I was laying in bed last night trying to fall asleep when I had the perfect idea for breakfast this morning.  Doughnut pancakes!  I was thinking about what I could use to frost them with for next time and thinking about how it was a pancake and that’s when it came to me.  Zap them in the microwave, pour syrup over them and call them pancakes.  I have some ready to eat bacon that I’ll zap along with it and if they’re still hungry they can have some Oatmeal Muffins.  I love it when breakfast comes together!

Aunt Maples Original Syrup –  Serving Size: 1/4 cup:  Calories 210, Calories from Fat 0, Total Fat 0g, Saturated Fat 0g, Trans Fat 0g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 70mg, Total Carbohydrate 53g, Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 33g, Protein 0g.

Tonight’s dinner is from one of my favorite websites, Mom Advice.  This is from her list of Aldi Menus.  You can find the recipe here http://momadvice.com/food/aldi_meal_plan_fall5.aspx

There are only a couple of things I do differently.  We’re just a family of four and this makes a huge amount so once I’m done, I freeze half for a quick and easy meal later in the month.  I don’t care for frozen pasta in the soup, when it’s defrosting it tends to suck up all the liquid so  I only make half the amount in a separate pot and add it to the portion of soup we’re having that night.

Here’s the nutritional info – Per Serving: 510 Calories; 12g Fat (21.2% calories from fat); 39g Protein; 61g Carbohydrate; 10g Dietary Fiber; 90mg Cholesterol; 779mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 3 1/2 Grain(Starch); 4 Lean Meat; 2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fat.

I’ll probably serve this with some crackers and a few pieces of Mama Cozzi Garlic Texas Toast that I have in the freezer.  A nice warm meal for a chilly, chilly day.

The kids are usually ravenous when they get home from school and one of my resolutions this year was to start using all those miscellaneous appliances I’ve acquired over the years.  Today’s appliance is the BlinQ Mini Doughnut Maker.  It’s basically a waffle iron with doughnut shapes.  While I can’t find the booklet for it, I do remember it mentioning that you could use your favorite pancake recipes in it.  I figured I try something new, hence the Carrot Cake Doughnut.

Carrot Cake Mini Doughnuts (6 servings)

2 c. Baker’s Corner Baking Mix
1 teaspoon Spice Club ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 Goldhen eggs
1 cup Friendly Farms 2% milk
1 cup finely shredded carrots

Combine mix, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.  In a measuring cup, pour one cup milk, add eggs and beat.  Stir into the dry mix until moistened.  Stir in the carrots.

About a tablespoon of the mix fix in each doughnut shape.  These bake up quickly; about two to three minutes.  The batch made 24 mini doughnuts.

The kids liked them, my husband didn’t.  I thought they were okay but needed some kind of topping or glaze.  Will have to think of something appropriate for next time.

Per Serving (4 mini doughnuts):  213 Calories; 8g Fat (32.3% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 30g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 65mg Cholesterol; 513mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat.

Couldn’t decide what to have for lunch today.  Was thinking maybe a nice baked potato so I started four of them baking up in the oven.  Then I decided against it.  So I decided to make those into twice baked potatoes to put in the freezer for lunch on another day or as a side dish for a dinner in the future.

When I was going through the refrigerator, I realized there were some veggies that needed to be used up before they went bad.  However, I wanted something warm for lunch so then I started thinking soup.  What I ended up with was a Lunchtime Fondue to dip those veggies in.  I also had some of the cocktail size rye breads to use up so those were added.

Hubby didn’t want Fondue so he went with the couple remaining Crab Cakes from yesterday, some leftover Aldi fried chicken from a couple days ago and the last of the zucchini fries.

The fondue recipe is cobbled together from a couple different ones so here is what I came up with…

Lunchtime Fondue (4 servings)

1 can Chef’s Cupboard Cream of Chicken Soup
3/4 c. Friendly Farms 2% milk
1/2 tsp. Spice Club chili powder
1/2 tsp. Spice Club ground cumin
1 c. Happy Farms shredded Cheddar cheese

Heat soup and milk in saucepan over medium heat until hot and bubbling.  Stir occasionally.  Mix in the chili powder, cumin and cheese.  Stir until the cheese is melted.  Pour into fondue pot or slow cooker and serve warm.

For dippers, I ended up using yellow, red, orange and green bell peppers, baby carrots, cocktail rye bread, a couple pieces of celery and some broccoli.

Per Serving: 209 Calories; 15g Fat (63.4% calories from fat); 11g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 39mg Cholesterol; 801mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 2 1/2 Fat.

As I was the only one eating the fondue, I froze half for a quick snack or lunch in the coming weeks.

Good morning!  School starts again today so we’ll probably be rushing around to make sure we have everything before we leave.  Breakfast today is Oatmeal Muffins, a Hillbilly Housewife recipe.  She’s got a lot of frugal recipes on her site that are Aldi friendly, so check it out.

Oatmeal Muffins (6 servings)

1 c. Milville Quick Oats
1 c. Fit and Active Non-Fat Plain Yogurt (I used plain but I’m thinking next time to try a flavored one)
1 Goldhen egg
1/2 c. Sweet Harvest light brown sugar
1/3 c. Carlini canola oil
1 1/4 c. Grandma’s Best all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. Baker’s Corner baking soda
1/2 tsp. Seebree salt
1 tsp. Baker’s Corner baking powder

In a large bowl combine the oatmeal and yogurt.  Let it stand for a few minutes to absorb the yogurt.  Add the egg, sugar and oil.  Beat well with a whisk.  Add the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder.  Mix again, until all of the dry ingredients are moistened.  Spoon the batter into a dozen well oiled muffin cups.  Bake at 400º for about 20 minutes.  Serve hot.  (I usually cook these in mini muffin pans for 10 minutes.)

It’s a balmy 8º outside this morning…brr.  Added some hot cocoa to this to help warm the kidlets up.  Now to decide what’s for lunch for my husband and I.  Dinner will be in the slow cooker so I’ll have to start that in a couple hours as well.

Per Serving (4 mini muffins per serving): 336 Calories; 15g Fat (40.7% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 43g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 36mg Cholesterol; 398mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 3 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates.

Tonight for dinner, we’re having Crab Cakes and Zucchini Fries.  My husband loves crab cakes.  I figured I’d make the meal a bit healthier by adding the zucchini fries.  My sneaky way of getting the kids to eat their veggies and like it!

Crab Cakes (4 servings)

1 lb. Sea Queen imitation crabmeat, chopped
1 1/2 c. Loven Fresh White Bread fresh soft breadcrumbs (six slices)
1/4 c. Fit and Active Light mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. parsley
1 Tbsp. onion powder
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 c. Carlini olive oil

Combine all ingredients except the olive oil.  Form into cakes about 1/2 inch thick.  Add olive oil to skillet.  Add cakes and fry in batches over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes per side or until golden brown.

Zucchini Fries (4 servings)

1 c. Chef’s Cupboard unseasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. Spice Club freshly ground black pepper
1 c. Grandma’s Best all-purpose flour
2 Goldhen eggs, beaten
3 med. zucchini, cut lengthwise into 2 inch long and 1/4 inch thick pieces

Preheat oven to 350º.  In medium bowl, combine the bread crumbs, salt and pepper.  Place the flour in another medium bowl and the beaten eggs in a smaller bowl.  Dip the zucchini sticks first in the flour until lightly coated, then in the beaten eggs.  Roll them in the bread crumb mixture until well covered.  Transfer the zucchini pieces to a non-stick baking sheet and bake until the zucchini is tender but the coating is crisp, about 20 minutes.  Let the fries cool slightly before eating.

Tip: Yellow summer squash (like the long crookneck and round pattypan varieties), golden zucchini, and common green zucchini are interchangeable, so choose whatever looks freshest. The ones that are shiny-skinned and taut, not rubbery, are your best bet.  Avoid round pattypan squash — the shape does not lend itself to fries.

The crab cake recipe is from the Aldi Meals site which you can find in the blog roll and the fries are from epicurious.com.  The fries came with a fancy-smancy dipping sauce, but we’ll just use ketchup.

While the kids and I like our crab cakes plain, years ago my husband came across a sauce that he absolutely loved from this little hole-in-the-wall pub.  I called and found the recipe couldn’t be easier.  A couple of tablespoons of chipolte peppers in abodo sauce and mayo.  I’m not sure if they have the chipolte peppers at Aldi, but even if they don’t, it’s worth picking up a can of this elsewhere to spice up your crab cakes.

For those of you watching your nutritional intake, these are for you:

Crab Cakes:  Per Serving: 388 Calories; 27g Fat (62.3% calories from fat); 16g Protein; 22g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 28mg Cholesterol; 1126mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 4 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Zucchini Fries:  Per Serving: 274 Calories; 4g Fat (13.7% calories from fat); 11g Protein; 48g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 94mg Cholesterol; 501mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 3 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fat.

Welcome to Cooking with Aldi.  These posts will be coming to you on a daily basis featuring recipes cooking with items from Aldi.  There will be a few ingredients that can’t be found there, but these are mostly spices.  Everyone seems to have a cabinet full so there shouldn’t be a problem and most of the common spices such as garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper can be found there.  I also love to bake bread so you’ll find that I use a lot of yeast.  Another item I’ve never found at Aldi, but it can often be found inexpensively elsewhere.

One of the main influences for the creation of this blog is The Aldi Queen, which can be found in the Links section.  I love her recipes!  I’m preparing for tonight’s dinner and will post pictures and recipes shortly.  Have a great day and great new year!