Friday, October 15, 2010

The Greatest Pancakes...Ever

As a mother of a picky eater, I've learned that, when I find something that my son will eat, I need to make it as healthy as possible.

Enter the pancake.

My son loves pancakes! In fact, last weekend, while visiting my brother and sister-in-law he conned his aunt into making him pancakes for breakfast...and then had them again for lunch. Talks of hotdogs or chicken weren't phasing him. It rarely does anyhow.

While I was going through a cookbook to plan my monthly menu, I came across this recipe. It was in one of those church fundraiser cookbooks so I knew it had to be good. ;)
Here is my new favorite pancake recipe:

1 1/4 c. Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 c. All-Purpose Flour
2 T Brown Sugar (firmly packed)
1 T Baking Powder
1/2 t. Salt

2 Eggs
1 1/2 c. Milk
3 T Cooking Oil (or melted butter, margarine or shortening)

Thoroughly mix together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Beat together eggs, milk and oil until blended. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well.
Bake on hot, lightly greased griddle.

*I added a little flax in place of the all-purpose flour. Be creative and add other things like fruit (or maybe even chocolate chips?) I also made a few blueberry ones. Yum.

Enjoy!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Dryer Balls?

I've been using dryer balls for quite some time now as an alternative to icky, chemical-filled dryer sheets. (I didn't actually purchase mine on Amazon, but these look like the ones I have.)

While these do a great job at controlling static and shortening drying time, I'm not sure what they're made of. I don't like that. For all I know, I think I'm doing a good thing for our planet and my family by not using softener or sheets and these things could be made of PVC or BPA. Who knows?

When one of these fabulous little things finally bit the dust last week (nothing lasts forever), I started thinking about better alternatives.
An Internet search brought me to this page. There are many retailers that sell wool dryer balls, but they seemed pricey for a cheapskate like me. ;) If you're interested in making your own, the above link has great instructions complete with photos.
If you're not the crafty type and you just want to support a WAHM (work at home mom), this is a wonderful business!! I buy all of my laundry detergent from Crunchy Clean and absolutely LOVE it!

Eliminating dryer sheets and fabric softeners is an easy thing for us to do. Should we be worried about what the dryer balls are made of or is just using them enough? I really guess this depends on how eco-friendly you are hoping to be. I urge you to give them a try either way.