Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts

Monday, October 24

Peanut butter in the morning


There's no better way to start the morning than a hot breakfast, especially now that the mornings are a bit crisp. Usually I eat still-warm toasted bread with hummus, but lately I've had one slice with peanut butter and jam. When I ran out of bread, cold cereal seemed too cold, and we were out of toaster waffles, I suddenly remembered oatmeal and a tip from my pb-loving friend Kristen.

I always have oats around-- to make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, of course-- but I rarely think of having oatmeal for breakfast. It just seems like it takes too long.

Well, I was wrong. Rolled oats (not gluey quick oats) are the best of both worlds. You can microwave them in three minutes (in one minute increments) and have a delicious hot breakfast, fast. I like to use half water and half milk-- coconut, almond or rice.

While the oatmeal is still piping hot, stir in a tablespoon or two of peanut butter. It will melt into the oatmeal and distribute nicely. You can also add maple syrup and cinnamon (best!), jam (PB&J oatmeal!), dried cranberries (trail mix) or chocolate chips (decadent). It's amazing how many variations of peanut butter oatmeal you can come up with. Plus you can lick the spoon you use to scoop the peanut butter. Have a good morning!

Monday, November 8

The best pancakes



I used to love making pancakes on the weekend, especially once I found this not-quite-easy but absolutely delicious recipe on 101Cookbooks. It's not vegan, but it's easy to substitute margarine for butter, and soymilk (or other non-dairy milk) plus 1 tbsp vinegar per cup for the buttermilk.


The best pancakes

Since we got rid of wheat, though, I also removed the idea of yummy, fluffy pancakes from my mind. That is, until last week when I really wanted pancakes. I made a batch (I always halve the recipe) using a combination of flours, and it was okay. This weekend I decided to try again, and I hit the jackpot.

The winning combo: 1/4 cup each of quinoa flour, tapioca flour, potato starch and white rice flour, plus 1/8 tsp xanthan gum for one cup of wheat flour. The results were amazing-- fluffy, light, almost eggy interiors with crisp outer crust. I can't wait to make these pancakes again!

And if you're allergic to maple syrup like my husband, try agave syrup or heat up some strawberry (or other fruit) jam.

Photos, original recipes and text © Susan Kelley 2012. All rights reserved. Please credit me and link back to this site, or ask first.

Always read ingredient labels carefully (and re-read periodically) to make sure that products actually are vegan and/or gluten-free.