Chocolate, Chocolate and Bluberries

1. Mix the oats, cocoa powder and sugar together in a deep pan. Make sure to do this before adding the milk or else you'll get cocoa powder lumps floating in your milk and it will be harder to get it all mixed together.

If you forget, don't worry, all is not lost. You'll just have to mix more.

2. Once the oats, cocoa and sugar are mixed together, pour in the milk. 

3. Place the pot on the stove on medium  high heat and mix everything together.

In theory you should stand by the stove and mix it constantly. If you're like me, that NEVER happens. And to be fully honest, my stove is usually on high while I run around getting things ready for the day.

4. Keep stirring until the oats have absorbed all the milk. It usually takes about 10 minutes with the old fashioned oats I use.****

5. If you want an extra creamy bowl, add some coconut oil or butter. Scoop into bowls and pour milk over top. Sprinkle with sugar/sweetener if desired.

6. Enjoy and try not to eat the whole pot yourself.

*I never measure, just eye ball 1 part oats and 2 parts liquid, but I know people like EXACT measurements, so there ya go.

**Use milk or water or a combination of the two. I do recommend using milk for chocolate oatmeal as it gives a more creamy taste

***I use sucanat for my kids, but you could use maple syrup, honey, stevia etc. Just know you'll need to change the amounts based on what sweetener you are using. Add less sweetener for a darker chocolate taste.

****I usually let the oatmeal sit for about 10 minutes before serving it, both to let it cool a bit but also to let it firm up better. It's easier to eat this way, and gives a fudgy texture if that's your thing.

BUUUUT - we're not even talking about chocolate oatmeal today, are we? That was just a BONUS for you chocolate lovers ;)

Chocolate Pancakes (or Waffles)

1 1/2 cup soft white wheat berries*

1 1/2 cup milk**

1 Tablespoon baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 Tablespoons melted butter***

1. If you're using wheat berries, you'll need to grind them first. I use my Vitamix Grain Container and because of that can add in all the dry ingredients together. So, wheat berries, baking powder, sugar, salt and cocoa powder.

Orangutan loves "making flour" even though its loud and she's always pulling up a chair to help.

2. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients. I used my Wet Blade Vitamix Container and added in the milk, eggs and melted butter, and then dumped the dry ingredients over top. 

3. Mix everything together (or blend it). At this point check consistency. If you're wanting waffles you're going for a brownie batter type consistency. If you want pancakes or crepes, you'll want something a lot thinner. Add milk a tablespoon at a time until you are happy with the consistency.

4. Heat a waffle iron/griddle and grease with butter/oil of choice.

5. If you are making waffles, follow your own iron's instructions. If you're making pancakes, pour about 1/3 cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake.

My kids asked for "shapes." These are silicone molds I earned for free from Pampered Chef when I was a consultant a couple years ago.

6. Let the pancakes cook undisturbed until small holes begin to form in the pancake (about 3 minutes). Then flip and let the other side cook about a minute before removing from the heat.

7. Serve with syrup, whipped cream, nutella, bananas - laik bilong yu.

* If you're not using wheat berries, simply use 1 1/2 cups white flour. If you're going with grinding fresh berries, I highly recommend sticking with soft white berries but if you want to do a blend, you could try hard white or spelt. These berries have less of a "whole wheat" taste which is important in recipes like this. If you wanted to use different berries I might try 3/4 cup soft white, 1/4 cup hard white and 1/4 cup spelt.

**If you're using white flour, only use a cup of milk for waffles, maybe 1 1/4 for pancakes. When using wheat berries, you will need more liquid as the berries absorb a lot. This will be where its important to check your consistency after mixing everything together.

***Use fat of your choice - butter, coconut oil, olive oil, ghee etc

I made a simple blueberry syrup to go with our pancakes. Normally Mr. Barefoot isn't a pancake fan, but if I make blueberry syrup, he will gobble them down. Win!

Blueberry Syrup

1 pound frozen or fresh blueberries*

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 - 1/2 cup water**

1.Add blueberries to a pan and place on the stove on medium heat. Add the sugar and water if desired.

2. Allow the mixture to come to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

3. If you want syrup with blueberry pieces in it, simply mix the syrup once more and serve. My family likes a smooth syrup, so I do this one extra step. 

Pour the blueberries into a blender (for me it's the Vitamix!) and blend until smooth.

* If you use frozen berries, you won't need as much water, if you choose to use any.

**Depending on the consistency of syrup you want, you can skip adding any water or add more. You'll get a thicker sauce with less water and thinner with more. Keep in mind some of the liquid will evaporate with the cooking time.