Weekend in Review

It was a rather busy, hectic weekend, with meals out, a babysitter, and a birthday party.  I prepared supper for the evening the kids were with the babysitter, granola to eat with the yogurt I made earlier in the week, chocolate pudding just for me Friday afternoon, because sometimes you just need good comfort food, pancakes for breakfast this morning, and then this evening's dinner of cheddar waffles (I haven't decided yet whether to serve eggs with it or a sausage gravy---need to consult the hubby).

Here are my recipes:

Granola:  Mix together 3/4 c unsweetened coconut, 4 c rolled oats, 1 c sunflower seeds, 1 c wheat germ, 1/4 c sesame seeds, and 1 c chopped pecans.  On the stove, bring to a boil 1 c honey, 1/2 c oil, and 1 T cinnamon.  Once it boils, combine with the oats and nuts.  Spread on 2 oiled 9 x 13" baking pans and bake for 30 minutes in a preheated 325 degrees oven.  Remove from the oven to stir every ten minutes (twice) and then for the last 10 minutes, every 5 minutes.  Allow to cool undisturbed.  Once the granola is cooled mix in 1 c dried tart cherries and I c dried cranberries.

Chocolate Pudding.  Let me just start by saying if you have never had homemade, made from scratch chocolate pudding you haven't eaten chocolate pudding.  I prefer to make this with the leftover unhomogenized local milk I use for yogurt.  I think the pudding is actually best eaten warm, but it is still mighty fine after it's been cooled and refrigerated.  This is a more time intensive recipe--it involves standing at the stove and stirring quite a bit, but I have found this quite bearable if I am watching Grey's Anatomy at the same time (a true comfort evening!)

The recipe:  Mix 1/3 c cocoa, 1 c sugar, 2 T cornstarch, and 1/2 t salt in a pan.  Gradually stir in 2 c milk.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils.  Boil one minute.  Remove from heat, gradually stir in 1/2 of milk mixture into 2 egg yolks (slightly beaten).  Gradually stir egg yolks into saucepan.  Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat (again).  Stir in 2 t butter and 1 t vanilla.  Chill (if you haven't eaten all of it while it was still warm).

Oatmeal Pancakes:  Soak 3/4 c rolled oats in 1 1/2 c milk for 5 minutes.  Add 2 egg yolks (beaten) and 1/4 c oil.  Mix well.  In a separate bowl, combine 1 c whole wheat flour, 2 T sugar, 1 T baking powder, 1 t salt, and 1 t cinnamon.  Add to oatmeal mixture.  Beat 2 egg whites until stiff.  Fold egg whites into batter.  Fry in skillet until golden brown, turning once.

Since both kids are now eating pancakes, I double this recipe for our family of 4.  One recipe would be enough if we didn't want leftovers.  However, if I double it, we will have pancakes for breakfast for the next several mornings (reheated in the toaster oven).

That looks like a lot!  I'll save the kids' meal (Spaghetti Pie) and cheddar waffles for another posting.  

We did manage to make it to the Farmer's Market yesterday before our birthday party.  It ended up being a big spending day--I needed a chicken (which I got a 5 3/4 lb bird, the farmers told me how proud they were of the rooster because it's been their biggest chicken in a while.  I love the information you get by shopping at the Farmer's Market!), honey, and Curtis wanted a lot of apples for apple pies (both for us and to give to friends).  I also was looking for bacon, but neither pork farmer had any this week.  Bacon is one of those things that is often hard to find for some reason.  

Off to finish the waffles...I think I'll go with sausage gravy on top (that makes it seem a little more dinner like) and bok choy salad on the side.