Morning Routine with an Easy Breakfast Idea

Hey y'all!  

Today I wanted to share with you my morning routine and one of my favorite ways to make a quick breakfast.  The holidays are in full swing here and if I don't make myself a healthy breakfast, I get super cranky by mid-morning! That is no beuno for anyone. Seriously. 

Ready? Here we go!

Usually I start the morning by getting my two oldest girls up and off to school.  I make sure they are dressed, shoes on, and the oldest one gets some sort of breakfast sandwich or protein bar and a glass of milk that she can eat/drink in the car on the way to the bus stop. (Unfortunately she's inherited my hangry tendencies, so I have to make sure she eats something.) 

After that I always walk the dog. I use the S Health App on my phone to track my mileage, and it usually ends up being a 1 or 2 mile walk. Wahoo!  If my day isn't too crazy, I'll head over to the gym later in the morning to take a class (Zumba is my favorite!), but if not, brisk walk = cardio! 

When I get home I whip out the yoga mat to do some stretches and other exercises: planks, sit-ups, squats, etc. Those pesky abs will be flat one day! There I said it! (so it has to be true, right?!)

And now, for the the easiest breakfast you'll ever make, I give you: (Drumroll please....)
2 Minute Eggs!! 

Made in a mug in the microwave! Genius! 

Basic 2 Minute Egg Recipe:

Spray a Coffee Mug with non-stick spray.

Whisk 2 eggs, 1 tbsp milk and spices (I use salt, pepper and turmeric) together. 

Microwave for 45 seconds, stir.

Microwave again until set, usually 30 to 45 more seconds. 

That's it!

Usually I pop them out onto a plate and add some protein left over from our dinner the night before (steak, chicken, chops) or even some deli meat if I have some. Throw on some cherry tomatoes, a little cheese, maybe add some left over veggies (peppers and spinach would be amazing!) and you've got yourself an easy breakfast AND used up some of those leftovers that would probably have been forgotten about in the back of your fridge. (Wait, am I the only one who doesn't like leftovers?)

You can find the original recipe and a video here from IncredibleEgg.com

And here's a fun fact: Years ago, when I worked at a juvenile detention center, one of the older ladies that worked there used to make her eggs like this and I thought she was just crazy. Who makes their eggs in the microwave?!  Now I know that she was just years ahead of her time. Genius. I guess that's what living for ten more years will give you! Perspective! 

OMG. Isn't this mini whisk the CUTEST?!?!

I'd love to see some of your favorite breakfast creations, so leave a link and comment below! Thanks for reading!

~Patricia

Banana Blondies

Sometimes I make really good decisions. 

Sometimes I find something on Pinterest, and it just turns out. Like really turns out good. (see below for a delicious example)

And sometimes things don't turn out at all. Pinterest Fail. 

So before I tell you about the best-ever-so-easy-it-can't-be-good-for-you recipe for Banana Blondies, let me tell you about my fail making banana bread. Banana bread---it should be so easy to make, right?

Not for me I guess!

I do have a great recipe for banana muffins, maybe I should just put those in a loaf pan, is that how these things work? Would that even work? Hmmmm.

I found this recipe for Banana Bread on Food.com. The picture show delicious, warm (I'm only assuming it's warm, I didn't see that in the photos per se), yummy banana bread. Mmmmm, my mouth was watering, and I had a whole bunch of ripe bananas to use up; let's get started!! 

So I mixed it up (easy enough) and greased and floured my loaf pan (thanks Mom for teaching me how to do that!) and then poured it in and popped it in the oven. Easy! Wait an hour (which seemed like a long time, but whatever), and then smell something burning and pull out this mess: 

Ick.  It was burned and didn't look at all like the pictures, didn't look appetizing at all.  I took it out and tried to salvage it by cutting off the burned parts, but it just was a soppy mess. Le sigh. I tried!!

Now, on to the success of the day:

Banana Blondies! 

Look at how delicious these look!

And homemade frosting too!!

Mmmmmmm.  

I found the recipe off of Pinterest, from this website, Cookies and Cups. 

It was surprisingly easy, and so deliciously sweet! I've never really even made frosting before, and I couldn't believe

a) that I made it and 

b) that I had all the ingredients already in my pantry!

This is all that was left after the kids got into it!

Ready for the recipe?

Here goes!  

Banana Blondies 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup flour
• 1 medium to large mashed ripe banana

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a 8x8 pan or a pie plate with foil, then spray with non-stick baking spray.

2. Using your stand mixer, combine melted butter and sugar. Then incorporate in egg and vanilla. Then stir until salt, flour and banana until batter is smooth. 

3. Bake for 25-30 min. Center should be set when you take it out.

4. Place pan on wire rack to cool, then make the frosting!

Brown Sugar Frosting

Ingredients: 

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1 cup powered sugar

1. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add brown sugar and milk; stir until  it begins to boil. Remove from heat and let sit 5 minutes.

2. Whisk in powered sugar.

3. Pour over blondies and let sit while frosting hardens. When everything is completely cool and set, cut and enjoy! Refrigerate any leftovers. 

Recipe adapted from Cookies and Cups. 

New Recipes to try!

I tried some new recipes today and I thought I would share them with you all because they turned out pretty good!

Carrot Applesauce Muffins



 I printed this one out awhile ago and was just waiting for the right time to try it, and today was the day!

Totally yum! And only my middle daughter didn't like them ("I don't like the big carrots in there"), so it was a win in my book. There's actually only 2 of the dozen left--and I just made them this afternoon. I used matchstick carrots that I chopped up a little finer, so next time I will try actually grating the carrots as the recipe suggested. They have a nice warm cinnamon-y flavor too. Mmmm.

Click here for the recipe from 100 days of real food. 

Garlic Mashed Cauliflower



I also tried making this recipe for Garlic Mashed Cauliflower from Allrecipes.com.

I thought it was pretty good (still tasted like cauliflower!) but my husband and I both liked it. I'd definitely recommend it for the more adventurous tasters in your house!

Give them a try and let me know what you think!  I'm always looking for new recipes to try, especially muffins. They are such a good grab and go treat, perfect for us since we're always on the go!

Thanks for reading!

Patricia

Gymnastics and a Winning Crock Pot recipe!

Today was an interesting day! It was the girl's second class of gymnastics and of course, little C was running again. Last week she was so excited that she just couldn't contain herself and kept running, and running, and running...all around the gym!  Thankfully, her teacher was really understanding that it was her first time at any sort of class like this. They "pinkie-promised" last week that she'd be a good listener this week.

Well, guess what? This week her teacher was on vacation. So little C went off with another teacher and stayed in the class for maybe 10 minutes before she started running again.  This time the new teacher just handed her to me, saying "Maybe you'd like to try the Mommy and Me class instead?" Ugh.

I mean, of course, I would like to try it, except that it's summer, and I have 2 older girls who have been so, so, so excited to try gymnastics and this particular time worked for all 3 of them to have a class at the same time. Which means that if I can get my 2 year old to stay in her class, then I get to have 45 minutes of uninterrupted me time, even if that means I get to read a book at the gymnastics gym...I'll take it.  Little C and I had a heart to heart after she was  asked to leave  kicked out of class; she was so upset that she couldn't go back. I'm hoping it'll help for next week! Fingers crossed!

After gymnastics, the girls and I headed to the craft store to pick up some yarn.  Exciting news!  I got an order to make a set of dryer balls!  So exciting!! We also picked out a few American Girl-type dresses that were on clearance, and the girls were super excited to play with them when we got home.

I also tried a new crockpot recipe tonight, which actually turned out pretty good!!  Maybe the girls were just hungry from all that jumping and tumbling, but they all asked for seconds. That's a win in my book!  Check out the recipe below if you're interested in making it; I was pretty stoked that I had all the ingredients already in the house.

Slow Cooker Curried Chicken with Ginger and Yogurt
from Real Simple 

Ingredients:

1/3

cup

tomato paste

4

cloves

garlic, chopped

2

tablespoons

curry powder

1

tablesppon

grated fresh ginger

1

teaspoon

ground cumin

1

medium onion, chopped

3/4 cup water

2

pounds

boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 10)

kosher salt and black pepper

1 1/2

cups

long-grain white rice

1/2

cup

plain whole-milk Greek yogurt

2

scallions, thinly sliced

Directions

1. In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, whisk together the tomato paste, garlic, curry powder, ginger, cumin, and ¾ cup water. Add the onion and stir to combine. Place the chicken on top and season with 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
2. Cover and cook until the chicken is tender, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours (this will shorten total cooking time).
3. Twenty minutes before serving, cook the rice according to the package directions.
4. Just before serving, add the yogurt and ½ teaspoon salt to the chicken and stir to combine. Serve with the rice and sprinkle with the scallions.

I cooked mine on high for 4 hours and the meat was easy to divide up for the girls and myself to eat. Yum!  Even my husband had some, so I'll 

I'm hoping to get back to blogging more regularly now that school is out. I've started the Konmari method in hopes of getting my house and craft supplies in order too.  I've got a bunch of dishes and clothes and toys and your basic household space fillers that I'm ready to part with.  If you want to join me, pick up the book on Amazon and let's purge and then fill our lives with joy together! 

~Patricia 

Homemade Taco Seasoning Recipe

Tuesday is Taco Night!!  Whoop! Whoop!

Sorry, I get a little excited about Tuesday Taco Night, only because I know what we're having and can plan for it.  I don't know how many times I've tried to meal plan, I just can't figure out a good plan that works for our family.  

But I can always count on Tuesday Taco Night. Or Thursday Taco Night--just keeping it real y'all.

So in honor of taco night, I wanted to share with you the awesome homemade taco seasoning recipe we use. It was so easy, the kids put it together, and I threw it in a glass container to store for later.  This is so easy, I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. 

G even labeled the taco "sesing" for us:

Cute, huh?

Here's the recipe:

Homemade Taco Seasoning

from: http://eatingonadime.com/how-to-make-homemade-taco-seasoning/

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons of Chili
• 1 Tablespoon of Cumin
• 1 teaspoon of onion powder
• 1 teaspoon of garlic salt (or garlic powder)
• 2 teaspoons of pepper
• 2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of Paprika
• ¼ of cayenne or red pepper flakes (you can double this if you want an extra kick)

Instructions

1. Mix all the seasonings in a small bowl. Transfer to a jar and reserve.
2. When you need taco seasoning, use 2 Tablespoons for a for a pound of meat (or just use 2 Tablespoons for any soup).

We actually didn't have the garlic salt or powder, but it tasted just fine with all the other ingredients.

We made nachos for Taco Night last week:

Let's call it a win!

~Patricia

Bakers and Chefs Baking Sheet Review (hint: it's a winner!)

Hey there!

It seems I'm in a mood to upgrade lately. I've switched out a bunch of things and most recently I bought a new set of rimmed baking sheets from Sam's Club.  They are the Bakers and Chefs brand, and they come in a pack of 2 for around $11. And they are super shiny:

Ooooo....shiny!

Before I bought them, I did some research. I really wanted to consult America's Test Kitchen (because they are so thorough with their research), but I realized that most of their stuff you need a subscription for, and I don't have one. Boo.  So, after a little more googling, I found this really intensive article from thesweethome.com.  If you care about baking sheets, you should read it, it's a great article!

It said that the Bakers and Chefs rimmed baking sheets (only available in-store) were it's #2 pick, and cost half as much as the #1 pick.  (The number one pick, by the way, was this one.)  Also, these sheets may warp at temperatures over 400 degrees, so that's a consideration if you're always baking at a high temp--which I don't usually do.   We've used them a few times a week since getting them, and I only noticed some slight warping once for a few seconds after I pulled it out of the oven. I actually pressed down firmly on the pan on both sides while it was still hot, and then it wasn't warped anymore. Maybe I have super powers! I haven't noticed any warping before or since then.

I guess some people like rimless baking sheets for baking cookies and things, and there was some research that your cookies get done faster on a rimless sheet (for those of you that can't wait), but I like the rimmed.  We mostly use our sheets for roasting, and I like that nothing will roll off of these.

Hello rim!

And this is super embarrassing.....

But these are the baking sheets we were using before....

Ick. 

We'd put foil down for everything (a habit we still do because it makes cleanup a breeze).

These are not so shiny.

And to celebrate our new baking sheets, we've been making some yummy dinners too!

Delicious! 

My husband is a much better cook than I am, and I know we both love these new baking sheets! I just wish that I would have picked these up sooner, since I have to make a run to Sam's every few months to stock up on essentials anyways!

And just fyi, I have not been compensated in any way by Sam's to tell you about these baking sheets (I wish!).  I just really like them and and wanted to share with you! 

Here's the recipe for the photo on the left btw, it's a keeper! (Click here)

Thanks for stopping by!

~Patricia

Recipe: Favorite Blueberry Muffins (A winner!)

Sometimes I get in a baking mood and just want to whip up something delicious.  So then I frantically look through my list of pinned Recipes (check them all out 160 of them here) and try to find something that looks easy, delicious, and that I have all the ingredients for on hand right now. 

Today I was successful!

I found this great blueberry muffin recipe from Life Made Simple, and it turned out awesome!

Check it out!

My 7 year old deemed these "the best thing you've ever made Mommy!"

Here's the recipe: 

Favorite Blueberry Muffins 

Prep time: 5-15 minutes (depending on how organized you are and how many little hands are helping!)

Bake time: 25 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes (Plus time to wash the dishes afterwards too.)

Makes 12 delicious muffins!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. All-purpose flour

1/2 c. Cake flour *

1 c. sugar

1/4 c. vegetable or coconut oil (I used co.)

4 tbsp. melted butter

3/4 cup buttermilk*

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

zest of 2 lemons

1 1/4 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen; I used one of those small containers you get at the grocery store).

Topping (optional)

3 tbsp coarse sanding sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Put liners in 12 standard size muffin cups.

2. Using a stand mixer, lightly beat together oil, butter, vanilla, lemon zest, eggs and buttermilk.

3. In another bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

4. Using low speed, slowly mix dry ingredients with wet until combined.

5. Remove bowl from stand mixer and gently stir in blueberries. Scoop batter into lined muffin cups. Fill 2/3 of the way full. If using topping, sprinkle sanding sugar on each. ( I didn't have any on hand; they were still good!)

6. Place into oven; bake for 24-30 minutes or until golden brown on top.  Remove from oven; let cool in pan for about 10 minutes.  Then place muffins on wire rack until completely cooled. (Not gonna lie, these are really good warm. :)  To reheat, place in microwave for 15 seconds. Careful, it'll be hot.)

Notes:

* You can use 2 cups of all-purpose flour instead of 1 1/2 all-purpose and 1/2 cake flour. (that's what I did.)

* I didn't have buttermilk, so I made some by putting 1 tbsp of vinegar into a 1 cup measuring cup, then filling with regular milk.  After waiting 5 minutes, pour out 3/4 c. for the recipe. 

Recipe source:
In my own words from: Life Made Simple

Her recipe was adapted from:  Back In The Day Bakery, Blueberry Muffins

Enjoy!

~Patricia

Watermelon

Awhile ago I came across this video which explains how to easily cut watermelon. It's pretty genius, and if you haven't watched it, you should!  It's pretty awesome.  Now, I always think that perhaps the people who make these videos are like, professional chefs or something, and there's no way I could ever do the same thing and make it look quite as nice and easy.  

So I tried it, and I failed. I think if I would have had or been able to use a more flexible knife to cut around the inside of the watermelon, it would have worked. Is that a thing, a flexible knife?  BUT, then I just cut the watermelon into fourths (instead of halves) and it worked really well! 

The watermelon cut into fourths, then sliced all around, as in the video.

Chunks came out!

There was just a little bit left inside, not bad!

C and M liked helping (sorry for the blurry photo, they were too busy eating to stand still)! 

Well, mostly they were eating the watermelon, but that's helpful, since my husband doesn't like watermelon. Someone's got to eat it! :)

I love reading about all sorts of life hacks, and this is one that I will definitely continue trying to perfect. 

And if anyone knows of a flexible knife I should try, let me know!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Patricia

An Easy Way to Hull Strawberries!

Tired of cutting the tops off of your strawberries? Feeling like you're wasting a bunch of the strawberry that way? Time to try something new! 

Hull your strawberries with a straw! 

Crazy, right?! Actually, it works really well, and I feel like it wastes less strawberry too.  Check out the photos!  I also love that the kids can help with this and I don't have to worry about them getting cut with a sharp knife. 

So easy! 

The kids can help too! 

Give it a try and let me know how it worked for you!

Favorite, Easy Smoothie Recipe

Today I'm sharing with you all my kids' favorite smoothie recipe. There are a ton of smoothie recipes out there and a bunch of cool things you can do with smoothies (like make individual ones with mason jars--did you know they fit on the blender?!), but my kids and I love this smoothie and make it regularly.  I've also been trying to add some spinach to the mix, and have been calling it "Christmas sprinkles," because no matter how hard you try, you can still see the green flecks in it. 

Strawberry Banana Smoothie 

3 bananas

2 cups frozen strawberries

Skim milk as needed (I usually add the fruit first, then fill about halfway with milk)

Blend and enjoy!  This makes quite a lot of smoothie, so I always put the extra in popsicle molds so we can enjoy a delicious dessert that night after dinner. 

What's you favorite smoothie recipe?

The kids love to help out! 

Sweet Potato Pommes Frites

Tonight I have to share with you a delicious side dish that the kids loved tonight at dinner.  I love, love, love sweet potatoes, but the last time I tried making them they were dry and good, but not good.  These were perfect!

And if we hadn't gobbled them all up, I would have taken a picture; next time, I promise I will take a picture!

Sweet Potato Pommes Frites
Original Recipe HERE (complete with yummy photos)

2 large sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons of coconut oil (melt in microwave for 30 seconds, I use organic, cold-pressed)
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Paprika to taste (or another favorite spice, like cinnamon)

Simply cut up the sweet potatoes into even pieces, then mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  I then dumped them on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and baked at 375 for 30 minutes (I usually bake in a smaller "pizza" oven, so you may want to bake at 400 in a regular size oven), flipping halfway through. You want them tender in the middle and brown on the edges.

Then take them out and enjoy! Yum! We had ours with asparagus and salmon. Delicious!

The nightly round-up

So tonight while I was cleaning our dining room floors for the umpteenth time today (the joys of having kids and corn for supper), I got to thinking about sleep.

You might think it's because I had to sit with my almost 2 year old and wait for her to fall asleep while she murmurs, "Dada, Dada...." And I bet you can guess what will happen when I go get him to sit with her while she falls asleep.

"Mama, Mama." Oh dear. It's pretty boring waiting in utter darkness for someone else to go to sleep.  I mean, I guess I could sleep, but then when I wake up at 2am and stumble down the hall to my bed, it just ruins my good night sleep too. I wish there was something I could do, you know, like cross stitch, or a crossword, or anything. But alas, I'm destined to practice sitting up straight in a yoga pose and praying for sleep to befall my precious little one. I think this child is destined to give me good posture whether I want it or not.

The other reason I was thinking about sleep (I had a lot of time to think tonight--those floors were really dirty), is because my oldest daughter interrupts my sleep every.single.morning to ask me the same question. And let me tell you, getting woken up with someone thisclosetoyourface is not pleasant.

"Can I watch tv?"

"No."

"What can I do? I'm soooo bored."

At this point I wish I was one of those moms that just bounds out of bed and says, OK! Let's go do something exciting! But, who are those moms? Are they real? I don't think so.

*Peeling my face away from my daughter's intent gaze* "Why don't you play in the playroom for awhile? Or help yourself to some breakfast?"  I'm starting to repeat that bible verse in my head now. You know, the one about training up your child in the way that they should go and when they are old, they will not stray from it (or something like that). I'm beginning to think I should have trained her more for this morning episode, since it happens every day. Every day.

And here's what got me thinking. Usually my daughter keeps going on about watching tv. Just one show. Only for a little bit. Nothing bad. I'll be quiet. I won't wake anyone. You never let me watch tv!

But last week was different. Last week, we were at my mother-in-law's house and for some reason, I did not get the inyourface morning questions every day.  Maybe it was the fact that my mother-in-law was up and got her some breakfast. Maybe it was the stack of activities waiting for her on the kitchen table. Maybe it was the corn flakes. It could be all of those things actually.

So tonight I wrote my daughter a note (she likes when I write her notes) that went something like this:

Dear G....

Good morning!  Do not wake me up. Do not wake up M or C. We are all tired and need a little more sleep. Please go downstairs and make yourself breakfast and play at the table until I wake up. No tv. No Nook. I love you.

Love, Mom

Easy enough, right?

I put some breakfast out on the table and some play-doh out for her to play with too.  We'll see how this works.

On another note:

What's for dinner:
(Or in this case, what was for dinner)

Crockpot Chicken with Salsa and Black Beans

1 package frozen chicken thighs (about 4 pieces)
1 can of black beans
1 jar of salsa
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 half onion, chopped
1 tomato, sliced (I added this from our garden, just because)

Cooked for 6 hours on high, switched to low 30 minutes before serving. Shred the chicken before serving.
I served it with brown rice for the kids and over couscous (flavored with salt, pepper and turmeric) for us.
Sides: Frozen corn, Frozen peas

I promise you, it's good.
Next time I'll snap a photo on a plate, and not just grab the leftovers out of the fridge.
(If I remember.)

I was especially proud of this meal because I had everything I needed in the pantry already. Since we just got back into town from our road trip yesterday (stay tuned for more on that), I didn't feel like getting back into the car to go grocery shopping. So I searched around on Pinterest until I found a recipe that I could modify and this is what I came up with.  It was pretty good!  Many times my oh-I'll-just-see-what-I-can-put-together-in-the-crockpot meals are not good. They are usually bland. But I'm guessing the medium salsa was enough to give it some flavor. You could add some peppers or well, whatever you want really. It was good. I may make it again someday.

So at the very least, my belly is full from a delicious meal, my kids are asleep (for now, let's be honest), my floors are clean, and I've updated my blog. Which I'm fairly certain no one reads. Well maybe one person. Two? Three? I'm pushing it now. Oh well, if you've made it this far, THANK YOU!!  I promise there is more to come. Promise.

~Patricia

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Best & Easiest "Homemade" Chunky Salsa

Today I'm sharing with you my favorite chunky salsa recipe!  This has got to be the easiest thing to make, but it still appears homemade, so others will think you slaved away all morning cutting up tomatoes and such....but really this took you two minutes. This is just so simple, I don't know why I had never thought of or heard of it before.

Easy "Homemade" Chunky Salsa

Ingredients:
Your favorite jar of salsa
Avocado
Lime juice (to taste)

Put salsa in a bowl.
Slice the avocado lengthwise around and scoop out the goodness into the bowl with the salsa.
Mash with a fork. Add a splash of lime juice.
Eat!

So easy and delicious! You could also try adding black beans or more peppers too, whatever you'd like to make the salsa your own.  Your guests will love it! (if you save them any!)

~ Patricia

The Egg Experiment

A facebook friend of mine was having trouble making hard boiled eggs, which I have to admit, I've had trouble making too.  (I like to call them "Hard cooked" instead of "hard boiled.")  Then I found this recipe, and they've turned out great every time.

A handy little fridge magnet I got at the MN State Fair, probably 10 years ago!

So I'm pretty sure I almost fell off my chair when I heard that you can actually bake eggs to make them hard-cooked.

What?!?!  You can bake eggs in the oven instead of hard-boiling them on the stove??  Sounds wonderful! Purportedly, the results would be the same, but even better!! I'm not sure how hard-boiled eggs can get better, but I was willing to give it a try. People also said that the shells would just slide off; now that is something I'd love!

I used this recipe: Bake eggs for 30 min at 325 degrees. I put each egg in a muffin tin and then popped it in the oven and waited.

This is how it turned out after peeling:

Ummm. What is that?!  Why are there brown spots on my eggs?  When I cracked them, the shells did not come off as easily as everyone had said and there was like a little wetness in the bottom of the egg, like there was this little space between the egg and the shell and there was "water" in it. It was weird. Very weird.

My 3 year old, who loves to peel hard-cooked eggs wouldn't touch them. At. all.  

So, although they tasted fine and were a lot easier, I think I'll be sticking to my tried and true method of hard boiling them on the stove.

I think I'll go make some right now!

Stay tuned for a bunch of new blog posts this month! You can choose to follow on your Blogger Feed, or if you are on your desktop, you can enter your email and new posts will be sent to you as they are posted!

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Mashed Potato Trick

If your kids love mashed potatoes, but you're tired of peeling all of them (like me), check out this video on a quick way to peel your potatoes:

Looks too easy, right? Boil your potatoes through, pop them in ice water for 10 seconds, then twist the peel off. It can't be that easy, can it? Well, guess what? It is! I tried this last night, and it totally worked. And really, you are just getting the potatoes cold enough to handle by putting them in the ice bath, they are definately still hot enough to eat.  Check out my pictures below!

The one caveat that I see is that the video suggests using russet potatoes, and I usually like to make my mashed potatoes with Yukon golds, so I'll have to try this with the Yukons and let you know how it goes. The other thing to remember is that you have to cook them through, which I didn't and then had lumpy potatoes.

The other thing you might be asking is "Why are your potatoes yellow ?" Well, my husband is on a tumeric kick, which is an awesome spice with a ton of health benefits. We put it in everything, which includes the mashed potatoes, and it makes them extra yummy! Try it!

This is all the skins from the 5 potatoes!

Mmmmmm, so good!

Quick Oatmeal Pancakes

This morning I wanted to try a different take on our usual homemade pancakes, so I did a search on allrecipes and found this  little gem.

They turned out dense and filling and very yummy,  even without syrup (which I didn't realize we were out of). My sometimes picky 6 year old loved covering them with sprinkles, and she loved eating them too!

Here's the recipe: 

Quick Oats Pancake 

From allrecipies.com (modified slightly by t-shirtsandtulle)

Makes approx 8 pancakes.

Ingredients: 

1 cup milk

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup milk 

2 teaspoons butter to cook with (more if needed)

sprinkles (if desired)

Directions:

1. Place 1 cup milk in microwave safe bowl, heat in microwave until bubbling, about 2-2.5 minutes

2. Stir the oats in the milk, set aside.

3. Milk the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together in a large bowl.

3. Whisk the eggs, melted butter and vanilla in a separate bowl. Add 1/4 cup milk.

4. Pour oat mixture and egg mixture into the flour mixture in the large bowl. Stir to combine. 

5. Melt 2 teaspoons butter on a griddle (med. heat) and pour about 1/3 cup pancake mixture into the hot melted butter. Add sprinkles if desired. Heat 5-6 minutes (until top layer of batter bubbles); flip and cook other side 5-6 minutes or until evenly browned. 

6. Serve with a maple or fruit syrup. Enjoy! 

Mmmm... homemade cinnamon applesauce!

Mmmmm....this was so good!  I was in a fall mood and whipped up some homemade applesauce on the stove the other day. I used 3 different kinds of apples, (probably 8 or 9 total), cubed them up, simmer them in some water and added about 3/4 cup of sugar and some cinnamon that I ground up in our coffee grinder. I just let it simmer until it "looked right" (the apples were nice and soft and the water was almost all gone) and smell up the whole house, seriously yummy!

What did you make today?