Friday, July 18, 2008

Sandwich Maker

I am probably one of the few people that didn't get a sandwich maker for my wedding. After seeing an idea on making your own corn dogs in a sandwich maker, I went out and bought one. So today for lunch I mixed up the cornbread batter, cut up the hotdogs and made these cute little triangle corndogs. Problem is, my kids didn't like them at all. They peeled off the cornbread and ate the hotdog. Feeling frustrated that I just bought this sandwich maker for nothing (and I normally don't like extra "gadgets" around my house) I thought I would experiment and see what my kids would like.

I made muffins using Jiffy muffin mix. It was fast, easy and didn't heat up my house.

I made omelettes. These were by far the biggest hit. I just took one egg, scrambled it in a small dish and then added cheese, onion, and lunch meat. I seasoned it with salt and pepper then poured it into the Pam coated sandwich maker. YUMMY!! They were so yummy that we ended up using the rest of the eggs making them. I think I will have already diced up omelette ingredients in the fridge for when school starts so Emilee can make her own omelettes before school. This will also be a much quicker breakfast for Cody before he heads off to work or the gym.

I also tried to make pocket sandwiches with leftovers. We had a chicken rice type casserole for dinner the other night that was loaded with veggies. I took two slices of bread and put the casserole in the middle then cooked it in the sandwich maker. It reminded me of a hot pocket and was actually pretty yummy.

After experimenting, I feel much better about the impulse purchase I made. I am looking forward to many more experiments that will end with fast and easy clean up without heating up the whole house. My next adventure with this machine is dessert!!

Please feel free to share your creative ideas using this cool little gadget. I am sure this post is nothing new to most of you!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Blender Wheat Pancakes

I found this amazing site dedicated to foodstorage. We tried the blender wheat pancake recipe this morning. Granted, it isn't as delicious as the other whole wheat pancake recipe that I posted, but this is made from whole wheat kernels straight from your food storage (before they have been ground into flour) and you grind them up straight in your blender. This recipe is super fast and easy and you get a little heartier pancake.

What you will need:

1 Cup Milk
1 Cup Wheat Kernels, whole & uncooked
2 Eggs
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Salt
2 Tlbs. Oil
2 Tlbs. Honey or Sugar

What you do:

Put milk and wheat kernels in blender. Blend on highest speed for 4 or 5 minutes or until batter is smooth.

Add eggs, oil, baking powder, salt and honey or sugar to above batter. Blend on low.

Pour out batter into pancakes from the actual blender jar (only one thing to wash!) onto a hot greased or Pam prepared griddle or large frying pan. Cook; flipping pancakes when bubbles pop and create holes.

Note: I used the waffle version of this which adds a little more oil (1/4 cup) and a little less salt(1/2 tsp). I also used brown sugar instead of white.

This is probably going to be our new standard waffle recipe!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Muffin Tin Monday


Muffin Tin Monday is a craze that is happening around the blog world thanks to Sycamore Stirrings. I think it is a great idea and am excited to do it with my kids. Hopefully it will get my picky 2 year old to eat a better variety of food. I will post pictures next Monday. Let me know if you join the craze then post it to your blog with pictures!