Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Squares :)

I know, i know.. its Wednesday not Tuesday. I was so busy yesterday I apologize :( but I am here now! Update on the weight loss--- I have lost 10lbs!! :) So i have to lose 10 more in a month to win the competition.... kinda getting nervous! My husband has to lose 9lbs!! This might be a close race!!

I decided I would post a healthy baked treat today since I never post dessert like things!
I got this recipe from http://gingerbreadbagels.com/2011/03/22/peanut-butter-banana-oatmeal-squares/
and she uses this for a breakfast. I feel it can be a good breakfast or a good dessert.

Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Squares!! 

Sorry for the bad pics....

 

 

 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oat
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (i just used sea salt)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 large mashed banana
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Directions
Mix together the quick cooking oats, light brown sugar, baking powder, kosher salt and ground cinnamon.
Add in the vanilla extract, milk and egg. Mix the ingredients together.
Then add in the mashed banana and peanut butter. Combine all of the ingredients.
Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 8 by 8 inch metal baking pan. ( i did mine in a different pan i do not have an 8x8)
Bake at 350 F degrees for 20 minutes.
Cut into squares and enjoy!


As you can see this is a very easy quick thing to make!!


Her blog shows amazing pictures of every step! However the only thing in her picture that was different then how my turned out... is hers look thin and crispy like... however they puff up like brownies or cake. Mine did turn out kind of dry but you can spread a thin layer of peanut butter on the top and drink a glass of a milk with it and they are great!! Plus the bonus of knowing they are not horrible for you!!  ( i apologize for the bad pics)



Enjoy!!!

Fruit Salad with a Honey Cinnamon Drizzle!!

Happy Tuesday everyone!! Hope you all had a great week! I went to Idaho and had a great time. Spent Saturday with Jessica! That was fun! For all you Idaho people who know this place we went to Big Judds Saturday night.... (it was my cheat on diet meal, cause i mean come on.. its Big Judds!!) I ate the burger so fast you would have thought its been months since i had a meal!
Anyway I am back to eating healthy and working out :) I told my mom last night that i am officially addicted to working out!! :) Im going every day this week except Friday cause it is date night :)
So i get back from Idaho yesterday and go to work out. Im debating on weighing myself, afraid of what the scale will say.... Well according to that scale Ive lost another pound!! So I have lost about 5-6 lbs now! I was in shock! I called Jessica to inform her that Big Judds didnt ruin everything! She was happy for me.

So for this competition we are all about at a tie right now of a weight loss of around 6lbs! So the pressure is building! Simon asked me last night what if we do not get to 20lb weight loss by July 1st... Im unsure of what we will do with the competition... extend the date? increase the lb limit to lose? I just dont know!

alright alright... I will get to posting a recipe now... Since you have all waited patiently for that delicious looking fruit salad I will post that recipe.

Fruit Salad with a Honey Cinnamon Drizzle

Ingredients

2 cups cantaloupe, chopped
1 cup strawberries, chopped
1 cup blueberries, chopped
2 kiwis, chopped
1 banana, sliced ( I did not put the banana in it. I was afraid if we could not eat it all the banana would go brown.)
1 cup honeydew melon
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon honey
1-2 teaspoons poppy seeds
dash of cinnamon (optional)

Directions

Combine cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries, kiwis and banana in a medium sized serving bowl. Add the honeydew, lime juice and honey to your blender and pulse or purée until smooth.( I was very skeptical of pureeing the honeydew.. but wow!!)

Add poppy seeds and cinnamon and lightly pulse until combined.

Toss dressing with fruit.

Chill for 2 hours before serving.

For just two of us we had a ton left over... Ate it for breakfast the next day and dinner again.

You probably won’t have leftovers, but if you do…

Save them in the fridge for the next morning, and make a fabulous green smoothie! Add a cup of this salad to your blender, along with 2 cups of spinach and 1/2 cup cauliflower (optional). Add 8 oz. water and a few ice cubes. Push the smoothie button and enjoy! ( didnt have the ingredients to try this) 

This was a huge hit with my husband and myself. I am planning to make it for big gatherings and stuff to. Very very good! 

 Hope you all enjoy!! I have been cooking away and have many meals and things to share with you! Cant wait!! 

Tierra 

Strawberry & Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

This is the best stuffed French toast I've ever had. I'm rarely a fan because the toast is just soggy and mushy - so not good. But this stuff was good. It was tender inside {without being mushy}, had a nice crunch from baking and the caramel-y crunchy stuff on the bottom? Delicious! We made this for one of our mornings watching General Conference last October. It may just become a conference tradition.



Strawberry & Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast
Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!
Time: 20 minutes prep + overnight refrigeration then 60-90 minutes baking
Yield: 10 servings

1 loaf french bread
1/2 C melted butter
3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C corn syrup

8  oz cream cheese
1 egg
1/3 C sugar
1/2 C strawberry jam

8 eggs
1 C milk
cinnamon

Fresh Strawberries
Powdered sugar
1. Combine the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup.
2. Slice up your bread. You want the pieces to be about 1/2 inch thick.
3. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Pour the butter/brown sugar mixture in the bottom of the pan.
4. Smooth it all out, so it covers the bottom entirely.
5. Lay your slices of bread on top of the buttery brown sugar. I had to cut some of my slices in half, still turned out great! You can have them touch each other, just not overlap.
6. In a separate bowl combine the cream cheese, egg, sugar and strawberry jam. Beat with hand held beaters (or in your stand mixer) until nice and smooth. Pour it right over the top of the bread.
7. Layer more bread over the top of the cream cheese filling.
8. In another bowl (ok, this takes a lot of bowls!) combine the 8 eggs and 1 C of milk. Whisk them around until well combined. Pour over the top of the bread.
9. Sprinkle the top of the bread with some cinnamon.
10. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
11. Bake in the morning at 350. Depending on how quickly your oven cooks, and how cold you keep your fridge you will need to bake it for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. It needs to soak up all of the egg and milk juice, and have time to caramelize along the bottom. Take the foil off for the last 15 minutes of cooking.
12. Serve with fresh strawberries and powdered sugar. You can also use frozen strawberries. This is the middle of the winter after all! Just be sure they have had a chance to thaw.
Enjoy!

Spinach and Sausage Egg Strata

This strata may just knock your socks off! Okay, maybe it won't. It's not that powerful. But it is yummy! We made this for a family potluck a couple months ago and everyone really liked it. There is a little bit of preparation time, but the nice thing is you can prepare it when you have the time, pop it into the fridge and then bake it when you're ready to cook dinner. Or you could make it a day ahead and have it for breakfast. You won't be sorry!








Spinach and Sausage Egg Strata
Recipe from Rachael Ray
Yield: 6-8 servings

1 box chopped frozen spinach
3/4 pound breakfast sausage

1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Nutmeg to taste
1/2 pound stake white or French bread, cubed {about 7-8 cups}
12 eggs
2 cups milk
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 cups shredded cheese

Directions:
Defrost the spinach in the microwave and then wring out any excess liquid.
In a skillet, brown and crumble the sausage, drain, then remove to a plate lined with paper towels. Return the skillet to heat and add the onion and garlic {it shouldn't stick because your pan will still be greasy from the sausage, but if it does stick, add a little butter}. Cook until softened, 5-6 minutes. Add the spinach and season with salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg. Turn off the heat and combine with the sausage crumbles.
Arrange half the bread cubes into a 5 quart casserole dish.
Whisk the eggs with the milk, Dijon mustard and some salt and pepper.
Scatter half of the sausage-spinach mixture over the bread, top with half the shredded cheese, pour over half the eggs; repeat for another layer. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
Bring the strata to room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the rack in the center of the oven.
Set the casserole on a baking sheet and bake uncovered for about 1 hour. Let stand 10 minutes and serve.

IHOP French Toast

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

I am currently away and don't really have a great Independence Day recipe to share. Maybe next year. But this recipe works, says I. It is, after all, a recipe patterned after the french toast served at IHOP, which is a quintessential American restaurant. Right?

This french toast recipe has a special something that makes it taste really good. It's a simple ingredient but it's effective. We love this french toast around here. In fact we love it so much, it's the only kind we make! Yum yum!

IHOP French ToastRecipe from The Sisters Cafe

2 eggs
½ c. milk
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 T. flour
6 slices of thick sliced French bread
Nutmeg

Directions:
First beat eggs, then add remaining ingredients with electric mixer. Mix well.
Dip both sides of bread slices in the egg mixture and place in hot buttered pan. Sprinkle the uncooked side with nutmeg. Flip over when browned.
Serve with any desired syrup, jam, sprinkled with powdered sugar, or with berries and whipped cream. Yum!



I hope you enjoy your festivities. May you have a wonderful day with family celebrating the glorious freedoms we enjoy.

Hootenany Pancakes

If you tried, you could probably find hundreds of German Pancake recipes around the internet. I don't even think you would have to look very hard to find them. It's because these pancakes are so delicious and soooo fun! I can guarantee you that any child would go crazy over these puffy pancakes. When I was growing up, we called them Hootenany Pancakes. My husband had never heard of such a thing and finally convinced me to make some German pancakes. Low and behold! They are the exact same thing! But since Hootenanny is a whole lot more fun to say than German, I'm sticking with the name I grew up with!

See all that yummy puffiness? Delicious!

Hootenanny Pancakes
Recipe from Bingham Family

1/4 cup butter
6 eggs, well beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Melt 1/4 cup butter in a 9x13 in your warm oven.
While the butter is melting, mix all remaining ingredients together for one minute. When butter is melted, pour batter into the pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and puffy.

Brown Sugar Muffins

I am a muffin girl. I loooooovvee muffins. I could eat them for every meal. Sometimes I do. Especially if they are these muffins. I think these are quite possibly my most favorite muffins on this planet {that I've tasted anyway - I haven't tried each of them, after all}. In fact, that's all I can't think of to say about these. They are my favorite. You should try them. Maybe today. Like, right now. Heck, I think I'm going to go make them right now. Except that I'm not home. This here post, it was scheduled. Because I promised you a breakfast week, did I not? And since I'm gone today, the only way to keep that promise is to schedule my posts. Look at me being all organized. Everyone go look at the sky tonight. The moon is probably blue.

But, since I'm visiting my mother-in-law and this recipe is originally hers, maybe I can get these muffins after all. :)



I know, it's not the greatest photo. I took this ages and ages ago. So please forgive me. Next time I make them, I'll try to remember to take a better photo. :)

 Brown Sugar Muffins
Recipe from Olive Harwood

2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400.
Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Make a hole in the middle of the mixture. Set aside.
In another medium bowl, combine all the wet ingredients. I generally find that it works best if I combine my egg and butter first, then the other things. It also works best if your egg and milk are at room temperature so the butter doesn't suddenly harden up when the cold ingredients hit it. But these always turn out fine without getting everything to room temperature, so honestly, I usually don't worry about it.
Pour wet ingredients into the hole you made in your dry ingredients. Mix just until moistened.
Drop into well oiled muffin pan about 2/3 full. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Country Sausage Gravy

This country gravy is beautiful. If you put it on top of some biscuits you have a lovely meal just waiting to be eaten. The nice thing about this gravy is that it's quick {notice a theme this week?}. You can prepare and cook this gravy while your biscuits are baking in the oven. Ah, pure loveliness, right there.

This recipe comes from the Food Nanny. Has anyone ever heard of her? She has a fantastic meal planning site that has everything you could possibly think of needing as you prepare your meals. You should really look into it. I guess she also has a television show about saving dinner {I haven't seen it because we don't get television}. I've looked up a little bit about her and she looks like the sweetest woman and has some great ideas. Check out her website if you want some meal planning help.



Here is a quick photo example of how to make a roux.



This gravy recipe uses what is called a roux {pronounced 'roo'}. A roux is a mixture of fats {especially butter} and flour to create a thickener for sauces and soups. A roux is made by melting butter in a pan and adding the flour. The butter will absorb the flour. It is important to continually stir the roux so it doesn't burn. Once the flour is absorbed by the butter, you continue to stir until the roux reaches the desired color. For this gravy, you just allow it to slightly darken - like a blond roux. If you'd like more step-by-step directions, you can find some here. This may sound like this gravy is complicated, but it's really not. There is just a fancy word associated with melting butter, adding flour, stirring until it reaches a certain color. Anyone can do it. And once you do, you can impress all your friends with your roux making abilities. :)

 

Sausage Country Gravy

Recipe from The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner

8 oz sausage

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup flour

2 cups milk

1 cup water

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Cook and stir the sausage in a small skillet over medium heat, crumbling it with spoon. Drain the fat, if necessary.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. I found that using a whisk is the easiest way to get the roux a nice consistency, without clumps. Cook until the roux begins to darken slightly. Slowly whisk in the milk, water, salt, and pepper. When this says slowly, it really means ssslllooowwwlllyyyyyyy. Just mix in a little at a time. The faster you dump all this liquid in the pan, the thinner your gravy will be. If you want a thick gravy {and trust me, you want a thick gravy}, stir it in slowly. Continue stirring until the gravy thickens and comes to a simmer. Stir in the sausage.

Break the warm biscuits in half and cover with the gravy mix. Mmm, I can just smell the deliciousness!

Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

These other biscuits are also delicous. It's actually hard for me to decide which of the two are more delicious. Does a person have to choose something like that? I hope not because I'm choosing not to. :)


These biscuits take a bit more work but it really depends on what you are going for. These are flaky biscuits and they have a lovely, light texture. I love the honey as a sweetener. It adds a special something to these that is missing in a traditional biscuit. And the flaky-ness of them makes them even better! They are actually quite perfect and I kind of think that the only way you could mess them up would be to bake them too long until they turn black. Not that I would know from any kind of experience or anything. I'll just stop talking now.

Wait, no I won't! I have a recipe to share! {Yes, I'm a dork. Why would you ask?} I have a few things I'll be explaining along the way so be patient with me as we go. I promise they are worth it!

*Note: If you do not usually buy buttermilk {like me} you can "make" some really easily. Put a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar into a one cup measuring cup. Fill the rest of the space with milk. Allow to sit for about five minutes. Now you have a nice equivalent to buttermilk that works beautifully in recipes.


Now, I know these biscuits don't look like much in the photo. It's really pathetic, actually. I didn't follow the recipe as well as I should have {notice all the notes throughout the recipe} and they didn't rise as they should have. Seriously, don't work this dough too much. You'll get sad biscuits like mine. Also be sure to take them out of the oven when the timer goes off. That usually makes for better biscuits, too.



Deliciously Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits
Recipe from The Sisters Cafe

2 cups all-purpose flour (9 ounces)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup fat-free buttermilk {see note above}
3 tablespoons honey

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°.
Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. {It is important to lightly measure your flour because it helps keep the biscuits light.} Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Chill 10 minutes.
Combine buttermilk and honey, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist. Don't stir too much! You don't want those biscuits to get tough.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 4 times. {Only that many. I swear you'll be sorry if you do more. Remember the whole tough and sadly unrisen biscuit thing.} Roll dough into a (1/2-inch-thick) 9 x 5–inch rectangle; dust top of dough with flour. Fold dough crosswise into thirds (as if folding a piece of paper to fit into an envelope). Reroll dough into a (1/2-inch-thick) 9 x 5–inch rectangle; dust top of dough with flour. {Don't worry about making all the dough stick together as you continually roll it out. Leaving the layers creates the flakiness of the biscuit.} Fold dough crosswise into thirds; gently roll or pat to a 3/4-inch thickness. Cut dough with a 1 3/4-inch biscuit cutter to form 14 dough rounds. Place dough rounds, 1 inch apart, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or well greased. Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until golden. Remove from pan; cool 2 minutes on wire racks. Serve warm.

Quick and Perfect Biscuits

If you know me by now, you know that I like easy. I don't see any reason why a delicious meal should have to take hours and hours in the kitchen. Particularly because it gets gobbled up quicker than you can say "jack rabbit" and then all those hours in the kitchen are sitting comfortably in the bellies of the people who just ate your food. And especially for breakfast, am I right? Of course, I don't love getting up early enough to fix anything besides a bowl of cold cereal, but I certainly don't want to have to get up super early to fix something really delicious. So I have something kind of quick for you. These biscuits are so super yummy. Plus they freeze well. So you could freeze up a whole bunch and have yummy, homemade biscuits for several meals. Ooh, I just don't know how you could beat that!

Today's recipe is a little bit two-fold. I'm posting this biscuit recipe and then I'll post another biscuit recipe later. You lucky ducks, you! I'm posting both because I know I'll forget if I don't just do it right now and then this way, you can choose which one you want to make to go with the delicious gravy I'm going to post tomorrow! I know. I just made your week. You're welcome. ;)

This recipe could be considered the least healthy of the two recipes I'm going to share. However, I think this one is a tad quicker, so it kind of depends on how much time you have and what ingredients you have on hand.

Quick and Perfect Biscuits

Recipe from Grocery Cart Challenge

3 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups milk (powdered milk works really well in this recipe)


Directions:
Combine dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Cut in shortening.
Add egg and milk until dough forms a ball.
Knead on lightly floured surface 10-12 times only. If you knead it too much, you'll get tough biscuits and no one likes tough biscuits.
Roll to 3/4 inch thick and cut with something round. I have used a drinking glass with a floured edge and it works just fine. You could also use other shapes if you so desired, it's just that a traditional biscuit is round.


You can see that I used a flute glass because it was perfectly round and just the right size. It works good for it's purpose!

 Bake on lightly greased baking sheet for 12-15 minutes at 475 degrees or until lightly brown. Mmm, delish!


This is about what your biscuits will look like before you bake them. They puff up so nicely, you'll practically forget they were puney little things before the heat touched them!



Breakfast Skillet

I decided that since yesterday I posted a french toast recipe I would make this a little unofficial breakfast week. Sound good to everyone? K, good, 'cuz I already decided! :)


I really love breakfast foods. It one of my favorite things to eat yummy breakfast foods. However, I am not a get-up-early-and-eat-a-delicious-breakfast-every-morning kind of gal. I like my sleep. Maybe too much?
Anyway, we pretty much eat cold cereal every morning. I know, I know. Bleh, blah, boring, yuck and every other unpleasant word that comes to mind when you think of eating cold cereal every day. But I actually don't mind - as long as I have several different kinds to rotate through - and this way, I don't have to get up early. However, I still love breakfast food.
What's a girl to do?
Have breakfast for dinner, of course!
And we do.
And you know what?
We love it.
 
Golly, it's a good thing I have an understanding and easy going and willing-to-spoil-me-and-let-me-sleep-an-extra-ten-minutes husband!
I'm lucky.
I know.

 
Breakfast Skillet
Prep time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Makes: 4 servings
Recipe from Pillsbury
 
3/4 lb bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 cups refrigerated, cooked, shredded hash brown potatoes or the frozen equivalent, thawed
3 eggs
1/2 can green chiles, drained {or use the whole can if you like things spicy!}
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 medium tomato, chopped
 
Directions:
In a medium skillet, cook bacon 7-10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings and the bacon in the pan. Add potatoes; spread evenly in skillet. Cook 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown.
In small bowl, beat eggs and chiles with a fork or wire whisk. Pour egg mixture evenly over potatoes. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 8-10 minutes or until eggs are firm. Sprinkle with cheese and tomato; cover and cook 2-4 minutes or until cheese is melted. For a little extra spice, try using pepper jack cheese instead of cheddar!

Crunchy Oven Baked French Toast

Just in case any of you noticed, Tierra hasn't posted a recipe today. Tierra recently graduated as an RN and took her state boards to become a certified registered nurse. She had been job hunting since May {right, Tierra? I'm not mixing up any details, am I?} and she finally got a job! Yay, Tierra! Congratulations from all of us! Well, this job could make things interesting. Today she worked from 6am to 7pm. I'm sure she was pooped! I know I would be. Anyway, she didn't get a chance today to post a recipe, so I'm taking her place. Of course, I'm not Tierra so I can't call this post a Tuesday with Tierra post, but I'll just have to do for now. {Perhaps we should teach Tierra how to schedule posts so you don't have to deal with me when you'd rather see her? ;) }

On to the recipe. This toast was so super yummy. It doesn't taste like any french toast I've ever had. It has a really nice flavor and the texture isn't gooey or soggy. My experience with all the oven baked french toast recipes I've ever made is that they are soggy and I just don't do soggy. Uh, uh, no way jose, absolutely not! So this crunchy, tasty, not-soggy recipe hits the spot right on for me. Oh, and in case you were wondering, this toast tastes supreme with Strawberry Sauce. Of course. :)

Just a little note: I'm not sure this would work really well for breakfast because you have to freeze it for a couple of hours before baking. You could try just freezing it over night but since I haven't tried that myself I can't guarantee how it would turn out. It seems to me that it would work fine, I'm just telling you I can't guarantee anything.

Curnchy Oven French Toast
Prep: 20 minutes | Total time: 2 hours, 40 minutes | Makes 4 servings {2 slices each}
Recipe from Pillsbury

3 eggs
1 cup half-and-half
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups corn flakes cereal, crushed to make 1 cup
8 {3/4 inch thick} diagonally cut slices of French Bread

Directions:
Grease a 10x15 baking pan {when I made this, I cut the recipe in half and used an 8x8 pan}. You probably don't want to use a glass pan. In a shallow bowl, combine eggs, half-and-half, sugar, vanilla and salt; beat well. {Note: You could do this step ahead of time and placed the mixture in a covered bowl in the refrigerator until you need it. Use within 24 hours.} Place crushed cereal in another shallow bowl. Dip each bread slice in egg mixture, making sure all egg mixture is absorbed. Coat each slice with crumbs. Place in greased pan; cover. Freeze 1-2 hours or until firm.
Heat oven to 425. Bake bread slices 15-20 minutes or until golden brown, turning once. Serve with fresh fruit, Strawberry Sauce, and, if desired, garnish with whipped topping and mint leaves. Yum!

Sour Cream Waffles

I do love me some waffles! These are delicious waffles that you can't go wrong with. Honestly, I just can't say anything more about them. Easy, delicious, waffles. :D

Sour Cream Waffles

Sisters Cafe

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

8 Tbsp butter (1 cube) butter, melted

1 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream (I used light and they were fantastic!)

3 large eggs

Directions:

Heat waffle iron. Lightly oil grids. Meanwhile, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl to combine and make a well in the center. Whisk the melted butter, milk and sour cream, and eggs in a medium bowl until well combined and pour into well. Whisk until smooth, do not over mix.

Spoon about 1/4 cup of the batter into the center of each quadrant of the waffle iron and close the iron. Cook until the waffle is golden brown, 3-4 minutes. Serve the waffles hot, with the syrup passed on the side.

Swedish Pancakes

My grandmother is from Sweden and this is one of the most famed recipes she makes from there. We all love it - I could eat them waay too often! It's one of the few foods I don't really tire of having. These pancakes are really similar to crepes, but they are still different. They aren't quite as thin as crepes and I tend to like the flavor of these better {yes, I have had both}. Perhaps I'm biased, but who can tell? ;) Regardless, I don't think you'll be sorry if you make these!

Swedish Pancakes
Helga Hardy
Makes approx. enough for about 3 people if served with something else {hubby and I can eat the whole batch if we don't have anything else with it}

3 eggs
1 (+1/8-1/4) cup milk
1Tbsp. sugar
Sprinkle of salt
1-1/2 cups flour
½ cube of butter

Directions:
Melt butter in frying pan you will use to make the pancakes. Mix all other ingredients together. Add the melted butter to the mixture {batter should be thin but not too thin - if you're familiar with the consistency of crepe batter, it won't be that thin, but it should be thinner than a typical pancake batter}. Pour small amount of batter into pan and spread so thin {I do this by rotating the pan around in a circle - you'll be able to tell if the batter is thin enough if it spreads itself out}. It should look about like this:

Let cook until browned on one side. Flip over.
Serve with powdered or white sugar, any pancake or sandwich topping you prefer, fresh or canned fruit or any other desired ingredient {my grandmother tells me these are really good with veggies but I have yet to try it - I really love the powdered sugar on mine, which, yes, is more like a dessert but I don't care too much about that ... if you can't tell from the photo!}.

Tip: If you wrap the pancakes in a towel they will stay warm while you finish cooking all the pancakes. Simply place one half of a towel on the plate you will use to the put the pancakes and then cover with the other half {my mom started doing this because she couldn't make them fast enough to keep up with how quickly we'd eat them so she started wrapping them in a towel and making everyone wait until she was all finished cooking them - a pretty good idea on her part}.

Nutri-Grain Bars

Dan and I are pretty big fans of Nutri-Grain Bars. We don’t buy them very often, though because we’re cheap and figure we can live without them. And we’re probably right.
We have friends that don’t like Nutri-Grain Bars. They bought a whole box at Sam’s Club {or some other bulk foods store place, I don’t remember} and they decided after they bought the huge box that they didn’t like them. So they gave them to us. We were happy.
Now, all those bars are gone. Told ya we liked ‘em!
But you know what’s even better than Nutri-Grain bars? Homemade Nutri-Grain Bars! I was a little nervous to try this out not being sure what it would taste like. They are so yummy! They make a great snack and are really pretty quick.
The only problems with this recipe:
1 – They’re really messy to eat. We decided that next time we make them we’ll store them in the fridge to hopefully help them set up more. I will also probably put more crust on the bottom
2 – These are super super sweet. I’m the kind of person that likes sweet things to an extent – if it’s too sweet, I probably won’t eat it. For that dilemma, I’ll probably add a few more oats or take some of the cake mix out and possibly use less jam {which may also help with problem #1}
3 – They make a whole 9x13 pan full! This was a little too much for us, especially because they are so sweet! However, you could probably refrigerate them and make sure they are set up and then wrap some individual bars into waxed paper, put into freezer baggies and freeze for a yummy treat any day of the week.
Even with these problems, the recipe is still so delicious! And heck, I think I solved the problems anyway so we’ll be making them again for sure.

Nutri-Grain Bars
Ingredients:
1 pkg yellow cake mix
¾ cup butter
2-1/2 cups quick oats
12 oz preserves or jam
1 Tbsp. water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Melt butter; combine cake mix and oats in large bowl. Stir in melted butter until mixture is crumbly.
Measure half the mixture into greased 9x13 pan. Press firmly into bottom of pan. Combine preserves and water; spoon over crumb mixture and spread evenly. Cover with remaining crumb mixture. Pat firmly to make even. Make at 375 for 20 minutes. Top should be a light brown. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Granola

I love granola. More specifically, I love my mom’s granola. There is none like it. Sorry if you think your mom’s is better. I promise you won’t be disappointed with this simple and delicious recipe! It’s also nice because you can always add ingredients that fit your liking.

Granola
Ingredients:
12 cups rolled oats
1-1/2 – 2 cups wheat germ
1 – 1-1/2 cups brown sugar
1-1/2 cups coconut
1 tsp salt
1 cup chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds
1 cup oil
1 Tbsp vanilla
½ cup water

Directions:
Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.

Mix wet ingredients and pour over dry; mix well.

Spread on a cookie sheet; bake at 250 for 1-1/2 hours. Turn mixture after half of the time, then ever 15 minutes until oats are golden brown. Let cool and store in air tight container.