Healthy(ish) Cooking

Carrot Muffins

 

 

It is that time of the year! We are making/buying fudge, cookies, candy, and all the goodness of the holiday season. Normally I have no problem with nibbling chocolate chip cookies and drinking hot cocoa topped with heavenly whipped cream while watching Miracle on 34th Street but every now and again I need a break.  In order to keep up the energy for late night caroling and even later night present wrapping I make these:

 

Carrot Muffins!

 

Okay, so they are still a muffin which isn't exactly a spinach soy smoothie but with lots of modifications over time from a recipe I got 14 years ago they are a spiced filled yummy snack that won't send you into a sugar induced coma!

 

1 cup flour

1 cup wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 scant teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1/4 cup oil

3/4 cup applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup coconut

2 cups shredded carrot (or carrot pulp from your juicer!)

Optional -  1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup pineapple bits, or 1/2 cup nuts

 

Mix together flours, baking soda, baking soda, and spices. Make a well in the middle (my kids like that part)

Mix sugars, eggs, oil, applesauce, and vanilla. Add to the well and mix. Fold in coconut and carrot with a spatula.

 

Line 12 muffin tins and add 1/2 cup to each (we like big muffin tops)

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  These muffins are going to be denser then a cupcake (not awful, I can't eat these dense but you do get the feeling that you ate something)

 

This morning we juiced the about 6-8 carrots and saved the pulp for our recipe, then juiced 5 mushy apples that were not quite bad but no one was going to eat. We made the muffins, put pecans on top half so they would be toasty, drank our juice and felt like we were ready to conquer to day!

 

 

Banana Muffins

We have been making and eating fudge and I still have all those delicious ingredients for the plates to take to the neighbors but sick kids and Christmas shopping has gotten us a little behind. Last night we did take our browning bananas and make the best ever

Banana Muffins!

I got this recipe years ago from allrecipes.com It is my favorite and I have tried a few! It was submitted by Lisa Kreft. You can find the link here!

 Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter melted
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin tins or line with muffin cups. In a large bowl mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. (For this one I add these one at a time to the bowl after creaming all the other ingredients together. I start with the teaspoons and go to the flour with the mixure on high) In separate bowl beat bananas, sugar, egg, and butter. (The bananas are my kids favorite part. We keep them in the peels and my kids mush them lightly instead of mashing them. Then we peel and put them in the bowl.) Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture and spoon into the muffin tins. Don't put in oven yet!!

Crumb Topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon cold butter
Directions:
Mix together brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Cut in butter with two forks until it resemebles cornmeal (small crumbs).

Spoon crumb topping over muffins, place in oven, and bake for 15-18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean!

Enjoy~

We woke up this morning to discover that our elf was enjoying the muffins as well.



Feeling Our Oats

I think I've mentioned a time or two, that we've been diligent about having a prepared breakfast with the kids before school each morning this year. Yes, this is a new thing. We used to do "hot" breakfasts only on the weekends, because our school provides a breakfast each morning and I just didn't want to get up any earlier.


Yes, I love my sleep. And I love my kids happy, which comes from them getting more sleep.


And yes, I love how this year is going, it's so much better, even with the lack of sleep. I love knowing what is going into my kids stomachs for every single meal. We try to eat pretty healthy, and relatively package free, I can't say the same thing about school food.


However, with the introduction of another meal to prepare each day came a whole new obstacle. Not getting stuck in the breakfast rut, like I sometimes get bogged down in for lunch menus. I spent a long time preparing a list of foods that were our old stand-bys and I've done some fun research since then to find variations to the same things.


Today, we're going to address oatmeal. Oatmeal can be sooo good, and it can be sooo bad. I am not a fan of slimy, gooey oatmeal. I want the oats to still have some bite, and not resemble something you would encounter when you have a cold. I know, gross. So is slimy oatmeal.


We've tried three oatmeal recipes since school started. One was something I had in my recipe box from who knows where, then we tried this one, and then this morning we tried this one. All of them were tasty, all of them were relatively healthy (think fiber, dairy and vitamins), but one was a clear winner in our household.


Let's countdown from #3 to #1...


#3 comes to us from a package of quick oats from the Church storehouse. It's the easiest recipe of the three, and also the fastest to prepare. It's not bad, particularly if you add brown sugar, or maple syrup, or fruit. It's an easy standby for a rushed, cold morning.


CREAMY OATMEAL


4 1/4 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups uncooked oats
1 tbsp. powdered milk
1 tbsp. sugar


Bring water and salt to a boil. Stir in oats and reduce heat. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Increase or decrease water for thinner or thicker oatmeal. Add powdered milk and sugar and stir well.  Makes 4 cups of cereal.


#2 was one of the first things I found on Pinterest (yes, I'm now part of one more time-sucking social network). I'm giving it number two because it has the potential to be so much better than it was this morning. It's easy, because it's a crockpot recipe. It's tasty enough. However, because I thought about doing this late last night, I used regular oats, instead of steel cut oats. I'm hoping it's a little less slimy with steel cut oats... If not it's still easy, tasty and filling.


APPLE PIE BREAKFAST
Originally found at http://www.cookingwithjax.com/2011/01/apple-pie-breakfast.html


1 cup steel cut oats *
3 diced apples
1 cup apple juice
3 cups water


For best results: Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and cook for 2-4 hours on high or 4-5 hours on low until it reaches the consistency that you like. Be sure to stir every hour or so.


You can also cook longer without stirring as often, but you have to add more water liquid and it does come out a bit mushier. Add an extra cup of liquid for 7-8 hours in slow cooker. (btw, I cooked it for 6 hours on low, it sat for 2 hours on warm and I added no extra liquid but I also used regular oats, not steel cut...)


* It must be steel cut oats, regular oats get very soggy when cooked this way. You can find steel cut oats in your local grocery store (sometimes they are called "Irish oats" or "pinhead oats").


#1 is the clear winner at our house. It's a little less healthy, a little more time consuming, but it's match has not been found here at the Snow house. It provides grains, dairy and protein and Cael will eat it without complaint (which is huge). I wake up, prepare it, but it in the oven to bake and then go wake the kids up, by the time they're ready for school the food is ready to eat. Simple, right?!? 


I'm a huge fan of Our Best Bites, and this is indicative of the quality of recipes you'll find on their site.


BAKED OATMEAL
Originally found at http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/02/baked-oatmeal/


3 cups regular oats (though in a pinch I've used quick oats and it was still really good)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup craisins, raisins, etc.
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter (1/4 cup can be replaced with applesauce)
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs


Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl combine the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and craisins.


In a smaller bowl, mix together the milk, butter, vanilla, and eggs. Add the liquid mixture to the dry and stir to combine. Pour into an 8x8-in. baking dish. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately with warm milk. Serves 8.

We've Gone Ape

Remember how I mentioned I was trying to come up with all sorts of new things to feed my family in the mornings?

It's still going well.  No major complaints, except for quiche (Cael), Johnny Cakes (Landry), breakfast meat (Cael), German pancakes (me)... but seriously, it's going really well.

Then I hit a snag.  I didn't have any ideas for today and I didn't plan ahead last night, so come this morning, at 6:30, I was trying to decide what to make.  Then I remembered a Young Women's activity we had a couple of months ago.  So, I thanked the world for my friend Susan, and her friend Paula Deen, and we had Gorilla Bread - the ever-so-decadent cousin of Monkey Bread.

Do you have refrigerator rolls? Check.
Do you have cream cheese? Check.
Do you have sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and butter? Check, check, check and check.

(seriously, if you do not have these ingredients in your pantry/refrigerator I will cry for you)

In the time it took me to cook some eggs and bacon to accompany our centerpiece it was baked and ready to eat.  Perfect for a rainy (Yes, rainy!) Thursday school day.  Just like oatmeal, but so much better!

GORILLA BREAD
(Originally found here at Paula Deen)
italics indicate changes by me

1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon (at our house we have a shaker full of cinnamon sugar, already mixed that I use)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 (8-oz) pkg. cream cheese
2 (12-oz) cans refrigerator rolls
1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional, and at our house, never used...)

Preheat oven to 350°.  Spray bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. (today I used a 10-in. tart pan, because I wanted it flat instead of molded to cook faster, it worked great)

Mix granulated sugar and cinnamon.  In a saucepan melt butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside.  Cut cream cheese into 20 equal cubes.  Press biscuit dough out, place cube of cheese and cinnamon sugar, wrapping and sealing cheese inside dough.  Layer biscuits, nuts and sauce.  (I simply wrap a cube of cheese inside a biscuit, lay them all out, sprinkle tops of wrapped biscuits with cinnamon sugar, then pour sauce over the entire thing.  It's alot easier and tastes the same...)


Bake for 30 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes.  Invert pan and serve.

Yogurt Pancakes

I got this recipe from www.favfamilyrecipes.com and it is yummy! Another good way to use your homemade yogurt.

For the pancakes:
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. sugar
3 eggs
2 1/2 - 3 c. plain yogurt (or 2 c. buttermilk)
1/2 c. butter, melted
2 c. all-purpose flour

Mix all ingredients. If it seems too thick, add milk a little at a time until it reaches a good "pancake batter" consistency.

The syrup recipe is pretty much the buttermilk syrup recipe I posted earlier. Using yogurt instead makes it slightly thicker.

For the yogurt syrup:
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup butter
3 Tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring first four ingredients to a boil in a large pot. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and stir constantly for 5 minutes. Add baking soda and vanilla. Remove from stove and serve over pancakes, waffles or french toast. (The syrup will be thin-- this is normal. After it cools off a bit it thickens up. Store any extra syrup in the fridge for later use.)
**The baking soda will make it boil high so make sure you use a large pot.***

Recipe Card

Next time you want to make a recipe card you should go HERE and check out Skip to my Lou's free recipe card template!

Here's a recipe for a Blueberry French Toast Casserole. You can click on it to see it bigger. I have made it the night before and just baked it in the morning with just fine results.

Eggs

Our chickens started laying. Finally. I really thought they weren't going to pull through and earn their room and board. Then they started laying - on Easter. Awesome, I know.

Fresh brown eggs, 2 - 4 a day = a nice little bunch of eggs in the fridge.

Tonight for dinner?

Sausage and Cheese Bake. It's tradition to have this on Christmas morning, but we're getting crazy and pulling a Christmas in April. You can join us, if you'd like. Dinner's at 6.

SAUSAGE AND CHEESE BAKE

8 slices of bread, cubed

3 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 lb. sausage, browned and drained

6 eggs

2 1/4 cup milk

3/4 tsp. dry mustard

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/3 cup milk

Cube bread and spread in bottom of 9 x 13 in. baking dish. Cover with grated cheese and browned sausage. Mix eggs, 2 1/4 cup milk and dry mustard. Pour over bread. Mix can of soup with 1/3 cup milk and pour over top of dish. Refrigerate overnight (or 6-8 hours) and bake 1 hour at 350°.

Oatmeal: Day 4

Baked Oatmeal
3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs, beaten

Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased 9 inch square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Serve warm with milk.

Oatmeal: Day 2

I found this at Daily Unadventures Cooking Blog and stole it. I love eggnog!

Eggnog Oatmeal
(makes 2 lg servings)

1/2 c rolled oats
1/2 c eggnog
1/2 c water
1-2 sliced bananas
1 1/2 Tbs ground flaxseed
3 tsp brown sugar
whole nutmeg, for grating
1/4 t vanilla

In a pot over low heat combine oats, water, eggnog, half of the banana and the flax. Let warm on low heat for about five minutes. Turn up to medium and stir regularly. Add brown sugar and several healthy grates of nutmeg. Keep stirring until most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and put in bowls. Top with banana and a bit more nutmeg. Serve hot!

Powdered Milk Biscuits

Growing up in the south, I love biscuits. The kind you buy in a can do not compare! I have several biscuits recipes I like, this one is a good tender version. I will post my favorite flakey and buttermilk ones another day.

POWDERED MILK BISCUITS

1 3/4 cups Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
3 tsp Baking Powder
3-5 Tbsp Softened Butter
1/4 cup Powdered Milk

3/4 cup water

1 Tbsp Sugar

Preheat Oven 450 degrees .
Combine all dry ingredients and cut in butter (I just use my Kitchen-aid).
Add wet ingredients to mix. Do not overmix!! The less you handle the dough from now on, the better and more tender your biscuits will be.
Roll out dough onto a floured surface about 3/4 inches thick.
Cut out biscuits with cookie cutter or mason jar ring.
Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes or until tops are lightly browned.

Pumpkin + Breakfast

Ignore the spider, I made these Halloween morning. They would be great on Thanksgiving as well. Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups mashed pumpkin (I just used canned)
3 eggs
1 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla

Makes 2 dozen 3 inch pancakes.

After making these, I remember how much I like them and wondered why I don't make them year round. I think I will now.

The Best Breakfast Cake

This is seriously our favorite breakfast cake. It is very moist and delicious! This picture doesn't really show the yumminess, just try it.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Breakfast Cake

A Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook from the 80's.

1 8-oz pkg cream cheese

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup seedless raspberry preserves

Sifted powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese, granulated sugar, and butter with an eletric mixer on medium speed until combined. Add half the flour, the eggs, milk, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat about 2 minutes or until well mixed.

Beat in remaining flour on low speed until well mixed. Spread batter evenly into an oil-sprayed 13x9 in pan. Spoon preserves in 8 to 10 portions on top of batter. With a knife, marble preserves into the batter lightly.

Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Cool slightly in pan on a wire rack. Sift powdered sugar on top. Serve warm.

Y'know what's good?

Zucchini bread french toast. Just sayin'. The kids suggested it and I being the amazingly patient, understanding mother that I am...well, we tried it. Delicious with a little sour cherry jelly dabbed on top. Mmmm!

Also, I made the best, BEST brownies the other night. Well, actually it's more like cake than brownies. We'll call them cake brownies...k?

Simply wonderful.

However, I can cook pretty much anything presented to me in a recipe, but I can not, let's repeat, CAN NOT, seem to master frosting. It always tastes good, but the consistency always bugs me. Maybe it's because I just don't particularly care for frosting, that makes me dislike it all...hmmm.

However, this is all that's left of Shane's lunch helping of the cake brownies...he said he liked it all, even the frosting. Which did, by the way, turn out much better than some recipes, I'd say keep this one, it tastes good, but wait until it cools to frost anything...trust me on that one. It's a much better frosting today than it was yesterday.

TEXAS CAKE BROWNIES

3 cup flour

3 cup sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cup butter

9 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 cup water

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

3 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

Frosting

1/2 cup butter

3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa

6 tsp. buttermilk

4 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 12 x 18 inch jelly roll pan. ***Please note the size, it's a huge batch of brownies!!***

2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. In a small saucepan, bring butter, cocoa and water to a rapid boil. Pour over the flour mixture and stir until combined. Add the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla extract, in that order, and mix well.

3. Spread evenly into prepared baking pan. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Cool before frosting.

4. Frosting: In a small saucepan melt 1/2 c. butter, stir in powdered sugar, 3 tbsp. cocoa, buttermilk and vanilla, in that order. Beat by hand until creamy. Spread on cooled brownies.

Breakfast Syrups

Breakfast is the one meal I know that we can count on eating together as a family. I however, get really sick of the same ole' storebought cheap maple syrup. I do sometimes used pureed fruit, applesauce or I'll make a fruit syrup. Here are some of my other syrup recipes that I make on a regular basis. You need tp put the last two in the fridge and just reheat them during the week.

Thick Maple Syrup
(This one is much thicker than the classic water, sugar and maple flavoring recipe)
2 Cup Water
1 Cup Sugar
2 Cups Dark Corn Syrup
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Maple flavoring
Combine the first four ingredients in a saucepan over med. heat. Stir occasionally, until the mixture comes to a full boil. Let it boil for 7 min.Turn the heat off and let the syrup cool for 15 min. Add the maple flavoring and stir. When completely cool, transfer the syrup to a covered plastic or glass container.
VARIATION: For syrup with a butter flavor, just add 3 tbsp. of butter to the mixture before heating. For a lighter syrup, use a sugar substitute instead of the regular sugar.

Buttermilk Syrup
½ cube butter
1 cup sugar
¾ cup buttermilk (I just use the powdered kind)
1 tsp vanilla extract (or coconut, or lemon; whatever flavor you want)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 Tb of corn syrup
In saucepan heat butter, sugar, corn syrup and buttermilk. After sugar is dissolved remove from heat and stir in the soda and flavoring. Mixture will fizz. Let rest, stirring occasionally until fizz goes down. Serve warm with pancakes, waffles, french toast etc.

Chocolate Gravy
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
In a medium saucepan, combine cocoa, cornstarch and sugar; mix well. Add milk and stir to dissolve. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is thick. Add vanilla. Serve over biscuits or crepes.

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

This is a great recipe for those who stored wheat because we are supposed to for food storage, and then realized that you don't even have a wheat grinder. It's also a good recipe to use your homemade yogurt in! My grandmother wrote a wheat cookbook and was always experimenting with wheat. I like to do the same, unfortunately my husband isn't a wheat fan. He liked these though!

WHOLE WHEAT BLENDER PANCAKES

1 overflowing cup of white wheat kernals
1 cup milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Tbs sugar or honey
1 Tbs baking powder
2 eggs

Combine wheat and milk in blender and blend for 3 minutes.
Add yogurt and blend for 2 more minutes.
Add remaining ingredients and blend just until mixed.
Pour thin batter onto hot griddle to form pancakes.

Homemade Yogurt

Homemade Yogurt is a great source of calcium, magnesium, protein, and other essential vitamins, whose active bacterial cultures aid in digestion. You can make yogurt at home for a fraction of the price, it tastes better and is better for you. Do I have your attention yet? It's easy! All you need are three ingredients.

First, a yogurt starter. You can buy acidophilus yogurt starter at a store or you can just use regular yogurt, like I do. Just read the back to make sure it really does have live cultures.

Second, milk. I just used powdered milk and water, although it is thicker if you use whole milk. If you use store bought milk omit the water and change the powdered milk to 1/2 cup and add 1 quart of purchased milk.

Homemade Yogurt

3 3/4 cup warm water

1 3/4 cup instant dry milk powder

2-4 Tbs yogurt

In a pot combine warm water and powdered milk. Stir until combined. Turn heat on low-medium and stir occasionally until it reaches 180 degrees.

Remove from heat and let cool until it reaches 115 degrees. (This is important or else it will kill the good active cultures.) After it has cooled to 115, add the yogurt. Stir until disolved.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to "warm".

Place yogurt mixture into a sterile container (a heavy non-metal material like glass works best) and place in oven. Turn oven off. Check the temperature periodically to keep it at about 100-115 degrees. (An oven thermometer is cheap if you don't have one).

Now all you do is let it sit in the warm dark oven for 5-8 hours (depending on how sour you like it). When it is thick, stir and place in the fridge until chilled. It will last for about two weeks.

That's it! Remember to keep a few tablespoons to use for your next batch. You can even freeze some in a ziplock bag or ice cube trays for when you're ready.

There's just something satisfactory about making your own yogurt. The first time I made it I was so excited... then I wondered what I was going to do with all this plain yogurt. The possibilities are endless! I even added 1/3 cup plain yogurt in place of milk and butter to my kids boxed macaroni and cheese. My kids love it mixed with applesauce. I like it on top of fruit with granola and honey. You can use it in place of buttermilk, sourmilk and sour cream in most recipes. Mix it with equal parts mayonaisse for a lighter and tangier flavor. Think of smoothies, jellos, dressings and popsicles.... don't worry, recipes will follow! Don't forget Brooke's Yogurt Yeast Rolls. Another idea is Yogurt Cheese.

Yogurt Cheese Recipe

Line a cheesecloth or coffee filter in a colander and place inside a bowl. The bottom of the colander should not touch the bowl. Pour yogurt into the cloth and place in fridge overnight. The whey will seperate from the yogurt and drain into the bowl leaving the yogurt very, very thick. You can now use this like cream cheese! 1 qt of yogurt makes about 1 1/2 cups of cheese.

Slow Cooker Saturday

Because I've never been one to put off tomorrow what can be done today...and because my kitchen is a little out of commission right now, I'm doing Slow Cooker Saturday rather than Sunday.

Because I can.  That's the only way I can guarantee it'll get done.  Smart, eh?

I think I've mentioned my affinity for breakfast food before.  If not, let me mention now that I LOVE BREAKFAST FOOD.   I do.  A LOT.  It's kind of weird because I love cold cereal too.  I think I'd rather eat cold cereal for breakfast and then eat the really good breakfast food for dinner. 

Is that weird? Hmmm.

So here is a great breakfast recipe that you pop in the crock at night, go to bed and wake up to a great, hot breakfast.

CROCK-POT BREAKFAST

1 (32-oz) bag, frozen hashbrown potatoes

1 lb. bacon, cut into pieces, cooked

1/2 cup onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

3/4 lb. cheddar cheese, diced

1 dozen eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Layer the hashbrowns, bacon, onion, green pepper, and cheese in crock pot.  Beat eggs, milk, mustard, salt and pepper together.  Pour over mixture and cook on low for 10 hours.  Serves 8.

Breakfast Burritos

I have so not adjusted to the life of a Texan. Everything here starts an hour earlier, add that to the time change (yes, it's been almost a year and I swear it's still jet lag...it couldn't possibly be the children keeping me up at night...nah) and I just can't get a hot breakfast on the table during the week. I think it just allows my family to be that much more grateful on the weekends when they get breakfast, a whole breakfast! They like pancakes and waffles, my favorite is french toast, and we recently found a new dish that everyone likes too....breakfast burritos. I swear I'd made these before, but the family didn't rave like they did this time around, I guess their taste buds have matured in the last year.

This recipe is easy, it's a one pan sort of dish. The best thing about it is I made a lot of extra and kept it in the fridge. It's really easy to reheat in the microwave for a quick, on-the-go, week day breakfast. Hint, hint, that's bonus points for a hard-working mom!

Breakfast Burritos

6 medium potatoes, diced
1/2 onion, chopped
4-6 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces
olive oil
salt
1/2 green pepper, chopped
6 eggs
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
flour tortillas
salsa (or ketchup, for my kids)

In a large skillet heat olive oil, then add potatoes and onion and cook until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Season with a little salt while potatoes are cooking. Add eggs and green pepper. I don't even scramble the eggs before adding to the pan, I just scramble once they are in the pan. Cook until eggs are done. Remove from heat and top with shredded cheese, cover pan and let sit until cheese is melted.
Heat tortillas in microwave until warm. I like to put my salsa into the tortilla first, then dish up potato/egg mixture. You can keep cheese separate and add at the time of dishing, if you prefer.