Start Your Day With a Rainbow

The other day I decided to make rainbow pancakes.  I can’t say what possessed me to do such a thing, but I’d seen it before and I thought Jack might enjoy it.  Plus, he was asking me for blue pancakes, which I thought was weird and would look gross, so I turned it into a rainbow of pancakes.  He loved it, and it didn’t take much effort to make them. 

It wasn’t hard to dollop out my batter into 5 small bowls, then add about 5 drops of food coloring to each.  The orange was the only one I had to mix. I think it’s a 2-3 ratio of yellow to red. Or a “mix until you like the color” ratio.

I have to admit, it was kind of freaky seeing colored pancakes cooking on the griddle.  Fun, but freaky.

In the end, I was impressed with how colorful they turned out.  I really enjoyed making these, and I see them happening in my future.  Not often of course, but I’ll do this again for a rare treat I’m sure.

Have you ever tried Rainbow pancakes?  They will start your day off with a smile.

Homemade Cereal Bars

I’ve been experimenting a lot with making every day food from scratch.  I’ve made pasta, bread, hamburger buns and pizza dough to name just a few.  It’s my new fun thing to do.  I’m finding that I love to cook – not only because it’s a huge money saver!

My latest adventure was homemade cereal bars.  I found a simple recipe online, and went with that.  I’m sure there are a ton of recipes out there, some healthier than others, so please don’t feel that this is the end all, be all recipe for cereal bars.   While I made these bars, I channeled The Pioneer Woman and took pictures along the way.  Enjoy my point and click/no touch up photos!

First, start with oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and baking soda. 

 

Then cut in a stick and a half of butter (this isn’t the healthiest recipe out there, I’m sure)

When your pastry cutter doesn’t work, use your hands, then a fork, then the pastry cutter, and then a fork again to cut in the butter.  After about ten minutes, it should all be combined nicely. *sigh*

 

Press half of the mix into the bottom of a pan, size unknown.  I went with a medium sized pan, and it was TOO SMALL.  I had leftovers.  I would imagine this would fit in a regular, large baking dish.

 

Spread your sister’s HOMEMADE BLACKBRERY JAM on the first layer.  YUM!  Talk about completely homemade!  It was a little tricky getting the jam spread to the edges, but I managed pretty well.

Spread the remaining mix over the jam.  Make sure everything is covered.  Bake for 30 min at 350.

Make a powdered sugar and cinnamon glaze (RICH!), and drizzle that over the bars when they are still warm.  Let cool, then cut into bars.

 

If you have extra mix, because you didn’t know what size pan to use, make a mini batch in a small baking dish.  But don’t use your sister’s homemade strawberry jam, because it wasn’t completely set up and ended up making a mushy mess.  A YUMMY mushy mess, but still a spoonable, mushy mess.

So, there you have it.  Pretty easy.  Jack LOVED the strawberry mess.  It’s pretty sweet with that glaze drizzled on top.  I stored the bars in the refrigerator, and am eating it for a mid-morning snack this week.  You know, the post breakfast, pre lunch meal.  Everyone has those, right??

What other everyday convenient food can I make from scratch?