Here’s my favorite recipe…

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
2 cups milk
2 eggs (beaten)
1/3 cup butter (melted)
2 tablespoons sugar (optional)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Makes approximately 18 pancakes

Basic Pancake Recipe Instructions

In a large bowl combine flour, milk, beaten eggs, 1/3 cup melted butter, sugar, baking powder and salt until just blended. Preheat lightly greased griddle or frying pan. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into pan per pancake. Cook until pancakes begin to bubble. Flip once and cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer. Serve with maple syrup, jam or fruit.

This is a very basic pancake recipe you can easily vary. Try adding fresh cut fruit or chocolate chips to the batter for variation. Or for a health injection, add some pureed pumpkin or squash.

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I usually serve it with tortilla chips, but I pita crisps go fabulously too.

Ingredients:

3 cups finely diced seedless watermelon
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup minced red onion
Lite tortilla chips

How to Make The Spicy Watermelon Dip

In a glass bowl place watermelon, jalapenos, cilantro and onion. Mix together lightly. Add lime juice and toss to cover. Chill in refrigerator. Serve with lite tortilla chips.

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Here are some tips on protecting your pet against common hazards in the house and garden. Let’s start with the garden.

Ponds

Water features are a popular addition to many gardens and yards. However, dogs and cats should not be allowed near the ponds. They might lick up water that is contaminated with pond chemicals or fish food, and a puppy or kitten could drown. If you have fish in the pond, be aware of their safety, too.

Excessive vegetation and debris in and on the pond can suffocate your fish – so can a layer of snow on top of an ice-covered pond. Make sure to clear out vegetation and thin pond plants to avoid this, and clear snow away from the top of ponds. Also, break a hole in the ice to give the fish oxygen.

A good rule of thumb is to fence off a pond and any other water features, such as fountains.

Heat Stroke

All animals are susceptible to heat stroke. Never shut an animal of any kind in a car on a hot day, even with windows cracked. It only takes a few minutes for the heat in the car to get to dangerous levels. Animals need access to shade, too – don’t keep a dog or cat in direct sunlight on hot summer days.

Animals with heat stroke might go into a stupor, vomit, pant excessively, or even go into a coma. Make sure your animal isn’t panting and fidgeting and acting uncomfortable – if it is, these are signs that heat stroke could come on quickly.

House Plants

Keep all house plants out of the reach of cats and dogs. Hanging plant pots are good for keeping plants up and out of animals’ reach. The only exception is “cat grass,” catnip, or other plants obtained from your vet or pet store that are specifically for cats. If you have a pet bird, make sure it does not have access to house plants.

Home Renovation

When your home is undergoing a major overhaul or even just some improvement, your pets will probably find the disruption stressful. Make sure your pets are out of the way of any handymen, contractors, or other workers. Pets can get injured easily or escape outdoors during home renovation. Temporary confinement in crates and cages, while unpleasant to some animals, are the best solution for keeping them out of harm’s way.

Toxic Foods

Some people like to feed their pets “people food,” but be aware – some foods that are harmful or healthy for us can have quite the opposite effect on pets. Here are some foods considered toxic for cats and dogs:

* Grapes
* Raisins
* Chocolate
* Alcohol (such as beer or wine)
* Xylitol sweetener
* Nuts
* Coffee (animals metabolize caffeine differently than humans)

With some basic awareness and a few precautions, you can keep your pets safe this summer and beyond.

The post Protecting Your Pets against Common House and Garden Hazards appeared first on Tips for Moms.

No double boilers required here. This chocolate ganache is made in the microwave oven and we promise it will taste as good as any you’ve ever tasted. Some versions of ganache have much more chocolate. We prefer a creamier ganache, but you can certainly adjust the amount of chocolate to match your taste.

Ingredients:

• 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate (6 wrapped squares)
• ¾ cup of heavy cream

How to Make It

Grab a microwave safe dish and add the chocolate. You’ll see we have some chocolate chips in the image below because we didn’t quite have enough baking squares. If you’re going to use chocolate chips instead of squares, you’ll need 1 cup. Many recipes will tell you to chop up the chocolate for even melting, but it’s an unnecessary step if you follow all the instructions in this recipe.

Then add the cream. Place it in the microwave oven and heat on high for 2 minutes. Remove it from the microwave and stir thoroughly.

At this point, the chocolate probably won’t completely blend with the cream, so you’ll have to put it back in the microwave. Heat for another minute or so and stir again. You’ll know when your ganache is done when the chocolate and cream are thoroughly combined and you have a smooth mixture.

Use the ganache right away or store it in the fridge. You can reheat it to get to the perfect consistency required for your recipe.

The post Microwave Chocolate Ganache Recipe appeared first on Tips for Moms.

You can download and print the Christmas Week Menu Planner AND Grocery List here (zip)

Sunday, December 23rd

Lunch:

•   Tomato soup
•  Grilled cheese sandwiches

Dinner:

• Slow cooker beef and mushroom stew. Get the recipe here and substitute baby carrots to save prep time.
• Cheese garlic biscuits. These are made using a biscuit mix to save you time.
• Baked potatoes

Monday, December 24th (Christmas Eve)

Lunch:

• English muffin pizzas. Use the recipe here, but you can use whatever ingredients you have on hand for your toppings.
• Green salad. Use bagged and washed salad mix to save time

Dinner:

• Chicken breasts with lime sauce. Here’s a simple recipe and you can even use bottled lime juice if you don’t have fresh lime on hand.
• Rice
• Vegetable medley
• Brown and serve rolls

Tuesday, December 25th (Christmas Day)

Lunch:

o    Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato (BLT) sandwiches. They’re easy to make and you can pre-cook the bacon and chop up the lettuce and tomato ahead of time. Then, let everyone assemble their own sandwiches.
o    Baby carrots with ranch dressing

Dinner:

• Ham. A cooked ham is such a simple thing to make. You can heat it up as is or mix some honey and Dijon mustard to make a delicious glaze.
• Roasted turkey breast. There’s no need to cook a whole turkey, unless you have a huge crowd.
• Mashed potatoes
• Stuffing…you can make it from scratch, but don’t stress yourself out too much. The boxed kind is usually a crowd pleaser.
• Cranberry sauce
• Broccoli cheese casserole. Here’s an absolutely delicious one.
• Ask your guests to bring a vegetable dish or check out this site for vegetable dish ideas.

Dessert Ideas: You can purchase delicious premade desserts from the bakery to save time, or if you’re ambitious, try these ones.

• Apricot fruitcake
• Old fashioned apple pie

Wednesday, December 26th

Lunch:

• Use your leftover ham to make grilled ham and cheese sandwiches
• French fries

Dinner:

• For a change from regular turkey soup, try this Southwestern turkey soup recipe.
• Using your leftover mashed potatoes, make pan-fried potato cakes.

Thursday, December 27th

Lunch:

• Turkey club tortilla roll-ups. Here are some guidelines to put yours together.
• Cut fresh fruit

Dinner:

• Don’t let that ham go to waste, try this ham casserole.
• Corn muffins are simple to make with this recipe.

Friday, December 28th

Lunch:

• Ham and Bean Soup. Here’s a nice hearty recipe.
• Biscuits, using your biscuit mix.

Dinner:

• Turkey tetrazzini. This highly-rated recipe uses egg noodles, for a delicious light texture.
• Salad
• Brown and serve rolls

Saturday, December 29th

Lunch:

• Turkey salad sandwiches. Use recipe for turkey salad.
  o    Oven baked sweet potato fries. Here’s a good recipe.

Dinner:

• Tacos. Give yourself a break and use a taco kit that includes shells, taco seasonings and taco sauce.
• Don’t forget the shredded lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and sour cream.
• For something a little extra, try this recipe for refried beans.

You can download and print the Christmas Week Menu Planner AND Grocery List here (zip)

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