Whole wheat pancakes with nutella applesauce

Whole wheat pancakes with nutella applesauce

Before I go any further, I want to say thank you for reading. If you clicked this link, it means you were able to get beyond the picture and were actually interested in reading more. I realize that the photograph makes it look like I served meat sauce (or something far more unappetizing to my family). OK, back to the blog post...

Well hello! Sorry, I’m starting to come to terms with the fact that I am a total blog LOSER! Seriously, it’s not like I have any good excuses outside of normal life busy-ness. I’m sure you’re thinking that we’ve been eating McDonalds for the past month…well that’s not true. One, we rarely (as in the kids get it maybe two times per year and Brett and I NEVER) eat McDonald’s. And two, I’ve actually made a few things over the past few weeks that I intended to blog…Cherry glazed ribs with honey mustard potato salad, sweet potato gnocchi with sausage and citrus salmon. Here’s where the blog loser in me comes out…I didn’t take any pictures and therefore didn’t feel that I could blog any of these things. The excuse used to be that my camera wasn’t handy – but to be honest, lately I’ve been taking most of my food pics with my phone (which always seems to be handy), so I’ll call BS on myself for that one. Instead of dwelling on it, let’s move on. So last night was a rainy summer night…a perfect night to let your inner-cozy food chef come out during the warmer months and play. I decided breakfast for dinner was definitely in order!

Where this recipe came from
I didn’t have any whole wheat pancake mix on hand, so I turned to Betty Crocker. I have any entire shelf full of amazing cookbooks, but when it comes to the basics I always turn to Betty…if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? I slightly tweaked her pancake recipe and it was perfect. The last time I made a breakfast for dinner, I did a homemade fruit sauce to go with it, and wanted to do it again. As I kid, apple pancakes were always my favorite, so I wanted to do an applesauce for the top. My original intention was to sweeten the apples with honey, but then I struck culinary gold…why not use nutella?!?! (I may just be the smartest lady I’ve ever met!).

Making the recipe
I’m a thin pancake kinda girl, so I increased Betty’s recommended ¾ cup of milk to 1 cup. The results (for me anyway, and of course the kids, since they obviously didn’t have a choice) were perfect! I also originally intended to use 1 “large scoop” (see pic below) of nutella, but after tasting, decided I needed another half. I may have gone slightly overboard. Let;’s be clear – it was still amazing, but it was more dessert than breakfast (or dinner, in this case).

The results
The kids were super excited when I first told them we were having pancakes with chocolate applesauce for dinner. They started eating it, and then got distracted with other things on their plate. For Bodie it was all about the sausage (I cooked up some turkey breakfast sausage links to go with it) and he ate 4 links! Adela saw the plate the extra pancakes and just wanted to eat those whole. So at the end of dinner (which they both ate a ton) there was still a decent amount of cut up pancake with the applesauce left on their plate! Next
time, I think I’d use it as a dipping sauce with them. I thought it was great…definitely a little decadent – but the tart apple was a great compliment with the nutella!

The recipe
Pancakes (adapted from Betty Crocker...no idea what her cookbook is called, I actually think it might be called "cookbook")
1 egg, beaten
1 cup whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
Olive oil or butter

Beat egg and mix with all ingredients with a wire whisk.

Heat a large skillet or griddle over med to med-high heat. Add oil or butter and coat the pan. Add desired amount of batter to pan and cook a few minutes on each side until pancakes start to bubble at the edges (I prob didn’t need to give these directions did I? Does anyone out there NOT know how to make pancakes?)

I did however, have to include the pic above because it is probably the most perfect pancake ever!

Nutella apple sauce
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp cinnamon
1 cup of water
1 “tbsp” of nutella

Heat oil in saucepan over med heat. Add apples, stir and saute for a few minutes. Add water and cinnamon and bring to a boil. Cook over med-high heat for 10 to 15 minutes until apples are very soft. Use immersion blender, or transfer to a regular blend to blend until “mostly” smooth.

Add nutella and melt into the applesauce.

Serve warm over the pancakes.

10 things I learned on my almost summer vacation

Shrimp and chorizo in tomato broth

I’ve been MIA from my blog for about a month now, and no – that’s not because I went on a month-long vacation. I wish I actually had a good reason why I’ve been such a slacker…sadly, I do not.

At any rate, I learned a few things on our trip to Key Largo…

1. $7 for a bloody mary on a plane is worth every penny when traveling with small children.
2. Some people are not as conservative or judicious as I might like when choosing their “beach-wear”.
3. Orange crayon does in fact wipe off a kindle screen.
4. Brett and I can go through 3 cans of sunscreen in 6 days and I’ll still burn!
5. You can NEVER have enough anti-bacterial handwipes when traveling through an airport.
6. Sitting outside for meals with kids makes dining 1,000 times easier.
7. Hannaford seafood does not hold a candle to the fresh, out of the water stuff.
8. A key lime mojito is even better than a regular mojito.
9. Giraffes actually have purple tongues! (random…I know)
10. I have the most amazing husband and kids…and vacations are priceless!

To sum it all up – we had the best time…lots of sun, sand, great food and lots and lots of family time!! And now back to the cooking…

I’ve definitely been craving seafood since we got back. Not only did we eat a ton of it on vacation, but it’s light and healthy and quick…perfect for summer!

Where this recipe came from

When shopping for groceries this particular week (yes, I made this over two weeks ago), I wasn’t impressed with the offerings are the seafood counter. So I decided to pick up a bag of frozen shrimp…just so happened that a pound of extra jumbos were on sale for $8.99 (SCORE!) As I was sauntering through the meat department, a package of chorizo sausage caught my eye and I decided to blend the two together!

Making the recipe

This was a super easy one. I added some canned tomato sauce since (as I’ve mentioned 1,000 times) Brett doesn’t like chunks of tomato. If that weren't a problem I would have added some fresh diced or even a can of diced tomato drained.

The results

Brett and I loved this! We soaked up all of the broth with some toasty garlic bread…delicious! The chorizo as a bit too spicy for the kids – but they loved the garlic bread!

The recipe

½ lb raw shrimp, shelled and deveined

½ pkg chorizo sausage, chunked

2 cloves garlic

½ cup tomato sauce (or fresh tomatos if you prefer)

¾ - 1 cup chicken broth

juice of 1/2 a lemon

3 scallions, chopped

1 handful of parsely, chopped

Salt and pepper

Heat olive oil over med heat and add chorizo. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until it starts to brown. Add garlic, shrimp and scallions and cook another few minutes until the shrimp get pink. Add the tomato sauce, broth and lemon juice, stirring. Season with salt and pepper and top with parsley.

Serve in shallow bowls with bread for dipping.