Mass meals

With my new job...did I tell you I got a new job?!?

I'm now working in the NICU at our local hospital and so far loving it!

Anyway, with this new job comes 12 hour shifts, which will soon be night shifts.  Therefore when I have a stretch of working days it is imperative that I plan ahead and make breakfasts, lunches and even dinners ahead of time.  

These muffins were a part of that prep.  Delicious, filling, healthy and quick to grab and go.  They worked perfectly!  Even if I didn't have one for breakfast I would bring one to work for a quick mid morning snack.  I adapted this recipe, subbing frozen mixed berries for blueberries (I always keep frozen fruit on hand for instances like this) and agave nectar for the sugar.  I also used white flour, which was naughty, but I didn't have any whole wheat.  They were pretty darn tasty! Next time I will try the whole wheat flour though. 

Try making these this weekend and you will have bfasts and snacks all week!  Or at least for a few days :)
MIXED BERRY MUFFINS
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 cups self rising cake flour (with baking soda and salt mixed in)
1/2 cup agave nectar/sugar or sugar substitute
1 cup frozen mixed berries (or more if you like)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1.5 tsp vanilla
2 T melted butter

Preheat oven to 325°. 

In a medium bowl, mix egg, melted butter, agave, vanilla and applesauce. Add flour and stir until just blended.  Gently fold in berries.

Pour batter into 12 lined or greased muffin tins and bake at 325° for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes. 

ENJOY!

It's SUMMER and I'm BACK!

Ok, ok so its not quite summer yet, but the weather has certainly been cooperating here in Montana.  Last night we grilled turkey burgers and this morning I made a classic summer dessert for breakfast, so you see, its SUMMER!  nanana boo boo to those of you in MN where it is still in the 40's/50's...

So here I am, again professing my love for you all and apologizing for my LOOOOOOOOONG absence.   Shall we just pretend as though you've all forgiven me and move on?  YES? OK GREAT!

Most of the recipes that I will be cooking this week (ok all of them) are going to be healthy ones, weight watchers to be exact...but don't you dare check out now, don't judge them until you try them.  I will let you know if they are worth trying (aka don't taste like cardboard like most diet food)!
If Logan eats them I can assure you that most of the population would find them delightful!
Case in point: breakfast this morning!

Strawberry rhubarb baked oatmeal...yes you heard right, dessert for breakfast, how can you go wrong?
Well the answer is you can't! It was delicious and the only thing I didn't like about it was that I had to eat only the recommended serving size :(
You have to try this!  Perfect for a weekend breakfast and then heat up leftovers during the week.
TASTY TASTY TASTY!
The recipe can be found here
ENJOY!

xoxo
Paige

Caramelized Onion Frittata

During the week breakfast is usually a piece of toast and a cup of coffee and every once in a while I have time to cook up an egg and throw it on top of the toast.  Last week, I decided that had to change, so I thought of breakfasts that would be just as good heated up and made them when I had time.  This was one of them and boy oh boy was it good.  I forgot how much I LOVE frittatas and how easy they are, I fell in love with them all over again with this recipe. Of course I added my twist here and there, but this recipe was overall very good, you will love this both the morning you make it and heated up as leftovers throughout the week!

ENJOY!

You can find the recipe here as well.

Caramelized Onion Frittata

1 white onion, thinly sliced rings

1 medium red pepper, diced

1 1/2 cups zucchini, diced into matchsticks

4 large eggs

4 large egg whites

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

2 tsp olive oil

salt and fresh pepper                                                                                                                                                                                         I did all egg whites because I actually had no eggs in the house and I also added about 1 tsp sriracha to cater to my spice loving husband.  Even being all egg whites this was actually really delicious and Logan loved it too!  Will be making a variation of this again soon!

Preheat your oven to 400.

Chop the vegetables as directed.

Over medium-low heat oil in a skillet.  Stir in onion and cook until slightly caramelized, about 10 minutes. 

Add peppers and cook 5 more minutes, then add zucchini. Season with salt and pepper and cook 3 more minutes stirring occasionally.

In a medium bowl whisk eggs, egg whites, parmesan, salt and pepper.

Add eggs to the skillet making sure eggs cover all the vegetables. When the edges begin to set (about 2 minutes) move skillet to oven. 

Cook about 10-15 minutes, or until frittata is completely cooked. Serve warm, cut into 4 pieces.

Logan Rating: ****

PumpKING cinnamon rolls

Are you all stuffed to the brim???

I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving and that you all gorged yourself until you were forced to unbutton your pants or change into your stretchy pants...or maybe you were like me and just wore your stretchy pant to dinner...tacky, or smart? You decide.

I wanted to share with you all first what I made for the morning of Thanksgiving, 

PumpKING Cinnamon Rolls.

That was a typo, but now I like the ring it has, King Pumpkin Cinnamon rolls...Pumpking, get it? 

So let me share with you the back story.

My  husband informed me of a family tradition that existed in his family growing up.  Every Thanksgiving his mom would make cinnamon rolls in the morning and they would eat them while watching the parade and really all morning as his mom made Thanksgiving dinner. 

Immediately I started to look for low fat (because I'm on a "diet", shocker) yet delicious cinnamon roll recipes online.  Pumpkin is a common addition to baking recipes to make it lower fat as it makes things moist and delicious while allowing you to add less butter and other fatty things. So I found this recipe and showed it to Logan, so excited to continue on the family tradition.

Which he replies "But, I kinda just like the ones from the tube".

My eyes bugged out of my head, steam came out of my ears, I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

I'm offering to make homemade cinnamon rolls and he wants Pillsbury tube rolls...mind blown!

Luckily I calmed down and decided to take this as a challenge, I can make him LOVE my cinnamon rolls even more than the tube ones, YES I CAN!

And, fast forward....I DID!  

Recipe here

So much easier than I thought it would be, and it was a really fun project!

ENJOY!

Rising dough.

Roll out dough.

Filling

Rolled...I had to use a little water to get the edges sealed. FYI

Sliced...I think these are just gorgeous!

P.S. Logan was amazed at how these were made, he assumed you  made each roll individually, haha!

Boy am I glad that isn't true!

Sifting powdered sugar for the icing.

FRESH OUT OF THE OVEN...YUMMMMMM

LOGAN RATING: *****

(SUCCESS!)

Skinny Pumpkin Muffins

Have I mentioned to you all that it is FALL!?!

And that I LOVE FALL!?!

I have? twenty times? OH, good, cause I DO!

I saw this recipe here and I knew immediately I had to make it.

Pumpkin is a great way to make things moist and delicious without adding tons of fat and oil.

These muffins definitely lived up to my expectations.  They were so incredibly moist and flavorful, they really didn't even need butter, which makes them even better for you!

You will be totally missing the mark if you don't make these, everyone with love them.  

A perfect taste of fall!

ENJOY!

*Click the link above for the recipe!*

Makes 12 muffins.

Logan Rating: *****

Perfect Breakfast Re-Visited

I promise I will have a real post for you soon.  Work was crazy the last 3 days, I haven't cooked a ton, but I am making dinner tonight and as promised will share the Herbed Chicken and balsamic potatoes with you all very soon!

In the mean time, I just couldn't help but share my breakfast with you.

Sometimes it is the simple things in life that make us happy.

That is definitely the case for me with this simple, yet always satisfying breakfast.

Egg in the hole, bird's nest, bull's eye eggs, toad in a hole (what?), frog in a hole (okay, really? come on), one eye'd monsters, nest eggs, ect.

Regardless of what you call it, it is one of my absolute favorite breakfasts around

The best part?  It takes about 2 min to make!

If you have never tried this, you're crazy!

Grab an egg and a piece of bread and do it NOW!

ENJOY!

I have blogged about this before, but check out the improvement in the photo's, almost hard to look back at the old ones.

Egg-In-The-Hole

One piece of bread

One egg

Butter

S&P

Butter your bread, then use a ring mold or simply the top of a glass to cut a circular hole in your piece of bread.  Heat a small skillet and place your holey piece of bread in the skillet.  Fill the hole with your egg.  Sprinkle with S&P.  Allow to cook until whites of the egg has just set and bread has browned, then flip and cook just long enough for the bread to brown.  You can cook longer if you don't like your egg runny, in which case you are probably weird.  Don't forget to fry up your little circle of bread also, I swear its the best part! 

Serves 1.

And I couldn't resist showcasing my absolute favorite part of every morning!

Mothers Day Breakfast

Happy Mothers Day to all of you wonderful Mothers out there.

I made myself a Mothers Day breakfast, even though Logan says my babies (Rylie the dog and Olive the cat) don't count as real babies.

Nonetheless I rewarded myself with a souffle pancake breakfast.

I saw these crazy looking things on the food network and I just had to try them.

I got the recipe here.  

It was fairly easy, but it is definitely a weekend morning breakfast.

If my mom were here I would have made her one too...make one for the special ladies in your life!  

ENJOY

Any Day Egg

Look at that tasty egg!

On this rainy Saturday morning I wanted to share with you my breakfast.

A baked egg!

Quite possibly the easiest breakfast around, besides pouring cereal and milk into a bowl and digging in.

Butter a ramekin, crack one egg into said ramekin, sprinkle with a little bit of milk, S&P and hot sauce.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for as long as it takes for the whites to set, but still leaving the yolk runny.

I've yet to perfect the time, but I think its somewhere between 12-15 min. 

Serve with toast and of course a steamy cup of joe.

ENJOY!

PK

Holiday Breakfast

Hello my faithful followers, are you still out there?

What a crazy last couple of weeks, one illness after another + busy work weeks = no blogging.

So sorry about that.

PLUS I absolutely hate the no light situation we have going on with this winter weather.

By the time I start cooking at night it is pitch black outside, meaning our already dark kitchen is even darker.

So while I have been cooking, I've not been taking pictures for ya'll.

Again I apologize. 

But I must say I think this will make up for it!

Last night we had a Hanukkah supper club. It was GREAT.

I made chocolate chip Challah, from this recipe.

It was a hit!

Then this morning, I decided to take the leftover Challah and make some totally Challah french toast.

Best decision I've made in quite some time.

It was delicious.

Therefore you should try it too...you could buy your Challah if you want to skip the work of bread making.

It really was quite easy, just a tad time consuming. 

French Toast, Challah!

1 loaf of Challah (any kind)

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1tsp vanilla

 

Cut your Challah into slices, don't make them too thick, about 1/2 in is perfect.  I sliced the first ones a tad too thick.

Whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla on a plate.

Dip each piece of bread on both sides into the egg wash.  Let excess drip off.

Place in a preheated non stick skillet.  Cook about 1 min on each side or until golden brown.

ENJOY!

Serves 2.