Easy Peanut Butter Fruit Dip

Here is a very easy fruit dip that I've been making for years.  It is a somewhat healthy snack! My kids always request that I make it when friends come over.

Easy Peanut Butter Fruit Dip

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (I've never tried it with natural, but I'm sure it would work)

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

a few squirts of honey to taste(about 2 tbsp. is good)

Whisk it all together and serve with sliced apples, grapes, bananas or large marshmallows. 

Sloppy Shannons(recipe)

Here is another easy meal for those busy homeschool days.  It is the cousin of the Sloppy Joe--Sloppy Shannons!  My mom used to make this recipe all of the time when we would host a yearly Fellowship of Christian Athletes retreat.  She would make them with ground beef, but I added my own healthy touch with ground turkey.  When we started hosting a Bible study in our home, I would make these when we shared a meal together.  A girlfriend of mine dubbed them "Sloppy Shannons" and the name stuck.

Recipe:
1 lb. lean ground turkey
diced onion(if desired)
1 can of cream of celery soup(I've tried the healthier version and it didn't cut it)
mustard
buns

Brown turkey with the onions.  Drain fat, if necessary.  Dump in the soup and simmer for a few minutes to thicken.  Squirt in about 1-2 tablespoons of mustard and stir.  Serve on buns.  Add in some easy microwavable veggies or fries for a side.  So easy!  I keep ground turkey in the freezer and soup in the pantry so I usually just need to shop for buns.

The Giant Pancake

When I was growing up, one of my favorite meals was The Giant Pancake.  It has other names and variations succh as a German pancake or Dutch Baby.  When I have failed to make dinner plans on a busy homeschool day, I make The Giant Pancake. Tonight is that night.  I almost always have the ingredients for this on hand.  Bonus if you have bacon to serve on the side!  This only feeds four of us and no seconds so you may have to make several of them if you have a bigger family.

The Giant Pancake

1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
4 egg whites
1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup chocolate chips
butter
powdered sugar, fresh or canned fruit, syrup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.  In another mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with mixer on med. to high speed until soft peaks form.  Gradually beat in the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time until stiff peaks form.  In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks until combined.  Alternately stir flour mixture and milk into beaten egg yolks.  Dust chocolate chip with a little flour(to prevent sinking) and stir into mixture.  Gently fold in the egg whites, leaving a few fluffs of egg white in the batter.

Preheat a greased(I use 1-2 T butter), 10 inch, oven proof skillet(I sometimes used a round cake pan) by placing it in the oven for 10 minutes.  Pour the batter into the preheated skillet.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until knife comes out clean.  The kids will love watching as the pancake puffs up as it cooks!

We like to serve it with butter, powdered sugar and canned peaches with light syrup.  Any fruit would be a great complement, but butter and syrup is also yummy!