What to eat Wednesday-Breakfast in Bed 6

Recipe #6 from my Breakfast in Bed experiment

Well- last week, I mentioned that I had a delicious What to Eat Wednesday for today. Oh, and this one will not disappoint ... but I have no photos. Not a one! The first time I made this I did not take a single photo. Rare ... but I knew that we loved them so much I would for sure be making more.

That was before I tried to buy another can of pumpkin. I had no idea that there was a pumpkin shortage. Did you? Well apparently there is. No cans of pumpkin at the stores that I shop at. I checked over and over. I even walked to one with the sole intent of getting pumpkin. The shelves were bare!

(I do have a picture of that!)

So I am a little worried about this. No pumpkin? What will we do? I joked with someone that I guess I will have to process and can my own. I have not processed pumpkin in about 18 years. (Ouch, that hurt to type that- it seems like such a lonnnnnng time ago!)

Anyone know how to do that? I am not joking.

So ... I went back and forth about posting this without photos. It pains me. But I decided that by some chance someone might have some pumpkin in their pantry this would be a good time to pull it out, check the expiration date and give this recipe a go. It's a really good use of that rare can of pumpkin.

On a dismal Sunday evening in the middle of September we were having somewhat of a grumpy ride home from church.With our later Sunday schedule, and not being prepared ahead of time with dinner, we quickly came up with a plan.

It was one of those rare occasions that we were all in the car together and had no meetings that night either. We decided to pretend it was Christmas and have breakfast.

The kids were all on board and quickly unloaded and hung up their Sunday best and set about preparing for Christmas.

Savanna took over the kitchen table and set the stage. Luke wrapped "presents" while Jay and Jack and Tucker took care of the rest. I decided that waffles would be fun and remembered seeing some in "the book." Thankfully I found a can of pumpkin in the cupboard and figured I would go ahead and try this one out.

In August we went downtown for a traveling exhibit of a Disney remake of the classic, A Christmas Carol. It was a whole train. A real train that came on the tracks all the way from Los Angeles and heading all the way to New York. It was a series of cars that you walked through that had all kinds of memorabilia and sneak peaks, and how-it-was-made features. At the very end we entered a train car and we all just swooned. It smelled just like Christmas! It was that perfect final Disney touch.

Well, we (our family) felt it all over again this Sunday night. The smell captivated more than our noses. We achieved that Dinseyesque sense of everything being happy and right with the world.

All in a waffle.

Pumpkin Spice Waffles
3 eggs
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup all- purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk, butter, sugar, and pumpkin. Add flour, baking powder, salt. nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon; mix just until smooth.

Heat a waffle iron and grease if necessary. Bake waffles in hot waffle iron until golden brown.

1-2-3!

One!

Two!

Three!

A look back over this last year-
I wrote this for Tucker about 6 months ago thinking I would get back and finish.

Tucker you are now 2 1/2

You make a really great thumbs up!

You love to find gum and eat it. I had been looking for some in my purse yesterday and could not find any- this morning you were so excited and came step by step up the stairs saying "gum momma," "mouth" gum momma mouth. I asked you where you got it and you said purse. Hmmm not sure where it was hiding. Just now as I sat down to write you grabbed an add from the sunday newspaper and exclaimed gum!

You get into the fridge and get whatever food you want, string cheese strawberry's apples- and grab a stool and climb onto the counter and get whatever treat you think you deserve.

Last night at dinner you told everyone about their "own" food. Daddy's own pancake, Momma's own pancake etc.

Then I wrote this in the summer:

You had Dad really confused last week. I was on an errand and called home he said you were saying something that he just could not understand. He said it sounded an awful lot like Hail Mary- it turned out to be Watermelon.

When you say want that it sounds so much like not that- it turns into an interesting game of us not giving you what you want and then you trying to get what you want until we finally figure out that you are saying want instead of not! You would think that we would get it!

Trains and their tracks are a part of every day.
A new favorite is the bald eagle. You even made up a song repeating 'bald eagle" over and over. You say "my bald eagle is my best friend."

And now for the most recent writings:

You have a fun way of saying "what about me?" whenever you want to join in on the fun. If all the kids are headed outside, or riding bikes, or going in the car, or sneaking a treat- you think you should be doing it right along with them.

You have a thing for prayers. You think that you are the only one that should say them. And you most definitely for whatever reason do not want anyone to have a hug after ward.

The way you say your name sounds just like lo mein with an s at the end. Tucker James= Lo Meins. We started saying Lo Mein and you say "no not lo mein, it lo meins."

We still want to eat you, and you will still exclaim at random when I walk in the room, please don't eat me mom.

You love the kids principal at school, and will pretend to talk with him on the phone.

Trains are still very much a part of your everyday!
***birthday post to follow****

What to eat Wednesday-Breakfast in Bed 5

Recipe #5 from my Breakfast in Bed experiment

South of the Border Crustless Quiche

6 eggs

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour


2 cups cottage cheese


1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese


1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted


1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chiles, drained


salsa and sour cream on the side

Preheat oven to 375- In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add flour. Mix in cheese, butter and chiles. Pour into a greased 10 inch pie plate. Bake for 30 minutes, or until center is set. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

This was a pretty good alternative to quiche in the morning. I think I would make it if we happened to have extra cottage cheese and jack cheese to use up. But I don't know if I would intentionally put the ingredients on our grocery list just to make it again. I have other breakfast items that I love more. (can't wait to share next weeks! It is perfect for fall!)
It did take longer to cook than expected. It kind of cooked up more like scrambled eggs but had a looser texture. So at least 3 of our family rolled it up into a tortilla, and devoured it. I would say this was much better than last Thursdays big fail of angel eggs! We did not have to pull out cereal as a last resort! It was eaten all up.

Hidden Mickey Moment

My friend Lori has an obsession with all things Disney. She finds Mickey Mouse EVERYWHERE! She collects these moments-
Once you find one- there is no stopping. They just start turning up.
Luke is our usual finder of all things Mickey. He often arranges his "hidden Mickey's."
Early Saturday morning I heard him yell-"mom come quick- bring your camera- there is a hidden Mickey in my bowl!"

Here I go again ...

I have lost count ... but here we go again.
Mamma Mia!

My sisters took my mom and I to Tulsa on Saturday to see Mamma Mia! We had all gone together last year and they could not stand the thought of us not doing it together again. We now have a whole slew of jokes and one liners and silly remembrances from the day.

Janelle leaving our tickets in Norman- and the rain- and the driving to go get the tickets-
Somehow arriving in Tulsa early enough to go to the center of the universe AND go have lunch-


Janelle and I being a bit confused- we kept thinking we were seeing WICKED again- and were kind of disappointed until the music started up- then we got excited again- only to be disappointed when the leads did not meet our "standards"-


Janelles LOUD hiccup at the beginning that sent a ripple of laughter through the balcony-


Cringing whenever "donna" would sing-
Laughing at ourselves for being so picky-


Videoing ourselves being critics of the performance-
Dancing and singing at the end-


Watching the darling white haired lady on the 2nd row get her groove on-


Wonderful, delicious, conversation filled dinner that was not fast food, that did not involve any kid type of meal or sippy cup, or having to hurry out the door-


Walking and window shopping to our hearts content-
Driving home singing Wicked and trying to explain it all to Mom-

Thank you Jennifer & Janelle and Mom for the fun- filled day- I am so glad I did not miss it! I agree- we must do this once a year- no husbands, no kids- just us girls!

This last weekend I turned these

Into this

I am always amazed at the sense of accomplishment. I was feeling so proud and maybe just a titch smug- until I read my friend Rebecca's blog- oh the envy!

SPT- what I did this summer

I loved Lelly's idea to take a look back at our photos to see what we did this summer! And I loved that I found a real SP from June that kind of sums up how I feel when I think about this summer. Now what did I do? I remember when I took this photo that we were trying to go somewhere, and there was lots of noise, and it seemed like lots of kids, and lot of stuff to take the the car and it seemed like I had lots on my mind. This photo makes me laugh. Like just looking at it makes me break out into one of those grins, that grows into a giggle that is followed by a chuckle.
I have had fun going through our photos to see what we did this summer, and realized I hardly blogged any of it! Oh summer vacation memories here we come!

Dinner #FAIL

Tonight I made a new dish from the Breakfast in Bed cookbook with the promising title "angel eggs."

They were not so heavenly.

I announced that I did not think I would be making these again.
One of mine said in a kind of slow long drug out sound, "ummmm, yeeeaaahh, I don't think so either."
Another one said "well if we were all out of every other kind of food I would eat this."
Then a third announced, "Hey, we could just go to Cuppies and Joe!"
And then the fourth just sat there.

I am so glad that we had this for dinner and were able to forget about the whole experience with some of smitten kitchens snickerdoodle cookies that I had the good fortune to make earlier today. I would have hated to start the day with "hell's eggs."

What to eat Wednesday-Breakfast in Bed 4

How is it Thursday?
I went to bed too early on Wednesday to post my What to Eat! But I am well rested and ready to face Thursday so I guess its a good trade.

Recipe #4 from my Breakfast in Bed experiment
Hawaiian Scramble

I was so excited to try this one- I love pineapple and ham.
And it seems funny to me to even have to follow a recipe for some of these ideas.

I often pull things out of the fridge to add to my scrambled eggs. But really. I don't think I would have just pulled out the swiss cheese to add to my eggs. Definitely cheddar, and maybe mozzarella, but not Swiss. But now I am sold on Swiss for this!
And Pineapple! I don't know that I would ever have added them to my scrambled eggs. I was so surprised to enjoy pineapple with my eggs!

I have heard Swiss described as having a nutty flavor. And I agree. If eating it just plain, not without a contrasting flavor, swiss does not have any appeal to me. But melted over the saltiness of the ham and sweetness of the pineapple I would have to agree that there is a hint of nuttiness. I love it.

My whole family agreed that I should use the really small ham bites, and definitely the small pineapple tidbits, and not the bigger ham or pineapple chunks. I made this for the family with large ham, and large pineapple the first time. The second time- went the smaller route. The rest have all been with small ham and small pineapple, it really does make a difference.

Hawaiian Scramble

10 eggs


salt and pepper to taste


1 1/2 cups cooked ham, cubed


3/4 cup pineapple tidbits, drained


1 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese, divided



Preheat broiler. In a large bowl, beat eggs with salt and pepper. Pour into a lightly greased nonstick skillet. Stir eggs over medium heat until set but still soft. In a separate skillet, warm ham cubes. Add ham to eggs along with pineapple and 1 cup of the cheese; continue to cook until eggs are set. Spoon eggs into 4 au gratin dishes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and broil just until cheese is melted.

So I followed the directions EXCEPT- what is an au gratin dish? I don't have any, whatever they are. So I just put all the eggs in one dish. Also the recipe says it serves 4. But it fed our family of 6 with a tiny bit leftover.

Happy Birthday & SPT

Happy Birthday-Jay!
Thank you for making me laugh.
Thank you for taking a bothersome situation and turning it into something memorable.
Thank you for seeing the lighter side of life.


After a wonderful lunch/ bookstore date Jay's car was having trouble. I was taking photos- of myself in the side mirror and of the poor car.



Our second car was having issues.


Jay cracked me up by jumping on top of the car and started posing.

It made the whole car situation funny.


And turned a could be cranky moment into something to laugh at.

Thank you for always finding the humor in the current situation.
You gave the gifts today. Happy Birthday.

Just awarded best mom of the year!

Does this look like a boy who has pneumonia?

(today, playing in the red mud, in the rain)

I did not think so either.
So I sent him to school day after day with a cough, thinking it was allergies/asthma. I even told his teacher that if he did not sound any better by the weekend I would take him in to see the Dr. sometime next week.

Imagine my surprise when I got a call Wednesday from the school nurse saying he was running a fever.
Imagine my greater surprise after making an appointment and finding out the Dr. wanted chest x-rays.
Imagine an even bigger surprise (along with a big dose of guilt) when he is diagnosed with pneumonia.

You just never know with this one.
He was given a big bad shot. (So big and bad he could not walk.)
Now he has extra breathing treatments.

And enough doses of medicine that I feel the need to write them all down and check them off to keep track.

He still sounds the same.

And he is still acting the same.
Like I said, you just never know with this one.

Bakerella Inspired

Savanna got to perform in the all school musical (5th grade- high school) at the end of April. (Last school year.) Her best friend Jenna was in it too, so her Mom Lori and I put our heads together to come up with something fun to give to the girls after each performance. I think that we would have just done flowers but Lori found something fun. It all started with cute Charlie Brown Encyclopedias. Lori found two of them and put them with Snoopy holding some candy. So those were the first night. Then Lori thought of autograph pillows for another night. I made the pillows, her husband Jim created vinyl for the front of them and I decided to add Charlie Brown zig-zag cookies for the closing night.


So that left one night in the middle. I had been wanting to make Bakerella's
truffle cake pops, and this seemed like it would be a fun time to try them. And it worked!


It did take a bit longer than expected, and some patience. But all in all I think they turned out pretty good. (and yummy tasting too!)


I paired a bouquet of truffle pops with some bright yellow flowers. I made sure there were extra treats to share and I think the girls had a good time handing them out.


**********

A few weeks ago I got the urge to make cake pops again. Bakeralla inspired apple cake pops. They were the perfect thing for back to school. Only I can't really get into back to school in August. It felt more like a September project. So I waited, and whipped them out after Labor day. Apples are so September to me anyway. And these little treats are the perfect apple for a teacher.
Here are mine.

Since you already know they are apples, they look alright.

Kind of like apples wouldn't you say?

I used spice cake, mixed with cream cheese frosting.
Now that you have seen mine, I will link you to the original. And most definitely more apple looking than mine, Apple Cake Pops by Bakerella.

Tips for making your own cake pops-
Don't do these the day you want to hand them out.
Work ahead of time. After the cake cools, and you crumble it all up, go easy on the frosting.
Like Bakerella says, you can always add more. Roll into whatever shape you are making and let it sit in the fridge a bit. Like several hours, or overnight. You can put the sticks in now or wait till later. I think it works a little better to put them in now and let them set in the fridge overnight. Just follow Bakerella's directions for that. When you heat your chocolate, work in small batches pulling the cake pops a few at a time from the fridge. Get some styrofoam to stick the pops into.
The more you make the better they turn out. You really have to get the hang of them. The first few of mine always fall back into the chocolate and I end up making a mess. Have lots of "old" wet washcloths around to wipe up stray chocolate drippings. Off your hands, off the sticks, off the counter etc.) This would be a good time to wear an apron too, that chocolate has a way of just going everywhere!
Experiment with different cake mixes and frostings. Lemon has been good, and the spice cake was yum too.
Most of all be patient with this. And work ahead of time. I write this for my benefit, for when I come back to my blog to remember how I made them. For when I think, "Oh I think I will just whip up some cake pops for (insert event here) tonight. " These are not like whipping up a batch of cookies, remember that Alisa!