Ditch the Pancake Mix and DIY in 3 Minutes!

So I want to preface this recipe with the fact that the person who I've personally seen eat more pancakes than anybody else in my life, my sister, gave it the nod of approval by grabbing another from the stack.

I own a Managing Company that owns and operates a handful of restaurants, so family dinners can be quite tough to manage some days. As a result breakfast has become our family sit down meal in our household. The one thing the kids constantly ask for is pancakes and with this recipe I gladly oblige due to its ease and lack of dishes.<< Mostly that.

There was a time when we would purchase the big bag of mix and add egg, milk and oil and be on our merry way, but many years ago when we moved to eating a far less processed diet I started working on this organic homemade recipe and I'm excited to finally share.

I'm going to separate the wet and dry mix recipes so if you want you can pre-mix or bulk mix the dry ahead of time. I will also put an idea for pre-mixing at the end.

Prep Time: 3 Minutes
Cook Time: 5 Minutes

Ingredients: (10-12 pancakes)
 
-Dry Mix
1C   Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
3/4tsp Baking Soda
3Tbs Unrefined Sugar
3/4tsp Pink Himalayan Salt

-Wet Mix
3/4C Almond Milk
1 Egg
2Tbs White Vinegar (Trust me on this one. It's key and every review of my pancakes is better when I add it)
2Tbs Butter Melted

If anyone is interested in the vegan version let me know and I will post it for you. It's great as well but my family really loves butter.

Directions: 



-Mix all dry ingredients together with a whisk or fork. (A whisk does a better job of aeration and mixing)
-Heat your skillet to about 350 F




-Melt your butter in a separate dish.
-Mix all wet ingredients with a whisk making sure the egg is well beaten and the mix is nice and frothy.



-Slowly pour and whisk the DRY ingredients into the Wet ingredients until the mixture is smooth.
(Always pour dry into wet. It prevents clumps and unmixed product from sticking to the bowl.)
Let the mixture sit  for about a minute to allow the baking soda and vinegar to create carbon dioxide. This makes for nice fluffy pancakes.

-I like slightly crispy edges on my pancakes so I melt a little bit of Coconut oil on my skillet and let it get hot while I wait.
-Pour the pancake mixture onto the hot skillet and wait until the pancakes begin to bubble on the top before flipping them. (About 2.5 minutes)


-Flip the pancakes and butter the tops while the bottoms cook.
-Remove the pancakes from the skillet and serve. Easy Right? As they should be.


Pre-Mixing:





-For bulk mixing use 1 1/2C loosely measured dry mix for each batch you wish to make.
-Something I like to do for pre-mixing is use a 1 pint Ball Mason Jar. It fits one batch perfectly and they stack great in the cabinet for easy access.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy these and never ever find yourself buying a premix again.

Please, stop eating red sauce from a jar.

Look I get it, We've pretty much all been there, It's getting late and you still need to feed the masses that occupy your house. And if you're like me, you are most likely outnumbered by singular digit aged occupants. So you go to your easy go to's that everyone will eat, right? For most people spaghetti and sauce is certainly one that fits the bill. I mean it can get much easier than boiling some noodles and heating up a jar of sauce. But what if I told you that you could ditch the jar, save some money and get a much better product in less than 5 minutes? This red sauce is so easy to make that we now joke about ever buying another jar or can of "spaghetti sauce" in our house and our kids devour it. It also has the benefit of being vegan if that's important to you. 

Prep Time: 2 Minutes 

Cook Time" 3 Minutes plus as long as it takes to boil your pasta.

Ingredients: (I prefer to use Cert. Organic products)

1 medium onion diced large

1 medium bell pepper diced large

2 cloves of garlic diced fine

2 tsp Italian seasoning

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 15oz Can Diced Tomatoes

1 15oz Can Tomato Sauce

1 Tbs Coconut Oil

Directions:

Start by beginning to boil your water for your pasta.

In a 4qt sauce pan. Melt 1Tbs of Coconut oil over high heat.

Add in diced onion and peppers and saute for about 2 minutes. (Remember color is important here. No color no flavor)

Stir in diced garlic

Pour in Diced Tomatoes and Tomato Sauce and stir.

Probably the number 1 issue with most red sauces is under seasoning. Add the Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. I took this picture just to show you what it looks like when I season sauce. To some a little sprinkle is enough but if you want it to taste good it should be seasoned well. 

Bring the sauce to a boil and lower to medium heat to allow the sauce to simmer. 

Continue to let simmer until your pasta has finished cooking. It will need the entire duration of the cooking time to let the seasoning infuse into the sauce and vegetables. 

That's it!. I love this easy sauce recipe but more importantly I love that I can make this meal without too much thought since there is most likely one kid on my leg and one strapped to my back while the third is asking what she can eat from the next room. I love to see alterations and creativity. If you try this recipe and make alterations please leave a comment so myself and others may try it as well. 

A Quick Meal my kiddos love. Organic Veggie Pot Pie.

Years ago I started making a super simple pot pie for the family that only consisted of myself, my wife and 1 child. It was convenient as it was made with a lot of pre-made items  but man was it a terrible for us. I was convinced that there had to be a way to make a good for you pot pie that didn't take half the day to make. I was in school for culinary arts and baking and pastry when I was younger and if you've ever made pastry crusts before you know a good pastry crust is a labor of love and patience. Well I don't typically have much for patience when it comes to feeding the family so, I created a press crust with an immense amount of flavor and a filling that is sure to please.

INGREDIENTS: (I suggest Cert. Organic for all)
-Crust
 2 Cups   Unbleached All Purpose Flour
 1/2 tsp    Pink Himalayan Salt
 2 tsp       Italian Seasoning
 1/2 Cup  Unrefined Cold Pressed Coconut Oil
 6-8 Tbs   Cold Water

-Filling
 2-3 Tbs  Butter
 2 Tbs     Unbleached All Purpose Flour
 1.5 Cup Vegetable Broth
 1.5 Cup Frozen Mixed Vegetables
 1 Cup    Shredded Colby Cheese

Directions:
-Crust
Preheat oven to 375F
In a large mixing bowl mix all dry ingredients together until well incorporated.

Add in coconut oil and blend together with an electric mixer until it starts to look like large crumbles.

Add in 6Tbs of cold water and mix again with the electric mixer.

Mix in the last 2 Tbs of cold water. The Mixture should begin to look like crumbled cookie dough.

Scoop about 1/2 of the mixture and put around the edge of a 9" pie pan..

This is a press crust, so begin to press the mixture into the edge of the pie pan keeping the thickness even all the way around.

Pour just enough of the remaining mixture to fill the center of the pie pan. Press the mixture into an even crust and set aside.

-Filling
In a large saute pan melt the butter over medium heat. When it gets nice and bubbly begin to slowly mix in the flour with a whisk.
Let it cook until it get thick and bubbly.

Slowly add in the vegetable broth to the rue and whisk until all the lumps are gone and you are left with a nice smooth "sauce".

When the sauce begins to boil add in the mixed veggies and bring back to a boil.

Once the mixture is boiling cut the heat and mix in the shredded cheese. Continue mixing until the cheese is completely melted.

Pour the mixture into the pressed crust.

Spread the remaining crust crumbles evenly over the top of the filled pie crust.

Place the pie carefully in the oven and cook for 45 minutes .

When the pie is finished cooking remove from the oven and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

I hope you enjoy this as much as my family does. Don't be afraid to make substitutes or add different proteins if you would like. If you do please post in the comments. I love to see food creativity.