Picky Kid Tip: Hidden-Veggie Bread

My sister and I have been making veggie pancakes for our picky boys for a while now. I always make a big batch and freeze them, but it just takes so long! It occurred to me the other day to attempt spreading the batter into a cookie sheet and baking it. It worked, and it shaved off as much as 45 minutes of work!!!

I always just throw leftover soups or veggies into these mixtures, so I really have no set recipe. I’ve played with the consistency a lot, so I’m learning what works best. But I start with a base of 1 cup of dry pancake/waffle mix and add an equal amount of soup or pureed veggies. Then I add any meats, cheeses, or chopped veggies. The consistency needs to be about the same as normal pancake batter, so you can add a little more liquid or puree to get it there. I kept it just thicker than pancake batter in order to spread it into the pan. This particular batch includes leftover tomato bisque, stage 2 baby food peas, and chopped spinach.

This is my batter after it was spread into a sprayed cookie sheet. I had to take the pan to the living room to get any sort of decent lighting lol.

Then, I baked it in the oven at 350. I do not know how long I cooked it, as I was distracted by a 20 month old who was screaming for bread. I would estimate 15 minutes, give or take. I just kept checking it until I was certain it was cooked through.

I cut it into squares and set it out to cool before serving and freezing.

And, as usual, Dexter was a fan 🙂

De-Stash Giveaway #2

I bought this fabric with the intention of making curtains, but after several years of procrastination, I now know I don’t actually want sheer blue-brown curtains!

I haven’t recently measured this, but I think there are around 5 full yards! It would make great fabric for layers in a formal dress. I’m not sure what the fabric is, but it is translucent and is blue with brownish tones from different angles.

Leave a comment to enter. Please include your email address in case you win! (Also, check out giveaway #1 for more details and for a chance to win other fabrics!)

2011

So I didn’t quite make last year’s goals. But I still think I did great!

1. Lose 20 lbs: I lost 6.8. I am not mad about this! I lost almost 7 lbs, that’s awesome!

2. Read 52 books: I read 26, unless I forgot to write any down. I intentionally let myself slide on this because I realized early on that sometimes reading that much caused me to ignore other things. So I feel really good about the choice to ease up.

3. Make a dress or shirt for each woman in my family: I knew this was a big one, and I actually did not make a single garment for any of them. But I did manage to make several things for myself and Dexter, do those count???

Other things I accomplished this year:

I made TONS of crafts. TONS. I wanted to do a special photo post where I showed off everything I made. However, that turned out to be a nearly impossible task. You will not be seeing that post.

My sister and I participated in Santa’s Workshop. That was such a great experience! We got to share our crafts with the public, we bonded over common interests, and we got paid to do it. Sweet!

We moved to a new city. This is not my favorite accomplishment of 2010, and I’m still adjusting, but it was great that my husband found a new job after being laid-off.

2011 goals:

1. Lose 15 lbs.

If I make this goal, I will have completed the 20 I wanted to lose. But even if I only lose 5 by the end of the year, I’m going to be pumped! I am actively working toward this goal already, so I have a bit of a head start.

2. Work out at least 10 min everyday (except if I’m sick).

I’ve already been doing this for over 2 weeks! I actually started the day of my 30th birthday, and I’m trying to keep up that commitment. I know 10 min sounds really wimpy, but it means I don’t cut myself any slack. I *can* move with purpose for 10 minutes. Most days it’s 20 or 30 min of activity.

3. Read 24 books.

I’m certain I can match 2010’s progress. 2 books a month isn’t unreasonable, and if I really want to read more I can!

4. Commit to 2 weeks of my Secret 2011 Goal:

I’ll blog about this attempt later. It’s one of those things that I will not talk about until I either do it and succeed or fail and try to be the first to make fun of myself.

5. Unofficial Goal: Blog more frequently.

I’m not going to set a timeline, but I do want to blog more. It was hard this winter because I was too busy to really document everything.

I don’t plan to make any crafty goals this year. I already have a backlog of orders I’m trying to get through, so there is no way I intend to put more things on my plate. I’m really pleased with my progress last year, so I’m basically just going to try to keep up that pace!