Turkey & Spinach Breakfast Patties

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Let winter break begin!  I am feeling pretty pumped about having the next week off.  Many people have asked what we are doing and I very happily reply, “nothing.”  Yes, someday it would be nice to run away to Florida or somewhere warm during this winter break, but for now I really enjoy slow days at home, making pancakes, drinking coffee, and playing games with the kids.  B picked up some books for me at the library that I will try to get though this week: The Duluth Grill Cookbook, The Minnesota Farmer’s Market Cookbook, and a book about kombucha.  I”m excited to get some cooking inspiration, especially since I just started a round of Whole30.  Winter is starting to feel long, so I’m trying to make sure I have my habits in check.  Winter can be tough to endure as it is, neglecting to take care of myself only makes that worse.  However, I must say this is not my primary aim in life.  I am also trying to focus on being present with my family and friends, ignoring the piles of snow clothes scattered around the house and the soup pot that still isn’t clean from two days ago.  Winter is a time to slow down and rest, paying attention to what really matters in life.

Turkey & Spinach Breakfast Patties

35 min, serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 1/2 T olive oil plus some for frying

1/2 c chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 handfuls of spinach (about 2 packed cups)

1 lb ground turkey

1 egg

1/2 t mustard powder

1/4 t pepper

1/2 t salt

1/4 t thyme

Directions:

  1. Heat 1 1/2 T olive oil in nonstick skillet
  2. Add onions and garlic and sauté for several minutes until nicely browned, stirring occasionally.
  3. Add spinach and stir while cooking until the spinach is completely wilted.
  4. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
  5. Meanwhile in medium bowl, place turkey, egg, and all the spices.  Once the onion mixture has cooled, add it to the bowl.  Mix all the ingredients with your hands until everything is evenly incorporated.
  6. Heat additional olive oil in nonstick skillet.  Shape the turkey into small round patties no more than 1/2” thick.  Let fry about 5 minutes on each side so that the patties are nicely browned and the turkey is cooked all the way through.  (It should not have any pink)

Grapefruit Cardamom Pancakes-Grain Free

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The past few months will go down as a memorable time of life for me.  I made the switch to working full-time after being a stay-at-home mom for the past five years.  It’s been a huge transition with a lot of ups and downs.  I’ve dealt with a lot of anxiety I never realized I had when it comes to parenting.  I think I’ve always been an anxious parent but never really had to face it because I had so much control over my kids’ lives.  This transition to them being in the care of someone else during the day really revealed some things about me and my unhealthy desire for control.  I am grateful for this season for many reasons, but, most of all, because I have, at least started, to address this anxiety and need for control.  I’m glad it didn’t take until my kids were teenagers for me to realize what was going on in my mind.  My faith has grown in incredible ways as I’ve learned to give up control, or what I thought were things I controlled.

That’s a really brief summary of a few months filled with a lot of ups and downs.  We’re getting into a good, new rhythm now but I’m definitely behind on posting recipes!  I have my scraps of paper all around the house, as usual, but I keep falling asleep before sitting down to actually write anything! :)

I’ve been playing around with grapefruit a lot lately.  It’s in season, so why not?  I’ve enjoyed adding it to different baked goods with some fun spices.  Cardamom is a great companion to citrus!  If you use kefir in the recipe, some of the probiotics will die in the heating, but the kefir still has a lot of good nutrients.  I’ve been using it rather than yogurt, but a yogurt that isn’t too thick is fine if that’s what you have on hand.  Make the pancakes on the small side, since grain free pancakes tend to be delicate when flipping.  Once they are flipped, though, they hold together perfectly.  Enjoy!

Grapefruit Cardamom Pancakes

Serves 4, 20 min

Ingredients:

juice of 1 grapefruit

1 c plain yogurt or kefir

1/4 c melted coconut oil

2 eggs

1 T honey

1 T chia seeds

1/4 t cardamom

1/8 t nutmeg

1/4 t cinnamon

pinch salt, optional

1/4 c coconut flour

1 3/4 c almond flour

Desired oil for greasing pan

 

Directions:

  1. Squeeze grapefruit juice into medium bowl.  Pull out any seeds that fall in.
  2. Add the yogurt (not greek) or kefir and coconut oil and whisk together.
  3. Add the eggs and whisk together.
  4. Add the honey, chia seeds, and spices and stir well to combine.
  5. Add coconut flour and almond flour and stir until fully combined.
  6. Heat desired oil in nonstick skillet.  Scoop small pancakes into skillet and cook for several minutes on one side before flipping.  Make the pancakes small so they are easier to flip.
  7. Serve with real maple syrup.