My new pancake recipe

My children are very much like my husband, they can eat pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I've tried a bunch of pancake recipes and this one is hands down the kiddos favorite. I don't have a photo right now, but I'll get one posted asap!

What you need:

• 1 cup of Sneaky Chef Flour Blend (1 cup of white flour, 1 cup of wheat flour and 1 cup of wheat germ, combine all together and store in fridge)
  
• 1/4 cup ground almonds (unless you are allergic, then omit)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 cup milk or buttermilk (I've made with both, if you are using regular milk omit baking soda and increase baking powder to 2 teaspoons)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

What to do:

• Combine flour, almonds, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• Create a well in center
• Combine egg, milk, oil, honey and vanilla in separate bowl
• Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and combine until just moistened
• Prepare however you normally make pancakes. We use a snackmaster or the rediexpress since they are bit size for the kids.

For fun you can add sprinkles, chocolate chips, or fruit.

Enjoy!

Four Cheese and Bacon Mac 'n' Cheese

As if mac 'n' cheese wasn't already delicious on it's own, let's add some bacon. Everything truly is better with bacon. I found this recipe in Family Circle magazine, it was actually the photo on the cover and Scott about lost it when he saw it. I made it that night, as a side dish, which was a mistake. This makes 12 servings, so we had leftovers all week.

Here's what you need:

• 1 box (1lb) cavatappi or macaroni
• 6 slices bacon, diced
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 1/2 teaspoon onion flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 pound sharp cheddar cheese shredded
• 1 cup shredded colby jack cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 8 slices American Cheese

Here's what to do:

• Preheat oven to 350
• Coat a 3 quart broiler safe baking dish with nonstick spray
• Cook your pasta and drain
• Cook bacon in a medium saucepan until crisp
• Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain
• Pour off all drippings except 2 tablespoons
• Add butter to bacon drippings
• Whisk in flour until smooth
• In a thin stream whisk in milk
• Stir in onion flakes, salt and pepper
• Bring to a boil over medium-high heat then reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes
• In a large bowl toss together cheddar, colby jack, mozzarella
• Remove milk mixture from heat, whisk in American cheese and 1 1/4 cup of cheese mixture
• Toss bacon in with remaining cheese mixture
• In pasta pot combine cooked pasta and cheese sauce
• Pour half into prepared dish
• Sprinkle with a generous cup of cheese and bacon mixture
• Repeat layering
• Bake at 350 for 20 minutes
• Increase oven temp to broil and broil 3 minutes until top is lightly browned.

This truly is super yummy, not the healthiest, but good every once in a while!

Scotch Shortbread

I'm a huge shortbread fan, I love it. I could probably eat my body weight in shortbread every single day of the week, it is that good. As I was digging through my cookbooks I found this recipe in the Williams-Sonoma Cookies Cookbook.
Here's what you need:

• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/4 cup confectioners' (icing) sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for sprinkling (I used all natural cane sugar)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

What to do:

• Preheat your oven to 300 degrees
• Have an ungreased 9 inch pan ready
• In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, cream the butter until fluffy and pale yellow
• Add the confectioners' sugar and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar and continue beating until the mixture is no longer gritty
• Beat in vanilla
• Sift the flour and salt together into a bowl or onto wax paper
• Gradually add the flour mixture and mix on low speed
• Using floured fingertips, press the dough evenly into the pan
• Sprinkle evenly with the 1 tablespoon of sugar
• Bake the shortbread until the edges are golden (about 1 hour)
• Remove the pan from the oven and immediately (using a think sharp knife) cut the shortbread into strips
• Use either a toothpick or tines of a fork to decorate the shortbread with dots
• Let the strips cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely

These were super delicious! I would honestly be shocked if they last the rest of the day. Enjoy!

Blueberry Health Muffins

Blueberries are at their peak right now, so I want to take advantage of these little bites of heaven. Thankfully, Whole Living had this recipe in August issue:

Here's what you need:

• 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup of all purpose flour (white flour)
• 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup of brown sugar
• 3/4 cup of 2% milk
• 1/4 vegetable oil
• 2 eggs (lightly beaten)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup blueberries
• additional 2 tablespoons of toasted wheat germ
• additional tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup rolled oats

What to do:

• Preheat oven to 375
• Line muffin pan with paper liners (spray them with Pam for baking so they don't stick)
• In a bowl whisk together the wheat flour, all purpose flour, wheat germ, baking powder, salt and brown sugar
• Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla.
• Fold in the blueberries
• Divide batter among the 12 cups
• In a small bowl combine the additional wheat germ, brown sugar and rolled oats
• Top each muffin with the mixture
• Bake for 20-22 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean)
• Let sit in pan for 10 minutes then transfer to cooling rack

Per serving: 196 calories, 1g saturated fat, 5g unsaturated fat, 36mg cholesterol, 30g carb, 138mg sodium, 5g protein, 2g fiber

Here's a tip on taking advantage of berries this season: Buy them while they are at these rock bottom prices and freeze them yourself for use later on when they are sky high. Line cookie sheets with the berries and flash freeze them for a few hours in your freezer. Then put them in containers to use later. They work really well with baking or for smoothies.

Fresh Fruit Salad with Mint

With the 4th tomorrow I figured this would be a yummy recipe to share. It's really refreshing and super easy to make.

What you need:

• 1 1/2 cups hulled and sliced fresh strawberries

• 1 medium mango, seeded, peeled and cubed

• 1 cup fresh blueberries or blackberries (I did half a cup of each)

• 1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

• 2 tablespoons orange juice

• 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh mint

What to do:

• In a large bowl combine strawberries, mango and blue/blackberries

• Just before serving add raspberries, orange juice and mint

Easy, right? Enjoy and have a safe weekend!

Chicken Noodle Salad

I don't know what the weather is like by you, but here in super sunny Florida it is beyond hot. The last thing I want to do right now is crank up the oven, so we're eating a lot of salads. This one is Scott's favorite, I make him a big batch for him to take for lunch.

Here's what you need:

• 2 carrots diced

• 2 celery stalks, diced

• 1 red bell pepper, diced (you can really use any pepper here, I've mixed stoplight peppers for it too, super yummy!)

• 2 cups small pasta noodles (shells or elbows) cooked

• 2 cups of cooked chicken (I've also used tuna, again, super yummy)

• 3 cups of romaine lettuce, chopped

• handful of tomatoes (optional)

What to do:

Mix it all up, it's that easy! Then add either your favorite dressing, or this really yummy one I've made...

BBQ Honey Ranch Dressing

• 4 tablespoons low fat ranch dressing

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

• 2 tablespoons store bought BBQ sauce

• 1 tablespoon honey

Mix everything together, add to salad and toss. Enjoy!

Strawberry Muffins from Weelicious

I'm a huge fan of Weelicious.com, Catherine makes some amazing kid friendly food that is really good for you. With berries being in season I decided to try this recipe for strawberry muffins. The kids could not get enough of them!

Strawberry Muffins (Makes 24-28 Mini Muffins)

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
3 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Large Egg
3/4 Cup Milk (low fat or whole cow’s milk, almond, rice or soy milk will work)
1/4 Cup Vegetable or Canola Oil
1/2 Cup Honey or Agave Nectar
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tsp Lemon Zest
1 1/2 Cups Strawberries, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a bowl, combine the first 3 ingredients.‬
3. In a separate bowl, whisk egg and add milk, oil, honey, vanilla, and lemon zest and stir.‬
4. Using a standing mixer or hand mixer, slowly combine the dry ingredients with the wet until incorporated (try not to over mix the batter).‬
5. Add the strawberries to the batter and slowly combine.‬
6. Line or grease muffin tins and fill 2/3 of the way with batter.‬
7. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick tester comes out clean.‬
8. Cool and serve.‬

* If you want to make regular sized muffins, fill 12 muffin cups and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy and be sure to check out weelicious.com for more yummy recipes!

Orange Creamsicles

With it being summer and all, I thought it was the perfect time to share this yummy recipe for a cool treat.

What you need:

• 1/2 cup orange juice (no pulp) -getting the kind with extra calcium is always a plus!

• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (I used honey Greek style yogurt, which worked really well too)

• 2 tablespoons sugar (I'm thinking of cutting this down to 1 tablespoon, it made it way too sweet)

• Rainbow sprinkles

• Popsicle mold

What to do:

• Blend all the ingredients, except the sprinkles, in your blender or food processor until smooth

• Drop a few sprinkles into each mold

• Pour equal amounts of the mixture into the molds

• Insert the stick

• Freeze for at least 3 hours and enjoy!

Anyone have any other popsicle recipes?

Want more recipes? Check out the My Recipes tab!

My Recipes

Occasionally, I post some of the yummy things that I make for my family. This is the main place where you will find all of those recipes. I have them broken down by category for you so they are easy to find. Enjoy!

Breakfast

• Dutch Baby (aka Apple Oven Pancake)

• Potato Pancakes

• Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

• Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins

• Banana-Nut Bread

• Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast

• Strawberry Muffins

• Blueberry Health Muffins

• Maple Pumpkin Muffins

• Homemade Pancakes

• Eggnog French Toast (kid friendly)

• Cinnamon Roll Casserole

• Honey Maple Granola

Soups

• Not your Nonna's Pasta Fagioli

• Loaded Baked Potato Soup

• Cheddar Cheese Soup (aka Beer Cheese Soup)

• Turkey Chili

• MOM's Minestrone

• Fiesta Taco Soup

• Pasta e Fagioli (similar to Olive Garden)

• Meatball and Spinach Soup

• Creamy Tomato Soup

Lunch/Dinner

• Scott's BBQ sauce

• Turkey Meatballs

• Spicy Seared Swordfish with Tomato-Garlic Relish

• Buffalo Grilled Chicken with Blue Cheese Potatoes

• Italian Crescent Roll Casserole

• Four Cheese Mac 'n' Cheese with Bacon

• Festive Pork Roast with Garlic Green Bean and Chive Mashed Potatoes

• Turkey Lasagna with Spinach

• Easy Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin

• Margherita Pizza

• Low-Cal Tuna-Cranberry Lettuce Wraps

• BBQ Pulled Pork in the Crock Pot

• Chicken Noodle Salad

• Mojo Marinated Chicken

• Chicken a la King Kebabs

• Jamaican Jerk Chicken

• Chicken Noodle Salad

• Fig and Rosemary Pork

• Spicy-Sweet Linguine alla Vodka

• Shredded Hawaiian BBQ Chicken in the Crock Pot

• BBQ Chicken Pizza

• Chicken Fried Rice

• Crock Pot Parmesan Honey Pork Roast

• Pasta with Asparagus

• Baked Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken

• Chicken Tamale Pie

• Baked Ravioli

• Firecracker Shrimp

• Moroccan Chicken

• BLT Salad

• Italian Crock Pot Chicken

• Cheesy Chicken and Rice

• Slow Cooker Country Style Ribs

• Slow Cooker Chicken Jambalaya

• The Perfect Roasted Chicken

• Shrimp Etouffée

• Chicken, Broccoli and Asparagus Stir Fry

• Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

• Vegetarian Chili Stuffed Baked Potatoes

• Couscous Paella with Shrimp and Chicken Sausage

• Chicken with sauteed apples and Swiss chard

• Shrimp Boil

• Chinese Five-Spice Turkey Lettuce Wraps

• Chicken Marsala with Parmesan Orzo

Sides

• Cinnamon Apples

• Potato Pancakes

• Holiday Recipes: Garlic Mashed Potatoes

• Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes

• Fresh Fruit Salad with Mint

• Garlic Green Beans (end of post)

• Chive Mashed Potatoes (end of post)

• Homemade BBQ Baked Beans

• Cottage-Fried Potatoes

• Summer Vegetable Tian

Breads/Muffins

• Banana-Nut Bread

• Zucchini Bread

• Honey Whole Wheat Bread

• Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins

• Strawberry Muffins

• Blueberry Health Muffins

• Maple Pumpkin Muffins

• Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

• Zucchini Apple Muffins/Bread

• Irish Soda Bread

• Cinnamon Swirl Bread

• Blueberry Cream Cheese Bread

Cookies

• Holiday Recipes: Toffee Crackle Cookies and Peanut Butter Blossoms

• Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

• Scotch Shortbread

• Pumpkin Cookies Decorated like Spiderwebs

• Choc-Oat-Chip Cookie Bars

• Hot Cocoa Cookies

• Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

• Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cookies

• Lunchbox Oatmeal Cookies

• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip

Desserts

• Buttermilk Pound Cake

• Holiday Recipes:links to Chocolate Covered Brownie Bites and Chocolate Truffles

• French Silk Pie

• Oreo Truffles

• Orange Creamsicles

• Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Fig Filling and Orange Blossom Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

• Baked Apples

• Honey Cupcakes

• Upside-Down Apple-Spice Cake

• Tie-Dye Fruity Cupcakes

• Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

• Cake Pops

• Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

• Chocolate Oreo Poke Cake

• Banana Poke Cake

• Semi-Homemade Peanut Butte Swirl Brownies

• Peanut Butter Bars

• Applesauce Cupcakes with Brown Butter Icing

• Truffula Tree Cupcakes

• Lorax Cupcakes

• The Goop (Apple Dip)