Cousin Beth's Pumpkin Pancakes

Let's me confess. I typically make boxed pancakes. Fiber One to be exact. They are DELICIOUS!

If you havent tried it I urge you to give it a try...after you make these pumpkin pancakes though.

These are Sunday Morning Pancakes. You need more time then the box stuff, but they are worth it. The kids helped me which was fun, which probably caused them to take even more time, but they ate them with such enthusiasm I think they need to help out in the kitchen more often. I think this has started what will now be known as Pancake Sundays. These seemed fitting since the weather has turned chilly in NJ and fall is in the air. I am glad to be rid of the humidity but so sad to see summer go. I can't believe that we swam the last swim and that's that. Least we have these pancakes to put a big smile on our faces :)

Before I go on, I must thank my Sweet Cousin Beth for posting the recipe. She is an amazing wife and mother, who works her behind off, recently completed her Master's Degree and still has time to make home made pancakes. I don't get to see her often enough, as she lives too many miles from me, but since facebook we get to be intertwined into one another's lives and share amazing recipes. I will be forever grateful for this recipe, and her forgiveness for all the horrible things I did to her when we were kids. XOXO!

isnt she the coolest?

onto these beauties!

Cousin Beth's Pumpkin Pancakes

Mix together

1 1/2 cups of milk

1 c. pumpkin puree

1 egg

2 tbsp. veg. oil

2 tbsp. vinegar

In a separate bowl combine

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tbsp. brown sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground allspice

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. salt.

Mix dry mixture into the pumpkin mixture until combined.

Call somebody who is actually good at cooking the pancakes to do that for you. Voila!

Mini Frittatas

I have not been a fan of eggs, well ever. I have been known to eat a quiche, but that is about as far as I could go. I make scrambled eggs for my kids and hope they taste ok, because I cant even taste test them. I am trying very hard to find recipes for things I dont normally eat in my everyday life, that might help to change that. This is one of those recipes. After reading the reviews, they seemed super easy, that I could make them ahead and reheat for a quick breakfast, and I could put lots of things in there to hide the eggs. PERFECT!

Mini Frittatas with Ham, Cheese & Spinach

adapted from Cooking Light

makes 12 muffin sized servings

**** 1 WW Points Plus per serving****

• Cooking spray

• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion

• 2/3 cup chopped reduced-fat ham (about 2 ounces)

• 1/3 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat extra-sharp cheddar cheese

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (I didn’t have these so I left it out)

• 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

• 8 large egg whites

• 2 large egg

• 1 cup fresh spinach sliced thin

• Preheat oven to 350°.

• Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add ham; sauté 3 minutes. Remove from heat; cool 5 minutes. Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Add ham mixture, stirring with a whisk. Spoon mixture into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. I used a large ladle to scoop it in. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until set.

VERDICT: These were great. I actually messed them up a little (shocking I know) because I doubled the eggs but not the ham and cheese mixture. I actually think they worked out fine and kept the point as 1 per serving. I might add some more spinach next time, and maybe some garlic to the onions. Oh and salt, a pinch wouldnt hurt. My next batch this week with be with some diced tomatoes and maybe feta instead of cheddar. The possibilities are endless and for 1 point per serving, you cant beat that, perfect for any buffet table too.

Spinach Quiche

In my effort to make more vegetarian meals I decided to throw a quiche in the mix. I saw the crust in the store and was inspired but had no recipes on hand so I figured I would take the crust home and see what I had in the house. Luckily I had all the fixin's for this recipe. It will now be featured heavily in the rotation. I wont make you wait until the verdict....you have a brunch....you make this quiche...you are a rock star. I do apologize for this horrible picture. I meant to go back and take a nice picture of it all dished out. I forgot that night since I was going out on the town with the ladies and only picked at this yumminess with a fork, then I forgot the other 2 times I ate leftovers.....so this lame pic is what you are stuck with. Click on the link and see what it can look like.....or just trust me because I am the expert.

Spinach Quiche

adapted from Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

3 TbSP. Butter

3 cloves garlic, chopped 1 small onion, chopped 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained 1 (4.5 ounce) can mushrooms, drained**I omitted** 1 cup crumbled feta 1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese salt and pepper to taste 2 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust 8 eggs, beaten 2 cup milk salt and pepper to taste MAKES 2 QUICHE DIRECTIONS: 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). 2. In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Saute garlic and onion in butter until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Stir in spinach, mushrooms, feta and 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Split mixture in half and put into pie crust. 3. In a medium bowl, whisk together 4 eggs and 1 cup milk. Season with salt and pepper. Pour mixture into each pastry shell, allowing egg mixture to thoroughly combine with spinach mixture. Easier to do this twice instead of trying to split the mixture evenly. 4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle top with remaining Cheddar cheese, and bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes, until set in center. Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving. VEDICT: FANTASTIC!!!! I dont know how the recipe would have been as is, but I followed some of the reviewers suggestions and it came out great. I do think there would have been too much mixture if you used the measurements they had listed in only one 9 inch pie crust. It made much better sense and taste to split it between 2, especially since the crust is sold in a 2 pack. It was great that night, it was great the next 2 days. It was so flavorful and the feta with spinach is such a great flavor combo. You could easily make this ahead and then reheat and it would be the perfect addition to any brunch buffet.

Chicken Piccata Salad

While I was trying to get dinner on the table tonight the kids were both being a bit needy. Thankfully they have almost returned to my normal sweet babies after being away and off their routines. But needy at dinner cooking time is nothing out of the ordinary. So I was getting flustered & slightly annoyed because I had to keep stopping and then the recipe was bugging me because I kept loosing my place and I was thinking “WHY am I cooking this, why am I bothering?”



So I stopped what I was doing and appeased my two sweeties and then started to think about why I do this every night. I am a stay at home mom and I always thought that meant that I should have a good dinner on the table. We always ate dinner as a family when I was young and I think its important. I also like to feed my husband a nice meal at the end of his long work day. Then I started thinking about my kids. I cant say that I don’t serve store bought chicken fingers, turkey meatballs and other child friendly things from the freezer a few times a week. But on a night like tonight when I was just rushing to get it done, and then Jackson loved the dinner I made, and asked for more, that is really why I am continuing to do this. If I didn’t introduce him to new flavors and new foods, he would be stuck in the kid food rut and I want better for him then that. I hope that Mia Grace is the same way. She started eating puffs on Monday all by her self and judging from her pure joy from just puffs I think she will be another adventurous eater. I don’t want to look down the road and complain about my picky eaters when I had the power to make sure they tried lots of new things but I was too busy to make it for them.

Ok its Rachael Ray time. I used to be obsessed with her and watched her show everyday at 6pm….before I had kids that is. But I really never made any of her dishes. I have a few of her cookbooks too and I was never overly impressed with anything she cooked. I am not sure why, because she does cook things that always look great on Tv but when I make them its just kind of eh-
But I picked up her magazine because I had never bought it before so I thought I would check it out. I bookmarked 3 recipes and stayed tuned for the RR verdicts!!! Hint—I might subscribe (or just read them online)

Chicken Piccata Salad
Borrowed from Rachael Ray Everyday magazine



INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes, quartered
1/2 pound green beans, halved crosswise
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped capers
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Grated peel and juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper
1 large egg **doubled**
1/4 cup flour **doubled**
Two 6-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, lightly pounded ** I used 4 thin sliced breasts totaling a pound**
1/4 cup chicken broth

· In a large saucepan, add the potatoes and enough salted water to cover by 1 inch.

· Bring to a boil and cook until almost tender, about 10 minutes.
· Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a colander.
· Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
· Drain in the colander with the potatoes; let cool slightly.
· In a large bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon capers, 3 tablespoons parsley, the lemon peel and half of the lemon juice.
· Add the potatoes and beans and toss; season with salt and pepper.
· In a shallow bowl, beat the egg. In another shallow bowl, season the flour with salt and pepper.
· In a large nonstick skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat.
· Coat the chicken breasts with the seasoned flour, then dip in the egg, allowing any excess to drip off, and coat with the flour again, shaking off the excess.
· Add to the skillet and cook, turning once, until golden, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into strips.
· Add the chicken broth to the skillet; cook over medium heat, scraping up any browned bits.
· Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon capers, 1 tablespoon parsley and lemon juice.
· Top the salad with the chicken and drizzle with the pan sauce.

VERDICT
HOLY COW! I know, I know you get sick of hearing me say you have to make this but I swear you will email me to thank me for introducing this dish into your life. It was so good. Doug told me three times how much he liked it and Jackson asked for more….Toddlers don’t eat anything let alone ask for seconds. It was really fresh and flavorful and it was a really great all in one type meal/salad. I would make the veggie again as a side for something else too. I did Double the chicken because I didn’t feel like 2 breasts would be enough for us. I have hungry boys in my house. I also did use the capers even though I thought I didn’t like them. If you don’t usually like them or are scared just smush them up and chop them really, really small and they blend but add a touch of different flavor. The one thing I found annoying was when you see the amount of ingredients in the list but then you don’t add it all at once. I find it confusing and annoying to have to keep looking back to see how much I was supposed to use. But it isn’t the piccata salad’s fault just my own pet peeve.


This dish would be great for a brunch because it is best at room temperature and it looks kind of fancy and you could stretch lots of cheaper ingredients. The recipe was in the magazine for recipes $10 and under and I think for the money this is a keeper. I will be making this one again soon