It’s a Good Mummy Morning : Banana Pancakes
I have a confession. I like to squeeze in as many seconds of shut eye as possible and this means that my three kids are always, without fail out of bed before me. They’re old enough to get their own cereal (woohoo!) so it’s not the worst guilty Mummy moment in the world, but I doubt I’ll be winning any super mum awards.
On the weekend the Playstation 3 and morning cartoons stretch out Mummy sleep time until midday. In fact my hard working hubby makes way more cooked breakfasts than me in this household. I win the score on lunch and dinner but breakfast is all about cold cereal and the occasional slice of toast from me.
On the rare occasion when our kids get a cooked breakfasts (when my amazing mother-in-law is staying with us, hubby cooked me and him a little too much and gives some to the kids or on the kids birthdays) it’s a big deal.
Yesterday morning I dragged myself into the vertical position and whipped up some pancakes. The cries of shock, “Mummy! I can smell pancakes!!!” were classic.
These are super easy to make and relatively healthy. I was out of wholemeal flour but ordinarily I’d have made them wholemeal to make them more filling and fibre rich. Apple sauce can be used in place of the vegetable oil too for a lower fat option.
1/ In a large bowl whisk together the egg, mashed bananas, vegetable oil (or apple sauce), milk and vanilla extract
2/ In a smaller bowl place your flour, salt and sugar
3/ Sift the flour mixture into your wet ingredients and combine. Your mixture will be a teensy bit lumpy
4/ Heat a fry pan over medium-high heat and grease with a little butter or oil
5/ Drop 1/4 cup of batter onto the pan and flip when it starts to look a little dimpley. Brown on the second side and stack your pancakes onto a plate when they’re done
Serve with whatever takes your fancy. I sliced a ripe banana on top with a drizzle of maple syrup (yum!)
* Recipe used is from over here
Feeling a Bit Seedy This Morning = Last Night’s Glass of Red (not) this Seedy Recipe : Slightly Healthier FlapJacks
Flapjacks aren’t the healthiest of treats with their high sugar content, but at least this recipe will leave you feeling like the wholesome ingredients (oats, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and dried fruit) equal out the less than ideal ingredients (sugar and butter). Plus I think a little something extra inside and on top your flapjacks makes them a bit more interesting. Every bite being the same as the last can get tiresome (if you’re not a crazed low-carb gal seeking a naughty, massive sugar high).
1/ Preheat your oven to 180 C (350F) and line a deep 20 x 30cm (10 x 12 inch) tin with baking paper
2/ In a large saucepan melt the granulated sugar and butter until completely dissolved. I used only 250g of butter (50g short) in mine which is a slightly lighter option, however I think my flapjacks would have been softer with the extra butter so if you can justify it then add the whole 300g of butter
3/ Remove from heat and add in the oats, agave nectar (golden syrup), 2 Tablespoons of pumpkin seeds, 2 Tablespoons of sunflower seeds, 2 Tablespoons of dried cranberries (or sultanas or raisins) and cut the dried apricots into small pieces with kitchen scissors before dropping them into your mixture
4/ Stir until all the ingredients are well combined
5/ Pour into your baking tin and spread evenly pressing down with the back of a spoon until flat and smooth
6/ The recipe suggests reserving half the dried apricots to sprinkle on top but I found the apricots burnt in the first 10 minutes of baking, so next time I’ll mix them all into the mixture to avoid yucky black apricots!
Sprinkle the remaining Tablespoon of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and dried cranberries evenly over your mixture and press them in a little
7/ Bake in your preheated oven for 10 minutes uncovered, then cover with foil for another 15 minutes
8/ Turn off your oven and let your flapjacks sit for 10 minutes before putting them on the bench. Using a sharp knife cut them into 24 squares and allow to cool completely
9/ Once completely cool (I waited about an hour) lift them out using the baking paper onto a flat surface and pull them apart (re-cut if you need to)
10/ Store in an airtight container for 3 days
Enjoy!
* Recipe is an altered version of a Clover Light Butter advert in my Sainsbury’s Magazine March 2012 – I added extra seeds and dried fruit and used agave nectar in place of golden syrup, yum!
Kinda Gingerbread-y in a Vegetable-y Kinda Way: Wholemeal Zucchini Bread
Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F)
In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg
In a large bowl whisk together the vegetable oil, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract until well combined
Stir in the grated zucchini and grated apple
Fold in the flour and spices mixture
Finally fold in the coconut and walnuts and stir your mixture until all your ingredients are combined
Pour into a greased loaf tin
Bake in the centre of your oven for 50-60 minutes or until your bread has risen and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean
I serve mine sliced with a little spread of butter. The original recipe includes a cream cheese frosting.
To make the frosting: Beat together a 1/4 cup of softened butter and 110g (4 ounces) of cream cheese until completely smooth and then gradually add in 3 Tablespoons of Icing Sugar (Confectioners Sugar). Stir in a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla before spreading over the zucchini bread (allow to cool completely first).
* Recipe adapted from this one
Still Running With a Case of the Lazy January’s : Peanut Butter Cornflake Cookies
1/ Place the sugar and agave nectar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil stirring
2/ Remove from heat and immediately stir in the peanut butter and the Tablespoon of butter
3/ Place the cornflakes into a large bowl before pouring in the mixture
4/ Give it a REALLY good stir through
5/ Onto a lined tray place balls of mixture (about 1/2 a desert spoon full) and flatten into cookies. This mix makes 20 small cookies or 10 big ones
6/ They now just need to be left to harden (you can eat them now but they aren’t really crunchy until they’ve completely cooled). Eat them as is if you like but I love them with a sprinkling of cinnamon and/or a sprinkling of sea salt. The sweet and salty is delicious!
A drizzle of chocolate followed by the sea salt is heavenly too!
I popped some crunchy peanuts on top of mine this time around. Maybe avoid the extra nuts if feeding to under 5′s if you’re concerned about choking.
* Recipe originally from here
An Oldie But A Goodie : Shepherd’s Pie
You might have picked up on a theme of late. January for me is a bit of a cop out on the meals front. After crazy Christmas cooking and Master 8′s birthday I’m generally pretty burnt out by January and not feeling the least bit creative. Any one else get a case of the Lazy Cook’s in January?
Anywho! Shepherds Pie is an easy “make-in-bulk” dinner option and this means I can get 3 night’s worth of meals done in one cooking session and that makes me one happy, happy lady!
1/ Boil, drain and mash your potatoes (with milk and butter if you like) and set aside. If you have two large saucepans you can wait until your meat mixture is simmering before boiling your potatoes if you prefer (more…)
Scrummy Afternoon Tea For Very Little Effort : Date and Lemon Scones
I’ll be honest, I’m trying my darndest not to eat anything naughty for the next few months (I can’t vouch for my self-control once Easter Eggs make their way into our cupboards). So in the interest of trying to get a grip on my bad eating my sweet recipe this week has very little sugar in it (unless you count the jam on top but I for one would rather not).
Date and Lemon Scones
3 Cups of Self-Raising Flour
2 Tbsp of Caster Sugar
1 egg
Zest of 1 lemon
1 Cup of chopped, dried Dates
150ml – 175ml (5 – 6 ounces) of Milk (I used Skim but whatever you have will do)
150ml (5oz + 2tsp) of cream
1/ Preheat your oven to 200C/400F
2/ In a small bowl or jug whisk together the cream, 150ml (5oz) of milk and the egg
3/ In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients. For best results (lovely fluffy and fall apart in your mouth scones) you don’t want to over work your dough so be gentle combining your ingredients and working your dough (more…)
Visit My Personal Blog
-
About Me
-
-
Wholemeal Chocolate and Orange Brownies
Winter Vegetable Soup
Banana Pancakes
Candy Bar Filled Cupcakes
Rich Fruit Cake (DIY Wedding Cake or Christmas Cake)
Shepherd’s Pie
Jammy Filled Cupcakes
Peppermint Creams
Butterfly Cakes
Coffee and Walnut Cake
Apple and Blackberry Pie
Italian Style Lamb Stew
Choc Chip Banana Muffins
