Welcome Spring! And thank goodness for warm weather! We have been playing outside nonstop since it stopped raining and it got above 50 degrees. Since we had Spring Break this week and we are on somewhat of a “stay-cation” this smoothie was my attempt at a break from our normal routine. We whirred them together in our blender and poured some into a popsicle mold! The rest we snacked on in the afternoon breeze, it was wonderful!
I sort of made this up in a pinch. I added a little of this and that but I wrote what I approximately did. Hopefully I eye-balled it correctly!
So I’m not the breakfast chef in our family. It’s my husband and he takes it seriously. Pancakes, breakfast burritos, eggs and bacon, potato hashbrowns, whatever it is, he does it well! We love having breakfast together as a family and how could you not when you have a menu like that? So after church yesterday morning, we decided on brunch instead of lunch. And I was so glad!
I am the first to admit, I will screw up eggs. It doesn’t take much to go from fluffy scrambled eggs to crispy bottoms and brown edges. Oops! Plus he has had so much practice making 2 over-easy eggs for his own breakfast for years, that I shouldn’t even try to attempt it! So a sunny side up egg? I don’t even try!
He made these delicious egg sandwiches. We have had them before but man, they were really just so good this time! And fairly easy to whip together, especially since it was just 2 but it would still be easy for a few more. No drive thrus for us this morning!
Here’s how they went down:
2 English muffins
2 eggs
1 TBL butter
2 pieces bacon
1/4 cup shredded cheese
Handful spinach, chopped
1/2 tomato, sliced
1 TBL mayo
1 or 2 dash of hot sauce
Salt and pepper
Start by frying the bacon in a large pan. We used one that has a wide surface area and has a lid (to be used later). Remove from pan to a paper towel lined plate. Drain off all but a teaspoon or less of fat. Crack the eggs over the drippings and season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium low heat and cover with lid to help cook the egg yolk through. These only need to cook for 1-2 minutes and then the goodness comes!
While the eggs cook, put the English muffins in to toast and stir together the mayo and hot sauce in a small bowl. We also cut up the butter into 4 pieces (1 for each English muffin half) and put on a warm plate to soften.
Next, remove lid and break bacon in 2 pieces. Place on top of egg in x pattern and sprinkle half the cheese on each. Cover with lid again for 1 more minute.
Butter each english muffin half when they are done toasting and spread with mayo mixture. Assemble as follows: Egg and bacon on English muffin, spinach, tomato, then top of bun. Sandwich complete and ready to eat! We baked some sweet potato tater tots (Alexis brand) just to finish it off, yum!
Start by frying the bacon in a large pan. We used one that has a wide surface area and has a lid (to be used later). Remove from pan to a paper towel lined plate. Drain off all but a teaspoon or less of fat.
Crack the eggs over the drippings and season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium low heat and cover with lid to help cook the egg yolk through, 1-2 minutes.
While the eggs cook, put the English muffins in to toast and stir together the mayo and hot sauce in a small bowl. Set aside butter but into 4 pieces (1 for each English muffin half) and put on a warm plate to soften.
Next, remove lid and break bacon in 2 pieces. Place on top of egg in x pattern and sprinkle half the cheese on each. Cover with lid again for 1 more minute.
Butter each english muffin half when they are done toasting and spread with mayo mixture. Assemble as follows: Egg and bacon on English muffin, spinach, tomato, then top of bun. Sandwich complete and ready to eat!
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Please let me know what you think about the Brunch Egg Sandwich! I would love to hear your comments.
I hadn’t really intended on taking a month off of posting but things just kept happening (sound familiar?!) So at the end of the year, I thought, I’ll just start things back up when I can make the time again. Sooo that’s what I’ve done!
We had a fabulous Christmas and New Years. It was just awesome! Since we didn’t go home to Dallas this year, everyone came to us and you might think having houseguests for 2 weeks is tough but I really enjoyed it!
I spent a little time on Christmas Eve morning making this Breakfast Strata. We had a ham for dinner a night or two before and I was hoping to use some of the leftovers for this. It cooked while we opened presents and drank coffee (expect the kids!) and played with all the new present. It worked out perfectly!
The beauty of this recipe is if you have a specific ingredient you want to use or don’t have you can make the filling different. If you want to use goat cheese, just swap it out. Combonations that also might work: Sausage and mushrooms; spinach and fontina cheese; or roasted red peppers and parmesan. Whatever you would like! My only suggestion would be to keep it under 3 flavorful ingredients.
Breakfast Strata
1 large loaf of French or Italian Bread (the big fluffy kind), sliced 1/2″ thick
1 stick of unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 lb. red potatoes, scrubbed and diced
salt and pepper
3 shallots or 1/2 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBL fresh rosemary, minced
1 lb ham, diced
1 cup dry white wine
12 oz monterey jack cheese, shredded
12 eggs
3 cups half and half
3 TBL minced fresh parsley
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spread the bread out on 2 baking sheets and bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. I switched and turned them halfway through the cooking time.
Let bread cool and spread butter on one side of each slice, using 3-4 TBL of butter.
Meanwhile, boil potatoes in water and 1/2 tsp salt over high heat. Cook until just slightly tender, about 4 minutes. Drain the potatoes.
Melt 3 TBL butter in a skillet over medium heat and add potatoes. Cook until beginning to brown about 7 minutes.
Stir in the onion and cook 2 minutes. Add garlic and rosemary and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Transfer to a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add ham and stir together.
Add wine to skillet and simmer until very reduced, about 5 minutes, take off of heat to cool.
Butter a 9x13inch pan (I had a slightly larger one)and place half of slices in the bottom in a single layer, with butter side up.
Sprinkle half of the ham and potato mixture and 1/3 of cheese over the bread slices. Repeat with remaining bread slices, ham and potatoes and another 1/3 of cheese.
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl until combined then whisk in reduced wine, half and half, parlsey, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.
Pour egg mixture evenly over all and sprinkle remainder of cheese on top.
Wrap the strata with plastic wrap, very tightly. Weigh the strata down with a few sugar boxes or heavy books. (These beignet mix boxes are the perfect size and pretty heavy.) Refrigerate for 8-24 hours.
When ready to cook, unwrap the dish and let sit out on counter for 15-20 minutes. Bake uncovered for 1 hour and 20 minutes in 325 degree oven. Strata should puff slightly and pull away from sides. Cool for 5-10 minutes.
Also, this is a great breakfast-for-dinner item as well! Its delicious for either!
1 large loaf of French or Italian Bread (the big fluffy kind), sliced ½" thick
1 stick of unsalted butter, divided
1½ lb. red potatoes, scrubbed and diced
salt and pepper
3 shallots or ½ onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBL fresh rosemary, minced
1 lb ham, diced
1 cup dry white wine
12 oz monterey jack cheese, shredded
12 eggs
3 cups half and half
3 TBL minced fresh parsley
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spread the bread out on 2 baking sheets and bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. I switched and turned them halfway through the cooking time.
Let bread cool and spread butter on one side of each slice, using 3-4 TBL of butter.
Meanwhile, boil potatoes in water and ½ tsp salt over high heat. Cook until just slightly tender, about 4 minutes. Drain the potatoes.
Melt 3 TBL butter in a skillet over medium heat and add potatoes. Cook until beginning to brown about 7 minutes.
Stir in the onion and cook 2 minutes. Add garlic and rosemary and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Transfer to a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add ham and stir together.
Add wine to skillet and simmer until very reduced, about 5 minutes, take off of heat to cool.
Butter a 9x13 inch pan (I had a slightly larger one)and place half of slices in the bottom in a single layer, with butter side up.
Sprinkle half of the ham and potato mixture and ⅓ of cheese over the bread slices. Repeat with remaining bread slices, ham and potatoes and another ⅓ of cheese.
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl until combined then whisk in reduced wine, half and half, parsley, 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper.
Pour egg mixture evenly over all and sprinkle remainder of cheese on top.
Wrap the strata with plastic wrap, very tightly. Weigh the strata down with a few sugar boxes or heavy books. Refrigerate for 8-24 hours.
When ready to cook, unwrap the dish and let sit out on counter for 15-20 minutes. Bake uncovered for 1 hour and 20 minutes in 325 degree oven. Strata should puff slightly and pull away from sides. Cool for 5-10 minutes.
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Please let me know what you think of the Breakfast Strata (or any other dish!) I would love to know hear your comments!
Another day of Thanksgiving prep, all checked off! Although I have to admit, I really screwed up the mashed potatoes and had to go out and buy some more… oops! I was trying to do too many things at one time and left them in the oven too long. They weren’t burnt or anything but the flesh was so lumpy when I tried to mash them, it was useless! Lesson learned!
Anyways, I found this recipe in an old cookbook and something about it just sounded delicious. However, the instructions left a lot of room for interpretation like: cook until its done. Huh? No estimate whatsoever? Still, I chose to proceed with it for some reason. I didn’t even ruin it! I have since made it a bunch and I just keep thinking of ways to make it that much better! And who doesn’t love a pancake you don’t have stand over a flip? ME!
I made up a new realm of food: breaksert! Combination of breakfast and dessert! Cinnamon Apple Pancake could be either or both!
Cinnamon Apple Pancake
2-3 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup flour
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. brown sugar
dash of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp + 1 TBL cinnamon
5 TBL butter, divided
2 TBL sugar
*I’ve used brown sugar and white sugar interchangeably in this recipe and I wrote it down the way I think works the best: brown sugar in the batter and white sugar sprinkled on top.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together milk, flour, eggs, brown sugar, salt, vanilla and 1 tsp cinnamon.
Mix together 2 TBL sugar and 1 TBL cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside. Melt 3 TBL of butter in skillet and saute apple slices for 5-7 minutes with half of sugar mixture.
Pour apples into a greased pie pan and pour batter directly over top. Place in oven for 15 minutes until pancake has risen.
Remove from oven and dot top of pancake with 2 TBL of butter and sprinkle remainder of sugar mix on butter.
Return to oven until brown, about 5 minutes. *My oven has a hot spot in the back so next time I will rotate to avoid the “leaning tower” effect!
Cut and serve! The final product tastes like cinnamon toast on top of a pancake!
Half dessert, half breakfast! Warm apples and cinnamon are baked into a puffed crust.
Ingredients
2-3 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
¾ cup milk
¾ cup flour
2 eggs
1½ tsp. brown sugar
dash of salt
½ tsp vanilla
1 tsp + 1 TBL cinnamon
5 TBL butter, divided
2 TBL sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together milk, flour, eggs, brown sugar, salt, vanilla, and 1 tsp cinnamon.
Mix together 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in skillet. Saute apple slices in butter for 5-7 minutes with half of sugar mixture.
Pour apples into a greased pie pan and pour batter directly over top. Place in oven for 15 minutes until pancake has risen.
Remove from oven and dot top of pancake with 2 tablespoons of butter and sprinkle remainder of sugar mix on butter.
Return to oven until brown, about 5 minutes.
Cool slightly and cut in pie slices to serve.
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Please let me know what you think about the Cinnamon Apple Pancake! I’d love to hear!
This oatmeal is something I’ve been making since my daughter first started eating solid foods. (I’ve started adding nuts since then). Its so easy and the fruits and nuts can be swapped out for whatever you like and/or have on-hand.
I love using the apple cider around this time of year but I’ve also used apple juice in the off-season. The sweetness from the cider is the only sugar you need for this oatmeal. It’s awesome as leftovers as well, so make a big batch and warm it up as needed! Its really yummy either way!
Cider Oatmeal
2 1/2 cups apple cider
1 cup water
1 1/2 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped apricots
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Stove top directions:
Combine apple cider and water in saucepan over medium low heat and bring to a simmer.
Add fruits, nuts and spices. Mix together and bring back to simmering; this should take 1-2 minutes.
Add rolled oats and stir to incorporate. Cover and turn heat to low.
Cook for 8 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove from heat and uncover to cool. Oatmeal should firm a bit more.
This recipe is really easy to reheat on a busy morning. It will be really firm coming out of the refrigerator. I like to warm it up in the microwave and then thin with a little milk and some extra walnuts on top.
I’ve also made this oatmeal in my rice cooker. It doesn’t get much easier than this!
Rice Cooker directions:
Pour all ingredients into rice cooker. Turn on. Stir. Rice cooker will switch off when ready. Mine takes about 15-18 minutes. Let cool.
Cider oatmeal is a sweet meal that includes dried fruits and walnuts in delicious spiced oats.
Ingredients
2½ cups apple cider
1 cup water
1½ cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)
⅓ cup raisins
⅓ cup dried cranberries
⅓ cup chopped apricots
½ cup dried cherries
½ cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
Instructions
Combine apple cider and water in saucepan over medium low heat and bring to a simmer.
Add fruits, nuts and spices. Mix together and bring back to simmering; this should take 1-2 minutes.
Add rolled oats and stir to incorporate. Cover and turn heat to low.
Cook for 8 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove from heat and uncover to cool. Oatmeal should firm a bit more.
This recipe is really easy to reheat on a busy morning. It will be really firm coming out of the refrigerator. I like to warm it up in the microwave and then thin with a little milk and some extra walnuts on top.
Rice Cooker directions:
Pour all ingredients into rice cooker. Turn on. Stir. Rice cooker will switch off when ready. Mine takes about 15-18 minutes. Let cool.
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ENJOY!
Please let me know what you thought of the Cider Oatmeal! I would love to hear for you!
Combine apple cider and water in saucepan over medium low heat and bring to a simmer.
Add fruits, nuts and spices. Mix together and bring back to simmering; this should take 1-2 minutes.
Add rolled oats and stir to incorporate. Cover and turn heat to low.
Cook for 8 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove from heat and uncover to cool. Oatmeal should firm a bit more.
This recipe is really easy to reheat on a busy morning. It will be really firm coming out of the refrigerator. I like to warm it up in the microwave and then thin with a little milk and some extra walnuts on top.
I’ve also made this oatmeal in my rice cooker. It doesn’t get much easier than this!
Rice Cooker directions:
Pour all ingredients into rice cooker. Turn on. Stir. Rice cooker will switch off when ready. Mine takes about 15-18 minutes. Let cool.
Cider oatmeal is a sweet meal that includes dried fruits and walnuts in delicious spiced oats.
Ingredients
2½ cups apple cider
1 cup water
1½ cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)
⅓ cup raisins
⅓ cup dried cranberries
⅓ cup chopped apricots
½ cup dried cherries
½ cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
Instructions
Combine apple cider and water in saucepan over medium low heat and bring to a simmer.
Add fruits, nuts and spices. Mix together and bring back to simmering; this should take 1-2 minutes.
Add rolled oats and stir to incorporate. Cover and turn heat to low.
Cook for 8 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove from heat and uncover to cool. Oatmeal should firm a bit more.
This recipe is really easy to reheat on a busy morning. It will be really firm coming out of the refrigerator. I like to warm it up in the microwave and then thin with a little milk and some extra walnuts on top.
Rice Cooker directions:
Pour all ingredients into rice cooker. Turn on. Stir. Rice cooker will switch off when ready. Mine takes about 15-18 minutes. Let cool.
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ENJOY!
Please let me know what you thought of the Cider Oatmeal! I would love to hear for you!
