Super Easy Upside Down Pancake

I made this for breakfast this morning, I sprayed a small ceramic baking dish with cooking spray, poured a little sugar in the bottom to coat and then covered the bottom with thinly sliced strawberries.  I mixed up the pancake batter just like I always do for my "Happy Pancakes" except that I used "strawberry applesauce" and blueberry wheat pancake mix because that's what I had on hand.  Pour the pancake batter over the strawberries, put the dish in the microwave and cook on high until a knife comes out clean in the middle,  about 3-8 minutes.  Turn the Pancake over onto a serving dish and out a few fresh slices on top and VOILA you have a yummy breakfast that seems much fancier than boring old pancakes and you didn't even have to turn on the oven or sit at the stove babysitting them.

You can also do this easily with apples, pears. plums, etc.  it's best to cook the slices a bit first if you are using apples or pears but if I'm feeling lazy then I just cut the slices with a veggie peeler and then the slices are so thin that it doesn't matter.

More Babies

For those of you who want to watch the trailer over and over like my kids and I do here it is!!  I can't wait to see it.

A Future of...

I can see into the future, My DD's future and I see

A

Future

of

...

...

SHOES!!!!

She can already say the word almost perfectly and she brings me one or a matched pair to put on her feet at least once a day.  I can't believe it, my little baby girl has the "classic girl obsession" and I rarely even wear mine let alone have a thing for them.  Where did this come from?  It's super cute now but when she gets older, I'm so going to make her buy her own shoes, I refuse to support a shoe habit.

Yummy Accident

It may not have turned out how I meant for it to but it was sure YUMMY!!!!

First I pre-heated the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
I brushed the bottom of a straight sided tart pan with melted butter, for the flavor, sliced an apple really thinly and linded the pan with them, sprinkled sugar, cinnamon, and cloves over the top of that.
In a separate bowl I mixed up "German Pancake" batter, which is 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour, 6 eggs and I put in a dash of salt, and poured the batter over the top of the apples, etc. in the pan.
Baked for 25 minutes, check, a fork or knife should come out clean from the center.

It took me all of 8 minutes of prep time for a very yummy breakfast, dessert or, at my house, dinner.  It's also pretty healthy since you can control the amount of fat and sugar, it's high in protein and you can use lots of fruits or veggies.

It was supposed to puff more and the apples and spices were supposed to stay on the bottom, I'd done it before but had cooked the apples before pouring the batter on top, now I know, MUST cook apples with the sugar and spices before pouring the batter over them if I want the same results I get when I order it in the restaurant.  Still, it was really yummy and it shaved off about 5 minutes from my prep time, so impatience might win out next time anyway.

Baby Toys

Sorry about the crappy lighting, I took the photo late at night.

I love babies and I love making things for them, this block is one of my favorites to make because it's one of those toys that babies just love to rags.  It's supper simple just cut out six squares baste sew the ribbon tags around two of them and then sew and stuff.  I even know how to sew a hidden stitch so that no one can tell where you left an opening for the turn out and stuffing.  (I'll have to video it and post it later.)

I've also been sewing up a bunch of baby blankets but since they've been running out as fast as I can make them, I haven't gotten any pics yet, I promise to not let the next one fly out without at least one picture.  They are everyones favorite blanket, my 4 year old still uses his.

I'm in Love!

With the preview for the new movie "Babies" to watch the trailer and learn more about the movie go here.

Green Jello W/ Carrots

Green Jello W/ Carrots

I love, Love, LOVE this site, they have wonderful products with all their cute clipart, coloring pages, wall art, etc. for Primary, YW, and RS and they have great deals and freebies every week to boot.
A few weeks ago I asked if they would make some flannel board designs for me and they came up with a great one on the tree of life, one on Nephi and the Brass Plates and now they have added one for the Resurrection.  This mother daughter team is just Awesome!!!

Black Bean and Couscous Patties

I come up with all of my favorite recipes on the fly and this one was no different, it is my first attempt at blogging about one though.

Today for lunch I decided that I was in the mood to make something fun and filling so I perused the pantry and the black beans caught my eye first and I thought of making vegetarian patties with them but what else would go in...  Couscous to the rescue!!  I love this Moroccan pasta, it's fast easy and super versatile.  Here's a pic of it for those who have no clue what I'm talking about, which is probably about 90% of you.

I would show you a pic of each step but since the kids were hanging on me and I was hungry I'll just tell you what I did.

First put 1 1/4 C water (and one packet of chicken or beef flavor packet from a ramen noodles package) on to boil and open your can of beans, I always rinse mine.

Next your water should come to a boil really quickly so add 1 C Couscous to the water, stir, cover, and turn off the heat.  Let sit for 5 minutes.

Next in a food processor add:
the black beans
1/2 c chopped bell peppers ( I buy mine in bulk, dice and then freeze so that I always have plenty on hand.)
3 eggs
1/4 cup (ish) of bread crumbs

Puree

Now add the couscous to your puree mixture and shape into whatever size and shape patties you like, I just shape as I put them in the frying pan.

Cook at med heat for about 5 minutes each side in an oiled pan or until they are dark brown and crispy on each side.  Top with a warm Diced Cucumber and Tomato Salad and Lime juice.  YUMMY!!!!!

As you can see in the pictures I was out of cucumbers but it was still great all the same.

My Cute Kids

Here are pictures of D being silly and L in the dress I made her, it's completely reversible so I'll have to post more on it soon.  I sure do love my munchkins.  (sorry her hair is such a mess, she wouldn't let me touch her)

Sibling love, awwww....

D loves to tell L what to do.

DD's dresses

I made L two new dresses and I wanted to get some pictures of her in them before she grows out of them, the first one is cutting it close as it is, and of course D was more then happy to get in on the pictures as well. The black and red outfits are their Christmas outfits, I made L the black velvet dress. I made the teddy bear for D (and a super hero cape that I still need to get pictures of) because I have been making all these dresses and a matching purse for L and he was feeling left out, I haven't even finished the bear because he won't let go of it long enough for me to finish putting the face, ears, tummy, and tail on. At least I know he likes it.

Happy Pancakes

I love making these pancakes for my kids, not only are they healthy but they taste great so they disappear fast, and that makes everyone happy.

All I do is take my regular pancake mix, I prefer whole grain but whatever you already have will work, and instead of adding water I add eggs and applesauce. Every mix is a little different so you might need to experiment a bit to get it perfect but I've found that if you add two eggs and enough applesauce to make a somewhat thick batter to about 1 1/2 cups of pancake mix you end up with a perfect pancake. The best part for me is that since these pancakes taste so good by themselves there is no need for syrup which means no sticky fingers or sugar highs, because of the eggs and applesauce they are a good source of protein and fiber as well. I do like to make happy faces on them with writing icing because my DS gets such a kick out of it and there's no need to feel guilty because it's nothing compared to the amount of syrup I usually see poured over pancakes.

You can also add other pureed or mashed fruits and veggies, like bananas, pumpkin, carrots, etc. and I love to add plenty of spices to them like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and allspice. YUMMY!!

Tear-free childs salon cut

How to make your child’s first or next trip to the salon/barber free of tears:

1. Prepare your child ahead of time by talking about the experience. Tell them what will happen and what your expectations of them are. If it’s their first haircut take them with you a few times beforehand when you get your haircut so that they can see it, and have the Stylist show them what they will be doing first. (Please use clippers for your boys; nothing is scarier than getting cut during your first haircut.) Plan ahead, either schedule an appointment or plan to have something with you to occupy your child while you wait so that they start off the cut in a good, calm mood.
2. Go with your child to the stylist’s chair and talk with the stylist face to face. If you don’t want your son or daughter to come back with a Mohawk but you know they might be thinking about getting one then don’t be surprised if that’s what happens if you didn’t talk to the stylist yourself.
3. Compromise, compromise, compromise!!!!! It’s just hair, it will grow back and keep growing, there is very little that can be done to hair that is truly permanent and if you force your kids to get a hairstyle they hate they will either find a way to get what they want or rebel in bigger, worse ways, you just may not know about it.
4. Utilize your Stylist, they didn’t spend as much as $16000 dollars and 2000 hours of schooling to just learn how to do a basic cut and trim, they're usually up to date on the fashion trends and can help you with most hair dilemmas whether it’s how to treat problem hair or how to keep both you and your kid happy when the hairstyles you want are diametrically opposed.
5. Don't ever threaten them with something you won't actually do, I can't tell you how many time I've heard a parent tell their kid that they'll take them home and shave their heads if they keep acting up, and not one of them have ever even left the salon without the haircut and a lot of tears for the kid and frustration for everyone else there. No one like being around when that's going on.