Waffle Mix

This is NOT my recipe in anyway and I haven't made any changes because it is perfect the way it is.

This is from Frugal Foodie Mama: Waffle Mix

For the mix:

6 cups of flour (I use half wheat and white, the original recipe says 4 c. white, 2 c. wheat)
4 T. sugar
4 T. baking powder
3/4 t. salt

To make 4 belgian waffles:

2 cups of mix
1 3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. oil
2 eggs.
1 t. vanilla

Breakfast Muffins

This is another recipe that I make monthly, and freeze.

Mix wet ingredients:

1/4 soft butter
1/4 c. applesauce (can use another 1/4 c. soft butter instead)
3-5 smushed bananas
1/4 c. veggie puree (this is optional, I usually use carrot and sweet potato)
2 beaten eggs

In another bowl, mix dry ingredients:

1 c. flour (I use half wheat and half white)
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. ground oats
1 T. ground flax seed (optional)

Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients

Stir in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips

I usually make mini muffins.  This recipe will make 45-48 mini muffins.
Bake 375, 10-15 mins

Egg Muffins

I try to spend at least one day a month making a whole bunch of breakfast foods to freeze.

This is one of our favorites:

I use silicone muffin cups.  In 12 muffin cups, add whatever meat, cheese, veggies, etc that you would like in your eggs.  We do spinach and feta, ham and cheese, bacon (pre-cooked) and cheese, peppers and tomatoes, etc.

In a large bowl, mix 12 eggs, about 1/2 cup of milk, and salt and pepper, and mix.

Pour the egg and milk mixture into the muffin cups.  Extra cheese can be added to the top.

Then bake them at 350 for 25-30 mins.

I freeze them in the silicone cups, in ziploc bags.  To thaw them, I put them in the fridge the night before we want to eat them.  They can be microwaved for about 30 mins if they are in the fridge, or 2-3 mins from the freezer.

Overnight Refrigerator Oatmeal

I started eating these over the summer and wanted to keep track of some of the combinations that I've tried. 
Here is the blog: http://www.theyummylife.com/Refrigerator_Oatmeal

The basic recipe that I use is 1/4 cup oats, 1/4 cup yogurt, 1/3 cup of milk, 1 tsp of chia seeds, sometimes I add honey
The original recipe recommends plain greek yogurt and vanilla extract.  I prefer to use regular vanilla yogurt. 

Some of the variations that I've tried:

Pineapple coconut: In exchange for regular milk, you can use coconut milk and then add 1/4 cup of crushed pineapple.

I've also used mint chocolate coconut milk and 1/4 cup of chocolate chips. 

Apple cinnamon: Add 1/4 applesauce and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.  Decrease the milk or it gets too runny.

Banana berry: add 1/2 sliced banana and 1/4 cup of blueberries or mixed berries

Pumpkin Pie: add 1/4 cup pumpkin, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Peach: Add 1/4 cup of canned peaches or very soft peaches.  May need extra liquid. 

Before refrigeration

After refrigeration



Overnight French Toast

This is another recipe that my friend Jess shared with me. 

Here is the link: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=544253

I also copy and pasted it here:

Ingredients

1/3 cup butter, melted
3/4 C brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
12 slices whole wheat bread (works best if slightly stale, but not required)
6 eggs
1 1/2 c milk
splash of vanilla
dash of salt

Directions

Place melted butter in 9 x 13 pan. Add brown sugar and cinnamon. Mix well and spread over bottom of pan. Cover with 2 layers of bread slices. Beat eggs, milk, vanilla, and salt. Pour egg mixture over bread; Cover and refrigerate overnight. Uncover and let sit on counter for 15 minutes. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes or until knife comes out clean and it is not squishy.

Makes 12 servings. When serving, cut bread slices in half (the 2 layers of bread will create one THICK piece of bread). Can also put 1 tsp of fruit spread between slices before adding egg mixture.

Number of Servings: 12

This is a picture of the butter and brown sugar mixture, and the egg and milk mixture. 

Finished Product:

 

Jason's birthday

For breakfast, we made blueberry scones.  I used this recipe: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Blueberry-Scones 
They were a little bland and a little dry.  I wasn't going to add the recipe but I read the reviews for it and decided to keep it so I could make a few changes next time.  It was a really easy recipe. 

Ready to bake:

Ready to eat:

Dinner was breaded pork chops.  I'm putting this here because Jason went on and on about how great they were.  He kept saying he was so glad we decided to eat at home instead of going out for dinner. 
I completely forgot to take pictures while I was making it.  I think I was distracted by the peace and quiet while I was cooking because the girls were "working" in the garage with Jason.

I trimmed the fat off of 3 pork chops, and tenderized them so they were thinner.  I had about a tablespoon of honey dijon mustard in the bottom of a jar so I made my own "bottom of the jar" recipe, like Rachael Ray.  :-)  I added about a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of Miracle Whip to the jar and shook it up.  Then I smeared it on both sides of pork chops.  In my magic bullet, (no measurements), I put corn flakes, basil, parsley and paprika.  I coated the pork chops in the crumbs.  I tried to broil them but the crumbs just burnt, within a few mins.  So, I baked them at 400 for about 30 mins. 

I took a picture of the one that was left. 



Breakfast Casserole

I use my own version of this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/mrs-allens-brunch-bake/detail.aspx

The one on allrecipes is a great recipe if you're having a brunch but its way too much for the 4 of us. 

I save all of the ends of our bread in a bag in the freezer for this recipe. 

4 slices bacon

8 slices bread

about 4 Tbsp butter, softened

1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I use whatever I have in the fridge and I don't measure)

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cups milk

a handful of spinach

seasoning (I usually use garlic and salt in a grinder)

Microwave bacon

Spread 1 side of each bread slice with butter.

Arrange 4 bread slices buttered side down in the bottom of a squre baking dish.

Layer with the crumbled bacon and half of the cheese

Arrange remaining bread slices over the cheese, buttered sides up.

In a small bowl, mix the eggs, milk, spinach and seasoning and pour evenly over bread slices.

Top with remaining cheese. Cover, and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight.

Bake at 325 for about 45 mins.  (Until eggs are set)

Steel Cut Oats

This is the recipe that my friend Tara gave me:

1 cup steel cut oats
1 TBSP brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup water
4 cups milk
Optional - raisins, dried fruit, nuts, etc.

Cook over night for 8 hours on low heat in the crock pot

I double the brown sugar and cinnamon.  I usually use craisins because they plump up so much when they're cooking. 

TIP:  Grease the crockpot!!  Its a major mess.  Tara also told me that she cooks hers in a smaller bowl, in a water bath. 

TIP #1:  The first time you do this, do it during the day when you can watch it.  My crockpot takes about 4-5 hours, not 8. 

Homemade Pop Tarts

My girls love pop tarts.  All that high fructose corn syrup and 16 g of sugar!  How can we not love them? 

After threatening to never make them again.  I decided to make my own.  I used a recipe from smitten kitchen. 

http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/04/homemade-pop-tarts/

I made a few different sizes.  The girls seems to enjoy the smaller ones. 

I used the cinnamon filling and it got nice and gooey just like real poptarts. 

I have two tips for this.  #1-Assemble the poptarts on the pan that you plan to bake them on.  There were quite a few that I assembled and then the filling spilled out when I was moving it. 
Because of that, I learned by accident....
#2-Put some of the filling on the table, with the flour that you're rolling the dough in.  It gives the dough a little extra flavor. 

Here they are right before they went into the oven:

2/24/12