Yummy!

I was awake thinking of yummy foods late into the night last night--unfortunately, most of them I did not have on hand or was missing an ingredient or two--thank goodness we are going to the store Wed. and/or Thurs.!!
I've been getting the Prepared Pantry e-newsletter and enjoying the ideas although I am SO NOT a kitchen person and prefer mixes usually [if I could afford it], so I thought I'd share one of their recipes for breakfast pizza. We have everything but the peppers, eggs and cheese, so this will probably make it to our dinner table this week (or maybe a brunch on Saturday). Having my girls [and boys sometimes] beside me in the kitchen may be stressful, but it really will help with this one--as I'm making one dough, my 8yo can be making the 2nd one (Cause there is no way only one would feed us!!). Maybe this could be a freezable dish too..........homemade breakfast pizza from the freezer just needing reheating? YUM!
Recipes like this make me SO happy to have my Tupperware skillets from when I sold--they are oven safe (and I have a couple 10 inch and one 6 inch--if anyone is interested, I have a couple of their lifetime guarantee pieces of cookware back in the storage closet that really need to be sold--NIB, 1/2 of retail values OBO!!!)
OK--gotta go get a mid-morning snack.......let's see what I can dig up....maybe peanut butter on crackers?!? Strawberry smoothie?!?! ham and cheese rollups [with pickles]?!?!?! MMMhhh--I must be pregnant or something *LOL* YUMMY!!!!

Harvest Time

In this part of the country, it is harvest time--more specifically for the farmers, wheat harvest. My dh works on a farm and has helped them with their 600 acres of wheat--his first experience of "the harvest". His job? Hauling the large bales of straw. Before you start to feel sorry for him in this early-in-coming-dog-days-of-summer-99degree-SW-MO-weather, he has air-conditioning and is only out in the heat when he's running between the truck or tractor or dumping the bales :) He has been putting in some LONG 12-14+ hour days though and it will be a relief [somewhat *LOL*] when he makes it home before dinner sometime soon.

Bigger news?!? It's also time to be out blueberry picking!! And even though we haven't braved the heat and prices, I would so love to stock up my freezer with this yummy fruit!

We have had nice friends share some bags of the sweet blue good-for-you treats and I decided we could have some blueberry pancakes this morning. We usually just have cold cereal, but once every couple of weeks, I'll try to do pancakes (sometimes it's cause we're out of milk). Well, I've been looking up different recipes for pancakes and trying to find the easiest to do and this time, I googled "easy blueberry pancakes". And, although I doubted the ease of this recipe, my girls and I found it easy enough to do (and I didn't HAVE to dbl the recipe like usual, although I could have). While my 8yo is beating the egg whites, continually asking if they are "stiff "yet (how am I supposed to know--I hadn't a clue!!), I am mixing up the dry ingredients [I don't "sift" either, just stir] and stumbling over the 3yo with the best intentions of helping also. Thankfully, my boys are later sleepers, so I didn't have TOO much help in the kitchen. My 3yo DID get to add the frozen blueberries and have the first plate of yummy pancakes.

Our review of this recipe?

**** 4 stars!! ALL 4 kids say it is a "keeper" and would be good even without the blueberries. I had to agree after I finally was able to take my first bite also. I did have 3 dirty bowls from preparation instead of just 1, but it may have been worth it for the excellent taste--and whatever "stiff egg whites" even DO for a recipe, I think as long as I have an extra set of hands to do that job, it must be worth it!

ALSO--this would be great if you didn't have syrup (although we did) because the yummy blueberry juice gets spread out and fairly syrupy on its own. It may be tart without the syrup though, depending on the sweetness of your berries.
AND--for a finger food? Maybe after the blueberries have cooled. IMO--Too messy to be picked up and eaten if it has berries in it (unless there are just 1 or 2). I used to do this with regular pancakes before my 2yo knew what syrup was and I didn't want a messy boy to clean up, but today he had a bath after breakfast :)

The only complaint?

"OUCH! That blueberry squirted on me and it burned me(my tongue, my mouth, my lips, etc)!" No real burns, there were smiles on their faces as they shared these apparently wonderful complaints.

Amish Friendship Bread

from www.armchair.com --they also have the starter recipe if you don't have a starter from a friend!!

Amish Friendship Bread
The Recipe
Important Note: Don't use metal spoons or equipment. Do not refrigerate. Use only glazed ceramic or plastic bowls or containers.
Required Main Ingredient
1 cup live yeast starter
day 1:
Do nothing with the starter.
days 2-5:
Stir with a wooden spoon. {or smash in the bag}
day 6:
Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Stir with a wooden spoon.
days 7-9:
Stir with a wooden spoon. {or smash in the bag}
Day 10:
Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Stir. Take out 3 cups and place 1 cup each into three separate plastic containers. Give one cup and a copy of this recipe to three friends. To the balance (a little over one cup) of the batter, add the following ingredients and mix well.
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
In a separate bowl combine the following dry ingredients and mix well:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 - (5.1 oz) box instant vanilla pudding
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup nuts
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix and pour into two well greased and sugared bread pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.
Amish Friendship Bread Recipes and Variations Page
Amish Friendship Bread Variations #1
Amish Friendship Bread Variations #2
Amish Friendship Bread Variations #3