Sunrise Smoothie

I am very pleased with this, my very own creation. You have to try it. Delish!

Ingredients
1 cup orange juice - You can substitute other juices. I've tried apple and grape. Both worked fine, but orange is my favorite by far.
1 cup frozen strawberries - You can use fresh. I did, but found that the strawberry flavor was much stronger when they were frozen.
1 medium to large banana - This surprisingly adds a lot of the sweetness.
2 tbsp flaxseed. - This blends right in and is a great healthy boost for a morning drink.

Put orange juice in the blender.  You'll want to put your liquid in first, to help it blend smoothly.  Add other ingredients and blend until all chunks are gone.

I love this. My kids love this. I broke my blender a few weeks ago and have been dying ever since. I can't wait til the replacement part comes, because I want my smoothie!

Oatmeal

This is D.D. oatmeal. It looks a bit orange in the picture. It was not this orange.  It does have peanut butter in it (an option) so it's more of that color. I didn't love this, but Joseph ate it just fine. I'm not big on oatmeal however, so my opinion shouldn't weigh heavily here.

Ingredients
1 cup nonfat milk
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup canned pumpkin or sweet potato puree
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (optional) (We used it)
1/4 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice (I used cinnamon)
1 cup old fashioned oats
2 tsp natural peanut butter (optional) (I used this, but I might've used too much. I'm not sure. It just seemed really thick)
Dried fruit and nuts (optional)
Pure maple syrup, for serving (No way did my kid get syrup on his oatmeal. But I imagine it would taste good.)

In a small saucepan, combine the milk, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla, and spice. Bring to a gentle boil and stir in the oatmeal. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, until the oatmeal is soft and creamy. Stir in the peanut butter, if using. Spoon the oatmeal into bowls, sprinkle with dried fruit and nuts, if you like, and serve with warm maple syrup.

I might've cooked ours too long, because it was extremely thick. But I think the overall idea is great, and if you eat oatmeal somewhat regularly, it gives you some nice ideas for variations. Especially if you use old fashioned oats. They're pretty boring, so you have to find fun ways to spice them up.

Breakfast Ring

This didn't end up what I was hoping for, but don't get me wrong, this is delicious. I saw it and originally thought of monkey bread. At least that's what we called it. A pull-apart bread that's kinda cinnamony sweet. Anyhow, this is different than that. It's a bit sweeter, more of a dessert-breakfast. But way good.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cans refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing
1 box (4 serving size) vanilla pudding and pie filling mix (not instant) (I don't remember if mine was instant or not. Probably was.)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips (I left these out. I can't imagine how much sweeter it would be with them. If you're into that, totally add it!)

Heat oven to 375. Using 1 tbsp of the butter, generously butter 12-cup fluted tube cake pan. In small dish, microwave remaining butter until melted. Separate dough into 16 rolls. Cut each roll in half crosswise; place half the rolls in pan. Sprinkle with half of the pudding mix, and half of the brown sugar. Drizzle with half of the melted butter. Repeat with remaining roll pieces, pudding mix, brown sugar and melted butter. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Bake 24-28 minutes or until rolls are deep golden brown and dough appears done when slightly pulled apart. Cool in pan 2 minutes. Place serving platter upside down over pan; turn platter and pan over. Remove pan; cool 15 minutes. Microwave icing if needed to soften. Drizzle icing over ring. Cut into wedges, serve warm.

Like I said, this was good. It was more of a guilty pleasure than I thought it would be. I didn't know what purpose the pudding mix would serve, but it was really yummy. Had some great flavors, and a bit of a sweet crunch too. Definitely try it.

Rolled Eggs

I was a picky eater as a child (to which I'm sure my mom will agree) and I did not experience anything outside of scrambled eggs or rolled eggs until I was married. That includes omelettes or fried eggs. Rolled eggs were my favorite. Anyway, I don't know where my mom came up with this, but it's still one of my favorite ways to eat eggs. And now my kids like it too.

Ingredients
1 Egg
butter
Salt
Pepper
Parmesan cheese

Scramble egg in a bowl. While scrambling, heat small skillet over medium heat and add about 1 tbsp butter, or enough to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. When all melted, add the egg. Roll pan to ensure egg coats the bottom. Sprinkle egg with salt and pepper. When the bottom is cooked and the top isn’t too jiggly, flip over. Cook the other side until golden brown. Remove to plate, sprinkle inside with parmesan cheese and then fold. Serve while warm.

It's basically a plain omelette. For me, the butter and parmesan cheese add a lot of the flavor. Most of it, I guess, since there really isn't much else to it. The skillet I use is not the larger size, but a small one. I have one from my parents house. I don't know if most people have small ones. If you only have a large skillet, I'd scramble at least 2 eggs versus one. You don't want it too thick, like an omelette, but not as thin as a crepe.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Don't let the veggie in the name fool you. These are killer good pancakes. Sweet potatoes get a bad rap being veggies, but they are so sweet! They are one of my favorite purees to use in my foods.

Ingredients
1 cup water
1/2 cup sweet potato puree
1/4 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin spice (optional) (You could totally get away with any spice. Ours tasted like a dessert)
1 cup pancake mix
Nonstick cooking spray
1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
Pure maple syrup, for serving

In a large bowl, mix the water, sweet potato puree, and cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice (I used cinnamon), if using. Add the pancake mix and stir just to combine-the batter should be lumpy. Coat a griddle or large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the oil, and spoon the batter onto the griddle or pan, using 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. (I didn't use cooking spray or oil. We have an electric griddle and it doesn't need either.) Cook until bubbles form on top of the pancakes and the batter is set, 2 to 3 minutes. Then use a spatula to flip the pancakes and cook them until golden brown on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes.

We didn't have real maple syrup, but these were still ultra sweet. (In a good way, not in a gagging way.) I could even nix the cinnamon next time. They're almost like a Thanksgiving morning kinda breakfast. If you do that next year, give me credit! I think I'll definitely do that, now that I think about it. Anyway, this was a great recipe. Joseph devoured these (like he does with any pancake), and so did we!

Pancake Tip

This isn't anything revolutionary, but just something I'm beginning to do regularly that makes pancakes easier.

I believe I'm holding a 1/4 measuring cup here. It makes smaller pancakes, but very nice and consistently sized pancakes. They all cook evenly and it's just nice. If you prefer bigger pancakes, use a 1/3 measuring cup. (My griddle holds 4 pancakes this size, at a time. The picture is only far away enough to show 3. You could probably put up to 6 if you chanced putting them close together. That, however, would take pancake flipping skills that I do not yet aquire.)

Homemade Pancakes

This is my mom's wonderful recipe. I adore her homemade pancakes. This said, I altered the recipe (sly grin) with a few of my own special changes. The pancakes were still good. Not as great as hers, but considering the changes, I think they came out great. The flavor wasn't the same, which was the main difference, but it was still good.  I'll give you the original recipe first, then my changes.

Ingredients
3 eggs
3 cups milk
3 cups flour
½ cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/3 tbsp baking powder
3 tbsp butter, melted

Combine eggs and milk. Add dry ingredients, mix well. Add butter and mix. Bake on griddle sprayed with Pam.

Now, the root of my changes was in the sugar. I did some research on brown vs. white sugar out of curiosity. What I was able to find said that white sugar is just brown sugar that's been processed more. I believe the most raw and natural form is the dark sugar. It has a few different names. You can find them on Wikipedia pretty easily. Anyway, I was curious about substitution. I read one source which said you could substitute 1 for 1, making sure to pack the brown sugar. Someone else said it would alter the moisture because brown sugar naturally has more moisture. So I started out with 1 for 1, then ended up adding more flour. If I could do it again, I would limit the milk and go about it that way, instead of adding more flour in the end. This was the way it turned out for me:

Ingredients
3 eggs
3 cups milk
*4 cups flour
*½ cup brown sugar packed
1 tsp salt
1 1/3 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp flax seed
3 tbsp butter, melted

Yup, I added flax seed. You might even be able to get away with 2 tbsp without altering the flavor. Anyway, this is the edited, hopefully slightly healthier version. If doing it again, like I said, I would start with 2 cups milk and slowly add until it was the right texture. Easier than adding flour after. But I would still use 3 eggs. I don't Mom, what do you think?

Anyway, the original recipe is great, the altered one was pretty darn good as well.

Cinnamon Crescents aka Cinnamon Rolls

These are amazing. They have all the goodness of cinnamon rolls and crescent rolls in one tasty treat. I've tried to make modifications to make them a bit bigger, or do a double batch, but so far my efforts have been thwarted. However, I haven't given up and will get it right one day. For now, here's the basic recipe.

Ingredients
2 can crescent rolls
½ cup butter, softened
8 tsp granulated sugar
4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk or apple juice

Heat oven to 375. Separate dough into 4 rectangles ( 2 long rectangles per can). Firmly press perforations to seal. Spread 2 tbsp butter evenly over each dough rectangle. In small bowl, mix granulated sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly over rectangles. (I don't do this. I simply sprinkle generously with my cinnamon and sugar sprinkler, from the "cinnamon sugar tip".) Starting with short side of each rectangle, roll up. With serrated knife, cut each roll into 3 slices. Place slices in ungreased 8 or 9 inch square pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Drizzle icing over rolls. Serve warm.

I originally intended to make these on Halloween, but forgot. Nonetheless, in honor of Halloween being the night before, I made these orange. Sort of like little cinnamon and sugar jack o'lanterns.

 
So easy and yummy. Definitely worth it.

Blueberry muffins

I ended up making both my lemon zest recipes. These came out great. Straight from my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. Thanks Mom and Diane. Awesome wedding present!

Ingredients
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 beaten egg
¾ cup milk
¼ cup cooking oil
¾ cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 tsp finely shredded lemon peel

Grease muffin pan or insert paper bake cups.
In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture; set aside. In another bowl combine egg, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Add blueberries and lemon peel to batter.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

Breakfast Sausage

I found this one in a Pillsbury Cookbook my mom lent me. It's made with ground turkey, which is what drew me to it. I was originally suspiscious, just because it doesn't sound like it would work, but this is an awesome recipe. I didn't post it under kid friendly, because I don't know how most kids handle sausage, but when I made it this time, Joseph ate it without a single word (which is a very good thing.)

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp rubbed sage
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp vegetable oil
In a large bowl, combine the turkey, salt, sage, thyme, nutmeg and cayenne. Shape into eight patties, In a large skillet, cook patties in oil over medium heat for 5 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. Drain on paper towels. May also be made as ground sausage.

 

I made mine as ground sausage. It's a bit easier. But I do plan on doing this again, but making them into patties and pre-freezing. I think it should work. It'll be fun. If you do plan on making patties though, I would use wax paper to shape the patties. Ground turkey is especially sticky and your hands will be a mess if you just try to shape them with your bare hands. Good luck!

French Toast

My mom's famous french toast.

Ingredients (6 slices)

3 eggs (use 1 egg for every 2 slices of bread)
1tbsp milk
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp vanilla

Dip each piece of bread in the egg mixture, thoroughly covering both sides. Place on a warm grill or skillet. Cook thoroughly on both sides until golden brown or desired doneness.

For ours, I cut up one slice of bread into four pieces so they were like french toast sticks. I realized afterwards that I could've just cut up a piece of already cooked french toast in this manner, but it did help in soaking up the last of the egg mixture, because the pieces are small, versus trying to soak up the last bit with a full slice. This was of course served with our delicious homemade syrup.

Oatmeal

My favorite oatmeal is maple and brown sugar. However, we don't generally buy it,  but we have lots of plain oats. So I eventually came up with my own way to make it. I must say, it's not half bad!

Ingredients
1 3/4 cup water
1 cup quick oats
1/4 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1/8 tsp mapleine (like in homemade syrup)

If it's not seasoned enough for you, you can easily add more. I add all the seasoning after the oats are cooked according to the directions. These rations are for 2 servings (per the label on the oatmeal). Joseph really likes it. He puts raisins in his.

Pancakes with Homemade Syrup

Well, I wanted to do something simple, and it came out great! We made some Krusteaze pancakes (equivalent to Bisquick) with a few modifications. The first was flax seed! Oh yeah. I made a recipe using 2 cups of Krusteaze. For that amount, I added 2 tbsp of flax seed (This is always ground flax seed, remember. Otherwise it's not doing much for you.) I also added some butterscotch chips. I thought about adding some blueberries (which yes, is the obvious healthy choice) but the butterscotch chips are almost gone, so I thought I'd try and get rid of them. However, I ended up using way more that I thought. So, to quote my husband "You made them healthy just to make them bad for you." They were still great. The flax seed didn't change the taste whatsoever. The butterscotch chips did.

I also made some homemade syrup! Woohoo!

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1 cup water
2 tsp mapleine

Boil sugar and water until sugar dissolves. Add mapleine and heat through.
 
I like to make this occasionally and store it in a store syrup container. I rarely buy syrup. It's awesome. You just can't wait too long to use it or the syrup will crystalize and be really hard to get out of your container.