Baked Oatmeal

Breakthrough! My 2-year-old ate oatmeal today! Granted, it wasn't the healthiest version of oatmeal, but he got eggs, heart-healthy oatmeal, and calories. It took some time to get him to try it, but he enjoyed it once he did! My husband also gave it rave reviews and he just took a little portion with him on the way to school. Give it a shot for a little variety in your morning breakfast! PS: I got the recipe from the My Kitchen Cafe website.

Ingredients:

6 cups oatmeal (you can use quick or rolled)

2 cups brown sugar

2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 cup oil

2 cups milk

4 beaten eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.

3. Add wet ingredients and stir.

4. Pour mixture into a greased 9x13 pan.

5. Bake 20-25 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

6. Let sit 5 to 10 minutes to cool before cutting.

7. Serve with milk in a bowl, if desired.

Notes: I halved mine and put it in an 8x8. Mine also took about 15 minutes longer to get done in the middle, but my oven is crap. If you don't wait for it to cool a bit, it will come out in pieces, which is fine if you want to eat it like regular oatmeal in a bowl with milk. It's yummy either way!

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

I had Brian make me these pancakes for Mother's Day and then I was craving them again over the weekend so I thought I'd post the recipe. I changed it only slightly from the original recipe via You Got Served. I think regular maple syrup kind of ruins these, but that's the way Brian likes them. I've tried them with regular and lemon glazes (powdered sugar and milk), but they're good on their own too!

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup Flour (try whole wheat, for extra benefits!)
1 tea. Baking Powder
1/2 tea. Salt
3 T Sugar
2 Eggs
1/3 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Canola Oil
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese (I used part-skim)
Juice and Zest of 1 Lemon

Directions:

1. Preheat griddle or skillet to medium heat.

2. Combine dry ingredients.

3. In a separate bowl whisk the wet ingredients.

4. Whisk the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients.

5. Add lemon juice and zest.

6. Pour approximately 1/4 c batter on griddle or skillet. (I let them cook slowly.)

7. Cook pancakes until golden brown, flipping once.

Apple Muffins

This is a great recipe if you have apples that are getting old and you don't know what to do with them!

Sift together:
2 cups all purpose flour (you could also use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup white flour, or 2/3 cup oat flour and 1-1/3 cup white flour. Grind 1 cup oatmeal in a blender for oat flour)
1/4 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt

Stir in:
1/2 cup finely chopped apple

In another bowl, combine:
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil

Add liquid to dry ingredients; stir. Fill 12 muffin cups.

Mix 3 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Coat 1 cup sliced apple with the above sugar mixture. Press apple slices into batter in cups. Bake at 400 F for 20 to 25 minutes.

German Pancakes or Crepes

2 eggs
2 tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup milk

1. Mix sugar and flour, then add milk and eggs. Beat until smooth. (Will be liquidy but that's ok.)

2. Heat large skillet over medium heat. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into pan then tilt the pan to achieve a round shape. Heat until golden, then flip and brown on other side. Serve immedieately with syrup & powdered sugar, or fresh berries & whipped cream.

Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Servings: About 4

This is the best recipe I've found for these to date. They are so yummy, even when not prepared correctly. Plus, the ingredients are in your pantry all the time! This is a great go-to meal for breakfast.

Baked German Apple Pancake

Baked German Apple Pancake presented by Red Forest Bed & Breakfast

Brian and I had a bunch of apples from apple picking yesterday so I decided to try this recipe I found on the Internet. We really enjoyed it and didn't think it needed any kind of topping. Since the egg whites are beaten, the end result seems very light...which can cause you to eat more! It's supposed to serve 4, but Brian and I basically ate the whole thing by ourselves.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup milk

Dash of salt

3 eggs, separated

2 tablespoons margarine

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 large or 4 small apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Place 9" ovenproof glass pie dish with deep sides in preheated oven. (I used an 11x7 retangular Pyrex.)
3. Beat egg whites until stiff.

4. In a separate bowl, mix flour, milk, salt and egg yolks with a hand mixer.

5. Gently fold egg white mixture in.

6. Sauté apples, sugar, margarine and cinnamon in skillet for 2-3 minutes until apples are well coated.

7. Pour apples into heated glass pie dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

8. Pour the batter over apples slices.

9. Bake for 20 minutes at 350° until the pancake is brown and puffy.
1o. Remove from oven and loosen sides.

11. Invert on plate, if desired. Cut and serve with maple syrup, if desired.

Cinnamon French Toast

Every time we try to make French Toast we always put cinnamon in the egg mixture and that never really works out very well. I came across this cinnamon bread and it's really good as French Toast and gets rid of the putting the cinnamon in the egg issue. I'm not really sure it can be found everywhere, but I found it at our Wal-Mart and our Costco (although we didn't have it at our last Wal-Mart). Anyway, it's really easy and good!

Ingredients:

-Cinnabon cinnamon bread

-Eggs

-Milk

Directions:

Make like you normally make French Toast! Voila!

Buttermilk Pancakes

*From my sister-in-law* These aren't thick, heavy, cake-like pancakes, they are light and delicious. Great for kids. The recipe is easier than I expected and not too hard to memorize b/c there's 1 of almost everything.

Whip the following with hand mixer in a large bowl:

-1 egg

-1 c. sour cream (can use Light)

-1 c. buttermilk (or 1 c. milk & 1 TB lemon juice)

Add the following and mix by hand:

-1 c. flour

-1 tsp. baking soda

-1 tsp. baking powder

-1 TB sugar

-1/2 tsp. salt

Drop batter 1/8 c. at a time onto greased griddle warmed to med-high heat. Cook until top bubbles, then flip and cook until done. Makes about 24 small pancakes.

Chocolate Sour Cream Waffles

Technically these are "dessert" waffles but I make them for breakfast and just eat them as is without syrup or anything. My husband uses syrup, but I think that might make them too sweet. Either way, they're really yummy even though I'm not generally a chocolately breakfast person.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 T. unsweetened cocoa
2 tea. baking powder
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter (I've used margarine as well)
1 egg
1 tea vanilla

Directions:
1. Heat waffle iron to medium-high heat (or you can make pancakes).

2. In large bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa and baking powder.

3. In medium bowl stir together sour cream, milk, butter, egg and vanilla until smooth. (It's definitely important to mix the flour mixture and liquids separately first.)

4. Stir liquids into flour mixture until well blended.

5. Cook on waffle iron or griddle.


Note: they turn out pretty flimsy looking and soft...not hard and crispy like your average waffle. I liked them that way though.

Can be also be served as a dessert with ice cream, frozen yogurt, strawberries, etc...

Deluxe Scrambled Eggs

I just made these for myself (made it up as I went along) and they are super yummy! They're great as a "breakfast-for-dinner" entree, too. This is a single serving recipe, so adjust accordingly, depending on how many people you're feeding.

2 eggs, beaten (use 1 whole egg and 1 white)

1 slice pre-cooked bacon

1 TB julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes (the jarred kind)

1 TB grated pepper jack cheese (substitute cheddar if you don't like spicy)

1 tsp. light cream cheese

1 green onion, chopped (optional)

Spray small frying pan with non-stick spray. Crumble bacon and put in pan, cooking on about med/hi heat. Once bacon is sizzling, add in eggs, onion, and tomatoes. Cook until eggs are about 3/4 of the way done. Now add in cheeses and cook until eggs are done and cheese is melted. Put on a plate and salt/pepper to taste. Serve with a piece of whole wheat toast and it's divine!!

Pumpkin Waffles

Mix in a bowl:
2 cups flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp sugar
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp coriander (optional)
¼ tsp salt

In a separate large bowl mix:
4 egg yolks –place egg whites in another bowl to beat in
1 cup pumpkin
¾ cup melted margarine
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 ½ cups milk

Beat 4 egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and mix together. Fold in beaten egg whites. Bake in waffle iron until golden brown.

Serve with Buttermilk Syrup:
¼ cup butter
½ cup buttermilk (or use ½ tsp of lemon juice in ½ cup regular milk)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp Karo syrup

Bring to a boil, then take off heat. Add:

1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda

It will bubble up A LOT (so use a big pan.). Serve warm.

Mom's Quick and Easy Pancakes

I don't know whose Mom's pancakes these are, but I'm grateful to her for this recipe! I was never a plain pancake fan until now. (Of course I'm a fan of my dad's whole wheat blender pancakes and MDB sourdough, but those were the exception.)

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 T baking powder
2 T sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 T melted butter
1 cup milk
1 egg

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl and liquids in another. Gradually pour and mix dry ingredients into liquids (or vice-versa, doesn't matter). Cook 'em up and enjoy!