Tuesday Treat Day

You are going to want to make these! Best. Pancakes. Ever.

I made these over the weekend and we liked them so much we had them for breakfast and dinner (it makes about 12 large pancakes)! I got this recipe from Health magazine January/February 2010 issue. I did some modifications to make this even more figure friendly! I hope you try them!

(my modifications are: used all whole wheat flour, egg beaters, 2% buttermilk--since I couldn't find 1%, 2 tbsp brown sugar and skim milk to offset the 1% buttermilk. I also didn't make the blueberry sauce, as I added some fresh blueberries/bananas to the mix and used maple syrup instead). Here is the recipe as printed in Health Magazine:

Oatmeal Pancakes with Wild Blueberry Sauce

Soak 1.5 cups of Rolled Oats in 1 cup 1% buttermilk in a small bowl for 15 minutes.

Combine:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 cup low fat milk

Mix in oatmeal mixture and blend (batter will be thick).

Wild Blueberry Sauce:

2 cups frozen wild blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp. lemon juice

Tuesday Treat Day

Yum, time for some treats! I was hesitant at first to try to make homemade soft pretzels. We go to Roots and get them there and they are so wonderful. But, they are expensive. So, I broke down and tried them. I'm trying to omit, as much as possible, white flour from our diet, so this is a delicious homemade whole wheat pretzel. It was so easy to make, even rolling them and making them into pretzel shapes was super easy. My husband even did it! Next time I will boil them longer and make them smaller, they really rose after we shaped them!

Here is the recipe:

1 cup warm water

1 package of dry active yeast

2 tsp. honey or brown sugar

2 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp. olive oil

3/4 tsp. salt

3 cups water

2 tbsp. baking soda

1. Stir yeast & honey into warm water and dissolve for 10 mins.

2. Combine flour, olive oil, salt and flour into a mixer.

3. Add yeast into the flour mixture and knead for 10 mins.

4. Cover bowl and place in a warm spot and let rise for 1 hour.

5. Knead dough for 30 seconds and replace in bowl to rise again for another hour.

6. Remove dough and form into pretzels and lay on baking sheet.

7. Let dough rise again for 30 mins.

8. Bring 3 c. of water and baking soda to a boil.

9. Boil pretzels for 1-2 mins, flipping half way through and place on baking sheet.

10. Add salt if desired.

11. Bake pretzels at 475 degrees for 10-12 mins.

This recipe made 10 pretzels, but like I said next time I would make them smaller because they really doubled when we let them rise after we shaped them. I would say they would make 14-16 nice sized pretzels.

Enjoy!

Tuesday Treat Day

This isn't a picture that I took. But, I promise the next time I post a recipe, I will attach a picture! This was gone in a flash! I made this on Sunday for my good friends, as we got together to visit. It's quickly becoming my favorite fall dessert! You will know why when you try it!

Pumpkin Upsidedown Cake

350 degrees

Filling:

1 large can of pumpkin puree

3 large eggs

1 can evaporated milk

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (I tend to like more spice, so I put in more)

1 c. sugar

Topping:

1 box of yellow or white cake mix

3/4 c. melted butter (this needs to be melted before taking the measurement, if you don't, the top will be chalky)

1/2 c. pecans (optional)

Combine filling ingredients together and pour into greased pan (10x13). Sprinkle cake mix on top of filling and drizzle butter over cake mix.

Bake for 15 mins and put nuts on top. Bake another 30-40 mins.

It's awesome hot, but I really like it cold, it reminds me of Thanksgiving pie leftovers :) YUM!

Butternut Squash Soup

It's really hard for me to post recipes of things that I make, unless I'm baking because my Grandma taught me to add a little of this and a little of that, so I really don't use measurements. But, here is my recipe for the Butternut Squash soup I made the other night with the squash I bought at the Amish farm for $1.00! I'm sure there are a ton of recipes out there, but this was my experiment and it was great!

1 butternut squash

2 c. chicken or vegetable stock (have more on hand in case the soup is too thick once you puree it)

1/4 c. evaporated milk (I used skim evaporated milk, but you can use heavy cream or other variety of milk if you want to)

1/8 c. onion

2 tsp. olive oil

2 tsp. cinnamon

1-2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

salt and pepper to taste

Pine Nuts and Olive Oil to garnish

1. Peel, clean and remove seeds from squash. Cut up squash into cubes and put on baking sheet.

2. Drizzle olive oil and cinnamon onto squash and add onions. Mix until it is coated.

3. Bake at 350 degrees until tender (about 30-40 mins depending on how thick you cut the squash).

4. Add stock to Dutch Oven or other heavy stock pot on medium on top of stove.

5. Add squash & onions to the stock mixture

6. Add pumpkin pie spice, salt and pepper and cook for 15 mins.

7. Once squash is very soft, puree with a handheld blender or add a little to a blender with the top off to allow the steam to come out. Blend until smooth, adding evaporated milk and/or extra stock to thin the puree.

8. Garnish with pine nuts and a drizzle of olive oil.

This will make 6 servings and approximate cost per serving is about: $.67 each!!!!

This soup is also great left over or you can freeze it for another meal!