Another Pancake Night!

Saturday night

usually means pancake night in our household.

cheap, easy, fast.

which is completely what our family needs as we head into Sunday morning!

Tonight was pancake night, blueberry style.

One of my favorite pancake tips?

I usually have my own "pancake mix" ready-to-go.

When I measure dry ingredients out to make a batch of pancakes,

I'll measure the same ingredients into 2 or 3 other bowls.

then dump the extra bowls into ziploc baggies and label them.

That way, on nights like tonight, when we're even more busy than normal

and the kids are more tired and need more attention 

and my house is a lego explosion so I can barely walk through the kitchen

all I have to do is dump the bag out, add the milk, egg, butter,

and cook.

{I happened to run out of baking powder when I made this - I do usually add all of the dry ingredients together!}

For some reason, having the dry ingredients pre-mixed makes the whole process way simpler.

{I do this for muffins, too! my own muffin mix!}

I haven't bought Bisquick or other pancake mix in years

because of this tip my mom taught me.

hope it helps you, too!

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notice the blog name change?
more about that tomorrow.

Good Old Fashioned Pancakes!

Saturday night!

pancake night.

M & M pancakes tonight.

 our chocolate-loving-2-year-old inhaled them fist-over-fist.

seriously. fist-over-fist. 

she knows what's good, huh?

It's taken me almost 10 years of marriage to be able to make pancakes.

seriously.

no matter what I did, they burnt, were dough-y, or just yucky.

My pancake tips today?

{generously} spray your griddle with non-stick spray.

start with a HOT griddle.

{I usually turn mine on right as I add the wet ingredients}.

use a measuring scoop slightly bigger than the size you need. 

I use 1/3 cup for 1/4 cup-sized-pancakes.

turn the burners down when you're on your 3rd batch.

turn them down even more when you hit your 4th or 5th one.

prevents the bottoms from getting too done before the middle.

if all else fails?

add chocolate.

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My favorite all-time pancake recipe:

my own version of this one

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
4 tablespoons butter, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions: 

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, vanilla, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.  

2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

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for those interested, there are 2261 calories in the ENTIRE batch.  

so, just divide by how many you get.

I usually get about 24.

which is only 94 calories/pancake.

{not including any added M&M's.}

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what's your favorite way to eat pancakes?

Rachel Ray's Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

I've mentioned before how much these 2 love pancakes.
Seriously. They love them.

 so, Saturday evenings are usually pancake evenings in our house!

you see, our Saturday evenings are probably a bit different than most.

{I'm usually ironing clothes, finding pants, picking out hair bows, tracking down hair bows, figuring out which shirt to wear with what skirt, making sure the kids are as calm as possible to try to avoid a Saturday night ER visit -we came close to that a few weeks ago with a mouth and coffee table incident!- and making sure I know where my keys are.}

{seriously, I've almost been late to church because I couldn't find keys. It's nuts. I know.}

So, the last thing I want to do is worry about breakfast on Sunday morning!

Thus, Saturday night pancakes = Sunday morning leftovers.

My latest favorite recipe is Rachael Ray's Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes.

Sweet and moist! Super yummy. 

And the pink Gracie monster?

As grant {sometimes not so} affectionately calls her?

She's the picky eater in our household, and she ate these pancakes for 3 meals in a row.

Hey, it's oats, milk, and banana.

Decently healthy, right?

You try them and let me know what you think.

And hope your Saturday evening goes smoother than ours invariably is,

even with my attempts at calmness!

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Rachael Ray's Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes:

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup sour cream

{I used light sour cream with no issues!}

3/4 cup milk

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 really ripe bananas, mashed up

1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup), melted

Mix dry ingredients, the first 7, in a bowl. In a another bowl, mix the wet ingredients, the next 4. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined, then fold in the mashed up bananas and the raisins. Stir in the melted butter. 

Heat a griddle over medium heat and brush with additional melted butter. Cook pancakes, each about 1/3 cup, until bubbles form on the top, then turn. Cakes will cook in about 2 minutes on each side. Keep pancakes tented with foil as they come off the griddle to keep them hot. Serve with drizzled honey or maple syrup over the top.

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Enjoy!!

Perfect Pancakes and Waffles!

Our little guy had a rather traumatic weekend {ending with 4 staples in his head}, so I wanted to make him one of his favorite meals tonight - waffles! He l-o-v-e-s them!

So, here's my favorite recipe that I use for both pancakes and waffles! For our family, this makes enough for leftovers - which I freeze and then just pop out of the freezer, microwave or toast briefly, and then my favorite little guy has his favorite breakfast in a flash!

{and, fyi, on the menu for supper tomorrow - my FAVE tortilla soup!}

Perfect Pancakes and Waffles:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Mix together dry ingredients.
2. Add wet ingredients.
3. Stir.
4. Make pancakes or waffles. I have to spray my waffle maker to keep them from sticking!

Enjoy!