How To: Make Homemade Pancake Mix

Hopefully you are well on your way to getting a morning routine established.  As I mentioned in my last post, I make breakfast for my kids each morning.  Having a good breakfast helps me and my kids start out the day right and my kids have the brain-power and energy necessary for their day.  I also don't want them to be hungry before lunch, so getting them something that will sustain them throughout the morning is essential!  I have a few go-to breakfast meals, that my kids love and gives them what they need, and I thought I would share my favorites with you today.

A few years ago, shortly after Kevin and I got married, I sat down to do our budgeting and our grocery bill was enormous.  After further analysis I was spending a small fortune on cold cereal and other breakfast items.  Kevin told me that his mom (who also had 5 children, all of them boys!) used to make pancakes just about every to feed her hungry brood and not break the bank.  So, I went to the store prepared to purchase some pancake mix.  While standing in the aisle staring at the different choices and how expensive they were, I decided I could come home and make my own for much cheaper and probably healthier too! So I came home and started experimenting with different recipes.  I didn't want to go through the hassle of having to make the pancakes completely from scratch every morning, so I decided to make my own mix with all the dry ingredients and then I would only have to add in the wet ingredients.  And of course I got a pretty glass jar to put my mix in.

Homemade Pancake Mix

   INGREDIENTS:

• 12 1/2 cup flour (can be white or wheat or a mixture of both)
• 5/8 cup sugar
• 5/8 cup baking powder
• 1 2/3 tablespoon salt
• 1 cup flax seeds milled

  DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl or container, wish together flour, sugar, baking, powder, and salt.
2. Mill flax seeds (if you purchased them whole) and add them to your mix.  Wisk together.
3. Place mix in container and use as needed.

  Notes: I purchase my flax seeds in the bulk section at my local grocery store.  I mill them in my magic bullet 1/4 cup at a time.

You can also find this recipe in my online recipe book at PlanToEat.com.

To make pancakes with this mix you will need:

• 3 cups dry mix
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup oil

This recipe makes about 18 4-inch pancakes.  You can cut in half or double as needed.

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl add in dry mix and eggs

2. Add in milk and oil.  I rarely measure my wet ingredients.  I usually just eyeball it.  Wisk together until it is mixed throughly.

3. Spoon onto hot griddle.  If I have all 5 of my kids home, I will usually put 6 pancakes on my griddle at once.

4. Flip when bubbly

5. When cooked thoroughly, eat with your favorite toppings and syrups!

My children prefer Homemade Syrup.  They also like to cover their pancakes in peanut butter (which they learned from me) which gives them some extra protein and makes it stick with them even longer!

Tip: Let any leftover pancakes cool completely and then put in a container or bag to be eaten later.  These will easily last for up to a week, probably longer if kept in the fridge.  This is helpful if you are busier some morning and don't have time to make them from scratch.

Variations on Pancakes:

In the fall, my family loves Pumpkin Pancakes.

I have also been known to have some fun with pancakes on St. Patrick's Day!

Besides pancakes I routinely make big batches of muffins.  We eat them fresh and then I put them in freezer baggies for my husband to grab for work or kids to grab for snacks.  If we are having muffins, I usually make some eggs to go with them.  We also eat oatmeal, and occasionally cold cereal if I have a busy morning and there are no pancakes or muffins.

Here are some links to my favorite muffin recipes.

Bran Muffins
Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins
Whole-Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I also make Egg & Bacon Muffins frequently for my husband to take with him.  He prefers them with the bacon cooked, cut up, and put in the eggs.  He also prefers them as mini-muffins instead of full size as the texture is better.

What are some of your go-to recipe's for breakfast? Any time-saving or money-saving tips?


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How To: Make Your Own Laundry Detergent

My husband worked for a soap manufacturing plant for quite a few years.  During that time, we rarely had to buy laundry detergent.  When he switched jobs a couple of years ago, I was shocked by how much money I was spending to do laundry for a family of seven.  I have also been on a mission the last few years to reduce the toxic chemicals coming into my home.  So I began looking at the hundreds of recipes posted online and the ones I'd pinned on my Laundry Board on Pinterest to find one that would work for my family.  I finally settled on one that I have used for about a year, and I love it! My clothes come out clean and I'm spending $0.09 per load!

   INGREDIENTS:

• Borax
• Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
• Fels-Naptha
• Downy Unstopables (optional)

  OTHER SUPPLIES:

• Fine Grater
• Wax Paper
• Mixing Bowl
• Wisk

Step 1: Grate the Fels-Naptha with a fine grater.  I always put wax paper down to catch the extras.  This is honestly the hardest part of making your own laundry detergent.  It takes me about 5 minutes per bar to grate it.  Kevin can grate it a lot faster than I can, so I make him do it if he's home.  Put the grated soap into a mixing bowl.

Step 2: Add 2 cups of Washing Soda and 2 cups of Borax to your bowl.

Optional: Using the lid, add 2 cups full of Downy Unstopables for a scent.  I used to use this, but now have a new NATURAL way of adding a scent to my laundry.  Find out more in my Wool Dryer Balls post.

Step 3: Mix well with a large wisk.

Step 4: Put into a container (with a lid) to use in your laundry room.  I found this cute glass candy jar at Walmart and the 2 Tablespoon Scoop on Amazon.

I usually add 1-2 scoops (2-4 Tablespoons) per load depending on how large the load is.  I no longer use a color-safe bleach or fabric softener with my laundry either, so another money saver right there.

So here is the cost breakdown...

With the recipe above, it makes about 4 1/2 cups which translates to about 36 loads.  Which breaks down to $0.09 per load.

For my family, I do between 15-20 loads per week, so I actually make a double batch and it lasts me about a month. Before making my own, I was spending $25/month on laundry soap, color-safe bleach, and fabric softener.  Now I spend about $6 and it takes me about 15 minutes a month making it.  That is a time and money saver and worth every penny!

Do you make your own laundry detergent? What recipe do you use? If you don't, what stops you?

Until next time....