Waiting On A Tow Truck

For the last 2 years, I feel I've spent more time waiting on tow trucks than I have on lesson planning.  Thank goodness we have wonderful car insurance that offers us a free tow per incident instead of limiting us to a certain number per year because we've had incident after incident with our 2 cars!

We finally had to say goodbye to my favorite car I've ever owned in the beginning of the year.  I loved my wagon!  Bluey was 3 when we bought her.  We had 9 wonderful years together and then 2 years of towing.  The hubs and 2 friends even replaced the transmission in the wagon 4 years ago, she was that important and beloved to us.  She was the only car in which B remembered riding.  But we had to let her go.  She was spending more time out of commission than in drivable condition, but it was still hard for me to let her go.  *sniff, sniff* 

Thankfully, my parents let us borrow one of their cars in the Spring because they had a houseguest who brought 2 cars of his own into their driveway.  Well, that houseguest is still there since the necessary remodel of his home is taking longer than expected.  But, thankfully, it's allowed us to have 2 cars.

Except when Hagrid, the truck we own, is being towed.  *sigh*  He's waiting outside for the tow truck to come get him.  But what Hagrid does not know, is that he is being towed away for the last time.  I'm done.  I'm done with holding my breath every time I turn the key to start a car, wondering if our plans for the day will get cancelled or if I'll get stuck somewhere and have to call my neighbor to come get us.

So, now we have 1 borrowed car from my parents, 3 bicycles and 6 feet.  :o)  And so begins the search for another used, cheap, reliable port-a-bomb for my family.

There goes Hagrid and Hootenanny in the oven.

While we waited for the tow truck to arrive this morning, I asked B what he wanted for breakfast.  "Pancakes!" was his response.  *sigh*  I really dislike making pancakes and vowed to never do it again once I found the Hootenanny recipe.  So I told him I'd make Hootenanny, which made him start singing our Hootenanny song, and I went to the kitchen to mix it up.

Only there was a problem.  There was no all-purpose flour in the pantry.  I dug through the pantry and found only whole wheat flour, rye flour and bread flour.  I went downstairs and searched the extra pantry shelves and found only self-rising flour.  Crazy!  Since it was in the low 40s and I was waiting on a tow truck, riding my bike to the store was not an option.  Back to the pantries I went.  I finally found all-purose flour hiding under egg noodles in the basement.  Phew!

B gets overly attached to everything, so the Hootenanny cheered him up after saying goodbye to Hagrid.

Breakfast Cooking Lesson for B

B gets up before me and makes himself a bowl of cereal in the morning.  Then when I get up, he's ready for some protein to give him go power.  I wasn't making a big breakfast for myself today, I only had a hard boiled egg, but B still wanted a big breakfast.  So, I decided it was time he expanded his breakfast repertoire.

I decided cooking one item in a pan was enough, so I had him do the turkey bacon in the microwave.  He got a paper plate, lined it with towels, added 3 pieces of bacon and covered with more towels.  He read the directions on the bacon packaging - 1 to 1.5 minutes for 2 slices and 1.5 to 2 minutes for 4 slices - and he decided 1.5 minutes wold be good for his 3 slices.  He was right because the bacon turned out exactly how he liked it and he was happy.

While the bacon was cooking, B got out the toaster and sat a slice of Wegmans Honey Apple Oat Bread (delicious!) in it but did not start toasting.  He cracked an egg into a bowl, added 1 tsp of water, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper and beat that all together.  He broke half a slice of American cheese up into small pieces, turned the heat on under our wok and added a little pat of butter.

My boy scrambled those eggs like a champ, turned the heat off before they were done cooking because we like our eggs a little wet, and mixed in his cheese bits.  He pushed the toast down to brown and then plated the bacon and eggs.  I buttered his toast because we didn't have any softened this morning, but he has been buttering and jellying his toast for a few years already.

He said this morning's breakfast was "..the best EVER!" because he made it himself.

B Makes Pancakes By Himself

  This morning B asked me, "Can you make pancakes for breakfast?" To which I responded, "No."  I am not a pancake fan, it's labor intensive and most of the batter goes to waste.  "Can I make pancakes then?" he asked.  "Sure."  He's cooked before, including pancakes, but I've been by his side, guiding, suggesting, pouring the heavy liquids.  This time I stayed out of it unless he asked me a question and I, of course, turned on the stove.  It was hard for me to let him do it all by himself.  I told y'all how I've struggled with the hubs doing things his way in my series last July - 31 Reasons The Hubs and I Have Lasted 17 Years.  #17: Just because it isn't done my way doesn't mean it's done wrong, was my mantra this morning as B made his breakfast.  I am a "destination" person when it comes to tasks and B, like the hubs, is a "journey" person.  Right off the bat, though, he totally made me proud and proved he is the son of a chef by starting out with mis en place.  It means "everything in place" and in the kitchen, it refers to ensuring you have everything you need and ready to go before you start cooking.  Halfway through mixing his batter, he decided to add Nutella to his pancakes, too.

I made a notation in the cookbook with the pancake recipe to use less milk than it called for because they are too runny and flat.  B told me he forgot to use less milk, but they still tasted good.  Lesson learned for next time.  He was proud of himself when it was all done and these were the best tasting pancakes ever because he had made them himself. Unfortunately, he got a rude awaking when he tried to walk out of the kitchen when he was done and I called him back to put everything away and clean up his dishes.  He declared that "the not so fun part of cooking".  Tell me about it!  ;o)  

Bacon Pancake Muffins

I made Sausage Pancake Muffins yesterday for breakfast; they were soooooo gooooood.  B wouldn't eat them, however.  He is a bacon man and had no interest in the sausage muffins.  When I awoke this morning, I received a request from both the hubs and B to make the pancake muffins, again, but with bacon.  I did.  B liked them but the hubs and I like the sausage ones better - more flavor.

I cooked some bacon and broke up one piece into each muffin cup.

Poured my homemade pancake batter over the bacon and baked at 350 for 15 minutes.

This is one, upside-down.

Cut open.

Try them both adn tell me which ones you prefer.

Sausage Pancake Muffins

B loves pancakes for breakfast but I don't like making them.  I think it's similar to the reason I don't like making cookies - all the pouring, watching, waiting, cooking one at a time.  Blah!  I saw cut up hot dogs in corn muffins on Pinterest so I decided to try cut up sausages in pancake batter.

I heated up a package of Banquet Brown n Serve sausage links and cut them into thirds.

I made a batch of homemade pancake batter but you can use a mix; it's OK, there's no judging here.  In fact, look closely at my pan.  Spilled batter, stained, I mean seasoned ;o), muffin pan...  Added batter.

Plopped 2-3 pieces of sausage in each cup and baked at 350 for 15 minutes. 

They cook all at the same time!

Plate of breakfast manna!  Add syrup and enjoy.  :o)  

(B has requested that I use bacon next time.)

My Breakfast Sandwich

I prefer ham in my breakfast sammies.  I love bacon, but prefer to eat it in strips on the side.  I like sausage, but only in links; I don't like patties (weird, I know).  I really have to be in the mood for an egg to eat one, and I'm rarely in the mood.  Usually, the thought of eggs makes me sick to my stomach, but when I happen to be sick to my stomach (not from thinking about eggs) I crave eggs (weird, again).  I was in the mood yesterday, so I made this beauty.

Chiffonade (cut into ribbon-like strips) 2 slices of Wegmans Brown Sugar Ham and sauté in a little butter until desired color/crispiness.

Beat 1 egg, a little salt, a little pepper, a splash of water.

Now, if you scramble the eggs, they'll fall out of the sammy with every bite.  So, just pour them in a heated pan with a little melted butter and let it cook flat. It's a thin layer, so it won't take long.

When almost cooked through, I tried to fold the egg in half, but it did not make it all the way over. I think that worked out better! SoI folded over the other side just to meet the first...

...then folded it in half and took it off the heat.

My English muffin was toasting while the egg cooked. I just love the reflection of me and my kitchen in the glass; makes me feel all artsy.  :o)

I put a slice of American cheese on each muffin half b/c that is what the hubs does.  He has a cheese obsession.  I realized that was too much cheese for me and next time I'll just use one slice.  Then the egg and the ham.

YUM-O!  I wasn't able to finish the whole thing.

So, tell me what your favorite breakfast sandwich meat is - bacon, sausage, ham, Canadian bacon, something else?