Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Easy Breakfasts
Okay, so for about the last eight weeks, I've been hoping to post something for Works-For-Me-Wednesday. It looked like such fun, the problem was that I always remembered about it on Thursday or Friday. I'm so excited that I realized it was Wednesday today - Yahoo! I could actually participate. Wonder of wonders, I didn't forget this week.
But then, what on earth would I say actually works for me? I'm just a new mama and a pretty new wife and I could sure tell you a lot of things that DON'T work, but something that has actually consistently worked and been a help to our family? Hmm... that's a bit trickier.
However, here's one simple thing that I do a lot (usually at least once every week or every other week) - I'll make a big batch of pancake, french toast, or waffle batter one morning and then only use part of it. It will keep in the refrigerator for about a week and so we have an almost ready-made, no fuss breakfast for a few more mornings later on in the week. For some reason, pancakes, french toast, or waffles are much easier for me to make if the batter is already made.
Another tip: We have trouble with milk expiring before it is used up around here (I know, I know, most families probably don't have that problem, but we do!) and so I'll freeze what's left in the jug or transfer it to a smaller container and freeze and then I use this in the pancake batter. I also often buy milk that is almost-expired and reduced in price at the store and freeze it to use for pancake batter. Since most pancake batters are best made with sour milk, it's completely okay if it is "spoiled."
Save money, save time, save calories - it works for me!
posted by Crystal Paine at 3:29 PM
8 Comments:
I didn't know that about pancakes being better with slightly sour milk. That is a great tip.
Thanks for the tips and welcome to WFMW! =)
Wow, I didn't know you could make pancake batter ahead of time! I thought it would separate. I'll have to try this. If I'm ambitious enough to make pancakes, or waffles, it's always on a Sunday...and a lot of Sundays, I'm too tired. But if I had it mixed up already, I'd be good to go. This is a great tip!
Another thing that freezes surprisingly well is the white of an egg... I have been using a lot of recipes that call for egg yolks alone lately, and have been saving the separated whites to freeze for later use in omelettes.
We love waffles around here! It is a Sunday evening tradition at our house...waffles and soem kind of breakfast meat. Makes an easy and quick meal, which is appreciated after morning services and fellowship and then a lazy afternoon.=) We used to have problems with the milk, too. I found a half gallon glass jar with a screw on lid. I fill it up when we get a new gallon of milk, and use the stuff in the plastic jug first. The glass keeps it fresher for almost a full week longer!
Wonderful idea! Our tip is up and we're also hosting the Carnival of the Vanities this week if you haven't visited it already ;).
you may want to check out www.realmilk.com for more clarification on soured versus spoiled milk. from what i have read, soured milk is what we get when raw milk gets old. it still has good bacteria in it so the souring is actually good for you and won't make you sick. spoiled milk is what we get when store bought aka pasteurized milk gets old. all good bacteria was cooked out during the pasteurization so when it gets old, it's just a bunch of bad bacteria. you might not want to mess with that. if it wasn't cooked out during pasteurization, it probably won't cooke out with pancakes. and there is now no good bacteria in it to balance it's effects. i know from my experience that there may be great truth to that. i have had a few jugs of raw milk and for almost a year we have been drinking low pasteurized milk exclusively. both the raw milk and the low pasteurized smelled and taste completely different from the regular pasteurized milk when they got old. it was actually still drinkable with a twang to it. there was none of that "twist your face up" when you smell it odor to it either. i purposely left it in the fridge when it started souring to see if there was a difference. ultimately, you may be loading your intestines with a bunch of bad bacteria which can eventually lead to illness. just for example, 3 of my 4 children had extreme, oozing eczema. doctor's prescriptions alleviated symptoms for awhile and eventually did nothing at all to help. it was so bad that i prayed and asked God what to do and hit the internet. i learned about good and bad bacteria in the intestines and the problems it causes (www.eczema-usa.com is one of many sights with info on this). i discovered that our intestines should have an 85% good to 15% bad ration of bacteria. if that balance is off, sickness shows up in minor ways like athlete's foot, dandruff, eczema (although our children's was not minor - it was open, oozing wounds - miserable) all the way to major illnesses. i tried several different probiotics (good bacteria) and all were great improvements but the one that healed their skin completely was primal defense which was developed by a christian doctor (by jordan rubin - author of the maker's diet) he's at www.thelivingpsring.com (and jordanrubin.com and i think themakersdiet.com) he had MAJOR illness (at death's door) and God showed him the pathway to healing and now he helps others. (certainly blessed our family, my kids hated to sweat or take baths because they were miserable). so my point is, you might want to leave that spoiled milk alone and go for soured low pasteurized or raw milk instead. lots of things can contribute to a bacterial imbalance in the intestines (chlorinated water, too much sugar, antibiotics) so you don't want to add to it. Bless you all.
Just to clarify, I wasn't saying to use spoiled milk, I was saying to freeze milk right around when it expires and then use it in batter. :) There is definitely a difference between spoiled milk and sour milk. I'd never use spoiled milk for anything. Yuck! Sour milk is basically the equivalent of buttermilk which works wonders in pancake batter.
Oh and we love "raw" milk! Our grocery store carries it from a local dairy!
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