Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

Do you ever have one of those nights where it's 5:00 and you think, "urgh.  I've got nothing planned for dinner."  If you say you don't, then I don't believe you.  And I don't want to be your friend, you overachiever.

Last night I was dreading dinner.  I opened the fridge and I realized I had two chicken breasts and that's about it.  And then I saw something else that was in my fridge.  A bottle of store-bought premade salad dressing.  (I had bought this salad dressing when we had company over in case they didn't like my homemade.  Turns out, they loved my homemade dressing.  So this sinful (more than 5 ingredients) bottle of salad dressing had been sitting in my fridge ever since then.  Staring at me.  Taunting me with its convenience).

I didn't even think twice about grabbing a ziploc, throwing in the chicken breasts and dumping that dressing all over it.  I let it marinate for about an hour and then Mr. McGhee threw it on the grill.

I had some tortillas that I warmed up on the oven.  I smeared the tortillas with hummus , and filled with strips of the chicken, feta cheese, cucumber sticks, tomato slices, and olives.

We rolled up the tortillas and scarfed these down.  My minis loved them.  Mr. McGhee and two.  And I was happy because they were happy.  I'm that type of girl.

We ate our tortilla roll ups with fruit salad.

The best part about this meal is there was absolutely no clean up.  Well, no clean up for me, at least.  I told Mr. McGhee he could clean up while I went upstairs and put my tiny mini in the tub while I read my book gave my tiny mini a bath.

Crockpot Fajita

I was having one of those days and then I remembered when all else fails, make Mexican!  I love Mexican food.  It's easy.  It's easy.  It's tasty.  Everyone eats it without complaining.  And nobody judges you when you pour yourself a nice tall glass of iced tequila to drink with your dinner.  

And then, after dinner, all the minis are left wondering what the heck it is about Mexican food that makes mama so happy?

I tried this recipe a couple of weeks ago and I quickly realized it will be added to my school-year dinner rotation.  It was very easy and everyone loved it.

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas 

• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 3 sweet peppers, sliced
• 1 ½ pounds boneless chicken breast or thighs (I did a mix of both)
• ½ cup chicken broth
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• 1 ½ tablespoons chili powder
• Squirt of lime juice
• Tortillas
• Fajita fixings (avocado, sour cream, salsa, etc)

1.  Combine sliced onion and peppers in the bottom of a greased crockpot. 

2.  Lay chicken on top of veggies. Pour chicken broth over top. 

3.  Sprinkle everything with cumin, salt, and chili powder. 

4.  Give a nice quirt of lime juice over the top. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours (or on High for 4-6 hours). 

5.  When meat is done, shred with two forks and stir back into juices. Serve meat mixture with slotted spoon on tortillas with your choice of fixings.

Peppers and onions on the first layer.

Chicken and spices on the next layer.

Cooked, shredded, and ready to be served.

Delish! 

Rainbows

The key to happiness in life is low standards.

OK, so you all probably know me better than to believe that I really mean that.  But, seriously, isn't it wonderful when you have low standards for something and it turns out great?  I'm referring specifically to food when I say that, of course.

Yesterday, I threw some things in the crockpot and had no clue how it would turn out and low and behold, it was a total hit.  Here's the recipe.

Heids McGhee's low standards crockpot Mexican chicken

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 5 chicken legs
• taco seasoning (I used my homemade seasoning)
• jar of salsa (I used deli made at my local market)
• can of black beans
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup of corn (canned or frozen)
• cilantro (from my herb garden)
• chives (from my herb garden)
• tortillas
• shredded cheese (Mr. McGhee and I used pepper-jack, the minis used cheddar)
• sour cream
• avocado, diced

1.  Put the chicken in the crockpot.  Sprinkle with taco seasoning and pour in salsa.  Stir.  Cook on high until chicken is done.  Mine took about 3.5-4 hours.

2.  Remove chicken and shred.  Return shredded chicken to crockpot and add corn and black beans.  Cook on low another hour.

3.  Serve on tortillas.  Add cheese, fresh cilantro and chives, sour cream, and avocados.

Eat while enjoying the pouring rain and the double rainbow that it brings.  Realize key to happiness is not having low standards, but finding happiness amidst the rain.

Gardening!

I am so excited I can barely type right now.  I took an organic gardening class today at Angelic Organics.  That means, in my mind, I am now a farmer.  See, look at me, I even dress the part!

Everyone at Angelic Organics is extremely kind and helpful, just like the people at the local natural market.  Seriously, all these people that are down with Mother Nature are so freaking happy. 

Now, I have zero gardening experience, so I am very excited to be planning my garden.  And, I have talked Mr. McGhee into taking a class on accessing your risks and resources in starting a small farm.  There are several reasons why I think we should start an organic farm and I am on a mission to prove to Mr. McGhee based on these reasons.....

1.  We could feed our family.
2.  I could spend my mornings talking about how beautiful my tomatoes are at the farmer's market.
3.  Farming would provide great blogging material.
4.  We live minutes from a large farming store.  I take that as a sign.

And if you're wondering if Mr. McGhee gets tired of all my campaigns?  The answer is yes.  Yes, he does.  Lucky for him, he works 60-70 hours a week, so his face-to-face time with me is limited.  So, for now, we are happily planning our garden....beets, carrots, kale, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, radishes, garlic, leeks, peppers, basil, rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries, and pumpkin.  A bit lofty, you think?  I probably should call it a farm, rather than a garden, right?

Moving on to dinner.....I have shared this recipe before, but it's worth reposting.  In fact, I'm going to keep posting it because it is delicious and freezes perfectly.  Do yourself a huge favor and make a huge batch of it and freeze the leftovers. 

Mexican Beef

• 1 (4 pound) frozen rump roast
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 (7.75 ounce) cans Mexican style hot tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoons crushed garlic
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Place the frozen roast in the slow cooker. Pour the wine and Mexican style hot tomato sauce over the top. Season with garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.
2. Cover, and cook on Low for 9 hours. When done, the roast should shred easily with a fork. Shred the roast into the juices, and mix in the chopped green onions and cilantro.               

Since you have the bottle of wine open, I recommend you pour yourself a glass.  And, since you can't freeze the leftover wine, you may as well finish the bottle. 

I serve this taco meat on tortillas.  You can make your own or be a cheater and buy these:

Flour tortillas

• 4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp veg shortening or lard
• 1 1/2 cups water

1. Mix.
2. Knead.
3. Roll.
4. Cook on hot skillet.

We top ours with cheese, chopped tomatoes, bell peppers, avocado, and sour cream.  I served them with black bean stuffed bell peppers. 

Spicy Black Bean Stuffed Peppers

• 2 small peppers- any kind you’d like
• 1/2 medium sized onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1, 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pinch cayenne pepper for a little heat
• 1/2 cup sweet corn
• 1/2 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese, or any cheese you like
• fresh cilantro, salsa, and sour cream for serving

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut a slit through the entire length of each of your peppers. Place them on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes, until the skins are softened and beginning to blister.
2. Heat olive oil in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Add your onion and saute for 3 minutes, until beginning to soften and turn translucent.
3. Add garlic and stir constantly for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
4. Stir in your black beans along with the water.
5. Add your cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt, and cayenne. Stir, cover the pot, reduce the heat to low and simmer the beans for at least 15 minutes, but up to 30 minutes.
6. Stir in corn. Divide the bean mixture evenly among the two peppers and sprinkle with cheese.
7. Broil for 3 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Garnish with fresh cilantro, salsa, and sour cream if you’d like.

**sidenote** I brushed peppers with olive oil and broiled after step 1 for a couple of minutes. I like my peppers a little charred.

Now, I expect all of you to make a huge batch of the taco meat.  You really should because next week I am going to show you how to turn it into soup.

Now, prepare to be ah-may-zed.  I really out-did myself with dessert.  The other day I bought dried mangos from the local natural market.  Now, these are not a bag of factory-dried mangos, these are mangos dried at the market.  They are absolutely delish.  And now I am convinced I need a food dehydrator.  So, that means the birthday wish list is now....food processor, VitaMix, food dehydrator, iPod, sports watch, and a designer handbag. So, you're probably wondering if Heids McGhee is a greedy, materialistic person.  And the answer yes.  Yes, I am.  I can't help it, I like things.  Particularly shiny things.  I also want a puppy.  See, I'm not materialistic and heartless.  But you better believe, if I get that puppy, I am totally putting it in this.

So, back to dessert.......

Chocolate Mangos

• dried mangos (HIGHLY recommend finding real fresh dried mangos)
• dark chocolate
• kosher (or sea) salt

1.  Melt dark chocolate in double broiler (or microwave).
2.  Dip mango in melted chocolate.
3.  Lay on sheet of parchment paper.
4.  Sprinkle with salt.

These are delish.  Like so delish, you will have to hide in the pantry to eat them. 

And, finally, I want to share an after school snack that was a total hit with the minis the other day.  I found cinnamon-whipped honey at Great Harvest.  The ingredients are honey and cinnamon.  Although it isn't local honey, I decided to live a little and buy it anyway.  Great decision.

Apple Sandwich

• 2 apples, cored and sliced
• natural peanut butter
• honey
• raisins

1.  Spread peanut butter on apple slice.
2.  Spread honey on apple slice.
3.  Sprinkle raisons on peanut butter.
4.  Sandwich two apple slices together.

Delish!  Have a great night, I am off to bed.....you know us farmers, early to bed, early to rise!

Busy dinner night

Who here has a busy family?  Much to my dismay, the mini McGhees are way too busy.  See, I would prefer to pick the minis up from school, come home to a homemade snack, ride bikes, play board games, do an art project, eat dinner, take baths/showers, read, pray, bedtime.  You know, end our nights with one of those "Good Night Jon-boy" moments from the show, The Waltons.  Our real life is more like this, pick kids up from school, shove snack down their throats in the car, yoga lesson, therapy session, golf lesson, swim practice, soccer practice, baseball tryouts, homework, dinner, sniff-test (oh, you're fine, no showers tonight!), read, pray, collapse in bed in a state of exhaustion with shouts of "we said good night, that means we don't need to see you until it's time to say good morning." 

And I don't see life slowing down anytime soon, as I have minis chasing dreams of becoming the next great swimmer/baseball player/soccer player/yogi/golfer.  And if those dreams don't work out, my minis want to work at a smoothie shop when they grow up.  And live in an RV on the beach.  I'm all like, "dude, if you can find out a way to make that work, go for it."  My dreams are to find a way to help provide for my family without ever having to leave the comfort of my own home.  So, to me, an RV on the beach sounds like a lofty goal.

Today is Wednesday which means we will be eating an early dinner before swim practice and then coming home and having a snack afterwards.  Dinner will be tortillas with hummus and black bean stuffed bell peppers.  I got the hummus recipe from Mr. HPT.   

I won't have the time to make homemade tortillas, so we will eating these raw tortillas.

Hummus

• 2 cans garbanzo beans
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 6 dashes cayenne pepper
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 dashes cumin
• 3 tbsp olive oil

1.  Drain most of juice from garbanzo beans.
2.  Place beans in Pyrex dish or equivalent and spread out evenly.
3.  Place in oven at 375 degrees for approximately 15 minutes.
4.  Remove from oven and place in blender or food processor with other ingredients.
5.  Blend until smooth.

I added a bit of tahini and a pinch of kosher salt.  I don't have a fancy food processor, so I needed to thin mine out a big with the juice from the garanzo beans.
Spicy Black Bean Stuffed Peppers
First step is to roast your peppers.  You can do this ahead of time.  You can also make extras.  I love to mix roasted red peppers in with my scrambled eggs or on top of salads. 
1.  Coat bell peppers generously with olive oil. Put them on a baking sheet and broil them under flame until they begin to turn black. Turn peppers until each side has been blackened. Remove from baking sheet and place in a bowl. Cover bowl with saran wrap. 

2.  Let the peppers sit for a while, at least 30 minutes. Take peppers out of jar and pull stem off. Dig inside of pepper and remove the seeds.

3.  Carefully peel the outer skin off of the pepper.

4.  After peppers are all peeled, set aside. Resist all temptation to eat them. They're worth the wait.

Next step is to make the black bean stuffing.

1/2 medium sized onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 TBSP olive oil

15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup water

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp salt

pinch cayenne pepper for a little heat

1/2 cup sweet corn

1/2 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese, or any cheese you like

fresh cilantro, salsa, and sour cream for serving 

1. Heat olive oil in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Add your onion and saute for 3 minutes, until beginning to soften and turn translucent.
2. Add garlic and stir constantly for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
3. Stir in your black beans along with the water.
4. Add your cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt, and cayenne. Stir, cover the pot, reduce the heat to low and simmer the beans for at least 15 minutes, but up to 30 minutes.
5. Stir in corn. Divide the bean mixture evenly among the two peppers and sprinkle with cheese.
6. Broil for 3 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Garnish with fresh cilantro, salsa, and sour cream if you’d like. 

Just a tip, make a double or triple batch of the beans and once they are cooled, stick them in a freezer bag.  These freeze very well and are a blessing on those, "oh *&#@, what's for dinner?" nights. 

After swim practice, we will most likely come home and have pomegranate smoothies (the minis are obsessed with those right now) and popcorn.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
• 1/2 banana (I freeze brown bananas and they are perfect for smoothies)
• 5 strawberries
• 1/2 cup yogurt (please use plain, I used my homemade yogurt)
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed

Directions:
Put all ingredients in a blender, and blend until desired consistency is reached.

Eat The Rainbow!!!

I was at my favorite local market this morning with my 2 youngest minis and I saw something that made my palms sweat and my heart race, and nope, it wasn't the grind-your-own peanut butter, it was these beauties.....

Come. To. Mama.  If you have never had organic rainbow carrots before, you need to run to the market and get some.  Do it.  Right now.  You will never eat another bag of baby carrots again.  Carrots are a great source of fiber and Vitamin A (they really do help you see in the dark!).  They also support healthy immune function, younger looking skin, and help repain sun-damaged skin.  So, for vanity's sake, eat your carrots!

So once I got my hands on these puppies, I had to totally change my dinner plans for tonight.  I was tempted to do a fancy schmancy carrot dish and then I realized my minis were as excited about these carrots as I was, so we will peel 'em and eat 'em raw.  We're hardcore like that!

Tonight's dinner is called lunch-for-dinner.  We are having wraps with tortillas, hummus, yellow grape tomatoes, cucumbers, and diced rainbow mini sweet bell peppers.  Our side dish will be rainbow carrots and roasted beets.  Dessert will be yogurt with mashed bananas and honey. 

Here's the beets.  Oh. My. Delish.  A few changes....I roasted mine for about an hour and I used balsamic vinegar instead of raspberry.  These were the best vegetable I have ever eaten.  If you love beets, try this.  If you hate beets, try this.

I just realized that we will be eating a boatload of rainbow veggies tonight.  That is excellent because it will guarantee two things.  One, our dinner conversation will revolve around how rainbow colored veggies lead to rainbow colored poop.  And, two, the McGhees will be getting a large dose of phytochemicals.  Phytochemicals are the compounds in fruits and veggies that give them the vibrant colors.  The deeper the color, the more phytochemicals in that fruit or veggie.  The crazy thing about phytochemicals is that there are thousands of them and scientists haven't really identified them or established what each phytochemical specifically does, but they do know they lower risk of cancer, chronic diseas and inflammation.  We do a rainbow challenge in our house, where the minis can make their own lunch and try to use as many colors on their plate that they can.  They love it, it's way fun and the resulting rainbow poop is oddly fascinating as well!

So, I am challenging all my readers to do a rainbow meal!  Let me know what you come up with!

I also thought I would share with you a little trick I just saw on pinterest.  You take a toothpick and etch a message or drawing on the skin on a banana.  Super fun.  Super easy.  Total guarantee your mini will be bragging on you at lunchtime, which hopefully will offset the "I am the only kid that doesn't get oreos" attitude.

Look at that face.  He clearly loves it.  He clearly never brushes his hair either, which is all part of his charm.

Tomorrow night, Mr. McGhee and I are going to a rock concert.  I know, I think it's a little shocking too, considering I've been known to say at 9:30 on a Saturday night, "Should we stay up for House Hunters International or just go to sleep?"  At which point, Mr. McGhee doesn't answer because he's already snoozing.  So, yep, a rock concert on a Thursday night should be interesting.  We're going to be staying overnight in the city and then spend Friday hanging out with the city folk.  Why am I telling you this?  Because, our goal is to not eat any processed food while we're gone!  (And, when I saw "our", I mean "my" goal for "us".)  I'll update you on how we do, and I am hoping to come back with a blog-worthy rock concert story!

Lunch Lady!

So, yesterday's post has gotten rave reviews.  I have gotten several messages from readers that are excited to have their own Tuesday tomato soup and grilled cheese dinner at home.  And, I had many readers that loved walking down memory lane with me to revisit school lunches....so in honor of all of you, here's one of my favorite Adam Sandler videos.  And from now on, I am Heids McGhee, aspiring lunch lady.  Are you thinking, "Heids McGhee, unprocessed kitchen, blogger, biker, and lunch lady....how do you do it all?"  Well, the answer is, I am an overachiever by nature.

**sidenote**  You may not want to watch this video with your children.  My kids think it is hilarious, but I have questionable parenting at times.

So, today is Friday.  To me, Fridays scream cocktails Mexican food.  Tonight's dinner is going to be a breeze because the bulk of dinner is frozen in my freezer.  Remember the crockpot bean recipe from last week?  I froze half of that batch.  As I was pulling the beans out of the freezer, I saw a bag of frozen taco meat from a party we had in December and a bag of frozen corn. 

So, I thawed and reheated the frozen taco meat. It was even better this time.  I got the recipe from allrecipes.com.

Taco meat

• 1 (4 pound) frozen rump roast
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 (7.75 ounce) cans Mexican style hot tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoons crushed garlic
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro        

**sidenote**  I never found hot tomato sauce.  I used regular tomato sauce and added some diced jalapenos and onion. 

1. Place the frozen roast in the slow cooker. Pour the wine and Mexican style hot tomato sauce over the top. Season with garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.
2. Cover, and cook on Low for 9 hours. When done, the roast should shred easily with a fork. Shred the roast into the juices, and mix in the chopped green onions and cilantro.               

Serve on tortillas with cheese, lettuce, tomato, peppers, etc. 

And, even though I am stretching myself a little too thin with the new lunch lady/biker/blogger roles I am taking on, I thought I really should make something homemade for this meal.  So, I decided to finally tackle homemade tortillas.  I got this recipe from my friend, Deb.  Deb has a 7 year old and 5 year old triplets and makes her own tortillas.  We're putting her up there with Astrid, in the "women who have more hours in their day than the rest of us" club.

Flour tortillas

• 4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp veg shortening or lard
• 1 1/2 cups water

1.  Mix.
2.  Knead.
3.  Roll. 
4.  Cook on hot skillet.

Seriously, how can you not love the directions in Deb's recipe?  I'm thinking Deb has triplets, she could assign steps #1-3 to them, step #4 to the 7 year old and pour herself a cocktail fresh squeezed juice and supervise. 

I know if I was going to be all healthy, I would have used whole wheat flour.  But, today is Friday Funday, so we got all crazy in the McGhee house and used all purpose.  And, don't you love the looks of these....screaming homemade!!!!

When I was scrounging in the freezer for beans and meat, I noticed a bag of frozen corn.  Now, this isn't frozen corn you buy in the grocery store...this is corn that I froze.  There's a difference.  Where I live, in the Middle, we have really amazing sweet corn in the summer.  Anytime there is leftovers I cut it off the cob and freeze it.  Brilliant, I know!  So, I got to thinking about what could I do with this corn, and then I remembered this recipe from canyoustayfordinner.com that I have been wanting to try. 

Spicy Black Bean Stuffed Peppers

• 2 small peppers- any kind you’d like
• 1/2 medium sized onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1, 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pinch cayenne pepper for a little heat
• 1/2 cup sweet corn
• 1/2 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese, or any cheese you like
• fresh cilantro, salsa, and sour cream for serving

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut a slit through the entire length of each of your peppers. Place them on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes, until the skins are softened and beginning to blister.
2. Heat olive oil in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Add your onion and saute for 3 minutes, until beginning to soften and turn translucent.
3. Add garlic and stir constantly for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
4. Stir in your black beans along with the water.
5. Add your cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt, and cayenne. Stir, cover the pot, reduce the heat to low and simmer the beans for at least 15 minutes, but up to 30 minutes.
6. Stir in corn. Divide the bean mixture evenly among the two peppers and sprinkle with cheese.
7. Broil for 3 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Garnish with fresh cilantro, salsa, and sour cream if you’d like.

**sidenote** I brushed peppers with olive oil and broiled after step 1 for a couple of minutes.  I like my peppers a little charred. 


Oh.  My.  Goodness.  These peppers were so good. 

Delish!

A bunch of cheaters

So, I've gotten a few emails that read something like this, "Heids McGhee, not that I am planning on doing this, but if someone were to cheat, what would you recommend?"  Sheesh, people, you all are about as discreet as Mr. McGhee.  So, I am torn on this....I don't want to make it too easy for you to rush to the store and pick up some acceptable "cheats", however if your other option is to give little Timmy an all-beige-deep-fried-complete-with-a-happy-meal-toy dinner than I'd rather you cheat.  But promise me these are for desperate times only.  Remember, we are trying to go unprocessed here.

Bread....oh my, people really love their bread, don't they?  I am totally committed to finding an easy, delicious, whole grain bread recipe.  Why haven't I done that yet, you ask?  I've been too busy perfecting my muffin recipe.  Tomorrow, I will tackle bread.  I promise.  If you must buy bread from the grocery store, please read the label.  If there are many ingredients, it's not what you are looking for. Remember, more ingredients=more processed.  Ingredient #1 must be.....WHOLE wheat flour.  Do not get fooled and buy a bread made from wheat flour.  And for crying out loud, do not buy bread with enriched or bleached flour.  It makes Heids McGhee nervous when people eat that stuff.  And your bread needs to have at least 3 grams of fiber per serving.

If you MUST cheat on bread, and you happen to live near a Great Harvest Bread Company your life just got a whole lot easier.  Here are the reasons why you should buy the honey wheat bread from Great Harvest.

1.  They only use 5 ingredients in their honey wheat bread.
2.  They grind their own flour daily.
3.  The employees wear really cute shirts that say "professional loafer" and "flour power".
4.  They say things to you like, "sweetheart, while you are waiting for me to slice your fresh baked bread, do you want a free sample of something?"  And, when you say no thank you, they say, "are you sure, not even a small taste of a scone?"
5.  It is, hands down, the best bread I have ever had.  If you try it and don't like it, let me know.  I want to know which of my readers are impossible to please.

Pancakes....my middle mini is a pancake lover.  And my middle mini has big, brown eyes that can melt anyone, so when he comes downstairs in the morning rubbing those eyes and asking for a koala hug and pancakes, that boy is getting pancakes.  I use this recipe for his pancakes, which I got from king arthur flour website.

4 cups King Arthur white whole wheat flour

1 cup King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour

3 1/2 cups old-fashioned or rolled oats

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons baking powder

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 cup vegetable oil

1.  Grind oats in food processor until fine, but not a powder.
2.  Put the flour, oats, and all other dry ingredients into a mixer with a paddle. Mix on slow speed, and drizzle the vegetable oil into the bowl slowly while the mixer is running.

3. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks at room temperature, or indefinitely in the refrigerator or freezer.

4. Whisk together 1 cup of mix, 1 cup of buttermilk (you can use soured milk, but buttermilk gives noticeably superior results; a combination of half plain yogurt and half milk also will do), and 1 large egg. Don't worry if it seems thin at first: the oats will soak up the milk, and the mix will thicken a bit as it stands. Let the batter stand for at least 20 minutes before cooking.

5.  Cook on a slightly greased griddle or a nonstick skillet.

SERVE WITH 100% pure maple syrup.  Or fruit, fruit works too.  My middle mini loves the syrup, though.

If you're reading that and thinking, "Heids McGhee, not happening.  That's too much work in the morning", here's a solution.

It's a premade mix.  Add some milk, oil, and an egg.  Easy peasy and a decent option.

Tortillas....these were a tip given to me by my friend Jennifer, whom I think could single-handedly run the marketing department at costco.  I will say these are by far the most unprocessed tortillas I have seen with only 5 ingredients.  However, ingredient #1 is wheat flour and not whole wheat flour.  So, it's a tradeoff.  These are raw tortillas, which means you have to cook each side for about 30 seconds on an ungreased skillet before you can eat them (it's so simple, you really don't even have to clean the skillet after you've used it...not that I have done that, but just saying...you could."

And, since these are at Costco, you can buy more tortillas than you could eat in a month for $7.

Crackers....the most unprocessed cracker you can find is Triscuits.  Personally, I want to eliminate crackers from our diet, but my minis love crackers.  And they usually pair them with hummus and cucumbers to make little sandwiches, so I do let them have Triscuits.  I suspect they secretly close their eyes and pretend they're eating Cheez-its.

Cereal....we have covered breakfast already.  And if I could just get everyone to change ONE meal a day, with breakfast being the easiest meal to change, I would be a happy Heids.  But, some people insist, they need cold cereal.  The only option out there for an unprocessed cereal is Post Shredded Wheat which I have a feeling after you have one bowl of that, you'll be whipping up a batch of my granola  ASAP.