I cooked up a yummy brunch on Saturday, and I just had to share!

On Saturday, we spent the day resting at home.  No one was sick either, we just rested.  Dad slept in.  Then later took a nap too.  Wow a day of true rest.  That does not happen around here very often.  Though we are told in the scriptures to work six days and rest on the seventh.    Weekends are always full of fun outings with dad, grocery shopping, house and yard work, church, picking up raw milk and other produce at farms, and nursing home visits.  Whew!  Our weekends are always a whirlwind! 

But Saturday we rested.  It was especially nice. 

For lunch (brunch) we were all satisfied after eating this super yummy meal.


On The Menu

Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Maple Syrup
Bacon
Fried Potatoes
Fried Eggs
Fruit Salad
Tea, Southern Style “sweet”
Raw Milk

WARNING
for the next 45 minutes, your stove and you are going to be really busy!  But with sweet rewards!!!



Start the tea in a pan of almost boiling water.   Let your tea bags sit for 5 to 7 minutes or so in the hot water.  We like a blend of Lipton and Tetley tea bags.   I make it a little strong.  By the time we pour it over a tall glass of ice, it is the perfect consistency, not to weak and not to strong.  Sweeten to taste.  My husband likes it unsweetened on ice.   I use sucanat sugar to sweeten tea.  We also served raw milk as an option to drink.

Next make the bacon.  Cook up your bacon according to package directions.  When the bacon is done, remove to a plate with paper towels to absorb any excess fat.    We used Applegate Farms bacon with no preservatives and no nitrites and no nitrates!  Yum.   



After removing bacon from the pan, add in about 1/4 cup additional oil to the pan drippings.  I used expeller pressed grape seed oil.  This oil is perfect for frying.  And no free radicals that you get from frying with other oils (corn, soybean, canola, “vegetable blends”, peanut, crysco, and olive oils).   Other good oils for frying are expeller pressed safflower oil, coconut oil, and ghee. 

Bring up the temperature of the pan to at least medium, and then add in the pealed and diced potato fries.   I used 4 medium potatoes for this skillet full.  It takes two skillets for my family of 7 people.  Cover and cook on medium heat.  Cook covered for about 10 minutes to 15 minutes.  This helps to cook the inside of the potato before the outside browns.  Then remove the cover and cook for another 20 minutes or so uncovered, until nicely golden brown.  Stir just a few times during the cooking process to allow each potato to turn and come in contact with the hot oil.



Make up your favorite pancake recipe.  My recipe is posted at the bottom.   I made my batter a little thinner this time, more thinner than usual.   I was hungry for a thinner pancake, and less dough in my mouth.   Lately I haven’t been as pleased with the taste and texture of thick pancakes.   So today I was ready to experiment a little.  I added a little extra milk,  and they turned out perfect!



They spread out a little more in the pan, so I could only cook one at a time in a skillet.  ( I usually cook two or three of the thicker ones at a time in this same pan).   If you have a pancake griddle then you can cook several of these at a time.  To each 1/4 cup of batter I put in the skillet, I added 1 Tbsp of miniature chocolate chips.  When they get little bubbles all over and don’t look so shinny, its time to flip them over and cook the other side.  The first side takes about 2 minutes, and the second side about 45 seconds. 



These turned out just perfect.  All the kids loved them!



The fruit salad was actually leftover from the night before.  We had company, and my ten year old son made this wonderful fruit salad to share with our guests.  It was absolutely delicious!  It contained red grapes, green grapes, strawberries, blueberries, mandarin oranges, bananas, apples, and a mixture of vanilla yogurt and honey.    If you would like to see how we make fruit salads, check out our recipe posted here.

Finally, I fried the eggs in a teaspoon of butter, at the very last, just before serving the table.  That way they were nice and hot!  While they cooked I seasoned them with sea salt and pepper.  I love to cook my eggs with the white all cooked and the yolk thick and slightly runny but not cooked solid.  This is perfect.  The yolk just barely gets onto my pancake and tastes delicious.  This is how I cooked eggs for all my children since they were six months old.   By allowing the yolk to remain slightly runny, it preserves most of the nutrients and enzymes in the egg.  If you would like to know more about why this is such a great way to eat eggs, please read on at the Weston A Price Foundation.   Here is a link to a whole list of articles from their website to learn more about eating wonderful eggs.  http://www.westonaprice.org/component/finder/search?q=egg+yolk

I realize that some eggs can contain salmonella, and this can be a dangerous bacteria and cause severe symptoms for some folks, especially those with compromised immune symptoms.  But I am cooking these eggs, just not too long.   Salmonella in eggs is rare.  Most problems with salmonella and eggs come from large chicken factories.  The risk of exposure for my family is extremely small.   I buy most of our eggs fresh from a local chicken farmer.  We used to raise our own eggs and I was a firm believer in using our egg yolks raw in many recipes such as smoothies, egg nog, ice cream, and yummy raw cookie dough.   Since
I no lon
ger raise my own eggs, I seldom use them raw.   I truly miss that!  But I do love these runny yolk fried eggs!

If you would like to know more about raising healthy chickens, including a chicken feed recipe, and eating healthy eggs check out this article:
http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/1537-eat-eggs-and-have-chicken-too?




Nourishing Yummy Pancakes


2 cups natural white flour (organic or certified chemical free)
2 tsp baking soda (aluminum free)
2 Tbs natural sugar  (evaporated cane juice)
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 fresh eggs
2 cups raw whole milk  or butter milk, (both yield a delicious pancake)
2 Tbs of safflower oil (expeller pressed)
Optional (add extras such as mini chocolate chips, or fruit of choice before cooking) 

Cook about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake.



This is my favorite pancake recipe.   I usually make it a day ahead and put it in a quart jar in the refrigerator overnight.  Then its ready to go for breakfast or brunch the next day.  Thin with milk or water if needed before cooking on hot griddle.    But it works great even if you don’t have time to let it sit overnight too.  We love to add mini-chocolate chips, or bananas, chopped apples, or blueberries to these yummy treats.  My husband especially likes chopped up bananas in his pancakes, the way his grandma made them, and this was one of the first things I learned to make for him over 20 years ago.



Hope you had a great Saturday!