Sandwich

Made this for dinner last night. We also topped it with these. Still dreaming about it now. I should probably go run a few laps around the farm today, but I won't. I'll just sit here and drink this green smoothie (thanks Torrie) I whipped up this morning. Ahhh, life is good :)

Whole Wheat Pancake Mix

This one's for you Amelia. And anyone else who wants it :)

Wheat Quick:
8 Cups of Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 Cup Baking Powder
4 teaspoons Salt
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 1/4 Cups Dry (powdered) Milk
Stir Together and Store in Fridge.

Pancakes:
2 Cups Wheat Quick
1 1/2 - 2 Cups Water
1/4 Cup Oil
1 or 2 Eggs

Whisk together and cook on hot griddle.  Makes about 16 4" pancakes.  Top with Butter and Maple Syrup.  Also great with blueberries or Huckleberries.  Yum.  I want to go huckleberry picking now. . . . . . .

Chicken and Dumplings

We've had a lot of rain lately :-( and nothing works for cold gloomy weather like Chicken Soup.  One thing I had never tried was Chicken and Dumplings, so on Sunday I gave it a shot.  I went with Pioneer Woman's recipe - simply because it was pretty basic, and she rarely fails me.  I think it would be really, really good if you followed the recipe and weren't a moron, like me :)

Here are the two changes I made (one worked, one didn't):

The chicken.  Boiled my entire checken with some seasoning and onions to make the stock, then just shreaded that cooked chicken for the soup.  Worked great - and I didn't have to go through the process of breading and browning each piece.

Apple Cider.  When a recipe says to use Apple Cider, use Apple Cider.   Not Apple Cider Vinegar.  Major misread on my part.  I thought it was strange to put vinegar in, but went with it anyway.  When the house was all stunk up, I went back to the recipe and realized my error.  Oops. We ate it anyway.  It was a strange vinegery flavor, but edible none the less.  Nathan actually loved it and ate two bowls.  The dumplings were soooo good, and I am definitely making this again - sans vinegar ;)

Cake Pops

Mollie turned FIVE the week of Christmas, so the Saturday before I let her have her first friends birthday party.  She had 4 friends over and we had a tea party.  I had been so sick that week, and felt like cancelling it, but instead got drugged up on old c-section drugs and the show went on.  Anyway, instead of a cake or cupcakes, I decided to try Cake Pops.  Have any of you tried them before?  They were a bit of a pain to make, and I didn't even taste them because I felt so crappy, but the kids loved them.  It was a fun change - and when I put them in the little baggies they were perfect to send a few home with the girls in their treat bags.  So, would I make them again.  Maybe.  Not 100% sure they were worth it - cupcakes are much easier . . . . but they were fun, and it might be fun to experiment with different characters like Bakerella does.  We'll see . . .