Waffles

I promised the kids yesterday that if we had a snow day today, I would make waffles. So, the snow day is here, but when I went to the fridge, I only had one egg in the house! (I’ll have to get to Jack’s this week. I see they have eggs 1$/dozen). I don’t keep pancake/waffle mix in the house. Those of you who know me, know I like to make things from scratch. Luckily, I was able to find a homemade pancake/waffle mix that only requires one egg for a batch of waffles. Gotta love the internet! I thought I would share the recipe I found on Allrecipes.com. We have waffles for brunch & I have enough mix left for 2 more batches!

Homemade Pancake Mix

Ingredients

5 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups powdered milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 baking powder
1 TBS salt

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl;stir to blend. Store in an airtight container I use mason jars) and use within 8 months.

To make pancakes or waffles:

Combine
2 cups pancake mix
1 cup water
1 egg
2 TBS oil (3 for waffles)
Beat smooth with a wire whisk or fork

Supper Menu – Feb. 11-17

Here are our supper menus for this week:

Monday: Chicken Pot Pie, Salad
Tuesday: Crock pot Lasagna, Garlic Bread, Peas
Wednesday: Sloppy Joes, oven fries, corn
Thursday: Pancakes & sausage
Friday: Crock pot Mexican Pork Chops & Rice
Saturday: Aaron’s BB Tourney at Lansing

What are you cooking?

Homemade Bread Recipe

I’ve started using my bread machine again. The kids are a little older now & we’re trying to eat healthier. I’m also trying to make mostly from scratch food, hence, more homemade bread. The kids have even started asking that their sandwiches be made from homemade bread instead of “store-bought!” I think that is a step in the right direction. Lately I have been loading the bread machine at night and using the delay so that the bread is ready when we get up in the morning. I love waking up to the smell of freshly baked bread! This way the kids are getting good, fresh bread for their sandwiches. It is a win-win situation!

I thought I would post my goto bread machine recipe.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

1 1/8 c. warm water (110 degrees)
2 TBS oil or melted butter (I use canola oil)
3 TBS honey
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur Flour white whole wheat)
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp yeast

Add ingredients according to manufacturer’s directions for your bread machine. Use the whole wheat cycle and light crust setting. Enjoy your homemade bread!

What is your favorite bread machine recipe?

Easy Granola Bars

I am always looking for snacks the kids will like and this one fits the bill. They love it, it is easy to make, and very versatile. One drawback: it is a little sweet. Next time I make it I will definitely cut back on the brown sugar. These granola bars are easy and delicious.

Easy Granola bars

2 1/2 c. crispy rice cereal
2 c. quick cooking oats
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. packed brown sugar (i’m cutting to 1/4 c.)
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract

directions:

1. In a large bowl, stir together rice cereal, oats, and raisins. Set aside.

2. Lightly grease a 9×13 pan (I use a 7×11 in.)

3. Combine brown sugar and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat until just boiling, then remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla until creamy. Pour over cereal mixture and coat well.

4. Press into prepared pan (I use wet hands & it doesn’t stick). Allow to cool and cut into bars.

You can use whatever you have on hand in place of the raisins: sunflower seeds, slivered almonds, walnuts, craisins. Use you imagination!

I adapted this recipe from “Gobble Up Granola Bars” by TINAMARIES at allrecipes.com

Enjoy!

Weekly Supper Plan

Last week didn’t go as expected, so I borrowed a couple of meals that I didn’t use last week.

Monday: Mock Chop Suey + Corn
Tuesday: Chicken & Wild Rice Soup (in crock) & homemade bread or biscuits
Wednesday: Sloppy Joes & Oven Fries
Thursday: Crock Pot Mexican Pork Chops
Friday: Dinner on the Road after Aaron’s game
Saturday: Kids make dinner

Dehydrating Pineapple

Over Christmas break Aldi’s had pineapple on sale. I bought two. We ate one raw and chunked the other for the dehydrator. It was ok, but the kids didn’t like it that much. Then I got a great idea from a video I saw on YouTube: dehydrating canned pineapple rings. Aldi’s had them in 100% juice for $.88! We bought six cans and put all the slices in the dehydrator. We saved the juice to make syrup for pancakes, waffles, and ice cream. It was enough for 12 half pint jars of syrup! We really got our money’s worth out of those cans of pineapple! The kids liked the dehydrated rings much better than the chunks (I don’t know why – I think they tasted the same. But the rings did look much better) Anyway, this was a success for us and we will definitely make them again!

Homemade Fruit Leather

Yesterday for some reason, only the last part of my blog posted. I don’t know what happened to the other half. I was talking about my new food dehydrator. We have been using in almost every day for about 2 weeks. We have had successes and failures! I will be posting about our dehydrating efforts in the future.

Yesterday we started our first batch of homemade fruit leather. I decided I wanted to start simple, so we used natural applesauce (bought from the store) and strawberries (on sale this week). We got 2 trays that finished this evening. The kids were excited to taste it. They like it and will be taking some in their lunches tomorrow. I didn’t get any pics, but will take some the next time around. With very little effort on our part we made a healthy snack of the kids to take to school. This was definitely one of our successes!