Category Archives: Kitchen/Food Stuff

Somewhat Healthy Pancakes

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We have these pancakes on a regular basis.  Jennifer shared with one of her friends that we had “healthier” recipe for pancakes and a request was made for the recipe.  So of course, I blogged it, ha!  Enjoy!

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Ingredients

  1. 1/4 c egg substitute
  2. 1 1/4 c low fat buttermilk
  3. 1/2 c whole wheat flour
  4. 3/4 c bread flour
  5. 2 Tblsp olive oil
  6. 1 tsp honey
  7. 1/2 tsp baking soda
  8. 1/2 tsp salt
  9. 1 tsp baking powder

Directions

  1. Pre-head griddle, test heat by sprinkling a few drops of water on the griddle, it should bubble and roll around when just right, if it evaporates right away, it is too hot.
  2. Put butter substitute or olive oil spray on the griddle
  3. Mix all dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients and mix until batter is smooth
  4. Use about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake, turn pancakes when puffed and full of bubbles (before the bubbles break)

    5 Minute Chocolate Cake, Part 1

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    • 1 BIG (16 oz) Coffee Mug — we use a Disney one (of course)
    • 4 Tbsp. Self Rising Flour
    • 4 Tbsp. Sugar
    • 2 Tbsp. Baking Cocoa (We use the Hersey’s Dark Coco)
    • 1 Egg
    • 3 Tbsp. Milk
    • 3 Tbsp. Oil
    • 3 Tbsp. Chocolate Chips (we use the Ghirardelli Bittersweet)
    • Splash of Vanilla
    • Pinch of Salt

    Directions:

    1. Add dry ingredients to a bowl and mix well.
    2. Add egg, mix thoroughly. Pour in milk and oil, mix well.
    3. Greased the cup, or better yet, use the spray stuff with flour in it
    4. Add vanilla and mix, pour into the mug.
    5. Drop the chocolate chips in to the batter (that is already in the mug).
    6. Cook in microwave for 3 minutes (for a 1000 watts microwave).  Allow to cool a little.
    7. Drop onto a plate and enjoy. Of course ice cream or whip cream goes really good with it.
    8. Strawberries and whip cream optional 🙂

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    Part 2: I’m experimenting with a “healthier?” version of this recipe, I’ll post it later after a few more tries, ha!

    Pot Spoon Clip

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    Pot Clips, about $7 at Amazon

    If you cook a lot like I do, especially sauces, or in the case of my wife, mac and cheese,  I’m always trying to figure out what to do with my stirring spoon.  Yes, yes, I have multiple spoon rests, but I never seem to use them, probably because they are usually on the drying rack and that is at least 2 to 3 steps away from the stove top that I’m hovering over!

    I usually just try to balance the wooden spoon (my spoon of choice) over the top of the pot, carefully adjusting it so the end of it does not hang over the pot and run down the outside of the pot, making a mess for my wife to clean up later.

    That works well, at least until I accidentally hit the pot handle and the spoon goes flying across the stove.

    This morning, while drinking my coffee, reading e-mail and surfing the Internet,  I discovered a little  gadget (and how men love gadgets!) that clips on the side of the pot.  This clip allows the spoon to stay safely over the center of the pot.  I’m guessing it may even keep the spoon from flying across the stove if/when I hit the pot handle?   I can’t wait to give one of these a try!

    Pot Clips, buy it at Amazon! (around $7 per clip)

    What’s for Supper?

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    “Wonder what’s for supper?”  This is a common question around my house, usually asked by me, to me.  If you are reading my blog, then you probably know me, and you probably know that I am the main cook in our household.  I believe I like to cook for two reasons:

    1)  I’ve been cooking since I was old enough to strike a match and not get into trouble!

    We grew up with an old gas stove that had to be manually lite.  As most young boys are, I was a pyromaniac,  so here was one way I could play with fire and not get in trouble!

    2)  I was single for such a long time, it was learn to cook or starve! My wife loves the fact that I do most of the cooking, which is always a bonus.

    I also have a part time web service company, programming, design, hosting, etc. and work closely with a very talented designer named Donnie Bell.  The last few months, I’ve been working with Donnie and his wife Sarah on a web site for a Sarah’s new business venture. The site launched this week and I would love for you to visit it and test it out!

    Here is a message from Sarah:

    I would like to extend a personal invitation to you, my friends and family, to check out SupperStarter.com. Today Donnie and I launched SupperStarter.com, an online menu planning service for busy parents and working professionals. We have been hard at work developing copy and designing the site for over a year now. I am excited to offer you one month’s subscription free of charge. Just click on the link below or copy and paste into your browser’s address field.

    http://www.supperstarter.com/members/signup.php?e=T

    In return I am asking that you forward this one time offer to anyone you think might be interested.

    Let us know what you think. You will be the first to provide feedback before we launch nationwide.

    So check out the site and let Sarah know what you think.

    Blogs, E-mail, and BBQ

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    I recently attended a user conference for a software package my office uses to run our web site. It was a really good conference so I thought I would include a couple of blog entries (I have at least one more entry “planned”) about some of the knowledge I gained while at this conference.

    Blogging Tips:

    • Limit each blog post to 600-700 words. Anything longer will lose readers.
    • Update frequently. People won’t visit the blog if new entries are never posted.
    • Links to relative information.
    • Be authentic. Blogs are definable by the way they are written. In other words, they should not be written like a press release. Our English teachers always told us we have our own writing style.
    • Comments: to allow/disallow. By allowing users to comment, a dialog can develop between the blogger and the readers. It is easier to just turn comments off if the blogger doesn’t want to deal with spam, criticism, etc. A good compromise is to allow comments for a short time, then close the comments. Troublesome users can always be banned from
    • Images. I believe having some images in or throughout a blog post can break up the longer posts and keep the reader’s attention.

    E-mail marketing:

    • The first 33/44 characters of the e-mail is what is included in the e-mail preview.example:
    • Friendly “From” — People instead of organizations is recommended.
    • Opt in newsletters should include links to examples of newsletters that are on-line. These examples should be current or not more than a few months or a year old.
    • Opt in newsletters should also include a link to the Privacy Policy close the submit and close to the “opt in” link in the e-mail itself.
    • The width of an e-mail should be a maximum of 600 pixels wide. Even with bigger monitors, the preview is determined by the e-mail client, and most default to around this width.
    • The first 420 vertical pixels take up the first part of the preview pain in an e-mail client, so they are the most important.
    • Absolute URL’s (including the http://www.whatever.com/images.jpg) and including text in the ALT/Title tags is very important. If the absolute path is not included, the images will not show up in the client’s e-mail. Even if the image is linked correctly, the default for many clients has the images turned off. The ALT or Title tags will display the text in place of the graphic. So a ALT tag that says, “Newsletter Header Graphic” will give the user and idea of what graphic should really be appearing in that space.
    • Message size: 40k is good size, 100k is getting too large.
    • Mobile Messages: 60% of decision makers in business use mobile e-mail
      • link above banner to on-line version
      • 18% use mobile device —  to clean out box (just something to remember)

    BBQ (the important stuff):

    The conference was in Kansas City, MO. — Yes I ate good BBQ the whole time I was there, including Author Bryant’s and Gates BBQ.–  This was my second trip to the KC area, so I had already eaten Author Bryant’s once and Jack Stacks once. Jack Stacks is a higher end BBQ place, and while good, it was not my favorite. I  having eaten Author Bryant’s and Gates twice, I would say,  I am leaning towards Gates as being the better BBQ along with their service.

    When I got home I was not only filled up with web tips and way to many PowerPoints (which is for a different post), but also lots of BBQ.