Sweet Tater Pancakes and Zucchini Scramble

 I've got a yummy recipe for you all today.  These sweet potato pancakes would be perfect for a breakfast or brunch.  We like them for dinner, and they are sweet enough that you don't even need syrup (although they certainly go well with pure maple syrup or agave syrup too.)  I've paired them with a simple zucchini scramble to make a Feingold-friendly as well as clean eating approved.

 Sweet Tater Pancakes

You need: 

     *1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

     *2 tsp cinnamon

     *1 TBS baking powder

     *1 tsp salt

     *1 large sweet potato

     *1/4 cup melted butter

     *2 eggs, beaten

     *1 tsp agave syrup

     *1 1/2 cups milk

     *coconut oil for the skillet or griddle







 To make:
1.  Cover the sweet potato with water in a pot and boil for 20 minutes.  Remove the sweet potato and put immediately into cold water.  Slide the potato skin off and throw away.
2.  Cut up the sweet potato into cubes.  If the center of the potato is not completely cooked, put it in the microwave for a couple of minutes.  Mash up the cubes.
3.  Add the butter, eggs, agave, and milk to the sweet potatoes and mix well.
4.  In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.)
5.  Add the dry ingredients to the sweet potato mixture and mix.
6.  Grease your skillet or griddle with a little coconut oil.  Spoon the batter onto the griddle in heaping tablespoons.  Watch for bubbles to rise to the top before flipping pancakes to the other side.  These pancakes will be a bit thick; so check to make sure they are cooked through before removing them from the griddle.

 Zucchini Scramble
You need:
     *1 medium zucchini, diced
     *5 eggs, beaten
     *1/2 cup milk
     *dash of paprika
     *dash of cinnamon
     *1 TBS olive oil

 To make:
1.  Saute the zucchini in the olive oil over medium-high heat until nearly translucent and browned.
2.  Mix the eggs, milk, paprika, and cinnamon together.
3.  Pour the egg mixture over the zucchini and stir frequently until the eggs are cooked through and no liquid remains.

(This served our family of 6 - two adults and four somewhat hungry small children.  There were even extra pancakes to put in the refrigerator for the next day.)
Enjoy!

(Mostly) Clean Eating Chocolate Cake

We have been faithfully following the Feingold Program in our family since April.  If you're new around here or unfamiliar with Feingold, it's a diet that eliminates all foods with artificial food colors and flavors, most preservatives, artificial sweeteners, and initially some foods with salicylic acid (like apples, tomatoes, peppers, etc.)  Originally, I started the family on this program to see if it would help our autistic son.  The results with the Beast were immediate and exciting.  As I have related on this blog before, I started noticing positive results in the other kids as well as myself and the Nerd.  Since then, we have slowly been moving towards an even more drastic change in our diet.  Clean eating is eating lots of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, some locally raised meat, dairy products, seeds, nuts, and things made with whole grains.  It excludes refined grains (like white flour and white rice and refined sweeteners as well as most "processed" foods.  We have made gradual changes along these lines and love the way we feel when we "eat clean." 

The Spud's birthday was the first time I attempted making a birthday cake clean eating style.  I played around with some ingredients to make the cake, and then used the Gracious Pantry's recipe for chocolate pumpkin frosting.  Somehow no photos were taken of the cake; so I can't tantalize you with a delicious-looking picture.  You'll just have to take my word that this cake is good!  The frosting is definitely different.  The Nerd said it tasted a little weird at first, but then he started to really like it. 
I call it (mostly) clean eating cake because there is turbinado sugar in it, and we also decorated the top of the cake with Joe-Joe's (Trader Joes' version of chocolate sandwich cookies). 

(Mostly) Clean Eating Chocolate Cake
You'll need:
* 2 cups whole wheat flour (I think whole wheat pastry flour would work even better)
* 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 1/2 TBS baking powder
* 1 1/2 cups raw sugar (turbinado)
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 2 eggs, slightly beaten
* 1 1/2 TBS vanilla extract
* 1 1/2 cups whole milk
* 2/3 cup coconut oil or softened butter (unsalted)

To Make:
1.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Butter and flour a 9x13 pan and set aside.  (This recipe would work also in two 8 inch round pans; but baking time will be shorter.)
2.  Combine all dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, sugar, and salt) and whisk together.
3.  Combine all wet ingredients (eggs, vanilla, whole milk, and coconut oil) and mix well.
4.  Add wet mixture to dry mixture and beat until smooth. 
5.  Spread batter evenly into the pan and put it in the oven.
6.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top springs back gently when you touch it or a toothpick comes out clean. 

When the cake is completely cool (and still in the pan), make the Gracious Pantry's frosting recipe (find it here) and smooth it over the top of your cake.  I did use agave nectar instead of honey in that recipe.  For my car lover, I smashed some Joe-Joe's and sprinkled them on the frosting and then outlined a monster truck arena with more Joe-Joe's.  The Spud picked out some of his favorite Monster Truck toys to put on the cake, and I spelled his name out with foam letters. 

The Nerd recently celebrated his birthday and has requested a late birthday cake - a cheesecake, no less.  So I'm on the lookout for a clean eating cheesecake recipe now. :)

Enjoy your chocolate cake!

Time to Plug In

I'd say this is a pretty accurate photo of my life right now:

I know I've been a little absent from the blog lately.  Many of my evenings have ended up filled with paperwork and planning and baking bread and catching up on laundry and trying to organize EVERYTHING.  Some evenings I have sat down at the computer with full intentions to write up a blog post and an hour later I am staring at the wall, too tired to think.

This past week, I was feeling especially drained.  I came back from a normal workout at the gym with a little soreness but thought nothing of it.  As the days of the week went on,  the pain in my joints, particularly my knees and my right wrist, got worse and worse.  When my right hand started to go numb randomly throughout the day, the Nerd convinced me to see a doctor.  She determined that I had tendonitis in my right wrist (did something to strain it and then aggravated it with daily activity and probably all the puppeting I did at VBS.)  So now I'm wearing a wrist splint to keep my wrist from bending for at least a week to help it heal.  Yeah, that works out perfectly for a mom of four busy kids. :)  And typing this is rather aggravating, to say the least.

As for the knee pain, the doctor really didn't have any answers.  She suggested that my body might be in the process of fighting off a virus.  I hope she's right - it is not easy to "stay off my feet" around here.  I am taking ibuprofen for the pain and trying to be careful with my physical activity.

We start up homeschooling in one week!  Ack, my brain is exploding with possibilities and schedules and curriculum and blog lists.  I am excited, nervous, a little anxious, and just hurrying to get everything ready before then. 

Our diet plan is great - I love that my family is eating so healthy and get excited every time one of my kids requests a fruit or veggie for a snack.  However, it takes quite a bit of planning and preparing to keep us on this diet.  The only "prepared" snack we have in the house are pretzels.  I have to be constantly thinking ahead and making pancakes and waffles for the freezer, granola bars for hungry kids, bread for lunches, cut up veggies and fruits for snacks, etc.  Don't get me wrong - it's completely worth it - but it can be a time-drain.

In the midst of it all, I am trying to make decisions regarding education and such for the Beast.  I'm reviewing papers and therapists' notes, attempting to see if there is a need for more therapy or classes at the local special ed center. 

Finally, God has cleared the way for me to hand the reins of children's church over to someone else.  I enjoyed being director of children's church, but lately it has become a completely overwhleming task that I have not enjoyed much at all.  Now someone else will handle all the scheduling and organizing and curriculum and such, and I will be free to help out here and there without all the commitments of being director.  It's definitely of God as I will have my plate full with homeschooling starting next week.

I am praying earnestly that God will make a way for me still to post to this blog regularly.  I have so many things I want to share, especially regarding autism and homeschooling, and I hope that it is still possible to do with this crazy schedule.

I need to plug into my Power Source. (Isaiah 32:15)  Be back soon with some posts that have been ruminating for quite some time!