So I’m still here.  Still cooking.  Still feeding the boys.

When Tiffany and Lisa shared these recipes with me, I couldn’t decide which to try.  So I made both.  We sampled each…and the rest went into the overflowing freezer.

I will let you go recipe exploring yourselves.

Lisa’s Banana Cinnamon Waffles

Tiffany’s Gingerbread Waffles with Vanilla Cream Sauce (pictured above)

Org Junkie’s Laura also shared this Gluten Free Dairy Free pancake recipe that her son L-O-V-E-S!

Now you see why I made them both!

We had these with some fresh pineapple and scrambled eggs.

On the baby front…if this little man doesn’t arrive over the weekend, he will arrive on Monday.  We have made the decision to be induced if necessary!  So keep your eyes peeled on Monday.  I’ll likely send out a few Twitter updates on Monday, if you wanna follow along!  So excited to meet the little guy!!!

Next week…a fun and fantastic Thanksgiving series coming up! 

Have a super weekend!

I shared with you #bakingday Part 1.  And here is part 2 and 3.

Saturday

I spent several hours on Satruday whipping up all sorts of stuff in the kitchen!

See?

Here’s the complete list…sorta:

1. 4 Holiday Recipes – which I PROMISE to share in plenty of time for the holidays! Yes, including the pies pictured.

2. 18 Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Burritos for the Hubs (All-natural sausage plus scrambled eggs with cheese…wrapped in whole wheat tortillas!)

3. Breakfast muffins…recipe coming Monday

4. Roasted 3 pie pumpkins

And then there was this.  I didn’t have the heart to ask the Hubs to help with these.  Because he was outside raking leaves (we have 48 trees on our property!) the entire time I was in the kitchen.  I typically “do the dishes as I go,” but I just had too many things going on at once, I couldn’t keep up!

Tuesday

The list for today was a bit shorter.

• Drop biscuits
• Lynn’s Cinnamon Rolls
• Mini Pizza Crusts

And with that. I’m done. Freezer couldn’t be any more full than it is.

I’m going to sit on the couch for the next 2 weeks.  Well, not really.

But really.

I joined in the first #bakingday on Twitter sorta by accident.  And there’s another one coming up next week…Tuesday and Wednesday.  Hosted by Crystal and Jessica.

I’d love to join in, but don’t think my body would allow me to cook and bake what I have on my list in 1 day!  So I started today and will chip away at the list, one day at a time! 

Finishing up the freezer stock up list.  And then some!

And experimenting with a few holiday recipes!  Which I promise to share soon!

So I wore myself out this morning in just 1 hour.  And this was all I got accomplished. 

Sigh.

See why I’m breaking this up into parts!!!

1. In the slow cooker, prepare 2 whole chickens, shred meat and freeze stock.
2. Cook 4 lbs ground chuck for spaghetti sauce – froze 6 dinner portions in freezer baggies.
3. Whole Wheat Chocolate Zucchini Muffins - Made 36 minis, 8 mini loaves, and 24 regular size muffins.  Most of which made it into the freezer!
4. Holiday Breakfast Experiment…Recipe coming soon!  Sorry for the tease…I just can’t share it yet!

There’s more to come on Monday and Tuesday of my broken-up #bakingday! And if you’ve got any baking to do, come join in the fun!!!

In the meantime, have a great weekend friends!!!

I just HAD to make these after seeing them on Amy’s list. I made some modifications. Mainly made them dairy free, and didn’t use oats (since my youngest seems to have an aversion!).

A delightful autumn dessert!

Ingredients

Crust
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter

Filling
1 15 oz. can pumpkin
1 1/2 cup soy milk (Original recipe calls for 12 oz can evaporated milk)
2 eggs
1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice

Topping
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
1. In large mixing bowl, combine flours, brown sugar and cut in the butter using a pastry blender. Once crumbly, add the crust mixture to a greased 9×13-inch baking dish. Press into the bottom with a measuring cup. (Will appear loose and that’s OK!)
2. In same mixing bowl, whisk pumpkin, milk, eggs and pumpkin pie spice. Pour over the crust and spread out over the crust. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in small mixing bowl, toss together the chopped pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon. After 20 minutes, remove the baking dish and top with the pecan mixture. Continue baking at 350 for another 15-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean in the center.
4. Let cool on cooling rack and cut into 2 inch x 2 inch squares.
5. Top each Pumpkin Pecan Bar with dollop of whippped cream.

A delicious fall after school snack!

Makes 18 regular sized muffins, or 12 regular sized muffins plus 12 mini muffins

Ingredients
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
4 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
1 cup white flour
1 cup wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup dried cranberries
1 medium Jonathon or Macintosh apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 12 muffin tin wells and 12 mini muffin wells, or 18 regular size muffin tin wells.

2. In stand mixer or large mixing bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, applesauce, oil and milk.

3. In small mixing bowl, combine white flour, wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add to the wet ingredients in the mixer/mixing bowl and combine until batter forms.

4. In another small bowl, stir together cranberries, finely chopped apples, cinnamon and brown sugar. Fold the cranberries and apples into the batter.

5. Bake in preheated oven, using these time frames: Regular sized muffins for 16-18 minutes. Or mini muffins for 13-15 minutes.

**Note: If you don’t use all the wells in your muffin tin, just fill them with water so they don’t brown.  Plus the water creates a nice steamy environment in the oven!

Enjoy!

As promised…

Also I’m planning on making these Pumpkin Soft Pretzels soon!

Ingredients

Option #1
2 cups favorite pancake mix (plus water, or eggs/milk, as indicated on box)
1/2 cup canned or fresh pumpkin
1/4 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ginger

Substitution Options:
Substitute 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon, allspice and ginger

Option #2 - From scratch
1 cup wheat flour
1 cup white flour
3 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup milk (I use rice milk!)
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
2 Tbsp oil

Directions

1. In mixing bowl, combine pancake mix with water or eggs/milk.  Whisk.  Then whisk in canned pumpkin and water.  Finally, whisk in spices.

1b. Option #2 – In mixing bowl, stir together flours, brown sugar, powder, soda, allspice, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Whisk in milk, then pumpkin, then egg and oil.

2. Pour batter in 1/3 cup portions onto griddle.  Let cook until bubbles form.  Flip and let cook another 1-2 minutes.

3. Have a little fun with things!  I’m sorry I have no idea where these molds came from.  They were a Christmas gift to the boys!

4. Serve with butter and syrup.  These taste best with maple syrup, but regular syrup will do the trick too!

**Note: The pumpkin does make these pancakes a little more “dense” that non-pumpkin pancakes.  They will feel and taste heavier than the plain and fluffier pancake.  Don’t be alarmed!  And certainly, don’t be deterred!!!

Today’s Guest Post comes from Lynn at Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures. I made these (dairy free…modifications below) last week during my baking day and MMMMMMM.  That’s all I gotta say.  These are $5 Dinner Mom APPROVED!!!

I love to bake, and breads and desserts are some of my favorite things to make. Yes, it takes time to make these at home, but they are not hard to do. I think they are well worth the time they take. The quality of what I can make at home is so much better and healthier than what I can buy in a store. Not only do they taste better, they are usually a lot cheaper.

These cinnamon rolls are one of my favorite things to make. They are also one of my family’s favorite treats to eat. But I will warn you, these are not healthy. When I want a cinnamon roll, I forget about being healthy. I think there is a time for healthy, and I have plenty of healthy recipes. But when I want a cinnamon roll, I want a real cinnamon roll, not a healthy version.

This recipe makes a lot. I usually get 24-26 cinnamon rolls out of it. If I am not sending some to work with my husband for him to share with his staff, I freeze them. These freeze really well. I like to freeze these during the holidays, so that I can use them for a special breakfast without adding a lot of work during an already busy cooking time.

I can’t take full credit for this recipe though. It came from my sister, who found it in her local newspaper. I did however tweak it for our tastes. I use the same dough, but adjusted the filling and came up with a frosting that we love on top of them.

Lynn’s Cinnamon Rolls

Dough
2 pkg. active dry yeast
1 C. warm water (105-110 degrees)
2/3 C. plus 1 tsp. granulated sugar, divided
1 C. warmed milk
2/3 C. butter, room temperature
2 tsp salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
7-8 C. all-purpose flour or a little more if needed

Filling
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup regular sugar
2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

Frosting
4 ounces of cream cheese
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

For the dough:
In a small bowl mix together warm water, yeast, and 1 tsp. sugar and set aside. In a large bowl, mix milk, remaining 2/3 cup sugar, melted butter, salt and eggs; stir well and add yeast mixture. Add half the flour and beat until smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour until dough is slightly stiff. Turn out onto a well-floured board; knead 5 -10 minutes. I do the kneading in my Kitchen Aid Mixer, and it works well. But if you do not have a mixer that will knead this much dough, you can mix by hand.

Place in well-buttered glass or plastic bowl, cover and let rise in warm place, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

When doubled, punch down dough and let rest 5 minutes.

Divide dough in half and roll each half into a rectangle, about 12×18 in size. I roll my dough pretty thin. I like lots of layers of dough and filling. The thinner the dough, the more layers to your cinnamon roll. I roll it to a little thinner than ¼ inch thick.

For filling:
Spread dough with butter.

Mix together 1 cup sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over buttered dough. Roll up jellyroll-fashion and seal edges together. I usually dip my finger in water and wet the edge of the dough to help it seal better.

Cut each roll into 12 to 15 slices. Place in greased 9×13 or similar pans. But do not crowd the pans. I only put 7 or 8 in a 9×13 pan. I think this helps you get a better texture to your rolls.

Let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. You do not want to overcook these.

For frosting:
Combine and mix with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes. You want to beat it this long. Don’t skip this step. You want the frosting light and fluffy.

Spread this on warm cinnamon rolls. I let the cinnamon rolls cool about 8 minutes. That is all. You want the rolls warm so that the frosting melts slightly and runs down in between the layers of the rolls. I usually spread ½ the frosting on while the rolls are warm and then the rest once they are a little cooler.

***Erin’s Dairy Free Modifications: Substitute 1 cup of warmed rice milk for the warmed milk. Substitute a dairy free margarine (I use Smart Balance with Flax Oil) for all the places that call for butter. Omit cream cheese in frosting…make an icing instead.  1/4 cup dairy free margarine, 2 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and 2 1/2 – 3 Tbsp rice milk.

Lynn is a stay at home, homeschooling mom. She loves to bake and cook and try new recipes. She writes cooking tips, recipes, and other kitchen ideas at www.lynnskitchenadventures.com .

Today I spent some time in the kitchen.  Most of the afternoon, really.  I joined in the Twitter #bakingday fun, being hosted by Crystal at Money Saving Mom.  And let me tell ya…it’s way more fun baking with others, even if they aren’t actually in the kitchen with you!!!

I’ve been creating some space in the freezer this week…only to fill it back up with today’s baked goodies!

Overall I made and mostly froze (because some had to be consumed for quality control purposes!!!)…

Because what a shame to not send these through quality control!!!  They passed the mom, little boy and big boy test!  All approved!

• 8 mini loaves Pumpkin Coconut Bread (recipe below)
• 1 large loaf Pumpkin Coconut Bread
• 12 regular size Cinnamon Butternut Squash Muffins
• 24 mini Cinnamon Butternut Squash Muffins
• 12 Oatmeal Raisin cookies (using dough I had in the freezer)
• 36 Cinnamon Rolls (I will share the recipe next week…including a dairy-free version!)

Pumpkin Coconut Bread

I modified this eggless recipe!

Ingredients
3 eggs
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup milk (I used rice milk)
1 15 oz. can pure pumpkin
1 cup coconut flakes
2 1/2 cup wheat flour
1 cup white flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup walnuts (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 large loaf pans…or 1 loaf pan and 8 mini-loaf tins.
2. In stand mixer or large mixing bowl, mix eggs, brown sugar, sugar, oil, applesauce, milk, pumpkin and coconut flakes, until well blended. Add wheat and white flours, baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon and mix into the wet ingredients for 2-3 minutes (in stand mixer or with hand mixer.). Fold in walnuts.
3. Pour batter into 2 loaf pans or 1 loaf pan and 8 mini-loaf tins.
4. Bake at 350. Large loaf pans for 50-55 minutes. Mini-loaf tin for 22-24 minutes, or until knife/toothpick comes out clean.
5. Cool on cooking rack.
6. Serve or freeze.

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A light and perfect muffin…for snack or breakfast!  I try to keep the sugar low in muffin recipes, and I thought these had the perfect sweetness level.  And judging by the “mmm” that came from both boys after having a taste, I’d say these were a success!

Ingredients
1 banana, mashed
1 cup cooked butternut squash
4 eggs
1/3 cup applesauce
1/3 cup white sugar
6 Tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour

Optional Topping:
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions
1. In stand mixer or mixing bowl, mix banana, butternut squash, eggs, applesauce, sugar, and oil, until well blended.
2. In separate mixing bowl, combine salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, wheat flour and white flour.
3. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until batter forms.
4. Pour into greased baking cups or muffin tins, and sprinkle with brown sugar-cinnamon topping. Makes 24 regular size muffins, 48 mini muffins, or 12 regular muffins and 24 mini muffins (what I did!).
5. Bake at 350. Regular size muffins for 16-18 minutes. Mini muffins for 13-15 minutes.

I made drop biscuits this afternoon and we’re having them with baked chicken drumsticks and green beans from the garden.  But I’m just sharing the drop biscuit recipe with ya tonight!

Cheap Dinner Alert: If you have a Meijer nearby, you’ll want to be adding this dinner to your meal plan next week!!!

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp butter or margarine (I used dairy free margarine)
1 cup milk (I used rice milk!)

Directions
1. In mixing bowl, combine wheat flour, white flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. Cut in 4 Tbsp of butter with pastry blender or 2 knives.
3. Slowly mix in milk and stir with fork. Mix until thick batter forms.
4. Drop biscuits onto greased cooking sheet or into greased muffin tins. Makes 12 biscuits.
5. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Cool on cooling rack.
6. Serve warm with Cinnamon Honey Butter.

*Cinnamon Honey Butter: Combine 1 Tbsp honey with 2 Tbsp butter or margarine and 1/4 tsp cinnamon.

Enjoy!!!

P.S. These would make for an excellent weekend breakfast!