April Kitchen Goal

I realize I never posted about my April Kitchen Goal - Type up Family Favorite Recipes and add to my cookbook.  To see my other goals with progress go here.  I started with this....

And ended with this...

I sorted through hundreds of recipes, culling out those I knew I would never make and ones I made that we weren't crazy about.  What was left is going in our Family Favorites Cookbook.  I still have many to type up, but I made a great deal of progress on this project.  I plan on getting all of them typed up this summer. 

Saturday Morning Pancakes

These pancakes are my go to Saturday morning breakfast, especially when the kids have had a sleepover and I have extra breakfast guests.  They are always a big hit.  Today I made just plain ones, but chocolate chips, blueberries and diced strawberries are delicious too.  This recipe comes from my very favorite cookbook, The Southern Living Ultimate Cookbook. 

Buttermilk Pancakes

2 c all-purpose flour (I use 1 1/4 c white flour and 1 1/4 c whole wheat pastry flour)

2 1/2 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

3/4 t salt

2 T sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 c buttermilk ( I rarely have buttermilk-- add 2 T white vinegar to milk to make 2 cups, works perfectly)

1/4 c vegetable oil

Combine first 5 ingredients; stir well.  Combine eggs, buttermilk, and oil in a bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. 

For each pancake, pour 1/4 c batter on a hot, lightly greased griddle.  Cook until tops of pancakes are covered with bubbles (here is where I add choc. chips, berries, etc).  Turn and cook the other side.  Serve with maple syrup or your favorite jam.

I freeze leftovers on a baking sheet and then put in a freezer proof container for a great breakfast on busy weekday mornings.

Linked to It's A Blog Party's Delicious Dishes

Garden Update #2

What a difference a week makes!  Last week my potatoes were barely poking out from the dirt, this week, WOW...

My mint has taken off as well.  Can't wait to make this fantastic iced tea recipe I found this week at Southern Living with my mint harvest.

And finally, my very favorite flower in my garden...peonies.  I have no idea the name of these lovelies.  I call them my "Grandmother Flowers" as I inherited one from each of my grandmothers.  They smell heavenly and I have at least 20 more buds ready to burst.

Linking up to Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage. 

Garden Journal

One of my favorite, quick, inexpensive projects is to cover a composition book with paper, ribbons, and other pretties.  The first trip I took to Europe with high school students, I made each girl a travel journal to take on the trip, they were a hit.  This time around I made a garden journal for myself to keep up with what I plant where each year.  Hopefully this will keep me from committing any gardening faux pas.    I like to buy a bunch of composition books during the back to school sales for 0.50 each.  Using supplies from my scrapbooking stash, I can make a quick gift in about 15 minutes. 

Tuesday Garden Party 5/4/2010

Jami at one of my favorite blogs, An Oregon Cottage, is hosting a Tuesday Garden Party. To participate, just link up a post about your garden. How easy is that! I can't wait to see everyone's garden progress.




Bed 1 - Mixed Lettuce and Spinach - used the first spinach last night. Tastes sooooo much better than what you buy at the store.
Bed 2 - Peas, green onions, green peppers and winter onions.

Bed 3 - more peas, jalapeno peppers, banana peppers, zucchini and early tomatoes

Bed 4 - broccoli and my herbs - rosemary, thyme, chives and basil

Bed 5 - strawberries

Bed 6 - sweet, red and white potatoes - this is an experiment, we will see how it goes....

And finally, I just had to share these, I actually grew these gorgeous roses! I wish you could smell the light pink ones, they smell heavenly.

Don't forget to show off your garden at An Oregon Cottage.

Natalie's Texas Beans

Several years ago a friend of my moved to Texas to attend law school. She brought back a law degree and this delicious bean recipe.

Natalie's Texas Beans

2 1/2 lbs dry pinto beans, soak overnight, drain

Cover drained beans with 3 inches of water. Cook for 3 - 4 hours on low with lid.

Add the following ingredients

• 1 sliced onion
• 4 -5 sliced jalapeno peppers
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 4 - 6 sliced of bacon
• season salt

Cook on low until ready to eat.

I experiemented with making these in the crockpot. I did NOT soak the beans, just added everything to the pot, cooked on low for about 8 -9 hours and they were great.

This made enough for dinner and 5 (2 cup) portions to freeze for later.

Linking up to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.
Eat At Home Ingredient Spotlight - Bacon

Meal Plan Monday - 5/3/2010

First off, some reviews from last week. I tried 3 new recipes and all were a big hit. We LOVED these Sugar Cookie Bars from Crazy Daisy. They will be making many more appearances on our menu. Savory Lemon Chicken got a 2 thumbs up from everyone, even my picky DH. I substituted onions and sliced mushrooms for the peppers. And finally, I made homemade Ranch Dressing using the recipe from Homemade Happiness. We really liked it and will be making it again.

This week's menu...

Sunday
Creamy Pesto Pasta with Shrimp
Toated French Bread

Monday
Spinach and Mushroom Smothered Chicken - using spinach from my garden!
Corn on the Cob
Salad
Sauteed Apples

Tuesday
Bourbon BBQ Salmon
Mashed Red Potatoes
Limas
Fruit
Salad

Wednesday - Cinco de Mayo
Beef and Shrimp Quesadillas
Beans
Salad
Avocado Salad Dressing

Thursday
Pick Up Zaxby's after Gymnastics and Lacrosse

Friday
Baked Potato Bar
Fruit

Saturday and Sunday
Lacrosse Tournament