Last post was about a crepe I made with nut butter, cookie spread and raisins, as my dear ol’ mom used to say, “JIC”. And that “JIC” was “just in case” I needed it to refuel on a 60 mile North Carolina ride. And though I didn’t need to refuel on the ride, that full-on flavorful crepe sure didn’t go to waste. No way!
Crepe with nut butter, cookie spread; fruit with yogurt, jam & dried fruit; and coffee
Last weekend I used half of that leftover crepe for breakfast, as shown above, along with fruit, yogurt, jam and dried fruit and a vat of coffee – and, you bet, both the crepe and coffee got a good shot of whipped cream. Again, that breakfast – and a good meal the night before (equally as important) –
…sustained me just fine for another 60 mile less hilly ride, as shown above, with no need to chomp on the nuts, raisins and dried coconut I bagged and shoved in my pocket, again, “JIC”. Ha, Mom!
Last post – I know, quite a while ago – showed how to make fresh crepes, which are just as easy to make as flapjack pancakes but are way more versatile, as shown with just a few examples above.
Whether you use your own crepes or pre-made store bought crepes, the top middle version, filled with nut butter and jam and topped with yogurt and whipped cream is very easy to make, killer flavorful and great power fuel for any kind of strenuous activity because of its combination of simple “get up and go!” sugars from the jam and cookie spread (optional), complex carbs from the flour in the crepe, protein from the egg in the crepe, Greek yogurt and nut butter, and fats from nut butter, yogurt (if you use whole milk yogurt) and whipped cream.
Here’s what I use to put together a crepe like this: homemade crepe (which can be substituted with a prepared, store bought crepe), then from left to right: whole milk Greek yogurt, almond butter, cookie spread (optional – I love both added flavor and light crunch!), jam, raisins and whipped cream.
Crepe with nut butter, jam, yogurt and whipped cream ingredients
Start by spreading nut butter, cookie spread (optional) and jam down the middle of the crepe.
Spreading nut butter, cookie spread and jam down the middle of a crepe
I fold over one of the crepe thirds and add a dab of nut butter to the middle of that third and then fold over the opposing third, as shown below, to keep the crepe folded in place when I warm it in the microwave oven.
Using nut butter to keep the folded crepe thirds together when warmed in the microwave oven
Warm the filled crepe in the microwave oven for 20 seconds.
Warming the filled crepe for 20 seconds in the microwave oven
Finish buy topping the warmed crepe with yogurt and whipped cream.
Finishing with a good shot of yogurt and whipped cream
This crepe just by itself is great. Here’s how I have it before a good crunch on the bike that keeps me satisfied completely with no need to refuel on the fly for distances of 30-50+ miles with plenty of North Carolina hills along the way.
Pre-ride crepe with nut butter, cookie spread, jam, yogurt and whipped cream
Though France is well known for the premier cycling events of the year, the men’s and women’s gutsy, rip fast Tour de France, they are even better known for full-on food flavor.
One of my favorite go-to French foods is fresh crepes, which are, no kidding, just as easy to make as flapjack pancakes but much more flavorfully versatile and a great physical activity power source.
Here are the needed ingredients.
Click this link or the photo below to see a short, thumbnail sketch video showing how I made fresh crepes to take on a bike trip last weekend.
Click this link for a complete, very easy to use step-by-step picture book Crepes Made Easy recipe.
What you see here sure works great as is but is really intended to inspire your fully flavorful imagination.
When I put together the last few posts that showed how to make quickly cooked fresh fruit toppings, I’ve said that they go great on pancakes, waffles, French toast, over warm or cold cereal – and much more. This post is about providing a concrete example that works with warm pineapple coconut topping on a leftover pancake.
Now, though the recipe you can get here works great as is – I’m sure a big fan – the real purpose here is to inspire your imagination to use this or any fruit topping in a way that satisfies your own personal taste.
For more details, click this link or either picture on this page for a complete pineapple coconut topping on pancake picture book recipe. Then use what you see in that recipe to fire your imagination!
This warm pineapple coconut topping is just an example of how you can easily improvise on the warm fruit topping theme.
Last two posts showed how to make warm fruit toppings that go great over hot or cold cereal, with yogurt, on pancakes, waffles or French toast. Your imagination is your only limit.
This post is about a variation on the fruit topping theme I’d never tried before but put together on-the-fly for breakfast with my good Hickory, NC, buds a little before Thanksgiving. The key to this warm pineapple coconut topping recipe is using a fully ripened pineapple, and the picture book recipe you can get here shows exactly how to check a pineapple for ripeness and ripen a pineapple that will most likely be under-ripe when you buy it at the store.
Here’s what you need to to make a warm pineapple coconut topping.
Click this link or any picture on this page for this warm pineapple coconut topping picture book recipe.
Next post will show an example of how I use this topping and toppings like it to power me through a morning that almost always includes a good rip on the bike.
3 easy-to-make variations on the warm apple cranberry fruit topping recipe theme
Last post showed how to make a warm apple cranberry fruit topping that goes great on warm or cold cereal, pancakes, French toast, waffles and much more. I mentioned in that post that the recipe is a base or building block recipe that can be easily varied by using different ingredients to meet your personal taste. This post shows three specific examples that work great as is and can also be used to fire your imagination.
The first two recipes are direct riffs on warm apple cranberry fruit topping. The third is berry based.
Apple, Kiwi, Cranberry Topping: This recipe just adds kiwi to the topping, which you can substitute with any other fruit: pear, grapes, berries and more. Click this link or the picture to get the recipe.
Here are 3 easy-to-make variations on the warm apple cranberry fruit topping recipe theme
2. Apple and Papaya Topping: Quickly cooking papaya is my favorite, most flavorful way of eating this tropical fruit. The recipe for this topping that you can get by clicking this link again is just an example of exchanging one ingredient for another either for the fun of it (I mean that) or to suit your personal taste.
3. Warm Berry and Kiwi Fruit Topping: This is an example of a more dramatic variation on the apple, cranberry topping theme. Again, you can substitute the berries or any fruit in this recipe to suit your specific taste. Click this link or the picture below for a picture book recipe.
Next post: Pineapple Coconut Topping. Made it recently. Friends asked for the recipe. I’ll get that out later this week.
The other day I wanted something a little different for breakfast with flavor and substance to power me through a good late winter Hickory, NC, group bike ride. Here’s what I came up with. I call it scrambled pancake because I used most of the ingredients I use to make a fruit pancake but scrambled the batter like scrambled eggs.
These are the ingredients that I mixed in the bowl you see at the bottom of the picture below.
Those ingredients and rough proportions are (no need to measure precisely: with these ingredients, your result will turn out great): 2 eggs, dash of salt, good shake of ground cinnamon, about 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 big tablespoon of each: ground flaxseed, cooked quinoa (the red grains in the square container above the butter), cooked steel cut oats (the white grains in the square container between the vanilla extract), and a handful of raisins.
Of course, as an improvised recipe, which is just a guide, and I was using what I already had in the fridge, specifically regarding the quinoa and steel cut oats. I can imagine you don’t have those – and possibly not ground flaxseed also – ready to grab and go. No problem: just substitute any or all the grains above with any favorite cooked or ready to eat grain, like cold oat cereal, granola or wheat germ. Your imagination is your only limit.
Here’s how to cook what you’ve mixed.
Add about as much butter as you see above to a frying pan warmed to the same temperature needed to make scrambled or fried eggs. Add and spread the batter, and give the pan a good back and forth shuffle like you see in the last picture above to “encourage” the batter not to stick to the pan surface.
After a 1-3 minutes, when the bottom of the cooked batter looks lightly browned like the top photo above, use a spatula to turn the batter. Don’t worry about trying to turn it all in one piece. (I tried doing that myself – and failed with a smile). Then use the spatula to break and turn the batter, like you would do to make scrambled eggs, until it is cooked through as shown below.
You can then scoop what you’ve cooked into a bowl and add whatever you want want: maple syrup, honey, jam, peanut or any nut butter, yogurt, whipped cream – anything. Next post, I’ll show what I added to make what you see below that easily sustained me for 40 miles on the bike, no problem.
More very soon!
February 15th, 2021 BlogComments Off on Food Brings People Together: Apple Cherry Pancake
Food sure does bring people together, and I’ve had a lot of fun sharing what you can find on this site with new friends I’ve made since moving to Hickory, NC, last summer.
Yesterday, I made the apple cherry pancake you see below for a terrifically outgoing, warm and welcoming husband and wife who both have introduced me to Hickory’s richly grounded spiritual life and have become good friends.
Improvised apple cherry pancake – that you can make easily!
You won’t find the exact recipe for the pancake you see above because I improvised it on the fly based on fresh fruits I had on hand: fresh opal apples from Trader Joe’s and fantastically flavorful fresh Chilean dark cherries from Aldi’s shown on the cutting board below.
Improvised apple cherry pancake ingredients ready for the warm frying pan
I can very well understand that you might think tackling an improvised recipe might be a stretch after having seen the preceding two very quick & easy Instant Hot Cereal recipes, but that is not the case at all – and I’ll help you with picture book guidance every step of the way. Just click this link or any picture on this page for the Fresh Apple Pancake recipe and substitute or complement the apples with your favorite fruit.
Fresh Apple Pancake picture book recipe
Most importantly, think only of making it turn out successfully – and it will -and then enjoy the terrifically satisfying warm flavor you create either for yourself or to share with friends!
February 12th, 2021 BlogComments Off on Frigid Weather Remedy: Instant Cereal from Simple to Exciting!
The weather guess for Valentine’s weekend and into next week is hardly heart warming.
Though we can’t change the cold outside, we sure can make the most of what we eat to keep us warm inside and do it quickly, easily – and flavorfully.
Last post showed how to make instant hot cereal from your favorite cold cereal.
For added flavor, just click this link or the picture below for picture book directions that show how to ramp up the flavor and take that instant hot cereal from simple to exciting.
Of course, the ingredients you see in the above recipe are only suggestions. As always, make any substitutions to suit your taste.
Pre-cold weather ride “goose fat” (homemade oil combo) on face & warm fruit topping for breakfast
Yes, it’s February, but any day cycling the road sure beats a day on the living room trainer, especially when there are sights like those below before the snow blew in last night.
Bottom line: Weather’s a state of mind. Just be prepared.
For me that means, step one, “goose fat” (homemade mix of avocado oil, coconut butter, shea butter, and a shot of honey) on the face and something warm to fuel me up for a good hop in the saddle.
Click this link or the picture above or below for a complete, easy to follow step-by-step picture book recipe that shows how to make a fruit topping that goes great on warm cereal, French toast, pancakes – your imagination is your only limit! As always, a quick nod and smile to Bicycles Battling Cancer and Springfield Police, Fire, and new this year, military vets, Ride to Remember.
October 18th, 2022 
