Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Cranberries: From Decorating to Pancakes!

Happy Cranberry Week!
My mother-in-law uses
cranberries to fill the
bottom part of the vase
of her floral centerpiece.
And I have to say, I
think it is just beautiful.
This picture is from ehow.com
as I forgot to take one of
my mother-in-law's arrangement,
but it is equally as pretty.

And now for the recipe:
This is one of those dishes that came out of an experiment.
The experiment being an answer to the daily question: how
can I get the dudes to eat a healthy breakfast? And of course
the answer is sometimes you just have to sneak the good stuff
into the mix.
Thus, I made pancakes with vanilla yogurt chips (they thought
they were white chocolate and really why would I tell them
differently?) and dried cranberries. Surprise, surprise!
They loved them and I was delighted because cranberries
are full of Vitamin C and a host of other nutrients which fight
heart disease, cancer, urinary tract infections, gum disease
and even ulcers . Quite the powerful little berry, no?

Cranberry-Vanilla Yogurt Chip Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup organic flour
2 tspns baking powder
1 tblspn sugar
1 cup milk
1 slightly beaten egg
2 tblspns vegetable oil
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt chips


Sift the dry ingredients together, making a well in the center. In a
smaller bowl, combine the milk, egg and oil together and then add it
to the dry ingredients. Mix together until moist (it should be lumpy).
Add yogurt chips and dried cranberries. Cook on a greased griddle
at med to med-high heat (2-3 minutes per side) until pancakes are
golden brown on both sides. Yum!

Congrats to Janel G for winning the cheesecake! Keep those ideas
coming for our next Iron Chef cooking week and you can win a
cheesecake, too! And really, who doesn't love cheesecake?

Jenn McKinlay
SPRINKLE WITH MURDER
March 2010
(Available for pre-order)

aka Lucy Lawrence
STUCK ON MURDER
Sept 2009
(Available now)

CUT TO THE CORPSE
April 2010
(Available for pre-order)

For more info go to: http://www.jennmckinlay.com/

9 comments:

  1. You're so sneaky, Jenn! I do the same thing, though, with spinach in some recipes. :)

    Decorating with cranberries--what a great idea! And your pancake recipe is inspired...gotta try it!

    Elizabeth
    Mystery Writing is Murder

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  2. Jenn, what a beautiful arrangement, and although I know it isn't the exact one your mother-in-law made, I'm inspired. Please tell her thanks. Love the idea of adding cranberries to the pancakes. What a festive (and healthy) alternative! Thanks!

    Julie

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  3. A great new breakfast recipe, thanks. Love the idea of putting cranberries in the flower arrangement. Very festive.

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  4. How wonderfully sleuthy of you to sneak those good-for-you cranberries and yogurt chips into the boys' breakfast! But then their mom is a mystery writer, LOL. Wait till they hit their teen years. I can just imagine the snooping that will ensue.

    BTW: I still remember your fantastic sneaky chef sweet potato idea. For anyone who wants to check out that clever recipe of Jenn's Click here. And remember, we are not responsible for exploding potatoes.

    ~Cleo
    Coffeehouse Mystery.com
    “Where coffee and crime are always brewing…”
    Cleo Coyle on Twitter

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  5. I love the idea of the cranberries in the flower vase. I am both proud an ashamed to admit that I sleep in a bedroom painted New Orleans Whore House RED. That vase and flowers would look great, and will be a Valentine's day gift for my wife...

    This tip will do short term wonders for my sex life!!!

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  6. LOL! Thanks all. Grillman, one wall of my bedroom is red, too! You have me beat by three walls!

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  7. I love red walls. Did you know that red stimulates the appetite? It's a great color for dining rooms.

    Jenn, love the pancakes. I've slipped cranberries into pancakes before but I'll have to try out the yogurt chips!

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  8. Very sneaky, mom! Although I agree with the tactic :) My kids love pancakes with chocolate chips. White chocolate, yogurt - chips are chips!

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  9. Greetings... As promised, i used this idea for flowers for my wife for Valentine's Day... did wonders

    http://yearonthegrill.blogspot.com/2010/02/blackened-4-cheese-stuffed-pork-chop.html

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