Pumpkin Waffles

Saturday morning breakfasts were always a tradition in my house when I was growing up.  I used to get so excited to see what my mom would make each Saturday.  Pancakes?  Waffles?  Eggs?  French Toast?  I loved them all.  That excitement has trickled over in to my adult life as well and Saturday morning breakfasts are a tradition that my husband and I have continued.  I love looking up and trying new breakfast recipes and continuing a tradition that I loved as a kid, and hopefully our kids will love just as much someday :)

The first day of fall was yesterday and it's one of my favorite seasons.  I'm sure you'll notice soon that I'm obsessed with apple and pumpkin recipes around this time of year.  To kick that off, I made Pumpkin Waffles this morning.  They were delicious!  My husband doesn't really care for waffles too much and even he said they were delicious and he wanted me to save him one for breakfast later in the week!  They taste kind of like pumpkin bread in a waffle form, and boy do I love pumpkin bread!  I have a Cuisinart Belgian Waffle Maker that makes 4 square waffles at a time and this recipe made about 10 waffles, which was way too much for just us two!  So if you have a similar waffle maker, I might suggest halving the recipe or you can do what I did and freeze them for another time.  This is a perfect fall morning treat! :)  

P.S.  We're going to Oktoberfest tomorrow(the real one!), so I'll be back next week with what I'm sure will be some yummy food and drink pictures!

Pumpkin Waffles

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
4 large eggs, separated (yolks in one bowl, whites in another)
2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
Cooking Spray

Preheat waffle iron. Sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, and spices. Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl with buttermilk, pumpkin, and butter until smooth. Whisk in dry ingredients just until combined.

In a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until they hold very soft peaks. Fold them gently into the waffle batter, until just combined.

Brush waffle iron lightly with oil and spoon batter (about 2 cups for four 4-inch Belgian waffles) into waffle iron, spreading quickly. Cook according to manufacturer’s instructions.

 Continue with remaining batter until gone!


Adapted from http://penniesonaplatter.com/

Baked Potato Lasagna

I've never been a huge fan of lasagna.  Something about the texture and the ricotta cheese.  I hate ricotta cheese.   I've always really wanted to like it, and I try it every once in a while to see if maybe my taste buds have changed, but alas, they have not.  To make up for my distaste for traditional lasagna, I'm always on the lookout for different lasagna recipes, in hopes that I will like them, however most of them have ricotta cheese in them.  

A few months ago, I came across a recipe by Rachel Ray, called Spinach Artichoke Potato Lasagna.  Potatoes in a lasagna?  I adore potatoes, so I just had to try it.  It turned out to be delicious, however it had ricotta cheese in it.  Ever since then, my mind has been turning with ideas for a potato lasagna minus the ricotta.  And I finally got up the nerve to try it tonight!  I figured baked potatoes are one of my favorite foods, so why not make it in to a lasagna!  This was my trial run for this recipe, and it turned out to be pretty darn good!  The only thing was that both my husband and I felt that it was missing salt, which I admit, I forgot to put in, so I would urge you to do so.  I'm excited to experiment and see where else I can take this recipe and improve upon it, Veggie Baked Potato Lasagna, Chili Baked Potato Lasagna, Pulled Pork Baked Potato Lasagna.  The possibilities are endless!  Whatever you're in the mood for!

Warning though!  This recipe is not very healthy and it did take up quite a bit of dishes in my kitchen and required a good amount of multi-tasking.  If you prep the dish by shredding the chicken beforehand and crisping the bacon, it will save you some headache in the process!  Just keep that in mind when you try it!  But it's worth it!

Baked Potato Lasagna

2 chicken breasts, shredded (I threw mine in the CrockPot)

Half a package of bacon, cooked and crumbled

4-5 large baking potatoes, sliced lengthwise, about 1/4 inch thick

4 tbls. butter

3 tbls. flour

1 quart of milk (I used lowfat, but a higher fat one might make the sauce more rich)

3/4 cup of sour cream

3-4 cups of shredded cheese (I used sharp, but any kind would work)

Salt 

Pepper 

Nutmeg

Chives

Preheat the oven to 400*.  Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and put the potato slices in to boil for about 5 minutes.  Drain.

Mix the shredded chicken with the sour cream, salt, pepper, and about 1/2 a cup of cheese.  Set aside.

Melt butter in a sauce pan, then whisk in the flour and let it cook for a minute.  Add the milk, salt pepper and nutmeg and let the sauce thicken until it coats a spoon (anywhere from 5-10 minutes).  

When the sauce is finished, pour half of it in to a greased casserole dish.  Top with a layer of potatoes, then the chicken mixture.  Top the chicken with another layer of potatoes, then with the crumbled bacon and 1 cup to a cup and a half of cheese.  Top with a final layer of potatoes and pour the remainder of the sauce over it.  Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, or until golden.  Let lasagna cool for 5-10 minutes, then finish off with chopped chives.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

So this is my first food post on my new blog! :)  You'll have to bear with me on the pictures because at the time, I'm using my Iphone because it's the best I have.  Hopefully sometime in the near future, I'll improve!  

If you know me, you know that I LOVE mexican food.  I could literally eat it all day, every day, and not be sick of it.  Unfortunately, here in Germany, the mexican food we have found is just not the same.  There are quite a few restaurants that claim to be mexican, but their salsa tastes like ketchup, their chips are like cardboard, and their meat and sauces are bland.  I try to make one mexican dish a week at home, for this reason.  This week, I made one of my hubby's favorites: Slower Cooker Pork Carnitas.  He loves anything pork and was literally eating it with his fingers before and after the meal because he just couldn't stop.  It is an absolutely delicious meal and the best part is that it's in the Crock Pot so you don't have to mess with it!  I'm not even a huge pork fan, but I love this meal too!  Hope you like it! :)

Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

1 (2lb) boneless pork shoulder roast

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. ground coriander

1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 bay leaf

1 cup chicken broth

1. Mix together salt, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, coriander, and cinnamon in a bowl. Coat pork with the spice mixture. Place the bay leaves in the bottom of a slow cooker and place the pork on top. Pour the chicken broth around the sides of the pork, being careful not to rinse off the spice mixture.
2. Cover and cook on Low until the pork shreds easily with a fork, about 10 hours. Turn the meat after it has cooked for 5 hours. When the pork is tender, remove from slow cooker, and shred with two forks. Use cooking liquid as needed to moisten the meat.

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome!  Most of you have probably seen my posts and pictures on Facebook of my cooking adventures.  I've been toying with the idea of starting a food blog for quite some time, and finally bit the bullet (I'll finally stop annoying those people on Facebook that don't like my pictures!)  Over the past year or two, I have fallen in love with everything food: cooking, baking, eating, traveling and trying new things, etc., etc., and I can't wait to start sharing that love with anyone willing to listen :)  Just bear with me in these first few weeks as I try to figure all this computer craziness out!  I should be back sometime later in the week with my first food post!