Sour Cream Pancakes

We love pancakes at this house. It is Taylors favorite thing to eat on the weekends. Well, really any morning, but I only have time to make them for him on the weekends that I don't work. I had some sour cream that was sitting in the fridge and needed to be used up so I decided to make my little man pancakes.

 This recipe had a cup of sour cream and only a few teaspoons of flour.  I was hesitant to make them, but pushed on and got over my fear of pancakes with very little flour.

And since I'm a rebel, I switched out the granulated sugar and substituted brown sugar. Just because.

They cook up beautifully, and taste just as amazing. Light and fluffy and a little tangy from the sour cream. The perfect way to eat them is with a dab of butter and real, warm maple syrup. I love the weekends!

Sour Cream Pancakes

INGREDIENTS

Makes 6 5-inch pancakes
- 7 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/ 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour cream (Greek Yogurt or light sour cream also work)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Butter
- Maple syrup

DIRECTIONS

Heat a cast iron skillet or griddle over medium-low heat. Let it slowly warm up until it’s really hot.
Stir the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt together in the bottom of a medium bowl. Add the sour cream and stir together very gently; it’s okay to leave the texture a bit uneven. The key to this recipe is to not over-mix! Whisk the eggs and vanilla in a separate bowl, and then stir them into the sour cream mixture—once again, being careful not to over-mix.
Melt a little butter in your skillet or griddle and pour the batter in, 1/4 cup at a time. Cook for about 2 minutes on the first side, or until bubbles appear all over the surface. Flip and cook for about a minute on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter.
Serve with butter and a waterfall of maple syrup.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bars

Here is my latest peanut butter and chocolate bar love. It is soooo good. I am totally in love with this bar. It is a little on the crunchy side, especially the topping, but I guess that is what I love about them. I made these for Mr. Pickypants lunch this week, they didn't last very long. Guess that means I will just have to make another batch........

Ingredients

• 1/2 package semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups oats, quick cooking

Preparation

1. Grease and flour a 9x13x2-inch baking pan; set aside. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave or top of a double boiler over hot water.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter with peanut butter; beat in sugar, egg, and vanilla.
3. Combine flour, soda, and salt in a separate bowl; stir into the peanut butter mixture. Stir in oats. Press about 3/4 of the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Spread melted chocolate chips over the top. Crumble remaining peanut butter mixture over the melted chocolate. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for about 20 minutes.

Inside-Out Cheeseburgers

 

 With this warm weather we are having, I had a craving for burgers, I guess they make me feel like summer and cooking on the grill. I wanted to make cheeseburgers (Mr. Pickypants loves cheeseburgers) but I wanted to make special cheeseburgers. I decided on inside-out cheeseburgers.

 They are pretty easy to make. Pretty much your basic hamburger recipe made in to patties with some cheese cubes stuffed in the middle. I have made these burgers before. My favorite is Swiss cheese between the patties with sautéd onions and mushrooms on top. Today I decided on cheddar cheese (I was out of American cheese)

I stuffed cubes of Cheddar cheese in between two hamburger patties and after cooking them I topped them with a special surprise.  Remember the homemade BBQ sauce I made last week, well I topped my gorgeous burger with that. SOOOOOOOOO delicious. I think I could drink that sauce right out of the bottle.

Inside-Out Cheeseburgers

 

INGREDIENTS:



• 4 slices American cheese
• 1 1/2 pounds ground chuck (15 to 20 percent fat)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 (4-inch) hamburger buns, split and toasted
• Your favorite burger fixings (onion, pickles, lettuce, tomato, mayo, ketchup, mustard)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut each slice of cheese in half, then in half again to form 4 squares. Stack the pieces on top of each other to form 4 stacks; set aside.
2. Place the meat in a large bowl and add the salt, garlic powder, Worcestershire, and pepper. Mix with your hands until just evenly combined.
3. Divide the meat into 8 equal portions and place on a work surface. Using your hands, press 2 portions of the meat into 2 rough 1/4-inch-thick patties that are each about 1 inch wider in diameter than the hamburger buns.
4. Place 1 stack of cheese in the center of 1 of the patties
5. Top with the second patty and pinch the edges to form a tight seal.
6. Cup each patty with your hands to round out the edges, and press on the top to flatten slightly into a single thick patty.
7. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining portions of meat and cheese to form 4 patties in total.
8. Preheat a cast-iron or other heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Cook burgers until well browned, about 4 minutes. It is common for burgers to puff up due to steam from the melting cheese. Turn burgers and prick the top of each to allow steam to escape; cook until browned on the outside and no longer pink on the inside; about 4 minutes. Serve on hamburger buns topped with your favorite burger fixings.

Backyard BBQ Recipes

Here are some great recipes to get you into the grilling mood this warm weekend.

BBQ Monterey Jack Burgers

Guacamole Burgers



Taffy Apple Salad

BBQ Sauce

Pasta Salad

Smores Bars

Hershey Bar Pie

 

 

 

Homemade BBQ Sauce

We love Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce.

Its our go to sauce when we grill out. 

With the weather becoming warmer we grilled out for the first time this year!!!

We grilled pork loin chops.

 I love pork chops on the grill.

I like to buy the thicker ones so they don't dry out.

Nobody likes dried out pork chops.

I made this imitation Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce.
It was sweet and not to spicy, just the way we like it. It wasn't exactly Sweet Baby Rays, but it sure was good.......I might even like it better.
Next time I am going to add a little garlic granules and honey to it, just to mix it up a little bit.
I think the honey sauce would be great over grilled chicken next weekend.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cups Dark Brown Sugar, packed
1-1/2 cups Ketchup
1/2 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 cup Water
3 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
2-1/2 teaspoons Ground Mustard
2 teaspoons Smoked Paprika
1-1/2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Black Pepper

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a medium pan over medium-low heat. Whisk well until the sugar has dissolved. Let simmer for 10 minutes stirring as needed so the sauce doesn't scorch. Let cool. Serve immediately or cover and store in the fridge.

Baked Breakfast Burritos

Breakfast burritos are delicious. I love eggs, cheese and sausage stuffed into a warm tortilla shell. These breakfast burritos are super easy to make, you can even make them the night before so you can sleep in the next morning and have a yummy breakfast with no fuss. The egg mixture is poured over the filled burritos and seeps into the nooks and crannies all night. It bakes up light and fluffy the next day.

I made these for my "Breakfast Club" they were a hit. We devoured them with English muffins, hash browns and fresh brewed coffee with a dash of Kahlua! I just love "Breakfast Club" Saturdays.

Baked Breakfast Burritos

Serves: 8
Ingredients:
1 lb breakfast sausage
3 c shredded cheddar cheese (1 cup set aside)
8 burrito sized flour tortillas
8 eggs
1 T all-purpose flour
2 c half-and-half
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 lb bacon, chopped into bite sized pieces
Directions:
In a skillet over medium high heat, start frying the bacon pieces. When the bacon pieces are about half way done, add the sausage and brown the sausage and bacon together until done. Drain the fat. Let the sausage  mixture cool. Set aside 1/8 a cup of the mixture to sprinkle over the top. Place 1/8 of the sausage and  1/8 of the cheese mixture down the center of a tortilla. Roll up and place seem side down in a sprayed 9×13 baking dish. Repeat until all tortillas are filled.
In a large bowl beat eggs, flour, salt, pepper and half and half. Pour over the tortillas in the baking dish. Cover the dish and place in the fridge overnight (or bake it immediately).
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover dish and sprinkle remaining 1 cup of cheese and the remaining sausage mixture over tortillas, bake 10 minutes longer or until the eggs are set and cheese is melted.

Loaded Potato Wedges

These potato wedges are incredible. 

They are super cheesy, full of bacon and slathered in ranch dressing. 

How can you go wrong with cheese, bacon and ranch dressing?

Mr. Pickypants was in potato wedge heaven for two days.
He had the few that were left over for lunch the next day.
He said they were just as good as the first day.

The recipe calls for real bacon bits.
I made mine with crumbled bacon I had left over from a recipe I had made the day before.
It is such an easy recipe, much like potato skins, but less work because you do not have to hollow the potatoes out.
I liked being able to just cut the potatoes into wedges, bake them, top them with all the goodies and eat!

Loaded Potato Wedges

Ingredients:

Wedges:

4-6 Potatoes

1/4 cup olive oil

Sea Salt

Fresh ground pepper

Seasoning salt

Sour Cream/Ranch Sauce:

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup ranch dressing 

1/4 cup milk

Toppings:

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup real bacon bits

Handful of chopped Chives, 

Instructions:

Cut potatoes into wedges. Place wedges into a deep bowl, drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and seasoning salt. Toss until well coated. Place on foiled baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 40 minutes or until fork tender.

While the wedges are cooking, mix together the sour cream, ranch dressing and milk. When the potatoes are done cooking sprinkle the cheese and bacon over them. Place under the broiler for a few seconds to melt the cheese. Remove from the oven when the cheese is melted and bubbly. Drizzle with the ranch mixture and the chives. Serve immediately.