THE BEST Buttermilk Pancakes

If you follow my blog you know pancakes are popular in our house. Why I never made buttermilk pancakes until recently is beyond me because these are my FAVORITE now!!! They are so fluffy and delicious! Make a big batch and freeze the leftovers for a quick week day breakfast is my suggestion.

Buttermilk Pancakes:

2 cups AP Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 cups Buttermilk
1/4 cup Melted Butter -Cooled
1/4 cup Water
1 tbsp Vanilla

Mix all dry and all wet in 2 bowls, then mix together. Let sit while your pan heats up, make sure you do this part, its science ;-)
Heat pan to medium / medium low and flip when there are bubbles all over.

Enjoy!

~Mrs. Milly~

A Look in the Life of Mrs. Milly

HELLO READERS!

First, I want to say THANK YOU for reading my blog!!! If it's your first visit WELCOME and I hope you enjoy it. Second, I am not a writer so please excuse any grammar mistakes, rambling and don't expect too much ;-). Finally, I am so excited about my blog in 2016 and on!

I started this blog in 2013 as a way to keep track of and share my recipes with anyone who wanted to read them. Then I wanted to make it more but as much as I wanted to life kept getting in the way and I am sorry for that! My life now consist of taking care of my home, 2 young boys 5 & 2 years old and my amazing, hard working husband. I work out of my home watching other kids 3-4 days a week. I am involved in my church and help with their kids program when I can and my sons partake. My 5 year old plays t-ball so I am also a baseball mom 8 months out of the year. I also have Crohn's Disease (my story here) but at all cost I try not to let that affect my life, even though it wins at times and knocks me down, I always get back up! To say the least, I stay BUSY! Having kids around all the time doesn't make it easy to keep track of what you are cooking or sit down at the computer and tell others about it. I am not letting that slow me down this year though!!!! As a matter of fact I have a sink full of dishes and the TV is babysitting my boys right now ;-). I'll make it happen, it may only be once a week but you WILL be seeing more post this year and some videos (if I can figure it out).

Please comment on the blog with any questions, tips or thoughts. I need your help and want to hear from you. If you try a recipe or idea I post about PLEASE TELL ME, how it turned out and what you thought!

You can also follow me on my facebook at Cooking With Mrs. Milly or my Instagram at MrsMillyCooks

I am so excited to share with you and hear from you!

~Mrs. Milly~

 This is Me and The Men in my Life

 

Sorry for being a Slacker...

My life has been crazy lately and my health has been so-so. I just haven't been in the cooking mood till now! Crazy I know but when you cant eat it or are SO tired you just don't want to get crazy in the kitchen. Something clicked the other day though and I am back! I have BIG plans for the blog coming the new year I PROMISE you will see more post and maybe even some video =).

In the mean time, check out my Christmas cookie recipes:
Confetti Cookies w/ Cream Cheese Icing
Red Velvet Mint Cookies
Also a good Christmas morning breakfast you can make the night before!
Breakfast Casserole

These are oldies but goodies

Sorry for being such a Slacker!

I wish all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!!


~Mrs. Milly~

HOMEMADE PUMPKIN SPICE CREAMER

Tomorrow is the first day of Fall, the perfect day for this I feel. I love fall, football, bonfires, Halloween, Thanksgiving, outside all the time, and PUMPKIN SPICE is back in the coffee shops! Now that I am eating more clean I knew I needed to make my own creamer to go in my coffee at home, plus it saves me so much money! I have made creamer before, and it is so easy and yummy. 


Pumpkin Spice Creamer:

1 14oz Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 Cups Milk
1 tsp Vanilla 
3 tbsp Pumpkin Spice Mix

Yep, that's it!
                                        
                                           This is what is looks like if you do it in order

                                          Shake Shake Shake Shake Shake Really Good!!!

**You will need to shake it up before each use, date with milk expire date.

Enjoy in your favorite Coffee! If you're still in the high 80's like Florida make it iced coffee =)

~Mrs. Milly~

Pumpkin Spice Seasoning

I could feel a touch of fall in the air here in North Florida early this morning and even though I love summer I am ready for the nice cooler weather. Something that screams fall to me is pumpkin and pumpkin spice. Here is my mixture I keep on hand this time of year to add to many recipes, one of my all time favoriate is Bakery Style Pumpkin Muffins

                 I saved baby food jars from when my boys were little for things like this.


PUMPKIN SPICE:

• 4 tbsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp Allspice
• 1/4 tsp Ground Clove
• 1/4 tsp Ground Ginger 

Enjoy!

~Mrs. Milly~ 

Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot

This is something you can season up so many ways and can eat on its own, make in to sandwiches, or make a gravy and put it over rice or pasta.

I have always roasted my whole chickens in the oven and they turn out great. It was Labor Day when I made this and here in Florida it is still HOT and having my oven on was not something I wanted to do plus we were going to be at the pool most of the day. So I thought lets try the crock pot, I am not big on chicken in the crock pot because I feel you can over cook it too easily. Being a whole chicken and since I was going to use the crock pot after for bone broth anyway I gave it a try and glad I did.

How I did my Chicken:

• I put big cuts of onion, carrots and celery and garlic cloves in the bottom of the pot for the chicken to sit on top of.

 Seasoned it with:

• 1/4 tsp Curry Powder
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne Red Pepper
• 1/4 tsp Celery Salt
• 1/4 tsp Dried Parsley
• 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1 tbsp Salt

I mixed all the seasoning in with coconut oil and rubbed it all over the chicken and under the skin.
Placed breast side down and cooked on low for 6 hours. Do not add liquid it will make enough on its own.

It fell off the bone, was so flavorful and tender! We had friends over for dinner and I got a thumbs up from all the full mouths! My husband was the only one who wasn't a big fan but he doesn't like shredded or pulled chicken though said the flavor was good.

Don't forget to save the bones for Bone Broth

Enjoy!

~Mrs. Milly~

This was a little rich for me and my sensitive tummy or it could of been I had garlic potatoes with it... But just made my stomach talk to me a little, didn't upset it or anything and was so tasty I was fine with a little grumble. ;-)


*Disclaimer: With any IBD, each person is different and what doesn't bother my system might bother yours. Always consult with your doctor if you are unsure and take caution when eating anything new. 

Bone Broth Recipe

This like The Story That Starts My Journey  is a bit longer of a post than I normally do. I am in no way a writer so I apologize for any rambling or mistakes. I normally give a little blip about the recipe and the recipe but I felt this needed more explaining.

During my hospital stay I did a lot of research about foods good for the gut. I stumbled across bone broth. I had to read it to see what this was all about because I always make my own broth/stock, but what was BONE broth?!

It has been a healing aid for many years, your great grandparents most likely used it. Like a lot of things is just now coming back to popularity though. They even have Bone Restaurants / Bars in some areas and celebrities and athletes swear by it. It helps with a list of things because you are pulling all the good stuff out of the bones. With that said you want to make sure you are using good organic or high quality meat bones. You cook it for a LONG time, I'm talking 12-24 hours. This simmering causes the bones and ligaments to release healing compounds like collagen, proline, glycine, and glutamine that have the power to transform your health.

A few benefits of Bone Broth (There are many more too):

1. Heal your gut. Which we all know is a big one for me with my Crohn's.

2. Protect your joints. Another big one because of the medication I am on. It has a bad side affect of giving me bad joint pain.

3. Look younger and decrease cellulite. Well hello beautiful, who wouldn't want that?!

4. Sleep better. Um, no brainier there!
 
5. Immune support. Another big one for me with the medication I am on it suppresses my immune system on top of Crohn's doing it for me so I get colds so easily. 

6. Stronger bones. Who wants a brittle bones???

7. More energy. PLEASE, I always say if I could just have a tiny bit of my kids energy I'd be good.
 
8. It’s very economical! So your saying I can make something good for me and my family with the bones I was just going to throw away?!

So I set out to make this magical broth. I used a whole organic chicken and seasoned it up and cooked it in the crock pot for dinner. (Chicken Recipe) I put all the bones back in the crock pot with any juice and seasonings left added carrot, celery, garlic and green onions. Also 2tsp apple cider vinegar, this helps pull all the good gelatin out of the bones you want and no you will not taste it. Put it on low and let it cook all night, about 9 hours I kicked it up to high when I woke up for anther 4 hours for a total of 13 hours cooking. I then strained it and jarred it up. One big jar to use it for soup that I froze for when it gets a bit cooler and one small jar to sip on through out the next few days. I also had to have a fresh glass to try it then, it was delicious! If you like soup, you'll like this. 

I want to do another test with it when I am not on a steroid medication to see the true side affects but I will say I have had not many tummy troubles all week. I actually wanted to go out to eat last night and was telling my husband how good I feel. Is it the broth, maybe... Its not hurting me I can say that much! I will be doing another post on this in a few months to see the longer benefits it gives me and to see how it helps once off some of these medications.


Here is a link from the Today Show talking about it as a new trend but really is has been around for many years. (Today Show)

Enjoy and Feel Good!

~Mrs. Milly~

*Disclaimer: With any IBD, each person is different and what doesn't bother my system might bother yours. Always consult with your doctor if you are unsure and take caution when eating anything new.