The Little Editor is visiting. That means (besides a house full of giggles) The Editor and I are faced with the challenge of how to entice a smart, headstrong young boy to eat nutritious foods.
Fortunately, his mom (the same woman whose chicken liver recipe is the best I've ever had) left us with a list of Little Ed's faves. Only thing is, he's not eating in his natural environment. Or eating food that's prepared by the people he's familiar with already.
Good thing he's got a bouncy attitude, like most kids his age. And really, there's a lot to be said for an appetite that favors sameness, especially when you live on a budget like ours. And thank goodness for ketchup.
The other night, our special Valentine's Day dinner at home included homemade chicken nuggets. Winner winner winner! Whew. Today, we scored again. This time it was with one of his mom's recipes, altered to fit what we had in the cupboard. And they're tasty enough that I plan on making them again, even when the giggles have returned home.
The Little Editor's Cheese Pancakes
1 egg
1 & 1/2 cups baking mix (the kind that you use for everything from pancakes to dumplings to meat coating)
1 cup cottage cheese
2 tsp vanilla extract
splash of milk
Beat the egg well, then add and combine the baking mix, cottage cheese, and vanilla. Add just enough milk to make sure all of the baking mix is moistened. The consistency isn't like pancake batter at all. It's more like very lumpy, sticky dough.
Plop spoonfuls into hot, melted butter in a frying pan. Cook on medium low heat until the first side firms up a bit (about 3 minutes), then flip over carefully and mash down a little with the back of your spatula to make a flatter pancake. Cook until golden brown all over, adding butter to the pan as needed.
I made a couple of extra big ones shaped like hearts, then poked a few frozen blueberries in before flipping. Since they were so huge and already nicely browned, I made sure they were cooked through by sending them to the toaster oven for 10 minutes at 250.
The whole batch made just enough to serve the three of us. Served them hot with some sour cream and raspberry preserves on the side.
We're gonna miss the giggles. A lot.
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