What the French, Toast?

Breakfast is the BEST! You’ve always heard that you should start your day off right… but honestly, who has the time? Grabbing a bowl of cereal or snagging a granola bar out of the pantry on our way out the door probably happens way too often around here.

But after a WONDERFUL trip to see Alissa, my best friend, well, make that almost sister… in case you didn’t know, I now have an easy and super quick recipe for breakfast that will definitely be making a frequent appearance in my kitchen.

This French toast recipe takes about 5 minutes, at the most, to prepare and it bakes in the oven for 15 minutes. That is just enough time to go back, get dressed, and put on make-up. Can’t argue with that!

I’m not quite sure if the measurements are exactly like Alissa’s amazing recipe but the outcome was very similar. Yum!

Alissa’s Fabulous French Toast

Servings: 2
Time: 20 minutes
Level: Easy

1 egg
2 egg whites
2 tbsp. milk
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla
4 slices whole wheat bread

Preheat oven to 350°. In a shallow dish, whisk egg, egg whites, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla together. Dip bread in egg mixture until soaked.

Place bread on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes, turning once.

Serve with butter and warmed syrup. Yum!

Tips
– You can use all egg whites to make it healthier.
– Try sugar free syrup or even flavored syrup for a twist!
– Top with toasted pecans for a nutty addition.
– Sprinkle more cinnamon on top of the bread before you bake it if you loooove cinnamon like I do!

Grilled Turkey and Cheese on Cinnamon Raisin Bread

I’ll be the first to admit it… this doesn’t sound good. But please don’t let that keep you from trying this sandwich. It is SOOOO yummy! Trust me on this one.

The sweet bread and tangy mustard works so well with nice thick slices of ooey gooey provolone cheese. Just thinking about this sweet and savory combo is making me hungry again. What’s with me this week and sweet and savory dishes?

This sandwich is great for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. Yum!

Grilled Turkey and Cheese on Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Servings: 1
Time: 5 minutes
Level: Easy

2 slices cinnamon raisin bread
1/2 tbsp. spicy brown mustard
3-4 slices deli turkey (mesquite or peppered turkey also works)
1-2 slices provolone cheese
butter

Spread one slice of bread with mustard. Top with turkey, provolone, and second slice of bread. Butter the outsides of the bread and grill, over medium heat, until golden brown. Yum!

Leftover Pre-baked Crescent Rolls? Make Dessert!

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I had two triangles left over after making Peppered Gravy Pot Pie so I decided to make dessert. Why not? And what a treat! I NEVER make dessert. These would also be yummy for breakfast.

Cinnamon Pecan Crescents

Servings: 2 (But you could use the whole tube of crescents)
Time: 10 minutes
Level: Easy

Crescent Roll triangles
Cream Cheese
Cinnamon and Sugar (I always keep a small container of these two mixed together)
Pecans, chopped

Lay the crescent rolls out flat. On the wide end, spread cream cheese and top with cinnamon and sugar and a few pecans. Roll triangles up like regular crescent rolls.

Bake at 375° for 8 minutes. Yum!

The BEST Breakfast Pizza You’ll Ever Eat (And You Don’t Have To Eat It For Breakfast!)

Upon the  suggestion by a fellow foodie and friend, we recently went to brunch at Hi-Tone in Memphis. Hi-Tone is not a typical place you would ever think of going to brunch. When you walk in, you get the instant vibe that the night before (well, probably even that very morning) the stage was rocking and the dance floor was packed with young hipsters having a great night.

How do you know they had a great night? Well they are still there, sipping on mimosas and bloody mary’s, and eating the most delicious brunch I’ve had in a while.

I can’t attest to anything else (besides the bloody mary’s…yum!) on the menu at Hi-Tone, but the breakfast pizza is legit. So legit, that I decided to try to recreate it at home. The result? Straight up awesomeness.

We ate this pizza for dinner and then ate the leftovers the next day for breakfast. I wish we still had some…

Breakfast Pizza

Servings: 4-6
Time: 30 minutes
Level: Medium

1 box pizza dough mix, made according to package directions (I used Jiffy)
1 package of peppered gravy, made according to package directions (you won’t use all of the gravy)
1/2 c. sharp cheddar, shredded
5-6 slices of bacon, crumbled (I used turkey bacon)
1/3 c. peppers and onions, frozen
5 eggs
1 tbsp. milk
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425°. Roll out dough as thinly as possible. Bake for 3-4 minutes. Remove pizza dough from oven and top with prepared gravy, enough to cover like regular pizza sauce would.

Top with 1/2 of the shredded cheese and all of the bacon.

Bake pizza for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on the edges and cooked in the center. Meanwhile, whisk eggs, milk, and salt and pepper in a small bowl and set aside. In a skillet over medium heat, sauté peppers and onions until thawed. Add whisked eggs and scramble. When pizza is done, top with scrambled eggs and then with remaining cheese. Bake for an additional 3-5 minutes, until cheese melts. Yum!

Tips
– Try using sausage or ham instead of bacon.
– The peppered gravy package can be found on the same isle and section as taco seasoning packets, chili starters, and pesto/other pasta sauce starter packets.
– You WILL have left over gravy… stay tuned to see what I made with mine!
– Use egg whites to make it healthier.
– Make it vegetarian by leaving off the meat or adding Morning Star sausage.

Hash Brown and Ham Upside Down Quiche

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This morning, we woke up with brunch on the brain. But, seeing as how the Mississippi River has already flooded and dear ole’ Mother Nature decided to grace us with another torrential downpour and what The Weather Channel calls “deadly cloud to ground lightning strikes,” we didn’t quite think going out for brunch was in our cards today.

The solution? An impromptu quiche-ish dish  that turned into something it wasn’t supposed to be. A nice surprise, in fact, because oh, gracious was it good.

Hash Brown and Ham Upside Down Quiche

Servings: 4
Time: 25 minutes
Level: Easy

1 1/2 c. hash browns, frozen (or shoestring potatoes)
4 eggs
1/3 c. milk
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 c. ham, cubed (or bacon or sausage or even make it vegetarian and add juiced and seeded tomatoes)
1/3 c. bell peppers and onions, frozen
fresh spinach leaves
1/3 c. cheese, shredded
1 tsp. Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 400°. On a cookie sheet, bake hash browns for 5 minutes.

Transfer potatoes to a greased pie plate or cake pan. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper together.

Top potatoes with ham, bell peppers and onions, and spinach.

Pour egg mixture over top, sprinkle with cheese and Italian seasoning, and bake for 20 minutes.

Once removed from oven, invert onto a plate, allow to cool, and slice. Yum!

Tips
– Instead of using Italian Seasoning, try cumin and chili powder.
– Top with salsa if desired.
– Use leftovers to wrap in a tortilla with tomatoes and extra spinach leaves for a quick lunch.
– You don’t have to invert the dish. You can leave it in the pie plate if you want.

Buttermilk Quinoa Pancakes and Quinoa Pancake Ham Sandwiches

Woah. I never thought I’d be this obsessed. Not just with dinner. Oh, no. With the LEFTOVERS!

These pancakes are so hearty and filling, you seriously won’t believe it. They also keep amazingly well in the fridge. I have eaten these bad boys for dinner (Quinoa Pancake Ham Sandwiches), breakfast, and as a snack. I can’t seem to get enough of their light and fluffy, yet dense and filling texture. The pancake batter mixed with the quinoa is such a dubious pair… Oh, you’re gonna love ’em!

These pancakes make the perfect pre/post workout snack. Just slather on a little all natural peanut butter, roll it up, and eat it on the road! For breakfast, add a sliced banana… the possibilities are endless and awesome.

This recipe came straight from penandfork.com.  Gwen Ashley Walters wrote it and said her first batch was just a fun experiment that turned out to be great. How very Pantry Chef of her… no wonder I love them!

Buttermilk Quinoa Pancakes

Time: 20 minutes
Servings: Makes 12 (4 in.) pancakes
Level: Medium

1 cup flour*
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1-1/4 cups buttermilk (or sour milk**)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cooked quinoa
3 tablespoons melted butter, divided

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl. Whisk the egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract together in a small bowl until well blended. Pour the buttermilk mixture over the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in the quinoa and then fold in 2 tablespoons of melted butter.

Heat a nonstick griddle or skillet over medium heat. Brush skillet with reserved melted butter. Ladle  1/4 cupfuls of batter onto hot griddle. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the edges start to dry about 3 minutes. Flip and cook another couple of minutes, until pancakes are cooked through.

Keep warm in a low oven. Yum!

Tips
– *If you want to go all crazy-healthy, replace up to half the flour with a whole wheat flour.
– **To make sour milk, stir 1 tablespoon lemon juice into milk and let sit a few minutes until thickened.
– Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Typically, I make breakfast first and then incorporate the leftovers into another dish. I did it backwards this time. We ate these sandwiches first and then I reheated pancakes for breakfast the next day. Delish!

Quinoa Pancake Ham Sandwiches

Buttermilk Quinoa Pancakes, cooked and warmed
Sharp Cheddar Cheese Slices
Thick slices of Ham
Jam

Pan sear the ham until warmed throughout. Top one pancake with  a slice of cheese and a few pieces of ham. Spread jam on another pancake and place on top of the other to make a sandwich. Yum!

Tips
– Try adding a fried egg to the top.

Loaded Hash Browns

We woke up this morning… well, nearly afternoon, and were STARVING! We wanted to go to brunch but had too much to do so I decided to make brunch at home.

Hash Browns are one of my favorites because they are crispy, salty, and compliment just about everything you could ever think of to have for breakfast or brunch. I FINALLY went to the grocery store so I had an abundance of deliciousness to work with.

This recipe is made with homemade hash browns. If you wanted to take some help from the store and buy your own in a bag, go for it! You will seriously cut down on your time in the kitchen and the outcome will be basically the same.

Also, I am not putting measurements next to some ingredients because you can just use what you have. Add more mushrooms if you love them and take off the onions if you don’t. I would also recommend adding diced tomatoes to this dish, but due to the crazy weather we’ve been having, tomatoes aren’t in abundance right now.

Loaded Hash Browns

Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 2
Level: Medium

3 small potatoes, washed and peeled
jalapeños, diced
fresh mushrooms, sliced
onions, diced
green bell pepper, diced
ham, cubed or chopped
shredded cheese
2 eggs, fried sunny side up

Preheat oven to400°. Cube, slice, or dice potatoes into small pieces.

I used a mandolin slicer to shred the potatoes. Put potatoes on a greased baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a skillet over medium-high heat, cook jalapeños, mushrooms, onions,  bell peppers, and ham until cooked throughout, about 5-7 minutes. Set aside. When potatoes are done, form loosely into patties and fry in a well oiled skillet over medium-high heat, turning once. Fry until browned on both sides. Top potato patties with veggie and ham mix, cheese, and sunny side up egg. Yum!

Tips
– You can substitute the ham for bacon, turkey, etc.
– This is a great way to use up any leftover veggies or meat you may have in the fridge.

Homemade Biscuits with PawPaw Hardy’s PB & S Spread

Get outta town with this one! Biscuits are at the center of every Southern table and I FINALLY learned how to make them.

I am still in the learning process. There is a recipe… BUT biscuit making is a serious art and apparently takes years to master. My first and second batch were great! My third, not so much. So hang in there and keep trying!

If anyone knows how to make the biscuits super fluffy, let me know. I’d LOVE a few tips!

This recipe came off of the White Lily Flour bag. My Aunt Carole says it is the best and if I were you, I’d trust her. Whew, she can cook!

Biscuits (Cat Head Biscuits… or so says my PawPaw Dub)

Time: 15 minutes
Level: Medium
Servings: 6 or so

2 cups White Lily Self-Rising Soft Flour
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup milk or buttermilk  (more if needed)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place flour in mixing bowl. With pastry blender or fork, cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Blend in just enough milk with fork until dough leaves the sides of the bowl. Knead dough gently 10 to 12 strokes. Roll out dough into 2 – 2 1/2 inch patties. Dip a little in flour so they won’t stick.
 

Place biscuits in greased cast iron skillet with sides almost touching.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Yum!

PawPaw Hardy’s PB & S Spread

Time: 3 minutes
Level: Easy
Servings: 6 or so

1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. syrup
1 pad of butter, if desired

Mix all ingredients together.

Spread over biscuits or dip biscuits into the mixture. Yum!

Tips
– Make the PB & S spread. You will LOOOOVVVVEEEE it!
– You can use chunky or regular PB for the spread recipe.
– Grease the cast iron skillet with a touch of Crisco.
– I used soy milk for the biscuits this time because it is what we had. Don’t do that… I won’t do it again. They weren’t as flavorful.

Sausage Balls

Are sausage balls a Southern thing? I’m guessing they are… but I’m not really sure. Southern or not, sausage balls are amazing. Typically, they are made around the holidays and served as an hors devour.

But, I make them all year round… and I eat them for breakfast. You will change your mind altogether about these little delights when you add the condiment that screams sausage ball’s name. JAM!

You have to try it. Sausage balls freeze incredibly well so they make for a great quick breakfast when you are on the run. Just grab a few from the freezer, pop them in the microwave for 1 minute, slather on some jam, and you’re done. Breakfast is done in under 2 minutes. Can’t beat that.

Make some this weekend. You’ll have a few breakfasts lined up for awhile. These balls save in the freezer for up to 3 months. WORTH IT!

Sausage Balls

Time: 15 minutes
Level: Easy
Servings: 2 – 2 1/2 dozen balls

1 pkg. Black Label cheese
2 c. Bisquick
1 roll hot breakfast sausage

Preheat oven to 375°. In a medium sized bowl, melt the cheese in the microwave. Put it in 1 minute at a time. Keep checking on the cheese until it is gooey enough to stir. Add all other ingredients to the melted cheese and combine.  Roll the mixture into 1 1/2 in. balls and place on a cookie sheet about 1 in. apart. Bake until slightly golden brown, about 10 minutes. Yum!

Tips
– Seriously, try the jam. Blackberry is my favorite complement but all others taste just as good.
– If you want to freeze these guys, put them back on the cookie sheet once they have cooled and then put the cookie sheet in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Transfer the slightly frozen balls to a zip-loc bag for easier storage. Freezing them a little before bagging will help them not stick together in the bag. This will help you out tremendously when you only need to thaw out a few at a time.
– The breakfast sausage in the recipe is the kind that comes in a roll/tube type thing. You can find it next to the bacon.
– Black Label cheese can be hard to find sometimes. You can buy the Cracker Barrel brand from the grocery store or you can buy any brand of good sharp cheddar.
– If you want to add a little water to the recipe (maybe 1/4 c. or so) it will make your sausage balls a but lighter and fluffier. Mine are very dense and solid and some people like theirs a bit airier. Either way, they are great!

Banana Bread

What a dainty little bundt! One of my sweet co-workers just had a beautiful baby girl and so we decided to set up a dinner rotation to keep her mind out of the kitchen and on that little bundle of joy. I was picked to send dessert and decided to make banana bread. Since the dinner rotation will continue for a few weeks, I figured she would eventually have cakes and pies running out of her ears.

Banana bread can serve two purposes. Dessert and breakfast. Since I already had some bananas that needed to either be thrown away or be blended up, I decided to go for it! I had a little batter left over so I even got to make us a small loaf. Jason was SO excited. He loves the stuff.

My mom and grandmother’s recipe calls for 1/2 c. of Crisco. I didn’t quite have 1/2 c. so I opted for oil instead. It still turned out great!

Banana Bread

Time: 1 hr.
Level: Easy
Servings: 6+

3 bananas, well mashed
1 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 c. flour (1 c. can be whole wheat)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350°. Mash the bananas in mixing bowl. Add sugar, eggs and oil, mixing well each time. Add dry ingredients to banana mixture. Pour in greased 5×9 loaf pan and bake 55-60 minutes, or until golden brown. Pop out onto a wire rack and let cool. Yum!

Tips

– As you can see, I used a mini bundt pan and had enough left over to make another very thin loaf. I reduced the cook time to 40 minutes for the bundt and 20 minutes for the thin loaf.
– Try a slice toasted with either a smear of cream cheese or peanut butter.

-I sprinkled a little cinnamon on the top of the batter once I poured it into the pans. It added a little more flavor.

– For more flavor, you can add a little vanilla flavoring to the batter while mixing the wet ingredients.