Pumpkin Pancakes

Here is a pumpkin pancake recipe for you to try this fall or any day of the year. I found it on All Recipes.One night my sister in laws and I had gone to IHOP to try their red velvet pancakes, but come to find out, they didn’t have them. I was sad…However, they had Pumpkin Pancakes instead. I didn’t mind. I love pumpkin! And let me tell you…they were DELICIOUS! You could really taste the pumpkin flavor in it and it was topped with whipped cream sprinkled with pumpkin pie spice. It was a little thin not as fluffy as their regular pancakes but it still tasted great. The next day, I immediately looked online for a recipe. Now, I wake up way too early in the morning to make this for breakfast so I had to wait a whole week to make it on the weekend. It tasted just as good as the one at IHOP. I followed the recipe but tweaked it a little, since I didn't have some spices on hand.

1  1/2c of milk

1 c pumpkin puree

1 egg

2 Tbl of vegetable oil

2 Tbl of vinegar

2 c all-purpose flour

2 Tbl brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1  1/2 tsp pumpkin spice

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

I mixed all the wet ingredients together in one bowl and added the sugar in it.

I then combined all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

I slowly added the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until everything was thoroughly mixed. There were a few small lumps in there, but that was okay. I let the batter sit for 5 minutes just to let that vinegar work in to make the batter fluffy and light.I then used an ice cream scooper to scoop the batter just because it was easier and I wanted all the pancakes to come out the same size. The batter may come out a little thick so I used a spoon to spread it wider. The perfect temperature setting I found was medium low. How you can tell when a pancake is ready to turn over is when the edges start to brown and dry up a little. You will also see a few holes forming at the top of the pancake.

It created that perfect light golden brown color. Topped it off with some whipped cream, syrup and powdered sugar mixed with pumpkin spice. This is a great recipe to try. You won't be disappointed!

Colorful Layered JELL-O Cups

Isn't this the coolest thing ever?! Layered Jello in all sorts of colors and flavors!

This is one of the many desserts I made for my daughter's first birthday party. I wanted to make a dessert that was eye catching and of course, yummy. At first, I was going to make peach jello cups, but they weren't any fun. They would've went well with the color theme (which I'll have to post about her birthday theme another time), but then I wasn't sure if they'd all be eaten. So, I stuck with this idea of layering different jello flavors instead, and I'm very glad I did. It was a hit! Everyone loved them. They weren't too sweet either. I layered them in the perfect size party cups that weren't too big or too small so that smaller kids were able to finish it, and adults felt like it was just enough for them. They weren't filled to the very top, but that was fine. I made about 30 cups. I can't say if that was enough though. Even though it was just enough for the adults, we secretly wanted a second cup, lol. I can't remember where I got the recipe from, but I listed a recipe from Tried and True cooking with Heidi. It looks similar to the one I followed.

This dessert doesn't have to be made on special occasions only. It's great for any time, any day. Just make sure you have a dollop of whipped cream with it! Try it out and let me know how you or your kids liked it.

Layered Jello Recipe

2 boxes lime jello
2 boxes lemon jello
2 boxes strawberry jello
2 boxes peach jello
(you can use any jello flavors you wish, but make sure you get 2 boxes of each color)
2 cans evaporated milk (3 cups)
water

DIY Mei Tai Baby Carrier

A few weeks ago was my best friend's cousin's baby shower. I wanted to make her a Mei Tai baby carrier. For those who aren't familiar with it, it is an Asian inspired baby carrier. I could've purchased her one, but I wanted to take on the challenge to sew it instead. Plus, it was great for the budget! I could have made one for my daughter, but I actually have 3 baby carriers that my mom and mother in law made for her already. The baby carriers that my daughter has are the Hmong baby carriers. They are similar to the Mei Tai, except they do not have a strap at the bottom to tie to around the hip.

Here is one of my daughter's Hmong baby carrier.

Here's how it looks like with a toddler in it. The two straps go over my shoulders under my armpits crossing each other in the back, making an X over but under my baby's butt. That X will hold her in place and then the straps will come under her legs to tie in the front.

What I like about the Hmong baby carrier is that it's not huge and too bulky to carry around. You just wrap the straps quickly around it and put in the bag and go. With the Mei Tai, I feel like it takes a lot more space. It may also have to do with the size of the panel too, but I think the double straps makes it bulkier, especially if you have to fold quickly and go. I do however think that the Mei Tai is more newborn friendly because of the bottom horizontal strap to hold the baby in. I should have taken a picture of my baby in it, but I totally forgot. I didn't take step by step pictures on how I sewed the Mei Tai baby carrier, but I followed directions from a tutorial from Hobo Mama. She sewed her Mei Tai combining styles from three other blogs.

I decided to sew a reversible carrier with a soft head rest/cover. One side is a purple floral pattern, and the other side is a fun colorful owl pattern. I added a head rest and made the straps using a light green cotton twill fabric. Here's how it came out. It came out a little wider than I would've liked, but overall, it came out better than I expected. 

Welcome!

Hi and Welcome to Food.Craft.Fun. After having my daughter, I felt like the domestic part of me became even bigger in me. I found a new interest in crafting and organizing, and I've always enjoyed cooking, baking, and planning. So I decided to blog to keep track of some recipes, dishes, projects, and events as well as share and exchange them with anyone who may be interested.