Sweet Potato Pancakes updated recipe!

As I told you before... I am playing with the recipe and I am getting closer! They were fluffy today! YAY!!! So excited. Here is the updated recipe from the post earlier this week:


1 cup pancake mix
3/4 cup of water (1 cup water)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or pumpkin spice (I use cinnamon)
1/2 sweet potato puree
My additions not in book:
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 table spoon milled flaxseed (this is a rough estimate...I used my hands b/c I forgot I was measuring for you...)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder  (I may add more next time...this maybe the reason it was gummy)
1/4 cup of flour

Mix everything together EXCEPT the pancake mix and flour then add them. It should be lumpy. Then cook as you would any pancake! Add maple syrup if that is your thing (I do not do this for John). The trick this time was the flower and baking powder (I used soda last time)


Here are some pictures 


For more information on this recipe visit my earlier post.

Here is the pancake mix I used this time! I liked it and with this and the flax seed you are getting a lot of you daily fiber! BONUS!!!

All of the pancakes minus one (Jeffrey ate one and loved it!)

The pancake on the right is before I added the flour...notice the difference

 

 

 

 

 

Hope y'all enjoy!

A Healthy Grilled Cheese??? Really!

So as you know I am trying to make healthy foods for John to eat! Well I went to the farmer's market yesterday for a few things and HOPING to find red bell peppers b/c they are so dang expensive at the stores and I was in luck! A guy sold me like 7 (small but descent) for $2!!! I used most off them, I think I only had to throw out 1! I steamed them this morning and blended them! I decided to make John a grilled cheese with bell pepper! Red bell pepper is super high in Vitamin C!!! Keeps us healthy and if you know John at all if he so much as breaths in the wrong direction--> Ear infection!!! And seeing that he found a random bottle the other day at the store and decided to pick up the old habit, I have been doing EVERYTHING to keep him from getting sick! Cauliflower and red bell peppers here we come!!! 

Anyways, Lately John has been eating Ezechiel bread. For those that are unfamiliar check it out it is AWESOME (I am not a fan b/c I do not like grainy breads...really I am not even a fan of wheat), and this bread is FULL of beans and sprouts and everything that is good for you. My neighbor turned me on this and John LOVES it! grilled cheese, toast and jelly you name it and he eats it! The bread breaks down like a protein and is so good for your digestive system!If you go and buy it they have different types but if you are wanting the best results make sure it has beans in the bread. I also bought a sesame loaf and it has soybeans in it. I am not sure what they others have. I know 7 sprouted grains does not have beans in it so you do not get the same effects. The best place to get it in Shreveport is Drug Emporium it is around $3 a loaf and at Kroger it is $5 a loaf. Please note you have to keep it in the freezer. There are not preservatives so if you leave it out it will spoil FAST! I take a few slices out at a time and keep it in the fridge and restock as needed.

Anyways I made a grilled cheese and spread red bell pepper on both sides of the bread and put a piece of provolone in the middle and grilled it! He LOVED it! Tip: cut up the sandwich with a pizza slicer... much easier! the Bread can be a little hard so I sometimes cut off the crust depending on out hard it gets.

I switched my post to the updated version and now I can figure out how to rearranged the photos so they are majorly out of order and may even be duplicates... sorry! I will try to narrate as best as I can without getting to confusing... sorry! Next time I hope to get it right...

The Bread that rocks!

Thanks Mom I love this healthy food!!!

Blended red bell pepper (I stored the rest in ice cube trays. B/c that would be enough to make a grilled cheese! make sure it is cooled before you pour it in the trays so now BPA is released!

Loving the sandwhich

Look at that cheesy goodness! T

Grilled Cheese with Bell Pepper

Show Us Your Life- Favorite Grilling Recipes

Every Friday Kelly's Korner hosts Show Us Your Life Fridays, and today it is show us your favorite or best grilling recipe. Sometimes I am too busy to participate, but when I saw this topic I knew just what I would post!

When I was pregnant with John I was craving Fajitas. Because most fajita recipes have MSG in them and the hubs is allergic we had to find a recipe online.  So, Jeff and I set out on a hunt for the best recipe for fajitas and we found it!!! After living in El Paso for a year we got spoiled with the best Mexican food and tortillas a pregnant girl could ask for!! There is nothing better than fresh, homemade tortillas! So here is the recipe, it is a little work but if you are willing you will LOVE it!

• 2lbs of skirt steak, chicken breast (deboned), or pork tenderloin (I think it works best with poultry)- slice your meat up first
  
• 1/2 c olive oil
• 1/3 c lime juice (freshly squeezed for better flavor and fell free to put more- lime never hurts)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 c vinegar
• 1/2 c chopped onion
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tbsp paprika
• 1 can beer
• 1 large onion sliced
• bell pepper (as much as you'd like-this was not included we added it)
• flour tortillas- freshly made are the best!
• Lime wedges- as many as you want
• whatever garnishes you want.... toppings are endless

Let this marinate for several hours- overnight for best results!

Heat up your grill. (For best results) You will need iron skillets to cook the meat and veggies. Bring your olive oil (and even lime juice to squeeze on the meat as you cook) outside with you to put on the skillet so the meat and veggies do not stick to the pan. The skillets will make the meat and veggies caramelize- YUMMY!!!

Tips:  
Assemble your fajita and squeeze lime juice on it- I learned this trick in El Paso- we won't eat fajitas without fresh lime! Yes I LOVE LIME!!! El Paso changed me.... I even prefer it in my water to lemon! I hope y'all enjoy the fajitas as much as we do... I wish I had a picture for you so John will have to do...

Sweet Potato Pancakes....

Many of you may know that I have been struggling trying to get John to eat ANYTHING other than bread and fried goods... (he will eat fruit though!)... So a few of my friends on facebook were using this book and so I decided to try it out! It does require some extra work. I have steam/ baked and blended Cauliflower, spinach, sweet potatoes and I have green beans waiting to be blended and beets waiting to be baked and blended! i store them in breastmilk bags b/c they are bpa free and easy to store! I package most in 1/2 portions but some in 1/4 and 1 cup portions depending on what recipes I think I will cook call for. Once that is all done the job is simple. I use this book for inspiration too! So today I am going to share with you one of John's favs (one of many now!!!) Sweet Potato pancakes. I used the recipe in here and added a few things last time and the pancakes were gummy as a result (I added milled flax seed for the benefits~ it is high in fiber and Omega-3... make sure you get milled flaxseed not flax seed meal b/c the milled is high in the omega 3 etc... check this link for some more information). The one thing this book uses a lot is flax seed meal and I substitute milled flaxseed and sometimes it does not work right but the meal is not as high in vitamins as the milled is...

Anyways back to the subject matter... here is a copy of the book. I really like it b/c it tells you how to cook and blend the fruits and veggies and what benefits each has for your body!

So this time I added an egg, baking soda and less water to try and fix the gumminess... It was WAY better but still not perfect...

The recipe I half-followed :)

What I added: milled flaxseed (once opened must remain in the refrigerator), egg, baking soda and vanilla
the pancake mix

I laid them out so they could cool and not get soggy....
John LOVES them when he saw them on the plate he freaked out!!!

SO HAPPY!!!

After two pancakes he wanted MORE!!! Here he is pointing to the pancake in my hand...

Here he is telling me to put it on his tray...haha bossy little man!
He loves them and I put the rest in the freezer separating each pancake with a paper towel or wax paper. I will give y'all the recipe but it is not perfect yet... I am still playing with it to get it right. I am not a huge fan of the pancakes yet but all that matters is John devours them!!!

I will give you my recipe if you want to use it and not use flax seed b/c if using flax you have to add more b/c the flax makes it gummy....which is why I am still playing around with it...So this is the recipe I used today and when I perfect it I will post again! GO HERE FOR THE NEW RECIPE!

1 cup pancake mix
3/4 cup of water (1 cup water)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or pumpkin spice (I use cinnamon)
1/2 sweet potato puree
My additions not in book:
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon milled flaxseed
1/4 teaspoon baking soda (I may add more next time...this maybe the reason it was gummy)

Mix everything together EXCEPT the pancake mix then add pancake mix. It should be lumpy. Then cook as you would any pancake! Add maple syrup if that is your thing (I do not do this for John)

Hope your little one enjoys!! I love creating foods that are good for my little biscuit!

Just Like Mommy...

So there is always the debate who is your child like? Who does he look like? yada yada...Well when it comes to spaz-tastic moves John takes after me 110%. For those who do not know me that well, I have a lot of energy! Well what you really may not know is I have to find an outlet for that energy. At times is squeeze things really hard to release it (okay I am realizing that I am sounding really strange right now....ha)! Well recently it looks like John is following in my crazy, hyper footsteps. He just out-of-the-blue squeezes something or clenches his fists just like I do.... Watch the video for further explanation~

Productive Weekend!

We had a very productive weekend. Saturday morning we got up early and headed to the farmer's market. I went for the first time on Tuesday and was hooked and wanted to see what Saturday was like b/c I knew it would be way bigger! We had a blast. Although usually it is not so hot in the morning so I did not change John out of his pj's and boy I felt like an awful mom b/c it was SUPER humid... which would explain the torrential down pour to come later! Anyways we got some great things. We bought a gallon of blueberries...they are the best blueberries EVER! I laid them out all day and froze them last night! We also bought more butter peas...they are the best beans ever! I like to cook them with butter beans! YUMMY! We bought onions, Roma tomatoes- the best ever as well, and a watermelon. Jeff also bought some gumbo, and I bought an ivy plant for my house. It was so much fun! I think we will go again Saturday!

This is John ready for the market!
After the market. We had to use the stroller for the watermelon and plant!
All the goodies... you cant really see anything ha!
John trying to pick up the watermelon... it was hilarious
Then after the market, my mom came and picked up John so I could paint my bathroom. Last summer I painted it this blue color that kept looking more and more like periwinkle and I hated it!!! So I painted it the same color as my kitchen that I love!!! here are some before pics... The pictures do not do the periwinkle justice at all. In fact you can barely tell a difference but believe me there is a HUGE difference. We still have a lot to do to the bathroom this summer. In the picture below notice the shutter looking divider...yes I HATE it... it is coming out SOON. We are going to put up doors to make it a cabinet b/c behind the shutters are shelves... serving NO purpose except for clutter!
and the useless shelves. We are going to close off the back and the bottom three shelves will be used from the other side. Then we will put doors on the top two for toilet paper storage and soap! My F-I-L's brilliant idea! I mean seriously what were they thinking when they laid out this design...
New color! (Side note: Another reason I want the shutters gone is cleaning them is the WORST. I tried cleaning them last week so I could paint them white and I quit after 5 minutes b/c I was getting NO WHERE!)

Another picture of the new color! I love this color! It is Benjamin Moore's Marylin's Dress if you are interested. On the card it looks gray but on the walls it has a hint of blue! All in all we had a productive weekend...well saturday. I did nothing yesterday after church! Let's see what I can get done this week!

Our new den furniture

Well Jeff and I have finally decided to get new furniture for our den. We have needed it for a while but all our attention has been on the house itself not furniture. So this summer we decided to get our living room together. We decided we wanted a leather couch b/c Jeff is very very allergic to dust mites and leather would be our best option. Also with children it's easier to clean! So we found a couch we LOVED and then as we were walking out we stumbled upon this couch. Originally we walked past it b/c the one in the store was a light blue. When we sat it in we said WOW! it is so comfortable and it is a 100% leather!!! AND you can get it in a light khaki!!! SOLD! so we decided to get it! I can not wait to sit on this couch in my own home! It has been a long time coming! So here is the couch!
Then we decided to get the coffee table and two end tables that go with it b/c it matches the base of the couch perfectly! The table I wanted had glass and it is just not the right call with a toddler!


I just love my new furniture and can not wait to decorate my house!

John got this chair for Christmas and has just now started to sit it in all the time. He loves his chair....doesn't he look precious!


I love when he smiles and his two front teeth show!!!!
Morning time is defiantly my favorite time of the day with John. He is always SO happy!
I think I am going to paint today!!!