A Very Cinnamony Breakfast Bake

    I love a good breakfast bake.  Truthfully, I love anything that I can throw together in five minutes.  This breakfast bake beats all breakfast bakes in that it got me through one of those mornings when I woke up tired and hungry with a hungry, growling family chomping at my heels to make breakfast. All it took was some yummy cinnamon bread from Great Harvest, a quick whisk of egg, milk, vanilla and cinnamon, and 20 minutes in the oven.  What's easier than that?  And how can you ever go wrong with anything cinnamon?

This may not be the sexiest looking breakfast bake, but I promise you, it's delicious.

Cinnamon Bread Breakfast Bake

You'll need:

• 1/2 loaf of cinnamon bread (I used Great Harvest Multigrain Cinnamon Crunch)
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups milk (I used fat-free)
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 large egg

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Place the sliced cinnamon bread in a 2 1/2 quart corningware dish or baking pan. (Thick sliced bread is generally preferable, but I only had thin sliced on hand.  I think that worked out better since I didn't have time to let it settle in the mixture for very long.)
• Whisk the vanilla, egg, milk, and cinnamon in a bowl. 
• Pour the mixture over the bread. (Try to pour it evenly over all of the bread.)
• If you have the time, let this sit for 5-10 minutes so that the liquid seeps into the bread.  (If you don't have time, don't worry, it'll still be delicious!)
• Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
• **For an extra indulgence, sprinkle 3Tb raw sugar, and 2 tsp cinnamon on top of the breakfast bake for 5 minutes.  It will add a bit of extra sweetness and crunch to the bake.
• Enjoy!

Pancakes!

My little one LOVES pancakes.  She also loves helping me make this delicious, fool-proof pancake mix (Nigella inspired of course) that we always have on hand.  It's a great stand-by for when you're too tired to think of something exciting to make, or when you're trying to get your peanut to eat when they've been on a hunger strike.  Plus, it really does make some of the best darn pancakes you'll ever, ever have.

Pancake Mix

You'll need:

• 4 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sugar

Instructions:

Mix all of the above ingredients, and store in a jar or air tight container.

To make the pancakes:

You'll need:

• 1 cup pancake mix
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk (it doesn't matter if it's skim, whole, or low-fat)
• 1 large egg

Instructions:

• In a large bowl, combine and whisk ingredients.
• Heat a skillet to medium heat.
• Spray with cooking spray.
• Using a small ladel, ladel a few sponfuls onto the skillet.  Try to keep the ladeled pancake batter from touching.  (It will taste fine, it just won't be as pretty)
• When you see bubbles forming on the pancake, it's time to flip!
• The pancake will rise a bit from the skillet when it's done.  Keep in mind that it's already mostly cooked when you're flipping it, so you shouldn't need to leave it much longer than a minute. 

Serve and enjoy!

**This recipe is also great if you substitute the vanilla extract with lemon or orange extract, and if you like them, add a few poppy seeds!

Springy French Toast

Like many little girls, my daughter loves butterflies!  Since it's officially spring, I thought it would be fun to break out the cookie cutters, and make her some fluttering little french toasts.  I used my vanilla french toast recipe. 

While one side of the french toast cooked, I sprinkled on some pink organic sprinkles (you can use whatever color or type of crystalized sprinkles you'd like), then flipped it over and let them melt into the french toast while the french toast cooked on the opposite side.

When the french toast was done, I used to metal cookie cutters to cut the butterfly shapes out of the cooked french toast. This recipe is pretty sweet, so you really don't need to use syrup or powdered sugar. (Let's face it, this is a special dessert breakfast- not something you should be feeding your adorable little monkey everyday!)

Enjoy!  And be sure to try this with different colors, cookie cutters, or even different textured sprinkles!  When I nannied, I made french toast trucks using blue and green sprinkles, and they came out awesome!

Bangers and Mash!

I absolutely love a really good dish of bangers and mash.  Usually, I'll have it for dinner, but when I found myself without eggs, I had to think of what would hold Kyle over until dinnertime.  This is a pretty heavy meal, so when you make this, be ready to eat!

Bangers and Mash

You'll need:

• (3) Small Yukon Gold potatoes
• (2) Bangers (I got them from the meat counter at Whole Foods)
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 tsp corn starch
• Salt and pepper
• Rosemary and thyme (about 1 sprig each)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder

Instructions:

Mashed Potatoes:

• Boil water in a medium saucepan.
• Dice potatoes. 
• Once water is boiling, add the potatoes.  Boil until fork tender.
• When the potatoes are fork tender, add the butter.  Salt and pepper to taste.
• Mash the potatoes (using a blender, mixer, or immersion blender.)

Bangers:

• Set your skillet to medium heat.
• Cook on each side for about four minutes per side.  (You want each side a nice, golden brown.)
• When fully cooked, set aside. 
• Save all drippings.

Gravy:

• Using the skillet that you used for the sausage, raise the heat to medium-high heat.  Pour in the beef stock.
• Chop and add the herbs.
• Add the garlic and onion powder.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Mix cornstarch and water (about a tsp.) in a cup, and whisk into the boiling herb broth.
• Turn off the heat.
• Whisk until the proper consistency. (If it gets too thick, add a bit of water to thin it out a bit.)

To Serve:

• Scoop one serving of potatoes onto each plate.
• Slice the sausage and place on top of each plate of potatoes.
• Add gravy.
• Serve!

This was also really delicious when I reheated my other half of it for lunch with some corn.  Yum!

Monday, I'll be sharing another deliciously easy way to make roasted chicken- and what to do with some of the leftovers!  Have a great weekend!

Happiness and Breakfast Sandwiches.

The days are long, but the years are short.

I just finished reading Gretchen Rubin's "Happiness Project."  I figured that I'd enjoy it since I enjoy her blog so much, that I should give the book a go.

How often have you thought about happiness?  Unhappiness?  What makes you happy?

Almost every morning since Laela was born, I have woken up our household with the good morning song.  It's silly, the lyrics often change, but it's our little ritual that gets our day started right (even if we're all grumbalinas, are sick, and in need of a BIG coffee.)  It usually gets a giggle or a twirl out of our daughter, and Kyle usually gets a little smile on his face before he grudgingly gets out of bed.  We sing songs and snuggle- how could the start to the day get any better than that?

I love my family.  It makes me happier than anything on the planet.  We just had our two year wedding anniversary, and since we were away for the weekend looking for an apartment in Greenville, we spent the day as a family- and it was perfect.

My point with all this happiness talk, is that life is busy.  There's a lot of hustle and bustle and insanity packed into every day- and it's not going anywhere- so appreciate that each day has these really special, remarkable moments that you'll miss if you don't take the ten seconds to appreciate them.

Ironically, this week's subject of focus on Gretchen's blog is "set aside a specific time for something that's important to you."  I almost never do that (which is why my blog has gone a bit to the wayside lately.)  I, like a lot of other parents, are busy focusing on running a household, taking care of a little one, etc.

That said, here's a super fast, super delicious, easy (and easy going) breakfast:

Breakfast Sandwich:
makes 1 sandwich
takes about 5 min.

You'll need:

• 1 egg (2 if you're super hungry)
• 1 big slice of tomato
• 1 slice cheese (I used American, Kyle prefers cheddar)
• Whole wheat English muffin
• Salt and Pepper
• Cooking spray

Directions:

• Heat your skillet to medium heat.
• Spray with cooking spray.
• Put English muffin in the toaster (I like mine super crispy, but make it however you like it)
• Crack egg(s) into skillet.
• Depending on how runny you want your egg, cook it for about 2 minutes on one side and 1 minute on the other (this should make a reasonably runny egg without any clear egg white).  Cook longer if you want a firmer yolk.
• Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on the egg if desired.
• You can do the cheese 2 ways.  You can just slap the piece of cheese on there while the egg finishes cooking on the raw side, or you can wait and put it on the egg after the egg has been put on the english muffin.
• After your egg and cheese are on the muffin, slice a piece of tomato, put it on the egg, close up the sandwich, and chow down!

*optional additions:

• I LOVE hot sauce, so instead of salt and pepper, I dump a lot of hot sauce on my sandwich.
• Kyle really likes chipolte hot sauce on his- with NO tomato, and extra bacon, ham, or whatever meat we have on hand.
• I've made this with salsa, chorizo and avocado.  Delicious!
• Laela likes hers with lots of ketchup.
• For make ahead meat, you can make your bacon/sausage/ham/whatever blows your hair back days before and just reheat it in the skillet with the egg(s) or in the microwave.

Challah French Toast Breakfast Bake

With Easter around the corner, I thought I'd share one of my yummy Sunday brunch concoctions. I had a loaf of challah bread that I'd pretty much forgotten about, and Ky was in the mood for french toast, so I decided to whip together a caramel-sauced, challah bread breakfast bake.

You can make this the night before if you want to just wake up and pop it in the oven.

Challah French Toast Breakfast Bake with Caramel Sauce

serves 5-6 (or 4 ridiculously hungry people)

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf challah bread (I prefer the kind without raisins, but get whatever you like.)
• 2 cups milk (I used skim, but you can use whatever you like)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 2 Tb sugar
• 4Tb sugar (set aside for carmel sauce.)

Directions:

• Place a small saucepan on medium-low heat.
• Put the 4Tb of sugar in the small saucepan with 3Tb water.
• Allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until golden.
• Once golden, turn off heat. (by the time the caramel is done, the prep for the challah should be done and it should be ready to be poured on.)
• Preheat your oven to 350- degrees
• Slice the challah bread into thick slices.
• Place in a 9x11 or 9x13 rectangular cake pan.
• Whisk all of the ingredients together and pour over the bread. 
• If you aren't making it the night before, allow the mixture to soak into the bread for at least ten minutes.
• Pour the caramel sauce onto the bread.  It may get hard.  Don't worry about that, it'll be yummy and gooey when you take it out of the oven.
• Put the bake in the oven and cook for twenty minutes, or until your challah is a nice golden brown (and your house smells like heaven!) *trust your nose.  If it smells done, it usually is.

As I've said before, holidays are about spending time with your family- not about losing your mind trying to prepare something amazing, while missing out on family time.  Enjoy your holiday!  (and impress them with this super easy meal at the same time!)

*I don't think this is a bacon necessary meal.  HOWEVER, some might.  If you do feel that way, you can bake the bacon at the same time as the bake, and it will all come out ready at about the same time (depending on how you like your bacon).  Cooking both in the oven at the same time will save you time and clean up.

A Super Easy Breakfast Bake

I don't know if I've ever made it clear just how much I love breakfast.  It's an absolute favorite in my house for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and everything in between!  After years of loathing eggs, it feels totally new and exciting to me to make the simplest of things with them...especially this deliciously easy egg, bread and cheesy gooey goodness.

Ingredients:

• (1/2) loaf of French bread (leftover Italian bread would be fine too)
• (1 1/2) cups of shredded Cheddar cheese
• (6-12) eggs (depending on your number of guests, I usually do 2 to 3 eggs per person, depending on what type's of eaters you're baking this for)
• (6-12 Tablespoons) milk (about 1Tb of milk per egg.  It's not an exact science; you really don't need to bust out the measuring spoons, just guestimate and I can assure you, the bake will turn out great.
• salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Slice your bread.
• Place the sliced bread in your cake pan. (I used a 13x9 pan).
• Whisk your eggs, milk, salt, and pepper in a bowl until well beaten.
• Pour the mixture into the pan over the bread.  Make sure it's spread throughout the pan.
• Place in the hot oven for 15 minutes, or until the bake looks golden and firm. 
• Sprinkle the cheese over the bake and cook for 5 more minutes.  I prefer my bread and cheese a little gooey and crunchy, so I tend to leave it in a few minutes longer.  If you don't like your bread or cheese that dark, take it out when it's just melted.
• Enjoy!

This is also great to make ahead of time.  You can mix the eggs, add them to the bread in the pan, wrap it up and refrigerate until you're ready to bake the next morning.  Just let the pan sit out for ten to fifteen minutes before you bake it, so that it doesn't need extra time in the oven.

Donut French Toast

This morning, my little brother's holiday leave ended.  Farewells are never easy, but they're especially difficult when it's a loved one in the military leaving.  Even those with the safest jobs are putting themselves at risk, and I know that even though my brother minimizes his job, he's a part of a really important machine- his part matter as much as the next; his risk is as big as the next.

Since Navy food is notoriously terrible, I knew he'd be coming home wanting all his favorites (ginger cookies, good ol' eggs and bacon, hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken, etc. etc.).  I made sure we were fully stocked and ready to stuff him to the gills while he was home and send him back with plenty of goodies.  One of his favorites are donuts, so I decided to try Nigella Lawson's donut french toast recipe.  It's really simple, and my husband, his best friend Darin, and my brother swooned over it.

Ingredients

•  (2) eggs

•  (1/2) cup full fat milk

•  (4) teaspoons vanilla extract

•  (4) slices from a small white loaf or 2 slices from a large white loaf, each large slice cut in half
•  (1) ounce butter, plus a drop flavourless oil, for frying
•  (1/4) cup sugar

Directions

• Beat the eggs with the milk and vanilla in a wide shallow bowl.
• Soak the bread halves in the eggy mixture for 5 minutes a side.
• Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan/skillet, fry the egg-soaked bread until golden and scorched in parts on both sides.
• Put the sugar onto a plate and then dredge the cooked bread until coated like a sugared doughnut

Enjoy!