Pumpkin Waffles

These are probably my favorite waffles ever. Everyone in our family devours them. I first had them eight or so years ago when my coworker made them at an office waffle party. (It seems a lifetime ago that I actually worked in an office.)

The recipe makes quite a lot of batter, and I just refrigerate whatever batter doesn't get used and make more the next day. It works perfect--much better than reheating day-old waffles.

Ingredients (it looks like a lot, but most of them are just spices):

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use at least one cup of white whole wheat)
1 T baking powder
2 t cinnamon
1 t ginger
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t cloves
4 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk (I use the vinegar/milk substitution)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 t vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat waffle iron. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cloves in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, pumpkin puree, sugar, butter, and vanilla in another large bowl. Add to flour mixture and blend until smooth. Coat waffle iron with cooking spray and cook waffles about three minutes or according to waffle maker's directions. Yum!

Menu Plan Monday

After 10 days of vacation, I'm ready to get back to our routine, and of course that includes menu planning. I'm also trying to tighten up my grocery budget, so we'll see how that goes this week. Here's what's for dinner:

• Creamy potato soup using this base, cornbread (*Reminder: bake some potatoes the day before)
• Brazilian Fish Stew, rolls
• Pizza (take out for Mia's birthday celebration)
• Chicken Tandoori (my sister-in-law's recipe) (*Reminder: prepare spices and marinate chicken the night before)
• Ground beef (actually turkey) enchiladas
• Breaded chicken and mashed potatoes
• Slow cooker black beans, rice patties (*Reminder: start beans the night before)
  

Non-dinner recipes on the menu:

Sour Cream Lemon Pie

Southern Peach Cobbler

The peach cobbler was a success! Here is the recipe I used (taken from here):

Ingredients

For peaches:

• 8 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced into thin wedges
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

For topping:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup boiling water

To sprinkle on top:

• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.
4. Remove peaches from oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is golden, about 30 minutes.

Notes:

The only things I did differently were: only including 6 peaches (that's all I had - it would have been even better with 8); and not sprinkling ALL of the cinnamon/sugar mixture on top - it seemed like a bit much so I will make less of it next time.

Menu Plan Monday ... on Tuesday

As you can see, this week I'm trying keep it simple, and to use stuff from my freezer.

- Southwestern BBQ Chicken Salad
- Chicken Milano (already pre-cooked a bunch of chicken in the crock pot so I'm going to use that)
- Sweet and Sour Meatballs over rice (meatballs already made in freezer)
- Taco Soup (leftover in freezer), cheese crisps
- Potatoes and/or cornbread with chili, salad
- Crock pot pork (The pork is in the freezer--this has been on my list for several weeks and I still haven't made it), mashed potatoes, veggie
- leftovers/out to eat/Papa Murphy's

Other non-dinner items on the menu:

Peach cobbler (peaches were on sale so I bought a bunch plus vanilla ice cream ... anyone have a favorite peach cobbler recipe to share?)

Menu Plan Monday

Here's what's on the menu this week:

Chicken Korma (with pre-made, jarred simmer sauce) over jasmine rice
Crispy Southwest Wraps (vegetarian)
Meatball subs, spinach salad
Roast pork (carry-over from last week)
Asian turkey lettuce wraps and fried rice and/or (if I'm ambitious) easy egg rolls
leftovers/freezer meal

And now since Dee is at preschool and Mouse just got up from his nap, I'm going grocery shopping with only ONE kid in tow (woo hoo!).

Beautiful burger buns

Yes, homemade burger buns. You read that right. How come no one ever told me that making buns was super easy (easier than rolls and breadsticks) and that they taste SO much better than store bought? I don't know if I'll ever go back. Oh yes I will, but maybe only in a pinch.

So here are the buns that have been gracing our table the last few months whenever we have had a need for buns. Original recipe here.

Beautiful Burger Buns

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water
2 T butter, softened
1 large egg
3 1/4 cups flour (I use 2 1/4 cups white, and 1 cup white whole wheat)
1/4 cup sugar
1 t salt
1 T quick-rising yeast
1 t onion powder
1/2 t dried onion flakes

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients and mix and knead them together, by hand or by mixer, until you have a soft, smooth dough. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise for 1 hour. (I just throw the ingredients in my bread maker and run the "dough" cycle.)
2. Divide the dough into 8 pieces and shape each piece into a flattened ball; place the buns on greased baking sheets, cover and let rise 30-40 minutes, until they're puffy.
3. Preheat oven to 375°.
4. Bake the buns for 12-15 minutes, until they're golden brown; remove from oven and baking sheet and cool them on a rack.
5. Slice in half with a serrated knife and use for burgers or sandwiches.
6. (Optional) For burgers, butter the split sides and fry them, buttered side down, until they're golden brown and warmed through.

(Talk about poor presentation. Yes, I know my pan looks awful! Someday I will replace it.)

Menu Plan Monday

It's that time again ... already! Here's what's on the menu this week:

Chinese Chicken Salad - this is a carry-over from last week - and fried cream cheese won tons

Crab Salad on buns/rolls

Chicken Parmesan (I'm using leftover frozen sauce from this recipe), pasta, veggie

Easy Roasted Pork, mashed potatoes

Pizza (Margherita on half, Pepperoni/cheese for the picky eaters)

Grilled Grande bowls (this is my take on one of my favorite menu items at Rubios)


Other items I'm making this week:

Peanut butter cookies
hummus for dipping veggies
salsa
banana honey muffins