Cottage Cheese Pancakes

These are some of my favorite pancakes. They're much more filling than regular pancakes, and a nice change from the norm.

The original recipe calls for 6 tablespoons of butter, but I usually just use a splash of vegetable oil or just leave it out altogether. I don't think it's necessary considering the cheese, especially when I'm just gonna smother it all in sugary syrup and fruity jam anyway.

1 cup cottage cheese
pinch of salt
6 tablespoon melted margarine (or cooking oil)
4 eggs
½ cup flour

In a bowl combine all ingredients well. Cook on a hot griddle. Sere with butter and syrup.

Makes about 12 small pancakes.

Also, the other day, I was lazy but wanted some of these, so I just added 1/2 cup cottage cheese to a my pancake mix, and it cooked up nicely. Not as good, of course, but good enough.

Yogurt in the CrockPot!

Yes, I made yogurt in my CrockPot, and I am most excited about it! Lacey and I eat a lot of yogurt, so this is a way to cut costs a little bit. I found the instructions here, but I thought I'd consolidate the information.

The process takes a while, but most of it is just waiting. It's really very very easy.

Ingredients:
1/2 gallon milk (homogenized and pasteurized, but not ultra-pasteurized)
1/2 cup live/active culture yogurt, as a starter
You will also need a thick bath towel and, of course, a slow cooker

Instructions:
1. Pour 1/2 gallon milk in slow cooker, cover, and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours
2. Unplug slow cooker, and let it sit covered for 3 hours.
3. After 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of milk, whisk in the live culture yogurt, and stir it back into the slow cooker.
4. Put the lid back on, keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel around for insulation.
5. Go to bed (or let it sit for 8 -12 hours). In the morning, it should have thickened (not as thick as what you buy at the store, but significantly thicker than the milk you started with).
6. Stir in whatever fruit and/or sweetener you like. Just keep in mind that as you stir, you may break down the proteins that make it thick, and it won't thicken up again.
7. It will be good in your refrigerator for about 7 days.

Some tips that were in the comments on the web site:

--The lower the fat content in your milk, the thinner your yogurt will be.

--Ways to thicken your yogurt. 1) Add a packet of non-flavored gelatin along with the live culture yogurt. 2) Add some NOT instant powdered milk (amounts between 2 tablespoons and 1/2 cup were all suggested). I assume that you either add it at the beginning or with the the live culture yogurt. I don't know, I haven't tried it. 3) Line a strainer with a double thickness of cheese cloth. Add the yogurt you just made and let the liquid drip out of it (I used a coffee filter, and it worked, but it was just a mess trying to get the yogurt off the filter, and I'm pretty sure that there were pieces of filter left over in my yogurt. I assume cheese cloth would still be messy but hopefully it won't leave pieces behind). This can take a couple hours or all day and night, depending on how much yogurt you use and how thick you want it.

--You can use 1/2 cup of the yogurt that you made as a starter 5 or 6 times until the cultures die. Then you'll probably need to start over again. One person said that the cultures in Yoplait are pretty weak and would die after maybe 2 batches.

French Breakfast Muffins

What makes them French, I don't know. But they are yummy. I made them for breakfast this morning, and they were a hit. I used regular plain yogurt instead of butter in the muffins, and they still turned out delicious. They are not very sweet, so the cinnamon sugar on top is a must. I wanna try them with blueberries next, maybe with a little bit of almost flavor too.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Stir together egg, milk and 1/3 cup melted butter. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; stir until just moistened (batter may be lumpy). Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Meanwhile, combine 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon. When muffins are finished baking, dip tops of muffins in the melted butter and then in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve warm.

Sweet Cinnamon Biscuits

Ever wanted homemade cinnamon rolls in a hurry? These are yummy, quick, and easy!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

8 tablespoons butter (softened)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl and mix well. Stir in vegetable oil. Add buttermilk and stir until just blended

Knead dough on lightly floured surface until smooth. Roll dough into 15 x 8 inch rectangle

Preheat oven to 400 F. Lightly Grease 9-inch round baking pan.

Spread butter over dough. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over butter. Roll up rectangle from one long side. Pinch seam to seal.

Cut roll into 1 1/2 inch slices. Bake until lightly browned 15 to 20 minutes.