baking soda Archives

Baby Breakfast: Green Pancakes

January 5, 2020 by Kristin

Nothing could have prepared me for how much work feeding an infant would be. Perhaps I made life more difficult by going the Baby Led Weaning route, but at the time {6 months} it felt like the right approach. Five months later {at 11 months} I couldn’t be happier that we toughed out the messes and the meal prep. Fixing Ezra’s meals for the week is still a ton of work, but I’ve come up with a few “go to” recipes that make it easier. And seeing how independent of an eater he is just lights me up. His fine motor skill development and appetite for textures and flavors are pretty incredible.

I created this Green Pancake recipe as a solution for weekday breakfasts. I wanted a meal that was packed with nutrients, sized/textured for self-feeding, and easy to make in bulk then freeze. I’ve been modifying this pancake recipe in some form over the past decade – it’s wonderful!

I use a cookie scoop to make baby-sized green pancakes. I keep a few in the fridge for the current week and store the rest in the freezer for future breakfasts. I’m guilty of snacking on a few green pancakes here and there too!

Gingerbread Lofthouse Cookie Recipe

December 13, 2015 by Kristin

Cookies are not my weak spot. A brownie sundae? You bet ya! But cookies have never really been my thing. Unless.. it’s a container of those fluffy, cakey cookies with a perfect circle of frosting with sprinkles that can typically be found in the bakery. That kind of cookie can be my thing.

I did some super sophisticated Google searching: “fluffy, cakey cookies”, “super fluffy cookies”, “cake-like cookies”. From there, I found out that my guiltiest cookie pleasure has a brand name, Lofthouse Cookies. I found a few blogger recipes, like this one from Two Peas & Their Pod, and realized I’m not the only one with an obsession.

I quickly made this recipe my own and modified to be gingerbread-esque, using brown sugar, molasses, freshly grated ginger, and Chinese five spice {my holiday fav}. And now I can’t stop, won’t stop, taking a cookie with me every time I leave the kitchen!

Hatch Chile & Cheddar Cornbread Scones

August 31, 2015 by Kristin

It’s well into hatch chile season and, after weeks of passing by giant hatch chile displays at the store, it’s about time for me to get on board and make something hatch-chile-special! This recipe was inspired by a visiting FoodFash mom, hosting a build-your-own bloody mary brunch, and an extreme craving for cornbread.

… And maybe the ever-present desire to torch food on the gas range.

I used a savory scone recipe that I had prior success with as a guide, adding yellow cornmeal for texture and hatch chiles and sharp cheddar to step up the flavor game. And the resulting scone was seriously something special.

The lovely crowd above gobbled them all up!

Chef Kerstin Bellah’s Paleo Cacao Nib Cookies

August 23, 2015 by Kristin

The first time I met Kerstin, she was piping something, perfectly, in the St. Philip kitchen. She asked if I wanted to try what she was making and I responded that I couldn’t, that I wasn’t eating dairy or gluten. And with her head down, intently making the most uniform desserts you could possibly imagine, she said she didn’t either. I walked away {more than} a bit confused. Shortly after, my construction focus switched from St. Philip to Uchi Dallas. And that was that.

What feels like tens of years {but was actually only one year} later, we connected on Facebook after I photographed food for Juniper, a soon-to-be-open Austin restaurant where Kerstin is heading up pastry. And when I saw this picture of paleo cacao nib cookies on my newsfeed, the chain of thought went something like pretty cookies! -> paleo cookies? -> how can paleo cookies look so much like fancy pants bakery cookies? -> oh, they’re Kerstin’s cookies -> Kerstin is a pastry superhero -> I want to make fancy pants superhero paleo cookies -> I wonder if she’ll share the recipe?.

I “liked” the photo and sent an inquiring message, not knowing how receptive she’d be to sharing. And before another thought entered my busy bee brain, she replied that sharing the recipe would be awesome and she’d send the recipe over as soon as she got home.

To say I’ve been looking forward to baking these cookies all week is the most giant of understatements. After sixty-ish weekly Dallas trips and the recent flood of weekend getaways, my body is in major need of the good for you stuff. And as I get back on the gluten-free, dairy-free train, I’m so thankful to know that these delish cookies will have my back, keeping me company when temptation is near.

Thank you, Kerstin, for allowing me to share this recipe with the FoodFash world!

P.S. I used carob chips instead of cacao nibs because.. accident.