PB & J Pancakes

This is a fairly simple recipe and I'm not sure why it took me until now to try this. I mean, who doesn't love PB&J? I don't know many kids that don't eat it either. This, to me atleast, seems like a much healthier version of pancakes.

Your favorite pancake mix
Water
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp honey
cooking spray
your favorite jelly or jam


In a medium bowl mix pancake batter and water as directed on the box. Add peanut butter and honey with a wisk. Mix until peanut butter is thoroughly mixed into the batter. Spray cooking spray onto a skillet or griddle. Cook pancakes until golden brown on both sides. Spread your favorite jam or jelly on your pancake. Fold it in half and eat it up!

Let me tell you, this was a much cleaner breakfast than any I've had in a while. The kids loved it and there was less sugary mess.

Apple Pie Oatmeal

In keeping with my last post, I wanted to have dessert for breakfast again this morning. I'm not a fan of dessert but if I'm going to have it, I want pie. Apple pie is one of my very favorites. Here I've added applesauce and pie spices to make oatmeal a dessert for breakfast. The kids were a little unsure because, it was oatmeal, but they all seemed to like it once they tasted it. Carrasa on the other hand loved it. Thank goodness someone likes my cooking!


1 3/4 cup water
1 cup quick oats
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp butter

In a medium saucepan boil water. Add oats and reduce heat. Stir in vanilla, applesauce, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. Return to a simmer. Add sugar and stir well until melted. Melt butter into oatmeal right before serving. Makes 4 cups.

Banana Split Pancakes

Well, Ms. Emmy asked me for some pancake recipes. I've always been one to doctor my pancake batter, as I'm not much for the syrup. I don't like really sweet stuff in the morning so, I alter the batter to avoid needing a lot of syrup. Emily's challenge got me thinking of other ways to make pancakes. I had a few bananas sitting out that either needed to be used for baking or thrown out. They'd gotten far too soft to just eat. The thought hit me that banana split pancakes might be really good. Some mashed banana, chocolate chips and strawberry gel for a topping. Who doesn't want dessert for breakfast sometimes?

1 ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups pancake mix
1 cup water


In a medium bowl mix together the pancake mix, almond extract and water. Add mashed banana, mix completely. Add chocolate chips. You can add more water if you need a thinner consistency. Scoop out pancake batter with ice cream scoop onto hot griddle.

Strawberry Topping

1 cup frozen strawberries
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp corn starch

In a medium saucepan boil water and strawberries until berries are completely thawed. Add sugar and continue to boil until sugar dissolves. Add cornstarch. Reduce heat, simmer until sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat and dish over pancakes.


Now obviously, you could make it simple by using pre-made strawberry topping or strawberry preserves. Either way, it tops off the pancake nicely. Another option, if you'd prefer not to use chocolate chips would be the addition of a tablespoon or so of bakers cocoa. Whatever other toppings you might prefer would be up to you. Just like a banana split there are lots of flavors you can mix. If you try something that you like, let me know. I'd love to try it too!

Taco Pasta

As I've mentioned once or twice before, my boys will eat just about anything on a tortilla. Tacos are a constant favorite that we generally have once a week. My kids at the daycare however, are not tortilla fans. They unroll the taco or burrito and dump everything out of it, wherever it may land. They are though, pasta eaters. I can mix just about anything with noodles and they'll eat to their hearts content, not realizing it may be something they wouldn't otherwise eat. So, being as we had tacos for dinner and I'm a fan of using leftovers, I needed a way to use the taco meat that my girls would want to eat. Below is the recipe for taco pasta. You can of course add any of your favorite toppings. I kept it simple because my kids, at home and at daycare, prefer it simple.


1 lb ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup taco sauce or salsa
1 small tomato, diced
2 cups penne (or whatever you favorite pasta is)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Brown ground beef in a medium skillet. Drain. Return meat to pan and add water and taco seasoning. Continue to cook, stirring to mix seasoning thoroughly. In a medium sauce pan boil water for pasta. Cook pasta to your preferred softness. Drain. Dish pasta into bowls. Mix Taco sauce/salsa and diced tomato into seasoned meat. Scoop spoonfuls of meat mixture on top of pasta. Top with shredded cheese and any other topping you'd like. Enjoy!


I've found this to be an easier and less messy way to enjoy tacos. I hope you all try this and let me know what you think.

Meatloaf Burgers

As I mentioned in my first post, our oven does not work. Richie loves meatloaf but unfortunately, due to our lack of an oven, we can't make meatloaf. I've tried recipes that use a slow cooker to make the meatloaf but it usually comes out so greasy that it makes us all sick to our stomachs. I'd been trying for a while to come up with a way we could still have meatloaf without the oven. Last night I believe we found a way that everyone can agree on. I made meatloaf burgers and Hunter, who doesn't like anything, ate it up. Below is the recipe I used but feel free to mix your burger meat in whatever fashion constitutes a meatloaf for you.

1 small bell pepper
1 small onion
2 lbs ground beef
1 egg
1 1/2 cups Ketchup
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt

In a large bowl combine ground beef, ketchup and egg. Mix well until meat is fully coated. Dice onion and bell pepper. Add onion, bell pepper, bread crumbs and seasonings to the meat mixture. Mix together completely. Separate mixture into hand fulls. Pat each hand full into a patty and grill or fry as you would a hamburger. Serve on bread, buns or alone.

I also made mashed potatoes and gravy which the kids loved. Bobby ate his meatloaf burger on a bun with gravy on top while I ate mine alone with just ketchup. All in all, it was a success and a great way to make meatloaf without all the time and fuss!

Peanut Butter & Banana Quesadillas

Today we were scheduled to have peanut butter/banana sandwiches. However, I didn't realize until I was already here at work that there wasn't enough bread here for everyone. Looking around I found tortillas and considered just making wraps but that always results in a mess. The kids unroll the tortillas and dump the contents anywhere and everywhere they can. So, I thought about quesadillas, I mean, what harm can it be to try it? I've heard of fried peanut butter and banana; why not in quesadilla form? I served these with yogurt, a mixed berry sauce and some honey. The kids dipped their quesadillas into each and ate everything!

Quesadilla

4 flour tortillas
Peanut Butter
2 medium sized bananas
cooking spray

Slice bananas into round pieces. Spread peanut butter on two of the tortillas. Place banana slices onto the peanut butter and lay a plain tortilla over each. Spray cooking spray in a skillet and lay the quesadilla into the hot pan, banana side down. Allow tortilla to brown and crisp slightly, then flip to allow the other side to brown also. cut into four slices and serve with any "sauce" you'd like.

Berry Sauce

1 cup frozen berries
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Put water and berries into a small sauce pan. Allow to boil. Add sugar and simmer until dissolved. Add cornstarch and mix completely. Allow sauce to cool and thicken some before serving.

As I said before, I also squirted honey on the plate and put a few dollops of strawberry yogurt on too. The kids ate every bite and acted like they were having a dessert instead of lunch!