Baking Weekend!

Our plans for today got cancelled. I didn't want to haul the girls out just for a $20 trip to the grocery store. However, I knew that if I just left Daddy with what we had around the house on Monday, he wouldn't know what to feed the girls. That fact, paired with a gallon of milk that expires today, left me with a mission. A baking day!

We started by making a quadruple batch of pancakes!



I use the Aunt Jemima Whole Wheat mix. We really like it, but I do doctor it up a little. My favorite way is to add canned pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice. However, I have yet to see pumpkin puree on sale at the store. I hear there is a shortage. This time, I tried replacing the oil with chunky cinnamon appleauce. It's not quiet as apple-y as I would have liked, but it's still good!

The finished result!


We'll save some of these for a quick breakfast for the girls in the morning, and I'll freeze the rest. The girls love just eating these dry for breakfast, or sometimes I will pack one in their lunch. I also keep a bottle of syrup at work, so I can grab a few frozen ones if I need to grab a lunch on the fly.

Next, we made baked whole wheat spaghetti. I usually make this with Campanelle or Gemelli and call it "cavatini," but I was out. (Thankfully Barilla is on sale for $.99 this week! I'll buy 8 or 10 boxes as we eat this a lot!)

I basically make this like a lasagne. I boil the noodles about half way and layer in a cheese mixture and sauce. For the cheese mixture I use --

1 big tub of cottage cheese
1 8 oz bag of some sort of Italian cheese
About a half cup of Parmesan cheese
A few shakes of parsley, garlic, oregano and basil, salt and pepper

I also make my own sauce sometimes, but I'm finding I can get jarred organic Ragu on sale with a coupon for cheaper than I can make it. And, a little secret -- this time I used a little leftover Campbell's tomato soup. I'm thinkin' no one will know the difference!

Not my best photography effort, but here it is!



I actually made one to bake today, and a mini one to freeze in a Tupperware for a busy work night. I've never tried freezing one in anything other than a foil pan, so that will be interesting! Hopefully I'll be able to thaw a little and transfer to another dish.

This bakes at 350 degrees for about an hour and a half until bubbly in the middle!

Next up, Earl Gray shortbread cookies, and I'll be making apple crisp tomorrow!