Recipes: Pancakes & Biscuits

I'm going to post two simple recipes that we have been enjoying the past few weeks. I love breakfast and all breakfast foods so I'm constantly looking for new recipes to try out. I used to just make pancakes and biscuits from the Trader Joes Pancake Mix, and while we loved it, I thought I'd try my hand at making both from scratch.

I found this recipe for powder biscuits and I love it! They're so easy to make and nice and light.

2 cups of flour
2teasponns baking powder
4 tablespoons of butter
4 tablespoons of melted butter
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3/4 cups of milk

• Set oven to 375. Powder a bread board/counter with flour.
  
• Sift flour, then add baking powder & salt, and sift again. Cut butter into mix. Add milk gradually, until dough is formed.
• Knead for 30 seconds. Powder a round cookie cutter and cut out biscuits.
  
• Brush butter on bottoms and tops of biscuits before putting them in the oven.
• Bake for about 20 minutes.
  makes between 8-10 biscuits

Now here is a recipe for buttermilk pancakes. They're amazing. I will never ever use pancake mix or any other recipe again, haha.

1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 egg
3 tablespoons of melted butter
4 -5 teaspoons of vanilla
1 cup of flour
3 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

• Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Combine wet ingredients in smaller bowl. Then add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix well:)
  
• When heating up your skillet/pan, add olive oil.
  
• Make your pancakes!

Enjoy!

Cream Scones Recipe.

I love scones. I think they're wonderful topped with devonshire cream and jelly. I found an amazing recipe for simple cream scones that I thought I'd share... Especially since I haven't posted any recipes in awhile:)

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups of flour
• 1/3 Cup of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/3 Cup of cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 Large egg beaten
• 1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of Whipping Cream or Milk
  

Make:

• Oven should be set to 375. You should line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces, then blend into flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. Blend until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
  
• In another bowl combine whipping cream, beaten egg and vanilla. Add this to the flour mixture. Stir until combined. Do not overmix.
• Knead dough on a floured surface. You can either roll or pat the dough into a circle. Then using a cookie cutter, cut the dough.
  
• Melt some butter and brush bottoms and tops of scones with butter, then brush the tops with cream.
• Bake for 15-18 minutes. Until browned.
  

Enjoy enjoy enjoy!

Hashbrown Casserole

My casserole after breakfast

Every other Friday I get together with my friends and we have breakfast. We call it Breakfast Club. I started calling Breakfast Club because I used to meet up with friends at Biola and get breakfast every Friday morning. Its funny that here in Monterey we have Breakfast Club on Fridays too:)

This morning was our second breakfast and I wanted to bring hashbrowns. I didn't want to bring just plain ones, although those are good too. So I searched for a recipe and found a few. Its really simple and you don't even need to follow a recipe really. I was a bit nervous no one would like it but everyone enjoyed it!

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of melted butter
• 1-2 pound bag of hashbrowns thawed
• 1 can of cream of chicken or mushroom soup
• 8oz container of sour cream
• 10 oz of shredded cheese
• Either half or one whole chopped onion

Directions:
::Oven should be set to 350 and you should use a 9x13 casserole dish::

• Grease casserole dish
• Mix hashbrowns and melted butter
  
• Mix in onions, sour cream, soup and cheese
• Scoop into dish, sprinkle extra cheese, salt and pepper (or any seasonings you like, I used Lawrys)
  
• Bake for 45minutes-1 hour

*I didn't use the whole container of sour cream, and I didn't use all of the soup. I just used most of it and judged from eyesight. Its really up to you how much you'd like to use. :)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm not the biggest fan of cookies but I do enjoy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies! I decided to make some this afternoon and they're so yummy:)!

Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup of softened butter
• 1 Cup of packed brown sugar
• 1/2 Cup of sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Tablespoons of vanilla
• 1 and 1/2 cups of flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon of soda
• 1/2 Teaspoon of salt
• 3 Cups of oats
• 1 Cup of Chocolate chips

Directions:

• Set oven to 325.
• Cream: Butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth.
• Beat in 1 egg at a time.
  
• Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir by hand.
  
• Mix in vanilla, oats, and Chocolate Chips.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until bottoms become a bit brown.
  

Makes about 20 cookies!

Because its Fall

Fall means its time to bake with pumpkin! So today my friend Ashley and I made Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese frosting. A recipe I found on Simply Modern Mommyhood. Leif loves anything that has pumpkin in it so I decided to make a batch of these cookies for him and his co-workers. And a few for my park ladies:)

Here is the recipe!

Ingredients for the cookies:

1 cup sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp of salt

For the frosting:

1 (8oz) package cream cheese
2 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 - 1 stick of butter (melted)
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
-Cookies: Cream the sugar and the butter until light and fluffy. Add egg. Mix to incorporate. Add the pumpkin and mix to incorporate. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix well. Add vanilla. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly golden brown around the edges. Cool on racks. When cool, ice with the cream cheese frosting.


-Frosting: Beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. Add milk, butter, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. If frosting is too thick, thin with a little more milk. When cookies are cool spread with some of the frosting.

Makes 24 cookies

I am not a big fan of cookies or pumpkin for that matter but are wonderful! You must try:)

Tuscan Vegetable Baked Ziti

A friend of mine asked if I could put some more recipes on my blog so here's a good one that Leif and I just tried. It was on the back of the Kraft cheese package we got:

What you will need:

• Package of Kraft Shredded Italian Three Cheese Blend
• 3 Cups of ziti pasta, cooked, drained (We used some pasta that we had, so you don't have to stick to just ziti)
• 2 Large red peppers, cut into thin strips
• 2 Zucchini, halved, thinly sliced
• 1/2 lb. mushrooms, thinly sliced (We don't like mushrooms so we didn't include them)
  
• 1 Jar (24 oz.) chunky spaghetti sauce
• 1 tsp. dried oregano leaves

Making it:
Oven should be set to 375

• Reserve 3/4 cup cheese; combine all ingredients in bowl. Mix.
• Spoon into 13x9-inch baking dish; sprinkle with reserved cheese.
• Bake 20-25 minutes or until heated through.
• 
  

This was fast and easy to make, delicious and actually filling. I'm not used to vegetable dishes filling me up. If you ever need a vegetarian option, this is great for that.

Surprise.

Sometimes my husband surprises me with dinner... and sometimes its nachos! I like when he throws things together for me and makes me sit at the table with my eyes closed. It was such a fun meal after a not so fun day:)

Update on Riley: So after I posted about Riley being so sick she woke up smiling. She played until her bathtime and even a little bit after that. Her nose was still runny and the cough was there but she was in a much better mood. This means she's feeling better. This morning she woke up the way she does every morning, happy and laughing. Still a bit sick but a lot better than yesterday. Me on the other hand, I woke up with her cold. I'm grateful that its Sunday and Leif will be here to take care of me.

Husbands are blessings.

Food and blessings.

A stratta with peppers/tomatoes/ham.
I got the original recipe from Jacqueline

Rosemary Potatoes.

Recipe from my mom.

Grilled veggies.
From Trader Joes.

Before I married Leif I never cooked. I could make things like eggs and pancakes but nothing too serious. I didn't enjoy cooking and would rather spend my time somewhere else other than the kitchen. When Leif and I did get married though, I vowed I would learn how to cook. But then I got pregnant and decided to put off cooking for a bit. Leif was usually in charge of meals. A few times he expressed to me that this was a bit frustrating and I would roll my eyes and remind him that I was pregnant.

This really bothered me though, and I felt like such a terrible wife. I had promised to serve him and take care of him. And while there are plenty of others ways I could and can do that, he wanted me to do that through cooking. Well a a few months back I got serious about cooking and when I did that, I realized that I loved it. I also love that this is another way I can bless and serve my husband. Which is something that is very important to me. I love that I am now able to help my husband start his day off with breakfast and have dinner waiting for him when he gets home. :)

Its fun to bless others through food.


So far my favorite thing to make has been twice baked potatoes. So simple and easy. Plus you can be really creative with them!

What is your favorite dish to cook?

Good Friends and Food.

I have good friends. Really, I have wonderful friends. And my favorite thing to do with friends is cook & eat.






Last night two of my favorite people came over and made us dinner. We went to Trader Joes, picked up some things, & got some Champagne to make mimosas. What followed was a lovely Chinese dinner outside on the patio. So perfect in so many ways! I'm blessed!





I think not being able to have dinner parties, or Family Sunday Dinners will be one of the hardest parts of moving. Its such a big part of our lives and it'll be weird not being able to throw one of these dinners together. Thank God for trains, buses and cars:) And I'm already thanking God for the people He'll bring into our lives when we move.

Eggs & lights

Just a quick silly post:)

First I made these amazing eggs today with bell peppers and cheese. So good!

And second we got these amazing lights for our apartment. I love them. Leif picked them out. As he does with mostly everything we have in our home... They're great.

I love how they just hang there, wires and bulbs exposed. Its so colorful and quirky.
I love quirky. I was afraid the decorating was becoming a bit too Pottery Barn-ish, and the lights totally tone that down. Yes. Win.

Recipes.

I need to collect more recipes. Where do you all find your recipes? What are your favorite recipes? What are some quick and easy things I can do? Tips, advice, suggestions? My mom gave me this amazing Better Homes and Gardens Recipe book which I love, but I want to collect some other recipes.

So, please share:)

Thanks!