Krusteaz Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

I have been seeing a boatload of pumpkin spice pancake mix all over the place, but had been mildly hesitant to pick up a box for two reasons. One, many of the mixes I have spotted required eggs and oil, which I don’t like adding to my pancake mix. Second, I realize I love pumpkin but my boyfriend isn’t the biggest pumpkin fan.  There are a few exceptions to that rule … so I had hoped that these Krusteaz Pumpkin Spice Pancakes would be an exception.  And … they were!

The mix itself is quite simple to put together – all you have to do is mix together water and the dry mix, with no need for eggs, oil, etc. A ½ cup of mix is a serving, so to make pancakes for two I used 1 cup of mix and divided out the water (listed on the back of the box) out for 2 servings instead of 4.

The pancakes cooked up nicely. As they cooked they changed into a nice brown color, and with the pancake browning it made it perfect. The pumpkin flavor wasn’t overwhelming, but it was noticeable. I enjoyed my pancakes with 1 tablespoon of sugar free syrup on them, with a sautéed banana on top of it.  Since we were having pancakes for dinner, I opted for scrambled eggbeaters and turkey sausage.

A ½ cup of mix is 230 calories or 6 points plus values. Delicious!

QUESTON:

Have you ventured into pumpkin spice pancakes?

Brinner: Cinnamon Raison French Toast, Scrambled Eggs, Hashbrowns & Bacon

Talk about a brinner (breakfast for dinner) for champions! This is the meal I whipped together after my Weight Watchers meeting. Breakfast is a meal I enjoy, but cooking a full course breakfast isn't something that happens often. So, since my boyfriend and I enjoy breakfast we typically have it for dinner. This way we get our favorites, or exactly what we're craving, without any time restrictions. The great thing about breakfast foods is they are relatively easy and quick -- so this dinner was done in under 20 minutes.

We had some Country Kitchen Light Raisin bread (you can see that post here) and since my boyfriend planted the french toast seed, I really wanted it. So I whipped up some regular french toast (using whole eggs) for him and my french toast using Eggbeaters. I dredged my bread in Eggbeaters - but I didn't season it this time since the bread is already flavorful. I ended up using a little more than 1/3 of a cup to dredge the four slices of bread. If you're interested in seeing how I make my french toast, you can see that recipe here.

I went the "easy way out" and cooked my bacon in the oven. This is quite possibly the easiest way to cook bacon ... the only part that takes effort is making sure not to burn it because it can go from good to horrible in a matter of unwatched minutes. While the bacon and french toast was going I added the shredded seasoned hashbrown potatoes to a non-stick skillet. I seasoned them additionally with some black pepper and a bit of garlic and let them cook. Then after cooking my french toast, I scrambled up my eggbeaters seasoning them with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Easy, peasy!

My whole meal, as pictured, was 10 points plus. That's 3 slices of Light Raisin bread (4 points plus), 1 1/2 tbsp sugar free maple syrup (0 points plus), 1 cup eggbeaters (3 points plus - note: I used a portion of this 1 cup to dredged my bread in and the remainder I used to scramble), 2 slices of turkey bacon (1 points plus), and 3 oz of hashbrowns (2 points plus).

QUESTION:
What is your favorite breakfast item?

Brinner: Waffles w/ Compote, Sausage & Scrambled

My boyfriend and I ended up having breakfast for dinner one night (termed: Brinner).  I personally wanted something simple to cook because I initially thought of pancakes, but then the thought of making them just wasn’t intriguing any longer.  Since we had some frozen low fat waffles in the freezer, my boyfriend was more in-tune with waffles (I think he sensed my immediate need to NOT want to make pancakes – so we settled).

To fancy up the waffles, I decided to make a fruit compote.  When I dumped my frozen mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries and black berries) into the pan there wasn’t enough to make one serving – so I decided to jazz it up, slicing up an apple (peeled) into small pieces and cooking it up all in a sauce pan with a bit of Equal (sugar substitute), a pinch of salt and water.  I let the mixture come to a slow simmer, stirring frequently until it thickened just slightly.  (Note: if I had used real sugar and a tiny bit of cornstarch it would have been a thicker compote.)

The waffles went into the toaster (simple!) and I cooked up some Trader Joe’s Sweet Apple Sausage (see review here: http://shannonslifestyle.blogspot.com/2013/03/trader-joes-sweet-apple-chicken-sausage.html).  Since the sausage is sweeter I felt it would be a perfect pairing with a breakfast – and I was right.  Then to just wrap things up I made myself  ½ cup scrambled egg substitute – seasoned with black pepper and a pinch of salt.  (Side note: if you’re cooking for someone who doesn’t like egg substitute, you can fry up regular eggs – which is what I did for my boyfriend since he does not follow the WW program).

Once the meal was done and assembled, I spooned the compote over the waffles and it was munja time! Points Plus wise, the entire meal was 8 points plus (4 – waffles, 3 – sausage, 1 – eggs).

QUESTION:

What is your favorite breakfast food to have for dinner?