make pancakes with a twist! =)

Bob Evans Stuffed Caramel Banana Pecan Cream Pancakes

Pancakes with pecans and sliced fresh bananas, covered in a warm, caramel sauce.

Ingredients:
prepared pancake batter for 2 pancakes

2 cups prepared vanilla pudding
2 cups cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons honey roasted pecans
1 banana sliced into 1/2-inch thick slices
1 tablespoon powdered sugar whipped topping

Caramel sauce

Make Vanilla Cream Cheese mixture:

Mix vanilla pudding with cream cheese until well blended and creamy (no lumps). Cover and refrigerate immediately. This mixture will store (covered) in the refrigerator up to 5 days.

Procedure: (serves 1)

Prepare pancake batter and preheat griddle. Ladle batter onto hot griddle and sprinkle evenly with pecans and banana slices. When they bubble and edges are dry, flip to cook second side.

When done, place pancake on plate, top with 4 tablespoons Vanilla Cream Cheese mixture and top with second pancake. Ladle with caramel sauce and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Garnish with whipped topping.

Tips:

- Be sure to let the pecans and bananas show for a nice presentation.

- For a more intense flavor, use a banana-flavored pudding in lace of vanilla.

- For a completely different variation, add chocolate chips and serve with chocolate or fudge topping.

Source: "America's Secret Recipes" by Ron Douglas

crunchy cereals!

I love eating cereals in the morning (my fave is the frosty cornflakes) but I hate it when the flakes turn soggy when I'm not finished eating yet. Ruins my day! And then today, I stumbled on Coolest-Gadgets.com the EatMeCrunchy Bowl (pictured above). It apparently solves your soggy cereals! Here's how it works:

The concept behind this revolutionary breakfast bowl is forehead-slappingly simple. A removable shelf covers 70% of the bowl’s base, holding the cereal above the milk. All you have to do is eat your cereal from the shelf-less section of the bowl where the cereal and milk meet, pushing the cereal in as required.

You can buy the EatMeCrunchy Bowl for $10.20 (£4.95) from Firebox =) Not so cheap eh? LOL! Still, if it makes my mornings happier..

Scrambled Eggs ala Microwave!

Full article HERE. Thought I'd share this helpful cooking how-to with you guys! I've been "frying" eggs by microwave so that I won't use oil (less cholesterol, definitely healthier!) but I haven't tried scrambled eggs until this how-to came along. Love it! =)

Ingredients

2 eggs per person
1 tablespoon of water or milk per egg
1 tablespoon of butter or cooking spray
salt and pepper

Steps

1. Spray or grease a microwave safe bowl with cooking spray or butter. If you do this, the egg batter will not stick to the bowl in the cooking process.

2. Crack eggs into the bowl. Whip them with a fork or whisk.

3. Place in the microwave and cook for 30 seconds. Remove, as they will be partially formed (see Warnings below). Use your fork and stir them gently, so that the uncooked blends in with the still loose egg. Set the eggs back in the microwave.

4. Microwave the eggs for about 10 seconds and check them. If they're not ready for your taste or are too liquidly, stir and break up the egg with a fork and place back in the microwave for a few more seconds.

5. Microwave for 10 second intervals until you get more solid egg than liquid. Be sure not to overcook or burn the eggs.

gaga over frittata - round 2!

I made frittata again today, this time with different stuff. I used mixed vegetables (corn, carrots & peas) and beef steak with the usual mozzarella. This post is mostly for foodporn purposes, i.e. watch out for loads of unedited pictures!! Teehee!

Ready to start cookin'! Can u see all the colorful stuff I've added??


A closer view.. Looks like a very creamy soup eh? Mmmm!
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. after 10min -->
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It became fluffy! Looks so yummy! I think it's the melted mozzarella rising.


A closer view.. Parang puto cheese ni mama! Only with veggies instead of cheese.
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. after another 10min -->
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It's all done! Perfectly baked and browned! This is my bro's portion and --


-- this is mine! My lovely breakfast for today with cup frittatas =)


A closer view.. Is it blurry? Sorry, I'm just using our Jurassic 1.2mp digicam eh!
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. and the last, but not the least -->
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The UBE HALAYA! Or ube jam, if that's what you prefer. It's from the Good Sheperd nuns in Baguio City. It's absolutely heavenly that it'll have it's own post soon. Watch for it! =)

gaga over frittata!

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I never, ever skip it if possible and I usually eat large amounts during this meal. Early morning is also the time I'm most inspired to cook and invent yummy meals. So if you want a taste of my cooking, better visit me during breakfast time for you will be surprised with my delish creations =)

For the past few days, I've been surfing food blogs and I came upon Lunch in a Box's entry about mini-frittata (yellow stuff in cupcake tin) and I was enamored with it! I longed to cook it and I finally did today, yum! Now, you ask, what's a frittata? Here is a definition from one of Labsie's fave sites, WIKIPEDIA: "It is a type of Italian omelette that frequently features fillings such as meats, cheeses, and vegetables. Like a normal omelette, a frittata is prepared in a skillet. However, whereas a normal omelette is cooked on a stovetop and served folded, a frittata is first partially cooked on a stovetop but then finished under the grill and served open-faced." Hmmm, I really think it's the pinoy version of the ubiquitous scrambled egg with lots of fillings but NOT fried. Right on!

I won't blog on how to make a frittata, just click the link I provided above as it has excellent instructions. I made 3 frittatas, each with different fillings. The pix on the left shows the browning frittatas inside our tough-as-nails turbo boiler oven. The one on top has a heart-shaped pork tocino piece (this is breakfast after all!) which is not seen, the one on left has cheesedog bits and the one on right has beefsteak strips. All 3 had delicious mozzarella cheese, yum! =) Notice they look like cupcakes or macaroons. At one time, they were even bubbling like crazy! Must be the milk and cheese that I included. After cooking (in pan & oven, about 20mins) and cooling, I ate the one with tocino. Super super super yummy! I wanted to eat the other 2 but since my youngest bro had classes today (thus he needs protein), I left it for him and he promptly demolished it. I think he loved it too, hehe =) Here is my finished *first attempt* frittatas. I would certainly make this again! Next time with other fillings and in bigger servings. One cupcake-size is definitely NOT enough!