Sundays are for breakfast

I like breakfast, just not cooking it at 7:30 in the morning, so I've come up with a solution that works quite well for me. On Sundays I made breakfast for the week and freeze it. Then, during the week all I have to do is pull it out and pop it into the microwave for a minute and I'm good to go. Last week it was muffins (I didn't freeze the ones for that week, I just put them in baggies, but I did freeze extra) and this week its pancakes.

I love pancakes. Pancakes with fruit, plain pancakes, pancakes with yogurt, you name it, I've tried it. I'm not such a fan of the commercial syrup (too much sweetness, I can't taste the whole grainy goodness of the actual pancake) so I usually use either chopped fruit, yogurt or jelly. If I'm in a hurry and can't sit down to eat, I love to roll some fruit into a pancake and eat it like a breakfast wrap, it's quick, tasty and healthy. If you make your own jelly and it doesn't set (like my 2nd batch of rose jelly) you can use it as a syrup as opposed to reprocessing it. There are so many possibilities for a pancake, which is part of the reason why I love them.

To freeze pancakes, just make them as usual, cool them on a cookie rack and then place pieces of wax paper between them and put them in a freezer bag. During the week, pull them out and microwave them or toss them in a toaster like you would a commercial frozen pancake. Have fun!

Rose Jelly

Today I made four 1/2 pints of Rose Jelly! It started out clearish but after I added the lemon juice it turned a rosy color, it looks very pretty in the jars and tastes great too. I'm going to get some cuter jars and bottle some for presents. I'll take pictures if I can rustle up a camera.

Quick Update

I lost a tomato plant to the hail we had on Sunday. I thought he was going to pull through but when I checked today the entire top was dead, sad times. The rest of the tomato plants are looking good (all 15 of them!) and the peppers pulled through the storm okay as well. I think they're a little stressed, but if the weather continues like this they should pull through nicely.

After checking up on the green things I went to see my nemesis, Wal-mart. I had some coupons I needed to use up before they expired this month and most of the things were on sale too, so I took the plunge and went. Overall, things went rather nicely. Most of the items I purchased were hygiene items (soap, toothbrush, deodorant etc.) and I scored some nice deals. I got an Oral B toothbrush for $.43 (on sale for $1.43, $1 off coupon), some suave deodorant for -$.02 (on sale for $.98, $1 off coupon) and some pantyliners for -$.03 ($.97 reg. price, $1 off coupon). It was fun checking out because with everything I got my total came to $25 (+change) and after coupons it was $15 (+change). I ended up getting some medicines that were on sale (nyquil and dayquil cold and flu) because
a.) I had a coupon and
b.) since it's the end of the season they were on sale ($4 for a bottle that's usually $7, plus $1 off coupon).
Since they're good until 2011, I just stash them until winter comes around, and then I don't have to go to the store when I'm sick and everyone wins! Me for having inexpensive meds when I need them and the general public for not being around my germs!

Oh Dear

I'm pressure canning pinto beans. Lord help us all.

Yummy

I've been on a muffin kick the last few days and it's quite delicious. Yesterday I made blueberry muffins, today I made some banana-walnut bran muffins and I think I foresee some apple cinnamon muffins in the near future.

In other news, everything is planted and I'm just waiting on a sunny day and for summer to really kick off. There are potatoes, tomatoes, onions, peppers, cucumbers, cantaloupes, cilantro, basil, lavender and zucchini. I think that's everything.

Also, I got a killer deal on a pressure canner, so I can homecan pretty much everything now and I'm excited.

Jambalaya for dinner, it should be good.