Egg and Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Ingredients:
-1 Tbs olive oil
-1/2 yellow onion, diced
-1/2 c chopped kale
-Optional: 1 c breakfast sausage, cooked and diced or crumbled
-2 c cooked spaghetti squash strands (cooled to room temp)
-4 eggs, beaten
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 350 and coat 9 x 9 casserole dish with oil.
2.  Saute onions in olive oil.  Remove from heat and toss kale to wilt.  Add in cooked sausage and stir to combine.
3.  Place mixture into mixing bowl and add cooked squash, beaten eggs, salt, and pepper.  Mix until all are combined.
4.  Transfer mixture into casserole dish.  Bake 35-40 minutes  until top is golden and center is firm.  Serve warm.

Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies

I've been wanting for awhile to make some fun, healthy, wholw-food grab-and-go breakfast and snacks.  This one is better served warm, but is sooooo delicious!  Folks, around here we have a couple of these and some yogurt and call it lunch :)

Ingredients:
-1 c unsweetened applesauce
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 tsp cinnamon (or more, to taste)
-1 1/2 c old fashioned oats, uncooked*
-2 ripe bananas, mashed or pulsed in the processor
-1/3 c raisins
-1/4 c chopped walnuts, toasted or not

1.  Preheat oven to 350.
2.  Mix vanilla and cinnamon into the applesauce.
3.  Blend applesauce mixture with all other ingredients and let sit for 10 minutes.
4.  Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet and flatten cookies into rounds.
5.  Bake 30-35 minutes, until golden and done.
6.  Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes.  Serve warm.
7.  Once completely cooled, store in an air-tight container.  I suggest microwaving them for a couple seconds when you serve them, but it's not necessary.


*I pulse these in the food processor to give them a finer texture.

Credit: Pinterest via Watching What I Eat

Rachel's Raspberry White Chocolate Scones

Ingredients:
-2 c flour (or1 c whole wheat, 1 c white flour)
-1 - 1 1/4 c heavy cream (less if berries are really juicy, like 3/4 to 1 cup)
-1/3 c sugar
-1 tbs baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 tbs unsalted butter, melted (regular butter works too)
-3/4 c frozen (don't thaw) or fresh raspberries or blackberries or
blueberries (break rasberries/blackberries into smaller pieces if you
want)
-1/2 c white or dark chocolate chips
-Coarse sugar to sprinkle on top

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. Pour in cream*, berries, and chocolate chips. Barely mix gently until
dough just comes together. (add a little more flour or cream if needed
to make the dough stick together barely, but not too sticky, it should
all barely stick into one ball. Do not over-mix!!!
4. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and pat tightly into a 8"
(across) x 1 1/2" thick round circle. For mini schones (like I made you), make 2 4" inch circles.
5. Brush with the melted butter, sprinkle with coarse sugar (sugar in the
raw is pretty) and then cut into 8 triangles like a pizza or pie
6. Place 1" apart on parchment lined baking sheet or baking stone.  Bake for 13-18 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

* if berries are really juicy, put a little less cream in the recipe.
If recipe doesn't hold together, add more cream.
I like adding berries while frozen because they don't turn the dough
pink, and hold together nicely.

Pumpkin Bread

A total treat, but great for entertaining this time of year!

Ingredients:
3 c sugar
1 c vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 can (15oz) pumpkin
3 1/2 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp nutmeg
2/3 c water

Preheat oven to 350
1.  Mix sugar, eggs, and oil together.
2.  Add pumpkin.
3.  Add remaining dry ingredients and water.
4.  Pour into 2  greased loaf pans or 1 loaf pan and 12 muffin cups.
5.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour (25-30 minutes for muffins).

Summertime Oatmeal

A friend served this up for breakfast this weekend and I fell in love!  What a great summertime alternative to the overnight oatmeal that I make so often.  I've seen recipes similar to this in the past, and apparently it is commonly known as Swiss Oatmeal or Muesli.  I never, never, NEVER would have thought I would be a fan of cold oatmeal, but low and behold, it was delicious!  I'll be making this often, how about you?

Summertime Oatmeal

Ingredients: (for 1 serving, multiply as needed)
1/2 c. of Old Fashioned oats
water
honey or agave (omit if using flavored or sweetened yogurt)
2 spoonfuls of plain yogurt



Possible mix-ins:
Craisins
Currants or Raisins
Banana diced
Apple diced
Nuts or seeds
Peanut or almond butter
Get creative, the list goes on . ..

1. The night before, place oats in a bowl. Cover oats just below the top with water. Refrigerate overnight.
2. In the morning, drain the water if necessary.
3. Combine ingredients into the oats—yogurt, honey/agave, and mix-ins of your choosing. Stir.
4. Eat and fall in love.

Credit:  The Faux Martha blog

Make-It-Yourself Pancake Mix

We make a lot of pancakes around here.  Not a weekend goes by without them.  I loathe nothing more than buying packaged pancake mix.  Just seems like something I should be putting together myself.  Alas, here is the recipe I'm test driving, compliments of Pinterest, of course.  What isn't? 

That container?  It is the container that the Kirkland Organic Animal Crackers from Costco come in and it holds a double batch of the recipe listed below :)

Below is the recipe for the mix and directions for making either pancakes or waffles out of said mix.  Good morning to you!

Perfect Pancake Mix
Ingredients :
6 C. Unbleached flour
2 C. Whole wheat pastry flour
2 C. Nonfat dry milk powder (or buttermilk powder)
1/2 C. sugar
3 Tbsp. baking powder
1 1/2 Tbsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt

In a large bowl, whisk all ingredients together.  Store in large airtight container.


To Make Pancakes
Ingredients:
2 C. perfect pancake mix
1 1/2 C. water (or to desired consistency)
1 egg
2 Tbsp. oil

In a medium bowl, combine egg, oil and water.  Whisk in pancake mix.  Let stand 2 minutes.  Add additional water, if desired.  Cook on preheated griddle or pan.


To Make Waffles
Ingredients:
2 1/2 C. Perfect Pancake Mix
2 C. water
3 eggs, separated
1/4 C. veg. oil

Combine pancake mix, water, egg yolks and oil in large bowl.  In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff.  Gently fold egg whites into batter.  Bake in preheated waffle iron.

Credit: Hearts, Hands, Home Blog, via Pinterest

Puree Pancakes

This is an awesome pancakes-from-scratch recipe compliments of a VERY experienced mom and stolen from my trusty Moms Group Cookbook. The original recipe calls for pumpkin puree, but the recipe works great with all kinds of options. I've tried adding my son's babyfood which includes any combination of apple, squash, sweet potatoes, spinach, and banana. I've also tried using just mashed up bananas and that worked great, too!!

Important Note: This recipe makes a LARGE batch, 20-30 pancakes depending on how big you make them. I make the whole batch and freeze the extra for quick, weekday breakfasts.

Puree Pancakes

Wet Ingredients:
-2 c puree
-4 c milk
-1/4 c honey
-1/4 c oil (coconut, olive or butter works, too)
-2 eggs

Dry Ingredients:
-4 c whole wheat flour
-1 Tbs baking powder
-1 Tbs cinnamon
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp salt
-1 c chocolate chips (optional)

1. Mix wet ingredients together in a mixer. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
2. Add dry ingredients to wet, stirring slowly.
3. Heat griddle to 350. Pour batter and "bake" until bubbles start to form, then flip and "bake" until cooked through.

Basic French Toast

I've tried so many french toast recipes, including this one for Baked French Toast Cups, but have never been able to master a simple, basic french toast that wasn't too soggy or just plain bland. This recipe is super simple, but it turned out really good. I honestly think the type of bread made the biggest difference. I usually try to make it with whole wheat bread in an effort to boost the nutrient value and quite frankly, that just doesn't cut. Dense white bread is what is needed!

Basic French Toast

Ingredients:
-1/4 c flour
-1 c milk (or eggnog if you want to make it festive or use up leftovers!)
-pinch of salt
-3 eggs
-cinnamon to taste
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 Tbs white sugar
-sliced dense white bread, like potato or sourdough

1. Put flour in a large bowl. Whisk in milk, then salt, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla and sugar until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium heat.
3. Soak bread slices in mixtures until saturated. Cook bread on each side until golden brown.

Serving suggestions: butter, agave, maple syrup, fresh fruit, more cinnamon, baked apples or pears, the list goes on and on and on. . .

Apple Cereal

My awesome Mom's group meets weekly and each week they choose a theme for the refreshments and ask for volunteers to provide them. Always up for a challenge in the kitchen, I signed up for the "raw foods" week. Most of the appealing raw food recipes I found involved dehydrating something at some point. Now that was a little more of a challenge than I was up for this week. Then, happily, I stumbled upon this recipe. It was an interesting combination of ingredients and everyone seemed to enjoy it. While I'm pretty sure I'll never be on an entirely raw food diet (oh, how I LOVE my cooked food, especially in the winter!), this was fun and something I would definitely make again.

Fair warning, I'm not a fan of specifying ingredient quantities in something like this where you can really adjust according to your own tastes, so below is my best guess of what I included but you should feel free to adjust according to your own taste.

Apple Cereal (for a single serving)

Ingredients:
-1 apple, finely chopped
-1 banana, small dice
-1 palm full of almonds, chopped
-1 pinch of coconut
-splash of almond milk
-drizzle of honey
-sprinkle of cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in large bowl and serve immediately (unless you don't mind the appearance of browned apples and bananas!).

Zucchini Bread

This is a fun alternative to traditional zucchini bread. It's slightly on the healthier side. It also freezes well; I made it, froze it for a month and then thawed it for a special occasion and it was great! Enjoy!

Zucchini Bread

Dry ingredients:
• 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients:
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1/3 cup buttermilk (or regular milk with a splash of vinegar)
• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups finely grated zucchini
• semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Oil a 9×4 inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper. Line a 6-cup muffin tin with papers OR oil a mini loaf pan.
2. In a bowl, sift together dry ingredients and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy; beat in eggs, yogurt, buttermilk, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Combine well. Stir in grated zucchini and chopped chocolate.
4. Fold flour mixture into the wet ingredients and stir until combined.
5. Spoon batter into 6 muffin cups (or mini loaf pan) and pour the rest into the 9×4 loaf pan. Bake for approximately 50 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes in the pan. Loosen the sides and remove from pan. Cool loaf completely before cutting.

Fig Spread

Sorry, I don't have a picture of this one. We got figs in our CSA this week and I know a lot of people like to eat them straight up, but I've never enjoyed them that way. They also needed to be used ASAP so I made this spread and it was quite tasty. Had it on some toast tonight and looking forward to slathering it on my pancakes in the morning!

Fig Spread

Ingredients:

-20 fresh figs, stems removed.
-1/4 c water
-1/4 c lemon juice
-1 tsp brown sugar
-1/4 tsp vanilla

Put all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth. Refrigerate and serve.

Overnight Oatmeal

Our oldest started all-day kindergarten this week and with the advent of this new season in our lives, one of the things I am most concerned about is getting good "fuel food" in my daughter to help her through her new, very hectic and stimulating day. I found a baked oatmeal recipe that sounded intriguing and then tweaked it to my liking. We had it this morning and it was a hit! I halved the recipe listed below to make enough to feed me and my two kiddos but feel free to adjust as it works for your family. I'm not sure leftovers of this would be any good.

Over Night Oatmeal

Ingredients:
-2 eggs
-1/4 cup maple syrup, honey, or agave
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1/4 c. salted butter, melted
-1/2 c. applesauce
-fresh or frozen fruit of your choosing, grated or finely chopped
-1 1/4 c milk
-3 c. Bob's Red Mill Rolled Oats

The Night Before...
1. Butter a 2 quart baking dish.
2. Mix all ingredients except the oats in a large bowl.
3. Fold in oats and combine well.
4. Pour mixture into buttered dish and pat in evenly.
5. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic directly on top of the mixture.
6. Refrigerate overnight.

The Next Morning...
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Bake for 30-35 minutes until oatmeal is set and browned on top.
3. Serve hot with a splash of milk and any other favorite oatmeal mix ins (brown sugar, nuts, dried fruit, etc.)

Blueberry Banana Muffins

And here's #2 . . .


Blueberry Banana Muffins

Ingredients:
-2 c. flour
-1/4 c. ground flax seed
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 tsp cinnamon
-2 bananas, mashed
-1/2 an avocado, ripened and mashed
-1 egg
-1 tsp vanilla (omit if using vanilla yogurt)
-1/2 c. honey
-1/2 c. vanilla or plain yogurt
-1 c. blueberries
-1 c. walnuts*

Combine all ingredients in a mixer. Fill muffin tin (greased if not using paper cups) 2/3 full. Bake at 325 for 22-25 minutes.

*I fully intended to include walnuts in these muffins, even had them sitting out on the counter. But the muffins were in the oven when I realized I had forgotten them :(

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

We came home from a long weekend to a bunch of over-ripe bananas. My response - time to bake! So here you go, the first of two banana muffin recipes. (Luckily, I'm hosting a playdate tomorrow morning so I won't have to be tempted to eat them all myself!)

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:
-1 3/4 c. flour
-1/2 c. honey
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 egg
-1/2 c. vegetable oil
-1/2 c. vanilla or plain yogurt
-1 tsp vanilla extract (omit if using vanilla yogurt)
-1 c. mashed bananas
-3/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips
-1/2 c. peanut butter

Combine all ingredients in a mixer. Fill muffin tin (greased if not using paper cups) 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 22-25 minutes.

Baked French Toast Cups

My parents were in town visiting this weekend and I scored a great deal on some yummy organic berries at Costco so I decided it was a prime opportunity to try out a new french toast recipe. What I like best about it is the fun presentation of individual serving sizes.

Baked French Toast Cups

Ingredients:
-6 eggs
-1 1/2 c. milk
-6 Tbs. maple syrup
-1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
-1 tsp. cinnamon
-pinch of salt
-4 c. cubed bread
-2 Tbs. melted butter
-a bit of sugar

1. Whisk eggs, milk, syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt together.
2. Toss bread with melted butter, then divide between muffin cups.
3. Pour egg mixture over bread; let sit while you preheat the oven.
4. Preheat oven to 350.
5. Sprinkle each cup with sugar.
6. Bake for 20-40 minutes (depending on how big your muffin cups are).

Serve with berries and maple syrup.

Just a thought: I am definitely going to try this with cut up apples in this fall - yummo!

Breakfast for Dinner

Today was another hectic day for us, so another easy stand by came to the table. This one is a big hit at my house. Both my hubby and my daughter love "breakfast night". Tonight ours included:

-Blueberry Pancakes: We substitute organic blue agave for syrup. It's low on the glycemic index and therefore doesn't cause that abrupt spike in blood sugar levels. It looks just like syrup and tastes pretty sweet so the kids aren't usually thrown by the switch up. Plus, it's another great product available at Costco (I swear, they are not paying me to say this!!).

-Chicken Sausages: We had Amy's apple & gouda sausages tonight. Trader Joe's also carries a great variety of flavored chicken sausages.

-Eggs: Good 'ol scrambled eggs. Always a winner and great source for protein!

I'll be signing off for a couple of days. My parents are in town tomorrow to watch the kids for the weekend while my hubby and I are off for our first time away since #2 came along. See you next week and have a great weekend!

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