Dinner Out to Lunch In

Asian food is a particular weakness of mine. Eating out is also a favorite. TheBoy similarly enjoys Asian food, so long as it is cooked thoughtfully. Consequently, we try new Asian restaurants pretty frequently. Thus, this post. Here we have some delightful Thai barbecue from the fantastic Original Thai BBQ on Hollywood Blvd. at Western Ave. Being nearby, this was a restaurant we were destined to try -- and, now that we've visited, one we'll likely revisit time and again. TheBoy had their yelp-favorite BBQ pork ribs and I enjoyed the Crispy Duck (pictured). We shared a delightful order of (I think) Combination Soup -- served in a soup tureen over a flame. Awesome! We loved the soup and the leftovers made a great breakfast for the me the next day. Back to the restaurant review, though... I love duck, but I'm pretty picky. This duck was moist without being greasy and had the best accompanying sauce. Verdict: A+ TheBoy loved his ribs and we both really enjoyed the accompanying shrimp-fried rice.
About the restaurant, itself: friendly, helpful service in a pretty nice environment. I didn't take especially careful note of our surroundings, but the place wasn't packed, had great prices, and gave us our food quickly. Another bonus: they didn't use styrofoam (boo, hiss!) to package our leftovers. Instead, they used the semi-compostable Chinese take-out boxes that A) take up less room in the fridge and B) make me feel like less of a chump for not finishing my meal.

Our bento boxes also enjoyed this restaurant. While I neglected to picture TheBoy's leftovers, mine ended up accompanying me in high style. I used leftover shrimp-fried rice and leftover brocolli to form my main carb base and popped in some pre-made stir-fry to give me some protein. I made a big stir-fry Sunday night specifically for our weekday bentos. Definitely something to continue into the future, as our jobs are picking up and we're getting busier and busier. Taking the time out Sunday evening to make a quick stir-fry saved me mucho time throughout the week. Though the stir-fry was my main protein portion in this lunch, I didn't think it was enough protein (being vegan, only the mushrooms actually had any solid protein), so I added some rolled up lunchmeat and a container of peanuts to complement. Frozen grapes and a tiny Hershey bar rounded out this fantastic meal. I was so full midway through this lunch that I couldn't finish and I ended up saving a good portion of the rice to compost later. Despite not finishing the meal, I had enough energy to last me through my entire, grueling 5-hour shift of outdoor canvassing in the Hollywood Hills (I worked as a door-to-door canvasser for a political party... guess which one!).

Another Hollywood restaurant we've been enjoying lately is YenYen at the corner of Sunset and Bronson Ave. This tiny little restaurant hasn't been around very long, so it hasn't gained much popularity yet, but I predict that it will quickly skyrocket in the eating polls due to a whole variety of reasons. Number one is its adorable decor (super chic deep orange-colored walls, sleek tables, long padded bench with throw pillows for some of the seating -- ultra hip). Number two is the delicious food (um.. duh) which is a great combination of Thai and Japanese foods ranging from Pad See Ewe (my first dish eaten there) to Spicy tuna with crispy rice. Number three is the price. Totally reasonable prices for this great place -- great food + affordability = WIN.

The meal pictured here is actually from our second visit when I had some Thai fried rice with chicken. Obviously, we like the place -- otherwise, it wouldn't have gotten a return visit. TheBoy had eaten at work before coming home, so he hadn't been terribly hungry during either of our two visits, so he's stuck to sushi while I had a real meal each time. Despite his small appetite, he's a huge fan of YenYen and we'll be going back sometime when we both need a full, afforable meal.

TheBoy's lunch the next day reflected how much we loved my meal -- leftovers! I even kept one of the cute cucumber slices specifically to adorn this lunch box. I didn't have a lot of time when I made this lunch, so I left the leftovers looking pretty plain and only added color on the right side of the box. Some strawberries and celery made me feel like I was feeding TheBoy healthy food while the (hidden) hummus, cheese, and peanuts added an extra punch of protein. A quick and dirty lunch that was as easy to eat as it was to assemble. Easy, but a win in terms of healthiness and tastiness.

In general, I love using leftovers from eating out to make our lunches. They're easy, but they can pack quite a visual and edible punch. These specific lunches don't exemplify how fun leftovers can be in terms of visual appeal, but they definitely shined as far as the eating was concerned. I look forward to using up more out-overs in the future and sharing them with my lovely audience! Do you have any favorite places to take leftovers from? If so, share them in the comments.

French Onion Soup, and Friends

Once upon a time, a few weeks ago, I made French Onion Soup and forgot to take pictures of the finished product, though I did manage to snap some images of the onion transition from point A, on the left, to point B, on the right.

I'm not really a big fan of French Onion Soup, really, but TheBoy and TheUpstairsNeighbor are, so I thought I'd "sacrifice" for their sake and have a lovely evening with the two of them. Instead, I found a new love for cooked onions and instilled in my loved ones a new respect for my cooking skillz. See the bottom of the post for the remarkably easy recipe.

Alongside newfound respect, this recipe also produced leftovers to feed to TheBoy. Instead of trying to slop soup into a regular bento box, I used a thermal jar (OK, a Campbell's soup thermos that I stole from my mother's pantry) to hold the soup and packed a normally too-small bento accompaniment. I didn't really need to use the thermos for the soup -- I could've used an uninsulated container -- but it was exactly the right size and it's cute, compact, and, best of all, leak-proof. Why didn't I need the thermal capacities? Several reasons:

• I pack lunches at night and refrigerate all the food for safety. Refrigerating thermoses is both counter-intuitive and not food safe (because the thermos doesn't keep the food hot enough to be safe, but it does insulate it enough from the fridge to keep it from getting cold enough for safety).
• We don't have a microwave! So, heating up the soup in the morning would've been a challenge of stove-heating soup in a pot while it's still to early to see clearly.
• TheBoy has microwave access at work and a glass bowl that lives in the cupboard at work for just such occasions that he should have to heat up some lunch.
  

To accompany this thermos, I sent TheBoy a smallish bento filled with soup-appropriate needs. This bento features some toast to float on the soup, peanuts for added protein, and a tortilla filled with hummus and a lovely assortment of whatever veggies we had on hand (probably sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce). Acting as gap-fillers are a steamed jalapeno (leftover from a taco truck dinner!), a dried mango slice, one mini vegan brownie, and grapes and strawberries. Surprisingly, this lunch ended up as a vegan meal for TheBoy, though it ideally would have contained some cheese to sprinkle on the soup. TheBoy is not at all interested in vegetarianism or veganism, but I sometimes spring lunches like this on him... without any complaints. Overall, a big win and he requested an immediate repeat, though I think he may have to wait until I have the motivation to chop up half-a-dozen onions again.

French Onion Soup Recipe
adapted from Simply Recipes

• 6 large red onions, peeled and thinly sliced.
• Olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon of sugar (or just some, like I did)
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 cups of broth (I made vegetable broth using better than bouillon paste)
• 1/2 cup of white wine (I used white wine that we would drink... so should you!)
  
• Salt and pepper
• Spices (I used Basil and "Italian Seasonings, though the original recipe calls for Thyme and a Bay Leaf... I'm poor and can't afford to by spices just for ocassional use)
  
• 8 slices of toasted bread (French bread is canon, but we had wheat on-hand)
  
• 1 1/2 cups of grated Mozzarella cheese with a little Parmesan (Gruyere is the standard, but, again, poor! and Mozzarella is fine, anyway)
  

1. In a large pan, sauté the onions in the olive oil on medium high heat until well browned, but not burned, about 30 minutes. Add the sugar about 10 minutes into the process to help with the carmelization.

2. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the stock, wine, and spices. Cover partially and simmer until the flavors are well blended, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Ladle the soup into serving bowls (if you have oven-proof bowls, like Corelle, as I have. If not, use an oven-safe casserole dish). Cover with the toast and sprinkle with cheese. Put into the broiler for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F, or until the cheese bubbles and is slightly browned. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6.

Itty Bitty Bentos

Sometimes, we don't need full meals, but aren't comfortable leaving the house empty-handed. In the past month, I've taken pictures of two instances of itty bitty bentos: 1. my first far away job interview (1.5 hour bus ride, each way even though the location was only 15 miles away) and 2. a trip down to Orange County to visit TheBoy's parents (1.5 hour drive on a small breakfast). The main reason we take snacks with us is because I get very cranky (to put it mildly) when I get hungry. Because I eat every two or three hours, I get hungry pretty quickly, but a small snack will set me to rights again in no time. So, small snacks/meals are really useful for us.
Situation 1, the interview, called for a fairly large snack, since I left too late to have time for a decent breakfast. I started with what we had on hand: tortillas. I spread some homemade hummus on the tortilla and filled it with sliced cucumbers, lettuce, and cheddar cheese. I had to cut the tortilla in half to make it fit in the little box, but that just made the meal easier to eat and made plenty of space for some yummy, colorful gap fillers out of cheery cherry tomatoes. This box is actually a child's bento box -- holding about 450 mL, translated to about 450 calories, with correct packing technique.
The second layer of this bento holds an assortment of snacks: babybel cheese (we bought a bag of 28 for $10 at CostCo... WIN), chili-lime almonds, salted peanuts, red grapes, and a small container of raisins and crasisin. This was a wonderful snack and made me calm and sweet for my interview. The other passengers on the bus looked at me a little funny when I pulled out a tiny burrito while headed toward Compton from Hollywood, but I'm pretty sure I don't mind the looks.

Situation 2, the long drive, had me and TheBoy ready for snacks. So, I made a very simple, very SoCal cheese and grape box. We used a little pink snack box to hold portions of chopped dry jack (best cheese, ever... dry and cheesy and ...just try it). TheBoy was driving and the bite size pieces made the delicious (and fairly pricey) cheese go further and made them very easy for him to eat while still concentrating on the road. The tiny chunks also went perfectly with the grapes -- we just ate a piece of cheese with a single grape... and it was so great! Combined with a great big Nalgene full of water, we had a fairly filling, healthy snack to entertain us all the way to the OC.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Yes, I know, Pirate Day was over a month ago, but forgive me.. I'm a busy person! So, allow me to catch you up.
I made us a very special dinner for Pirate Day and, though I didn't enforce pirate speech, I did make us some particularly yummy themed treats. The internets suggested that I make palm trees out of veggies. Well, I did that! We peeled two large carrots, chopped the tops off of two green peppers and balanced them together. I dug a small hole into the center of the pepper top so that the carrot "trunk" would nestle into the pepper "leaves." Fun and easy way to increase our veggie intake. (Incidentally, that's me holding my "trees").
I used the rest of the peppers to make pirate lifeboats -- filled with golden treasure! Well, I guess it was white gold, because the mac and cheese was made with white cheddar. I usually just use the boxed macaroni because it's so convenient.. this was one of those times. Serving the macaroni in the uncooked peppers isn't really "canon" food prep, but it worked out fine and kept the peppers crunchy, just the way we like them.
Now, the real treat in this meal was the funny little shapes in front of the "lifeboat." Thanks again to Biggie, I know exactly how to make really adorable terrifying octodogs. As per her suggestion, I sliced regular (turkey) hot dogs in half, leaving two single legged proto-octo-creatures. Then, I just used a really sharp knife to cut legs into the dogs. I boiled the resulting critter to acheive slightly flaired legs -- worked beautifully! TheBoy was really impressed with them and we devoured them in no time. A huge win for a simple, fun dinner food. If you have kids, or a finicky man/partner/friend/person who likes hot dogs, I definitely recommend this meal. Or, if you just like fun food... go for it!
Overall, this meal really excited TheBoy and was really easy to make, with a total preparation time of, excluding macaroni cooking time, about 10 minutes.

So Busy!

So, I haven't posted in over a month, but... I have been busy cooking!
How about a quick picture post -- a week of lunches for TheBoy and theMe?

This first lunch has a few old things and a few new surprise successes. The biggest surprise success is the fantastic, smushy looking rice/dill/cream cheese/tomato mixture. Originally posted at Coffee and Vanilla, I had to make a few accommodations. First, I couldn't find any orzo, anywhere.. Los Angeles.. you totally let me down. (Later, I did find some at an out-of-the-way grocery). Check out the full recipe at the bottom of this post. The remainder of this lunch is completed with a simple PB+J (using apricot jam) sandwich cut into autumn leaves and a large strawberry. The shapes are really indistinct because this stale bread didn't cut very well. Since, we've decided to stop buying bread at the supermarket -- we go through it too slowly to keep it fresh. Grapes, a blueberry muffin, cherry tomatoes, and two mystery containers finish the rest of this lunch. The white-lidded container holds dried cranberries and chocolate covered prune pieces (a gift from the future mother-in-law) and the other container holds some delightful lime and chili coated almonds. YUM! A huge win with TheBoy and his officemates loved this to look at this lunch.

I picked up a large loaf of French bread at the supermarket the other day and I used one half to make a delicious French bread pizza (with tomato sauce, mozzarella, etc) and I used the other half to make an equally delicious French bread TACO pizza (with taco seasoned turkey meat, cheddar cheese, and salsa). The leftovers made several bento appearances, first in this bento. Find the simple recipe at the bottom of the post.
The rest of this lunch is a combination of a micro-plum, grapes, and cherry tomato gap fillers, a taco meat and veggie filled soft taco and the same mystery containers as the previous lunch -- dried fruit in the white lid, nuts in the clear lid. Another success and TheBoy can't wait for another round of French bread.
Another dinner utilizing the French bread didn't opt for pizza-izing the loaf, but just kept it as a delicious, garlicky testament to carbohydrates. I piled some mozzarella cheese on top before broiling the bread to make it extra scrumptious. This meal contains all leftovers: the aforementioned mozzarella-smothered garlic bread, red wine sauteed muchrooms, cherry tomatoes, angelhair pasta, and some chopped fresh nectarines. Not a very cute lunch, but definitely a repeatable one due to the ease of eating (TheBoy is a runner for a TV show.. he doesn't have a lot of time to himself during the work day) and the ease of assembly. Using all leftovers and fruit/veggie fillers, this lunch took about 5 minutes to make. A success on all fronts.
This lucnh is another leftover bit, using the same noodles as the previous box. Nestled in the center of the noodles is a small container of Italian salad dressing -- I avoid putting red sauce into TheBoy's bento due to his penchant for spilling and the wonderful way that tomato sauce stains clothes and plastic. The chicken legs are also leftovers -- I surprise TheBoy one night by marinading these legs in Italian dressing all day and then just cooking them in our oven. He loves to revert back to his caveman instincts in grabbing chunks of meat with his hands, so the legs were a particular treat. Taking a cue from Biggie over at Lunch in a Box, I popped some lettuce leaves into the box to cushion the chicken legs. TheBoy failed to eat them, but they made the lunch look more appealing than a greasy piece of meat on blue plastic. Rounding out this meal are the ever-present (he doesn't get bored easily) grapes and cherry tomatoes, and mystery container this time full of green olives and similar treats. TheBoy didn't end up using the dressing for the noodles, so complained about how dry they were. Next time, I might include a little note about the container contents or just give him a quick lunch preview the evening before. Overall, a thumbs up from my favorite judge.

As I'm sure you can tell, I love to use leftovers in our lunches. Not only are they convenient, but they're a good way to make sure that we don't waste any food... something that could become a problem in our two-person, food-adventure household. This lunch is a perfect example: I made guacamole, but even using just two avocados, I quickly overwhelmed our ability to devour the delicious green smush. So, into TheBoy's box it goes! He loves guac, so he didn't need any chips to stick in it, but I snuck a chip-filled pretty pink "sidecar" into his workbag. He ended up appreciating it. The rest of this lunch is just what it looks like: two colors of grapes, cherry tomatoes, and two slices of leftover pizza. We lucked out by being able to pick up a couple of Red Baron pizzas on sale. At $4 a piece, these bake-at-home pizzas are a steal and we can customize them (with olives, for instance), without breaking the bank at the pizza place. Also, California has LOUSY pizza. How I long for a Philadelphia suburb! If you want the guac recipe, just refer to the bottom of the post.

The last lunch for this post (haven't you had enough already?) was a fun one. We didn't really have any leftovers, but we did still have a loaf of bread and some candy. So, I made two sandwiches (one turkey, cheese, lettuce, and mustard; the other PB+J) and used my itty-bitty cookie cutters to cut them down to size. I tried for an autumn them to the sandwiches and I may or may not have failed miserably. TheBoy's coworkers could not decipher the shapes, but they did think this was an adorable and fun looking lunch. The fun, obviously, comes from the grapes, chopped carrots, and silicone baking cup full of tropical skittles (TheBoy brought home a half-eaten bag... I had to get rid of them so I didn't eat them all!) and peach rings. Mystery container holds honey-roasted peanuts and cinnamon sugar almonds. mmmm! Very quick lunch to assemble, even though the bread gave me some trouble by being a trifle stale. So ends our affair with bread! (We haven't had any in the house in almost three weeks... we don't miss it).


Creamy Dill and Tomato Rice

• 2 cups cooked rice
• 5 Tbsp. cream cheese
• 3 Tbsp. (or so) finely chopped fresh dill
• 4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook the chopped tomatoes until squishy in oven heated to about 375 (best guess).
2. Mix all the ingredients together.
3. Serve! This recipe tastes best warm, but is also works out just fine as a cool salad with lunch.

French Bread Pizza

• wide loaf of French bread
• protein to cover (seasoned taco meat, sauteed mushrooms, shredded pork/chicken.. you choose)
• appropriate cheese (mozzarella for Italian-style, cheddar/monterey jack for Mexican-style)
• appropriate sauce (tomato or pesto for Italian, salsa for Mexican)

1. If the loaf is round, cut it in half so you have two, long flat sides. Save one side for another dish.
2. Smear flat side with garlic and butter (optional).
3. Mix cooked protein and sauce/salsa
4. Cover with cheese
5. Broil until cheese melts (use your discretion and eyes!).
6. Serve to hungry people. mmmm

Guacamole

• 3 avocados
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 cup of sharp cheddar, grated
• 1/2 c salsa
• 1 c chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 c sour cream
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Choose very ripe fruit -- it should be completely black and yield to a squeeze. Unripe avocados are a travesty! Peel and pit the avocados. Easy way: cut them in half around the pit, then gently twist the halves apart. Use a spoon to pop out the pit and scrape the fruit into a bowl for smushing. Here's a video if my instructions are lame, but I don't recommend removing the pit his way -- too dangerous for uncareful cooks (like me!).
2. Gently fold the lemon juice into the smushed avocado.
3. Mix everything together!
You can play with the amounts if you have a preference for more or less of an ingredient. It will always taste great because there are endless ways to make it.
Thanks future mother-in-law... great recipe!

Mushroom Extravaganza!

We've finally received a fridge, but we're still eating fungus. Lots of fungus, actually. Mushrooms around here are really inexpensive and, because they're a great source of protein, they have recently been replacing meat in many of our dishes. For instance, I've been on a Mediterranean food binge lately and found a great recipe for lemon-chicken couscous on the back of the couscous package (how clever of them!), but I left out the chicken in favor of some hearty little mushrooms. These generic, white fungi made the perfect palette for the delicately spiced couscous and had a pleasing texture without any of the nasty raw chicken preparation steps.
I bought a 1lb. package of mushrooms, but the recipe only called for 1 1/2 cups of protein, so I took the remaining mushrooms and sauteed them in olive oil with a pinch of salt and a bunch of cheap red wine. The $5 wine imparted a lot of flavor (especially when we drank it!) for only a little money while choosing olive oil over butter for sauteing kept the mushrooms a little lighter and, incidentally, vegan. In fact, the whole meal was totally vegan: lemon-dill couscous, merlot mushrooms, store-bought pita slices, and homemade hummus. The only unfortunate thing about this meal is home monochromatic is was: everything was in shades of brown! If (well.. when) I recreate this meal, I'll add some color to the hummus -- maybe some red pepper flakes and lime zest for a little visual appeal. I'll also probably skip the extra, sauted mushrooms in favor of a small salad or some other greens (maybe asparagus or sweet peas). See the bottom of the post for recipes.

Another recipe that called heavily on mushrooms came in the form of a scrumptious, meatless stroganoff. Served over brown rice (from our new rice cooker!), I combined the leftover dill from the couscous (and another recipe) with some other ingredients to make a smushy, delicious meal. Mine turned out a little dry, mostly because I thought the mixture looked too thin in the pan, so I cooked off more liquid. Bad idea. The mushroom mix definitely continues to thicken after you take it off the heat. It was still great tasting, but I ended up adding a little more sour cream to my served meal to make the texture a little more pleasing. Not a failing, but something to look out for. Despite the small amount of dryness, TheBoy really dug this stroganoff and it went along perfectly with the remainder of the white wine and some steamed, sweetened carrots. The carrots were a sort of last minute motivation: I realized that the meal had no veggie complement, so I used the rice cooker's steaming basket to quickly steam some peeled, sliced carrots. Making the rice cooker multitask served two great purposes -- it helped me to save time and effort (no extra pot to wash, no stove-steaming operation to keep an eye on, etc) and helped to conserve energy by using the energy from the already cooking rice. Yay for no waste!

Lemon-Dill Couscous:
Prepare couscous according to package directions.
With only 3 minutes remaining to cook, add ~2 tablespoons lemon juice and ~1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Hummus (adjust ingredients to your palate):
1 can chickpeas with some of the juice
~1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
1-2 crushed cloves of garlic
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Stick it all in the blender/food processor and spin 'til it's smushy and delicious

Mushroom-Dill Stroganoff:
1 lb. mushrooms
enough oil to saute mushrooms
1/3 cup white wine (we used a very sweet moscato because actually enjoy sweet white wine, not the dry stuff that would've been leftover had I followed the directions exactly)
1/2 teaspoon dill, chopped (I definitely used a little more than that! Make sure it's well chopped)
1 cup sour cream
some carb to serve it over (egg noodles are classic, but brown rice, orzo, penne, etc all work as well. Just be sure to choose a short carb, as opposed to spaghetti or linguine, so that the mushroom mixture stays with the pasta)
salt and pepper to taste (duh!)

Saute the mushrooms, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes.
Add the wine and dill, stirring until the liquid cooks down to about 1 tablespoon (it happens fast! look out).
Turn heat to low and add sour cream. DO NOT LET IT BOIL, just stir gently until heated through being careful not to overcook. The mixture will thicken after you serve it.

First Food in the NewHome

Well, that was a brief hiatus.

Now that I've unpacked as best I can without much furniture (and no fridge, geez!), I can get back to what I do best: making goofy little meals and then telling the internet how yummy they were. If only I could get paid to do it!

In any case, since arriving in year-long-growing-season-land, I've been inundated with tons of perfectly ripe, local fruit at pretty reasonable prices. Without a refrigerator (it's on backorder), though, these goodies need devoured quickly. Thus, we have fruit snacks and fluffy,

 blueberry pancakes.

TheBoy works really hard for really long hours, but he doesn't really need to bring a lunch because they typically have catered food all over the studio. Unfortunately, most of that food is take-out style and devoid of veggies

 or fruits. So, yesterday, I sent him in with one third of  a nectarine, a handful of blueberries and half a banana packed in one of my brand-new Lock-n-Lock containers and a cute little bamboo pick (came in a pack of 200 for $2.99 at World Market in the Hollywood Farmers' Market). He doesn't always have time in the morning for a real breakfast with me (especially since they provide him a free one of instant oatmeal/granola bars/bagels/donuts), but I'm happy to be able to give him some positive nutrition for his hectic days.

Because I'm still searching for a job and reliable transportation, I spend a lot of time in our apartment by myself -- deep cleaning everything, relining all the cabinets with cute new paper, unpacking, and assembling furniture. During this time yesterday, I had a craving for sweets, but I didn't feel like walking 

twenty minutes to the store just to pick up some starbursts. But, having tons of fruit,

 I filled a coffee mug with some delightful, sweet blueberries and bursting-with-flavor bing cherries. Oh! So good, but so healthy too. Later, I had that same craving, but instead of giving in (no!), I made a happy little orange sun to entertain me and my tummy. 

This morning, I used some of our enormous quantity of very ripe blueberries to make some really fluffy, scrumptious blueberry pancakes. I couldn't wait to eat them, so the picture pallet is a little messy, but I think you get the idea. Even though these pancakes look super fluffy and fancy, they're really just the generic Kroger mix from the box. By stirring the water and mix together only just enough to get it evenly moist (very little stirring!) and then letting it sit a few minutes, I gave the batter time to rise. Giving it a quick stir after throwing in the blueberries just made it a tiny bit fluffier before I used a big spoon to drop about 1/4cup worth of batter into my non-stick sprayed skillet. I only turned them each once, because if you turn them more than that, they tend to get tough. I also did not squish the pancakes with the spatula to make them cook faster. It's worth the wait to let them cook slowly.