Pancakes N' Waffles

Jared hates pancakes. Whenever we go to IHOP, Village Inn, or Denny's and his meal comes with pancakes he will ask for a substitution. I have known this since we were dating. It is just how he is. He just doesn't like soggy pancakes. So I NEVER cook pancakes. It was a HUGE surprise when Braydon asked for pancakes one night for dinner. I didn't even know he had ever had pancakes. Jared was out of town so I thought that if I could find a recipe for them from scratch I could make them. (I do not stock pancake mix in the pantry.) So I looked in a little cookbook I bought years ago from the LDS Dry Pack. All the items needed, I had in my pantry. It was really easy to make, and it made just enough for us! I was shocked at how good they were. They were very firm and moist. When my kids DUMPED syrup on them they didn't fall apart! I thought that if they were this good it was a shot for Jared to like them. So I snuck them in one night for dinner. Jared tried them (like a kid trying new foods) and said "Hey these are really good!" Success at our house. We now have pancakes all the time. I have even saved leftover pancakes in my fridge and heated them in the microwave for the kids the next day. They love them!

Pancakes
2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup shortening
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix milk, eggs, and shortening together with electric hand mixer till shortening is broken up into small pieces. Mix dry ingredients in separate bowel. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix till all flour is combined. It will be a bit lumpy because of shortening. Cook on hot griddle. Makes 24-26 4" pancakes.

My kids LOVE Waffles. Again Jared is very particular about his waffles. When I was wanting to use my food storage I was looking for recipes to use my wheat. I do NOT have a wheat grinder, so I was very limited in my recipes. Again I was looking in my recipe book from the Dry Pack and found Blender Waffles. I first tried them on the kids. (I do this a lot! They are really good test subjects.) They loved to do the blender and chop the wheat. When Braydon ate 4 waffles I knew this was another SUCCESS. Again it made just what I needed for us. And Jared even said they taste like the boxed mix I buy. (I WAS buying special waffle mix so they didn't taste like pancakes!) Not to mention they use food storage and are healthier for you.

Waffles
1 cup milk
1 cup + 1 Tablespoon uncooked whole wheat
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons baking powder
2 Tablespoons honey or sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons oil

Put milk and wheat in blender. Blend on highest speed for four or five minutes till batter is smooth. Add and blend on low remaining ingredients. Bake on hot waffle iron. Makes 8-10 5" waffles.

Bean N' Bacon Soup

I like Bean and Bacon soup. So today I tried out a condensed version on my kids to see if they would eat it. They didn't totally hate it, but it was not a winner either. So I decided to do some searching for a good HOMEMADE version they would like. This is what I found. Next time I will try it. It uses FOOD STORAGE!

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours,

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups dried navy beans
3 quarts water
8 slices bacon
3 onions, chopped
2 cups diced, peeled potatoes
1 cup sliced carrots
28 oz. can tomato juice
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 bay leaf

Preparation:

Combine beans and 3 quarts water in large pot. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. Meanwhile, cook bacon until crisp in large stock pot. Remove bacon to paper towels to drain and crumble. Add chopped onions to bacon drippings. Cook and stir until onions are tender. Add partially cooked beans and cooking liquid. Cover and cook over low heat for 1 hour.
Add remaining ingredients including reserved bacon pieces. Cover and simmer for 50-55 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender and soup is slightly thickened. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Crock pot Directions:

Precook beans, bacon, and onion as directed above (this step is necessary because otherwise the beans would never get tender because of the acid in the tomatoes). Combine all ingredients in 4 quart crock pot. Cover and cook 10-12 hours on low. Remove bay leaf before serving. 12 servings

Wonder Box cooker

This cool cooker would really come in handy in a power outage. Here are the instructions

Homemade Maple Syrup

My mom makes home made Syrup all the time. She adds a little of this and a little of that. I want to try this to see if it is as good as my mom's. I found it at here at Preparedness Matters.

Homemade Maple Syrup
4 cups white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 cups water
2 teaspoons maple flavoring (or vanilla)
Mix the water and sugars in a pot and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the flavoring. Cool and pour into container. You do not need to refrigerate the syrup.

Review: So I made this and it crystallized in my fridge. So I think that I added too much sugar. I tried it a few more times and came up with this:

2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups water
1 Tbsp maple flavoring
Mix the water and sugars in a pot and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the flavoring. Cool and pour into container. You do not need to refrigerate the syrup.

Goals for 2009

I have ONE huge goal to become organized!!! This is big for me because I have so much going on with Jared working a lot, and three off the wall boys. With that I have a few areas that I am going to get organized in.

• Food Storage: In 2009 I am going to get my food storage in check. I have found this cool site that is really organized and has it all mapped out for me. Step by steps and great links too!!! I am going to track my progress and make myself accountable. My goal is to have one year by 2010 with 72 hour kits and water! I hope that anyone else out there will find this useful and get their supply organized as well.
• Cooking: With the new food storage I have been getting I have to learn how to use it! So I have been doing a lot more meal planning and cooking. I even made some freezer meals that taste really good. I want to share my successes and failures so myself and others can learn from them.
• Budget: With the recent economy I have been really trying to save my family all the money I can. I am always looking at new ways to save and get my food storage at the same time. I think a lot can happen in a year, and my goal is to have money by the end of the year to make up three house payments. This is going to be huge for us.
• Time: Since our family has increased in size this past year, I have let a lot of things slip through the cracks. I would like to get back on track with a few things. The biggest and foremost is to start having regular FHE. Not just family time, but a lesson, and talk to the boys about important issues again. T.J. is getting old enough now that he needs to learn the art of patience and sitting down. I also need to be better in reading our scriptures.
• Space: With the goal of food storage I have to organize a huge disaster in my basement. I need a place to put all this food. So I have a goal to organize my basement and garage to fit everything in. Jared is going to hate doing this, but it is a project long overdue.
• Crafts: I love to do crafts. I have joined a craft group recently, and I am creating a lot. My boys laugh at me because I love the new Create channel on TV. I could watch craft shows and cooking shows all day long. So to organize my thoughts and ideas I am creating a craft blog of my own. I am going to organize all my ideas till I have a better time to make them.