In the Kitchen with Kate: Homemade Donuts

So, I know there are 1,000 ways to spell donuts.  I am lazy efficient, so I go for the shortest, yet still socially acceptable, version there is!

Now that we have that out of the way let’s continue.

A few days ago I told you that I bought a bundt pan.  What I didn’t tell you was that just hours after making that purchase in the store, I was on-line and accidentally bought a donut pan.

It arrived today! Let the confetti and streamers fly!

I have patience the size of a gnat, so naturally I hit up Pinterest and searched for a homemade donut, baked not fried, from scratch and E A S Y.

I found a recipe that, after a quick pantry check, I could make.

Thanks to Moms Need to Know, I was off and running!

I mixed the ingredients and put them in a zippered bag, cut off the tip and that made getting the dough into the pan so much easier.

Popped it in the oven and 8 minutes later, those suckers were ready!

Now, the blogger I used for inspiration had a glaze and a chocolate and, well,

But, have you seen this? I think if you look up “awesome sauce” this is what you’ll find. It’s not too sweet and was a perfect compliment to the donuts.

So, one minute and 30 seconds later, the chocolate was melted!  I took the donuts that were cool enough to touch and dipped them in the chocolate (and FYI, that container is the perfect size to dip the tops of the donuts, I didn’t even have to dirty up a bowl!)

BAM!

And then sprinkles, cause:

In The Kitchen with Kate: Bundt Pan Edition

The other day I had to have a bundt pan. Now, it’s been on my Christmas list for years, so I’ve been refusing to buy one, and now for the life of me, I can’t remember exactly why I HAD to have one, but within a few days, I was at the store. 

I got it home and at a loss for why I wanted it, I still knew I had to bake something. 

Thank you Pinterest. 

I picked the first recipe I found that I had all of the ingredients on hand for. 

  
I’m 100% sure that the batter was supposed to be smooth and pourable.  

In the interest of full disclosure, it wasn’t. It clotted up and the batter was super thick. 

You’ve heard me mention that I’m flexible with my ingredients, well, I was too impatient to wait for the butter to come to temp and I may have done the shortcut and put it in the microwave to temp it, and it might have not handled it very well when it hit the cold stainless bowl, and the cold milk and eggs were added. That is my guess. 

Baking is a science. 

I am not a scientist! 

So I made a quick chocolate glaze because chocolate fixes everything. 

  
It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t something I would have shared with you! Mr. T and I ate it, but since he has grown up with my cooking, he has a lower standard! 

So, I put out a call for new bundt pan recipes! And right now my house smells lovely making a cinnamon apple monkey bread suggested by Holly. 

  
Yum! See those apples covered in cinnamon? Delish! And yes, the recipe calls for green apples. I loathe green apples and have a plethora of red ones on hand… So red it is! 

  
And I think there is something on my iPad camera, as the bottom of those photos are blurry… But I’m just keepin’ it real peeps! 

Another friend, Kari has suggested a Harvy Wallbanger cake… Which has an ingredient I can’t pronounce, but it sounds easy 🙂 

So, help me out here, what are your favorite bundt pan recipies? Which ones do I need to try out? Let me know in the comments below and you could be featured in a upcoming episode of In The Kitchen with Kate… Which isn’t as exciting as it sound so! Lol 

P.S. :  

 
Ugh. Ignore the clumps. I was trying to get it finished during a commercial (see above re: impatience!) #GoCowboys 

PPS:  I remembered what I wanted the bundt pan for!! But I’m not telling until I make it and can show you 🙂 

I Said Hi to My Brother

So, I don’t know if this is weird or normal.  Actually there are several parts of this story that I don’t know if they are weird or normal, but we are to focus on my actions today!

Have I shared that Grandpa has moved in with mom and dad?

He and I like to go run errands, so my Instagram is frequently littered with pictures of us out and about! It’s fun and he doesn’t mind taking a selfie! It kinda cracks me up how as soon as I pull out my phone to take a picture he leans in and smiles 🙂

For those not aware, I work from home.  I have a great boss and it’s a wonderful company, very small and very high tech.  We all share information on our cloud, and when you call our toll free number and pick an extension, it is routed to our cell phones.  It’s taken me many years to work my way to this spot and every couple of days I remember to give thanks for the blessing!

My dad also works from home.  (His home, not mine.) So he is able to be here (there) for Grandpa, who due to a couple of health reasons can’t live on his own. Dad was called out of town for work this week.  So I get up early, come over to mom and dad’s armed with my laptop and phone and at 6:30 am mom and I trade off.  She goes to work and I set up at their dining room table.  Usually about 8 am Grandpa is ready to get up and so I’ll have breakfast made, he gets up, we eat, hang out, he watches TV in the living room while I work, it’s been pretty easy to get into a routine.

The other day I posted on IG: Oxygen, the giver of life.  Also the trail I follow when I hang up from a work call and I’ve lost Grandpa.

Today I had breakfast ready to go and heard him stirring.  I went in, helped him get untangled and he said he wanted to rest a bit more.  An hour later, I checked again – he still wasn’t quite ready to get up… Okay, a bit concerned but not worried.

Finally at 10:30, he was ready to get up; however, he didn’t feel well.  Wanted some Pepto.  He even pushed away his breakfast plate! So, off I went.

I wasn’t sure mom and dad had any of that pink liquid, but I went through the medicine drawer.  Then I went through the medicine cabinet upstairs.  Then I broke down and called mom to see if I had missed looking somewhere while I searched for some peppermint tea as a back up.

Mom goes “Upstairs in the wardrobe where we keep the Little’s clothes, there is some medicine left over from Lee, he might have had some.”

I found the medicine, but no pretty pink liquid.

And then I looked up, patted a box and said “Hi Lee!” and walked out.

Is that weird? It didn’t hit me what I did until I was walking away and then I was like, huh.  Yeah, that just happened.

Most of the time when I’m in that area, it never occurs to me that Lee, technically, is right there… and I can’t say I’ve ever said hi to him… so either my life is evolving – or things got weird 🙂 Let me know.  But if the answer is weird, I’m already prepared to blame a lack of sleep!

I’m a Prepper

I’m a Prepper!

Source

Well, not that kind of Prepper, although, you should check out my Zombie Attack board on Pinterest!

This weekend I did some meal prep.  When I was younger, I did a lot of advance meal making, and recently you’ve heard me talk about my love of freezer and crock pot meals; however, since I became vegetarian and have made an effort to minimize the processed food I eat, I haven’t figured out the meal prep just yet – but that changed this weekend!

My friend Melissa introduced me to a raw broccoli salad that Mr. T and I both just love (which is rare, he’s not near as happy with me being a vegetarian as I am!) but I try and keep a bowl of that in the fridge every other week for some easy meals.

I cut up a mini watermelon.

I discovered I have expired eggs in my fridge.  Don’t judge.

As I was chopping up the broccoli for the salad, I knew I was going to have baked potatoes for a few meals… but my mom was making potato soup… so, I got soup going, diced the broccoli stems and a couple carrots and threw them in with the potatoes and onions.  Once it was cooked and cooled, I portioned those suckers up and today for lunch I grabbed a container and 2 minutes and 22 seconds later my lunch was ready! (Is anyone else so lazy that they will just punch in the same number instead of moving their finger? No? It’s just me?)

I made a 2nd batch of homemade Lara bars.  Now, I’ve never had a real Lara bar, so I don’t know how they compare, but it is so easy! I’ve included the YouTube from Colin at Hip to Save as you must watch this and then go make these.  They are my favorite snack.  They are my favorite breakfast.  They are my favorite!

Lastly, I am in love with the Sargento’s Balanced Breaks…

but I already had almonds, raisins and string cheese on hand… so I made my own! Those are the little things you see in the cheese drawer.  I grabbed one of those for my morning snack, and it was perfect.

All together, I spent less than an hour in the kitchen and have breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks all ready to go at a moments notice! Yes, there is some repetition in the meals, but with broccoli salad, baked potato with steamed broccoli on top and then potato soup, I am not eating the same thing 2 days in a row; and with my fruits and veggies cut up, it has made eating so much easier on me this week!

Yes, I hear you crying out to the computer, “but what about Mr. T? What will he eat?”.  3 days a week he goes from school, to cheer, to work, and he gets a free meal at work, so he’s being feed at school and work.  On game days, I’ve paid and he gets food delivered at school.  So that leaves one night a week I have to worry about feeding him, and well, my mom took care of that.  When she does her meal prep, she will portion out an individual serving for Mr. T! My fridge and freezer both have meals she’s sent home for him!

What about you? Are you a prepper?