Puffy Pancakes and a Little Storm Watcher

I recently got a new cookbook that I like a lot. It's from Taste of Home - it's the Busy Family Cookbook. Almost all of the recipes can be completed in 30 minutes or less and use ingredients I usually have at home. Also, I really like that it has pictures of almost every recipe. I like knowing what a recipe is supposed to look like before I try to make it.

In the last couple of weeks, I've gotten ideas for several meals from the book. I haven't actually followed the recipes too closely. Mostly it's just helped me think of new things I can cook.

One of the new recipes was lasagna roll-ups. It was really simple, and Casey LOVED it. You just cook your lasagna noodles, pour some sauce in your casserole dish. Put your ricotta cheese mixture on the noodles, roll them up and pour your sauce on top. Easy, breezy, and so good! It tastes more like manicotti because of all the cheese, but it's easier to make because you don't have to stuff the tubes.

Another new recipe (not actually from the Busy Family cookbook but another Taste of Home cookbook) was salmon patties. These were also really easy and a big hit with everyone, including Colton! You just get a large can of salmon, add 1/2 a cup of breadcrumbs, two eggs, some chopped fresh parsley, a dash of spices and 3 tablespoons of mayo, then make patties and cook them in a bit of oil in the skillet.

And lastly, this morning I made puffy oven pancakes with fruit. The recipe called for blueberries and bananas but I was out of blueberries, so I used raisins. I served Colton and my mom the pancakes and they were gobbled up. I think next time I'll try strawberries with some blueberries or bananas.

For this recipe you just put a tablespoon of butter in a pie pan and stick it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes. While it's heating up, mix 3 lightly beaten eggs and 1/2 cup milk, with 1/3 cup flour, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Then pour the batter in the hot pie pan and cook for 10-12 minutes. Mix a 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon with 1 tablespoon sugar and sprinkle over fruit and spoon into puff pancake.

Also, I caught some pictures of Colton enjoying the thunderstorm we had this afternoon. He sat in front of the sliding glass door for a long time just watching the rain come down. I guess he is an Oklahoma storm lover at heart.