Baked Oatmeal

My sweet Cameron loves oatmeal for breakfast in all forms.  This is a recipe I have been making since 2003. My kids love it. I love that it has 7 grams of protein, 48.8g carbohydrates (not a favorite for carb watchers), and has 3.4 g fiber per serving.  Serving this to my children makes me feel like I am giving them something that it will stay with them unlike cold cereal when I send them off to school .  It is good in the winter as a warm welcome on a cold morning to start of the day.  It can be made ahead, covered in the fridge, and simply reheat as needed throughout the week.  Mine never last longer than one day; two if I am lucky!


BAKED OATMEAL

Preheat oven to 375.
Spray your 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Combine in a medium bowl.
4 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
3/4 -1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup raisins (optional)
2 Tablespoon pecans
3 cups milk

Combine in a separate bowl
1/2 cup applesauce
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 large egg, beaten
cooking spray


Add the milk mixture to the oat mixture; stir well.  Pour oat mixture into prepared baking dish. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown and the center of the oatmeal looks set.
Yields 10 servings (serving size 2/3 cups)

*If you half the recipe use a 8 x 8 pan.

1-Minute Ham and Egg Breakfast Bowls

My kids love breakfast foods and they also love to help in the kitchen from time to time.  Breakfast is one of those great learn to cook beginner foods for kids to learn to cook.  I clipped this recipe out of a magazine awhile back-it was an advertisement for the www.incredibleEgg.org.

These were quick simple.  I loved the shape of them when made in a ramekin they slip right out and would make the perfect english muffin egg sandwich.

1 Think slice of deli hame (1 oz)
1 egg, beaten
Shredded Cheese

Line the bottom of the 8 oz ramekin or custard cup with ham slices, folding ham is necessary.  Pour egg over ham.

Microwave on high for 30 seconds until egg is almost set, cook 15 to 30 seconds longer if needed.

Top with cheese. Serve immediately

Scrambled Egg, Tomato, and Avocado Sandwiches

I made this for Jack's breakfast-in-bed Father's Day. It got a 5 Star rating from Jack and the kids. It has become a breakfast favorite for everyday as well as special occasions; we also love it for dinner.  We love the mayonnaise on other sandwiches too. (Thank you emeals.com for another great favorite!)

I love to use my English muffin bread from Bountiful Baskets for this sandwich too! This is a classic that you are bound to fall in love with if you love eggs for breakfast.

Mayonnaise spread:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (or more to taste our favorite is Sriracha)
1/2 teaspoon season salt

Eggs:
4 large eggs, beaten
8 slices of your favorite bread toasted
1 avocado sliced
1 tomato sliced

Spread mayo mixture on your toast, top with eggs, tomatoes, and avocado if desired. ENJOY!

Serve with a fruit salad side

1 cup sliced strawberries
1 cup halved seedless grapes
1/4 cup blueberries
1 banana, sliced
2 Tablespoons sugar

Toss fruits together and serve.

Coconut Syrup

My kids love coconut syrup (The IHOP copycat recipe we have) and are always requesting it. I have tried to make it without buttermilk and butter using milk, lemon juice, and margarine. It is good but just not the same. So today I made a different version after looking at some recipes that said theirs tasted like what is served in Hawaii. Seeing that I have never been to Hawaii I wouldn't know but we liked this new recipe too. I personally could do without the shredded coconut in it but Cameron really liked it. The plus side to this recipe for me is that it is a pantry recipe. I can store all the needed items or have them already in my food storage items, so it can be made at anytime.

Jill's Pantry Coconut Syrup

1 (13.5 oz) can Coconut Milk, unsweetened

2 Tablespoons Corn Starch

2 1/2 cups White Sugar (Now you know why the kids love it!)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Whisk together the coconut milk and cornstarch in a saucepan until the cornstarch is dissolved. Pour in the sugar, water, and coconut; bring to boil, stirring continually. As soon as the mixture comes to a roiling boil, remove from heat. Allow to cool before serving.

Cracked Wheat Blender Pancakes

I took this recipe from Jamie Cook's It Up blog. I was excited to try them because I don't have a grinder to use up all our wheat and it was exciting to think I could be resourceful with our supple. This recipe was enjoyed for dinner. I was also excited that my family liked them. It will be great to be able to make a comfort food that kids will eat if we are ever have to survive on our food storage. It's Healthy too. If you are not used to eating 100% whole grain ease into it so you don't end up with a tummy ache!

Cracked Wheat Blender Pancakes

Yield: 16 pancakes

1 C milk (I use 1%)

1 1/3 C wheat, whole kernels

2 eggs

1 T sugar

1/4 t salt

2 T canola oil

1 t baking soda

2 t baking powder

1. Pour milk and wheat into your blender. Liquefy for 4 minutes. Be sure you have a strong blender with a powerful motor.

2. While still mixing add egg, sugar, salt, oil and baking soda.

3. When the mixture is almost done blending add the baking powder.

4. Cook on a hot griddle.

Jill Breakfast Casserole

My mom has some great egg casserole dishes. This is a combination of my mom's and her friend Kay Johnson's breakfast casseroles and downsized, because of what I had on hand and how big I personally needed it to feed my family. My family usually makes these for brunches on special occasions like baby blessings and holiday's. (I will have to make my mom's version one of these days and post it!)

Jill's Breakfast Casserole

In a prepared 8 x 8 baking dish, covered with bread pieces.

4 slices of bread, crust cut off and cut into large cubes

Mix together well then pour over the layer of prepared bread:

6 eggs whipped

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

Smidgen Paprika

1/8 teaspoon Dried Mustard

Pinch Black Pepper

Next layer the following ingredients on top of bread and eggs:

3/4 cup Browned Hamburger

(Seasoned to taste and cooked with onions, garlic salt, Salt and Pepper)

1/2 cup shredded Colby Jack Cheese

1 can drained mushrooms (optional)

2 Thinly sliced Green onions

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until eggs are no longer runny. ( We like ours to look a little moist when we take it out.)

Banana-Oat Muffins

I got this recipe from the Cheerios website. Hugh, my 2 year old, helped mommy by opening a second and unneeded box of Cheerios. Fearing that they would go stale and not necessarily wanting to make "treats" with them I opted for trying this recipe instead. They turned out good and the kids loved having warm muffins for breakfast for a change. I loved that it was quick to mix and toss in the oven.

Banana-Oat Muffins

2 cups Cheerios cereal (where they say you get the "oats"-okay its a stretch don't you think?)

1 1/4 cup All-purpose flour

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup mashed very ripe banana's (2 t0 3 medium)

2/3 cups milk

3 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 egg white

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 12 regular-size muffin cups with cooking spray, or greased bottoms only of muffin cups.

Crush cereal. In large bowl, stir together cereal, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir in remaining ingredients just until moistened Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown.

Sprinkle muffin with powdered sugar just before serving.

**My kids preferred butter or honey.

For High Altitude (3500-6500 ft.) Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Oatmeal Pancakes

We made these pancakes this morning and enjoyed them. (No picture coming! A pancake is a pancake! ;-)) I am excited about the added oatmeal; it is what drew me to the recipe. I have hopes that with the added grains and fiber that they will "stay with" the kids a little longer than regular pancakes. I got this recipe from eatbetteramerica.com. I didn't however have all the exact ingredients so you will find what I used in parenthesis. It only makes 6-8 pancakes with 1/4 cup scoop.

Oatmeal Pancakes

3/4 cup quick-cooking oats

(Regular Oats placed in a blender until it looked like quick-out texture)

3/4 cup Whole Wheat flour (all-purpose white)

1 cup fat-free milk (1%)

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (I forgot to put this in! oops)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

In a medium bowl, beat pancake ingredients with wire whisk until blended.

Spray griddle or skillet with cooking spray. Heat griddle to 375 degrees or skillet over medium heat. Pour 1.4 cup batter onto griddle. Cook pancakes until puffed and dry around the edges. Turn; cook other side until golden brown. Serve with topping.

Serving size is 2 pancakes (310 calories, Fat 7 g--don't know what it is if you forget the oil?! ;-) I thought they were fine without it. I didn't realize I had missed it until I went to post it! They were a little on the dryer side, but if you are using a homemade syrup it will soak it up great.)

We just used maple syrup, but eatbetteramerica had a recipe for a topping that if I had the items on hand I may have tried.

Topping

1 bag (10 oz) Frozen mixed berries, thawed and drained

3/4 cup real maple syrup

In 2-quart saucepan, cook topping ingredients over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture just begins to simmer. Remove from heat; set aside.

IHOP French Toast and Coconut Syrup!

(*Updated picture with French Bread 1/25/2010)

This french toast is great. I didn't get a picture because it disappeared so quickly. Cameron had been requesting french toast for breakfast for a while, so I thought I would give this recipe a try. The boys were so excited and had to help make the syrup. I didn't have any great french bread to use at the time I tried this one so we used our regular sandwich bread and it turn out fine. I am sure the french toast would make it over the top, but my boys didn't seem to care and loved it anyway. This would be fun to serve for those special and extra special occasions.

IHOP French Toast by Erin sisterscafe.blogspot.com

2 eggs

½ c. milk

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

3 T. flour

6 slices of thick sliced French bread

First beat eggs, then add remaining ingredients with electric mixer. Dip both sides of bread and place in hot buttered pan. Flip over when browned. Serve with Coconut Syrup.

*This recipe reminds me of "The Best cookbooks" French Toast.

Coconut Syrup

This syrup is so tasty! Have you checked out the ingredients how can it not be anything but "Toolicious!". The flavor is wonderful and reminds me a lot of a liquid coconut cream pie. This is a new favorite at our house. Serve it with hot breakfasts, whether it be waffles, pancakes, crepes or french toast. You won't be sorry.

7-8 T. butter

¾ c. buttermilk (I didn't have buttermilk. I used 1% milk + lemon juice substitute in the Better Homes and Gardens)

1 c. sugar

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp coconut extract **

Place butter, buttermilk and sugar in a pot. Then turn stove on medium and stir until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and boil one minute. Remove from heat and add soda and flavoring. It will bubble up; just continue to stir and give it a few minutes for the 'fizz' to reduce before serving.

**Erin from the sisters cafe blog said she also likes to use vanilla extract to change up the syrups from time to time.

German Pancakes

My mom used to make these often when I was growing up. I make them a few times a year and my boys love them. We have always called them "German Pancakes". I have also heard them called "Puffy Pancakes". They are very similar to "pop over bread" We eat them as a breakfast food. I know my brother-in-laws family eats it as a bread for dinner. Take your pick and enjoy.

6 eggs (9 eggs)

1 cup milk (1 1/2 cups)

5 Tablespoons butter or margarine (8 Tablespoons)

1 cup flour (1 1/2 cups)

1/2 teaspoon salt (same)

Preheat oven to 450 F degrees. Whip eggs until thick and lemon colored in a blender. Add milk, flour, and salt. Blend until smooth. Melt butter in a 9 x 13 pan (amounts in parenthesis are for a 9.5 x 13.5 Pyrex glass dish). Pour butter into pan 9 x 13 with melted butter. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Be sure that center has the same firmness as the edges.

Serve with syrup of choice (we like maple) or powdered sugar.

Orange Julius

We serve juice as a special occasion treat at our house. On occasion for Sunday or Holiday Brunch, this orange frosty drink is loved by all.

12 oz Frozen Orange Juice

(Use combo juices like orange, banana, strawberry etc. they are yummy too)

2 cups cold water

1/2-3/4 cup sugar (see why we save it for special occasions! ;-))

2 teaspoons Vanilla

1 ripe banana

2-3+ cups crushed ice (Make it as slushy as you prefer! I like more ice. The slushier the better.)

Blend together in all ingredients except ice until blended together well. Then add the ice a cup at a time until frosty. Pour into glasses and enjoy!

French Toast for Challah or Sandwich Bread

This recipe comes from The New Best Recipecookbook. We made it for our Sunday lunch because Cameron wanted French Toast. This is a rare treat at our house. I love it and so does everyone else, so don't ask why we don't make it more. I won't have a good excuse!;-)

It makes 4 to 5 slices from Challah bread (whatever it is I can't get it here!) or 6 to 8 slices High-Quality Sandwich bread is what the recipes states it would yield. We used Montana Wheat bread, because that is what we had and probably the best quality I will be buying for now. (For those of you in UT it is similar to Granny bread) We got 6 slices out of the recipe. So do yourself a favor and double it right from the get go. The cookbook says that they made this French toast sweet enough to eat by itself, but not to sweet so you can still add fruit, sugar, or maple syrup if you desired. We had to try the different toppings. I like the freshness of the fruit and powdered sugar, but syrup was hands down our family's favorite way to eat it up.

1 large egg
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Day old bread 3/4" thick or Day old High Quality Sandwich bread
Unsalted butter for frying (1 Tablespoon per batch) ** we used more like 1 1/2 teaspoons

Heat skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, beat the egg lightly in a shallow pan or pie plate; whisk in the melted butter, then the milk ad vanilla, and finally the sugar, flour, and bread without over saturating, about 40 seconds per side for challah or 30 seconds per side for sandwich bread. Pick up the bread and allow the excess batter to drip off; repeat with remaining slices.

Swirl 1 Tablespoon butter on the hot skillet. Transfer the prepared bread to the skillet in a single layer; cook until golden brown, about 1 minute 45 seconds on the first side and 1 minutes on the second. Serve the French toast immediately. Continue adding, 1 tablespoon butter to the skillet for each new batch. ** see not in recipe for cutting this down.

Cameron's French Toast

Cameron is my budding little artist and chef. He sees me having fun with trying to make a nice presentation of food on our plates, so he has do do his own versions too. It is really cute and a lot of fun to see what he comes up with and hear him explain it to me.

Jill's Homemade Granola

We love this granola. You can add any dried fruit you want to it, we tend to eat it better when I leave it plain. My kids love this on top of their yogurt in the morning with diced fresh fruit or frozen berries. My mom kept saying she needed this recipe and I kept telling her it was on the blog. We love this recipe and make it so frequently that I seriously thought I had already posted it. Sorry mom! Here it is...

4 Cups Old-Fashion Oats
1 cup slivered almonds (1/2 cup almonds and 1/2 cup pecans is also good)
1/2 cup Sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of Salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 325. Lightly coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. In a large bowl, stir together oats, almonds, coconut, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine oil, honey, and sugar. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Drizzle syrup over oat mixture. Pour granola onto prepared baking sheets and spread out evenly. Bake stirring occasionally until golden brown (about 25 minutes). Let granola cool completely on a wire rack. Break into chunks and store in an airtight container.

Almond-Coconut Granola
Recipe courtesy Gourmet Magazine

Recipe SummaryDifficulty: Easy Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Yield: 6 cups
User Rating:

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2/3 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut
1/3 cup hulled green pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
6 tablespoons honey
1 cup mixed dried raisins and apricots

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
In a large bowl stir together oats, almonds, coconut, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, and salt. In a small saucepan melt butter with honey over low heat, stirring. Pour butter mixture over oat mixture and stir until combined well.
In a large jelly-roll pan spread granola evenly and bake in middle of oven, stirring halfway through baking, until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool granola in pan on a rack and stir in dried fruits. Granola may be kept in an airtight container at cool room temperature 2 weeks.

Episode#: SS1C12Copyright © 2006 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved

This is one of our family's favorite granola's

Lazy Day Crock Pot Brunch (betterrecipes.com)

A "shell" of shredded hash browns is made in the crock pot and filled with bell peppers, ham & cheese. A mixture of eggs & whipping cream goes on top.
Ingredients:
8 slices bacon
28 oz pkg frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
2 teaspoons EACH salt and pepper, or to taste
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup onion, diced
2 cups ham, cut into cubes
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
12 eggs
1/2 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
2 cups heavy whipping cream
Pam
Method
Cook bacon, drain grease and set aside. Spray inside of crock pot generously with Pam. Press potatoes on bottom and 1-inch up the sides to form a crust. Season with half of the salt and pepper. Crumble bacon over potatoes. Sprinkle green and red peppers, onions, ham and cheese over potatoes. In a large bowl whisk the eggs, remaining salt and pepper, mustard and cream. Pour over potato mixture. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or until eggs are set. Notes: This is easy and great tasting for a brunch or a morning when you have overnight guests.

** I made this recipe and was a hit. Kid approved (even my niece who is a pick eater loved it. It’s loaded with fat how can it not be delicious! ;-) )I used 1 cup of cheese and ½ cup chopped ham. I thought there were a lot of every ingredient. My crock cooks quicker than others I think it took mine about 4 ½ hours and I thought the potatoes were getting on the dry side. Serving it with our homemade salsa fixed that problem. THIS IS a KEEPER! It Makes a ton! We fed 6 adults and 6 small children and still had some left over.