Fun Food Friday- Pecan Pancake Mini-Muffins

There is a lady from church, Barb, who helps me out a lot with my boys.  She runs errands with us, watches the boys if we have something, and now that Micah is going to preschool storytime at our library, she watches the twins so I don't have to try to keep them quiet at the library. :)  I love to make treats for Barb as a thank you.  One day while we were running errands we passed a Cracker Barrel restaurant and she told me how much she loves the pecan pancakes from there.  I had never heard of pecan pancakes before but she told me there were so good.  So I decided it would be fun to make her some pecan pancake mini-muffins.  I got the mini-muffin idea from The Pioneer Woman's website and went in search of a good pecan pancake recipe.  I found one that looked really good and turned out fantastic, so I thought I'd share it with you.  I'm sure they would make really good pancakes too, but my boys loved them as mini-muffins as well, so it's a fun change from normal pancakes.  So if you're looking for a fun treat for you or someone you want to thank, try these ones out. 

 

Ingredients: Flour, Brown Sugar, Pecans, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Salt, Eggs, Butter, Buttermilk (which I didn't have so I used milk and lemon juice), Milk

 

This recipe calls for you to separate you eggs and whip the egg whites, which takes a little time, so I did that first so the egg whites whipped while I put the rest of the batter together.  So first off, go ahead and separate 2 eggs.

 

Beat the egg whites in a mixer on high until soft peaks form, about 5-7 minutes

 

You also need 1/4 cup butter melted and you want it to cool a little, so go ahead and melt before you start on the batter.

Chop up 3/4 cup of pecans

To a bowl add 2 cups flour...

2 TBS brown sugar...

1/2 tsp salt...

1/2 tsp baking soda...

1 tsp baking powder...

and the chopped pecans

Mix together until all combined

To another bowl add 1 cup of buttermilk (or 1 cup milk + 1TBS lemon juice that has been setting for 10 minutes)...

3/4 cup milk...

the 2 egg yolks...

and the butter

Whisk together

Then add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients...

And mix until all the ingredients are moistened.

By now your egg whites should be ready to go, so go ahead and add those...

And fold into the batter...

until they are well incorporated

Pour into well greased mini-muffin trays 

Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes (I had just cleaned the front of my oven so I thought it'd be fun to take a picture while they were baking :))

If you're making them for later, cool on a rack.  If you're eating them right away, eat them while they're nice and warm :)

Serve with some syrup for dipping and you're golden!

See, they're not only yummy to eat, they're also fun to eat :)

Jonathan, crazy hair and all, enjoying his muffins, and his first taste of syrup

David was definitely a fan

As was Micah

Pecan Pancake Mini-Muffins
2 eggs, separated
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups Flour
2 TBS Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk + 1 TBS lemon juice, set for 10 minutes)
3/4 cup milk

Separate the eggs.  Add the egg whites to a mixer bowl and beat on high for 5-7 minutes or until soft peaks form.  Melt the butter.  In a mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, soda, and pecans.  In another bowl whisk together buttermilk, milk, egg yolks and melted butter.  Mix into the dry ingredients and stir until all ingredients are moistened.  Fold the egg whites into the batter until well incorporated.  Pour batter into well greased mini-muffin pans.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Life with the Bussis'- 9.17.14

We've had a pretty good week.  Once we figured out what exactly David had (hand, foot & mouth) and started giving him Tylenol, the rest of the week went really well.  It cooled down drastically, so we had to do a little wardrobe switch and discover what exactly we had as far as pants and long sleeve shirts.  I think we're pretty set.  We've really noticed this week how much the twins are talking, especially Jonathan.  And you really can understand what they are saying.  And they really understand what we are saying to them.  I have some really cute videos that show this, but unfortunately for some reason I can't get them to upload.  I'll have to try again next week.  But my pictures did upload, so we'll just go to those :):

Steve's parents brought over some kids tennis rackets for the boys to use.  Micah was a big fan.

The colder weather inspired me to make a pumpkin pie.  As you can see David was pretty excited about it too.

Although the Cool Whip on top was his favorite part :)

Yes, Jonathan actually stuck that whole big bite in his mouth :)

Friday I had a few errands to run in Grandville.  We went to the mall so the boys could play on the slides and have some lunch

They love the Mac'NCheese there, and the fries that come with my sandwich :)

 

He loves to pull funny faces when I tried to take a picture

 

After the mall we had to quick go to Costco to pick up some pictures and a few other things.  Well, it did not end up being quick because the photo place was very behind.  But my guys were absolute champs!!! They made this mamma so proud even while I was so very annoyed at the photo people :).  I also came home from Grandville feeling for the first time that the outing by myself with the boys was not overwhelming at all.  That was such a good feeling. 

 

Saturday was another cold day, but we didn't let that stop us from playing outside, that's what sweatshirts are for after all :)

 

Micah "helping" me make cookies for after church.  Thankfully he no longer gets upset when I put the dough in the oven to make the cookies ;)

We let the boys play outside by themselves for a little bit on Saturday while I was getting dinner ready.  I don't dare let them be outside alone since we don't have a fence and the road is right there and well, I don't trust them :), but we told them to stay right behind the house where I could see them and I think they thought it was pretty fun :).

But they eventually got cold and came in the help me make some pizza for dinner.

Since it got cold we had to change our pjs.  I think little boys look so very cute in fleece pajamas :)

 

David was the lucky one who got to come with mommy to the grocery store this week! I like to think they want to come with me because they love spending time with me, but I think it might have something to do with the cookie they get at the store :)

Micah has requested to color and paint many times this week.  He's getting pretty good at it.

These boys think they're so funny when they climb on my bed :)

Life with the Bussis'- 9.10.14

Well we have once again been hit by sickness over here and per usual, it comes in doubles (we hope it's just double :)).  Thursday Jonathan woke up with a fever (and by fever, I mean high fever, 104.3!)  He was absolutely miserable!  It was so horrible to see, you just feel so bad for him and there's nothing you can do for him but give him Tylenol and snuggle.  I had decided if he woke up Friday like that I was taking him to the doctor whether they wanted to see him or not (my doctor usually wants them to have a fever for a couple of days before they see them because typically it's just a virus and by then it is gone).  Well he woke up Friday just hunky dory :).  So I figured it must have been some 24 hour flu or something and hoped no one else got it.  Jonathan started getting little red bumps on his skin but he gets that every time he runs a fever.  Then Saturday David woke up from his nap with a fever (not quite as high as Jonathan's).  His fever lasted about 24 hours too, taking us to Sunday afternoon and then he started getting red bumps on his skin.  But unlike Jonathan who as soon as his fever was gone was a happy boy, David continued to be miserable and not want to eat and just cry and cry and cry.  Well yesterday I finally figured out that the bumps were primarily on his hands, his feet and his mouth and then it hit me, Hand Foot and Mouth!  I called the doctor and described to the nurse what he had and she said "yep, that would be Hand Food and Mouth," lovely!  but she said as soon as the fever is gone they shouldn't be contagious so hopefully none of the kids at Bible Study yesterday morning get it since he hadn't had a fever for 2 days (when I took him to Bible Study I had no idea he had it or I would have stayed home!).  Thankfully David is doing much better today and Micah seems to thus far have avoided it.  So it's been a very long week of taking care of sick kids.  But such is life with youngsters!  We did manage to have some fun this week:

He decided to raid my container drawer, while he had a fever, so I got to wash everything he touched.  It's not like I wash enough dishes, right?! :)  But at least he smiled while he did it :)

 

It was not very nice outside on Thursday so Micah and I played some Wii Sports while Jonathan and David cheered us on

And sadly, Micah legitimately beat me in Wii bowling.  I would line it up for him but then he threw it all on his own.  Yeah, I'm terrible at both real AND Wii bowling, at least I'm consistent :)

I had bought some peaches at the orchard the week before and hadn't had a chance to do anything with them so one afternoon I put my mind to it and made 4 pies for the freezer and a peach crisp for us for dessert that night.  I love having pies in the freezer so if we have someone over for dinner dessert is already taken care of.

By Thursday Jonathan just didn't know what to do with himself so I took him on a walk.  I didn't want David to be near him so just Jonathan got to go.  I haven't used this stroller in almost 2 years!  It was kind of fun to get it out and only have to push one kid :)

Friday morning Jonathan was back to his mischievous shelf and honestly I was so happy to see it, it was so sad to watch him be so miserable the day before

Friday afternoon every single one of my boys decided naps were overrated and they wanted nothing to do with them.  So finally I let them get up and put a VeggieTales on for them to "rest" to.  Yeah, Jonathan didn't want any of that either, especially when he saw me making cookies. :)

David soon joined in on the fun in the kitchen

After not knowing what else to do with them (it still wasn't very nice outside) we decided to set up their train track on a table in the family room.  Micah wasn't too excited about them trying to help him drive his train, so we got out a Melissa and Doug puzzle that has boats, a train and some cars that stand up and the twins played with those.  It really has entertained them a lot the last couple of days.  It also has caused some arguing over who gets to play with what, but for the most part it's been great.

By Saturday morning I just needed to get out of the house.  I hadn't left the house since Tuesday when I went to get groceries other than going on a walk, so I needed to go somewhere.  So Micah and I had a Mommy and Micah date that started off with some mini-golf

Micah is quite the little golfer :)  It's so cute to watch

 

He was pretty excited about this hole.  The first time he did it he got a hole-in-one so of course he had to try it again

After mini-golf we played a few games in the arcade

Then we went to lunch at Wendy's.  It was a fun date with my little guy and a nice morning out.

Saturday night David was the one not feeling well so he got to have the stroller ride

This is how both he and Jonathan looked, just absolutely miserable.  So sad!

Monday was a beautiful day and no one had a fever (and we didn't know yet that they had Hand Foot and Mouth) so we decided it would be nice to go for a bike ride and get some fresh air.  We went on one of our favorite trails that ends up in Rockford.  Here the boys are checking out the turtles on the rocks by the dam.

I wanted to get a picture of all 3 of the boys in their matching shirts that my mom got them.  They didn't care if grandma saw them all in them :)

 

Then Micah suggested I tried taking a picture of them in the shade.  What a smart little guy :)

 

We brought along a picnic lunch to eat by the dam.  As you can see the fresh air did David a world of good because he just chowed down his sandwich.  This picture really shows you how much all of my boys look alike because that is Micah next to David.  If their cups weren't in front of them I would have thought it was Jonathan :).  I think if they ever get close to the same size they are going to be mistaken for triplets :).

Jonathan was a big fan of the banana bars I took along.  That kid loves anything with frosting

After lunch the boys jumped of the stage they have there.  I love this picture.  David is quite the jumper :)

 

All ready for the ride back

The boys have discovered the fun of the driver seat in the van.  Unfortunately as Micah says "I love to push all the buttons" after they sat up there our remote doors didn't work. :)  Thankfully we found the button he had pushed and they work again.

Micah had a first last night- eating the corn off the cob.  Usually I cut it off for him but he wanted to try eating it like Daddy.  At first he thought he just wanted to lick the butter and salt :)

But he got the hang of it. 

This morning Micah got to go to Pre-School Story time at our library for the first time.  The last couple of years we have gone to Baby Story time at the library and at that one the parents sit with the child on their lap.  Now that he's 3 1/2 he gets to go to the Pre-School one and the parents sit on the outside.  He was a little apprehensive at first and I didn't sit too far from him, but he loved it.  It was pretty funny though, they started with this welcome song where they sang each kids' name.  When it was his turn to say his name he turned to me and said "Mom, what's my name?" :)  Oh Micah.