Pancakes!!!

I am not a huge pancake lover, and because of this I don't really think to make them all that often.  Well, my boys DO like them and are starting to ask for them more and more.  So, I make them, and they LOVE them, and they ask me to make them almost every day!  I still limit it to Saturdays and special occasions...but today is Saturday so I am going to share my recipe for making pancakes! So easy, so yummy and I bet you have all of the ingredients in your pantry or fridge right now!  The following recipe makes about 18 pancakes, they store wonderfully in the fridge or freezer!

Pancakes
2 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 TBL baking powder
1 1/2 TBL sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups milk
1/2 stick butter, melted

Cherry Syrup
1 pound pitted cherries (I used a bag of frozen cherries, check ingredient list it should just say cherries...no sugar or anything added!)
1/4 cup water
1 TBL sugar
1/2 tsp lemon zest

In a mixing bowl mix flour, baking powder and sugar together.  Make a well in the center and put your eggs and milk in the well.  Stir together, just until combined...there will be lumps!  Finally pour in your melted butter and stir that in as well.  Now its time to cook them!  I like to use an electric griddle because its non-stick and easy!  The key to super fluffy pancakes is to cook them slowly and whatever you do DO NOT press them down with the spatula!!  I always have maple syrup in the house, but my favorite way to serve them is with a fresh fruit syrup/puree'!

While you are making your pancakes put all the ingredients for your cherry syrup in a saucepan and cook over high heat until cherries are boiling.  Now, put in a blender and blend until smooth (I used a stick blender which didn't get rid of all the cherry skin, a traditional blender will make it completely smooth!)  That's it!

 

PS.  Want to be a super cool mom and make SPRINKLE pancakes?!?!  I thought you might!  Just add in a handful of sprinkles to the flour mix before you add in the wet ingredients.  Then top with more sprinkles!  This is a great birthday treat, or way to celebrate special days!  Use red and green sprinkles at Christmas, red and pink for Valentine's Day, or even the colors for your kid's sports teams!  So fun!  Here is Braydon on his 5th birthday loving some sprinkle pancakes!!



Thankful...and pumpkin french toast!

Let me just start by saying I am soooo glad Halloween is over!!  I am so not a fan of ghosts, witches, skeletons, zombies and other ewey, scary stuff!  I feel like as soon as October (or even sooner!) starts I, as a mom, have to be on the look-out.  When we walk in to a party store, craft store, Target, etc there are images that my kids are scared of and things I just don't want in their little minds.  I'm constantly avoiding certain places or telling my kids to cover their eyes as we walk through.  Then, don't get me started on kid TV!  My "safe" shows for my kids are no longer safe and my kids don't understand why I won't let them watch certain things.

 Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE dressing my kids up!  This year they were all superheroes: Captain America, Batman, Spiderman and Superman.  So cute, so fun!  THAT is what Halloween is about for me and my family, just a fun time to dress up and let my kids (and me) eat lots of candy!

Then, what happens November 1st?  It's like Fall is over.  Pumpkin patches are closed, pumpkins go on sale and stores move all their Fall stuff out in order to make room for Christmas!  Again, I am so excited for Christmas.  BUT, what about THANKSGIVING!?!?!?! 

I LOVE Thanksgiving, it is a time to reflect about how blessed I truly am.  I saw some others doing #novemberthankful on Instagram and decided to join in!  Every day during the month of November you post a picture of something you are thankful for.  It can be a full night of sleep, coffee, a picture showing God's grace, or anything in between.  What a great idea!  As much as I am looking forward to Christmas and the birth of my Savior I am going to take this time to be thankful every day and to remember that all of my blessings come from my Lord and Savior.  So, join me in keeping Fall alive a little longer and make my delicious pumpkin french toast below!

Pumpkin French Toast
1 loaf white bread (I used french toast bread)
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup milk
4 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
Maple syrup and powdered sugar for serving

In a shallow bowl (I use a pie plate) whisk all ingredients besides the bread.  When combined well, put bread in mixture to soak it up, make sure you turn so both sides are coated.  Heat a non-stick pan or griddle and lightly coat with butter or cooking spray.  Put pumpkin coated bread in pan and turn the heat to low/med-low.  Cook until nicely browned and then flip.  Cook until both sides are browned and serve with maple syrup and powdered sugar :)  This is super yummy and a great way to enjoy FALL!

SpEGGtacular Tomato Sandwich

Being married to a chef means there are few times where we have dinner as our family of 5...but it does mean that we get lots of breakfasts together!  So, I make all the regular breakfast items (normally I'm too sleepy to be too creative) and every once in a while I will make something special or fun.  Today when I asked Casey what he wanted for breakfast he said an egg sandwich.  So, while I was tempted to make the regular, same old plain sandwich I normally make (scrambled eggs and a little mayo on sandwich bread)  I thought I would spice it up today :)

Ingredients:
Sourdough bread
2 thick slices of tomato
2 eggs
basil
butter
salt&pepper

Melt a tab of butter in a non-stick pan.  While the butter melts heavily salt and pepper both sides of sliced tomato.  Put the tomatoes in the hot pan.  It should sizzle :)  Sear it for about a minute and then flip it over to sear the other side.

Take your tomatoes off the heat and set aside for later.  Wipe out your pan and add another tab of butter so you can fry your eggs!  When the butter has melted crack 2 eggs into your pan.  Grind pepper and add salt to your eggs and turn the heat to medium low.  I have a hard time flipping my eggs so, I do it my own way....do it how you do it best :)  When my whites start to get firm I use my spatula to separate the two eggs, then I slowly flip each one over.

I like my eggs with the whites cooked, but the yolks runny.  While the eggs are finishing up throw your sourdough bread in the toaster.  Put a thin layer of mayo on your bread and then add your tomato slices, next the eggs and finish with a basil leaf.



See how beautiful this looks??  Put the slices together and pick it up and eat it if you dare!!  Its going to be messy!!  Or, eat if with a fork and knife like I did!  Either way you are going to love how the yolk oozes all over the tomato and bread and coats it with its warm, yellow goodness!

Mini Quiche

I love hosting parties at my house and this year before Christmas I had a mommy and me Christmas party at my house.  It consisted of about 10 moms and about 22 kids (most of which were under 5!)  I did the party around 10:30 so I needed snack type food and that is when I came up for the idea of these delicious mini quiche!  They were a hit and I have since made them for few different occasions and everyone always loves them and asks for the recipe (sorry it took me so long to post it!)

You can do whatever type of filling you want: broccoli, spinach, tomato basil, seriously any veggie with some cheese makes a great quiche!  The recipe below is for ham and cheese!  These are easy to buy in the frozen section of the store, but now you can make these in less than 15 minutes and impress all your friends :)

For the crust:
1 1/4 cup Bisquick
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 Tablespoons warm water

For the filling:
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, diced super fine
1/4 cup ham, diced
1/4 cup cheese, shredded
2 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
1 cup half and half (milk or heavy cream work too!  I use whatever I have in fridge :)
Salt & Pepper

Lightly grease a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.  Next, mix ingredients for your crust until it forms a dough.  Put a small amount of dough into the bottom of each mini muffin spot, about 1/4 inch thick (the dough will rise so don't put too much dough!).  Now I saute my onion and garlic.  The way I find it best to add my fillings is to put a little bit of the onion, ham and cheese mixture into the tins and add the egg mixture separately. So put a little bit in each tin.  Next, whisk together eggs and milk with the salt and pepper until well combined.  Then slowly pour egg mixture into each tin, almost filling to the top.  Put these in the oven at 350 for about 7 minutes (or just until the eggs set) and they are done!!