Week 1 Monday: Oatmeal Pancakes with Triple Berry Sauce, Turkey & Corn Chowder with Salad, Cornbread and Waffle Cone Sundaes

It's Monday morning of Week One.



School starts here tomorrow
And we've gotten into some bad habits - staying up late and sleeping until....well,
I'm too embarrassed to admit how late my kids sleep in during the summer.
Early morning cheer practice (6 am) started for our HS age daughter 2 weeks ago,
so she's already had to adjust. Today the rest had to wake up to that reality.

Hello Mornings!
I believe mornings should start with something that makes
both your tongue and belly HAPPY; so that you are glad you
 got out of your warm, cozy bed & feel ready to
make something of your day.

TODAY'S MENU:

Oatmeal Pancakes with Triple Berry Sauce

 

Herb Roasted Turkey, Barley & Corn Chowder with a Side Salad and Waffle Bowl Hot Fudge Sundae

 

BREAKFAST:

 

The Oatmeal Pancakes on today's menu are tender and cinnamon-y.

I tried several different Oatmeal Pancake recipes before settling on this one as the BEST.

 They are just SO good with maple or vanilla syrup but today I am going to serve them with a sweet, tangy Triple Berry sauce.

This will give my kids a serving of oatmeal and fruit all in one dish,
to start their day off right.

 

 

1.  I don't generally buy buttermilk, so I sour milk with vinegar instead. So the 1st thing I do is warm the pint (2 cups)  of milk in the microwave and then add 2 Tbsp. of vinegar to it and let it sour. It happens pretty quickly when the milk is warm.

Also I put the egg in a bowl of warm water to bring it to room temperature.

 

2. Then stir in the 1 1/3 cups of oats. Let them sit in the warm soured milk until they are soft.

 3. When the oats have softened so that it looks a little like a bowl of cooked oatmeal, stir in the salt, flour, egg, baking soda, and cinnamon. I also add a dash of nutmeg.

Last of all, pour in the melted butter.

 

4. The consistency might be a bit thick. They can be cooked like that, but it can also be thinned with regular milk to pour easier and make thinner pancakes. Just pour in enough milk so that after stirring it in, the batter is pourable but not thin.

5. Heat the griddle to around 375 degrees. Grease it well, either by melting a little butter across the griddle or by spraying it with cooking spray.

Then use a 1/3 cup measuring cup and pour it on the griddle, use the back of the measuring cup to spread it out into a good size circle that is a thin even layer of batter.

6. Once the edges of the pancakes are dry and bubbles in the center have formed and begun to pop, flip them over. They can break easily so use a really thin edged spatula that is wide enough for the entire pancake to fit on. Flip them over and let them cook long enough that the opposite side has time to lightly brown and the batter has time to cook through.

 

 

TRIPLE BERRY SAUCE

1. Put the amount of frozen berries you want to use in a microwaveable dish. Sprinkle with a good amount of sugar - not too much because you want the tartness of the berries to come through. Microwave for a few minutes, stir and microwave again.

2. The berries should be left slightly cool, microwave just long enough for the sugar to bring the juices out but not long enough that they are hot. They should still be slightly cool but completely defrosted.

 

3. Serve the berries with their sauce on top of the pancakes. ENJOY!

 

DINNER:
 

THESE STEPS I DID IN THE MORNING AT THE SAME TIME I MADE BREAKFAST: 

1. I use bouillon cubes instead of broth, so the first thing I did is add 6 cups of water

and 6 bouillon cubes to my crockpot.

(The recipe calls for 8 cups but I think 6 will be plenty.)

2. Then I chopped the onions and cooked them in a little olive oil in a frying pan

to bring out their flavor before dumping them into the crockpot.

 

3. Then I added the cumin, oregano, peppercorns, celery, garlic, barley and chopped turkey breast.

 

4. Then I put the lid on and let it cook on LOW all day.

 

 

THESE STEPS I DID ABOUT A HALF HOUR BEFORE SERVING DINNER:

 

5. Add the corn, chili powder diluted in lemon juice, diced bell pepper and jalepeno or chipotle pepper. I actually used a different kind of hot pepper that was growing in my garden, and I used 5 of them because we all like spicy foods. 

  

 

6. Stir it all together and heat through. Meanwhile, snip some cilantro leaves for garnish. I keep a pair of cheap scissors in the kitchen for trimming fresh herbs.

 

7. Serve the soup with the cilantro sprinkled on top. Serve with a side salad. ENJOY!

 

 

 DESSERT:

HOT FUDGE

 1. Melt one cup butter (real butter not margarine) in a sauce pan over medium high heat.

 

 2. After the butter is melted add the 3 cups of sugar, 1/3 cup of cocoa and 12 oz. can of evaporated milk.

 

 

 

3. Stir it all together until blended and then bring to a boil over medium heat and let boil 7 minutes.

 

 4. After 7 minutes, add the vanilla and then pour into a blender and blend for 2-4 minutes.

 

 

 

 5. Now it's ready to serve over ice cream.

 

WHIPPED CREAM

 

 1. Pour the heavy whipping cream into the bowl of a mixer.

 

 

 

 

 2. Using the whisk attachment, turn the mixer on med-high to high. After the cream has begun to fluff a little and gotten airy, start slowly adding in the sugar. Followed by the vanilla.

 

 

 

 

3. Keep whipping until it is the consistency of whipped cream. Then it is ready to be served.

 

ENJOY the Hot Fudge and Whipped Cream on top of ice cream in a waffle cone bowl.