No Syrup Needed Pancakes

Chocolate? Check. Bananas? Check. Blueberries? Check. Actually pretty good for you? Check. These are so good and so easy. The kids ate them without any syrup or butter or anything! They just picked them up and ate... and ate, ate, and ate! Next time, I am going to double the recipe so I can have some to freeze for later! I got this recipe of a great website I go to for easy and healthy meals: greenlitebites.com Check it out! So here we go:

*Mash up 2 bananas in a fairly big bowl.

*Add in 1 cup of chocolate soy milk and 2 eggs

*Mix until frothy (that's a fun word, isn't it?)

*In a smaller bowl combine 1.5 cups whole wheat, 1 tsp baking powder, 1tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp cinnamon.

*Sift your dry mixture into your wet mixture.

*Mix until just combined. Batter will be lumpy

*Spoon batter onto a hot griddle.

*Top batter with desired amount of blueberries.

*Flip pancakes when they start to bubble and get brown on the bottom

*This recipe made about 12 medium sized pancakes which was BARELY enough for us :)

*Enjoy!

World's Easiest Cookies

A pretty bold statement, I know! These cookies only have 4 ingredients and take maybe 15 minutes total to make. Here is what you need:

* You can use any kind of cake mix that you want. I used lemon this time, but I have also used strawberry and chocolate. All turned out really good!

* Preheat over to 350

* Mix together 1 egg, 1 tub of whipped cream, and 1 box of any kind of cake mix.

* It will be super sticky and look like this:

* Put some powdered sugar in a bowl or on a plate and drop teaspoonfulls of this batter into it.

* Roll the batter around until it is covered in powdered sugar.

*Place on a greased cookie sheet. These will expand so leave some room between cookies!

*Bake for about 10-12 minutes. You don't want to over bake them.

*When they come out they will be all nice and chewy! Yum-o!

Apron from a Curtain

Have you priced aprons lately? No? Huh...just me then. Well, let me tell you they are EXPENSIVE!! When did a simple piece of cloth used to protect your clothes while you bake and cook become something cool (ie: expensive) to have?! I mean I have seen aprons going for $60!! What?!? Well, I wanted a red apron to match my kitchen but there was no way I was going to pay $60 or even $20 for one. So I started thinking of how I could make one. Couldn't be that hard, right? I found this old curtain that I used to have hanging in the kitchen at my old house. I love this curtain but it is way too small for my kitchen window now. Good thing I kept it because I was able to turn it and some ribbon scraps into a pretty neat apron.

Now here is the REALLY technical part. I hope you can follow! I held the curtain up to me to kind of see where I wanted the tie and neckline to fall and then I cut it. Whew! Did you make it through that part? I also made a pocket with some ribbon on it, but in the end I decided to go another direction and didn't use it. Oh well, maybe next time. So here is what my cut out apron looked like. My youngest son, Sawyer, was being a BIG helper :)

Now all I did was sew up all the rough edges. The bottom of the curtain is the bottom of the apron and it already has some cute, red, ric-rac on it so that saved me some time. I sewed a couple little pleats in it as well and I ended up liking how that looked better than adding the pocket. I then cut 2 pieces if ribbon for the ties and sewed them on. I draped some ribbon around my neck to see what length I would need the part that goes around my neck to be and then sewed it on. Really it was just that easy! I am pretty happy with how it turned it. I love that it matches my kitchen. And I REALLY love that I didn't spend $60 on it!

Sunday Morning Blueberry Muffins

Last night Jason asked me if I had a good recipe for blueberry muffins because he thought they sounded good! I told him I didn't, but I could find one! So, I searched the net and got some ideas and kind of smushed together several recipes and used what I had. Here is what I came up with:

*Preheat your oven to 400 and grease some muffin tins

*In a large bowl dump: 1 1/2 c flour, 3/4 c sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, and 2 tsp baking powder

* In a 1 c measuring cup add 1/3 c oil and 1 egg

*Fill up the measuring cup just past the 1c mark with buttermilk and mix

*Mix this into your dry ingredients just until blended

*Add 1 c blueberries. I used some of my freeze dried ones that I ordered from Just Tomatoes (you TOTALLY need to check out that website! Their stuff is yummy! http://www.justtomatoes.com/ )

* Spoon batter into muffin tins about 3/4 full

*To make your topping mix 1/2 c sugar, 1/3 c flour, 1/4 c butter, and 2 tsp cinnamon together in a small bowl. Then place a small amount of topping on each muffin

*Bake muffins for about 18-20 minutes and let cool before eating because that topping is very hot! These are super good with milk and super duper good with coffee :)

Banana Oat Muffins

I made these for breakfast last week and they were GONE, all 12 of them, in about 25 minutes! Of course, there were 7 of us eating them but still. They are very good and they really stick with you until lunch time because of the oats. Here is what you will need:

*Pre heat ove to 350

*In a large bowl combine 1 heaping cup of quick oats, 1 cup flour, 1 tbsp each baking soda and baking powder, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp salt.

*In a mixer, cream together 1/2 cup soft butter and 1 cup sugar.

*Add 2 eggs and mix thoroughly after each one.

*Add in 1 tsp vanilla, 1 cup mashed banana (I think I actually used a little more...didn't really measure!), and 1/2 cup sour cream.

*Here is what your wet and dry ingredients should look like:

*Pour your wet ingredients into the big bowl containing your dry ingredients. I like to mix muffins batter by hand so that it doesn't get over worked. The less you mix it the better! So mix it until it is just combined.

*Fill greased muffin tins about 3/4 of the way full and set aside.

*To make the topping combine 1/3 cup oats, 4 tbsp brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 2 tbsp cold butter. I kind of just mixed it with my hands! Here is what it looks like:

*Top each muffin with some of the topping until you have used it all.

*Bake muffins for 22 minutes

Enchiladas with Spinach, Beef, and Corn

I was looking through recipes online and I found one for enchiladas that sounded good but I thought I could make it even better! So, this is what I came up with! This is seriously one of the best things I have ever made! Everyone ate it and wanted seconds! Yes, my husband and kids ate spinach! Here is what you need:

*Preheat your oven to 350

*Start by browning 1 lb of lean ground beef

*Add in 1 package of frozen spinach and a package of frozen corn

*Cook over medium heat and stir until veggies are heated through

*Add in 1 small can of diced green chilies and a small container of sour cream

*It will look like this:

*Fill a tortilla with a large spoonful of this combo and top with a little cheese

*Roll up and put in a pan

*Continue to do this until you pan is full (this makes A LOT! which is great for my big family but if you have a "regular" size family you will have enough for at least 2 meals! so, have your freezer ready!)

*Pour a can of mild enchilada sauce over everything and top with more cheese

*Bake for about 25 minutes

(mmmm....look at that cheesy goodness!)

And that's it! Really easy, really yummy, and it tastes WAY better than anything you could buy! Homemade is ALWAYS better :)

Ham and Potato Casserole

I kind of just made this recipe up after seeing something similar on a website! Wasn't quite sure how it was going to turn out or taste, but it was really good! Here is what you need:





*Sour cream, small brick of Velveeta, cubed ham, 4 green onions. Oh, and potatoes...they didn't make it into the pic but you know what they look like, right?


*Preheat oven to 350


*Boil about 8 medium sized red potatoes for about 12 minutes. They don't have to be all the way soft because they will finish cooking in the oven.


*Once they have boiled, run them under cold water so you can handle them.


*Slice them into 1/4 inch slices and line a 9x13 pan with the slices. (You can leave the skin on or take it off...your preference!)


* Sprinkle on the diced ham and green onion


* Spread the sour cream over the whole thing


*Top with the cubes of Velveeta


*Bake in over for about 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and everything is heated through.


*For the last 5 minutes, I put on a little shredded cheese and put it on the top shelf n the oven just to make it pretty :)


It was SO yummy! Kind of like a mix between loaded baked potatoes and some kind of breakfast casserole! I will definitely be making this one again!