Cream Cheese Pancakes

Printable Recipe

Daddy F has recently made a change in his work schedule. He has decided to work only 4 days a week and work longer hours on those days so that we can spend 3 whole days every week as a family. We are so blessed to both be able to do what we love and make our own schedules. Well, for the most part. Ok....... the kids make our schedules most the time, but you know what I mean! It has been so nice having him home an extra morning that we have been able to spend more time in the kitchen at breakfast time. Breakfast seems to be a quick "grab and go" in most homes these days, if not forgotten completely. I used to always say how much I didn't like breakfast foods because I am not a big fan of eggs. But I am coming to realize more and more that I can call something breakfast that is really nutritionally more like a dessert. Bless you America.

Ingredients:

• 1 (8oz) package cream cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Beat cream cheese at medium speed until creamy.  Add eggs one at a time. Add milk, butter, and vanilla. Mix until blended.

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar in a large bowl and make a well in the center.  Add milk mixture to dry ingredients and stir until moist.

Pour 1/ 2 cup of batter for each pancake onto hot, lightly greased griddle. Cook until pancake tops bubble and edges are brown. Flip and cook other side.


Our Ratings:

Mama F: 10 - These were so rich and yummy but still fluffy, the perfect combination!

Daddy F: 8 - He thought they were a bit too rich and creamy for a pancake but still ate 2 helpings of them!

Fuller Kids: 10 - They ate them all up in a jiffy!

Lucky the Dog: 8 - Pancakes good. Side of bacon even better!

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Tomato Basil Asiago Bruschetta with Cream Cheese Spread

Printable Recipe

I just need to gloat a bit. Yeah, my garden is a little bit awesome this season. We have been getting so many great fruits and veggies out of it this year. So many in fact I almost don't know what to do with them! For some reason our tomato plants decided not to produce and fruit this year (bummer) but luckily my mom's garden is almost nothing but tomatoes so we have been working a barter system all season that has been working out swell!

 The past year or so our family has been trying really hard to eat fresh, produce and you really can't get more fresh than a garden in your own backyard! This dish makes a great appetizer at a party or I love to just have it for lunch on the back patio! I actually grilled the bread out toast on the grill but you could easily toast it in the oven.

 Ingredients:

• Asiago cheese bread - sliced 1/2 inch thick 
• 1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese
•  1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 

Directions:

Toast sliced bread over open flame until browned.  In a bowl, blend together cream cheese, sour cream and basil. Keep mixture chilled until ready to make bruschetta. In another bowl, mix together tomato, onion, and garlic and toss in balsamic vinegar. To assemble spread cream cheese mixture on bread and top with tomato mixture. Enjoy!

Our Ratings:

Mama F: 10 - Yummo!! There is just nothing like fresh veggies from the garden to help bring summer to my mouth!!

Daddy F: 8 - The bread offered the perfect crunch and the balsamic vinegar gives this a great bite.

Fuller Kids: 4 - Although they were not fans of the tomato topping they did enjoy the toasted bread with cheese spread.

Lucky the Dog: 2 - Bread and cheese is good. Vegetables not good, onions and garlic bad for dogs.

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Slow Cooker Sunday - Pot Roast

Welcome again to another week of Slow Cooker Sundays! This week I decided to just go with an old time favorite. I don't know what it is about a slow cooked pot roast but something about it just warms my heart and soul. The smell of it cooking reminds me of lazy Sunday afternoons with my family. I know there are about a million different ways to cook a roast. This pretty much just your traditional recipe. An oldie but a goodie! 

Ingredients:  

• 1 (5 pound)  beef pot roast
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups beef broth
• 3 medium carrots, cut into chunks
• 2 stalks celery, cut into chunks
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme

Directions:
 Generously season both sides of roast with salt and pepper. Sprinkle flour over the top until well coated, and pat it into the meat. Shake off any excess. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Sear the roast on both sides for 5-6 minutes each, until well browned. Remove from the skillet and set aside.  Melt the butter in the pan. Stir in onion; cook for 5 minutes, until onions are translucent and begin to brown. Add garlic, stir for about a minute. Stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons flour; cook and stir for about 1 minute. Place carrots and celery in the slow cooker. Place roast over the vegetables and pour in any accumulated juices. Add rosemary and thyme.Slowly add beef broth. Pour onion mixture over the top of the roast. Cover slow cooker, turn to high and cook the roast for 5-6 hours, until the meat is fork tender. Skim off any fat from the surface and remove the bones. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

The Slow Cooker Sunday Link Up, hosted by Doggie at the Dinner Table, is a place for other foodie lovers to share links to their blogs. Every Sunday a linky will be posted with recipes from my own kitchen. The linky will be open for one week and you can link up to posts you’ve posted in the past. 

The Fine Print: 

• You are free to join the Slow Cooker Sunday link up at any time. You can also skip a few weeks and then come back. But we will miss you! :)
• Please link directly to a post containing a slow cooker recipe— not your main blog URL.
• Please only link to your own blog or photos hosted online.
• You MUST link back to Doggie at the Dinner Table in your blog post. This way, if someone else wants to join the fun, they can. You can either link with text or using the Slow Cooker Sunday photo which can be found in the sidebar.
• I highly encourage you to visit other participants and leave comments. This is a great way to meet new friends and become inspired in your culinary quests! I try to visit all the blogs participating as well!

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Disney Dining Fridays - 50's Prime Time Cafe

I am so excited to finally be starting this new adventure on my blog! As some of you may have read before, I am a travel agent and I have no greater love for a destination than Disney World! With so many people always going on vacation and asking me for my advice on great places to eat while on the WDW resort, I thought it would be fun to combine my passions of food and Disney to bring you a weekly review of all the restaurants and dining experiences at Disney World.

50's Prime Time Cafe is located at the Disney Hollywood Studios on the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fl. This is one of my all time favorite places to eat while at WDW. Maybe it is because it brings back memories of the first time I ever went with my family when I was a kid or perhaps it is because of my own secret obsession with America circa 1955 but this place just makes me smile!

When you first walk in you notice that you have stepped back in time to an easier by gone era of classic tv shows such as Patty Duke, Lassie, and the original Mickey Mouse Club. In fact, you can tune in to some of your favorites at your very own tv table!

Your servers are all in character as a family member: Uncle Bill, Aunt Edna, or maybe even Mom and they will all expect you to mind your manners and clean your plate! Don't be surprised if a little poking fun is involved with your dinner as well, they serve it up thick just like mom's cream gravy!

Dad's Traditional Meatloaf

Mom's Old Fashioned Pot Roast

All of the dishes here are themed like mom's home cooking from Meatloaf to fried chicken and pot pies to pot roast (my personal favorite!) The desserts are just as dreamy as well as some of dad's secret concoctions from the liquor cabinet!

S'mores

Dad's Brownie Sunday

Although this is not a dining experience where you can expect to get a meet and greet from Disney's favorite characters, it is a popular restaurant and advanced reservations are strongly recommended. I know for me it is always in my top 5 places to stop on my vacation. And with Disney's new dining plans you can eat here for a fraction of the price (this is a one point dining experience). I give 50's Prime Time Cafe a 9 out of 10 for environment and a 7 out of 10 for food.

If you would like more information about a Disney vacation or a FREE quote, email me at jessica@travelwiththemagic.com

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Woofy Wednesday - Welcome to ZipList!

  So many new things have been going on here in my house.  We just moved to new home a couple months ago and we have been settling in nicely. We have huge garden in our yard and I love taking lazy day naps on our back patio, sniffing whatever the wind blows my way. 

 We had a new human puppy join the family at the end of April and I sure do love her! I love to cuddle her and lay next to her while my human mommy feeds her. I love to help give her baths. Human Mommy keeps putting this smelly stuff she calls "soap" on her, so I have to lick it off so she smells good like puppy again! 

 It is so hot here in this Texas. I love to swim in the pool and keep cool by eating ice cream made just for me! Life is good! 

Mommy says we have new features on blog that help you make yummy smelling food. Lucky the dog thinks this is good because looking for too long makes me grumpy - especially when I am hungry, which is always. Here is what human Mommy says about the new feature called ZipList.

"What is ZipList?

ZipList is a free online recipe box. They have free mobile apps, or you can use their website. You can access your recipe box from your phone or computer any time you want.

How does it work?

Once you’ve signed up for a ZipList account (totally free), anytime you hit this little “save” button from now on, the recipe will be saved to your ZipList recipe box, and the ingredients will be added to your grocery list.

If you already have certain ingredients, you can easily remove some items, or change the quantities of others.

ZipList partners with tons of food sites across the web, including Martha Stewart, Woman’s Day, and the The Daily Meal.

Food bloggers, let your readers save your recipes to an online recipe box and shopping list with one click. 

Now you can have all your favorite recipes in one spot, plan a week’s worth of menus from them, and add the items you need for those recipes to your grocery list with hardly any effort at all."

We hope this helps you find the yummy things that you are looking for! Let us know what you think! 

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Quick and Easy Peach Cobbler

Printable Recipe

It is late spring here in the Texas Hill Country and if you have been here before this time of year you will know that it is peach season. It is my favorite fruit and I love taking the girls out to the orchard to pick fresh peaches. Biting into a ripe peach and feeling the sweet juice run down your chin. Yum, summertime.

We planted a couple peach trees in our yard earlier this year. Sadly, they are still to small to produce any yummy fruit. These are some peaches Big E helped me pick at a nearby orchard in Fredricksburg.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 cups sliced peaches
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons shortening
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F. 

Mix 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon in pan over med-low heat. Stir in peaches and lemon juice.  Cook until it starts to bubble (7-10 mins). Pour into greased 2 quart casserole dish.  In a separate bowl, cut shortening into the flour, tablespoon sugar, baking powder, and salt until fine crumbs form.  Stir in milk. Drop mixture by spoonfuls onto hot peach mixture. Bake until topping is golden brown. 25-30 mins.

Our Ratings:

Mama F: 10- I love peaches and I love carbalicious crusts. Wish I had more thumbs to put up!

Daddy F: 3 - Daddy doesn't like peaches. I know. It's a sin in all southern states. But he did enjoy the crust. He recommends trying it with apples.

Fuller Kids: 10 - Luckily for them my kids inherited my love of peaches. It was a devoured summer treat, especially with the vanilla bean ice cream!

Lucky the Dog: 6 - It was tasty. Vanilla ice cream good, Mommy should serve with bacon ice cream.

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Father's Day Goodies

 Everyone knows that Dad's love to BBQ so I made these cute little BBQ Sauce jars just for the Daddy in our family for this Father's Day. These are my Grandma's recipes and boy could that woman cook!! Then what is dinner without dessert? My husband LOVES peanut butter so when we came across this recipe for peanut butter cupcakes my daughter said "Those are the ones!" I make soy candles in mason jars for a living so we have a lot of extra jars around the house. I end up using them all the time for baking, canning, crafts....they are pretty handy little things and make the perfect packaging for gifts!!

Flippin' Good BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

1 1/2 pints vinegar

10 TBLS brown sugar

2 TBLS Salt

1 TBLS Course ground black pepper

1 1/2 tsp liquid smoke

1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1 tsp all spice

1 1/2 tsp allspice

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

3/4 tsp garlic powder

1 TBLS cornstarch

2 TBLS water

Mix vinegar and brown sugar and bring to a boil.  Add remaining ingredients except cornstarch and water. Simmer 30 minutes - add cornstarch and water, cook until thickened. Cool and place in an air tight container. Refrigerate for up to two weeks. 

Doggone Delicious BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

1 small onion chopped

1 1/2 cups of ketchup

1 TBLS mustard

3/4 brown sugar

1/2 cider vinegar

1/2 cup molasses

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 cup regular rootbeer

Saute onion until softened. Add all other ingredients stirring in rootbeer last. Simmer until thickened. Store in an air tight container in refrigerator for two weeks.  

Tops of sauce jars with self adhesive labels

For our 100% beefcake cupcakes we adapted this peanut butter cupcake recipe from How Sweet It Is.  

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

makes about 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup sugar

2 whole eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup milk

3/4 cup chocolate chips chips/morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream butter and peanut butter together in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and eggs and beat together until fluffy. Add vanilla and mix for another minute or so.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the milk. Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients. Fold in peanut butter morsels.

Pour into cupcake tins and fill 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350. Let cool, then frost.

Chocolate Cheesecake Frosting

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 block cream cheese (8 ounces), softened

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup dark cocoa powder

1-2 tablespoons milk, if needed

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add in vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time and add cocoa powder, increasing the speed to mix. If the frosting it a bit too thick, add milk 1 teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.  If it is too thin, add additional sugar gradually. Frost cupcakes once cooled. Top with chocolate shavings.

Print Me!!

Print Me!!

Once you have made your  sauces and cakes you can decorate your jars! Print out the labels and cut them to desired size.  I used some extra scrapbooking paper and hot glued a paper ring around the jars for added decoration. The labels are all white so they can correspond with whatever paper you find to use ( I printed mine on an off white paper to match my paper ring) And you can print them on cardstock to make the tags with ribbons or use adhesive label paper to stick directly onto your jars. 

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