Welcome to 2013

Welcome to the New Year!!  I am finally back to my routine and am able to blog again -- yay! :) I thought I would start the year out with a quick look back at some of my favorite recipes over this past year.  It went by very fast, and deserves a little reflection.  

I had to begin with something sweet and these Valentine's Day sugar cookies were perfect.  Soft, with a creamy frosting.  I can still taste them.  The great thing is you can use them anytime of year, just change the shape and the frosting color!

These Garlic and Sausage Kabobs are a recipe that a friend of mine made this summer at the lake, and I loved them!  Whoever thought of adding bread to kabobs is a genius.  Try it and tell me how awesome it is... delish! 

I remember the morning that I made these banana and peanut butter pancakes vividly.  I wanted to make something glorious for breakfast but didn't feel like going shopping.  Luckily I had the ingredients to throw this together and it tasted so great, especially because I was still in my PJ's.

This is one of the prettiest things I've made in the past year, in my opinion anyway.  Not to mention how great these blueberry walkaways taste.  Really there's nothing you can't shove in the middle of good bread that will taste bad.  Let's be real :)

I love me some popcorn.  I also love a little twist on it to spice things up!  Reese's Popcorn mixed with chocolate and caramel, sign me up.

Soup just screams fall to me, and even though this year I didn't get much fall weather (living in Arizona and all) I still had to partake in the fall food.  This chicken and pumpkin soup mixed great fall ingredients together to form a very tasty soup.  Also great as leftovers! 

Finally, the homemade Nutella I made for some of my family and friends for Christmas gifts.  Took some time and love, but it turned out great and tastes much better than anything you can buy! 

Here's to another year of great food, recipes, photos and friends!

Banana & Peanut Butter Pancakes

One of the best and worst things about being a foodie is all of the food you have in the house.  It's great for random Saturday mornings when I want to make a tasty breakfast on a whim, because I have a variety of different ingredients to make something!  This particular Saturday morning I decided to make banana and peanut butter pancakes.  Yummm!

I used the boxed pancake Aunt Jemima batter, mainly because I was hungry and didn't want to start from scratch, so I cheated.  Shh.. don't tell :)

Mash together two very ripe bananas, and 1/4 cup of peanut butter.  You can add more peanut butter if you'd like a more peanut butter taste.

Mix the peanut butter banana mix into the batter and stir well.

Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Pour batter into the pan and cook until there's bubbles.  Flip and cook for another couple minutes until cooked through.

I served with a little heap of crunchy peanut butter on top that I spread like butter.  These were so tasty!  C and I really enjoyed them, and with a little side of watermelon it was a great start to the weekend.

Happy Monday, see you back here tomorrow!

Banana & Peanut Butter Pancakes

Serves 4

Aunt Jemima batter for 6-10 pancakes

2 ripe bananas

1/4 cup peanut butter + more as topping

Mix the batter according to package directions.

Mash the bananas well and mix in the peanut butter.

Combine the peanut butter mixture into the batter and stir well.

Heat a medium pan over medium heat.

Pour batter into the pan and heat until bubbles form. 

Flip, and cook for another couple of minutes until cooked through. 

Enjoy!

Apple Pancakes

Usually the fact that I can't eat meat on Fridays during Lent isn't a big deal, because I'm around great fish fry places.  Then I moved to Texas, where BBQ is king.  Safe to say I've had to improvise and make my own meatless dishes on Fridays.  If anyone in the Dallas area knows of a great fish fry place that compares to what's offered in the Midwest, please give me a shout!  

Back to the pancakes, I made this on a Friday for my meatless breakfast for dinner, and it was a hit!  

In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a separate bowl whisk together buttermilk, applesauce, egg and butter.  

Add flour mixture to the applesauce mixture and whisk just until moistened.

Dice one apple into small bites.  You can peel the apple if you like, this will make the apples a little more mushy into the pancake.  I chose to leave the peels on.

Lightly coat a large skillet with cooking spray.  Heat over medium high, and in batches drop batter into the skillet. 

Sprinkle each pancake with the diced apple.  Cook until bubbles appear on the top, 2-5 minutes.  then flip the pancake and cook until golden brown on both sides.  Repeat by adding cooking spray and remaining batter.

C and I both really enjoyed these.  They tasted different than regular pancakes because of the apple and apple sauce.  They were sweet and crunchy.  Perfect for breakfast, or (my favorite) breakfast for dinner!

Enjoy on Friday or any old day of the week!

Have a great weekend, see you back here on Monday :)

Apple Pancakes

Serves 4

Adapted from Everyday Food

1 cup flour

1 tablespoons sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup applesauce

1 egg

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 apple, diced 

In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a separate bowl combine buttermilk, applesauce, egg and butter. 

Add flour mixture to applesauce mixture.

Whisk until just moistened.

Lightly coat a large skillet with non-stick spray.

Heat over medium high and in batches drop batter into the skillet.

Sprinkle each pancake with diced apples.

Cook until bubbles appear on top and a few have burst, 2-5 minutes.

Flip and cook until golden brown on the other side, 2-5 minutes.

Repeat with more cooking spray and remaining batter.

Apple Pancakes

One my final visit to Dartmouth for my brother's graduation I picked up a cook book called "Dishing up Vermont."  It's a very interesting cook book as it also has little tid-bits about certain fruits, syrups etc that are Vermont favorites.  I think this has jump started my new souvenir idea that I'll be collecting from every place I visit.  My fridge is getting a little overwhelmed with the many magnets, so I think it's about time I change things up.  One of the recipes that caught my eye as I was leafing through the cook was apple pancakes. 

Begin by thinly slicing two tart apples.  You can peel them if you wish, I kept the skin on.  You can also substitute two ripe pears for the apples, depending which you like better!

Whisk together eggs, milk, flour, salt and vanilla extract until smooth.  In a separate bowl toss together the apples, sugar and cinnamon.

Pour melted butter in a pie pan, or in a warm skillet.  Arrange the apples on the bottom of the skillet, with no more than two layers.

Carefully pour the batter over the fruit.

Bake for 25 minutes at 450 degrees F, until puffed and golden brown.

Serve with confectioners' sugar and drizzle with maple syrup.  I must admit this was more like a dessert than breakfast, but it was tasty and hard to put down either way.  I will be trying this again with pears, as it would be delicious with pears as well.  This is a great dish if you're serving a group of people for breakfast.  Enjoy!

Apple (or pear) Pancakes

Serves 4-6

Adapted from Dishing Up Vermont cookbook

3 eggs

3/4 cup whole milk

3/4 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tart apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Whisk together eggs, milk, flour, salt and vanilla extract until smooth.

In a separate bowl, toss together apples, sugar and cinnamon.

Melt the butter and swirl on the bottom of a pie dish or skillet.

Arrange the apples in no more than two layers on the bottom of the pan.

Carefully pour the batter over the fruit.

Bake for 25 minutes until puffed and golden brown.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and maple syrup, and eat up!

Oatmeal Pancakes

Welcome back!!  I had only planned on taking a week vacation, turns out I needed a week to recover from my week of vacation.  I'm back in full force though, and have a lot of good recipes and pictures to share with you.  I thought these oatmeal pancakes were a great welcome back meal. 

Cook one cup of oatmeal over the stove.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl whisk together melted butter, milk, the cooked oatmeal, honey and eggs. 

I used organic raw honey in the recipe, and it was the first time I've used something like this.  It's a lot healthier and tastes the same, so if you have the opportunity to try it, please do.

Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Mix together, the batter should be thick with a holey surface.

Rub a skillet or griddle with butter, and heat over medium-low heat.  Working quickly, dollop batter into the pan.  Once the bubbles have begun to form, flip and cook until the bottom is dark brown.  Repeat until the batter is all used.

I served with strawberries and bananas on top, dusted with a little powdered sugar.  These were very tasty pancakes.  The oatmeal added some crunch and texture to the pancake.  Add the fruit on top and it's almost like a dessert, who can complain about that?

Enjoy!!

Oatmeal Pancakes

Serving size 18 pancakes

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 3/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1 cup cooked oatmeal

1 tablespoon honey

2 large eggs

Cook the oatmeal on the stove.

Whisk the dry ingredients together: flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, together in a bowl.

In a separate bowl whisk together the butter, milk, cooked oatmeal, honey and eggs.

Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Butter a medium pan and heat over medium-low heat.

Dollop batter onto the pan and cook until the batter starts to bubble.

Flip and cook on the other side until golden brown.

Serve hot with fruit, powdered sugar and maple syrup.

Breakfast for Dinner

I love having breakfast food for dinner; sometimes it just hits the spot!  When I saw this pancake recipe from Williams-Sonoma I thought it would be the prefect meal to do that with.  Who doesn't like creamy pancakes served with berries and powdered sugar?  No matter what time of day or night you eat these, they will be delicious.  

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F, to keep the finished pancakes in while you cook the rest of the batter.  Place ricotta cheese in a large bowl, and add milk, egg yolks, and sugar.  Whisk to combine.  I used skim ricotta cheese, but you can use regular as well.

Add the flour, lemon zest, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.  Fold until well blended.

In a medium bowl, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar.  Using a whisk or a handheld mixer on medium speed, beat until soft peaks form.  I made these at C's house and forgot my mixer, so this was quite an arm work out.  Still no one has noticed and asked me if I've been hitting the weights... maybe next time.  Fold the whites into the ricotta mixture with a rubber spatula until just blended.

The recipe calls for four cups of mixed berries.  I cut the servings in half which made around seven pancakes, and used fresh strawberries and blueberries.  Combine the berries and lemon juice.  Stir gently to blend and set aside.

On a griddle or frying pan over medium heat brush the surface with a thin layer of oil.  Ladle around 1/3 cup of batter onto the hot surface.  Reduce the heat to medium low and cook until small bubbles appear around the edges.

Carefully flip and cook until the other side is slightly browned.  These are a little harder to flip than normal pancakes because they don't have as much flour to keep everything together.  Also be careful not to burn them, because of the ricotta cheese they burn faster than normal.  Transfer to an oven proof platter and place in the oven to keep warm, don't cover!  Repeat until all your batter has been used.

Just before serving dust with confectioners sugar and serve with a large scoop of mixed berries.  These were so delicious.  The lemon zest and ricotta cheese mixed with the berries tasted great.  They're light, but you're filled up after eating them.  I served with a couple slices of bacon, and ate it up!  

Enjoy :)

Ricotta Lemon Pancakes

Adapted from: Williams-Sonoma, Essentials of Healthful Cooking

1 cup part skim ricotta cheese

1/2 cup milk *I used skim

3 large eggs, separated

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon salt

pinch of cream of tartar

4 cups mixed berries

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1-2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

Place ricotta in a large bowl, add milk, egg yolks and sugar; whisk to combine.

Add the flour, lemon zest, and a little salt; fold until blended.

In a separate bowl, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar. 

Using a whisk or mixer beat until soft peaks form.

Using a spatula, fold the whites into the ricotta mixture until just blended.

In a medium bowl, combine the berries and lemon juice and set aside.

On a griddle or frying pan heat over medium heat.  

Brush the surface with a thin layer of oil.

Ladle around 1/3 cup of batter onto the hot surface, and reduce heat to medium low.

Cook until bubbles appear around the edges, around 4-5 minutes.

Carefully flip and cook the other side until brown.

Transfer to oven platter and place in the oven to keep warm. *Don't cover, otherwise the pancakes will get soggy

Repeat until all the batter has been cooked.

Just before serving dust with powered sugar and a large spoonful of berries.