harvest grain pancakes w/wo blueberries

this is the only picture i have of this morning's pancakes, the very last one i made and no blueberries added. we have a new ihop in town and my kids wanted to give it a try, so we did. jamie and i had the harvest nut&grain pancakes with bananas. guess what? they were good, very good. i went online and did a search and came across quite a few recipes that claimed to be "copykats". i incorporated them all to come up with a simple tasty recipe. i added frozen blueberries to the hub's and mine, just dropped a few in as they were cooking in the pan. the kid's i left plain. these pancakes were gobbled by everyone in my house, which is a rarity. these babies are a keeper in my book. next time, i plan on adding chopped walnuts and top with some sliced 'nanners. enjoy.

beth' knockoff ihop harvest grain pancakes

first, process 3/4 cup rolled oats till fine like a flour, mix with 3/4 cups whole wheat flour, two tbsp. all purpose flour, 2 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. baking powder and a 1/2 tsp. kosher salt.

in another bowl, beat an egg, 1/4 canola oil, 1/4 sugar, 1 1/2 cups lowfat buttermilk

mix the dry into the wet, just till well combines and griddle 1/3 cup of batter at a times, as usual. i added frozen blueberries as the batter was starting to bubble slightly. the heat will defrost the berries. you certainly could stir in any nuts or even dried fruit. ihop adds chopped walnuts, but i bet pecans and almonds would be great, too!

ps-sorry for the super, duper, pooper picture!! they were goooood.

lemon sunshine cake

i swear, and i shouldn't, since this recipe came from a group of church ladies, but this is the easiest, moistest, tastiest cake i think i have ever made. it is down right delicious. this cake was recently served at a church function i attended with my cousin. it was a woman's fellowship group teaching you how to gift wrap. yep, gift wrap. you laugh. i did too, but i can't make a bow. can you? i can sorta make one now as well as fluff tissue paper, thank you very much. i have been to quite a few of these functions and although this particular one wasn't high on my list, i knew the refreshments and company would be worth it. i get quality time with my cousin and a few hours away from my kids. i always enjoy myself, whether we are adorning gift bags with zots/zaps or blowing eggs, we are always laughing. anyway, they served this cake the other night and i fell in love. i am not suppose to eat it i know, the whole diabetes thing, but i did take a bite, a rather big bite. holy moly! they gave us all recipe cards to take home. how did they know? divine intervention? ptl. enjoy.


lemon sunshine cake

mix and bake

one duncan hines lemon cake mix
one small package of instant lemon pudding
1/2 cup of oil
4 eggs
1 cup water

preheat oven to 350 degrees. pour into greased and floured tube pan(i used a bundt). bake for about 40 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

while cake is baking make the glaze and set aside(i made a half recipe of glaze) which is four lemons juiced mixed with 2 cups powdered sugar.

when cake is done, immediately remove from pan. while still warm, poke holes in it with knife or skewer and drizzle lemon mixture onto cake(i brushed mine on with a pastry brush). let cool. refrigerate until ready to serve.

cinnamon/vanilla sour cream pancakes

so, it feels like i have not posted anything food related in ages. so here. i made these super dense pancakes, ummmm, well, ages ago? they were simple to make, moist, heavy, cake-y and gobbled up by my four year old. i can not remember where the recipe originated, because i have it scribbled down on a old legal pad, circa 1980's courtesy of the federal government(nasa/dad). truth is, i probably wrote it down with one of those government black pens, too. if you have any connection to nasa or the government, you will know exactly what i am talking about. any way, i digress, now to the recipe. enjoy.

beth's cinnamon/vanilla sour cream pancakes

mix dry ingredients in a bowl-

2 c flour
2 t baking powder
2 T sugar
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt

now mix wet together in a bowl-

4 t melted butter
1 c milk
2 beaten eggs
1 c sour cream( i used reduced fat)
1 T real vanilla

mix your wet into your dry and griddle away. this make a lot of pancakes. i had a stack leftover, wrapped in saran and heated the next morning. i believe this pancakes would be even better with blueberries or chocolate chips sprinkled in when cooking.

ps-notice my hint of chicken up top? it is a table runner. isn't it amazing the useless crap you don' t really need that you can find at big lots!

the tweens

the girls were three weeks old this past thursday, ahhhh, they grow up so fast....

they love their fresh spinach salad....

jamie oliver would be proud of them tucking into the fresh veg....

my girl lucy....oh and how they love their pasta, too....watch the video below!

karly's granola bars

so, as many of you know i have been on a granola kick lately. i started making my own to satisfy my need to eat breakfast, but lack of desire to do so. it has been a great help keeping my blood sugar stable with no crashes mid-day. now, i am getting borred, so i started thinking granola bars. i went searching on the internet and found karly, her great blog, "buns in my oven" and her even greater granola bar recipe! what a beautiful blog chock full of delicious recipes and incredible photography. i want to be karly when i grow up. when i originally found her site/recipe, i wrote her telling her i had all, but one ingredient to make these and guess what? she immediately wrote me back, like we were long lost buds. that's what i love about my fellow foodies, we are long lost buds getting (re)acquainted. see, it doesn't even matter if you have a successful site like miss karly or a humble little blog like mine. we all can get along.

anywho, let's get back to the granola bars. they are easy, delicious, moist and full of flavor. move over quaker, there is no need to buy your bars ever again, really. these come together in a snap and bake up beautifully. i did make a couple of changes to karly's original recipe. i used a combo of dark chocolate chips, unsweetened coconut flakes and dried cranberries with a splash of almond extract. i was out of vanilla, oh the horrors! other than that, it is the same. i hope you will go pay "buns in my oven" a visit. i know i need to do some more prowling around there myself. i recall seeing a peanut buttery, chocolaty thingie listed. hmmmm....enjoy.

girls first day out!

today was the first day my chicks have touched grass and they loved it!

caroline and travis had a great time feeding them dandylions, until they saw a bee!


they briefly freaked, then ventured back over to feed the girls some more....


my little cutie patooties....

chicken coop and run, making progress

the chicken run is coming along. it is hard when you work more than full-time and the weather is not always cooperative....

but when you have a diligent husband like i do, he'll get her done....

unless i keep interrupting....


the girl's pent house view....

the pent house itself, all ready except for their walking plank....

no lily, this is not for you....sorry.