Gorgonzola Breakfast

I have a ton of gorgonzola left over from the Corn & Cheese Chowder. Ever try a little gorgonzola sprinkled on your scrambled eggs? Delicious! Especially when accompanied by maple sausage and sourdough toast.

A wonderful way to spend a Sunday morning!

We followed it up with a trip to the Christmas Village for our annual hot seasonal beverage date!

 We always get some "Crack Nuts" aka candied nuts too. 

And then Mr. Lawyer went to the Eagle's game and had some amazingly close seats. A busy and wonderful Sunday.

Enjoy Every Moment

Today is our one month anniversary! On our one month anniversary it snowed (1st of the season!) and I received my new insurance card. The first snow and special dates should always be celebrated with something warm and wonderful....like hot tea and breakfast for dinner! And big kid insurance cards should be celebrated with something healthy...like turkey bacon!

Fluffy French Toast

(allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 pinch salt
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon white sugar
12 thick slices bread (We used leftover Challah)
Directions:
1. Measure flour into a large mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in the milk. Whisk in the salt, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla extract and sugar until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium heat.

3. Soak bread slices in mixture until saturated. Cook bread on each side until golden brown. Serve hot.

Breakfast Burrito!

I can't keep this one on the shelf! These puppies have been flying out of the freezer quicker than I can make them. The good news? They are inexpensive and easy to prepare....you can also clean out your fridge which is what I did! I found this recipe for our camping trip but they've been such a big hit I'm going to start scheduling breakfast burrito making parties. This dish has been keeping Mr. Lawyer full till lunchtime. The burritos stay moist and don't get weird like my semi-successful attempt at frozen english muffin sandwiches which developed hard spots when heated and the cheese always melted off.

We're going to have so much fun playing with different flavor combinations: different breakfast meats, cheese, pepper, onions, mushrooms, a variety of spices! I can't wait to make some more.

Breakfast Burritos!

(Pinterest find)

Ingredients:
6 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
8 oz shredded cheese
2 large sausages
1/2 green pepper

1/2 red onion
10 tortillas
Foil

Directions:

1. Cook sausage in a large skillet. Set aside.

2. Saute peppers and onions until cooked. Set aside with sausage.

3. Crack your eggs in a bowl and mix in the sour cream. Then scramble the eggs in a large skillet.
4. Add the sausage, peppers, and onion to the scramble eggs. Mix well. Add cheese and mix some more.
5. Time to stuff your tortillas! Place the desired amount of scrambled eggs onto the center tortilla. I had medium sized tortillas so I went with about 1/2 cup. Wrap it up like a burrito: fold in the sides and then roll from top/bottom. Place all the burritos on a baking sheet and place in the freezer until semi-frozen. This helps get rid of the moisture so it doesn't get soggy.

6. Once the burritos have been cooled in the freezer wrap them in tinfoil for camping or plastic wrap/tupperware for home consumption. Store in the freezer until you want them.

7. Heat them up! For camping heat them up in the coals. For the microwave cover the burrito in a damp towel and microwave for 1 minute, flip the burrito and microwave it for another minute. Let cool and enjoy!

Heating them up on our morning campfire.

French Inspired Breakfast

The 'rents stopped in Philly on their journey back to NY. Since they wanted to get an early start in the morning I settled on a French-inspired serve yourself breakfast. It was a hit and I got to show off some of my fun fiesta.

Croissants, scones, and yogurt...oh my!

Oh yeah, and some fruit.

Herbed cheese, butter and honey, strawberry jam, and pumpkin butter.

And the colorful coffee mugs make an appearance!

I love my kitchen rainbow.

A Dinner Challenge

I do love a good challenge. What? It's five o'clock and I have no groceries or dinner plan? I sense a breakfast for dinner meal but let's make it super classy. How about a Pepper, Onion, and Gorgonzola Frittata with a side of maple turkey bacon? Excellent.

It got no complaints.

Pepper, Onion, and Gorgonzola Frittata

(Adapted from my Asparagus Blue Cheese Frittata)

Ingredients:
3 eggs
6 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 bag frozen peppers and onions
Olive oil spray
1/4 cup gorgonzola (I used a cheese spread)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degress. Saute peppers and onions in a frying pan until cooked through.
2. Meanwhile mix together eggs, egg whites, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper, and milk. Add peppers, onion, and half of the cheese to egg mixture and pour into a greased pie pan/casserole dish. Sprinkle the remaining amount of cheese on top.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 35 minutes.

Cinnabun Waffles!

I was uninspired to make dinner tonight so that means breakfast for dinner! Breakfast sandwiches with turkey bacon on english muffins. To undo the relative healthiness of the turkey bacon I made some cinnabun waffles. I saw the idea on pinterest and it worked out pretty well! I thought that the waffle iron made them less greasy and we used less frosting. They are a tad on the small side but they would be good for kids or a tapas breakfast....or dessert!

Yum!

Baked Avocado Egg

This recipe was a bit of a let down. It took forever for the egg to set and by then the yolk wasn't runny. It took more time than the recipe stated. I did like the baked avocado part but not the egg. The avocado was warm and creamy. This makes me excited to try the recipe for avocado fries that I have.

Baked Avocado Egg

Ingredients:

1 avocado

2 eggs

salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste

Directions:

1. Cut the avocado in half and scoop some out to make room for the egg. You can also reduce the amount of egg white you put in.

2. Put the egg in the hole and season with salt, pepper, or red pepper flakes.

3. Bake at 425 until set...10-20 minutes. Keep an eye on it.

Smooth Moves!

So last month when we had our appetizer dinner at the shore I had a bunch of leftover sourdough bread from my shrimp toasts. I was leaving for NY the next day so I just threw it in the freezer. Well last night we decided to use it up by making Aunt Marie's Strata that Grandma Nancy made for us on one of our trips. It was delicious! The sourdough added a nice taste to the eggs and cheddar. Add a dash of sriracha and it's heaven! Plus it's super nice to have a warm filling dish for breakfast all week!

The recipe is HERE!

Grandslam Breakfast!

I love, love, love breakfast food which means I loooove breakfast for dinner. This was a semi-clean out the fridge meal and it came out beautifully. I had half a red onion and a getting soft tomato that I was going to add to the scrambled eggs. When I did a little research I found that it was a popular Venezuelan breakfast dish called Perico! This sounds much more sophisticated and worldly than "Onion and Tomato Scramble!" It was a delicious change up from plain scrambled eggs.

The other leftover that made itself useful was the bacon and brown sugar seasoning from the Sweet & Spicy Jalapeno Poppers. Essentially I made my Brown Sugar Glazed Bacon with the spicy sugar-creole mixture (I had about 1/4 cup leftover from the popper recipe). Man oh man was that a hit. The bacon started off nice and sweet and then the spicy smokey flavor finished it off. 

To round out our breakfast for dinner we had some buttermilk waffles (from some fancy mix we were gifted) topped with my precious Vermont maple syrup. We topped the eggs off with some Cabot Cheddar so it was a very Vermont themed meal! 

Venezuelan Perico

(Scrambled Eggs with Onion and Tomatoes)

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium tomato, chopped fine
1 green pepper, chopped fine (optional)
4-6 eggs
3 tablespoons cream or milk

Shredded cheddar cheese for topping
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Whisk eggs together with cream, salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Melt butter with oil in a large nonstick skillet.
3. Sautéed chopped onions over medium heat until translucent.
4. Add tomatoes and peppers and cook over medium heat until soft, 8-10 minutes.
5. Pour eggs into skillet and cook gently, stirring them lightly and flipping them as they cook.
6. Cook to desired doneness, serve and top with cheese.

Breakfast Leftovers

You know how even though you're a super clean person all of the sudden everything just explodes or you were too busy to actually notice it and then you find yourself confronted with these questions:

Why does the inside of the microwave look like an operating room?

How long has that glob of frosting been there?

Wait, how many people live here?!

13 according to this picture.

So on the first day of vacation I cleaned. A nice take everything off the counters, out of the cupboards and off the floors clean. A do the random things you've been avoiding because you were too busy with life or wanted to go to bed at 9:30 clean. Like oiling all your wooden kitchen things.

So this morning I bounced out of bed nice and early to prepare Mr. Lawyer a nice warm and filling breakfast. And by prepare I mean reheat yummy leftovers from this weekend. He was super surprised because he forgot we had them, which explains why they were still in the fridge. He normally has cereal or oatmeal for breakfast so real food was quite the treat, thanks for sending us home with leftovers Mrs. T! This casserole was delicious, extremely creamy and still wonderful after four days. Even the four day old bacon reheated nicely!

Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

(made by Mrs. T, from Southern Living)

Ingredients:
1 pound ground hot pork sausage
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 1/2 cups frozen cubed hash browns
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 3/4 cups milk
1 cup all-purpose baking mix
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Toppings: picante sauce or green hot sauce, sour cream
Garnish: fresh parsley sprigs
Directions:
1. Cook sausage and onion in a large skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until meat crumbles. Stir in hash browns, and cook 5 to 7 minutes or until sausage is no longer pink and potatoes are lightly browned. Drain mixture on paper towels; spoon into a greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.
2. Stir together eggs, cheese, and next 4 ingredients; pour evenly over sausage mixture, stirring well. Cover and chill 8 hours.
3. Bake, covered with nonstick foil, at 350° for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven, and let stand 5 minutes. Serve with desired toppings. Garnish, if desired.

The Frittata Save!

It's a good thing I had this frittata as my main dish because Mr. Lawyer was not a fan of the spring roll texture. A frittata is always a good bet. Plus the leftovers will make a good breakfast which is key because I may have forgotten to pick up the Mister's cereal at the store today. This frittata was not as fluffy as my previous one (which had three more eggs and a half cup of milk). I must say that I liked the fluffy version a little more. The taste was spot on though....except the feta cheese didn't shine through as much as I would have liked. One thing I did change was the amount of cumin. Cumin is not one of my favorite spices and I feel that it can overwhelm a dish very quickly. Instead of 1/2 teaspoon I just did three quick little dashes and it was the perfect amount.

Mushroom-Poblano Frittata

(from Bon Appetit Magazine)

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 oz. assorted mushrooms thinly sliced
1 large fresh poblano chile, stemmed, seeded, thinly sliced into strips
1 cup chopped scallions or 1/2 cup chopped chives
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 large eggs
2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (omitted)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (I used less)
1/3 cup crumbled low-fat or fat-free feta
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°. Heat oil in a medium nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté, stirring occasionally, until just soft, about 5 minutes. Add poblano and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms and poblano are lightly browned, about 5 minutes more. Add scallions, season with salt and pepper, and remove pan from heat.
2. Whisk eggs, cilantro, and cumin in a medium bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat skillet over medium heat. Pour eggs evenly over mushroom mixture and use a heatproof spatula to evenly disperse ingredients. Sprinkle feta over top. Cook until bottom is set, about 2 minutes. Transfer skillet to oven and cook until eggs are just set, about 9 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit 2 minutes. (OR place eggs and veggies in a oven proof bowl and bake at 400 for 30 minutes.)
3. Run heatproof spatula around edge of pan to release frittata. Slide frittata onto a warmed plate and cut into wedges to serve.

You Say Frittata

I say delicious! Another lovely pinterest find: a yummy looking frittata. I've never made a frittata before and was worried we might end up calling down for chinese. But fear not! With some simple adaptations this recipe was a winner. Most importantly I don't have an oven safe pan so I couldn't cook it on the stove top and then broil it as many recipes called for. I found another frittata recipe that baked it for 35 minutes at 400 degrees and it worked like a charm. I didn't measure the cheese because I'm a champ like that. I added some to the mix and sprinkled some on top until it looked good. 

Asparagus Blue Cheese Frittata

(found on pinterest, adapted from the eighty twenty blog)

Ingredients:

3 eggs
6 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoon olive oil
1 bunch asparagus, thick ends trimmed 

Salt, pepper, garlic powder (to taste)
Olive oil spray
1 cup red onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (I might have used more...)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degress. Place asparagus on a baking tray and coat with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Bake until tender, 15-20 minutes depending on thickness. 

2. Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a pan and saute the onion until tender. Meanwhile mix together eggs, egg whites, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper, and milk. Cut the asparagus into 1/4 inch pieces. Add asparagus, onion, and half of the cheese to egg mixture and pour into a greased pie pan/casserole dish. Sprinkle the remaining amount of cheese on top.

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 35 minutes.

Guess it was good, this is all we had left!

Breakfast Update

I'm still loving the banana smoothie/shake breakfast thing and so is the boy! My latest combination is chocolate banana: 1 cup milk, 1 frozen banana, and 1 scoop chocolate Instant Breakfast/Slim-Fast. Nice and chocolately and you get an extra boost of vitamins.

A New Breakfast Routine

As a kid I hated breakfast and as an adult I still kind of do. Don't get me wrong, I love, love, love breakfast food and eating a scrumptious breakfast on the weekend is no problem. I just can't eat food right after I wake up which poses a problem on school/work mornings when you have to get your butt out the door. I literally grew up on Instant Breakfast Shakes. Except for that period in high school where I had a Coke every morning (I know my parents were horrible right?! Or I was a lovely teenager...) I can handle some soupy oatmeal but it can't be thick at all. And now I have these yummy breakfast shakes that I'm experimenting with.

I made my first one yesterday and stuck to the recipe. It was delicious. I really loved the combination of peanut butter and cinnamon. Today I swapped the peanut butter for Nutella and omitted the cinnamon. Still yummy but the Nutella flavor isn't strong. In an effort to be more healthy I omitted the added honey/sugar the second time around and really couldn't tell. I'm thinking the next step would be to throw in some Instant Breakfast mix? The shake is pretty filling too. I had one before I left for work and wasn't hungry for lunch but still ate by regular granola/fiber bar at school and wasn't dying for my after school snack on my drive home like I normally am. So success in my book!

Banana Breakfast Shake

(from the Mother Unit)

Ingredients:
1 banana, frozen (freeze without the peel)
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon peanut butter (or Nutella!)
1 tablespoon honey (or sugar)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (I just did a couple good shakes)
Directions:
1. The night before peel a banana, wrap in plastic wrap and stick it in the freezer.
2. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend. If you want a thicker shake you can add in a couple ice cubes.
3. Add whip cream, it's always better with whip cream.

Banana-Nutella Shake

Fake Huevos Rancheros

I found this amazing recipe for huevos rancheros but alas I did not have many of the ingredients and my grocery budget informed me that running to the store was a no-go. I did however have a bunch of peppers and cherry tomatoes left over from last night's fish dish. Enter our poor man's huevos rancheros! Which, except for the salsa, was really more a veggie scramble. Ah well, can't go wrong with breakfast for dinner right?

Veggie Scramble

(from our kitchen of leftovers)

Ingredients:

6 eggs

Little bit of milk

Peppers

Tomatoes

Shredded Cheese

Salsa

Salt and Pepper 

Directions:
1. Saute up your veggies. In a bowl whisk together the eggs and milk.
2. Add egg mixture to pan and cook till done, adding cheese at the end.
3. Top with a little salsa and pretend that it's yummy huevos rancheros.

A # of Awesomeness

Grandma Nancy made this dish for us and you should all thank me for this recipe. Not only is it delicious and easy to get ready in advance (say if you know your living room is going to be filled with hungover boys....) but I had to spend 20 minutes deciphering Grandma's handwriting and filling in weird culinary gaps. Which is reminiscent of Grandma's strawberry pie recipe that  was completely missing half of the steps! Luckily the Mother Unit had a full copy but sheesh! "Less than 1# (pound, get it?!) and "6-8 eggs" are not exact measurements which of course give me a panic attack in the kitchen. I also believe Grandma said she used a good bakery bread, not sandwich bread. She did not add any sausage. I could have eaten the whole thing! Don't worry if all the bits don't get soaked, they created nice little toasty crunchy spots that are amazing in a huge bite of eggy cheesy goodness. I will definitely be making this very shortly!

Aunt Marie's Strata Recipe

(From Aunt Marie via Grandma)

Ingredients:
12 pieces bread, crusts cut off and cubed
Less than one pound of cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups milk
6-8 eggs (or egg beaters)
1 stick margarine, melted and cooled
Optional: Sausage
Directions:
1. Layer bread cubes, cheese and sausage (if using) in a 9x13 pan.
2. Beat together eggs and milk, stir in melted margarine. Pour over bread and cheese and let sit in fridge for 2 or more hours.
3. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

Don't Skip Breakfast!

Some days cereal just doesn't cut it and we can't have anyone getting hungry at work around 9:30. But someone doesn't give himself enough time in the morning for a real breakfast anymore. I saw this recipe online and it was super cute. I was excited to give it a go, a nice Sunday afternoon project. Who doesn't want a fake mcmuffin just waiting for you in the freezer?!
Pros: Easy to make, quick to heat up, healthier and cheaper than buying pre-frozen ones, easy to customize ingredients.
Cons: Sometimes the cheese oozes out while reheating, english muffin gets a bit chewy upon reheating.

I was all worried that the egg was going to be just in the middle but once it warms it spreads out and your bread to egg ratio is fine. The cheddar tasted better than the asiago one (I made two of each). I didn't mind the chewy english muffing but Mr. Lawyer did (although he ate all of my test sandwiches this week!) So some ideas we were kicking around for the next batch: omelet style! Scramble the eggs and put the shredded cheese in the egg so it doesn't all try to melt out of your sandwich during the reheating process. This also gives us the options of getting healthy fake egg liquid or just egg whites. Just freezing the cheesy egg and meat together and toasting your muffin right before you eat it to avoid the chewy problem. Trying mini bagels to see if they're less chewy. All possibilities! One thing is for sure: it was super convenient and no one was hungry at 9:30!

Make Ahead Egg Sandwich 

(from this mama says blog)

Ingredients:
Eggs
English Muffins/Bagels
Salt, Pepper, any spices you'd like
Bacon/Sausage
Cheese
Cooking Spray
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. Crack one egg in each spot. Season with salt, pepper, etc. Back for 15-20 minutes or until yolk is set.

2. Toast your English Muffin or bagel.
3. Cook your breakfast meat. I baked the bacon in the oven on a wire rack so all the grease dripped down plus it keeps the strips nice and flat.

4. Assemble your sandwiches! But leave the top piece of bread off. Keep them all on a baking tray and put in the freezer for one hour. This helps the moisture evaporate so you don't get a soggy sandwich. After an hour wrap in plastic wrap/tin foil and leave in the freezer.

5. To reheat: unwrap and place on a paper towel in the microwave (Helps keep the bread from getting soggy) for about one minute and 30 seconds. Or in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes (which defeats the purpose of a quick and easy breakfast sandwich...you should just fry up a fresh egg at that point).

Breakfast of Champions!

Regional differences: In Upstate NY I would have said that "my kids were squirrelly this week" but here in Philly my students tell me that the proper slang is "my kids are hyped". I have one class that teaches me one slang word a day. This serves a duel purpose: I understand what they are talking about and it gets me major street cred which is useful when it comes to classroom management. I have also learned a handshake. The end of this week was insane, my students were all hyped. As a result Mr. Lawyer made me his famous chocolate chip peanut butter cookies....for breakfast.

Breakfast of Champions!

These cookies were highly sought after in the realm of Syracuse. In fact, there was a backhanded girl fight over them before we started dating. I won. Obviously. Mr. Lawyer would also try to bribe me with them. His method of flirting went like this "Star Wars in on tv. Want to come over? I made cookies." Clearly this worked. 

I interviewed Mr. Lawyer about the origins of these Upstate famous, fight inducing, girl swooning cookies. This is what I learned: it was the first year of law school and he had just started really cooking on his own. He was really craving cookies so he bought the Betty Crocker Peanut Butter Cookie mix. He just happened to have peanut butter and chocolate chips chilling in his cabinet. So he mixed them in and these amazing peanut butter cookies were born. 

However he left me with this mess:

Not my cookie plate, coffee mug, mixing bowl or measuring spoons. Ah well, at least he knows to soak everything.

French Breakfast Puffs

I jumped up early this morning to make a surprise breakfast treat for Mr. Lawyer today. Ashley's mother-in-law always made these for us whenever I stayed with them and they're pretty fabulous. I made half a batch which fills one mini muffin tray almost perfectly. Behold the french breakfast puff! And no, it's not just a mini cupcake as the lawyer so obviously pointed out. They're way better than that.

French Breakfast Puffs

(from the kitchen of Mrs. Dermitt)

Ingredients:
2/3 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 cups flours
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Melted butter and cinnamon sugar
Directions:
1. Mix shortening, eggs, and sugar.
2. Stir in dry ingredients and add milk.
3. Pour into greased muffin tin (2/3 full)
4. Bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes at 350.
5. Immediately roll in melted butter and then in cinnamon sugar.

Self Explanatory

Bagels and Lox
(from everyone)

Ingredients:
Bagels
Cream Cheese
Lox
Other things....like onions or capers
Directions:
1. Put it all together and eat it.