Baked Falafel with Simple Yogurt Dressing

There is a lot of cooking in my kitchen for other people - steak for my husband, a whole series for my daughter, BBQ for my in-laws. This Baked Falafel is just for me. I could eat meatless hearty salads for every meal and I love greek food. The hubby will pass on tomatoes and olives and our little darling is only really interested in strawberries and cheese toast these days. 

Luckily - I'm the only cook in the house and everyone just has to deal with my whims. Just kidding, being a wife and mom just means I need meals that 1. I love and 2. I can adapt for my sweet finicky family. This Baked Falafel is good like that. My husband will eat these in a pita pocket without the tomatoes and olives and with very little yogurt sauce. Ella will have her sauce on the side, actually she'll have everything separate, please. Me? I love to eat these guys on a big bed of lettuce with lots of feta, lots of ripe tomatoes, and lots of stinky olives. The falafel and Simple Yogurt dressing also make a pretty hearty appetizer with some sliced cucumbers. 

Like most of the recipes I share here - these Baked Falafel are adaptable and forgiving. Out of cornmeal? Use all-purpose flour. Hate mint? Just chop up some parsley. The yogurt sauce can handle some red wine vinegar instead of the lemon (because 9 times out of 10 -  I forgot to buy the lemon). 

Baked Falafel 

makes 24 small falafel patties, 4-6 servings 

2 (16 ounces) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed 

1 small onion or shallot, grated 

1 clove garlic, minced 

1/3 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup finely chopped minced herbs - I like thyme, oregano and mint but parsley is a good neutral 

1 teaspoon smoked paprika 

1 teaspoon kosher salt 

olive oil 

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Mash together the chickpeas, onion, garlic, cornmeal, herbs, paprika and salt with a potato masher in a large bowl until most of the chickpeas are smashed and the mixture holds together when pressed. You can also pulse the mixture in a food processor 10-15 times until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs and also holds together when pressed. 

Coat a baking sheet with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Scoop the chickpea mixture into 2 tablespoon sized balls (I like a small fisher for this) and flatten slightly. 

Bake for 12 minutes, flip and bake for another 12 to 15 minutes or until crisp. Serve with Simple Yogurt Dressing, pita bread, feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives. 

Simple Yogurt Dressing 

makes about 1 cup dressing

1 cup greek yogurt 

1 tablespoon lemon juice 

1 tablespoons finely chopped fresh herbs - such as chives and mint

1 teaspoon kosher salt 

Mix together yogurt, lemon juice, herbs, and salt. Let the mixture sit for at least 30 minutes before serving. 

Psst. This is how I set up the components of a greek salad for Ella. She is 1000% guaranteed to eat the bread, yogurt sauce, and cucumbers. Every once in a great while she will eat the tomatoes and the feta too - so I keep trying.

Grit Tots

Hey, look! I'm back with a recipe AND a brand new look. Thank you for all your kind words on last week's 24 hour post. It was the weirdest post to publish (yup, even weirder than announcing pregnancy two years ago). For the time being, I'm going back to posting two times a week so I can bring you other cool projects without losing my mind. 

But let's talk about this new look: My dear friend Lindsay of Gather and Co. has been working tireless on my logo and other brand elements. I swore I was the worst client ever (I switched color themes as we neared the end the project) but Lindsay was incredibly patient, walked me through all the things I didn't know, and assured me I was not the worst client ever. If you're looking for branding for your blog or business, for wedding invites, stationary suite - I highly recommend Gather and Co.

I still have some technical tweaking to do behind the scenes, but I could not wait to share the new look of Stir & Scribble! I also finally put together a legit portfolio site for my work at MeghanSplawn.com. An updated recipe database is also underway! But you just really want to know about these Grit Tots huh? 

I have been testing a lot of grit making recipe lately. Basically I'm lazy and I'm trying to find a way to make perfect creamy grits without standing over the stove. I've tried a baked version and a slow-cooker version and Iamthisclose to cracking the code (and I promise to share when I do). All this to say I've had a lot of leftover grits in the house. A good problem to have when you have this trick in your back pocket. These Grit Tots are as simple as cutting up some grits (I used a small round cutter, but I also tested them as simple square) and I'm 97% sure you can do the same with cooked or ready made polenta too! 

Grit Tots 

makes about 36 dozen tots, approximately 4 servings 

2 cups leftover grits - spread into a pan and refrigerated overnight 

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided 

kosher salt 

Set an oven rack about 6 inches under your broiler. Heat the broiler to high.

Cut the grits into 1 inch square or punch out rounds with a 1/2 inch round cutter. Coat a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Spread the cut grits into a single layer on the sheet pan. Drizzle on the remaining olive oil and gently toss to coat. 

Broil the Grit Tots for 1 to 2 minutes on each side until golden, about 8 minutes total. If the tots seem to be sticking use a thin flat spatula to flip them. Sprinkle with additional salt and cool slightly before serving. 

Baked Oatmeal Donuts with Maple Glaze

I'm sort of sorry I'm bring you these Baked Oatmeal Donuts on a Monday. Sort of. I'm also not sorry for finding another way to force help my family to eat oatmeal. You might not be able to wait until next weekend to make these. 

I've been battling my grandmother's cake donut recipe for about the last year and a half. When she passed away her donut recipe went with her and the few notes that are left haven't yield that taste memory for me. After another fail last month - I needed a donut win. Also because my grandmother's donuts are fried - I wanted something sort of nutritious. 

By substituting the white flour in a typical baked donut recipe for whole wheat flour and oat flour these donuts are higher in fiber and so more filling. I might even consider an unglazed one an acceptable weekday breakfast. Okay, on a Monday I might consider a glazed one an acceptable breakfast. 

Around here we can't eat oatmeal without brown sugar or maple syrup - so I've included brown sugar in the donut and maple syrup in the glaze. You can easily find a donut pan at your local kitchenware store or online. 

Oatmeal Baked Donuts with Maple Glaze 

makes 12 donuts  

butter or oil for the pan 

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour 

3/4 cup oat flour* 

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder 

1 teaspoon kosher salt 

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

3/4 cup milk

2 large eggs 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

maple glaze 

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 

pinch of salt 

Heat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a donut pan and set aside. 

Whisk together the flour, oat flour, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl. In another small bowl, beat together the milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. 

Move the batter to a gallon sized zip-top bag. Cut a small corner off the bag and use it the bag to pipe the batter into the donut pan. Fill each cavity about 3/4 full. Bake for 8 to minutes of until the donuts are golden and spring back when touched. remove from the oven and remove from the pan to a cooling rack immediately. Re-grease and fill the pan until all of the batter is used. Cool the donuts completely before glazing. 

For the glaze: Whisk together the powdered sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla until smooth. Dip the donuts in the glaze and return to the cooling rack - let the glaze set for 30 minutes before devouring. 

*Make your own by buzzing rolled oats in the food processor or clean coffee grinder - 3/4 cup whole oats will yield just enough oat flour for this recipe. 

Ella's Play Kitchen Remodel

No, no we haven't decided to remodel our kitchen - yet. 

Today our daughter Ella turns 2! I seriously can't even believe two years have gone this quickly. I've been a bit of a mess about the whole thing. I'm planning on sharing some of the details from her birthday party next week - like I did last year - but a few folks asked for details on her play kitchen after I shared a photo of her "before" kitchen. 

I prefer to make her a birthday gift instead of buying one since her birthday is just off the heels of Christmas. Also I'm just the kind of sentimental nut who can't leave well enough alone. I was insistent that "we" build her a play kitchen, by "we" I mean my husband. Said husband was also insistent that we did not have time, that a store-bought kitchen would suffice, and that he was not making a damn thing from scratch. 

I tried shopping and even settled on a play kitchen to order online. This guide was incredible helpful, but the week I should have ordered it I just could not push "pay". I wanted Ella's play kitchen to be as special as she is to me. Also I think these birthday projects give me something to obsess over so that I don't have to accept that my little baby keeps growing up despite my pleas for her to stay a baby forever.

I did what any other blogger would do and posted my query on the webernet - was it better to buy a play kitchen of DIY one? A facebook friend suggested that we look on craigslist for a used play kitchen. And that's where I found this vintage gem. Originally the seller was asking $100 but the vintage play kitchen had been listed for several weeks and wasn't in the best shape. Much to my delight the seller accepted my low-ball offer of just $40! 

This vintage play kitchen was the best compromise for the husband and I; We got a sturdy wooden play kitchen that he didn't have to build but that need just enough work to make it feel like a from scratch DIY.  

The cabinets tops were warped and scratched - so they were the first thing to go. We made a trip to Home Depot for some paint (a quart of white and a quart of magnet paint) some knobs, handles, a set of push lights, and a 24 inch by 36 inch board of oak. We'd hoped to find a bathroom faucet to use for a sink, but the ones we liked were expensive and the cheap ones were kind of bulky. 

My husband removed the doors on all three pieces (the fridge, oven, and cabinet) and painted the oven and cabinet with three coats of white paint and primer in one (I believe it was RustOleum. He used the old tops as templates to cut the two new counter tops and then used the leftover wood to make a short back splash, which he also painted white. 

The magnet paint was the biggest splurge of the project - at $19 a can - but I really wanted Ella to be able to use her magnets on her fridge. We painted three coats on the sides and door fronts of the fridge. I would have done another few coats, but we were literally painting the magnet paint on the night before her birthday party and we still needed to do two coats of white paint over the magnet paint. Small magnets stick just fine to the finished fridge, but larger magnets don't hold at all. 

I had originally painted two burners on the new counter top with the magnet paint as well (I traced a roll of masking tape with a pencil and filled in the circle with a small paint brush) but my mom discovered some old electric cal-rods in one of the closets in our shop (we're still moving in and discovering things in our new home) So my husband attached two of them as well. 

We attached new handles to all three cabinets. I painted some unfinished wooden knobs with two coats of kraft paint and labelled them with a paint pen to act as playful oven knobs. We also added a push light inside the oven. We have plans to add another light to the fridge, but since the play fridge's paint was still drying when we moved it from our workshop into the house the morning of Ella's birthday party (we wanted her to "open" it on her birthday party day so she could play with it with her friends)we had to wait and still haven't gotten to it. 

I ordered a set of Plan Toys Pots and Pans and a Plan Toys Baking set, but everything else came from either our house, the dollar spot at Target or the dollar store. Also her aunt gave her a Melissa and Doug cookie set as a birthday gift. My husband added a small hook for Ella's pot holders. 

We found plastic cutting boards, baking pans, and the pot holders at the dollar store. A pen cup from Target holds all her utensils. 

We already had a colorful plastic dinnerware set that Ella has been playing with (I think it also came from Target) but I did pick up a few more plastic bowls at Target. 

I collected a few recyclables (an empty oatmeal container, a washed and dried half and half pint) to fill her fridge. In the future, we'll add some play food and maybe a sink. I'd also love to paint or cover the shelves, but we are all loving playing in her play kitchen! I haven't eaten this many pretend cookies and this much imaginary chocolate pudding ever. 

I'm keeping a pin board of play kitchens and play food going - feel free to follow along. Do your littles have a play kitchen? Did you buy or DIY? How do you deal with your kiddos growing up?