-American PBJ became my lunchtime staple.  Soft bread slathered with peanutty wonderfulness and a large dollop of apricot jam, the combo always (and still does) brought a smile to my face.  Or... how about my beloved peanut butter cup??  The only candy I ever devoured (well... along with a Butterfinger or two) out of my Halloween bag, I remember trading everything else away, then hoarding my stash of pb cups for weeks.

But then I grew up and became a mom, and the ingredients in the store bought jars of brand name peanut butters left me wanting less.  Less ingredients.  For a true nut butter, the ingredient should be - the nut.  And I turned to natural peanut butter from Trader Joe's.  One day though, unpacking my bag and I found I had grabbed Almond Butter rather than Peanut butter and thought, what the heck??  I'll give it a go.  And my world opened just a little bit more.

Opening my world even further though, was the arrival in my kitchen of the Blendtec Twister Jar which now allows me to make my own nut butter concoctions at will.  Cashew Butter anyone??  Or how about the luxurious and ethereal Macadamia Butter??  Or perhaps a Crunchy Cashew Peanut version??

You can find them all on the Blendtec Blog where Liv Life is guest posting with our DIY Nut Butter post.  Join me?

Luscious Macadamia Butter... it's a snap to make at home!

DIY Homemade Waffle Mix - aka Hotel Waffles (mix works for pancakes too!)

How many times do you head to a hotel breakfast only to be greeted with fat laden, white flour, soggy waffles?  For years I've simply skipped breakfast and my kids, while excited at first, complained of not feeling well after these indulgent meals (frequently topped with whipped cream...).  We, however, have fixed the issue on our past few hotel stays with what we've affectionately dubbed, "Hotel Waffles".

With a little bit of pre-planning, healthy waffles can be ready in no time right in your hotel room and no one needs to shower, worry about when the restaurant breakfast ends, or spend the morning recovering from unhealthy treats that weren't really enjoyed but cost a fortune anyway.

A simple DIY mix containing whole grains, chia and flax shake together with an egg, a little oil, milk and vanilla in a lidded jar.  With a waffle maker brought from home (we travel with the Cuisinart Round Waffle Maker that I've had for years), we pre-measure the mix in zippy bags and store eggs and milk in a cooler.

I have small travel bottles of oil, vanilla and maple syrup that we pack along, and shortly after rising my family is happily sliding out of bed and starting their day the right way (healthy, quick and cheap).

Perfect for camping as well as hotels, you may want to make extra mix as these beauties work just as well on a leisurely weekend at home!

Peach Bourbon BBQ Sauce #BourbonBBQ

Summer... it's here!!  And that means grilling season is upon us.  Well, here in San Diego grilling season is pretty much an all year round affair, but with May deemed National BBQ Month we are right now all about food over the open fire.  When grilling, whether it be chicken, salmon, vegetables or even pizza (yes, we grill our pizza!), condiments become a key ingredient to success.

And what's speaks more to grilling or BBQing than a good, sweet and tangy BBQ Sauce?  Different parts of the country will have very strong opinions as to what a "good" and "proper" BBQ Sauce is.  For example... dining in Memphis?  The sauce served will most likely be a thinner, tomato based sauce with a heavy tang of vinegar.  Or how about the Carolina's?  Here BBQ means pork, and only pork, and usually a mustard based sauce often with some sort of slaw on the side.  Kansas City?  Perhaps the most recognizable BBQ Sauce type, this sauce tends to be sweeter, heavy on the tomato and with only a slight vinegar tang and perhaps a trace of smoke.

But what about California?  Here just about anything goes, and today we bring you a sweet yet tangy Peach Bourbon BBQ Sauce.  Inspired by Four Roses Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, this sauce includes caramelized sauteed onions enhanced with the rich bourbon flavors and then combined with sweet, fresh peaches.  Going  California style, our sauce is perfect with grilled salmon or chicken, but also a wonderful addition to pulled pork.

Having spent three years of my life living in Louisville, Kentucky, bourbon has a special place in my heart.  To be a true Bourbon, the product must be distilled only in the US.  While it may be distilled anywhere in the US, you will find most Bourbons are distilled in Kentucky.  Bourbons must be aged in new, charred oak barrels and must be distilled from at least 51% corn.  Different distillers use varying combinations of other grains including rye, barley, and wheat, but the corn must stay at 51%.

When bottled, all Bourbons must be at least 80 proof, though many will exceed this requirement.  However unlike many other distilled spirits, Bourbon may not contain any artificial colorings or additives, hence, the caramel color of bourbon comes only from the barrel it was aged in.

Four Roses, like most other bourbons, hails from Kentucky with its distillery located in Lawrenceburg.  It's said that Four Roses founder, Paul Jones Jr. became smitten by the beauty of a southern belle.  After proposing to the belle, she replied that if the answer was "Yes", she would wear a corsage of roses to the upcoming grand ball.  Arriving in a beautiful gown also she wore a corsage of 4 red roses, and Mr. Jones named his Bourbon "Four Roses" as a symbol of his passion for his lovely belle.

Thank you to Four Roses for sending us samples of their single barrel bourbon whiskey and for bringing a little bit of Kentucky to our California home.  Whether you live in the East, South, North or West, Peach Bourbon BBQ Sauce is sure to enhance your meal for National BBQ Month.  #BourbonBBQ  Definitely a reason to get outside and grill!

Homemade Corn Tortilla Chips

Did you whip up a batch of Classic Guacamole today??  Or perhaps it was a nice Grilled Tomatillo Mango Salsa?  And when you were at the store did you get all the ingredients on your list... except the tortilla chips??  I just may have done exactly that, but my to my family's happiness all was not lost.  Actually... all was better.

Tomatillo Mango Salsa

Spying a bag of corn tortillas in my pantry my mind went to work.  Hmmm... DIY Corn Tortilla Chips??  Probably made with corn tortillas, right?

Pulling out a few of the fragrant rounds (I love the smell of corn tortillas) we cut them into triangles and strips (and yes... they really can be cut with a cutter into heart shapes too), drizzled with our favorite avocado oil, sprinkled with a few pinches of smoked paprika and a grind of salt and we baked.  And then we ate.

Nicely salted, flavored and crisped to perfection, these Baked Corn Tortilla Chips brought a fraction of the fat than the store bought bags, and the whole family actually begged for another batch.

20 minutes is all you need to whip up a crispy batch of your own.  Now you're happy you forgot that bag at the store!!

20 minutes and a stack of corn tortillas is all your need for fresh, crispy chips!

DIY Homemade Kahlua ~ 3 Versions

Spirits of the alcoholic sort aren't usually my thing... however a 2008 Christmas gift of a homemade bottle of Kahlua became a treasure I savored for years.  Rich, sweet and bursting with mocha flavors, this coffee liquor is a fabulous treat over crushed ice, or for me, it's become a holiday baking ingredient I can't live without. 

I'll admit I had never tasted the liquor before my girlfriend gave me a bottle, but polishing off the bottle in a matter of months I begged for another the following Christmas.  Now out of Kahlua again, it's time I learned to make this necessity myself.  And who knew it was so easy?  With only 5 ingredients (including water), Kahlua mixes together in less than 20 minutes and then needs a just a few weeks to infuse with heavenly vanilla to bring it to its full potential.

A simple internet search brings a plethora of recipes, each bringing its own variance to the table, or shall we say, to the bottle.  White vs. brown sugar, rum vs. vodka, and brewed vs. instant coffee, each variation allows one to bring one's own touch to the concoction, be it traditional or not.

For our first experiment, we decided to keep to the basics - coffee, vodka, granulated sugar and vanilla beans.  My quandary though, became brewed or instant coffee?  Unable to decide, I made batches of both.

Advice from a facebook post on DIY Kahlua brought agreement on one thing in particular... good coffee.   Most responders recommended using the best coffee available, and let me just note here that knowledge of making a good, strong cup of brewed coffee is a plus (and perhaps not my forte...).

As for the alcohol, the general consensus had me using a nice medium grade vodka, not too cheap, but definitely not the top shelf stuff.  And vanilla beans?  I like to use the best, and for me, my one stop shop is Beanilla.  Having used their beans and bottles for our general baking as well as DIY gifts for the last few years, I wouldn't think of using anything else.

Being somewhat of a traditionalist, my first batch included freshly brewed coffee.  Might I just mention here that my husband is the coffee maker in the house, and my "strong" freshly brewed coffee left much to be desired.  Hence, I found my first batch of Kahlua to be somewhat weak - if you are a good coffee maker though, you may have better luck.

My second batch however, following the Beanilla recipe with instant coffee (we used  Medaglia D'Oro Instant Espresso Coffee), proved to be more traditional and brought a rich, dark coffee liquor immediately begging to be tasted.

Our conclusion to the DIY Kahlua experiment recommends using very strong coffee if you use freshly brewed, or better yet, stick with the majority of the recipes out there and use a premium instant brand for an even stronger result.

Agreeing with our facebook poll we suggest:

~  Good coffee ~

~  Decent Vodka ~

~  Excellent Vanilla ~

~  Cute bottles ~

Vanilla Extract (Essence) Update and DIY Sweet Vanilla Sugar

Vanilla Extract at 16 Days!  I'm loving the color!!

Have you started your vanilla extract yet?? Since brewing a little over two weeks, ours is turning a gorgeous amber color and taking on a lovely vanilla fragrance... just like it's supposed to.  I'm so excited at how pretty it already looks, I simply had to share our progress.

Extract after 24 hours

Easy, easy, easy, all you need to make your own extract is vanilla beans, alcohol and bottles or jars.  After our success with last year's project, I couldn't wait to begin more for this holiday season (I have DIY instructions if you need them!), and my mom is eagerly awaiting her homemade bottle so she can use last years.  Yes... she saved last years gift saying, "It's too pretty to use!" so we are making more, and will probably have to make more next year so she will use the one from this year.  Do you know anyone who does that??  I've told her I'm not buying her candles any more either because she saves them all.  :)

Extract Day 1

In any case... have you started your extract?  What beans did you use?  How is it coming along??  Did you experiment with different alcohols?  I can't wait to break open a bottle of this batch and bake!

In the mean time, we also have Vanilla Sugar.  A nice addition to many of your baked goods, Vanilla Sugar also makes a lovely hostess gift.

How to make it?  Simply place the pods of vanilla beans you've used the seeds for in other baking into a container filled with granulated sugar.  The vanilla pods infuse the sugar giving it a heavenly vanilla taste and fragrance in just a few weeks... perfect for a sprinkle on top of waffles or as a stir into your morning coffee.

Want a lower cal version?  Simply place your used vanilla pods into your favorite sugar substitute, wait a few weeks and enjoy!

DIY Homemade Pancake and Waffle Mix

High School is harder than I remember.  With all this extra homework, dance practice, hospital volunteering and now college application season approaching in addition to my other "Mom Duties", I'm completely and utterly exhausted.  Making my last round of kid pick ups at 9:30 on some night, lights out isn't happening until well beyond what I consider a "decent" bedtime.  And I'm the first to admit that the alarm getting me up again before the sun rises is leaving me a little grumpy.

The school year started some 6 weeks ago with me jumping out of bed before the alarm even went off, grabbing a shower and then happily popping downstairs to get a hot breakfast on the table before the kids headed out the door.  We had pancakes, waffles, French Toast, etc, lunches were packed with imagination and the kitchen was cleaned all before 8 AM.

However, these last few weeks have seen me lose my morning perk.  The alarm blares once, if not twice before I slide out of bed to get Liv moving.  My shower may be lasting a bit longer, and breakfast has been reduced to a bowl of cereal because I didn't had time to get all the ingredients for pancakes together and mixed as well as get lunches ready before the kids head out the door.

Hence, I've been working to streamline the morning breakfast routine by doing as much as I can the night before.  And last week I took that even one step further as I put together a wholesome pancake and waffle mix that had me whipping out hot breakfasts for an entire week in no time flat.

Enhanced with spelt and oat flours in addition to ground flax meal, the batter is then mixed with protein-filled eggs and and calcium-rich milk all combining into light and fluffy pancakes or nicely crisped waffles.  Adding fruit and nuts either to the batter or over the top brings a rounded meal that I feel happy sending the kids out to start their day on.

Scaleable to whatever quantity you are looking for, making your own baking mix is cheaper and healthier than store bought, and you can mix it up at your convenience (like after your afternoon nap!) to have you looking like Super Mom in the morning.  Have a sick friend? or perhaps a neighbor with a new baby?  Make up a cute mason jar filled with the mix, toss in a recipe and a bottle of pure maple syrup to ease their day.

DIY Vanilla Extract (Essence)

Vanilla, most likely the world's most recognized and universally loved flavor, finds its extract, or essence, as a staple in nearly every pantry.  Bringing floral notes reminiscent of swaying palms and tropical islands, vanilla enhances sweet and savory recipes in addition to perfumes and household aromas.  The scent of vanilla is said to have calming and soothing effects and has even been used to combat mild sleep disorders.  But for me?  Vanilla just smells happy.

Dating back over 1,000 years, we have the Totonac Indians of Mexico to thank for the actual "discovery" of the vanilla orchid and its treasured pods.  In the 1500's, Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortés brought the precious beans back to Spain where they gained favor throughout Europe, particularly with the upper class including Queen Elizabeth l (who is known to have had an incredible sweet tooth).  Then, nearly 150 years later we can thank our own Thomas Jefferson for returning the beans to the Americas where his great love of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream brought a recipe that is currently stored in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Sharing the vanilla love with Queen Elizabeth and Thomas Jefferson, vanilla beans and extracts are often my souvenir of choice when traveling.  Beautifully plump and fragrant Tahitian beans came home with me from the South Pacific while extracts of all sorts have found their way into my suitcase from all over the Caribbean as well as Europe.

Extract- minutes after filling bottles

Unfortunately, my current budget doesn't allow a quick trip to Tahiti every time I run out of beans, and frankly, pure store bought extracts can be fairly expensive and don't always taste good.

Hence, we've been making our own extract for years.  Extraordinarily easy to put together, homemade Vanilla Extract makes a special hostess or teacher gift for the holiday season or simply any special occasion.  By starting now, you too can have Homemade Vanilla Extract ready in time for this year's holiday season or for your own baking.  We'll show you how!

DIY Vanilla Extract requires only a few items, vanilla beans, bottles or jars, and some sort of alcohol.  Over the years (and since I can't fly to Tahiti to refill my pantry), Beanilla has become my vendor of choice.  With numerous varieties of vanilla beans, there is a favorite for everyone.

Personal favorites for me include my beloved Tahitian Vanilla Bean known for its dreamlike floral fragrance and ability to pair wonderfully with my other love... chocolate.  In addition, the Madagascar, or Bourbon Bean  (probably the most widely available vanilla bean), brings the rich, creamy, sweet and almost buttery flavor that most people have come to associate with vanilla.  Note that the Bourbon (Madagascar) vanilla beans are named for the island from which they originate, not the alcoholic beverage with the same name.

This year I've branched out and am adding a few new varieties to my repertoire.  Most intriguing is the Ugandan Bean which is said to have a bold, rich flavor that I am anticipating will make a fabulous extract.  Also new on my list is the Mexican Bean, whose extract I've purchased in the past but have never made my own.  Just a few days into our 2013 vanilla extract project, I'm finding both beans making lovely amber extracts which are beginning to take on heavenly aromas.

Once you have your beans, you need bottles or jars.  For my home pantry, I sometimes use a plain, large jar that's easy to refill, but for gift giving I'm always on the lookout for something a little prettier.  This year Beanilla has a lovely selection of glass bottles and jars with either corks or clasp tops and I've indulged in a few of each.

Next, you need the alcohol.  Pure vanilla extract has two ingredients, vanilla beans and alcohol, and I've found the most popular alcohol used in extracts is vodka.  With its lack of flavor, vodka works as a blank slate and is ideal to pick up the nuances of each variety of bean.  That said, I also love a vanilla extract made with bourbon, Maker's Mark being my bourbon of choice.  With its light, sweet taste, Maker's Mark enhances the sweetness and floral notes of the vanilla creating a rich and fragrant extract.

Pour alcohol of choice over the beans  (about 5 beans to 8 oz. of alcohol) to cover.  Close the bottle and allow to sit for about 8 weeks, giving it a shake ever so often.

To make the extract I slice the beans in half to fit into small bottles, then run the tip of a sharp knife down the side (lengthwise) of the bean but not cutting all the way through.  Place the beans into the jar and cover with your alcohol of choice.  At this point I love watching the clear liquid slowly take on a lovely amber hue which will continue to darken over the next few weeks.

Store the bottles in a cool, dry and dark place for about 8 weeks and your extract will be ready to share.

DIY Vanilla Extract (Essence) - 24 hour after covering with alcohol

Strawberry Vanilla Bean Jam... Fresh from the California fields.

She's coming home. She's coming home. Tell the world, she's coming home...  with Diddy and Skylar Grey's tune coursing through my head, I see the Flight Radar showing the Boeing 757 at some 33,000 feet and winging its way my direction.  Some 6 hours to go and my girl will be home!

Lucky Liv spent her spring break touring the East Coast with tour-filled stops in DC, NYC, Philly and Boston.  Visions of monuments, the White House, Broadway, the Liberty Bell and the Statue of Liberty texted their way to my phone, but I'm eager to hear first hand the adventures my girl along with her 8th grade class have experienced over this week.

While her days have been filled touring some of our country's finest sights, I've been a bit lonely.  My husband spent a good part of the week out of town, my son headed for the beach and with Liv "living life" thousands of miles away, it's been me and the pups.

I did OK for the first day or two (once the plane landed...), but then my heart went out to her as I woke up on the 3rd day to a text saying she had a stomach bug and had thrown up some 4 times that morning.  As the tour had checked out of their hotel, my poor sweetie spent the day hugging a waste basket on the bus while the rest of the class visited the Capitol Building and the Newseum.

Talking to her briefly I could hear her tears as she struggled to remain strong, but my heart broke being so far away.  As stomach bugs do, this one ran its course and left her weak but feeling much better just about the time the bus pulled in to NYC.  A good night's rest had her back on her feet and the next day photos of Broadway filled my phone.

Home alone with anxious energy I headed out with camera in hand, something that always brings me peace.  A long walk on the beach took my mind off the miles and a stop at the local farmer's market had me loading up on fresh organic California Strawberries.  The road home led past one of our local strawberry fields and I couldn't resist jumping out and snapping a few shots of the beautiful red berries as I watched a family from Utah pick their own.  The squealing of the little girls lifted my heart, and I headed home with my fragrant, red treasures.

My personal favorite jam has always been apricot, one that my mother used to make for me with the fruits from a backyard tree as I was growing up.  Last summer, however, Liv tried strawberry jam while on our vacation and begged the question, "Why don't we ever have strawberry jam at home?".  Good question.  My next trip to Trader Joe's brought a lovely jar of organic strawberry jam which I found good, but it wasn't my beloved apricot.  Liv and my son were happy though, so strawberry it's been for the last few months.

Wanting to have something special for her arrival home, I set to chopping my sweet, freshly picked market berries, adding sugar and setting the mixture to simmer for about an hour.  Knowing how she loves vanilla, the seeds from a plump vanilla bean found their way into the mixture just as the jam made its way into the waiting jar.

Having not been successful with canning in the past, this small batch of jam produced just about two cups of sweet, bursting with strawberry flavor, jam which I simply placed in a jar in the fridge without all of the hassle of the canning process.  I've read that the refrigerated jam will last a couple of weeks, but I have a feeling ours won't be around that long.

She's coming home, she's coming home... tell the world, she's coming home.

My leisurely breakfasts this week have been a simple bowl of Greek yogurt sweetened with a touch of Strawberry Jam topped with Vanilla Bean Granola.