Basic Pancakes and Syrup

My all-time favorite breakfast is whole wheat pancakes with a glass of milk.  I hope they have that in heaven.  But as for my husband, he loves his Bisquick pancakes.  Eww!  I can't even stomach them.  I have to give him credit though because he hates store bought syrup and is all about homemade. 

In an effort to give the Bisquick box the boot, I found an easy alternative.  I can have the dry ingredients ready to go and all my husband will have to do is throw in the wets.  It's just as simple as using Bisquick.

Easy Pancakes
1-1/2 cups flour
3-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbs sugar
1-1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 tbs butter, melted

In a bow, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Create a well and add wet ingredients.  Whisk until smooth.  Cook as usual.

And because I didn't know how to make basic maple syrup {nor did I know people even made it!} until my husband taught me after we got married, I'm including that too.

Maple Syrup

1 cup sugar
1/2 water
1/2 tsp mapeline extract

Mix it all together and boil.

Now there is no excuse to ever use a boxed mix or store bought syrup again!

Crockpot chicken tacos

I got this recipe over on kukis kookbook blog and it is tasty and easy.

2 to 3 chicken breasts
1 can chicken broth
1 package taco seasoning
1 Cup salsa
1 can corn- I used frozen and it worked fine.
1 Can black beans drained

Place all ingredients in the crockpot for 3 to 4 hours on high. Just before serving, shred chicken and mix in one cup sour cream and 1/2 cup shreddded cheese. It will be runny. you can serve in tortillas, taco shells or on scones or on chips. top with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, avacados, or anything else you like.

Dessert Ball

This recipe is rich, but so so yummy.

1 8oz. pkg of cream cheese
1 Cube of butter
1/4 tsp. vanilla
2 TBsp brown sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup chocolate chips (chopped)
1/2 cup diced nuts (walnuts or almonds.- Optional)

Mix cream cheese, butter, vanilla, brown sugar, and pwdered sugar together. pour in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and mix.
Let it chill overnight.
Form into a ball and roll in remaining chocolate chips and nuts. serve with graham crackers.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin is so good for you, why do we only eat it during the last 3 months of the year? I used a recipe from Martha Stewart as my base, but I switched it up a bit. Here is my version.

PUMPKIN PANCAKES
(with homemade buttermilk syrup and fresh squeezed orange juice makes for some happy kids in the morning!)

I presoaked my grains for these pancakes. Which meant the night before I combine 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour and about 2 cups of kefir. Stir together just to combine and be sure all your flour is wet.

In the morning I added
2 Tbs. honey
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
pinch of cloves
3/4 cup pumpkin
2 eggs

Stir to combine and cook on hot griddle. Top with buttermilk syrup.

Teryaki sauce

This is soooo easy to make and very flavorful. We are big fans of Chinese Food, so this sauce will be a definite repeat.

This meal came together really fast. I whipped up some meatballs, steamed some broccoli, cooked some delicious Jasmine rice and made the sauce in about 35 minutes. It was a yummy dinner.

Teryaki Sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce (I used liquid aminos)
1 cup water
1/2 tsp ground ginger (I am not a huge ginger fan so I just did a few shakes
1/4 tsp garlic powder
3 Tbs honey
Mix above ingredients in a sauce pan and start to warm up. In a small bowl mix 2 Tbs cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water. Add to the sauce pan and stir constantly until thickened. If you cook it too long and get it too thick, you can thin it with a few Tbs. water.

Peanut Butter Pie

This dessert is nothing but delicious! Full of all kinds of stuff that should be eaten on only special occasions. We had a huge crowd for Thanksgiving and I baked a few things to go on the table. I needed to make another pie, so I searched for something no bake, this one looked good and it did not disappoint! Andy asked me to leave it at our house so he could enjoy it all himself. It tastes like a yummy Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, YUM!

Peanut Butter Pie

The picture and original recipe are from allrecipes and are linked at the bottom.


3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
4 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar (the original called for more, but it was just fine reduced)
1 12 oz container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 9 inch prepared chocolate cookie or graham cracker crust

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix together peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar. Then stir whipped topping into peanut butter mixture. Whisk until smooth and no lumps remain.
2. Pour filling into pie crust and refrigerate for about 3 hours until pie is firm.
You can fancy up the topping how ever you would like. I drizzled chocolate syrup on top and sprinkled milk chocolate chips.

Recipe here:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Smooth-and-Creamy-Peanut-Butter-Pie/Detail.aspx

Chicken Stock

A few weeks ago I bought some local natural raised chickens. They were whole and had never been frozen. (there were even quite a few feathers left on!) I cooked them up right away and cut off all the meat to use later in enchiladas or soup or something. I did my usual routine with the bones and skin - made stock.

For stock, you can use whatever you can get your hands on. Fryer chickens are sometimes really cheap at the local grocery store. You can bake them, cut off the meat and use the carcass. If you buy one of those rotisserie chickens from Costco, save the bones. I have also heard of people using chicken wings to make stock.

This is such an easy thing to make and great to have on hand. You know exactly what is in it, no strange additives, no mysterious ingredients.

Chicken Stock


Clean as much meat and fat from the bones as you can. Put the carcasses in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil (this is important as the boil will cause any fat to float to the top and you can skim it off). Boil the carcass for about 30 minutes. You can keep your stuff on the stove, but for convenience I prefer using my crock pot on high at this point. After the pot has boiled on the stove about 30 minutes, skim the top again and pour everything into your crock pot. Then add some carrots, celery, onion, a bay leaf or two and some salt and pepper. There is no set amount but you probably want at least 3 or 4 carrots and one big onion. All the veggies need to be cleaned and roughly chopped. They will get discarded later so they dont need to look great.
Simmer in your crock pot for about 3 hours. Pull out all the big pieces and pour the liquid thru a fine strainer. You can use it immediately or freeze it for use in later dishes.
2 carcasses covered with water should make about 2 1/2 quarts of stock.