Taste and see...

Okay well, here's where we get to the "simple living" part of the blog...

One thing I have discovered REALLY makes my life easier is freezer cooking. I figure, if I'm gonna mess up the kitchen anyway, why not make multiples of the recipe and save myself some clean up on other days. It's amazing how much time it can cut out of daily food prep and clean up. And it's nice to always have something on hand for a church potluck or the times when I'd like to take food to someone to lighten their load. I've found lots of really good recipes that freeze well. Periodically I'll share some of these with you. And chicken is on sale this week, so I'm gearing up for a big Once A Month Cooking Day, and I'll try to do a post explaining how and what I did. Some of the recipes I've tweaked a bit to suit a larger family such as ours.

I don't know about you but The Shoe Seven enjoys a hearty breakfast. I just recently discovered a good recipe for basic whole wheat pancakes and here's what I did with it...

4 cups whole wheat flour
2 T. baking powder
2 t. salt
6 eggs
4 cups milk
3 large, ripe bananas (mashed)
1 c. oatmeal
2 c. chocolate chips

**For those of you that don't have as many mouths to feed, you can half this recipe but use 2 bananas.**

I like to add as much fiber as possible, hence the oatmeal. And my kiddos will eat bananas in pancakes, as long as the flavor is not too overwhelming. You may want to cut the chocolate chips back a bit, but I figure, with the healthiness of the whole wheat, oatmeal and bananas, I can treat the Lil Shoes (and myself) to a few extra chips:)

So anyway, for those of you who enjoy the Pampered Chef scoops as much as I do, this recipe makes approximately 40 medium pancakes (when using the large size scoop). I make the pancakes, cool them completely on a cooling rack, lay them out on a cookie sheet and freeze for several hours. After frozen, I place them in freezer bags and I can pull them out individually, warm them up in the microwave and voila! a quick, easy breakfast...WITHOUT ALL THE CLEAN-UP!!!

I was actually trying to perfect my recipe, so I could enter it in a Better Homes and Gardens pancake recipe contest...but whoops, I missed the entry deadline. Oh well, no fame and fortune this time (wink), just a happy bunch of kiddos with chocolate mustaches, sticky hands and full tummies running around ready for a new day!

Taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.--Psalm 34:4