Easy Waffles

Breads and Muffins

Sleep in, eat these waffles, and relax on the couch watching TV equals a perfect Sunday morning!

I doubled this recipe and now have plenty of waffles in the freezer for this week’s breakfast =)

Easy Waffles

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups of milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Directions

Heat up your waffle iron.
Whisk your eggs. Add the rest of your wet ingredients. Then gently combine and mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Do NOT over mix!!! Lumps are ok!
Spray your waffle iron with Pam or brush with oil.

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Pan Fried Tilapia

Seafood

You have reached the Wednesday night stretch.  You have had a few easy nights for dinner. Maybe you used the crockpot. You found some pasta and sauce for a quick pasta dish. There is always the favorite taco or quesadilla. Now you need a fast idea. Almost to the weekend…almost to Chinese Takeout and pizza night. You need a quick run to the store for dinner. I propose fresh fish, salad/veggie, rice/couscous, white wine, and a nice loaf of bakery bread. 7 minute store run and you are golden. Under $30 for a dinner for five including a decent wine for mom. Score!

Pan Fried Tilapia

Ingredients
4-5 pieces tilapia (or any white fish… cod, mahi mahi, sole,etc.)
salt and pepper
1 cup flour
2 eggs, whisked
1 cup breadcrumbs

Directions
Heat pan to med heat with vegetable or grapeseed oil (low smoking points)
FEB- Order to dunk your fish… salt and pepper each station
Coat each piece of fish in flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs
Place in oil about 6 minutes on the first side and 3 minutes on the second side
Golden brown yumminess should be present on both sides…

Only a chunk of one piece was leftover. I fed it to Brutus after the kitchen was cleaned. He lays perfectly still under the table during dinner and goes and lays down in his unlocked crate after dinner, so he deserved a bit of magic.

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Butternut Squash Alfredo

Pasta, Vegetarian

So last night I made this amazing pasta with leftover Fettichini Alfredo. It was way too late to blog about it, but now that I have had some coffee in me, I think I am up for a quick blog post. I had a butternut squash on the counter that I barely remember buying, so I figured I should probably do something with it. I also had a few mushrooms that were on there last leg and half and onion that was begging for attention. Delicious vegetarian meal! Super easy!

Butternut Squash Alfredo

butternut squash, peeled and chopped into cubes
mushrooms, sliced
onion, sliced
alfredo sauce
fettuccini

Directions

Add a few tablespoons of oil into a large pan. Cook down your veggies until soft, stirring every few minutes. About 15-20 minutes.
I used leftover pasta and sauce, but you can boil and cook your pasta while the veggies are cooking. You could make your sauce or buy one from the store =)
Add in your alfredo and noodles.

Told you it was easy!

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Shrimp Fettuccine Sorrentini

Date Night, Pasta, Seafood

Good evening, foodie friends! Hope you had a great weekend and did something grand! The other day, my husband requested a pasta he had at a local Italian place. He had this dish that had chicken, cherry tomatoes, garlic, basil, and cubed mozzarella cooked in olive oil. So tonight I made this except with shrimp, since we just ate chicken last night.

Sorrentini is the name for pasta made with tomatoes, garlic, basil, and mozzarella cooked in olive oil. It was a big hit for my husband and me. This would be a perfect date night meal! The only thing that would have made it better would be a couple pinches of red pepper flakes for a bit of spice to heat things up =)

The girls don’t like tomatoes. Well, except mashed up in my sauces or in ketchup. So they ate fettuccine alfredo with shrimp. Except Becca. She just ate the noodles and sauce, because she hates shrimp. I know this because I have seen her try it over and over and still spit it out each time. I don’t even bother anymore. You could totally make this with chicken or leave out the meat and make it vegetarian.

So here is how I made my Sorrentini…

Shrimp Fettuccine Sorrentini

Ingredients

10-15 shrimp, peeled and deveined (just pay the extra money to have someone else do it, especially the deveining part)
1 package of fettuccini (use any pasta you have)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 container of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 bunch basil, finely chopped or julienned
1/2 cup-1 cup of really good olive oil
1 cup fresh mozzarella

Directions

Salt heavily and bring your water to a boil. Drop your pasta. Stir occasionally.
Meanwhile, heat a large pan to med and add a good glug of olive oil. Enough to coat the bottom plus a little extra.
Add in your garlic and tomatoes. If you wanted to add some heat, a pinch or 2 of red pepper flakes would be amazing! Cook for about 4 minutes. Add your shrimp. Cook until pink, about 4 minutes. Add in your basil.
Add in your al dente pasta. Mix well. Add in a bit of starchy cooking water. Mix well. Add in your cheese. Add more olive oil in if needed.
Plate. Top with fresh basil and parmesan cheese. PERFECTION!!!!!

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Silver Dollar Pancakes

Breakfast and Brunch, Kids

Happy Sunday morning, ya’ll! I have been promising Becca I would make her blueberry pancakes all week. I had to hold true to my promise when she came in to wake me up at 8:45 and asked if I was going to get up soon and make some blueberry pancakes. My kids have always been good about sleeping late and letting us sleep late on the weekends. Some weekdays they will even go downstairs and pour their own bowl of cereal. It is a beautiful thing when they are finally able to do that, so on occasion, usually one weekend day, I try to whip up a super yummy breakfast. Today it was pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs. This recipe is super easy and next time I am going to double the recipe and make some pancakes to freeze for breakfast during the week.

Silver Dollar Pancakes

Ingredients

2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons veg.oil
fresh blueberries (optional- I used on half the pancakes and half I left plain)

Directions

In one bowl, beat your eggs and your milk for a few minutes until they are incorporated and the mixture begins to bubble and foam.

In a separate bowl, add all your dry ingredients- flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.Whisk together.

Stir your dry mixture in to your milk and eggs mixture. Lumpy batter is fine. Add in your oil and stir.

If you want all pancakes to have blueberries, you can fold them in the end gently. Or, if you have some people who want plain, or other add-ins (other fruits, chocolate chips, etc.), you can add them to each pancake individually after you pour in your batter.

I cooked mine in my cast iron skillet, but you could use a cast iron grill pan or griddle if you have one. I melted some butter on med heat. I cooked 3 pancakes at a time. When you start to see them bubble on top, they are ready to turn. Nice and golden on each side, light and fluffy, and a nice sweetness to them.

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