Waldorf Grain Schedule - February

Below are seven different recipes that I tried this past week that tie into the Waldorf grain schedule. Each day is assigned a grain and one (or more) recipes can be made using that particular grain.

According to the Parenting Passageway, "A different grain for each day is part of the Waldorf Kindergarten and connected to the cosmic origins of the days of the week.   A different grain a day fits in with the nourishing weekly rhythm the kindergarten thrives on. The most common listing of grains...is the following, taken from The Waldorf Kindergarten Snack Book:

Sunday (Sun): Wheat
Monday (Moon):  Rice
Tuesday (Mars):  Barley
Wednesday (Mercury);  Millet
Thursday (Jupiter):  Rye
Friday (Venus):  Oats
Saturday (Saturn):  Corn

Those who cook with whole grain, including Waldorf teachers, attribute different properties to various grains.  According to The Waldorf Kindergarten Snack Book, the properties are:

-Wheat - a harmonizer of the organ systems
- Rice - acting on the digestive system
- Barley - strengthening to the connective ligaments due to a high silica content and also seen to be soothing to the mucous membranes of the stomach and intestines
- Millet - has warming properties
- Rye - nourishes the head and bones
- Oats - loosens stiffness and increases stamina and resistance to disease
- Corn stimulates the metabolism in muscles

I thought that it would be interesting to try a different recipe for each of the grains. Below are recipes and ideas from Pinterest that tie into the Waldorf grain schedule.

Sunday (Sun): Wheat

For the first day of the week, I found a pin on Pinterest that led to Cooking Light. Rather than baking or cooking something, today's recipe is simply taking multi-grain wheat crackers and topping them with each with a tablespoon of peanut butter.

According to Cooking light, "This nutrient-rich snack [is] just 193 calories and offers 2 grams of fiber. The combination of complex carbs and protein help to keep your blood sugar stable and keep you feeling full longer."

Thoughts about this Recipe:

This was an easy snack that took the edge off of being hungry. It was surprising how something so simple - a cracker with peanut butter - could be so filling.

Monday (Moon): Rice

For Monday's recipe, I found a pin that led Joy Bauer for am easy-to-make snack: Rice Cake with Cottage Cheese and Tomato.

According to Joy Bauer, "Low-fat dairy, like cheese and yogurt, delivers a big hit of high-quality whey protein to keep you awake and attentive." This snack is particularly good in the afternoon when some people tend to get into a midday slump.

Ingredients:
Rice Cake
Low-fat cottage cheese
Tomato
Seasonings of your choice (e.g., creole, lemon pepper blend)

Directions:
Top a rice cake with ¼ cup low-fat cottage cheese, tomato slices, and seasonings.

Thoughts about this Recipe: I had this for dinner one night when I wanted something light. The combination of the crunchy rice cake and soft cottage cheese was an interesting texture. I'm glad it had tomatoes on it otherwise it would have been rather bland. During the summer, this would be a good meal with fresh basil leaves in addition to the tomatoes.

As a side note, Sophia and Olivia were not interested in trying this snack.

Tuesday (Mars): Barley

The pin for Moroccan Chickpea Barley Salad eventually led to Simply Recipes. It serves 6-8 people.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups barley
1 1/2 cups chicken or veggie broth (I had to use 2 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
Olive oil
1 15-ounce can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and strained
1 cup shelled pistachio nuts
1 cup diced dried apricots
2-3 chopped green onions or scallions
1 cup chopped parsley
Zest and juice of a lemon
1 Tbsp of ras el hanout spice mix*
Salt to taste

*Ras El Hanout Spice Mix:
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Directions:

On medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot. Add the barley and sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring often.

Add the broth, water, and a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a simmer. Simmer until the barley is tender (30 minutes to 1 hour), strain it, and run cold water over it to quickly cool the barley.

Place the barley on a cookie pan and drizzle olive oil over it. Mix it well and then set it aside.

In a large bowl, add the chickpeas, pistachios, apricots, green onions, and parsley. Mix well.

Add the zest and juice of the lemon. Mix again. Mix in the barley.

Sprinkle the Ras El Hanout spice mixture over the barley and mix well. Taste, and add salt if needed.

Let the salad marinate for an hour before serving. If the barley absorbed all of the olive oil, drizzle a little more on right before serving.

Thoughts about this Recipe:

I really liked the combination of ingredients and spices. For the barley, an extra cup of water needed to be added so that the barley didn't stick to the bottom of the pan and could cook until it was done.

Sophia liked it, but said she thought there may be better uses for pistachios and dried apricots (she likes both of them plain). Olivia didn't want to taste it. I'll make this again - in a smaller quantity - for just me.

Wednesday (Mercury); Millet

For Wednesday, I found a pin for Banana Millet Muffins that led to Recipe.com.

Ingredients:

Nonstick cooking spray
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup millet
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 medium banana, chopped

Directions:
.
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Lightly coat the bottoms of twelve 2-1/2-inch muffin cups with cooking spray; and set aside.

In a large bowl combine flour, millet, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, eggs, applesauce, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture all at once. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in bananas.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each two-thirds full. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

Thoughts about this Recipe:

The muffins are very moist and flavorful. They taste like banana muffins with a subtle crunchiness (the millet). We've never had millet before, so we found it to be an interesting texture. We all would prefer the muffins without the millet. Perhaps there is another use for it that would taste more appropriate. Millet just didn't seem to be the right grain for these muffins.

Thursday (Jupiter): Rye

Today is an easy recipe: a Rye Sandwich. The pin on Pinterest looked good, and led to the image only on Klaud's Soup. It looks like the sandwich is made with cream cheese, baby lettuce, scallion, dill, cucumber, and radish.

Thoughts about this Recipe:

I didn't have lettuce, but the rest of the ingredients I did to make this sandwich. The bread is different than the original pin, but this one is one that we enjoy. Sophia tried some of my sandwich and said she liked it, but wouldn't put as many vegetables in it. I'd agree. The next time I make this sandwich, about half of the vegetables would do.

It reminded me of Summer; and the fresh herbs and produce that are available. I'm looking forward to the CSA starting up again and getting fresh food from them again this year.

Friday (Venus): Oats

I saw a pin for a smoothie that looked delicious: Frutti di Bosco, Oat, and Almond Smoothie. It led to Apron and Sneakers and makes one serving.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup frutti di bosco (mixed berries), frozen or fresh
1 cup (or more) almond milk (or regular milk)
2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats
Lingonberry concentrate to sweeten (or honey), if almond milk is unsweetened

Directions:

Grind the oats to an almost powdery consistency if your blender can. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Thoughts about this Recipe:

Fruit, milk, oats, and honey - all ingredients we like. However, this combination just didn't work for us. I used powdered milk because I increased the amount of fruit and didn't want to use any from the gallon of milk recently purchased.

Dry milk has a distinctive taste that I can't always handle. In some things, I can't taste it. In this recipe, I could. Between that and the oats and not enough honey - I wouldn't make this recipe again. I'll stick with our traditional way of making fruit smoothies.

Saturday (Saturn): Corn

The pin for Blueberry Cornbread Breakfast Muffins led to Pop Sugar

Ingredients:

Non-stick cooking spray
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Zest of 1 lemon (I didn't use this)
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon extract
3/4 cup (5 ounces) fresh blueberries (I used frozen blueberries that I rinsed in hot water)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Melt the butter in the microwave, and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, honey, eggs, butter, and lemon extract. Whisk the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until everything is thoroughly combined. Fold in the blueberries.

Fill the muffin tin with batter until two-thirds full.

Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick test comes out clean. Transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 12 muffins.

Thoughts about this Recipe:

These were easy muffins to make and tasted fine. They are definitely a cornbread muffin in that the texture tastes kind of "rough" compared to a "smooth" texture of all-purpose flour.

Olivia didn't care for the muffins since they had blueberries in them; and Sophia said that she would prefer them without the blueberries. So, I won't be making this recipe again.

*~*~*~*~*

This week of recipes didn't fare as well as I hoped. Although some recipes were good in and of themselves, they weren't ones that we would want to eat again. I'll try again next month with new recipes for each of the days. Perhaps those recipes will be more appetizing.