Pancake Puffs!

   I have a toddler. Shocker right?! What I should say is I have a toddler who likes to eat from the moment he wakes up to the time he goes to bed. While I believe God made me his Mama for a reason, I must admit I don't function quite like him in the morning...My morning involves grunting noises till coffee time then I'm able to pretend to be a big girl who uses real big girl words. All this to say when my Monkey asks for breakfast 5 seconds after waking up I tend to just stare at him blankly like a weird specimen at the museum I have never seen before. Don't lie, You do the same thing with your kids! Coffee is essential in life :) 

   So I was perusing Pinterest (like all good Blue-Blooded American Women) and stumbled on Pancake Muffins from multiple sites (we call them Puffs since it's cuter and easier for Monkey to say). And dismissed them. A few weeks later I was making pancakes for the fam and realized I didn't want to stand there flipping  'em for the next 30 Minutes. So I pulled out my Mini Muffin Pan, which I love, and dumped my batter into it and shoved it into the oven. 10 minutes later my Monkey is running around the house with Pancakes, high on life. He can help himself, one batch made about 30 muffins, they travel well, store easy, and alter easy to become healthier! Ah-Ha moment if I ever had one...So I have to share it with the world. The Girls in my Sunday School class looked at me like I was changing religions when I started talking about them because seriously Breakfast has been changed forever! So here we go...

What you need:
Pancake Mix
Mini Muffin Pan

Too easy? Here's what I use:
Bisquick Heart Healthy Pancake Mix
  2 cups Bisquick
  1 1/4 cups 2% Milk
  1 Egg
  1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  2 Tablespoons Sugar
  Pancake Additions ~ Cranberries, Blueberries, Bananas, Chocolate Chips, etc.

I keep my sugar in a Penny Jar on the counter for easy access. Plus, it's cute :)

*Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.*

Mix everything together except the Pancake additions. When the batter looks ready for normal Pancakes then you're ready to go. 

This Batch has 8 Cranberry, 4 Banana, 4 Chocolate Chip,  & 8 Plain

                                                                                          



Spray your Mini Muffin Pan down so things don't stick (I use Pam Butter Spray). Place whatever goodness you are adding in the bottom of the muffin cups. You only need about 2 or 3 pieces in each cup. Slice the bananas thinly and only put one piece in each cup. I use a 1/8 Cup measuring spoon to fill mine because it happens to be the right size but use what you like to fill them up to the top over the fruit and candy :)

Bake for about 10 Minutes. They will not get brown. They will get golden looking and the fruit will be bubbly. Pull them out and let them cool for about a minute and pop them out. I line a bowl with a paper towel and throw them in there. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel. One batch will make about 30 Mini Muffins.

Bonus:

You can use your brand of pancake mix, change out the milk type, the fruit, etc. to make this fit your family's dietary needs and likes. Super easy, Super quick, annnnd you guessed it, Super delicious!

**Warning: This recipe causes Toddler self-sufficiency and Mommy coffee breaks to last longer.**

Us after his first Christmas Show! He was sooo Hyper!

              Happy Baking!
            Jules & Monkey













I have found some variations that I love for the Holidays! So here is your bonus round  :)

Eggnog Pancake Puffs
  2 cups Bisquick
  3/4 cup Buttermilk
  3/4 cup Eggnog
  1 Egg
  1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  2 Tablespoons Sugar
  Cinnamon / Nutmeg
  
   Mix all together and pour into a buttered Mini Muffin pan. Sprinkle with Cinnamon or Nutmeg, your preference, before baking them. Bake as directed above.
   We hope you enjoy your holiday breakfast rendition! Happy Holidays :)

Old Fashioned Stew

     I have to admit one of my favorite things in the world is curling up on the couch under a blanket in front of a fire watching my favorite shows with a hot bowl of fresh old fashioned stew. However, My Hubby and I live in Mississippi right now where winter is a whopping 60 degrees outside and a fire requires turning your air conditioning on. I love to cook but turning on the stove for too long is torture down south so I have become a fan of my amazing Crock-Pot that my awesome Hubby bought me the first year of our marriage. (Squirrel Moment: We had furniture that was on the verge of disintegrating beneath us, two pots, one pan, and a baby on the way and my Hubby surprised me with a complete splurge gift of a lifetime! I'm a complete dork I know...) So that said...I still use my Crock-Pot to make stew even in this air conditioning induced winter and this is the recipe I use...

Ingredients:
(Caveat: I use certain spices regularly so I keep them on hand at all times. Refer to the page Picky-Eaters Approved to find what they are and to get yourself a hand-dandy Grocery Shopping List as well!)

1lb Steak Cubes (labeled stew meat as well)
1/2 lb baby carrots (1/2 the bag)
4 medium sized washed red potatoes
3 stalks celery, ends chopped off
1 medium onion (your choice of type)
2 cups Chicken Broth
Water
About a 1/2 Tablespoon of each:
  Italian Seasoning
  Garlic Powder
  Onion Powder
  Thyme
  Rosemary
  Basil
  Oregano
3 Whole Bay Leaves
Salt / Pepper to taste

     Here's the best part. Grab a big chopping board / knife and a big mixing bowl. Chop everything roughly. All the odds and ends of your veggies throw into the bowl (it's my "Thank you for coming bowl" courtesy of Chef Anne on Food Network :D). Quarter the potatoes (skin on) and onions. Chop the celery into inch long pieces. Throw the meat and veggies into your Crock-Pot with the all the seasonings (except the bay leaves) and chicken stock and mix it around. Add enough water to cover your beautiful mix. Tuck your bay leaves into the sides and put the lid on. Start to finish this takes me about 5 minutes. You can increase or decrease any item you want to your family's preferences as well. Toss the bowl items into the trash and the dishes into the sink / dishwasher and you're done!

     I cook ours on low all day but we also leave at about 6am and don't get home till 5:30pm (now that I see that written down I'm starting to see why people think i'm nuts for working ;p). That said...you could cook it on high for about 6 hours and reduce it to low for the last however many if you want. This stew can't be ruined so whatever your schedule may look like as long the meat is cooked through and the potatoes are fork soft you will have done well. I serve this with the breads I make (especially the Amazing No Knead Bread) and some butter and call it a day. Easy Peasy for even the novice cook!

My Stew all done and ready to go! mmm-mmm delish :D

    Whatever you do just remember one simple thing. Your children will remember the smells and smiles from their memories more than the time it took to make them happen. Take the five minutes to make this. Your house will smell delicious, your family will have a well rounded dinner to laugh and talk over, and your child will be all smiles just from spending that extra time with you. 

Best Wishes,
Jules

My crazy family at Thanksgiving this year...

Now if only I could remember why Monkey and I are laughing so hard!

Bread!

     "Hi. My name is Jules and I have an entire family that has an extreme carb addiction". Normally this would be where you would say "Hi Jules"! Except that we do not apologize for it and in fact we try to accommodate it...especially me since it allows a great opportunity to get a ton of whole grains into my family. Hey, if you can't beat 'em join 'em right? So Everyone who knows me knows I love to bake but that i don't have a lot of time and I have a pretty picky audience so these two bread recipes that I have found have been tested and approved both time and taste wise. I hope that they work for you too!

      The first is The Amazing No-Knead Bread, a five minute bread that can be made as a white or wheat bread. It has a crunchy crust and a chewy center that is fantastic for panini's and stews and even as a bread bowl! It's amazing! I found the recipe through Mary Beth, my college suite-mate who is a SAHM. She was right. It's easy and delicious. The website not only walks you through the process but the writer is nice enough to provide pictures as well for people like me. I'm constantly second guessing bread dough for some reason but this bread...you can't screw it up! No matter what it will be delicious :) 

Quick photo of my first loaf before my boys devoured it :)

       The second is Potato Flake Sourdough Bread. I grew up on this bread and to this day it is one of my favorites. Everyone gets scared at the idea of keeping something alive in their fridge but it's easy! I can't keep the flowers on my back porch alive but Lord knows I can keep my Starter alive. This site walks you through from creating your starter, feeding it (like a pet :D), and making your bread. I make cinnamon rolls, mini loaves, and regular loaves from this. It really is my go to bread and it takes so little time that I have loaves going at least once a week. Unfortunately they don't last long enough for pictures sooo...hopefully in the future I can add some :) 

      Also, as a side note. If you don't own any  Mason Jars...go buy some. I use them for storage, decorating, my sourdough starter (**hint, hint**). They're versatile across the house and garage for any need  and are incredibly cheap. annnnd...they come in all sorts of fun sizes. So go. Buy. Now. Well, after you finish reading anyways :D

Happiness is a crust smile :)

       Being a working mom isn't always easy, and often we have to sacrifice certain things to make our schedules work, but homemade food shouldn't be one of them. I want my son to be able to look back and say that growing up our house always smelled like good food and fresh bread. These recipes help me accomplish those goals. Hopefully they will help you accomplish your mommy dreams too!

                                               Best Wishes,

                                            Jules & Monkey

Gotta love PJ's and cuddle time!

Thanksgiving Dinner Made Easy!

Thanksgiving is coming!!! I'm so excited it's almost comical. I have a crazy relationship with my kitchen I must admit. It's where I go to de-stress and bake up some yummy deliciousness that I then proceed to make everyone try. So Thanksgiving dinner to me is a little weird. It's in my Kitchen (that I love) but it is crazy stressful with the planning and shopping and cooking and chaos and then afterwards the mountain of dishes...So last year I typed it all out. The Menu, the recipes I was using, the  Grocery List, etc. This year...not so stressful. That said I figured I would share the amazing stress free world I'm living in, in this regard :) In this post you will find the Menu, Grocery List, and Recipes. I'll even throw in a few tricks to make it even easier and make you look like the perfect Holly Homemaker this Thanksgiving!

First, the break down of this meal. There are several made from scratch dishes on this menu for the decadence factor. There are also a few box items that are for the sheer ease of things. As well, there are a few classic recipes that no dinner would be complete without as well as some newer items that are family favorites in my family. I will link the recipes from their original spots so you can print them out. As well, the family recipes have been typed up and linked as well for you. Print everything out and put them in a binder (preferably in those awesome cheap sheet protectors that keep your recipes safe and means you can make a mess while cooking! :D) As well, I will mark which ones you can do the day before to make your days easier.Onward ho to the fun!!!!

The Menu!

DB = Day Before

Thanksgiving Breakfast & Dinner

Breakfast:

Bacon

Sausage

Biscuits

Oatmeal

Eggs

(Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake ~ Alternate for easier morning and earlier Thanksgiving meal   ~ [Pinterest Find and AmAzInG:D]) DB - Not included in the grocery list as this is a relatively new find for me. If you choose this option please add to your list :) I know I added it to mine this year!

Dinner:

Turkey (Robert Irvine)

Cranberry Salsa (Kelly’s Recipe) DB

Stuffing ~ Bag - follow the directions on the bag you choose. As well make sure you add to your menu planning the extra ingredients that it may require as each brand is different.

Green Bean Casserole ~ I personally omit the soy sauce and add 1tsp of salt instead. family              preference :)

Green Beans   

Glazed Carrots

Sweet Potato Casserole (The Neely's)

Mashed Potatoes

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes ~ Betty Crocker Boxed - follow the directions on back

Gravy 

Hawaiian Rolls (store bought) ~ warm in oven while setting the rest of the food out

Macaroni and Cheese (Paula Deen’s)

Pecan Pie (Paula Deen) ~ DB

Pumpkin Cheesecake ~ Sara Lee (frozen Section) (put in fridge DB)

Now the Grocery List. I personally use a completely separate list only because I start shopping for the things that I can early on. Having a running list of what I need makes it easier for me to keep track of where I am at. I also try to delegate certain shelves in my kitchen just so I don't get carried away one day and make awesome dishes out of food that was meant for another day :)

This will sound weird to some but I have fun with it...go grocery shopping in your kitchen. You will be surprised at what you already have on hand. Mark it off on your grocery list and set it aside in your kitchen. Come your true shopping day it won't seem as overwhelming and your wallet won't seem as empty at the end!

(Yes, this is my shelf of Thanksgiving awesomeness...I nabbed it from my sweet Hubby for a couple of weeks since that is normally his snack shelf :D)

I think that about wraps it up ladies :) I hope this Thanksgiving is a little less stressful and a little more relaxing for you. Let me know if there are any questions you have about the recipes. I know some of them seem too easy and others a little complicated but I'm more than happy to help if I can!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jules

 PS ~ This is Christmas 2010 when Monkey was all of 4 Months and we had three different Christmases in our family. Was I stressed? YES! Too much to play with my adorable love? Never! Plan ahead ladies, you'll appreciate it later on :) Cause that adorable little man is what our holidays are really about. What are yours about? I'd love to hear!

*~*Superhero Cupcake Toppers*~*

    So since I had our son I haven't done too many crafts. Honestly, I never felt like I had the energy or the creativity since I was always running on "E". When Monkey's 2nd birthday rolled around though it conveniently coincided with my new love of Pinterest and my hubby's new favorite movie of the month, The Avengers. Lo and Behold...Super Hero Cupcake Toppers were born! I found a few ideas on Pinterest that I combined to be the right size and fairly easy all while keeping the old school feel alive. :) I'll explain how easy it really was and you'll have labels to boot for all that yummy food you're cooking up as well!

Step one: I found the shapes that I loved and that were the right size (after scrunching and shrinking and stretching a bit...) and I stenciled them on to a blank sheet of paper. Lucky for you I have the stencils pre-done to save you some time :)

There are three stencils (Stencil 1, Stencil 2, Stencil 3). They are in graduating sizes and labeled on the edge so you can keep them straight once printed. Pardon the handwriting, Dear Hubby was helping :)

Step two: I bought some craft paper in bulk that had lots of polka dots (yes, I'm obsessed) and some coordinating craft paper in solid colors. You can use any pattern you like but I personally liked the polka dots because they reminded me of the dot matrix printers of the old comic book days! I had my Hubby cut the paper we had to the correct size (8x11) for our printer (it was cheaper to buy the larger size) and from there it was easy. The smallest stencil I printed on the patterned paper, the largest on the solid paper

Step three: This is where it gets somewhat tedious but do it while you are watching T.V. or chatting with your family and it goes by quicker. I cut them out and taped them one on top of the other. Have fun with the color combos since it will help liven up the cupcakes that much more. Once together I taped everyday toothpicks to the backs of them. All Done! 

Once together I taped everyday toothpicks to the backs of them. All Done! 

Now for those of you with multiple children and/or the desire to keep them longer I suggest gluing them together and laminating them. You can have them laminated as a sheet at the local office supply stores for fairly cheap or if you prefer to invest for the long run, Michael's has a decent laminater for a decent price (wait for the sales though is always my advice:))

Now I know you're all wondering about the middle stencil...print that on whatever paper you want and write in Sharpie the name of the food. If you are going to spend time making it you might as well show it off like that Super Hero Mom that you are!

When everything was said and done we did a few specialized (albeit cheap) DIY items and mixed it with a few generic items that can be reused from year to year. It allowed us to do most of the prep weeks in advance and actually enjoy the birthday party with our little Monkey :) A Mom's dream come true! 

  The Best of Luck and Happy Partying!
 

                                         Julianne







P.S. That was our New York Skyline behind us. One of our other DIY projects that now lives in our garage for Monkey's "parking lot". Another Blog for another time :)

25 Days of Christmas

Ok, I know...Halloween and Thanksgiving haven't even passed and here I am posting about Christmas. It's because if most people are like our family then Christmas is a fine tuned orchestral number. The budget, the family, the traditions, and the traveling all perfectly in tune with each other...all while keeping our two year old happy and away from the foot stompin', high pitched whinin', terrible two behavior that makes anyone want to drive off a bridge on a good day. Due to that I wanted to give everyone some time to get things together without the hectic-ness. That said, We are trying to teach Monkey at a young age that Christmas is not just about gifts and Santa and awesome cookies but also about Christ's birth and sacrifice. It's about recognizing what we have and being grateful for it as well as spreading the joy of the season and the love of Christ. I researched advent calendars for about two weeks straight and found so many wonderful ideas. Ultimately though to accommodate my family and where we are at in life this is what I landed on...

Everyday was planned based on the day of the week and our paycheck. Obviously some things cost more money than others. I am in the process of writing each day out on a cute Christmas themed post card and putting it in an envelope with the corresponding number. Since we want these things to be our family traditions I can reuse the cards and envelopes in the future and just swap out the days they belong to! 

Next comes the fun part. Some days require objects to achieve that days mission. I'm collecting those now and wrapping them as I go. It gives me a chance to set the tone of our Christmas decorating from the start, have something extra to decorate the house with, and provides my Hubby (who is a permanent child in this area) something to open!

Once December 1st comes Hubby and Monkey can open the letter to see what we are doing and then off to the adventure! As things get closer I will post pictures to go with but for now I'm in the early phases. 

However, as promised (drum roll please...) here is the list!

Happy (Early) Holidays!

Jules

Initial Apologies...

    So, I'm definitely in the process of getting a few things tweaked on here and while i'm having fun learning as I go, it's going to be a bit frustrating until it's up and running the way I want.
    Ultimately I would love to have a place for easy recipes that can be printed and ready to use for the moms on the go. An entire page dedicated to the kitchen actually to help that entire part of our life since that is huge for most moms!
    I am working on Mason's birthday party and the stencils and crafts used for it and getting everything put on here for anyone else with a child (or husband) who is obsessed with superheros.
   I need to figure out how to do pages so I can do a holiday page as well for all the cheap and easy holiday decorating projects that i have and the family togetherness things i am working on for this Christmas to help Mason understand that Christmas isn't just about cool toys...Have I mentioned that I refuse to have a spoiled brat for a child who thinks the world revolves around him? He's such a loving little boy and I want him to stay that way...Squirrel! ok...back to the real rambling points...
    I am also constantly struggling with my health and consequently my weight so I am wanting to have a place for health tips and reminders that are easy. It's tough enough accomodating children's changing tastes but to do so in a healthy manner for you too is difficult. I would love to let you know some good tricks I have figured out.
    I think that is it for now...Have a great day everyone :)