Camefire Series: French Toast

**Update: this post was published before my lab tests confirmed my gluten sensitivity, so if you are strictly gluten free like me, I recommend using my hearty, seedy bread in place of the sprouted grain bread in this recipe.**

My husband and I love camping. We used to backpack all the time before we had kids, but took a hiatus when we had our first child. Now that he is three, we felt it was time to get him and his 6 month old brother out into the great outdoors for some camping adventures. Our first run out of the bat was this past weekend (we played it safe and made it just a one-night trip). We had a fantastic experience! Both boys did so well. We hiked and built campfires and roasted marshmallows and hiked some more... our Sunday morning breakfast turned out so good and was so easy I thought I would share the recipe for my fellow campers who will be hitting the trails this summer.

French Toast

3 eggs
2 tablespoons cream + 1 tablespoon water (or 3 tablespoons milk)
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
5-6 slices sprouted Ezekial bread

Heat griddle (no need to grease if using a non-stick griddle, but if using cast iron griddle melt a tablespoon or two of butter). In a shallow bowl, mix eggs through vanilla with a fork. Dip one slice of bread in at a time and coat both sides with egg mixture. Place soaked bread on griddle. Repeat with remaining slices of bread. Cook for 3-4 minutes on first side, then flip with spatula and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Transfer to plate and top with berries and agave or 100% pure maple syrup.

Feeds two adults and one child. 

Enjoy with a fresh batch of campfire coffee!

Bistro Chicken Salad

I really love chicken salad (and tuna salad, and egg salad, etc...). In the warmer months, I actually crave it. I was feeling pretty creative about a month ago while visiting some family out of state and whipped this salad up on a whim for lunch. Let me tell you, it was a hit! There were no leftovers from this meal!

Bistro Chicken Salad

1 whole roasted chicken (or any left over chicken on hand), shredded

4 stalks celery, chopped

1 cup grapes (pictured above are blueberries in its place, a lovely substitute)

3/4 c walnuts, chopped

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Dressing

1/2 c mayo (homemade recipe to come)

1/4 c plain yogurt

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon raw honey

1 teaspoon each paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder 

salt and pepper to taste

Mix first four ingredients in bowl. Whisk all dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and add to chicken mixture. 

{If you want to increase the vegetable content of this meal, here's a suggestion from Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook Deceptively Delicious: toss in up to a 1/2 cup of pureed cauliflower. You (or your kids) will never know it's there!}

Granola Bars

My 3 year old loves granola bars ("nola bars" he calls them), but sadly the only kind of granola bars he knows are the ones wrapped up nicely in a package and bought from the store. Well, today I decided that I want him to come to know homemade granola bars... which are much healthier and do not contain processed sugars of any kind. So off to work I set on this damp and dreary early summer day to experiment with my first batch of granola bars. Here are the satisfying results.

Granola Bars

2 1/3 cups old fashioned oats*
1 1/4 cups almonds and pecans, sliced*
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/3 cup shredded coconut
1/2- 3/4 cup agave nectar and/or raw honey (depending on your sweetness preference)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a 9'13 pan with parchment paper. Mix oats through coconut in a bowl. Add agave through raisins and stir to coat. Pour into prepared pan and press down with spatula to create an even layer. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool in pan (up to three hours). Remove and flip upside down onto cutting board. Peel off parchment paper and slice into desired size of bars (I make about 12 good sized bars). Store in the freezer for maximum freshness.

*I prefer to soak grains and nuts for 12-24 hours, then dehydrate before I eat them. This breaks down the phytic acid, unlocks vital nutrients, and makes them more easily digestible. This is a great article if you want to learn more. In this granola bar recipe, I start by soaking the oats in 1 cup of water + 1 tablespoon of either apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, or kefir for 12-24 hours, then place on a teflex sheet in my dehydrator at 115 degrees for about 10 hours to dry them out. For the nuts, I also soak covered in water (amount does not matter), then I drain after 8-12 hours and dehydrate the same as the oats. You can skip these steps if this process is new to you and you are on information overload! I will post more about this in the future.

Gluten Free Pancakes

Hi folks! Thanks for visiting my site. This is my first post, and a very proud one indeed. I have worked for over a year to create the best, fluffy, gluten free, grain free, pancake recipe. You see, pancakes are a ritual in my house on bluegrass Saturday morning (we tune into our local jazz station for bluegrass music at the bright hour of 7am). But about a year ago, I gave up gluten and most grains altogether to alleviate some persistent health issues that I'd battled since my teen years. And it worked! I've never felt better. The problem is now trying to re-create some of those favorite, "normal" foods that I (and my husband) grew up eating (such as fluffy, buttermilk pancakes made with processed, white, and virtually devoid of nutrition wheat flour). Well, here is my version of fluffy, healthy pancakes (sans gluten and instead full of fiber and protein). I hope you like them as much as my family does!

Gluten Free Pancakes

3 eggs
1/4 cup cream or coconut milk
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon agave nectar (or xylosweet)
1/4 cup ground flaxseeds
1/4 cup almond flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat non-stick griddle pan to medium-low heat (if not non-stick, use 1 tablespoon butter to grease pan). Whisk first five ingredients (through agave) in bowl. Add remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth (there may be a few lumps, totally ok). Scoop 1/4 cup of batter and pour on griddle. Cook until bubbles start to form on the top of the pancakes. Flip and cook another minute or two.

Top with fresh fruit, freshly whipped cream, and/or walnuts and serve with 100% pure maple syrup.

Makes 8 pancakes.