Saturday, February 12, 2011

Tacos, herbs, and Valentine's Pancakes, OH MY

Last night we had tacos. Nothing fancy, just regular ol' tacos. But they were good, don't get me wrong.
Ingredients I used: Food Life brand Sprouted Corn Tortillas, red leaf lettuce, grated Cheddar & Monterrey jack cheese, diced tomatoes, and some kind of hot taco sauce we had in the frig. Oh and, Darigold brand all natural sour cream.



I seasoned my ground beef with:
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

  • 1 teaspoon sea salt

  • 1 teaspoon black pepper




  • I forgot to take a picture of my finished tacos. But Hey tacos are tacos, you know what they look like.

    Here's my new kitchen window herd garden. :-) They are already growing.



    So for breakfast this morning, I had some bananas I needed to use up and the kids wanted pancakes.

    BahDa Bing BahDa Boom. Banana Pancakes. Plus it's close to Valentine's Day, so I thought I'd turn then into V-Day pancakes. It really only took the addition of some festival cupcake sprinkles.

    I used a really simple basic pancake recipe. Easy Cheesy. To this recipe, I add my banana mixture. Recipe to follow.

    Pancakes:

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

  • 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 tablespoon white sugar

  • 1 1/4 cups milk

  • 1 egg

  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted

  • In a large bowl, combine together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Next, pour in the milk, add the egg and melted butter; mix until smooth. Now add the banana puree mixture.

    Banana Mixture:

    Two very ripe bananas, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. Once all these things are in my food processor, I puree it very well. Until baby food consistency.
      Finally, heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.


      
      my banana mixture
      

       For the girls, I sprinkled some Valentine's Day sprinkles on the plate first to dress it up. I served the pancakes with sliced strawberries on top and of course maple syrup and butter.

      
      This was the adult version, sans the sprinkles. Enjoy!!
      
      

      Friday, February 11, 2011

      Everytime she goes away..

      As you can see by my lack of blogging, I've been gone. For almost two weeks now, I've been dealing with the death of one of the remain two Great Grandmothers I have/had. Her name was Cora Fay Dunkin, and she was a wonderful lady. So sad. As if this stress and sadness wasn't enough, my other Great Grandmother, Ruth Mae, is currently in the hospital, at the age of 89, recovering from Colon/Rectal Cancer surgery. Again, very sad. She is having a difficult time recovering and I have been back and forth visiting her. Unfortunately, many members of my family have not stepped up to be with her at this difficult time.
       Pretty much, it seems like they are too wrapped up in their "busy" lives to be with their ailing 89 year old grandma. Once AGAIN, very sad. Great Grandma Ruth and I have always been close and I will do anything for her, including driving 5 hours to and 5 hours from the hospital to be with her while I can. I've not searching for praise from anyone, I just want to see her recover and go home to live out the rest of her days.
      It's my own deal, I can't live with myself if I sat by and did nothing.
      That's just me.

      Thanks for letting me vent, it feels good.

      As for food, I will be baking today.
      Most liking with Persimmon, as I have pulp left I need to use in the freeze.

      Have a good one, and thanks for stopping by.
      *Much love, Kelly