Banana Bread Waffles

I used to look forward to Fridays.  The family could relax after a long, busy week.  Then my daughter started soccer. Her practice is Fridays at 5:30 at a field that's about a twenty minute drive from the house.  So now Friday afternoons have turned into a mad rush.  I get my daughter off the bus at 4 and we rush to get her unpacked from school and changed into shorts and a t-shirt.  She's starving by the time she gets home from school and by the time we get home from practice it's 7 PM.  So I've recently started giving the kids dinner at around 4:30 and a snack when we get home.  Or I give them a substantial snack (bagel with butter, turkey or ham sandwich and fruit) before practice and feed them dinner afterwards.  I made these waffles as a breakfast for dinner before soccer.  I served them with sausage and fruit.  The kids loved them.  My son said he could "eat these for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!" 

Banana Bread Waffles
recipe from i heart eating

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 ½ cups low-fat buttermilk
1 T. vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2-3 large bananas)
2 T. butter, melted

Directions:
1.In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside.

2.In a large bowl, stir together buttermilk, vanilla, bananas, and melted butter.

3.Add flour mixture to buttermilk mixture, and stir until just combined.

4.Spray waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray and add batter according to waffle iron’s directions.
5.Cook waffles according to your waffle iron’s directions.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

This post shared at:
Sweet & Savory Saturday @ Dessert Now Dinner Later
Show and Tel Saturday @ Be Different Act Normal

Overnight Ham and Cheese Breakfast Enchiladas

This was the other recipe that I ended up using the leftover ham for.  I know I've mentioned plenty of times how breakfast for dinner is always a hit in my house.  Since I get to sleep in on the weekends I don't end up making these types of dishes for breakfast. Since the kids are such great breakfast eaters I try to serve a breakfast for dinner type meal every week or two.  The nice thing about these enchiladas is that they are made the night before.  So when you're ready to eat you just stick the covered dish in the oven for 30-40 minutes.  These enchiladas were really tasty and a dish that we all enjoyed.  I served this with some fresh fruit to round out the meal.  

Overnight Ham and Cheese Breakfast Enchiladas
recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything  adapted from Look Who's Cooking Now

Ingredients: 2 cups cubed and cooked ham
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
10 flour tortillas (6-8 inches)
1 1/4 cup half-and-half
4 whole eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon flour
salsa, sour cream, and additional green onions for serving

Directions:
1.In a medium bowl stir together ham, green onions and 2 cups of cheese (save the remaining 1/2 cup for later). Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Use a 1/3-cup measuring cup to scoop out cheese mixture onto a tortilla. Roll up tortilla and place seam side down in the baking dish. Roll up all tortillas and place them into the baking dish with the sides touching.

2.Whisk together half-and-half, eggs, salt, and flour. Pour over tortillas. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

3.In the morning, preheat oven to 350º. Bake covered for 30-40 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of cheese over enchiladas. Bake for 10 more minutes or until tops are golden brown and the egg mixture is set.

4.Serve with salsa, sour cream, and additional green onions.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

This post is shard at:
Tasty Thursdays @ The Mandatory Mooch
Foodtastic Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes
Showcase Your Talent Thursday @ What's Cooking Love?
Tasty Creations Link Party @Michelle's Tasty Creations
Recipe Sharing Monday @ Jam Hands

SRC Reveal: Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes

It's reveal day for Group A at The Secret Recipe Club.  This month I was assigned the blog Crumb.  Blogger Isabelle proclaims, "I'm a 30-something coffee-chugging, booty-shaking, bargain-shopping, cookbook-collecting, photo-snapping, trucker-swearing, farmers-market-loving self-taught cook with a Boy and two cats to feed."  I looked through Isabelle's recipes and as soon as I saw this one knew it was the one that I was going to make.  We had not had pancakes for dinner in a long time and strawberries were on sale at the grocery store!  But she has so many great looking recipes on her blog that I will be back!  As for these pancakes, the only change to the recipe below that I made was that I only used vanilla extract rather than 1/2 tsp. vanilla and 1/2 tsp. of almond extract.  I never thought of adding strawberries into pancake batter. The kids of course loved these!  Breakfast for dinner is always a hit....but whipped cream too?!! Extra special!  I served these pancakes with sausage and pineapple to complete our dinner!  Super tasty!

Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes
recipe very slightly adapted from Crumb

Ingredients:

Strawberry-Yogurt Pancakes:
1 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
2 eggs
½ cup plain Greek-style yogurt
⅔ cup milk
2 tbsp melted butter (plus more for the griddle)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup finely diced strawberries

Toppings:
Whipped cream
Chopped strawberries
Maple syrup

Directions:
1.In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

2.In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, yogurt, milk, melted butter and vanilla until combined. Pour into the bowl of dry ingredients, and stir with a whisk until the batter is smooth and lump-free.

3.Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. Grease lightly with butter. When the butter starts to sizzle, drop in ¼ cup portions of batter.

4.Dot the surface of the pancakes with chopped strawberries. Cook for about 2 minutes or until a few bubbles start to form on the top, then gently flip over and continue cooking until underside is golden brown, about 1-2 minutes longer. Transfer the finished pancakes to a baking tray in a warm oven. Repeat this process until the batter is finished, re-greasing the pan as needed.

5.To serve, stack two or three pancakes onto each plate. Garnish each stack with a spoonful of chopped strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream. For those with a sweet tooth, drizzle with a little maple syrup or dust with icing sugar before digging in.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

Strawberries & Cream French Toast Casserole

I think this is finally the last of my Easter posts!  I'm slowly catching up on posts but am continuing to try lots of new recipes!  Knowing that we were going to be super busy getting Easter dinner ready I had wanted to make something easy for breakfast.  (We had our traditional Polish Easter breakfast with hard-boiled eggs, kielbasa, and my mom's home made Easter bread with honey the day before.)  I saw this recipe and thought the kids would love it.  I liked that I was able to prepare this the night before and just had to bake it in the morning.  The kids love strawberries and enjoyed this, just like I thought they would. 

Strawberries & Cream French Toast Casserole
recipe slightly adapted from Pink Parsley

Ingredients:
8 cups cubed French bread
6 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries, divided
1 Tbs sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:
Lightly grease a 9x13 inch square baking dish.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, heavy cream, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Mix in the bread and the strawberries. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, cover, and refrigerate several hours or overnight. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and scatter the remaining 1/2 cup of strawberries over the top.

Bake 35-45 minutes, or until the custard has set. During the last 10 minutes of baking time, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar over the top.

Allow to cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

Cornbread Pancakes

Sometimes I meet old co-worker friends for dinner.  When I do this, my husband drives to a different train station, I drive down with the kids and we do a kid pass-off.  However, even on these nights I am nice enough to make everyone a home-cooked dinner!  In this most recent case it was a breakfast for dinner meal that's easy transportable because I don't think I mentioned that the kids end up eating their dinner in the car.  The drive is about thirty minutes and coincides with "normal" dinner time.  They had these pancakes, sausage links, and an apple (my daughter) or a banana (my son).  Of course, I should have realized what a mess my son would make with syrup in the car......yeah, the syrup ended up all over his jacket and the car seat.  I was wondering why the buckle kept getting stuck! Luckily, it was nothing that some cleaning wipes couldn't take care of!  Back to these pancakes though.....we all loved them.  (I ended up having the leftovers for breakfast!).  The cornmeal and sugar gave these pancakes the flavor of cornbread (which we all love!).   We will definitely be making these again soon! 

Cornbread Pancakes
recipe from allrecipes.com courtesy of CocoBean

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

Directions:
1.Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk buttermilk, eggs and butter in a separate large bowl. Stir the liquid mixture into the dry mixture until blended and smooth.


2.Heat a lightly oiled griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup batter on griddle and cook until browned, about 1 1/2 minutes. Flip and cook until browned on the other side, about 1 minute. Continue with remaining batter.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!

Baked Maple Cinnamon Donuts

Happy April Fool's Day!  I don't have any tricks for you, but I do have a treat. Recently I've seen lots of recipes for donuts being posted in the blogosphere.  I asked (and received) donut pans from my parents for Christmas.  Only this past month did I finally break them out and use them.  These were the first donuts I made in said pans.  This recipe came from a blog titled Cooking with My Kid and I did indeed make these donuts with my son.  He helped with the measuring, pouring, and stirring of ingredients.  These are cake donuts that have a sponge-like texture.  It wasn't a bad thing but definitely a noticeable thing, if that makes sense.  Of course I think adding cinnamon and sugar on anything will make it tasty.  These were a great first donut that we all enjoyed as a nice breakfast treat!

Baked Maple Cinnamon Donuts
recipe adapted from Cooking with My Kid

Yield:  6 donuts

Ingredients:
non-stick cooking spray
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1 6 oz container plain yogurt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 1/2 tablespoons real maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter (melted)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray donut pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Toss the cinnamon and sugar together and set aside. In a large bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients. In another bowl stir together oil, lemon juice, maple syrup, egg, yogurt, and vanilla. Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the hole. Gently fold everything together until combined. Spoon batter into a ziploc baggie and snip off a corner with scissors.  Pipe batter into donut molds in pan.  Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for a few moments and then flip over onto a cooling rack while still warm. Use a pastry brush to butter your donuts and then dip each donut in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

Apple Brown Sugar Coffe Cake

Recently a friend came over to visit with her seven month old baby son.  She offered to stop at a local restaurant and pick up sandwiches for lunch and I made dessert for us.  I decided to make this coffe cake that I had bookmarked for awhile since I knew that there would be leftovers which would make a great breakfast treat.  This cake was nice and moist and I liked the addition of apples.  Like Edesia's my glaze didn't really glaze the cake, but ended up soaking into the cake.  When it hardened on the top it ended up giving the cake a little crunch which I actually enjoyed.  Luckily, I don't make sweets very often, because this recipe does use lots of sugar, with the cake, crumble, and glaze....but my friend and I (and the family!) both thought it was worth it!

Apple Brown Sugar Coffee Cake
recipe from Edesia's Notebook, originally from Emeril Lagasse

Yield:  24 servings

Ingredients:

For the Cake:
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1½ cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
2 cups peeled, cored, and chopped apples

For the Crumble Topping:
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup flour
½ tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp butter, softened

For the Brown Sugar Glaze:
½ cup brown sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 9x13” glass baking dish with baking spray.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, sour cream, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Fold in the apples. Pour into the prepared baking dish, spreading out to the edges.

To make the topping, in a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter, and mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the cake and bake until golden brown and set, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes.

To make the glaze, in a bowl, combine the sugar, vanilla, and water and mix until smooth. Drizzle the cake with the glaze and let harden slightly. Serve warm.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!

This post is shared at:
Foodtastic Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes
Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage
Tasty Thursdays @ The Mandatory Mooch
Showcase Your Talent Thursday @ What's Cooking, Love?

Eating the Alphabet Challenge: Tony's Breakfast Couscous

It's time once again for the Eating the Alphabet Challenge hosted by Brenda at Meal Planning Magic.  Each month we are given a set of letters and are challenged to make a dish using a fruit, vegetable, grain, or legume that begins with one of the letters.  This month's letters were C and D.  Last year I made this Roasted Cauliflower Risotto.  I thought that I'd try for "D" this year but then I found this couscous recipe that looked good, so I ended up making it instead.  The original recipe called for nonfat dry milk but provided substitutions so you could use fat-free milk instead.  Unfortunately, I cannot have dairy in the morning on an empty stomach.  I wouldn't call myself lactose intolerant, but feel the symptoms only if I have dairy in the morning on an empty stomach.  So I used soymilk in this recipe.  I also eliminated the walnuts that the original recipe called for.  I'm not a huge nut fan and walnuts are probably one of my least favorites.  I think pecans might be tasty in this though.  I made this over the weekend and it ended up being more like brunch for me by the time I got up and made it!  I was pleasantly surprised when my son, who is a pretty picky eater, tried this and liked it!  Normally he doesn't eat couscous when I make it.  But the cinnamon, brown sugar, cranberries, and raisins sweetened this up, and he likes sweet! He ended up having this for lunch with a cheese stick and a yogurt!  This was super easy to prepare and can be adapted to any ingredients that you want to add/take out.  This was a breakfast dish that I can see myself making again.  If you're interested in joining the Eating the Alphabet Challenge click here!

Tony's Breakfast Couscous
recipe adapted from Cooking Light, May 2006

Ingredients:
1/4 cup water
1 cup vanilla soy milk
1/2 cup uncooked couscous
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup raisins
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Bring water and milk to a boil in a small saucepan; stir in remaining ingredients. Remove from heat. Cover; let stand 10 minutes. (Mixture will thicken as it cools.)

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

Might Have Missed Monday: Corn and Cheddar Waffles

Re-posting this recipe reminds me that I haven't made waffles in a very long time!  These were a winner with the kids!  They of course love corn, so that helps.  Breakfast for dinner is such an easy, quick, and sure-to-please everyone dinner in our house.  You can keep this a meat-free meal by serving with some fruit, or like I always do, cook up some bacon or sausage to serve with!

Corn and Cheddar Waffles
recipe from All You, August 2011

Cook Time: 7 Minutes
Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 large egg
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup fresh corn kernels (from 1 large ear) or 1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 cup grated Cheddar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 200ºF and preheat waffle iron. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and sugar. In a glass measuring cup, whisk together milk, egg and butter. Pour milk mixture into flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in corn and cheese.

2. Mist waffle iron with cooking spray. Pour batter onto grates and spread to edges with a spatula. Cook until waffles are golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate, loosely cover with foil and keep warm in oven. Repeat with remaining batter, misting grates with cooking spray before each new batch.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

This post is being shared at:
Tasty Tuesdays @ 33 Shades of Green
Totally Tasty Tuesdays @ Mandy's Recipe Box
Show Me What you Got Linky Party @ Our Delightful Home

Baked French Toast Casserole

We first made this dish for our Christmas morning breakfast.  And then we made it again a few weekends ago when my sister and her family were up visiting from Maryland.  Both times it was delicious.  Warning:  it is a Paula Deen recipe and it is NOT low-fat!  It uses half-and-half in the french toast and a LOT of butter in the praline topping.  My husband helped make this and he ended up halving the butter and sugar in the praline topping to try to cut down on some of the butter and sweetness.  This is sweet enough that it does not need maple syrup. This is one of those recipes that you can put together the night before, and then in the morning spread the praline topping on and stick in the oven. This is definitely a keeper for an occasional breakfast treat!

Baked French Toast Casserole
recipe from Food Network, courtesy of Paula Deen, Paula's Home Cooking

Ingredients:
1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
8 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt
Praline Topping, recipe follows

Directions:
Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each.  Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup.

Praline Topping:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Makes enough for Baked French Toast Casserole.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

This post is shared at:
Showcase Your Talent Thursday @ What's Cooking Love?
Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage
Foodtastic Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes

Potato Breakfast Casserole

Have I mentioned how much my kids love breakfast?  I always know that breakfast for dinner will be a hit.  I'm sharing this recipe because the kids loved it a lot!  So much that my daughter asked for leftovers for lunch the next day and then had some for breakfast the day after!  It's a very hearty breakfast that requires a bit of prep and cooking time, so it's not for a busy weeknight.  And as much as I LOVE bacon, you do not need a whole pound.  If I were to make this again, I'd only use half a pound. 

Potato Breakfast Casserole
recipe from Confabulation in the Kitchen, adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 pound bacon, diced
1 white or yellow onion, chopped
6 large eggs, beaten
4 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed*
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1.5 cups cottage cheese
1 1/4 cups shredded Swiss cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x13 casserole dish and set aside.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook bacon and onion until bacon is crisp, then drain and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, then stir in bacon mixture. Transfer to a prepared casserole dish.

2. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until golden at edges and bubbling. Let cool 10 minutes before cutting.

* I find the texture of frozen hashbrowns to be too hard so I like to shred them myself. But, for the sake of time and perhaps your sanity, by all means use frozen!

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

Nutella Drop Biscuits

We love nutella.  A weekly breakfast for the kids is usually nutella on a bagel.  When I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it.  It sounded like something that could be served for breakfast and I'm always looking for new breakfast recipes.  These ended up being a perfect breakfast treat!  They are not too sweet, since it's a biscuit with hints of nutella swirls.  We all loved these and enjoyed them a lot.  It was a different and tasty way to use nutella!

Nutella Drop Biscuits
recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose Gold Medal flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup Nutella

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix in cold butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir with a spatula until just combined. With a knife, gently swirl the Nutella into the biscuit dough.

3. Drop round spoonfuls of dough, about three tablespoons, onto prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle biscuits with sea salt, if desired. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until tops are slightly golden brown. Remove from oven, let cool to room temperature and serve.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!

Might Have Missed Monday: Cannoli French Toast

I have recently started re-posting some of our family's favorite recipes from the past year, in case you "might have missed" them.  I had posted this November 11, 2011.  Our family, especially the kids, love breakfast-for-dinner.  It allows me to make some of the casseroles and breakfast type foods that require too much time and effort for me to make in the mornings.  To me, the best part of a cannoli is the inside, so I enjoyed this too!  It's almost too good to be dinner......more like dessert!  This was definitely a winner for us all!  As I'm writing this I'm thinking I may have to make this again for us soon!

Cannoli French Toast
EveryDay With Rachael Ray, October 2010

Ingredients:
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
12 slices sandwich bread

Directions:
1.Sift 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl, then stir in 1 cup ricotta cheese. In a medium bowl, beat together 2 eggs and 1/2 cup milk. Trim the crusts off 12 slices sandwich bread and, using a rolling pin, roll out the bread to flatten. Add 1 tablespoon of the sweetened ricotta to each slice, fold over and pinch the edges together. (The edges will seal during cooking.) In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Working in 3 batches, dip the stuffed bread slices in the egg mixture and transfer to the skillet. Cook, turning once, until puffed and golden, about 3 minutes. Dust with more confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Family Rating: 2 Thumbs Up!

This post is shared at:
Manic Monday @ Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen
The Bulletin Board @ Mrs. Happy Homemaker
Mangia Mondays @ Delightfully Dowling

Ham and Cheese Breakfast Bake

Happy Thanksgiving! If you've noticed I haven't posted any traditional Thanksgiving day recipes.  Fortunately for me, this is one holiday that I don't host and cook for!  My sister, down in Maryland usually hosts the family, but she's due to have her second child any day now!  When we don't go down to Maryland we head up to my husband's aunt's house near New Paltz for Thanksgiving dinner, so that's where we will be this year.  I did earn a free turkey from Shoprite that's sitting in my downstairs freezer, so eventually I will be using some of the tasty looking recipes I've been seeing on the blogs.  So for you today I have an Apple Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Bake.  We had this for breakfast for dinner.  However, this would make a great weekend brunch dish.  We all enjoyed this a lot, although almost all breakfast type dishes go over well with the kids. 

Ham and Cheese Breakfast Bake
recipe adapted from Confabulation in the Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 20-ounce bag frozen, shredded hashbrowns, thawed overnight in fridge
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
4  Apple Chicken Sausage links, diced
1.5 to 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
A few dashes of hot sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Squeeze moisture out of thawed potatoes then put them in a large bowl. Pour melted butter over potatoes and stir until well-combined. Line ungreased casserole dish with buttered potatoes, and press to make a crust. Bake 10 minutes or until potatoes are just crisped and brown on the edges. Remove dish from oven and set aside.

3. In a medium bowl whisk eggs and cream.

4. Sprinkle sausage over potato crust. Then add cheese. Pour cream and egg mixture over ingredients.

5. Bake 30 minutes or until set and gold and bubbling at edges.  Sprinkle with hot sauce to taste.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!

Meatless Monday: Crock-Pot Huevos Rancheros Casserole

I'm always looking for slow cooker recipes. This recipe was a double plus because it was "breakfast for dinner" which the kids love so much.  I don't think I had ever made or eaten Huevos Rancheros before this, so I wasn't exactly sure what it was supposed to look or taste like.  I took the original recipe found here and adapted it to what I had and what I thought the kids would eat (the original sounded a bit spicy).  This was super easy to put together.  I had it prepared mid-afternoon and by the time we came home from tae kwon do it was ready.  I served this with yellow rice and we all enjoyed it. 

Crock-Pot Huevos Rancheros Casserole
recipe adapted from Crock-Pot Ladies

Ingredients:
8 Large Eggs
1/4 Cup milk
1 cup salsa
1 – 14.5 Ounce Can Black Beans, Rinsed and Drained
1 Teaspoon Cilantro
1/2 Teaspoon Black Ground Pepper
8 flour Tortillas, Soft Taco Size
sour cream (optional for topping)
1 avocado, diced (optional for topping)
shredded cheddar cheese (optional for topping)

Directions:
Spray non-stick spray inside of your crock-pot.

Crack eggs into medium bowl, add milk and pepper and whisk.

In another bowl, mix beans, salsa, and cilantro.

Place two tortillas at bottom of crock.

Spoon about a third of the salsa/bean mixture on top.

Pour about a fourth of the egg mixutre on top of that.

Top with two more tortillas and repeat layering 3 times so egg is your top layer.

Cover and cook on low for approximately 8 hours.

Cut and serve with desired toppings.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

This recipe is shared at:
Mangia Mondays @ Delightfully Dowling
On The Menu Monday @ StoneGable
The Bulletin Board @ Mrs. Happy Homemaker

Baked Apple French Toast Casserole

I've been trying to cook with apples before fall is over.  I saw this Baked Apple French Toast Casserole and knew that the kids would love it.  I pre-made it the night before so all it had to do the next day was bake.  It was a perfect breakfast for dinner meal.  The kids love french toast, which I don't make very often.  They especially loved the addition of the apples to one of their favorite breakfast meals.  This is a great weekend brunch dish and if you have a chunk of time to let it cook, a good breakfast for dinner meal.

Baked Apple French Toast Casserole
recipe from One Perfect Bite

Yield:  8 servings

Ingredients:

French Toast
1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, torn into bite-size cubes
6 eggs
1-1/2 cups skim milk
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons white sugar, divided use
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 medium Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and cut in 1/2-inch dice
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1) Spray or grease bottom and sides of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

Directions:
1) Spray or grease bottom and sides of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.


2) To make French toast: Scatter bread cubes in bottom of prepared pan. Place eggs, milk, 1/3 cup sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and beat to combine. Pour mixture over bread cubes. Mix cinnamon, nutmeg and 2 tablespoons sugar in a medium bowl. Add apple cubes and toss to coat. Spread apples over bread cubes. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Thirty minutes before baking, remove casserole from refrigerator and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake casserole for 60 to 75 minutes, or until custard is set and golden brown. Serve casserole hot with warm syrup.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

This recipe is shared at:
Foodtastic Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes
Foodie Friday@ Simple Living and Eating

Biscuit-Crusted Sausage-Egg Pie

My kids love eggs and breakfast for dinner is always a hit in our house.  Unfortunately, this was one of those recipes that sounded quick and easy, but that I should have read through to plan out my timing.  When I went to make this at 5:30 after taking the kids to tae kwon do, I discovered that there was quite a bit of prep work AND almost a half hour of cooking time involved.  So, by the time this was on the table it was about 6:45 that we were eating.  Fortunately, we all enjoyed this alot!  Even my daughter, who hates pretty much all cheese, ate all of her piece and even asked for some for lunch the next day.  I guess she didn't taste the feta! Because this recipe only called for 4 pieces of biscuit dough and 2 ounces of feta and the biscuits came in 8 pieces and the feta came in 4 ounces, I just doubled everything and made two.  Then we had leftovers for breakfast for a couple of days.

Biscuit-Crusted Sausage-Egg Pie
recipe very slightly adapted from EveryDay with Rachael Ray, May 2009

Ingredients:
1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound bulk pork breakfast sausage
1 teaspoon oregano
4 pieces refrigerated biscuit dough, such as Pillsbury
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 ounces crumbled feta cheese
4 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1.Preheat the oven to 375 degrees . In a large skillet, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and oregano and cook, breaking up the sausage, until just browned, about 5 minutes. Drain and let cool.

2.Grease a 9-inch pie pan with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon olive oil. Place 1 piece biscuit dough into a large resealable plastic bag and, using a rolling pin, roll into a 1/8-inch-thick disk. Remove the dough from the bag and transfer to the prepared pie pan. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces, pinching the pieces together in the pan to form a crust.

3.In a large bowl, combine the cooked sausage, onion and feta; spread evenly over the crust. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, milk, and 1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the sausage mixture and bake until set, about 25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Family rating: 2 thumbs up!

Meatless Monday: Zucchini Waffles

I love zucchini but unfortunately, the kids do not.  However, the kids do love anything breakfast - especially pancakes, waffles, french toast.....anything they can pour syrup over!  I found this waffle recipe and decided it was time to dust the waffle maker off and put it to good use.  It had been awhile since I had made homemade waffles.  I had my daughter help grate the zucchini for this recipe while my son and I got the batter ready.  As she was grating she said, "I'll grate this for you but I am NOT eating these. I don't like zucchini!"  Who ate all of her waffles?  Actually, both of the kids did.  I knew they would too!  In a recipe like this, when it is grated, there's very little zucchini flavor.  This was another great breakfast for dinner served with some breakfast sausage.  Just to note, as usual, I didn't read through the recipe before I went to make it.  I didn't have time to salt the zucchini to get out the excess water.  Instead after my daughter grated the zucchini I pressed the excess liquid out with my hands.  I guess it worked well enough, the waffle batter wasn't too watery!  Note to self....pre-read the recipe before making!

Zucchini Waffles
recipe from The Perfect Pantry

Ingredients:
2 medium zucchini, ends trimmed
1-1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups skim (nonfat) milk
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Cooking spray

Directions:
Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater. Place in a strainer, and sprinkle with a teaspoon or so of kosher salt. Place the strainer over a bowl, and let the zucchini drain for 30 minutes. Rinse under cold water, shake off excess liquid, and transfer the zucchini to a clean dish towel. Squeeze out as much moisture as you can from the zucchini, and set aside.


Preheat waffle maker to 400°F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar. Stir together.

In another large bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients (the flour mixture), and beat until smooth. Stir in the zucchini and mix well.

Spray the waffle maker with cooking spray (top and bottom plates). Spread half of the batter evenly over the bottom of the waffle maker, and close the top. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the waffles are as crisp as you like them. (Different waffle making equipment will cook at different rates, so please follow the instructions that come with your machine.) Repeat with remaining batter.

Serve hot, topped with maple syrup.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!

Banana Chocolate French Toast

My daughter started 1st grade in the beginning of September.  I made her Snickerdoodle Brownies as a special snack for after school.  But I also wanted to make her a special dinner to celebrate.  The kids love breakfast for dinner so I decided to make this recipe that I had torn out of Cooking Light a few months ago.  Of course they loved it!  Bananas and chocolate....for dinner?!!  I did opt not to add the powdered sugar to these. The recipe is from Cooking Light so it can't be that bad for you, right?!  I served these with some breakfast sausage and fruit.  Of course the kids ate everything on their plates!

Banana Chocolate French Toast
recipe from Cooking Light, May 2012

Ingredients:
1/4 cup 1% low-fat milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 (1 1/2-ounce) slices whole-grain bread
4 1/2 tablespoons hazelnut-chocolate spread (such as Nutella)
1 cup thinly sliced banana (about 8 ounces)
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a shallow dish.

2. Spread each of 3 bread slices with 1 1/2 tablespoons hazelnut-chocolate spread; arrange 1/3 cup banana slices over each bread slice. Top sandwiches with remaining 3 bread slices.

3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Working with 1 sandwich at a time, place into milk mixture, turning gently to coat both sides. Carefully place coated sandwiches into pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Cut each sandwich into 4 triangles. Sprinkle evenly with powdered sugar.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!

Meatless Monday: Baked Caramel French Toast

Here's another breakfast recipe.  Of course in our house, dishes like this are made for dinner and then any leftovers are eaten for breakfast the next day.  The kids are huge breakfast eaters and breakfast for dinner is an almost guaranteed hit with them.  The kids really like french toast but for some reason I don't make it very often.  I should because french toast casseroles like this one are made ahead of time and are supposed to be refrigerated overnight.  These make for great busy weeknight dinners since you take it out, put it in the oven to cook, and you're done.  The prep has been done the night before.  Unfortunately, this wasn't one of our favorite french toast dishes.  For some reason this had a weird texture to it which we didn't like.  The flavors were okay....the kids love bananas and they loved the sweet homemade caramel sauce.  It was maybe too mushy.....not sure but we liked it but didn't LOVE it, which we normally do with breakfast for dinner type dishes.

Baked Caramel French Toast
recipe from All You, May 2012

Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons dark rum, (optional - I did not use)
2 medium ripe bananas, sliced
1 loaf challah or white bread (about 20 oz.), cut or torn into 1/2-inch pieces
8 large eggs
2 cups half and half
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
 1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add brown sugar and rum, if desired; stir until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in bananas.

 2. Scatter half of bread in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Spoon caramel-banana mixture evenly over bread. Top with remaining bread. In a large bowl, whisk eggs until blended. Whisk in half and half, vanilla and salt. Pour over bread mixture, pressing down on bread to make sure it's all coated. Cover with foil and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Let baking dish stand at room temperature while the oven preheats. Remove foil and bake until puffed and golden and a thin knife inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up.