Pumpkin Pancakes (Veganized for your pleasure)

Adapted from allrecipes and thoroughly changed by Katy

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

• 1 & 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups vanilla soymilk
• 1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup applesauce
  
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons vinegar

DIRECTIONS

1. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, applesauce, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
2. Heat a frying pan over low-medium heat and add a bit of Parkay Squeeze (vegan!) margarine. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.
3. Cook all batter and freeze leftovers. Microwave for about 30 seconds for a quick breakfast with hidden fruits & veggies!
   

Breakfast Cookies for Killian

Killian and I (and Preston, but that's a different post) started attending play group. It's very "feel good" and crunchy, focusing on non-violent parenting and establishing independence in your toddler. I hate it. Not because of what they teach but because Killian is forced to change activities every 15 minutes or so and he hates to sit still for story time. He will at home, where he can touch the book and help turn pages, but not in a group setting with so many other things to do.
In addition they serve snack which seems to consist of stupid Goldfish crackers! The playgroup is sponsored by the Idaho Healthy Families Initiative. How, exactly, do Goldfish crackers fit into that? Killian can't have Goldfish crackers, as I remind them almost every week, so he gets whatever I brought as a replacement and I am wracked with nameless bad feelings and guilt over my son's allergies. I hate separating his food like he's some little freak and I get so annoyed that they continue to serve these rainbow colored demons within arm's reach of him.
Last week I left Killian's graham crackers there so I wouldn't have to remember them every week. But someone stole them! Of course this week they were serving breakfast cookies with egg listed in the ingredients and I had no replacement. Granted Killian's allergies are mild enough that baked cookies with egg as an ingredient don't bother him but they don't know that and I try to keep the egg and milk intake to a minimum. He does get an upset tummy and we both pay the price if he overdoes it. The very, very kind lady that ran the group took the orange out of her lunch and served that for snack instead. I was extremely appreciative!
So this whole long vent leads to a great outcome. I modified a No Bake Cookie recipe from Allrecipes.com to come up with healthy, delicious Vegan Breakfast Cookies. They contain loads of anti-oxidants, oats, not too much sugar and protein in the form of peanut butter. Recipe follows:

Vegan Breakfast Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. In a saucepan over medium heat combine the maple syrup, oil, & cocoa. Boil for three minutes or until thickened and smooth, stirring constantly.
   
2. In separate bowl combine peanut butter and vanilla until well blended.
3. Add oats and stir as much as possible into peanut mixture.
   
4. Remove chocolate mixture from heat and stir in the oat mix. Stir until well blended.
   
5. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper and chill to set, about 30 minutes.

Never Know It's Healthy Chili

An easy and delicious slow cooker chili. It is allergy-friendly for most allergens. It has tons of hidden veggies and enough seasoning that you'd never guess it was low fat! I always make this large recipe and freeze individual servings for quick re-heats.

Ingredients

2lbs Ground beef, turkey or game

1/4 Onion, chopped

2 cans Black beans

2 Small cans tomato sauce

2 cans Diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon Chili powder

1 Red bell pepper, chopped finely

1 Yellow bell pepper, chopped finely

2 cups Baby carrots (about 20) chopped finely

1 teaspoon Paprika

Pinch of oregano

1/2 tablespoon Garlic powder

1 teaspoon Cumin

Salt and pepper

1/2 tablespoon Season salt

Preparation

Cook both meats through then add onion and cook until soft. Drain off grease and place meat and onion mix in a colander over your sink. Open both cans of beans and empty into colander over meat. Rinse everything thoroughly under hot water. Add to Crockpot.

Add all remaining ingredients to Crockpot and cook on low for at least 3 hours and a maximum of 10. Enjoy!

Sites to Ease the Pain of Domesticity

Visit Geezeo
This is a personal finance site. Set a budget, track your spending, personalize your bill pay reminders. Do it all in one free, easy to use site!

SpringPadit
This is a site for all of those who love a To-Do list! Instead of trying to find that crumpled piece of paper wadded up in your purse just keep it online. Make grocery lists, keep recipes, even plan ahead a week of meals, all just a click away.

ConsumerSay
You know when you think, "A mom/woman/person could not have invented this or it would work so much better?" Well, make them listen here!

Visit Venus Smile Makeover
And once you've gotten all your bills paid, added to your savings, planned all your meals, gone grocery shopping and made the world a slightly better place you can visit this site and give yourself a virtual makeover! C'mon, you deserve a laugh and a break.

Literally Sick of the Time Change

Ugh! Killian was sick all last week and I spent all weekend throwing up and struggling to keep down gatorade so I didn't get everything finished. I feel like I should get a reprieve and I am generously allowing myself an extra week to finish. I guess that's a mom's prerogative, though, right? See ya soon!

Time Change is Approaching

So I have accomplished a lot but I am not done with my list yet. Since I only have until Sunday I better get crackin' on my bi-annual cleaning spree! Here is my original list:

1. Check all smoke detectors.
2. Replace fridge's water filter.
   
3. Clean out kitchen cabinets. Donate what's unlikely to be eaten and rarely used small appliances.
4. Move and clean behind stove and fridge.
5. Clean all interior windows.
6. Clean all exterior windows. (YIKES!)
7. Get carpets professionally cleaned.
8. Dust all light fixtures and replace at least 1 bulb in each room with a CFL.
9. Get yard ready for winter *directions to follow* including getting all toys boxed up and inside.
10. Clean baseboards!

And here is my revised list:

1. Reclean all interior windows and make Killian stop licking them.
   
2. Schedule carpet cleaner
3. Replace fridge's water filter.
4. Organize kitchen cabinets. Collect unused appliances and give as Christmas present to poor, unemployed brother.
5. Clean behind stove. (Did the fridge!)
6. Finish the light fixture cleaning.
   
7. Clean baseboards!

I am more than halfway done if you look to see that many of the BIG jobs have been removed. I mowed my lawn and had the sprinklers winterized already. All toys and wood from the deck project have been placed in an appropriate area until next year. I may do a bit more work, like chop the weed field down and get the junk pile on the side of the house to the dump but all necessary lawn care has been finished. I have gone through both the kitchen and the cold storage for excess food and donated it all to either the food bank or the poor/unemployed brother so now I need to go through my mixing bowls and small appliances to get my cupboards nice and bare. Some light fixtures have been cleaned but unfortunately I had to replace all the bulbs in my ceiling fan so all my cfl bulbs are in use and will not be spread throughout the house at this time. I will continue to replace burnt bulbs with a cfl though.
As for the exterior windows, they were really not that hard to clean. I fear no ladder so I just climbed up with a bucket of soapy water, a squeegee from Bed, Bath & Beyond, a few dry rags and Windex. For detailed instructions post a comment and I'll get them to you. It was actually kind of fun playing with a bucket of soapy water on a nice warm and sunshiney day. Of course there was a storm that same week so all my work was for naught. Such is the life of an overly ambitious housewife!
I am now down to a few very manageable tasks that are all under the 20 minute range. If I could make myself do them instead of reading a new novel every spare minute...

What to do with all this zucchini?

My neighbor has a plethora of vegetables in his garden and he likes to share the wealth. I am botanically challenged so I gladly accept all hand-outs from those so inclined. So far this year I have gotten grapes, yellow and green zucchini, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos and basil. I've made numerous tomato dishes and sauces as well as salsa and pico de gallo. With the recent addition of fresh, local and organic yellow zucchini to my kitchen counter I started searching for recipes. My 1 year old son is allergic to milk and eggs so traditional zucchini bread wouldn't work. Using the ingredient search I found a great recipe without eggs. I did change the flour from all purpose to a healthier blend that is courtesy of Missy Chase Lapine



Kingman's Vegan Zucchini Bread

"Delicious and fluffy zucchini bread can be made without eggs!"
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups all-purpose flour *or 1 cup white flour, 1 cup wheat flour & 1 cup wheat germ*
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup applesauce
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F, Grease and flour muffin pan for 24 muffins.
Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, & baking powder, in a bowl until evenly blended; set aside.
2. Whisk together the applesauce, white sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth. Fold in the flour mixture and shredded zucchini until moistened. Use a small 1/4 cup of batter per muffin.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2008 Allrecipes.com
(Original recipe slightly altered by Katy but copyright & credit still remains with Allrecipes.com)


The result was a plateful of delicious and healthy muffins! They weren't too dense, they rose beautifully and they tasted delicious. Next time I will decrease the white sugar by half and replace it with additional brown sugar. My son loves them just the way they are though and I couldn't be happier. I will keep these in the freezer and pop them into the microwave to warm. If I add a bit of Parkay Squeeze (also vegan and allergy friendly and oh-so tasty) they are a homemade breakfast that we can eat on our way to story time, music class or running errands.