Breakfast Wraps

I have a new addiction.  I go through addictions with food and the only way to get rid of them, is to give in to the cravings…a lot.  Then, eventually they will go away.  Previous addictions include: peanut butter and bananas (yeah, a raw banana and a spoon of peanut butter straight from the jar), dark chocolate covered almonds and yogurt almonds.  I’m still working on the almond addiction.

However, most of my energy is focused on these things.  They are so simple – they take like 5 minutes to make and they are delicious!  I’ve actually been eating them for dinner like once a week.  Yeah, I’m out of control.

Plus, I really like that you can customize them.  You can essentially put any of your favorite breakfast flavors in there: bacon, cheese, ham, egg, taco sauce, etc.

Then you wrap it up in a delicious tortilla and it’s finger food!  Seriously though, give these a try.  You won’t be disappointed.

– 6 eggs

– 2 T milk

– 1/4 pepper

– 1 c shredded cheddar cheese (or fav cheese)

– 3/4 c diced fully cooked ham (or lunch meat style ham)

– salsa, if desired

– 4 flour tortillas, warmed

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and pepper.  Grease a large skillet and add egg mixture; cook and stir over medium heat until eggs are completely set.  Stir in cheese and ham.

Spoon egg mixture down the center of each tortilla; roll up.  Serve immediately with taco sauce or wrap in plastic wrap and freeze in a resealable plastic bag.

French Toast

As I’ve mentioned before, I love making my Zackie breakfast.  It’s usually so easy and he really enjoys it.

I decided to make him some traditional French Toast.  The fun thing about French Toast is that you can add some sugar to it (along with the pancake syrup) and it is like a breakfast dessert!  Who doesn’t love eating sweets in the morning?!

I had never made French Toast before. It’s the simplest breakfast ever (well, not as simple as my bowl of cereal, but close!).

I like that you can make a lot of it at the same time.  Griddles are so handy.  This would be a good breakfast item to serve when you have a lot of guests, because you can make as much as your griddle will hold!

You can also switch up the type of bread that you use.  I just used whole wheat sandwich bread that we had.

A fresh fruit topping (and whipped cream)would be really yummy with it, too!

Yum!  Powdered sugar!

Drizzled with syrup!

French Toast

Prep: 5 minutes.  Cook: 16 minutes.  Yield: 4 slices.

– 2 eggs

– 1/2 cup milk

– 1/2 T sugar

– 1/4 t vanilla

– 1/8 t salt

– butter

– 4 slices sandwich bread

Beat eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt with wire whisk until smooth.

Heat griddle or skillet over medium heat or to 375 degrees.  Grease griddle with butter if necessary.

Dip bread in egg mixture.  Place on griddle.  Cook about 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving and serve with pancake syrup, if desired.

Bacon, Egg, Cheese, and Toast Cups

I’ve had this recipe laying out for weeks, just waiting to get time so that I could make it for Zack.

We finally got to be home together for breakfast last weekend and I seized the opportunity to make him some of these cups!

I have such a thing for cute little packaged foods like this.  My muffin pan rarely gets used for actual muffins or cupcakes – it’s always food that you wouldn’t normally make in muffin form.

FYI – the yellow on top of the cups is cheese, not the yolk.  I didn’t look at the pictures and notice that it looked like a disgusting busted egg yolk until after Zack had eaten them.  Oh well, you get the point.

I really enjoyed making these, because I rarely get to make breakfast.  As I said before, Zack and I are barely ever home for breakfast together.  He works Tuesday-Saturday mornings from like 4 am until 10 am and I work/go to school Monday-Thursday all day.  Sunday is our one breakfast together morning and I savor it.

Enjoy this recipe, it’s fun and your family will thank you.

Bacon, Egg, Cheese, and Toast Cups

Makes 6 cups.

– 3 T butter, melted

– 8 slices whole wheat sandwich bread

– 6 slices bacon

– 6 large eggs

– coarse salt and ground pepper

– cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly butter 6 standard muffin cups.  With a rolling pin, flatten bread slices slightly and with a 4 1/4-inch cookie cutter, cut into 8 rounds.  Cut each round in half, then press 2 halves into each muffin cup, overlapping slightly and making sure bread comes up to the edge of the cup.  Use extra bread to patch any gaps.  Brush bread with remaining butter.

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium, until almost crisp, 4 minutes, flipping once.  It will continue to cook in the oven.  Lay one bacon slice in each bread cup and crack an egg over each.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bake 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese and put back in the oven for 5-10 more minutes or until egg whites are just set.  Run a small knife around cups to loosen toasts.  Serve immediately.

Multigrain Pancakes

Zack is good at making pancakes.  I’m not.  He can make them round and perfect – just like restaurant pancakes.  Mine?  Not so much.  I splatter the batter everywhere causing all of my pancakes to have tails where the batter spread too much.

Regardless, I decided to make him some multigrain pancakes.  Although they were not the prettiest pancakes, he really liked them.  I like the fact that they have whole wheat flour in them.

I am a whole wheat addict.  I like to incorporate it into as many different meals as possible as is evident throughout my posts.

While I was severely struggling to make reasonably shaped pancakes, Zack made himself some turkey sausage.  I’m a cereal-for-breakfast-every-morning type girl, but I have to admit that this combination smelled really good.

Believe me – they taste much better than they look.

Multigrain Pancakes

– 1/2 cup all purpose flour

– 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

– 1/4 cup cornmeal

– 2 tablespoons sugar

– 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

– 1/2 teaspoon salt

– 1 egg

– 1 cup buttermilk

– 2 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients.  In a small bowl, whisk the egg, buttermilk, and butter.  Stir into dry ingredients, just until moistened.

Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a hot greased griddle; turn when bubbles form on top.  Cook until the second side is golden brown.  Serve with syrup.

Whole Wheat Homemade Poptarts

Growing up, I LOVED Poptarts.  I would go months eating nothing but them for breakfast every single morning.  This actually continued until I got to college and realized that a pack of two chocolate Poptarts contains 400 calories! That broke my addiction really quick.

Nevertheless, when I came across a recipe for homemade Poptarts, I knew I had to try them.  This variety is made with whole wheat flour and has a cinnamon sugar filling, so they are probably healthier than packaged poptarts.

I actually made these a while back, but haven’t had a chance to do a post about them.  They turned out really similar looking to store-bought Poptarts.

Plus, they were delicious!  These are a good food to make for breakfast when you have a bunch of people with different tastebuds eating.  You can easily double (or triple!) the recipe and whip up a few different fillings for them and make everyone happy!  For example, you could make cinnamon sugar filling, jam/jelly filling, chocolate filling…the list is endless!

Pastry:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup butter, cut into pats

1 large egg

2 tablespoons milk

1 additional large egg (to brush on pastry)

Cinnamon Filling (enough for 6 tarts):

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, to taste

4 tsp all purpose flour

Jam Filling:

3/4 cup jam

1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon cold water

To make cinnamon filling: Whisk together the cinnamon, sugar, and flour.

To make jam filling: Mix the jam with the cornstarch and water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer, stirring, for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Make the dough: Whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Work in the butter with your fingers until pea sized lumps are still visible, and the mixture holds together when you squeeze it. Whisk the first egg and milk together and stir them into the dough, mixing just until everything is cohesive, kneading briefly on a well-floured counter if necessary.

Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a smooth rectangle about 3 x 5 inches. You can roll this out immediately or wrap each half in plastic and refrigerate up to 2 days.

Assemble the tarts: If the dough has been chilled, remove from refrigerator and allow to soften and become workable, about 15-30 minutes. Place one piece on a lightly floured work surface, and roll it into a rectangle about 1/8 in thick, large enough so it can be trimmed to an even 9 x 12 inches. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Cut each piece of dough into thirds. You’ll form 6 3×4 inch rectangles.

Beat the additional egg and brush it over the entire surface of 1st dough. This will be the inside of the tart; the egg is to help glue the lid on. PLace a heaping tablespoon of filling into the center of each rectangle, keeping a bare 1/2-inch perimeter around it. Place a second rectangle dough atop the first, using your fingertips to press firmly around the pocket of filling, sealing the dough well on all sides. Press the tines of a fork around all the edges of the rectangle. Repeat with remaining tarts.

Gently place the tarts on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Prick the top of each tart multiple times with a fork; you want to make sure steam can escape or the tarts will become billowy pillows rather than flat toaster pastries. Refrigerate the tarts uncovered for 30 minutes while you preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Bake the tarts: remove the tarts from the fridge and bake them for 20-25 minutes, until they’re a light golden brown. Cool in pan on rack.

Blueberry Scones

These little bits of deliciousness are blueberry scones.  My dad LOVES scones, so went Zack, him, and I went on vacation in August, I made a snack bag to take with us including these scones.  I’d never made scones before, and the shape they turned out didn’t really please me, but taste obviously affected by the appearance.  I’m actually planning on making some apple scones with the apples I got at the apple orchard (see Happy Fall entry), so hopefully they will be cuter.

The recipe called for any type of fresh fruit, but I used blueberries because a) blueberries were in season and b) they are delicious baked into anything.

Fruit Scones

– 1 cup sour cream

– 1 tsp baking soda

– 4 cups all purpose flour

– 1 cup sugar

– 2 tsp baking powder

– ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

– 1 tsp salt

1 cup butter

– 1 egg

– 1 cup fresh fruit of choice (blueberries, cherries, raisins, etc.)

In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt. Cut in the butter. Stir the sour cream mixture and egg into the flour mixture until just moistened. Mix in the fruit.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead them briefly. Roll or pat dough into a ¾ inch thick round. Cut into 12 wedges and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake 12-15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom.

PS – today Zack, my mom, and my stepdad went to a street festival in Bedford, VA.  They were having a silent auction and I got this glass punch bowl and 23 cups (yeah, a weird number) for only $6!  I was so excited!  Oh, and there’s Zack and I, too!