Baked Apple Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal

This recipe is from smells-like-home.com .


Ingredients:

• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup maple syrup, plus more for serving
• 1 cup milk (I used skim but any kind will work)
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 apple (any kind), peeled, cored, and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup raisins

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease or spray a 2-quart casserole dish with either butter or cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, toss together the oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  In a separate small bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, milk, egg, the melted butter, and the vanilla.
3. Place the diced apples in a single layer in the bottom of the prepared casserole dish.  Sprinkle about two-thirds of the raisins over the top of the apples, then cover the fruit with the oat mixture.  Drizzle the milk mixture over the oats, making sure to distribute the milk as evenly as possible.  Sprinkle the remaining raisins over the top of the oats.  Bake the oatmeal for 35-45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the oats have set.
4. Remove the oatmeal from the oven and serve hot with more maple syrup.

Zucchini Pie

This recipe is from realsimple.com.  It had really good reviews.  FYI - Some people substitued mozzerella for the provolone cheese.

Ingredients

• 3 cups grated zucchini
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup grated provolone cheese
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, reserving 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan.
2. Spoon the zucchini mixture into a 10-inch round glass pie plate or metal pie pan that has been coated with vegetable cooking spray.
3. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with the reserved Parmesan. Cool 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.

Homemade Maple Syrup

I've always wanted to try to make syrup.  I hope this recipe from melskitchencafe.com tastes yummy.  Then we never have to worry about if we have enough syrup for dinner.....oh oops, uhh.....I mean.... breakfast.  Okay, who are we kidding, we hardily ever have breakfast for breakfast.  Its always a quick and easy dinner for us.  I don't think my daughter even knows most people eat pancakes and waffles for breakfast.  oh well.  I think I will try this in small batch first.  I don't we would use that much in 2 months either.

*Makes about 10 cups (2 1/2 quarts) of syrup

8 cups granulated sugar

1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

4 cups water

2 teaspoons pure maple extract

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In a large 5-6 quart pot, combine the sugars, honey and water. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce the heat to low so the mixture gently simmers. Cover the pot and simmer the mixture for 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool for 20 minutes before stirring in the maple and vanilla extracts. Let the syrup cool in the pot for another 40 minutes, or so, stirring occasionally, before filling jars/containers. Once the containers are filled, let them cool to room temperature uncovered.

Store covered in jars or other containers in the refrigerator. It will keep for up to 2 months in the refrigerator. Gently reheat before serving, if desired.

*Notes from Mel: 

I like to use pure maple extract because the additives are minimal (I think it has caramel coloring in it and that's it) but if you can't find it, you can use the artificial Mapleine extract from the store with similar results.

I’ve had the same issue with crystallization now and again but for me, it only happens when there is just a bit of syrup left in the jar. When I make large batches of this syrup, I let the syrup cool in the pot for about an hour before pouring into mason jars. Then, I leave the mason jars uncovered until the syrup has cooled completely before covering and storing in the refrigerator. I’ve never had an issue with the syrup crystallizing that way. The only times I’ve gotten the sugary crystals is when there is only an inch of syrup in the quart sized mason jar and then sometimes I get sugary layer. Also, I make an effort to pour the syrup that I want warmed up into a separate liquid measure. And if there are leftovers of that warmed syrup, I don’t readd it to the syrup in the mason jar until it is completely cooled. I noticed one time when I warmed up all the syrup in the jar at once that when I refrigerated it again, it formed a crusty, sugary shell. Hope that helps a little bit!

REVIEW:  I thought this good but not wow.  I think it was missing a little flavoring or something.  However, I do like the buttery flavor of Mrs. Butterworth.  But I will stick with this recipe instead of buying the store kind.  Also, I only made a quarter of this recipe because I wasn't sure I wanted to make that much at first and I don't think we would go through that much in a 2 months!

Strawberry Vanilla Pancakes

Another yummy looking strawberry recipe from mandysrecipebox.blogspot.com.


Strawberry Vanilla Pancakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vanilla extract (yes 2 Tablespoons, trust me it's awesome)
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries

Chop up the berries and lightly sprinkle with some sugar.  In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Pour in the milk, oil, egg and vanilla, and mix until well blended. Stir in the strawberries. Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat, and coat with butter or cooking spray. Pour batter into desired size of pancakes. Flip with a spatula when bubbles appear in the center. Cook until golden brown on the other side. They smell so good as they cook. The vanilla wafts up and makes the kitchen smell great.

Fluffy Pancakes

This recipe came from allrecipes.com.  I already have a homemade pancake recipe, but from the reviews this sounds way yummy!

3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter, melted
cooking spray

1. Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into "soured" milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

*Recommendations from the reviews:

-The pancakes will start to "foam up" after you stir them. Resist the urge to stir them again. All those bubbles is what makes them so fluffy. The batter will be very thick and difficult to pour at this point. Also, as others have said, this does not serve 8. In my house, it serves 4.

-I forgot to add the butter, and they were better than ever. Lighter, taller, fluffier! Soaked up the syrup and kept its texture!

-let the milk "sour" a bit longer added a teaspoon of vanilla and sugar

-Do not overmix these and let them sit for a 1/2 hour after mixing before frying

-Add 1 1/2 cups blueberries.

-if you exchange the milk for buttermilk they are really thick and need to be watered down

-add mashed bananas to the recipe but it didn't take awy from the flavor

Cinnamon Bun Pancakes

I found this recipe on www.howdoesshe.com.  Here's the direct link.  They sounds sooo yummy!  Too bad we've already had pancakes for dinner this week.


Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp Cinnamon (or more if you’re a cinnamon freak)

In a medium bowl, combine these dry ingredients together. When these dry ingredients are mixed nicely, then you can mix together these remaining ingredients in a SEPARATE bowl.

Wet ingredients:
2 eggs (whole) beaten
1 Cup of milk (or a little more if your batter isn’t runny enough for you)
2 Tbsp Corn Syrup (I only had regular table syrup on hand – worked fine)
1/4 Cup butter or margarine, melted
1 Tbsp vanilla

Beat together these wet ingredients, then add them to the dry. Mix well.  Drop the batter by about 1/3 cup fulls onto the pre-heated/greased griddle and cook until the tiny bubbles JUST start appearing on top, then flip over. These only take a couple of minutes to cook.  This recipe makes about 10-12 medium sized pancakes.

Serve warm with syrup – and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll serve it up with this delicious Maple Icing Syrup that you are about to make RIGHT NOW!


Maple Icing Syrup

1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cups butter – melted
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1/4 cup milk (more if you want it a little runnier)

Combine all of these ingredients and pour over your cinnamon bun pancakes.