Monthly Archives: April 2014

Blueberry Chocolate Pancakes

Energy, Health, Kitchen, Recipes,

DSC02317 Blueberry Chocolate Chip Pancakes from the recipe below.

DSC02313 We had two cups of expired milk to use up, so, never remembering which recipe I used last time,DSC02314  so I got the one above from this cookbook. DSC02315 I substituted floured blueberries for the raspberries.   I also floured the chocolate chips.  We had this with syrup, a sweet treat without wasting our milk.   I definitely prefer my blueberry pancakes without the chocolate chips.  Joe likes them with chocolate chips as well as without.

The ingredients are fairly healthy, except for the sugar and the frying.  Our approach to health is moderation with as much home cooked food as possible.  This was an energy-efficient meal in that all of the ingredients were at home.  We have a few left over for a light meal tomorrow.

Olive Oil Is My Choice

Health, Kitchen

DSC02287 For many routine oil and fat uses olive oil is my  first choice.

It stays fresh in quantity.  We can buy three quarts at once which lasts a from one to three months, and therefore  is “turned over” to stay fresh often enough at room temperature in the dark.

It is versatile, being good cold in dressings, and warm for cooking.  It also mixes well with fats, such as butter, for a change in flavor.

It is reputed to be healthy for us with its large amounts of monounsaturated fat.

We always use up the olive oil, so for us it is a good buy, and very efficient to use in our kitchen!

Seasoned Oil

Herbs, Kitchen, Recipes, , , , , ,

DSC02281 Though I always love the idea of seasoned oil,  because it is out of our usual recipes and routines, I find that we rarely use it.

DSC02288This particular oil is made in Italy for Italian and English speakers consumption, and it contains:

  • Sunflower oil
  • Black peppercorns
  • Cinnamon
  • Coriander
  • Lemon leaves
  • Lemon grass

I personally am familiar with all of these items, except Lemon grass, which somehow I have never used, and I have not used Lemon leaves as a seasoning.  In the above mix of seasonings, the Lemon leaves are the dark green ones, the Lemon grass is the tan leaf, the Cinnamon is evident as the brown stick, the Black pepper is the set of black dots, and the Coriander is the set of tan dots.

I love dipping bread into Italian seasoned Olive oil, which is quite different from the above oil.   In specialty grocery stores they can convince me to buy various exotic ingredients or mixed products.  Today I uncorked the above bottle, at least seven years old, and separated out the spices.  The oil itself is rancid, but the bottle is nice,  and I would like to keep it.  Lesson:   To avoid waste, don’t get too many exotic oils!