whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes

Ok, this went against all I believe to give chocolate for breakfast. but these pancakes had hardly any sugar, plus, if I give whipped cream or coffee cake for breakfast every once in a while, these are for sure ok! even healthier!

1 egg
1 1/2 buttermilk (I didn't have any, so I used half soy milk and half reg milk with lemon juice)
3 T. canola oil
2 T. water
1/2 t. vanilla
1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour (when I do whole wheat flour I always "sift" and don't do the exact cup full)
2 T. brown sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
chocolate chips (I love semi-sweet)

Mix wet ingredients first, then add dry and whisk until smooth. I prefer to mix the chocolate chips in the batter before I pour onto griddle. This may seem weird, but it was so so good with just a touch of pure maple syrup over it. The pancakes aren't really sweet, and just a touch of maple goes surprisingly really good with the chocolate and whole wheat flavor!

Steel Cut Oats

After years of mom telling me about steel cut oats and how much she loves them, I finally bought some. I gave up on eating hot oatmeal. I ate it for a while, knowing it was good for me, but it was just hard to swallow...literally. I know that steel cut oats are much better for you and they are so so so much more yummy. (horrible english, I know) Not mushy and it has texture that is so easy to eat. Anyway, so maybe it's easy to remember how to cook them, but the way my brain is working lately, I need to write it down somewhere.

1/2 c. steel cut oats
1 cup milk
3/4 c. water

*Bring to the milk and water to just the start of a boil and stir in the oats, and turn the heat down to simmer. (low)
Cook for 15 min and add:

1 T. Maple syrup (or 2 if you aren't adding any other sweet things after it's cooked)

Cook for another 15 min ish until it's the texture you like.

I made sauteed apples to go on mine and it was delicious!! (chop apples, add to melted butter and brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon) I was wishing I had some pecans to chop up and put in too!

Chayote Italian Sausage Soup

Ingredients
I think that I left out one ingredient - chicken stock - and I think that that it might be 6 cups. Hmmm. Sorry. The next time I make this, I will experiment with it. This is one of Jeff's all time favorite soups, so I am so bummed that I missed part of the recipe.

2 Italian sausage links
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 chayote squashes, seeded and chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
1 teaspoon chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
Directions

Place a large saucepan over medium-high heat; cook the sausage in the skillet until browned; remove the sausage to a plate lined with paper towels. Add the olive oil. onion, and garlic to the skillet; cook and stir until the onions are translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Return the sausage to the pan along with the chayote squash and jalapeno peppers; cook and stir until the squash begins to soften, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, black beans, corn, thyme, and chili powder; season with salt and pepper. Cook until completely heated through, about 10 minutes more.

Instead of Italian sausage you can use 1 lb of ground turkey. Be careful not to overcook the chayote.