Pumpkin Spiced Oatmeal

4 cups water
1 cup steel cut oats
1/4-1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or more to taste)
2-4 tbsp brown sugar (or more to taste)

Boil water, add oats and cook for 30 minutes over medium heat until oats are tender. Remove from heat, stir in pumpkin, milk, vanilla, spices and brown sugar. Adjust seasonings and brown sugar to taste.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Yogurt

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup milk
1 cup pumpkin, canned

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, adding yogurt, milk and pumpkin puree. Mix well. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just blended. Spoon the batter onto a preheated, oiled griddle, using 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes slowly over a low-medium heat for approximately 4-6 minutes, flipping after 3 minutes.

Yields: 12-4 inch Pancakes

Lyn's notes: Sounds like a weird combination of ingredients, but these are really good! They also freeze well.

Blueberry Stuffed French Toast

12 slices of cubed, white bread, crusts removed
1 or 2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, cubed
1 cup of frozen blueberries
12 large eggs
1/3 cup of maple syrup
2 cups of milk

Butter (or cooking spray) a 13x9 pan
Put half of bread in the pan
Scatter cream cheese over bread
Sprinkle blueberries over cr. cheese
Top w/ remaining 1/2 of bread
Whisk together eggs, milk & syrup & pour over bread
Cover w/foil and refrigerate overnight
Preheat oven to 350
Bake for 30 min., covered
Remove foil & bake 30 min. until puffed & golden

Blueberry Syrup

In sauce pan, stir together:
1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water & 2 tbls. of cornstarch
Cook over medium heat until thick
Add 1 cup of blueberries & simmer, stirring occassionally, for 10 min.
Add 1 tbls. of butter (optional)
Serve warm

amazing pancakes

I make them in a blender and then just pour them right on the griddle- just make sure griddle is really hot so they don't stick.
6-7 eggs
12 oz cottage cheese
1/3 C whole wheat flour...
1/3 C wheat germ
1/3 C olive oil
1/3 C milk (can use plain yogurt)
1/2 t almond flavoring
I use fat free cottage cheese and milk. You want the pancakes pretty thin so they aren't mushy inside, add a splash more milk if needed, and walla!

Good Morning Muffins

(can also be bread)
3 eggs
1 C. vegetable oil
2 C. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 C. shredded carrots
2 C. shredded zucchini
1 8 oz. can drained crushed pineapple
3 C. flour (I use wheat flour, but the original recipe is white. Whatever floats your boat).
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
Mix eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla together. Add the carrots/zucchini/pineapple. Mix the remaining dry ingredients together separately. Then blend the wet stuff into the dry stuff.
Pour into paper lined muffin tins. (I use papers for easy freezing-- they don;t stick together as much. Also, less clean-up mess.) I sometimes have extra mix after filling 24 papers, so I pour the rest into a greased mini-bread pan. You could also just make this into bread and not muffins. Whatever floats your boat.
Bake at 350.
30-40 minutes for muffins.
50-60 minutes for full-sized bread.
Done when toothpick comes out clean.
These are great for the kids, but also SO yummy for us as well!

Variations:

Kristy's
Emily, I made your zucchini / carrot muffins today. Except I didn't have zucchini or pineapple so I doubled the carrot and used raspberries instead of pineapple. I mean, really, the possibilities are endless with these muffins. I'm trying to think of some other combinations to sneak in there - broccoli, maybe?????
Anyway, they were YUMMY! Luke LOVES them (and so do I) and has no idea he's eating carrots (which he normally HATES). He cried when I would only give him one for a snack.
As for the raspberries - honestly I didn't measure them, but I think I put about a cup in - still frozen from the package. I used my kitchemaid mixer and it kind of broke them up (I was secretly hoping it would turn the batter pink, but it made it a strange purple color ).
I've also doubled the carrots when I didn't have zucchini and didn't feel like running to the store.
I also use all whole wheat flour, but I think that doesn't make them rise as well (although it still tastes good to me).
Sarah's
Emily - I just made your muffins and I can't stop eating them! They are delicious! I made them with a 1/2 cup of oil and 1/2 cup of apple sauce instead of a cup of oil and they are still yummy! Thanks for sharing that recipe. Now I just hope the kids eat them! Certainly I won't be telling them there are fruit and veggies and whole wheat flour because I don't think they will be able to tell.
Dawn OTF's
I just made some more today and this is what I did.
Instead of
1 C. oil I used 1/2 C. oil & 1/2 C. applesauce
2 C. sugar I used 1 1/2 C.
2 C. whole wheat flour & 1 C. white flour I used 2 C. ww flour & 1/2 C. white flour & 1/2 C. oats. I sprinkled a little more oats and ww flour in because it seemed a little moist.
They were just as good as when I made the original