Blueberry Pancakes

For my daughter’s birthday I made pancakes for breakfast.

When I made the pancakes, I realized I didn’t have any milk.  I’d say that is a pretty vital ingredient!  Well, necessity is the mother of invention- I did have half and half and I used that instead… well they were very light and puffy.  Try it sometime…

Here is what I do:

It pretty much follows the recipe on the box of Betty Crocker Bisquick Mix:

Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Original Bisquick Mix
• 1 cup Milk (or in a pinch half and half)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (my addition)
• 1 large can blueberries (my addition)

Combine the above ingredients.  In a cast iron skillet over medium heat add a pat of butter and pour approximately 1/4 cup size batter in the prepared skillet.  Add blueberries. I use canned blueberries — the brand I really like is: Oregon Fruit Products.  The berries are huge – almost dime size! Allow to brown.  Turn over with a spatula.  Brown other side.  Keep in a serving dish in the oven at 250 to keep warm until you have baked all of them.  Serve with blueberry syrup, maple syrup and whipped cream — it was a birthday celebration after all!  Enjoy!

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My Favorite Lasagna

I love Lasagna.

Nothing screams comfort food to me more than lasagna.  Something about it — I think it’s the carbs – call out my name and say “Eat ME!”  My oldest daughter turns 13 this week and this was her requested Birthday meal – well, we started off with her favorite breakfast: blueberry pancakes, then had subway for lunch and lasagna for dinner.  This is about the lasagna!

One of my friends gave me the recipe for Spinach Lasagna.  It has been a recipe in our family for about 15 years now.  I like having meat in my lasagna, so now I make the same recipe but add a package of cooked mild Italian sausage to the mix.  I use the Barilla brand noodles because they are flat, but you could use any pasta you want.  The best part of this is: you DON’T have to COOK the pasta ahead.  Just lay them down in the lasagna dry!  Terrific and easy to make!  Even easier to eat.  It is a great way to sneak in those vegetables that the kids won’t go near, but when mixed with cheese and pasta they don’t seem to notice.

Nan’s Spinach Lasagna – Nan P.

Ingredients

• 15    ounces    Cheese, Ricotta
• 2    cups    Cheese, Mozzarella — shredded
• 1    large    Egg
• 10    ounces    Spinach, Frozen, chopped — thawed and drained
• 1    tsp    Salt
• 3/4    tsp    Oregano
• 1/8    tsp    Pepper
• 1    clove    Garlic — minced
• 2    cans    Sauce, Spaghetti — 28 ounce each
• 8    ounces    Lasagna noodles — uncooked
• 8    ounces    Sausage, Italian, Sweet — optional

Instructions
Mix 1 cup Mozzarella, ricotta, egg, spinach, garlic, spices together. In a greased 13x9x2 inch baking dish, layer 1/2 cup sauce, 1/3 of noodles, cheese (optional cooked sausage), Repeat with sauce, noodles, cheese, noodles, sauce.  Top off with remaining cup of mozzarella cheese. Cover tightly with foil.  Bake at 350° F for 1 hour 15 minutes.  Let stand, covered, for 15 minutes before serving.

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Boston Market Meatloaf

Boston Market Meatloaf!  Mmmm

I don’t know about you, but I love the meatloaf at Boston Market!  I think the name of the chain used to be Boston Chicken, but they changed the name in the 90′s.  I always wanted to be able to make it at home.  I don’t think it is spot on but it does come close! — I’ve had issues with the meatloaf falling apart on me in the past, though that has been less of a problem when I added an egg to the mixture for binding.  Our family has nicknamed it “lumpy meatloaf” for the very reason that it does not keep its shape very well.  But that is forgiven, because it does have a really good flavor!

The recipe originates in one of the books by Todd Wilbur (Even More Top Secret Recipes: More Amazing Kitchen Clones of America’s Favorite Brand-name Foods).  If you do not have the series of books, I think they are worth picking up.  He has copycat recipes by common and popular food chains.

http://www.toddwilbur.com/

Boston Market Meatloaf – Todd Wilbur

Ingredients

• 2    cups    Sauce, Tomato
• 3    Tbsp    Barbecue Sauce — Kraft Original is good
• 2    Tbsp    Sugar
• 1 1/2    lbs    Sirloin, Ground — 10% fat
• 6    Tbsp    Flour
• 3/4    tsp    Salt
• 1/2    tsp    Onion Powder
• 1/4    tsp    Black Pepper — ground
• dash    Garlic Powder

Instructions
For Sauce: Combine Tomato sauce, Barbecue sauce and sugar. in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Heat the mixture until it begins to bubble, stirring often, then remove from heat.
Preheat oven to 400F
In a large bowl, add 1 cup of Tomato sauce to the meat.  Use a large wooden spoon or your hands to work the sauce into the meat until it is well combined.
Combine the remaining ingredients with the ground sirloin – flour, salt onion powder, ground pepper, and garlic powder.  Use the wooden spoon or your hands to work the spices and flour into the meat.
Load the meat into a loaf pan (preferably a meatloaf pan with the 2 sections that allows the fat to drain. but if you don’t have one of those a regular pan will work.  Wrap foil over
the pan and place into the oven for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, take the meatloaf from the oven, remove the foil and if you aren’t using a meatloaf pan, drain the fat.
Using a knife, slice the meatloaf all the way through into 8 slices while it is still in the pan.  This will help to cook the center of the meatloaf.  Pour about 2 Tbsp of reserved tomato sauce over the meatloaf and let it stream down the center. (do not spread the sauce)
Place the meatloaf back into the oven, uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until it is done.  Remove and allow it to cool for a few minutes before serving.  Serve with remaining sauce.

Changes I have made: add an egg.  I doubled the sauce because I like to have extra on the side.  You can vary the flavor by using various BBQ-sauces.

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