Whole Wheat Pancakes, Buttermilk Syrup and Vanilla Pudding Sauce...

        

From Megan's Kitchen

That's right folks, you get three great recipes all at once. I am in LOVE with this pancake recipe. They are super light and fluffy considering they are whole wheat. Take those and then smother them with buttermilk syrup and vanilla pudding sauce and who would not devour that breakfast. This was something that I also made for my brunch way back when and yes, I have been holding out on you! But now you get it all, so quit your complaining and get your apron on cause it's time for breakfast...

Whole Wheat Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups milk (or if you have left over buttermilk, you can use 1 cup milk, 1 cup buttermilk!)

1/4 cup oil

2 eggs

2 tbsp agave (can be found at walmart and costco) 

2 cups whole wheat flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

Put all wet ingredients in a blend and blend until smooth. Add dry ingredients and blend until slightly lumpy. Heat your griddle, spray it with cooking spray and pour your batter into pancakes. Once they bubble and the edge lift they are ready to flip. 

Buttermilk Syrup

Ingredients:

1/2 cup agave (can be found at walmart and costco)

1 cup buttermilk (you can make your own, but it turns out better with the store bought kind)

1 cup butter

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

You will want to make this in a big pot, because it expands quite a bit once you add the baking soda. Put all ingredients except baking soda in a pot and bring to a boil. Add baking soda and immediately remove from heat. It's that easy!

Vanilla Pudding Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tbsp cornstarch

1/3 cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt

2 cups milk

2 egg yolks, beaten

1 tbsp butter

2 tsp vanilla

Mix cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Whisk together milk and egg thoroughly and gradually add to pan while stirring. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for at least 1 minute while continuing to stir. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. At first I didn't really care for this sauce because it wasn't as sweet as I was expecting, but once I had it on my pancake, I couldn't get enough of it!

Quillow Pattern " Little Bear"

This quillow was created for my cute little grandson that lives in Alaska.  I made it out of  super soft and cuddly fabric just so he knows how much I love him!  A quillow is a quilt that folds into a pillow.  Quillows are great to snuggle up in.  You can download this quillow pattern HERE.  

Quillow Patterns, "Little Bear"

Homemade Party Favors "E'Clair Box"

These custom Éclair boxes make for unique and delicious invitations, birthday treats, get well soon pick-me-ups or "thinking about you" gifts.  Not an Éclair  fan?  These adorable boxes make a great home for any number of treats from truffles to hard candy.  You can download the pattern for the box, gift tag and Éclair recipe HERE.  Homemade Party Favors.

Fiesta Black Bean Corn Dip

From Emily's Kitchen

What You Will Need:

2 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups corn
2 red bell peppers, diced
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tbsp. sugar
7 tbsp. olive oil
5 tbsp.  lime juice
1 tsp.  lime zest
½ cup chopped cilantro
2 avocados, diced
Chips for dipping

Putting The Dip Together:


Combine all ingredients except avocados in a large bowl and mix well. Cover and chill for a few hours or overnight. Right before serving, add avocados and mix gently, being careful not to mash avocados. Garnish with a few sprigs of freshly chopped cilantro if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Printable Gift Tags "Birthday Candy Quotes"

Put a smile on someone's face for their birthday!  These candy quote gift tags are a quick and easy way to let someone know that you are thinking about them on their special day.  Give them to friends, family, college kids, neighbors, co-workers or leave them on a child's pillow.  Download these printable gift tags and keep them in a file for fast and easy access when birthday's roll around.

Printable Gift Tags "Birthday Candy Quotes"

To print the gift tags below right click and save the images to your computer.  Double click file to open.  I recommend inserting the image into a word document or power point program and enlarging to 4 1/2" and then printing the tag.

Homemade Party Favors "Fiesta Candy Labels"

Fiesta!!!  It's party time!  This free packet comes with instructions and printable candy labels.  Cut out the labels and attach them to your favorite homemade or store bought treats.

Download this party favor, print and Fiesta!!!

Party Bottle Labels "Fiesta"

                         

Party Bottle Labels "Fiesta".  My son and his family are moving to New Mexico.  We threw a Fiesta to send them off and get them exited for the move.  We put these labels on soda bottles, but they can also be attached to water bottles, juice bottles, milk bottles, you get the idea.  Download this free party bottle packet and have a "Fiesta".

Distressed Chairs

Megan's Creations 

We picked these outcasts up at local second hand store for $10.00 each.  I wish we had before pictures to show how disgusting, old and beaten up they were.  After some painting, distressing and recovering these chairs became simply adorable.  We are still on the lookout for two more matching chairs to make a set of six.  They brighten any kitchen and the colors and textures Megan chose add a nice touch of retro! 

Antiquing the Chairs:

1. Sand your piece of furniture until all varnish is removed.  (You don't need to remove all  the paint, you just

    want the paint to stick.)

2. Paint your furniture with a good quality laytex satin paint.  Let completely dry.

3. Sand all edges and corners until the wood is showing through.

4. Stain the whole piece with Early American Wood Stain. Put the stain on with either a sponge brush or a cotton rag. Be generous with the stain in the corners and on the surface. You don't need to worry about putting the stain on evenly. After you have applied the stain wipe off the stain with another clean cotton rag. Work on one area at a time.

5. Let the stain dry.

6. Varnish and enjoy!

Delicious Ribs

From Dan's Kitchen

Making The Ribs

1. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F.

2. Wash the ribs with water and pat them dry with paper towels.

3. Remove the membrane on the curved side (use a knife to get it started, then you can just use your fingers).

4. Apply your dry rub (not too much), if desired (I have used Famous Dave's or Montreal Steak Seasoning).

5. Place ribs on the broiler rack with water in the lower part, curved side down.

6. Cover the ribs with tin foil by wrapping it around the edges of the broiler rack (get the best seal you can).

7. Bake ribs in oven for 4 1/2 to 5 hours (I lean closer to 5).

8. Apply sauce liberally with basting brush (I use roughly half Wingers sauce* and half KC Masterpiece Hickory BBQ sauce, maybe a bit more of the Wingers sauce).

9. Grill the ribs on low to med heat (try to keep it 200-250 deg) for about 5-10 min on each side, caramelizing the sauce on the ribs.

10. Reapply sauce to taste (I like mine sloppy).

*To make Wingers sauce from 'scratch', use Franks RedHot Sauce and it mix it equal parts with brown sugar

Garlic Knots

From Megan's kitchen

I don't know why, but lately I have been craving garlic knots and I have never even HAD a garlic knot. Some friends were talking about them one night and so the thought of them just stuck in my brain until I found this recipe, had company for dinner and a reason to try these out! They were so yummy and they were small enough that you could eat about 10. I don't know if you should, but you certainly could.

INGREDIENTS

Dough:

    3/4 cup warm water 

    1 package (2 teaspoons) of active dry yeast

    1 3/4 cups four

    1 Tbsp olive oil

    1 teaspoon salt

    1 teaspoon sugar

Garlic-Butter Coating:

• 5 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup parsley, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

    Put the warm water in a bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. Wait for 5-10 minutes and then gently stir the mixture. Let sit another 5 minutes until it starts to bubble. In a separate bowl mix flour, salt and sugar. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the olive oil followed by the water and yeast mixture. Mix to form a soft dough and then knead by hand for 5-10 minutes. Coat the outside of the dough with olive oil and put it in a bowl to raise. Let raise for 90 minutes or until double in size. 

    Cut the dough into four sections and work with one section at a time. Roll each section into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. With a sharp knife, cut the rectangle into strips about 1 inch wide by 5 inches long. Cut that strip in half. With each little section, roll it into a rope and tie it in a knot. Place in rows on your baking sheet. Brush the tops with olive oil (or be lazy like me and spray them with Pam) and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the knots double in size again. When they are getting close to done, heat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the knots for 12-15 minutes.

    While the knots are baking make your coating. In a saucepan melt the butter over medium heat and add the garlic. Simmer the garlic long enough to get rid of the really strong garlicky taste. Add parsley and salt. Brush mixture on knots immediately after baking. It would also be quite yummy to brush them with butter and sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar!