Classic French Toast

This is now my official my go-to French toast recipe. It is sooooo good! I guess I forgot about eating French toast for breakfast, because I haven’t had it in several years. Pancakes and waffles seem to always overshadow french toast, and they shouldn’t.

This recipe, from Tastes Better From Scratch is super easy, and takes just minutes to whip up. It’s so easy, you can do it holding a baby in your arms (just Harper lol).

classic french toast

Mmmmm. Sooo good! I seriously may eat this for breakfast every day of the week, especially if Harper has a vote.

She absolutely loved it. I think we all get in a rut of eating the same foods over and over, and both Harper and I enjoyed a delicious change.

At her age, I still chop up her foods in pea-sized bites, but she was so excited, she reached across and grabbed a slice and stuffed it in her mouth! I had to pull it out because she looked like she was attempting the chubby bunny (stuffing as many marshmallows as you can in your mouth!) haha.

classic french toast

Love that little french toast, blackberry-covered face!

Enjoy!

Classic French Toast

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 5 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: 4

Source: Tastes Better from Scratch blog

Ingredients

4 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
8 thick slices of bread

Instructions

Preheat griddle or skillet over medium heat. Grease well with butter or nonstick spray.
Add all ingredients, except the bread, to a shallow dish and whisk well to combine. Dip bread slices into the egg mixture, coating both sides, and place on the hot griddle.
Cook for a few minutes on both sides, until golden brown.
Serve warm, sprinkled with powdered sugar, pure maple syrup, and fresh fruit if desired.

Sausage Breakfast Casserole

Happy Sunday! I don’t know about you, but I love brunch/breakfast food. I could eat breakfast for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner. lol. In addition to “brunch”, we should also label it as “brinner” (breakfast/dinner).

Oatmeal, eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, toast, omelettes, english muffins, pancakes, waffles, blueberry muffins, scones…. the list of breakfast foods I love can go on and on.

Today my parents had us over for brunch after church. My mom made this sausage breakfast casserole the night before and simply put it in the oven as soon as we got home from service.

Sausage breakfast casserole

This is probably the best breakfast casserole I’ve had lately. The cubed french bread was soft in the middle yet crisp on the edges. The egg-custard mixture had wonderful flavor from the dry mustard and onion powder, and the sausage and cheese combination is a classic that can’t be beat. Yum!

Church must have really tired Harper out this morning, because she could barely make it awake through our brunch. She eats scrambled eggs for breakfast most mornings, so I’m sure she would have loved this casserole too; she just was too tired to eat. 😦

Harper is now 10 months, and is going from 2 to 1 naps a day. The saying is true… as soon as you get in a routine with a baby, they decide to change it up and do something different. Story of our lives for the past 10 months! haha.

Enjoy the rest of your lovely weekend. Can you believe football season is here? There will be lots of Aggie football going on at our house!

Baby

Sausage Breakfast Casserole

Prep time: 12 hours

Cook time: 35 mins

Total time: 12 hours 35 mins

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

8 (1-inch thick) slices French bread
1 pound cooked sausage
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup half-and-half
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. onion powder
5 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cut bread into 1-inch cubes, removing crusts if desired. Lightly grease an 8x10x2-inch glass pan.
Place bread cubes in the bottom of the pan. Top with sausage and cheese.
Mix the milk, half-and-half, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, onion powder, and eggs together. Pour over the top of the bread mixture. Cover and chill overnight.
Bake, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes, or until done. To check for doneness, insert a knife in the center of the casserole. It should come out clean. Serve hot.

Golden Morning Muffins

If you’re looking for a wholesome muffin with EVERYTHING in it, you’re in luck! We saw these printed in the paper and couldn’t wait to try them.

Literally these muffins have tons of good stuff in them! You’ll get your veggies in with the carrots and parsnips, your fruit from the pineapple and apple, and lots of crunch with pepitas or walnuts or pecans, your choice!

You can save yourself time if you get a helper to grate the carrots and apple, but otherwise these are easy to make.

Enjoy!

Golden Morning Muffins

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 2 dozen

Adapted from “Flavor Flours” by Alice Medrich

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cardamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 grated apple
1 cup canned crushed pineapple
1 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
3 large eggs
1 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, whisk together sugars, flour, cinnamon, cardamon, baking soda, and salt. Add coconut, raisins, apples, pineapple, carrots and pipettes, stirring to combine.
In another bowl, whisk eggs, oil and vanilla together. Scrape mixture into bowl with dry ingredients and stir until combined.
Divide batter among muffin pans lined with muffin liners. Each liner will be 2/3 full. Place in oven and bake until wooden toothpick or skewer comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes, then remove from pan.

Notes

You may substitute toasted walnuts or pecans for the pepitas. You can also add in 1 cup grated parsnip.

Quiche

This is just about the easiest quiche you can make, especially if you buy a pre-made refrigerated pie crust. I made this when I was 2 weeks postpartum, and my mother-in-law Paula laughed and said, “You’re the one who just had a baby, and are offering me food to eat. It ought to be the other way around!”

Yep, it’s that easy!

My mom had originally made this quiche for me within a week of me coming home from the hospital. It was so good, I had to make it again!

Most of the ingredients you should have on hand, which adds to the simplicity of this dish. The original recipe called for bacon, but I love mushrooms, so I added about 3/4 cup. You could even include both mushrooms and bacon if you wish.

Depending on which kind of pan you use, you may need to alter the baking time. My baking dish was the deep dish kind from Williams-Sonoma, so I probably cooked the quiche an extra 20 minutes because it was no where close to being done. It still tasted great, and browned up perfectly.

Enjoy!

Baby picture of the day: Can you find us? All dressed in camo!

camo

Quiche

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Serves: 12

Ingredients

Pastry for 9-inch one-crust pie
3/4 cup mushrooms, finely chopped (can substitute 12 slices cooked and crumbled bacon)
1 cup shredded natural Swiss cheese (about 4 ounces)
1/3 cup minced onion
4 eggs
2 cups half and half
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. cayenne red pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare pasty.
Sprinkle mushrooms (or bacon), cheese and onion in a pastry-lined pie pan.
Beat eggs slightly; beat in remaining ingredients. Pour cream mixture into pie pan.
Bake 15 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F and bake 30 minutes longer or until a knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.
Serve in wedges.

Yogurt Pancakes

Breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day, especially when pancakes and bacon are involved. If you’re looking for a simple, homemade pancake recipe, this one is for you.

Instead of buttermilk or milk, we used plain Greek yogurt, which adds a ton of protein and makes these pancakes extra thick, and healthy-ish. There’s no whole wheat flour or oats, so that’s why I added the “-ish”.

Plus, when you add butter to them, you are adding some serious calories. Even though we used Smart Balance and 100% pure maple syrup, these actually kind of taste like McDonald’s hotcakes.

At least, that’s what my sister and I think. Brittany and I used to go to McDonalds for breakfast with my grandfather Poppy every time we visited him. Don’t worry, he lived 2.5 hours away, so it’s not like we were eating McDonalds for breakfast every day! 🙂 Brittany and I would get a sausage biscuit and orange juice, while Poppy would order the big breakfast with hotcakes.

Brit and I would each try a bite of Poppy’s pancakes, who wasn’t shy about topping them with butter and syrup.

Weird as it may sound, I actually never eat pancakes with butter on top, but for the photos in this post, I thought I’d add some. I think I could have added butter and syrup on top of anything, and it would have tasted like those hotcakes just because I wasn’t used to it. I can definitely see why people add butter…. but I probably shouldn’t start that bad habit up!!! Haha.

For now, I’ll continue to simply add fresh fruit to my pancakes and a little wheat germ, and we can continue to call these pancakes “healthy”. lol

Enjoy!!

Yogurt Pancakes

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 5 mins

Total time: 15 mins

Serves: 6

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups (16 oz) plain yogurt (we used 0% fat Fage Greek yogurt)
1/4 cup water

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.
In another bowl, whisk the eggs, yogurt and water. Stir into dry ingredients until just moistened.
Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a hot griddle coated with cooking spray. Turn when bubbles form on top. Cook until the second side is golden brown.

Notes

Source: Taste of Home

Classic Waffles

Surprisingly easy, but with an elegant presentation, waffles are one of my favorite breakfast foods I look forward to on the weekends.

While I’ve always slightly favored waffles over pancakes, I think I burned myself out on the former and have not eaten or made waffles in probably over 2 years!!

Friday night before going to bed, I had it in my mind I was going to make waffles on Saturday morning. Pinterest to the rescue because I didn’t have a homemade recipe on hand. Many times we’ll use a mix, but in reality, its almost just as easy to whip up fresh, homemade batter as opposed to the prepackaged stuff.

This recipe is extremely simple, and I can almost guarantee you’ll already have all the ingredients. Compliments to Happy Hour Projects blog, these waffles will definitely be made on future Saturday mornings. Matt loved them as did I.

With just 7 simple ingredients (eggs, milk, butter, sugar, vanilla, flour, and baking powder), you can whip up the batter in less than five minutes.

One word to the wise, the first waffle is usually a dud, so pour just a little batter in your waffle iron to test it out before pouring in the full amount. My first waffle was much softer and soggier than the subsequent waffles. The third waffle was perfect. It was golden brown, slightly crispy and had perfect edges. The same happens with I make pancakes. The first one is not usually as pretty as the rest of them. I guess you really have to get your iron hot.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. If you’re waking up just now, maybe these waffles are worthy enough for a Sunday brunch!

Classic Waffles

Prep time: 5 mins

Total time: 5 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

2 eggs
1 cup milk (I used skim)
2 Tbsp. softened butter
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder

Instructions

Preheat your waffle iron and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Blend together eggs, milk, butter, sugar and vanilla.
Sift together flour and baking powder, then stir into egg mixture.
Pour onto the waffle iron and bake until done – this will vary depending on your iron. In our house, the green light starts to beep when the waffle is done. When the waffle is golden, slightly crisp, and lifts easily with a fork, it’s ready.

Whole Wheat Waffles

Getting to sleep in as late as you want is one of the best things about the weekends! Today I slept in until about 10: 30 am, which was much later than I thought, and woke up to a wonderfully sweet aroma of my my mom cooking in the kitchen.

I had no clue what she was making, but the smell was so sweet and inviting, first thing that came to my mind was “why is she making cookies at 10:30 in the morning”?

Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to find that she had just finished cooking up a batch of whole wheat waffles. (Funny story…my sister Brittany made these exact same waffles for her and Colby for breakfast this morning all the way up in Michigan! Great minds think alike!!!)

waffle ingredients — All the ingredients you will need…

The recipe for these waffles is adapted from 100 Days of Real Food, in which Lisa, the blogger, cuts out processed foods and replace it with REAL food. Processed food is terribly bad for you, so the less of it you can eat, the better.

The ingredient list is simple for this healthy waffle recipe, and makes for a quick and easy breakfast. The original recipe calls for 1 3/4 cups of milk, but my mom didn’t have enough, so she used half buttermilk and half skim milk. We love the addition of buttermilk, as it gives the waffles a richer taste.

Once you gather your ingredients, simply whisk them together in a large bowl and ladle the batter into a hot waffle iron.

waffle batter — Mix together the eggs, milk, honey, oil, honey, cinnamon and baking soda. Add in flour, baking powder and salt.

I like using a Belgian waffle iron (it has deeper and wider pockets) better than a traditional waffle iron. For some reason, Belgian waffles just taste better….kind of like how ice cream tastes better in a pretty bowl, or yogurt tastes better eaten with a plastic spoon instead of a metal spoon.

Anyways, within 10 minutes you’ve got a hot, fresh, healthy and NON-PROCESSED breakfast ready to enjoy.

whole wheat waffles — Top with a pat of butter, fresh fruit and maple syrup.

Top these with a pat of butter, maple syrup and fresh berries for a hearty meal.

I must say, these are the BEST waffles I’ve ever eaten! They taste better than any hotel breakfast or diner that I’ve ever been to.

waffles

Whole Wheat Waffles

Serves: 8 (4-inch square) waffles

Adapted from: 100 Days of Real Food

Ingredients

2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk (or you can use all skim milk)
3/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 Tbsp. honey
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups white whole-wheat flour (King Arthur)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
100% pure maple syrup, for serving
Fresh cut strawberries and blueberries, for serving

Instructions

Preheat your waffle iron.
In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, milks, oil, honey, cinnamon and baking soda until well combined.
Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk together until the large lumps disappear.
When the waffle iron is hot, dab it with a little butter and then ladle a scant 1/2 cup of batter (depending on the size of your waffle iron) onto the center of the iron. Follow the instructions that came with your waffle maker to know how long it should be cooked (ours takes about 3-4 minutes each).
Keep waffles warm until you finish cooking all of them. Top with pure maple syrup and fresh fruit.

Breakfast Bran Muffins

If you’re looking for something healthy for breakfast you’ll have to try these bran muffins. While not extremely sweet, these muffins will satisfy your craving for a delicious muffin. Drizzle with honey or top with a little pat of butter to garnish while pouring yourself a tall glass of orange juice. The best thing about these? If you make a batch ahead of time, they make for an easy, grab-and-go breakfast for those on the run.

My mom and sister made these muffins and brought them over for me to try, so unfortunately I do not have step-by-step photos. Enjoy!

Bran Muffins

Ingredients

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt

1/2 cup barely melted unsalted butter

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup (20g) unprocessed wheat bran or oat bran

1 1/2 cups (115 g) plain, unsweetened bran cereal

1 cup (115 g) whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup (35 g) natural cane sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder

1 tsp fine-grain sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F with a rack in the middle of the oven. Generously butter a standard 12-cup muffin pan.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, and maple syrup. Sprinkle the bran and cereal across the top, stir, and allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes.

3. In the meantime, in a separate small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the top and stir until just combined. Immediately fill each muffin cup three-quarters full.

4. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until edges of the muffins begin to brown and the tops have set. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then turn the muffins out of the pan to cool completely on a wire rack.

Yield: 12 muffins

Baked Oatmeal with Strawberries, Banana and White Chocolate

I am a huge fan of oatmeal! I eat oats for breakfast every morning, and depending on my mood, I’ll eat it cold or warm. My favorite cold version of oatmeal, perfect for a warm summer morning in Texas, includes swiss oatmeal or overnight chocolatey oats. When I want pipping hot oatmeal, I opt for original baked oatmeal or a sweeter version: baked blueberry oatmeal.

I found this baked oatmeal with strawberries, bananas, and chocolate on one of the newest and most addicting websites, Pinterest. The picture of the breakfast casserole was so divine-looking, and I couldn’t wait until the weekend so I could make this recipe for brunch! There are a few changes I made to the recipe as seen below:

I substituted white chocolate chips for semi-sweet because I am not much of a chocolate fan for breakfast, thus I thought white chocolate would be less intense.
Please use ground cinnamon for your spice. I used Chinese five spice, as the original recipe called for, but would recommend you use ground cinnamon instead. The Chinese five-spice blend was a little over-powering and too “spicy” for me.
I substituted chopped pecans for walnuts. Either is fine…use whatever you have in your pantry.

Overall, I thought this baked oatmeal was very good. I recommend sprinkling brown sugar on top, and returning the casserole to the oven to broil it and create that extra crunch! You can also drizzle maple syrup over the top for an added sweetness, but I didn’t feel it was necessary.

My husband also really liked this. It’s always nice when he enjoys new recipes, especially “girly” and fruit-centered recipes that don’t involve red meat! Haha.

Enjoy!

Combine oats, sugar, baking powder, orange zest, cinnamon, half the strawberries, half the nuts, and half the chocolate chips.

Whisk together the milk, egg, butter, and vanilla extract.

Add the oat mixture to the prepared pan.

Top with remaining strawberries, bananas, and nuts.

Pour the milk mixture over fruit and oat mixture.

Bake for 35-40 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

Sprinkle with brown sugar. Return to oven and broil for 20-30 seconds.

Baked Oatmeal with Strawberries, Banana and White Chocolate
Ingredients
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. grated orange zest
1 tsp. ground cinnamon (I used Chinese five-spice…as the original recipe called for, but I don’t recommend it)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup pecan or walnut pieces, chopped
1 cup sliced strawberries
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
2 cups milk (I used skim)
1 large egg
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ripe banana, peeled, 1/2-inch slices

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and generously spray the inside of a 10-1/2 by 7-inch baking dish with cooking spray and place on a baking sheet.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, baking powder, orange zest, cinnamon, salt, half the strawberries, half the pecans and half the chocolate. (Save the other half of strawberries, walnuts and chocolate for the top of oatmeal).
3. In another large bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, butter and vanilla extract.
4. Add the oat mixture to prepared baking dish. Arrange the remaining strawberries, nuts and chocolate on top. Add the banana slices to the top then pour the milk mixture over everything. Gently shimmy/shake the baking dish to help the milk mixture go throughout the oats.
5. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until top is nicely golden brown and the milk mixture has set. For an extra tasty top, sprinkle a tablespoon or so of extra brown sugar on top then place back in the oven under the broiler and broil for 20-30 seconds. Serve warm with an extra sprinkle of sugar or drizzle in maple syrup.

Yield: 6 servings
Recipe adapted from: Inspired Taste

Breakfast Tacos in Aspen

This past weekend, my family and I traveled to Aspen, Colorado to escape this torturous Texas heat of 110 degree F temperatures. We thoroughly enjoyed waking up to a crisp 42 degree morning, and 82 degree high in the afternoon.

Every morning, my sister, her boyfriend Colby, and I would wake up around 6:30 – 7:00 and head out to run 6 miles (Colby ran about 10 miles) along the Roaring Fork River in Aspen. After returning from our run, we would always be starving. For three days in a row, we (actually my parents…I have to give them credit) made all of us breakfast tacos. I must admit, I have not eaten sausage in over two years. Back in January of 2009, I gave food poisoning to my husband, Matt, from two week old sausage! Poor Matt, I caused him to lose 11 pounds in 12 hours. hehe 🙂 Ever since then, he has not eaten sausage, and I don’t blame him.

I thoroughly enjoyed these breakfast tacos, especially the sausage, every morning! These breakfast tacos were a weeknight “breakfast for dinner” tradition that my family and I enjoyed making while I was growing up. If you want to change up the recipe, you can substitute bacon for sausage, add cheese, salsa, and/or jalapenos if desired. We usually make these breakfast tacos just as you see here. Plain and simple…eggs, sausage, and tortilla.

Enjoy!

P.S. Our hotel, the Hyatt Grand Aspen provides spacious kitchens with Viking appliances, Le Creuset skillets and pans, Wustof knives, a complete place setting of plates, mugs, and cups, and plenty of utensils. This is our favorite place to stay in Aspen… plus it is gorgeous on the inside!