Homemade Pancakes

For years I've made pancakes using boxed mix.

I thought the pancakes tasted good,

and they were so easy to make

so I didn't see anything wrong with the mix.

On Shrove Tuesday I wanted to make pancakes,

but when I checked my pantry I was all out of mix!

It's very unlike me not to have a back up, 

especially if something is low.

Since I had my mind (and stomach) set on pancakes,

I looked online for an easy recipe because it was a work night.

Trusty Google came in handy once again

and led me to this recipe that sounded pretty good.

After making half a batch of them that Tuesday,

I knew I'd never want to use boxed mix again.

And since they turned out so tasty,
I just had to share the recipe on my blog!

The Goods:

Flour

Milk

Baking Powder

Sugar

Salt

Butter

Eggs

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Combine the milk, melted butter and eggs in another dish.

Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients

and mix until there are no longer any lumps.

Let your mixture sit for at least 10 minutes.

This will make your pancakes extra fluffy!

After 10 minutes, start heating up your pan.

I use a double burner cast iron griddle, 

but use whatever you have on hand. 

Once your pan is nice and hot, it's time to spray it with some kind of oil.

I recently found the above spray coconut oil and was so happy!

Using a measuring cup, pour the mixture onto your pan.

Make sure to leave enough space for flipping!

Once little bubbles appear on your pancakes and start popping,

that's when you know your pancakes are ready to be flipped!

Flip all your pancakes and cook the other side.

Now get ready to make even more!

You can make them all the same size...

Or you can make smaller ones with the next round!

Yeah - a few of those got a little too done, but they still tasted great!

Once you're done cooking all your pancakes it's time to dig in!!!

And if you're like me and make WAY too many,

freeze them in zipper baggies to enjoy in the near future.

These pancakes are so easy to make and incredibly tasty,

 so I'm guessing you may never us mix again either!

Chicken Spaghetti

When I first saw this recipe, I didn't know exactly what to think.

I knew I was intrigued, but I'd never made anything like it, 

so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect taste wise.

I put off making it and sorta forgot about it for awhile.

But then I saw the recipe again on a different blog

and I knew right then and there that I had to try it!

Keep reading to see how it's made,

and to find out what I really thought after tasting.

The Goods:

3 Cups Rotisserie Chicken

1 Package Spaghetti

1/4 Cup Onion - Diced

1/4 Cup Bell Pepper - Diced

 1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

2 Cup Cheddar Cheese - Shredded

1 Teaspoon Seasoned Salt

1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Salt and Pepper to Taste

2 Cups Chicken Broth

(Not pictured - OOPS!)

Get all your ingredients ready - 

Shred, chop, dice, you know!

Boil your water and cook your spaghetti until al dente.

Drain and return to cooking pot.

Add all but 1 Cup cheese and mix well.

Put mixture into greased baking pan - or two if you're like me!

Cover generously with cheese.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

OR

If you're like me...

Bake one and freeze one to be enjoyed soon!

I

In the freezer ready to be baked and eaten.

So I bet you're curious what I thought.

That's probably the only reason you read this far!

Well...I love it!

I am so glad I made two

and I can't wait to eat it again!!!

Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats

I haven't posted a food blog recently,
so I figured it was time I did so!
Hope you enjoy!!!

While browsing recipes online awhile back,
I ran across one that I knew I wanted to make soon!
It wasn't like anything I'd ever made and I was intrigued.

So after having the recipe for months,
I finally decided that it was time to make
SAUSAGE STUFFED ZUCCHINI BOATS!!!
I followed the recipe linked above,
Check out how I made this tasty meal below.

The Goods:

Zucchini

Italian Sausage

Onion

Garlic

Marinara Sauce

Mozzarella Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Cook your sausage,

grate your cheeses,

scoop out your zucchini and

dice up the scooped out part!

Make sure your zucchini boats are clean and dry.

And drain your sausage to remove the grease.

Saute your onions and garlic.

Add diced up zucchini and cook a few minutes.

Add the cooked sausage and combine well.

Put a little sauce on the bottom of your dish.

Then lay out zucchini boats and then fill with mixture.

Top with more sauce and both cheeses.

Now you can either pop this in the oven 

and bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 400 degrees.

All done!

Can you say YUMMY!??!

If you don't want to bake it right away,

or if you want to bake half now and save half for later,

you can seal it up very well and freeze to bake soon!

I tend to use plastic wrap AND zipper baggies.

Individual Turkey Sloppy Joe Portions

I've always loved Sloppy Joe's.

They're easy and tasty and remind me of being a kid.

But since I'm usually cooking for just myself,

I didn't make them too often.

Why?

Because I didn't want to eat them for so many meals in a row.

That is until I got smart!

One day I decided I would make a whole batch,

eat a helping and freeze the rest in individual servings.

GENIUS!!!

You could do this with any Sloppy Joe recipe,

but keep reading and see how I made mine!

The Goods:

1 Pound Ground Turkey 

1/2 Cup Chopped Onion 

1/2 Cup Chopped Green Pepper 

2 Tablespoons Water 

1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Salt 

8 Ounces Ketchup 

Dash or Two Hot Sauce 

1 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce 

1 to 2 Teaspoons Chili Powder

Hamburger Rolls (Not Pictured)

Chop up your Green Pepper and Onion.

Saute the Green Pepper and Onion, 

then add your meat and start browning.

Once cooked, remove as much excess oil/fat from the pan.

Add the remain ingredients, stir and simmer for 5 minutes or so.

If your'e not freezing any, serve and enjoy!

But if you are freezing some keep reading.

Put liners in muffin pans and spoon in Sloppy Joe mixture.

Flash freeze in freezer for an hour or two.

Remove from muffin pan and packaged individually.

Freeze in freezer bag until ready to use!

Baked Ziti

I could have SWORN I've posted about Baked Ziti before!

But when I went to find the post for a friend,

it wasn't there!!!

I was shocked!

I've made this recipe FOREVER.

And even though I call it Baked Ziti, 

I don't think I've ever used real Ziti pasta.

I mix it up, but tend to use Rotini most often.

Now, let me show you how to make Baked Ziti,
or Baked Rotini, or whatever you wanna call it!

The Goods:

1 Box Pasta - Ziti, Rotini, Rigatoni, WHATEVER your little heart desires!

1 1/2 Cups Pasta Sauce - I use jarred Marinara, but you can always make your own.

7 1/2 Ounces Ricotta Cheese - I prefer to use Part Skim.

1 1/2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese - Again, I like to use Part Skim. 

1/4 to 1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese - Fresh is best, but canned is ok if that's all you have!

1 to 2 Cloves Garlic - TOTALLY optional. I used to use it, but haven't the last few time.

Cook your pasta until al dente, which is usually about 5 minutes.

Don't worry - your pasta will cook a lil more when it bakes!

Once cooked, drain pasta and return to the pot you cooked it in.

Add almost all the cheese (reserve a little Mozzarella and Parmesan)

and mix it all up until pretty well combined.

If you're using garlic, add that too!

Now here come the fun part...

Time to layer your pasta!

Start with a layer of sauce and then add about half your pasta mixture.

Do another layer of sauce and add the rest of your pasta.

Add one more layer of sauce and your reserved cheese.

Now you can either bake the Ziti, or Rotini, or whatever you're using...

OR you can freeze it to use at a later date like I did!

CONFESSION!!!

I actually DOUBLED the recipe.

I not only made one to bake right away and eat,

 but I also made one to freeze and bake at a later date!

Whenever you decided to bake your pasta, 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake for 35 to 45 minutes.

You want the cheese on top to fully melt and get a little color.

Before I go, one last quick tip!

I usually move the pasta from the freezer to the fridge 

the night before I want to bake it so it has time to defrost.

If you forget to do so, you'll just want to bake your pasta longer!

The Best Soft Pretzels Ever!

While visiting my brother and his family in Kansas City, I met an amazing woman named Heather. She is a foodie like me and we clicked almost instantly! I soon found out about her Soft Pretzel Bites and KNEW I would be making them when I got back to California. 

After telling a friend about them, I couldn't wait any longer and made them last night. I made the whole batch, and was able to freeze more than half. I got a craving for one today while editing these photos and I can tell you they are just as amazing microwaved right out of the freezer. I will be making these again soon, even if it's just to stock my freezer with these tasty little treats!

Take a look at how I made some of the best soft pretzels I've ever had! Oh and you should also make them yourself - you WON'T be sorry!!!

The Goods:

Vegetable Oil

Flour

Water

Baking Soda

Sugar

Kosher Salt

Sea Salt

Egg Yolk

Butter

Active Dry Yeast

Combine the warm water, kosher salt and sugar.

Add the yeast and let it do it's thing.

Using the dough hook attachment, mix in the flour and butter.

Kneed on medium speed for 4 to 5 minutes - 

until the dough is pulling away from the sides of the bowl.

Oil bowl/dough, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour.

Until it looks like this!

Roll it out onto a lightly oiled surface.

Divide into eight equal portions and roll our until 24 inches long.

Form pretzels or cut into bite sized pieces. 

Place all pieces on lightly oiled, parchment lined baking sheets.

Bring water and baking soda to a rolling boil.

Boil each pretzel individually for 30 seconds and return to baking sheets.

(Or 10 bite sized pieces at a time) 

Bake for about 10 minutes.

Remove from baking sheet and brush a little extra butter on top.

And serve with some jalapeno cheese - my fave!

Thanks Heather. I already cannot wait to make more!!!

Fruit Puree Pops

I'm always looking out for new recipes to try, and when I ran across this recipe last week, I wanted to be eating one IMMEDIATELY! Since that wasn't a possibility, I decided I would make them over the weekend and that's exactly what I did!

I've recently started buying mostly organic fruits and vegetables - I've even gone to a second store to get organic apples because the one I was originally shopping at, hadn't received their shipment that week! Crazy, right?!?! Anyway...since these were pretty much ALL FRUIT, I decided that organic was absolutely the way to go.  And instead of using raspberries, I used strawberries because I'm a rebel like that.

These pops are super easy to make, but take patience because they require some wait time between each layer. It's worth it though, so be patient and you'll be happy with the outcome!

Now let me show you how to make them!

The Goods:

Mangos

Strawberries

Kiwis

Popsicle Sticks

Not Pictured, but you'll also need: 

Tiny Plastic Cups, Water and Sugar 

Sorry...don't know what's wrong with me!!!

Cut up the fruit...

Using a blender or food processor, 

puree each fruit separately.

Mmmmm pureed fruit.

Now - also not pictured... mix in the simple syrup.

Portion out the kiwi puree. 

I thought using a muffin tin for each cup would make taking 

them in and out of the freezer easier and less messy.

And it was! I didn't spill any!!! 

After waiting an hour, add the mango layer.

Note: One cup is without mango because I have a friend that cannot eat pitted fruit due to a food allergy and I knew they'd be sad if they couldn't try these pops. If that's the case with you, just pick another fruit, or go with only two layers like I did! 

After twenty more minutes in the freezer, 

add the popsicle sticks and freeze for two more hours!

FINALLY add the strawberry layer and freeze overnight.

Overnight?!?! Yes...it was SOOOO hard to wait, but remember...

PATIENCE! :)

And THAT is why you need to wait.

You'll end up with a lovely layered fruit puree pop!

As you've probably noticed, I doubled the recipe because I wanted more than four pops!!!

And I'm sure glad I did!

I'm off to go eat one now. 

Go make some yourself and enjoy!!!