the perfect morning

I woke up this morning craving pancake... Hot fluffy pancakes drenched in butter & covered in sweet juicy syrup. Ahhh perfection! About once a week I try to make them... Now that I think about it I usually make them on Sundays only. Probably because I have my husband to distract the kids so I can get all fancy dancy in the kitchen. My newest thing that I add to my batter is a drop of OJ & maple. It's to die for... Try it!

{picture unknown...sorry they're not my pancakes}

sunrise parfaits

Doesn't this look so yummy... Fresh & clean! You're on my hit list Mrs. Sunrise Parfait! I can't wait to make you... & eat you all up! For those of you who are faster than me on making things in the kitchen... Make it & let me know how it is. I'll be dreaming of you all day while I slave away at work!

Ingredients
1 cup fat-free milk
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup dry whole-wheat couscous
1 package (12 ounces) frozen mixed berries
2 containers (6 ounces) vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup low-fat granola

Directions
1. In a small saucepan, bring milk and salt just to boiling. Stir in couscous. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.

2. Divide couscous among six 8-ounce plastic cups (or to-go containers with lids). Top each with frozen berries and yogurt. Cover and chill overnight. Top with granola before serving.

good morning!

Good morning San Diego!

Last night I made homemade Maple-Nut Granola. Yummy! I saw a picture in the Martha Stewart, Everyday Food Magazine... It looked so good that I just had to try & make it. Sorry, I didn't take pictures of the before cooking process. I was juggling kicking kids out of the kitchen, cleaning & trying to read the recipe. Well, I did it. I knew my biggest & hardest critique would be honest with me & tell me if it was good or not... Sean loved it! Thank goodness! Then I presented it to the kids this morning... Hmmm Ryan is riding his tri-cycle around the house & Taylor is enjoying eating it. I think it was a huge success... Try & make it for your breakfast tomorrow morning. I rate it a 10 on easy to make & 10 on yummy to eat!

1 -

• Preheat oven to 325
• In a large bowl, toss together 3 1/2 cups of old-fasioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup of chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup of chopped almonds
• 1/4 teaspon of coarse salt
• 5 teaspoons of vegtable oil
• 5 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

2 -

Spread oat mixture on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Rotate sheet halfway through. Let cool completly. store in a plastic container and keep at room temperature {up to 2 weeks}.

* Put yougurt {favorite kind} on it, with bananas & honey dripped all over it. Sweet Success...

Round two

Last week I made simply seletas {check out her blog, pretty cute!} Slow Cooker oatmeal. I was so excited because I'm looking for easy, fast & healthy ways to feed the kids & my husband {breakfast, lunch & dinner}. I envisioned raspberries & sliced bananas on top sprinkled with yummy brown sugar & cinnamon... Well, it was a little watery for my husband & the kids turned their noses up at it, but I kind of liked it! So Tonight I've been browsing through all of my cookbooks looking for another slow cooking oatmeal recipe... I happened to stumbled upon one in a fabulous cook book that I have, called The Cape Cod Table, By Lora Brody.

This slow cooking oatmeal recipe contains:

• 2 1/2 cups regular oats
  

• 8 cups of water
  

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 2 tablespoons butter (optional)

• 1 cup of golden or dark raisins (optional)

Cook on Low & turn off in the morning. I'm going for the gold & i'm adding all the optionals. Wish me luck for tomorrow morning!

The coffee will be set & ready to sip ASAP... & The oatmeal will be ready to gobble down. Hopefully no one will be screaming, "Mommy, mommy I'm hungry, hurry up!" Ahhhhh don't you just love morning! Wish It was that easy... Round two here we go!