Fall has arrived!

It's Saturday again and we made another big breakfast.  I promise that my next post will not be about breakfast but I couldn't resist trying pumpkin pancakes this morning. They turned out well so I want to share them with you.

Addy has come to expect cooking on weekend mornings. She climbed into her Learning Tower first thing this morning and started to dig into the spice drawer.  Most of the cabinets at her level are still safety latched but I keep the towel drawer, the kids cup drawer and the spice drawer open for her. It definitely provides her with a sense of accomplishment when she can get out what she needs.  The cup and towel drawers are at her level.  She has to be in the tower to get to the spices.

Even if you don't do a lot of cooking with your kids I recommend letting them have some autonomy in the kitchen so that they learn to do things on their own.  Just be clear and realistic with your expectations.  For example, if your child is going through the stage where they have to take everything out of the container and strew it around, only keep a few cups in the drawer.  Otherwise you'll be picking up and washing way too much.  Once they've passed that you can keep the drawer full.

Yesterday we went to a local pumpkin patch with some of our friends.  We didn't pick any pumpkins put we did pose with them for pictures.  Maybe that's why I had pumpkin on the mind this  morning.  These pancakes start with the basic pancake recipe that we like so I'll list that first with the pumpkin addition at the end.  We served them with whipped cream bananas and honey.  I like walnuts on mine but Chad and Addy skipped that part.

The original part of the recipe comes from the Betty Crocker cookbook.

Pancakes
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour/ replace up to half with whole wheat flour
3/4 cup milk
1 TBL brown sugar
2 TBL vegetable oil
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt


Beat egg until foamy.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth.  (You can use an electric mixer but we use a whisk so Addy can do the stirring safely.)  Let the mixture rest a few minutes while you heat the griddle to medium heat.  When you drop a few drops of water on the griddle they should jump around.  Cook pancakes until bubbles form on the first side then flip until evenly brown.

Pumpkin addition:
After beating the egg until foaming add:
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cloves
grated nutmeg
1 TBL brown sugar


Finish mixing with other ingredients and cook as described above.


What do you do to celebrate fall?

Bamper's Waffles

Weekend breakfasts are big around our house.  During the week we eat quick healthy breakfasts but on the weekend we enjoy spending time together in the kitchen creating.  This Sunday we made waffles.

We use the Betty Crocker cookbook and it is the same recipe my dad has always made. My parents go by Bamper and Bammer for now, so we'll call these Bamper's waffles. Chad was in charge of the bacon and the photos, while Addy and I made the waffles, cut the berries and whipped the cream. Addy stayed with us in the kitchen throughout the whole process. 

As she has begun to notice writing in books I have begun to keep the recipes within her reach and ask her to read me the next step.  Obviously she isn't reading yet but knowing the significance of print is a big pre-literacy skill.

We started with the mixing.  She is really getting the hang of careful stirring, especially if I talk her through it.  Telling her how to hold her hands and how quickly/slowly to go.  When the bowl isn't very full I can let her stir on her own and but as we get towards the end of the recipe I like to keep a hand on the bowl.

We replace up to a cup of all purpose flour with whole wheat flour.  It adds health benefits as well as a nice nutty flavor that we like.  You can mix these with a hand mixer but since Addy was helping we just did it all with a whisk.

Bamper's Waffles

2 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 TBLS brown sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Beat the eggs until fluffy.  Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth.

Heat waffle iron while you are whipping cream and cutting strawberries.  Our waffle iron takes 2/3 of cup of batter at a time but this may vary depending on the model that you use. You can use the batter later on in the week but I like to make all the waffles and then freeze the extras.  They heat up well in the toaster oven.  The kids devoured the extras for lunch yesterday with plain yoghurt, honey and berries on them.

This time Addy wanted to help cut the berries.  I removed the tops and then she helped chop them using one of her knives.  I think she ate as many as went into the bowl.

Our breakfast was delicious and gave us plenty of energy for the rest of the morning.  Here is Addy playing "secret garden" in our back yard.

Morning Smoothies or Popsicles

This morning was definitely a smoothie morning. You can tell when it's time for a smoothie breakfast if it is already getting warm when you let your dog out into the yard.

This recipe is less about the amounts and more about the order of things. So with Addy I tell her the steps before we start and then see if she can help me remember all of the ingredients as we go along. Then of course I let her press the button on the mixer. This accomplishes a couple things. First if the noise is a surprise it scares both her and the dog. If Addy presses the button only Suka gets startled. It also helps with her fine motor skills and hand strength as the buttons are pretty tight on our blender. I bet all toddlers love to press buttons and this lets her see, hear, and taste the outcome of her button pushing.

We have used this "recipe" for a few years now. It originally came from a pamphlet about cooking with honey from the Indiana Beekeepers Association. This fills two large glasses and a small sippy cup or bowl for Addy.

1. fill blender half way with frozen fruit of your choice (it was strawberries for us this morning)-frozen fruit means you have a nice cold smoothie and didn't have to add ice
2. drop in frozen banana-fresh will do here and allows for more hand eye coordination development as Addy had to break the banana and then reach up and drop each piece into the blender
3. a large dollop of yogurt-we like vanilla yogurt in the smoothie but you could always add a splash of vanilla and plain yogurt
4. a dollop of honey
5. add a milk of your choice to the 5 cup line (soy milk is great in smoothies)
6. blend until smooth

We had ours with a piece of toast to make a balanced and filling breakfast. Sometimes I add nutritional boosters like flax or brewer's yeast flakes. We didn't have any on hand so we skipped that step today.

If you don't want them for breakfast or have some left over, pour them into popsicle molds, freeze and enjoy. Addy sometimes doesn't like yogurt but I've found that she loves popsicles made with yogurt. Often I'll just mash some fruit into plain yogurt add a little honey and cinnamon and freeze that for her. She loves it and it is a great way to get more nutrients into her snacks.