Chicken and waffles

I have a son who is obsessed with chicken, he is also obsessed with waffles. He jokingly said to me that I should just make chicken and waffles together. So :)I did. Everyone was a little hesitant at first but it was love at first bite. My 9 year old nephew and 12 year old niece stopped by and were curious about it. They tasted it... and loved it. The syrup is a must have with it. Just dip and eat baby.



1 bag Tyson Crispy Chicken Strips
1 box mini toaster waffles (you can also make your own, but this was just faster)

Buttermilk Syrup:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons Karo syrup
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda



Cook chicken strips and waffles according to package instructions.
Once chicken and waffles are fully cooked, cut them to desired bite-size shapes. I quartered each waffle.

Buttermilk Syrup: (This recipe will rise so make sure you have enough room or it will go everywhere.)
Heat stove top to medium-high heat.
Use a large pot so the liquid doesn't boil over.
Place the butter, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, Karo syrup, and buttermilk in the pot.
Mix until all the ingredients are fully combined and the mixture begins to bubble.
Let mixture bubble for about 45 seconds, stirring constantly.
Remove the pot from heat and add the baking soda.
Mix until well combined.
Place the pot back on the heat, and let the syrup bubble for another 45 seconds, stirring constantly.
Take off of heat, continue to stir until it cools down a little and the bubbles disappear.
Serve warm and enjoy!

Baking Powder Biscuits

allrecipe.com

The other day I had company and I didn't have a clue what to make for breakfast. I had some sausage and eggs so I thought breakfast sandwiches would be great. BUT I didn't have any biscuits.... so I looked for a recipe. I actually made two different ones and this was the better one. However be advised these don't rise much so cut them the size you want them and roll them out thick.



2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons shortening
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
In a bowl mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the shortening and mix until in little pieces. Add milk a little at a time and mix until it forms a ball.
Roll out on floured board to 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick (or thicker if you like thick like I do.) Cut out in desired size and dip in melted shortening. Place biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes.
Variation: For shortcakes add 2 tablespoons for sugar to the dough and roll dough out to 1/2 inch thick.

Pumpkin Pancakes

allrecipe.com

There is nothing that says fall like baking with pumpkin. I think we have established that pumpkin is one of my favorite flavors ever! I have actual cravings or addictions to it. Maybe there is a group for that?? I could probably be nominated president over PLA pumpkin lovers anonymous! But seriously you need to try this recipe out it is so yummy and not overly sweet ...speaking of sweet, we have a SWEEEEET contest going on now on our facebook page from Tiny Trends Boutique go check it out the rules are on the page and make sure you check out Tiny Trends Boutique on fb while you are there.






1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons vinegar

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt


Directions:

In a bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a separate bowl. Stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour the batter onto the griddle brown on both sides and serve hot. It can be served with maple syrup, buttermilk syrup or whip cream (like pumpkin pie YUM).

Homemade Blueberry Muffins

(Sweet Peas Kitchen)

Saturday mornings are definitely our lazy days. No alarm clock, ringer shut off etc. (well unless we have early baseball games) But when the kids finely do wake up they want breakfast now :) In the past I have usually done boxed muffins when we really want some but I decided I had everything for this recipe and it sounded so good why not try it. The kids thought it was soo cool that we could make blueberry muffins without a box lol and this coming from kids that get homemade stuff allllll the time. I hope you try this and your family loves it as much as we do and that you all have lazy saturday mornings :)

Lemon-Sugar Topping:
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp finely grated zest from 1 lemon
In a small bowl, stir together sugar and lemon zest; set aside.



Muffins:
2 cups fresh blueberries, divided
1 1/8 cups plus 1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. table salt
2 large eggs
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

For the muffins: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line muffin cups with muffin liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer. Cook, mashing berries with spoon and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs until thick, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, gently fold egg mixture and remaining 1 cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened (do not over mix.)
Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon 1 teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using a toothpick, gently swirl berry filling into batter. Sprinkle lemon sugar topping generously over muffins.
Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Pancakes

Growing up we lived over an hour away from most of my moms side of the family. My mom came from a large sized family and it was always a good time when we got together. It was such a treat to get to go see them and play with all cousins that we didn't see very often. Once in awhile we were fortunate enough to get to stay at our cousins house and when we would stay with my Aunt Helen she would spoil us by making us chocolate pancakes for breakfast. WHAT A TREAT!!! This is one of those recipes that when you make it could bring back special memories like it does for us. Thanks Aunt Helen we love you thank you for sharing.



Ingredients:
1 1/4 c milk
1 egg
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
3 Tbsp. cocoa
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Mix dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients until well combined. Cook. Serve hot. Can be garnished many ways: powdered sugar, fresh fruit, cool whip, butter, syrup etc.

Breakfast Casserole

cooks.com


Breakfast is one thing I try and make every weekend. I'm not the mom who wakes up and fixes breakfast every morning. Maybe I would be if I didn't have a little diva to get ready because she takes up most of the morning. My boys would much rather have extra sleep and just grab something at school because around here they feed them breakfast or a little snacky thing anyways. But when we are all together on the weekend I always make up for it. As you can probably tell by now my home is over run by meat and potato eating boys so meals aren't real meals without some sort of meat. If they come to the table and see there isn't any meat they start acting like cavemen around here. Grumbling and hitting things ...ok ok maybe not that bad but close!! This breakfast was really pretty easy. I had a couple packages of croissants in my fridge I wanted to use up so I found this recipe and it was great!







1 lg. can Pillsbury crescent rolls
1 lb. sausage, browned and drained well
2 c. Mozzarella cheese
4 eggs
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper or to taste
you could also add chopped cooked mushrooms, onions, olives etc. We added fried mushrooms and onions and it was FABULOUS!!!!

Toppings:
the original recipe doesn't call for any toppings but I love to be able to add veggies when I can
diced tomatoes
avocado
chopped fresh spinach
green onions


Press crescent rolls into the bottom of a 9x13 inch buttered pan. Sprinkle with cooked sausage, then the 2 cups of Mozzarella cheese. Mix eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour over other ingredients. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until set. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

BAKED Maple Bars

food.com

MMMMMM maple bars are one of my favorite donuts ever!!!!!!!! But we all know right where they go (hmmmm maybe it has something to do with the title of my blog lol) SO when I started hearing about baked maple bars I thought well they have to be somewhat better for you right :) I know I totally justify eating whatever I want for the most part but that's why I am not a size 2. It you justify like I do u have to try this recipe!!!



Maple Bar
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup shortening
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup water
2 (1/4 ounce) package yeast
2 large eggs, beaten
4 3/4 cups flour
Maple Icing

Icing:
1/3 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp mapleine
1/8 tsp. salt

Directions
For Maple Bars: In saucepan scald milk.
Add shortening, sugar, salt and cinnamon.
Dissolve and let cool to lukewarm.
In large bowl dissolve 2 packages of yeast in water.
Add beaten eggs and stir.
Stir saucepan mix into yeast mixture.
Gradually add flour. Knead.
Let rise in bowl for an hour. Punch down and roll out to 1" thickness.
Cut into squares and let rise again on lightly greased baking sheets.
Bake at 425°F for 7-8 minutes or until light golden brown. Watch carefully.

For Icing: In saucepan mix butter, brown sugar and milk.
Bring to boil and simmer 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and cool for 15 minutes.
Add mapleine and then powdered sugar and blend well.
Add more powdered sugar if needed.
Spread on maple bars and enjoy!!


These are good the next day after being zapped in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds :)

Chocolate banana white chocolate chip muffin

For the love of cooking.com

There isnt many foods that are better after they are bad. Sometimes I kick myself for letting things go bad! HOWEVER bananas sometimes are better when they are black :) well for baking they are anyways. I didnt know if I would like this recipe because I am not a huge fan of white chocolate but I really like this one especially when I am having a chocolate craving and dont have any chocolate. This is a pretty simple recipe so I can throw it together anytime night or day.

1/2 cup of butter, softened
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3 very ripe bananas, mashed up
2 cups of flour
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup of white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees then coat a muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, bananas, and vanilla then continue beating until well combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt together, mix well. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir until just combined. Add the 3/4 cup of white chocolate chips then gently mix them into the batter.

Spoon the batter evenly into each muffin tin. Add the last 1/4 cup of the remaining white chocolate chips equally to each muffin, pushing them in gently.

Place into the oven and bake 22-25 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let the muffins cool on a rack. Slather with butter, if desired, and enjoy!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread French Toast

I have told you how obsessed my family is with cinnamon bread soooo why not make french toast out of it right???

When we make french toast we dont ever make regular french toast we make flavored french toast using coffee creamers its pretty much just flavored cream.

So you need to make the cinnamon bread recipe the day before or buy one depending what you feel like doing then slice it as thick as you want for french toast.

4 eggs
1 cup milk or flavored creamer (we used a caramel one)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
* now if you just use regular milk you need to add a few more things:
4 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. sugar

mix all together, dip bread in the mixture and cook on a skillet. Easy huh!!! It is also sooo good with peanut butter on it ;) a little extra protein.

Oatmeal Smoothie (Martha Stewart)

I have been up most of the night and early mornings with a new baby so i have needed a quick breakfast. I have grown to despise cereal in a real hurry so when i found this recipe i was excited. I happened to have everything on hand except the coconut water so i substituted it for the cup of fruit juice instead. This was a real quick fix and my family and i enjoyed it very much! Bonus, it's 100% guilt free!

• YieldServes 2-4

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Ingredients

• 1 cup ice
• 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
• 1/2 cup plain low fat yogurt
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup coconut water (or other liquid, such as juice)

Directions

1. Place ice and raspberries in the bottom of blender, and all other ingredients on top. Whirl until completely smooth. Serve.

Pumpkin Scones (Recipe Girl)

When I seen this recipe I knew I would be in love!!! I made a double batch and fixed them for breakfast on Sunday. OMGSH I have made this about 3x since and love it everytime! So great for breakfast or dessert.

SCONES:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup canned pure (unsweetened) pumpkin
3 Tbsp. half and half cream
1 large egg
6 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into cubes

PLAIN GLAZE:
1/2 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
1 Tbsp milk (any kind)

SPICED ICING:
3/4 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
1 to 2 Tbsp. milk (any kind) 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch of ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper. Give it a light dusting of flour on top of that.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (through ginger)

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half and egg.

4. Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut butter into the dry ingredients. Continue cutting until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. (You may also use a food processor for this step. Pulse until the mixture resembles fine crumbs).

5. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, then form the dough into a ball. The dough will be wet, but if it seems super sticky... just go ahead and sprinkle a little more flour into the dough until it's easier to handle. Remember, you want it to be somewhat sticky, and that's okay- but you also don't want it to stick to the baking sheet. Pat out dough onto the lightly floured baking sheet and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle that is about 9-inches long and 3-inches wide. Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal squares. Cut through the three squares diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough. Gently pull the triangles apart, leaving about 1/2-inch space between each one.

6. Bake 14 to 16 minutes on prepared baking sheet. Scones should begin to turn light brown.

7. While scones are cooling, prepare plain glaze by whisking ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix until smooth.

8. When scones are cool, use a knife to cut them apart and then pull them apart so that they are ready for glazing. Use a brush to paint a coating of the glaze over the top of each scone.

9. As the white glaze firms up, prepare spiced icing by whisking the ingredients in another medium bowl until smooth. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone (or brush it on) and allow the icing to dry before serving.

Breakfast Sandwich

Breakfast sandwiches are so easy to make and taste so much better than fast food breakfasts!!! When we went on our family vacation to my Father in Laws this year he fixed us these great breakfast sandwiches. Now let me just tell you these ARE on onion bagels.... my kids were in love instantly! So thanks to Grandpa I now make these regularly!! Onion Bagels Eggs (cooked medium well) Bacon Cheddar cheese sliced Optionals: tomatoes, red onion, avocados, etc. Cook egg (we like it cooked medium but you can cook it however you want) when its done put a piece of cheese on it to melt. Cook bacon. Toast bagel then butter or mayo. Put it all together. Enjoy...See easy huh!!!

Roller Coaster Pancakes

I remember growing up my mom or sister would make these for us. As a kid I thought they looked so cool. Now I make these for my kids and there always amazed how they always are different shapes when you pull them out of the oven. This is a fast & easy breakfast that your kids will love. 6 Eggs beaten well 1 Cup milk 1/2 tsp Sugar 1 Cup flour 1/2 tsp Salt 1 tsp Vanilla Mix all ingredients together. Melt 6 Tbsp. Butter or margarine. Pour in the bottom of a cake pan. Pour pancake mix on top of the butter. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes. Serve with syrup. Enjoy!!!

Crepes (food.com)

Growing up we had many foreign exchange students. My favorite ones ( well the ones I can remember) were from France. Mom was always trying to make them feel at home so we made food they liked. The one food I remember making with the exchange students were Crepes. I still love them all these years later.

There is sooo many things you can do with crepes. There is the basic crepe with butter and powdered sugar, crepes with maple syrup, fruit covered crepes my favorite, you can spread nutella on them, put sausage and eggs on them etc.

2 large eggs

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1 cup flour

3 tablespoons melted butter

Butter, for coating the pan

In a blender, combine all of the ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds. Place the crepe batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This allows the bubbles to subside so the crepes will be less likely to tear during cooking. The batter will keep for up to 48 hours.

Heat a small non-stick pan. Add butter to coat. Pour 1 ounce of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove to the cutting board. Lay them out flat so they can cool. Continue until all batter is gone. After they have cooled you can stack them and store into sealable plastic bags in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for up to two months. When using frozen crepes, thaw on a rack before gently peeling apart.

When I make crepes I set everything out and just let the kids pick there own toppings they think that's pretty cool. I hope your family can enjoy this meal together too!

THE BEST HOMEMADE FLUFFY PANCAKES EVER (allrecipes.com)

Ok so we have already establishes the fact that we LOVE breakfast for supper! I needed a new recipe for pancakes and found this. When I started making this my hubby looked at me and said VINEGAR in pancakes. I said just don't say a word until you try it. WELL after all was said and done the only thing anyone was saying was "is there more". But just so you know you cant even taste the vinegar !! Hope you love the picture my hubby took lol!

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

Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".

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. Let your mixture sit for about 5 minutes.

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.

This only makes about 4 pancakes so I had to triple it for my family of six and we had 3 pancakes left. WE ate this with the buttermilk syrup and fresh strawberries. SO YUMMY!!!

Cowboy Toast

This is a super easy recipe and kids love the change.

Bread
eggs
butter
jam

Take a slice of bread and butter both sides then cut a circle in the center of each slice using a small cup. Spray a skillet with cooking spray and then place bread in skillet. Crack an egg and place the egg in the hole of the bread. Cook until egg is set up enough to flip the bread and egg. Cook on other side until done. Serve with jam.

Homemade Waffles (Taste of Home) & Buttermilk syrup (Darlene A.)

Around my house we like to have breakfast for dinner, some of you may like store boughten waffle mix but what if you dont have any and the kids are hungry and ready to eat.  This recipe doesnt have any sugar in it so they are not sweet BUT thats what the syrup is for!!

Waffles
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour       
 1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt                                 
2 eggs separated
1 cup milk                                 
1/4 cup butter, melted

In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine egg YOLKS, milk & butter; stir into dry ingredients just until moist. In seperate bowl beat egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form, gently fold into batter.  Bake in a preheated greased waffle iron according to directions on iron or until golden brown. 

Buttermilk Syrup
 1 cube butter                                 
1 cup sugar
1/2 c. buttermilk (you can make your own)       
Cook until sugar is dissolved remove pan from heat then add:
1 tsp. vanilla                                   
1/2 tsp baking soda (this will make your syrup rise up so make sure you have room for it to swell)


If you want to try something more add fresh fruit (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries) to your waffles then pour the syrup over the top!!!

(a special thanks to my Aunt Darlene for helping me out with this recipe!!! Thanks for your encouragement! Love ya lots!!!)