Weekend Walk on the Tacoma Nature Trail

This past weekend was gorgeous. Mid seventies up to eighties. 0% chance of rain (which is rare out here!). Finally, as the weather warms up we are getting a chance to enjoy Washington's beautiful outdoors. We have so much on our to do list of outdoor activities, but this week we started small.

Saturday we took a hike. Well...it was more of a walk. We had planned on a 5 mile hike deep in the woods, but it was my husband's turn to carry his shop's emergency duty phone which meant if he got a call he had an hour to get to it and being 5 miles in the woods wouldn't work. So, instead of our initially planned hiking location (coming soon!) we went to the Tacoma Nature Center.

It was nice to be out in the woods, even if it was only for an hour (about 2 miles). We looped around Snake Lake. I had read about it in a hiking book and was led to believe that it is a "moderate" trail on the ranking of difficulty...but...apparently we are a lot more hard core woodsy than we realized. Some parts of the trail were very pretty, but unfortunately the trail runs along the highway. It is hard to feel like you are enjoying the wilderness with car-noise in the back ground. Very little incline and overall un-treacherous trail. I guess it would be a fantastic place to go with little kids, but for two outdoorsy adults it was a little disappointing.

We did enjoy the weather. The sound of birds is always nice. We looked at the pond and admired the very tall trees. I picked a huge bunch of wild flowers. JoJo patiently stopped and waiting every time I made a stop to pluck some sort of fern. We talked. We saw a nasty giant ant mound (they are everywhere in Washington. It's scary). We followed a trail of ants. And on the way home, we stopped and had half-off Frappuccinos from Starbucks.

Overall, it was a lovely little Saturday date.

Thrifty Thinkin': Homemade Syrup-Filled Banana Pancake Bites

Yet another quick and easy breakfast to make ahead and enjoy all week: Pancake Bites!

As we know, I love cooking anything I possibly can in my muffin pan. I also try and cook a week's worth of breakfast on Sunday afternoon, so I can quickly reheat in the oven or microwave. This way my Airman husband gets a decent homemade breakfast before he is out the door at 6:30 and I get to not get up at the butt-crack of dawn and cook for him. Win-win.

Last week I made syrup-filled mini pancakes, or "pancake bites" in my muffin pan and my husband enjoyed them all week long.

You'll need:

*oh, and your favorite syrup will be necessary too. The real stuff is always the best!!

*preheat your oven to 350!

*I used about a cup and a half of dry pancake mix and added the needed ingredients accordingly. Follow whatever your normal pancake routine would be. My cup and a half came out to 8 little pancakes/muffins.

*doesn't have to be bananas. pick your favorite pancake filling, or leave them plain!

*adding the syrup after the 10 minutes allows for them to be syrup "filled." If you mix it in with the batter it would sort of cook off by the time 25 minutes is up

*though these are called "syrup filled" I suppose they are more syrup "infused." When you bite into one it isn't like a fruit gusher (why can I not think of a better example!?) or a jelly filled donut- nothing will ooze all over your hands. The syrup soaks into the mostly-cooked pancake batter. When they are done you can still taste the syrup and they are a little sticky, but it has dispersed throughout the pancake bite. You could do without syrup, but I think it makes them more like pancakes and less like muffins. Another option would be to bake them plain and dip them in syrup later if you aren't rushing out the door.

*easy reheat: 5 minutes back in the oven at 350 or 45 seconds in the microwave. Keep in the fridge (in plastic baggie) to enjoy all week long!

 

 

Thrifty Thinkin': Easy, Homemade Peanut Butter (Reese's) Brownie Bites

This post will be short and sweet. Very sweet, with a hint of peanut butter.

My husband is a brownie addict, as I have mentioned before. Although, more than he loves brownies, he loves Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. So of course, a recipe combining the two is an automatic win.

This is one of my favorite ways to make brownies and one of his favorite recipes to devour. It is basically like making a regular batch of brownies, only I bake mine in a muffin tin. In the above photo you can see aluminum foil; I line the tins with it for easier removal from the pan. You could also use cupcake-type liners.

To make your own Reese's Brownie bites, follow whatever instructions your usual brownie mix gives you. I make my own mix to be frugal, as well as to avoid unnecessary chemicals and unpronounceable ingredients in our brownies. You can find my recipe here!

 Once you have your brownie batter all mixed up, divide it evenly into a grease (and lined) muffin pan. Insert 1 Reese's peanut butter cup into the center of each. Bake just like you would for your regular brownies. Let cool and remove from the pan. They are a great little treat and easy to pack into lunches! Enjoy!