I Wish It Was a Little Bit Faller

Besides Skee-lo on the brain, I can't help but think of how much I want to get out of these triple digits.  Now, we're only in the low 100s.  Perhaps soon I will know what it's like to wear a hoodie again!

I'm hoping everybody had a great summer.  We spent ours vegging out and watching reality television.  I know somebody who made it on Big Brother, so Era and I kinda became a bit obsessed with the competition.  It ends on Thursday, so we can finally get our lives back!  Haha.  I also spent a lot of time compiling recipes and hope to do something with it all.

Right now, I'm really playing catch up with food blogging.  I have some stuff from last month that was cute and nerdy at the time, so I thought I'd share.  August happened to have a Friday the 13th, and I decided to have a horror movie marathon...but only horror movies that took place in space.  It was awesome!  The plan was to watch Jason X, Alien, Event Horizon, Critters 4, and Leprechaun 4.  I only made it through the first three, though.  Which is fine because I'm totally gonna watch Critters after I finish this blog.

I went with themed food.  For Jason X, I made Campers in a Sleeping Bag (breakfast pigs in a blanket).  I used a pancake recipe I've been tweaking all summer and a really easy maple simple syrup.  It was super frickin great!

campers in a sleeping bag w/ maple simple syrup (plus my favorite piggy mug!)

Everyday Pancakes
(makes 10-12 small or 6 large pancakes)
soy free

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups non dairy milk
3 Tbsp canola oil
3 Tbsp Maple Simple Syrup, agave, or maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
nonstick cooking spray

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt until well mixed. Pour the milk, margarine, syrup, and vanilla over the dry ingredients. Whisk until completely smooth (some lumps are okay).

Heat a pan or griddle over medium high heat. Once hot, spray with nonstick spray. Using a ladle, pour batter onto the hot pan or griddle using a circular motion. Flip the pancakes over when they begin to bubble in the center and the edges look dry.  Make sure not to press down on them once flipped because the baking powder will cause them to rise and become fluffy. Serve with more margarine, Maple Simple Syrup, and/or fresh fruit.

Variations

• Hint of Sumthin’: Add 1 tsp of cinnamon to the dry ingredients.
• Blueberry Cardamom: Add 1 tsp ground cardamom to the dry ingredients, and fold 1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries into the batter.
• Chocolate Chip-Banana: Fold 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips and 1 roughly chopped medium banana into the batter.

the sausages are Kittee testers and oh-so-good

Maple Simple Syrup
(makes about 16 oz)
soy free
gluten free

1 1/2 cups evaporated cane juice or granulated sugar
1/2 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp natural (not imitation) maple extract

Place evaporated cane juice, brown sugar, and water in a sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Heat until the sugars have completely dissolved and the syrup has thickened a bit, about 10 minutes. Be sure to stir regularly and watch so the syrup doesn’t bubble over. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Stir in the maple extract. Let cool for at least 15 minutes, as the syrup will thicken even more as it cools.  Store in a condiment bottle in the fridge

leprechaun hummus w/ pita chips and snap peas

I also made Leprechaun Hummus and a gnarly Android Blood Date Shake (not pictured).  It was a pretty tasty day and I thoroughly enjoyed the movies.  The hummus was just some green veggies thrown into regular hummus and blended until smooth.  Super good, though.

bonus taco salad pic! (baked ww tortilla shell, brown rice, kidney beans, broccoli slaw, tequila lime tofu, avocado, salsa, reduced fat cilantro lime dressing)

Two quick things before I go...  I changed the layout of my blog so it's brighter and looks less like my other blogs.  Hope it's easier to read now.  Also, I added a recipe section.  It's kind of bare right now and mostly recipes I only ever made once, but I plan to be expanding it with the quickness.  More to come soon and Happy Labor Day!