Cinnamon Honey Iced Coffee

Welcome to my latest vice.  Lately, this is truly how I make it through the latter half of my day.

Cinnamon Honey Iced Coffee
Recipe adapted from How to Make Iced Coffee cookbook
Prep time: 5 minutes   Chill time: 8 hours

3 1/2 cups cold water, divided
1/2 cup coffee grounds
Milk, optional
Honey
Cinnamon

1.  Pour 2 cups of cold water into a jar and add 1/2 cup ground coffee.  Close the jar and shake it a little to mix it up.  Refrigerate at least 8 hours, or overnight.

I used my canning funnel to make sure I don't get grounds everywhere.

2.  Add 1 1/2 cups of cold water and shake to combine.  Line a sieve with a coffee filter and slowly pour the coffee over this to strain out the grounds.

Pour slowly so you don't overflow the filter.

3.  Pour the strained coffee into a covered pitcher or jar and add enough milk, if using, to reach your preferred lightness.

Yes, I like my coffee LIGHT and SWEET.

4.  The amount of honey you add will vary depending on how sweet you like your coffee.  I add about 1/4-1/3 cup, but admittedly, I don't measure this.

A little cinnamon goes a long way.

5.  Sprinkle in 1/8-1/4 tsp cinnamon and shake well to mix.  Pour over ice and enjoy!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

I love, love, looooooooooooooooove cinnamon rolls.  Do you?  Have you ever tried making them?  I confess that I have not.  I'm still in the way-too-intimidated-just-by-glancing-at-a-recipe phase for that one.  Maybe someday... I'd really like to make them though because I love, love, loooooooooooooooooove cinnamon rolls.  For now, I settle for the trusty refrigerator canned kind to get my cinnamon roll fix.

But then I found this pancake recipe.  Hello cinnamon!!  These truly have all the warm goodness of a cinnamon roll but without all that rolling and sprinkling and cutting and so forth.  All the skills I need are stirring and scooping.  Yeah, I can handle that on a sleepy Saturday morning.  I bet you can too. ;)

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
Recipe adapted from AllRecipes.com

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp ground cinnamon (Yes, a whole tablespoon.  Don't be afraid)
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tbsp honey
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tbsp vanilla extract

1.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon.

See? You want lots of cinnamon

2.  In a separate large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, honey, butter and vanilla extract. Stir in the flour mixture.

Prepare to scoop the batter!

3.  Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium low heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot with maple syrup. 

Cook, my lovelies...

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before how much we love pancakes right?  Yeah, we love pancakes.  So this is really just the best of both worlds: we get the pancakes we adore, PLUS the bonus taste of lovely, lovely cinnamon rolls.

Eventually I'll get over my issues and finally tackle the homemade cinnamon roll world.  For now, I think Gavin is perfectly fine with my pseudo-replacement.

Typical Saturday morning breakfast response

Glazed Salmon with Spiced Carrots

So if I were to say the word "spicy," what would be the first thing that comes to mind?  Hot? Habenero?  Fire extinguisher?  Hmmm, interesting.  Believe it or not, "spicy" does not always have to result in flames racing across your tongue, incinerating every taste bud in it's path.  I mean, I like a good kick in the mouth as much as the next person but it's nice to shake it up a little too.  Spicy just means that something has lots of spices in it: hot, mellow, sweet, or savory.

Glazes are such fun!

I love to play with spices.  You hear a lot that "fat is flavor," which don't get me wrong because it is, however some of us just don't like or can't tolerate a gallon of oil or bacon fat in our food.  So how do I get to enjoy tasty food without frying something in 10 lbs of butter?  Yup, spices.  

I tried three new recipes in one meal, which is rare for me.  Normally if I'm trying a new recipe I stick with tried and true compliments to make sure there is something in the meal that I'm guaranteed to like.  However I came across this salmon recipe, which included the carrots as part of it, and I was stumped as to what to make with it.  Potatoes would be too heavy.  Rice?  Wild rice would be great with salmon however I know there is not a chance that my 3-year-old would eat wild rice.  And, I'm sorry, plain rice just didn't see worthy enough to serve with this.  So I did some quick digging and came across a Spiced Rice recipe.  Again, not spiced as in "holy God get me some water NOW".  But spiced as in a deeper, almost more mysterious flavor.  All together, this meal worked.  Plus it easily comes together in under a half hour (bonus!!).  

Glazed Salmon with Spiced Carrots

Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine

1 lb carrots, peeled and thinly sliced on a bias (fancy word for saying you need to angle your knife as you cut)

4 tbsp olive oil, divided

4 salmon filets (I just used one big piece of fish that was scored into 4 pieces)

2 tbsp honey or agave nectar

1 tbsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp lime juice, divided

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp cumin  (LOVE CUMIN!!!!)

Dash of cinnamon

1. Preheat broiler.  In a medium bowl, toss sliced carrots with 1 tbsp olive oil.  Spread slices on 1/2 of a broiler pan and broil 2-3 minutes until they just start to soften.

2.  In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tbsp olive oil, dijon mustard, honey, and 1 tbsp lime juice.  Brush glaze on the tops and sides of the salmon filets.  Season with salt and pepper.  Lay filets on the other side of broiler pan.  Broil for 5-7 minutes or until salmon is cooked through and carrots have softened.

Two dishes, one pan, less cleanup.  Wahoo!!

3.  Let salmon rest a couple minutes while finishing the carrots.  In a medium bowl, combine last tbsp olive oil and lime juice with the coriander, cumin, and cinnamon.  Toss in carrot slices to coat.  

Next time I may add some chopped fresh parsley for some color

I served these two lovely dishes with Simple Spiced Rice.

1 tbsp butter

1 cup uncooked rice

1/2 small onion, chopped

2 cups water

1 tsp salt

2 whole cinnamon sticks

1 small bay leaf 

1.  Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, and cook and stir in the rice and onion until the rice kernels are coated with butter and the onion is translucent, 5 to 8 minutes. The rice will give off a slightly toasted fragrance. Pour in water, and mix in salt, cinnamon stick (break it in half if it won't fit) and bay leaf. 

Toasty!

2.  Bring the mixture to a boil, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cover the saucepan, and simmer the rice until all the water has disappeared and the rice appears dry, about 18 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve. 

I love the opportunity to use cinnamon sticks in my cooking

The end result of this meal?  Lovely, lovely spiciness.  The kind that warms you through and makes you happy (which, incidentally, is probably mainly from the cinnamon that's running through this entire meal).  I'd encourage you to play around with your spices. Spicy doesn't have to be chili powder and red pepper flakes.  Cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, allspice,... these are lovely ways to wake up those taste buds and warm the soul too. ;)