light fluffy pancakes...

Yum!
That's about all I can say about these
made-from-a-box-mix babies.

Oh yeah... Plus, they're super easy to
whip up on a Saturday morning!

Here's the secret ingredients I added to make
them light, fluffy (because my ordinary pancakes
always seem to be flat and cardboard like... it's true!)
and oh so mm-mmm.

I like to top mine with butter, syrup
and a dollop of strawberry preserves or fresh fruit.

*Fluffy Pancakes*
2 cups Aunt Jamima Buttermilk Pancake Mix
1 cup water
1/4 sour cream
2 Tbsp. vanilla

~Stir ingredients together until blended... don't over mix.
~Makes about 6 to 8 nice size pancakes.

Now, go forth and whip up a batch of these babies tomorrow morning.
Enjoy Life!

banana bread...

Next time you have aging bananas and plain or
vanilla yogurt on hand... make this!

Because I promise, you won't regret it!

And if you have unexpected guests arrive just in time for dinner
serve 'em this bread as an appetizer while you feed your
four month old first... they'll love you forever!

*Banana Bread*

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed overripe bananas
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

~Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
~Spray a loaf pan with a non-stick spray.
~Combine the flour, baking soda and salt
together in a large mixing bowl.
~In a separate bowl, cream together the
butter and brown sugar.
~Add in the eggs, bananas, vanilla, cinnamon,
nutmeg and yogurt; mix well.
~Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture
just until blended. Do not over mix.
~Pour into pan and bake for 1 hour.

Oh, and next time I make this,
I'm sprinkling brown sugar on top
when it's about half-way done.

Enjoy!
xo
Ralonda

frittata...

We had breakfast for dinner one night last week. I don't know what it is about having breakfast for dinner that makes everyone all giddy... but it does. They don't act like that when I cook a big Sunday morning breakfast... strange. ???
I wonder how they would act if I were to make a steak dinner for breakfast one Sunday morning... hmmm... it's a thought.

Anyway, besides pancakes and lil' smokies, I tried my hand at a frittata(after all, I must get all the use I can out of my new cast iron skillet!)... and I must say, it was delightful.

Here's what you'll need to start with:
8 extra-large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, diced... I used a red pepper here, JB's not a fan of onions.
4 small red potatoes, diced
Optional:
Ham, sausage or bacon
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup prepared salsa
Crumbled bacon
Cheddar Cheese
Chives

And here's what you will need to do:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt, and pepper until foamy.
Melt butter in a cast-iron pan over medium heat.
Add the onion (or red pepper) and potatoes and cook thoroughly.

I salt and peppered the potatoes and pepper.

Next:
Pour the eggs over the mixture... sorry, I didn't get a pic of this step.
Pull the edges away from the sides of the pan with a spatula so the eggs flow to the bottom of the pan. When the frittata is half set add your choice of ham, sausage or bacon (or in my case, nothing at all).
Transfer the pan to the heated oven.
Bake for 10 minutes until puffed and golden.
Top with you choice of sour cream, salsa, and chives before serving.


Or you could do what I did... pull it out about 5 minutes before it was finished baking, top it with crumbled bacon and cheddar cheese, put it back in the oven and continue baking until done.


Then serve it with sour cream and salsa on the side for your picky eaters.

Enjoy!
xo
Ralonda

breakfast with a few ghosts...

First, let me say, I love my husband. He's multi-talented (I'll brag more about his talents at a later date... It's not what you're thinking, so get your mind out of the gutter!) and impresses me often with what he can accomplish. He also has the most beautiful green eyes, and he's pretty cute too... ok, I'll stop and get to the point of this post...

In my third-trimester pregnancy boredom this weekend, I sat and browsed through a ton of others blogs. How interesting it was to see how other people set up their blogs and what they blog about. For the most part though, I came across mostly food and baking blogs... yum! Oh, and the ideas I got. I'm now following (stalking) about a hundred other blogs... no, really, it's probably only about fifty or so... for now. Anyway, I had no idea the extinct of this new world I've entered into called "blogging". There's no turning back now... I'm hooked. And, I've got a lot to learn.

Back to my point here... As I was clicking around (and salivating), I would randomly show my hubby, who was sitting nearby watching tv, awesome photos of delicious looking food and desserts. I can't even remember some of which I showed him and where they were, as he was later asking, "Where did you see that recipe for lemon cheesecake at?". Hmmm... I don't know. Well, some of what he saw he didn't need to ask where it was, because Sunday morning as I resumed my blog browsing with my coffee he was in the kitchen whipping up these...


Ghosts pancakes! How cute is that!?! I love him. Did I already say that?



And honestly, I can't even remember on whose blog I saw them to give proper credit.

But what a cute idea! And even though the youngest two of our bunch are twelve and thirteen, they thought they were pretty neato too. So, I know if you've got lil' ones younger than twelve they'll love 'em.

And here's Haley's after she poured some syrup on him. She drizzled it across and said, "Now he looks like a mummy ghost!". (Please pay no attention to the water spots on this old plate... thank you.)

All that's required for these is your favorite pancake mix and some chocolate chips... or if you want to really get creative (or throw in something more nutritious) you could use fresh fruit, like blueberries and raspberries.

Happy Haunting!
xo
Ralonda

saturday morning munchies...

Want something more on a lazy (or busy) Saturday morning than a bowl of cold cereal? Want something that doesn't require a lot of time and that is hot and satisfying?
Me too!

So, why not make these ol' time favorites... Pigs-in-a-Blanket. Remember these? I had forgot. Here in Dallas it's become a tradition for me to just run to the local donut shop and purchase a couple of "Kolache's". But after having my husband remind me of these this morning, I think they are much more charming. And a heck of a lot easier to just pop in your mouth on the go (if you actually had somewhere to be on a Saturday morning... like say, your kiddo's soccer game or something).

In case you forgot (like me) how to make the lil' suckers, let me remind you...

Pigs-in-a-Blanket

1 can biscuits
1 package lil' Smokies

~Preheat oven to the temperature on the can of biscuits... approx. 375 degrees
~Flatten and cut each biscuit in half.
~Roll up a lil' smokie in each of the biscuit halves.
~Bake according to biscuit directions... approx. 10 minutes

So, go ahead and make these ol' time favorites... they'll take you back to your childhood.

They also would be great to serve the morning after a sleepover/slumber party along with a box of donut holes and some fresh fruit.

Have great weekend!
xo
Ralonda