Last Christmas my mother in law gave my husband and I a cooking pan that makes what I call “pancake balls”.  I think the real name of this tasty treat is “Ebelskiver ” danish pancakes, either way they are mighty tasty!  I like to make pancake balls on the weekends and my kids love them too!

The great thing about pancake balls are that you get to pick what filling you want to put into the middle each time you cook them.  Each pancake ball is made with pancake batter and you fill the inside with the filling of your choice ( jelly, berries, chocolate, cheese and more).

What you will need is the pancake ball pan, which my mother in law purchased at Williams Sonoma.  You can buy the pan through their website or at the Williams Sonoma shop in Mashpee Commons.  Then, you will need to purchase pancake mix and your fillings.  The balls are very easy to make and only takes a few minutes per batch.  My daughter Stella likes to help me make the pancake balls every time.  In the slideshow below are photos of us making and eating some pancake balls.  There is also a great video on the Williams Sonoma website that shows neat recipes.

What you will need to do:

1) Buy the Ebelskiver Filled Pancake Pan (Williams Sonoma)

2) Buy pancake mix and ingredients (eggs, milk..)

3) Buy fillings (jelly, strawberries, blueberries, cheese, chocolate chips, etc.)

4) Mix your pancake batter and set aside.

5) Heat your pancake ball pan and place a tsp. of butter in each pancake ball hole.

6) When the butter melts add pancake batter 2/3 full

7) Place your fillings on the middle of each pancake ball

Flip ball over once bottom is cooked

9) Cook till done

10) Sprinkle with sugar and top with whipped cream and maple syrup

11) EAT and ENJOY!

Print Real FREE Coupons Get Free grocery coupons and more printed right on your computer. www.coolsavings.com

Having a Baby Get FREE Baby items, coupons and more. Sign up today, it's FREE. www.babytobee.com

Find pet savings at CoolSavings.com with pet coupons, discount codes and money saving tips! www.coolsavings.com

Related Posts:

• FREE Chocolate…REALLY!
• Use your ketchup

I know what you are thinking, “stop using paper towels…are you crazy!”.  Really, it is not that crazy at all.  You may be addicted to the convenience of the paper towels you have hanging in your kitchen, but really, do you know how many tree’s were cut down just so you can have the convenience of wiping up some spilled juice off the counter?  The reality is that about 90% of households use paper towels on a daily basis and that produces 3,000 tons of waste each day in paper towels alone.  That is 3.4 million cubic feet of landfill space and 864,000 trees per year.

If you could replace your paper towels with a paperless solution such as cloth wipes, cloth hand towels or even just a kitchen sponge you would be helping to save the planet and the tree’s as well as saving some money.  The average cost of a roll of paper towels is $1.50 and if a household uses approximately 2 to 3 rolls per month that is on average $3.75 plus tax per month, not to mention all of the tree’s that were cut down and all of the waste you are sending to the landfill.  That is $45 per year in paper towels. Now, if you purchase cloth towels such as the Twist paper-less towels here they will cost only $4.50 plus tax and will last for many years to come, not to mention they also look pretty cool and they can absorb 10 times their weight in any liquid. Each day I use 1 cloth kitchen towel to dry my hands after a wash or to dry a dish.  At the end of the day that towel goes into the hamper.  I really only need 10 towels on hand for cleaning up messes and spills and for drying my hands.  When I do the laundry the towel goes right in with it, easy as that.

There are many options for paper-less towel solutions such as:

Organic Cotton Kitchen Hand Towels

Organic Cotton Kitchen Wipes/Swiffer Pads

Modern Kitchen Towels

Really, any kitchen towel, cloth wipe, handmade towel or rag that you have will work to replace a paper towel.  You can have custom kitchen towels made to match your home decor or you can buy pre-made towels at local stores such as The Christmas Tree Shops.  I just bought 2 sets of hand towels from the Christmas Tree Shops for $4.oo per set (5 Towels) and they have great designs on them and work great.

Try the Paper Towel Challenge and see if you can lower your paper towel usage today.

Some interesting articles about using less paper towels:

Blisstree.com
eHow.com
One Drop of Rain Campaign
Little Green Blog

Print Real FREE Coupons Get Free grocery coupons and more printed right on your computer. www.coolsavings.com

Having a Baby Get FREE Baby items, coupons and more. Sign up today, it's FREE. www.babytobee.com

Find pet savings at CoolSavings.com with pet coupons, discount codes and money saving tips! www.coolsavings.com

Related Posts:

• Save $10 at Christmas Tree Shops
• Frugal Baby Wipes