Weeknight Dinner: Pumpkin Pancakes with Candied Pecans

Stop. Judging. Me. If you’re asking me if I put chocolate chips in these, the answer is YES. Why would I NOT put chocolate chips in these? Don’t be ridiculous.

Before I tell you how to make these amazing pancakes, I need to talk to you about something. It’s fall. Basically my favorite thing on the planet. I’m not sure I love anything as much as I love pumpkins. And as such, whenever it becomes fall (or pretty darn close to it), I talk to Mr. Grumpy about nothing else but pumpkins. Pumpkin patches. Pumpkin carving. Pumpkin cookies. Pumpkin coffee. Pumpkin-scented candles. Pumpkin-colored sweaters. Pumpkin-colored football jerseys (Go Browns!), Pumpkin pancakes.

Now, this makes Mr. Grumpy very annoyed because he CLAIMS that I do not pronounce the word, “pumpkin” correctly. He seems to think I say, “punkin.” He also says my mother says it this way. I refuse to acknowledge his ridiculousness. Also, it’s a near-impossible word to say that many times correctly.

When I stumbled upon this recipe from Overtime Cook on Pinterest, I stopped dead in my pinning tracks. I had to eat them. And fast. Of course, I added candied pecans and chocolate chips and changed a few things to make them extra sweet – and then, we dug in to our stacks (with a side of bacon). Oh. my. god. These were so good, but I have to be honest – they were really filling. I could only eat half of my two-cake stack. Mr. Grumpy did eat the rest of my stack plus three more cakes… but we all know about his addiction to sweets.

Side Note: I had purchased caramel apples at the grocery store while buying the ingredients for this recipe thinking, “Oh! Perfect! This can be our dessert.” Then, after coming home, I realized that was a bit much. Don’t worry – they will be eaten soon enough.

What You’ll Need:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oatmeal (we used the Quaker dude’s)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning
• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• Hot syrup

For the candied pecans:

• 1 cup pecans
• 2 tbsp natural buttery spread (we use Earth Balance)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• Sea salt

First, let’s make the candied pecans. Over medium-low heat, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the pecans and stir to coat. Add the brown sugar and stir to coat again. Pour the pecans out onto a piece of parchment paper and let them cool (this was the kiss of death. I ran six miles and was SO hungry while I was making dinner that I literally ate half of these while I was making the pancakes).

Now, in a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Then, add in the remaining ingredients (except the hot syrup!) into the same bowl. Stir until it makes a batter. You don’t want it to be too runny – if it is, add a bit more flour. It should be slightly thicker than a cake batter but not as thick as a muffin batter.

Heat your griddle to 300 degrees. Spray it with non-stick cooking spray. Using a 1/3 measuring cup, pour your batter out into small circles. Let those cook. Usually pancakes will get little bubbles so you know when to flip them. This won’t happen here. So, instead just watch them. They’ll start to set a bit, and that’s when you should flip them. It will take about 6 minutes on each side.

Stack up the finished pancakes and cover them with about 1 tbsp each of candied pecans. Drizzle with hot syrup and GET READY FOR THE BEST DINNER EVER!  

 

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Weeknight Dinner: Tomato-Basil Soup with Tortellini

When I woke up for work Wednesday morning, I was absolutely ecstatic. For the first time in about 2 years, I didn’t wake up drench in sweat with my hair the size of orphan Annie’s after an lightening storm in 100 percent humidity (in which the lightening strikes the hair…). Picturing that? Ok… that’s what I look like in the morning. Now, I would like to think that I wake up looking like a Disney princess, but let’s just be honest with one another. Mornings are a very scary place for me. And therefore, an even scarier place for Mr. Grumpy. Now, on this particular morning I realized that summer was almost over. There was a crisp bite to the air, and I was ready for boots and sweaters. So, it only felt natural that I make soup for dinner. Because I’ve been in hot flash mode (not really) since May. And I deserve a nice, steamy bowl of soup. However, I have had zero time in my after-work life lately – meaning soup from scratch was NOT an option. Training for the half marathon has officially taken over, and so, Mr. Grumpy and I have pretty much been doing simple dinners – Kraft mac ‘n’ cheese, oatmeal, shredded chicken or turkey sammies, peanut butter… anything that’s easy and can be reheated for a few days is what we’ve been eating basically. So, while I was grocery shopping, I thought up this super easy recipe and could not wait to come home and eat it. If you are short of time but still want something wholesome, steamy and good – this is your dinner. In just 25 minutes, you’ll have yourself a delicious bowl of soup and can sit back, relax and stretch out your legs. What You’ll Need:

• 2 cans tomato soup (Watch the sodium on this. We buy a low-sodium soup to make sure we don’t get overloaded)
• 1/2 cup fresh, chopped basil
• 1 cup three-cheese tortellini (not the frozen kind)
• 1 can of Hunt’s fire-roasted diced tomatoes, drained
• Parmesean cheese for sprinkling

Yes, I’m serious. This is all you need. It’s really that easy. Ok – here we go. First, put on your jammies. You want to be comfortable when your soup is ready, right? SO GET ON THOSE SWEAT PANTS! Next, in a large pot, heat the tomato soup (prepare as directed on the can. We used a soup that didn’t require milk or water) with the drained diced tomatoes over medium heat until simmering. Add the tortellini and 1/4 cup of basil. Cover and turn the heat to medium-low. Let that simmer for 30 minutes, until the tortellini are plump and softened. Depending on the type of tortellini you’re using, it may take less than 30 minutes, so keep checking on then to make sure you don’t over-cook them. Then, the soup is done. Really. That’s it. Separate into soup bowls and garnish with a sprinkle of basil and parmesean cheese. Curl up on that couch. And enjoy!  Related articles

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