Pumpkin Cranberry Breakfast Cookies

I saw this in our paper and thought they looked good.  I was thinking of making these and packing them in kids lunch with some yogurt and fruit/vegetables.  I think I could incorporate chia seeds or something like that, give it a little boost in nutrients.  It is kind of high in sugar but probably no more than a PBJ? (which we do a lot for lunches!)

Pumpkin Cranberry Breakfast Cookies

2 cups canned pumpkin puree
2 large organic eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup olive oil
4 cups whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup dried organic cranberries
1 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixer, combine pumpkin, eggs, sugar, vanilla and olive oil. Combine using paddle attachment until just incorporated.
In a large bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture in 1-cup batches, scraping the sides of the bowl between each round. Once all of the flour is combined, gently fold in dried cranberries and dark chocolate.
Using a large spoon, drop balls of dough onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, spacing a few inches apart. Bake for approximately 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely on sheet pans. Remove and store in an airtight container.

credit goes to Chef Rita French via Arizona Republic.

Broiled Tomatoes

I like to have these with eggs for breakfast.

Heat broiler. Place tomatoes cut side up. Drizzle with oil & sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil until tender 2 to 3 min.

Belgian Waffles

I had to post this recipe before it got lost in the other loose recipes floating around in my cupboard. Ryan's cousin gave this recipe to me for Christmas with Belgian waffle iron and I love it. I almost never made waffles until I got this recipe. Now we have waffles a lot.

Ingredients:
2 Egg yolks
5 T Sugar
1 1/2 t Vanilla
1/2 c Butter (melted)
1 t Salt
2 3/4 c Flour
2 3/4 t Baking powder
2 c Warm milk
2 Egg whites

Directions:
1. In a large bowl beat together egg yolks and sugar. Beat in vanilla, butter and salt. Mix in flour, baking powder, and milk.
2. In another bowl beat egg whites until they have peaks. Fold into batter. (The original recipe says to let the batter stand for 40 min, but I never do. I am to hungry to wait, but if you have the time give it a try other wise they are great without the wait).
3. Preheat iron and cook until golden brown. Makes 9-10 waffles.

*The waffles rise quite a bit, don't overfill iron.
*add some corn starch to make them more crunchy

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

I was looking for a new pancake recipe the other day and I was going through all of my cookbooks and in a few of the ward recipe books that I have had recipes for whole wheat pancakes that you mix in a blender. I was highly skeptical, but I thought I would give one of them a try. Especially since it was in more than one cookbook (though the recipes were slightly different). We ended up liking them and have made them twice since. And best of all they are healthy.

In a blender, add:
1 cup milk
1 cup uncooked, unground wheat
Blend for 4 to 5 minutes on high. Then add 1/2 more milk and blend to 1 to 2 more minutes.
Add:
2 Eggs
2 TBSP. Oil
2 TBSP. Honey
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 salt
Blend on low for 1 to 2 min.

How to cook Perfect Bacon

A few times a year, when we decide to make some tasty bacon, I need these instructions. I thought I'd post here for all to enjoy.

How to make perfect Bacon (About.com):

Line a baking sheet with foil. This will make cleanup easier later.

Arrange bacon slices on the foil and place the baking sheet on the center rack of a cold oven.

Close oven door. Turn oven on to 400°F. Walk away.

Come back 17 to 20 minutes later. As soon as the bacon is golden brown, but not excessively crisp, it's done. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the bacon slices, and also on how quickly your oven reaches the target temperature.

Remove the pan from the oven. Transfer the bacon to another sheet pan lined with paper towels to absorb the fat. You can pour the liquid fat into a heat-resistant container to save for other uses.

Tips:

Don't pre-heat the oven! Make sure the oven is cold when you put the bacon in.

Keep your eye on the bacon during the final few minutes of cooking to make sure that it doesn't burn. Also, remove the cooked bacon from the hot pan right away. The heat from the pan and the hot bacon fat will continue cooking the bacon.

You can slightly undercook the bacon, then cool it and freeze it in a zipper bag. Then, to reheat, cook two slices in the microwave on medium power for 30 seconds or so.

Variation: Sprinkle bacon with brown sugar or freshly ground black pepper before baking.

Hot Pink Smoothie

I was excited about Janey's green smoothie post so I thought I'd post about the hot pink smoothies I make.  I have smoothies everyday for breakfast and alternate between the green and hot pink ones.  I'm no Green Smoothie Girl, but this is my version of her recipe.

1-2 cups water (or you can use coconut water or a mixture of water and coconut water)
1/2 medium beet
5-7 baby carrots (or 1 medium carrot peeled)
3-6 dates depending on size (pitted, of course)
1/4-1/3 cup nuts (I mainly use walnuts b/c they are cheapest at Costco.  But I've also used cashews and pecans)
2 tbsp flax seeds
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 banana
1/3-1/2 cup kefir (or 2 tbsp yogurt) - any flavor
1 tsp vanilla
8-12 frozen strawberries

Chop your ingredients and blend away!  I use a regular Oster blender for my smoothies.  I find that the more liquid I use, the better the blending process goes.  I usually blend all the non-frozen ingredients really well before adding the strawberries.  This usually makes a 3/4 blender size smoothie for me.  Enjoy!!

TIP:  I buy my beets with as much stem and leaf that I can find.  I cut the green leafy part off, wash really well and use that in my green smoothies.  I cut the red stems off, wash really well and use those in my pink smoothies.  So, nothing except the beet peel and root gets thrown out.

Pumpkin Pancakes and Buttermilk Syrup

We love pumpkin pancakes, but have not had Bisquick to make the ones in the family recipe book. I tried making them with a just add water pancake mix but I didn't like the way they tasted. So, last night I looked for a recipe I could make from scratch, and this is the recipe I found. I tweaked the original recipe a little bit after reading some of the comments. They were so good we had them for dinner last night and breakfast this morning. We like buttermilk syrup with our pumpkin pancakes, so I put the recipe for that below. Enjoy!!!

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice (I used pumpkin pie spice and a dash of ground cloves)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree(Libby's is the best)
  
• 2 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons vinegar

1. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Tip: Pumpkin pancakes take longer to cook than regular pancakes.

Buttermilk Syrup

1 cube real butter
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups white sugar

Melt butter, add buttermilk and sugar. Stir to dissolve. Bring to a boil, remove from heat add:

1 tsp soda (Make sure the pan is large, soda expands mixture)
1 tsp vanilla

Baked French Toast

1 loaf of bread (i use white)

8 eggs mix together and then pour a little down in the pan (9x13) and then put down about 2 or 3 layers of bread and pour mixture and repeat till gone. have the bread touch all sides of the pan. You want the bread to be wet. I usually
3 cups milk have to pour a little on the top edges. They spread the topping on and cook about 45-50 min on 350.
1/2 c sugar
1 Tbs. vanilla
1/4 tsp salt Topping: 1/2 cube butter (melted) 1/2 c. brown sugar 2 Tbs. karo syrup





Carmel syrup ( it is very rich and I usually only need one batch for a double of the french toast)
2 Cup sugar
1 tsp soda
2 1/2 Tbs. buttermilk powder (in baking isle. round container. I had a hard time finding it)
2/3 c water
2 Tbs. Caro syrup
1 cup butter
2 tsp vanilla


whisk dry ingred. in separate bowl

combine all wet in a bowl except the vanilla

add dry to wet (not vanilla)
bring to boil about 7 min.
stir in vanilla
will turn from white to brown as it cools

I went to my friends house and she served this. It was super yummy. I haven't made it myself, she just sent it to me and I decided the best place to save it was on our blog. :) Enjoy.

Janey's "Green" Smoothies

This smoothie changed my life. I know that's a bold statement, but it's true!

A few people have asked me to post my smoothie recipe on here, and while I'm no "green smoothie girl" I do think I make a pretty mean green smoothie. Below is my "Magic bullet" size recipe.

1/2 cup vanilla soymilk or vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup chopped up, frozen greens (kale, spinach, &/or chard)

Blend well--like, for a full minute. No one wants a gnarly patch of spinach in their drink!

Add:

1/2 cup Greek or Non-fat Plain Yogurt (okay, or Vanilla or flavored if you want it sweeter, but I think it tastes better with plain...)
1/4-1/2 cup frozen fruit

Blend again. Drink!

Tips:
--When I buy my greens I soak them for at least 3 minutes in cold water and try to rinse them off really well, even if they are organic. Spinach and Kale are both in the Dirty Dozen.
--After I soak my greens I usually take out the cores and "thick" parts of the veggies, and then I chop them up, throw them in a ziploc, and freeze them. Then you can chunk off your "daily" portion when you want it without fear of it going bad. It also chops up finer if it's frozen.
--If you can fit more than 1/2 cup of greens in, do it! I have so much more energy the days I have a green smoothie.
--Blueberries cover up the "green" color
--Pineapple hides any bitterness from the "greens"
--Raspberries make it gritty because of the seeds. I avoid raspberries in smoothies even though I love them in real life.
--Peaches are divine.
--If the fruit is frozen, it makes it a frozen treat instead of a mushy drink. Also, I don't use ice because i haaaaaaate ice chunks in my smoothies. I'd rather have a hunk of frozen blueberry!

Scrambled Eggs

Here are a few of my favorite recipes from the book Deceptively Delicious. Jolene gave me this book for Christmas a few years ago. I think all the recipes I like call for pured cauliflower. I usually steam a whole head of cauliflower and when its soft I add a little water and puree it. Then I freeze whatever I don't use in little zip lock bags.

2 large eggs

4 large egg whites

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream

1/2 cup cauliflower puree

2 tablespoons grated parmesan

pinch of salt

Nonstick cooking spray

Wisk together eggs, egg whites, sour cream, cauliflower puree, parmesan, and salt. Coat pan with nonstick cooking spray over, then set pan over meduim high heat. Cook eggs.

Cap'n Crunch French Toast

Jimmy and I saw the Comfort Food episode of Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network recently. They spotlighted Baltimore's Blue Moon Café which makes Cap'n Crunch French Toast.

Jimmy thought he'd give it a try. We just did our french toast with eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and sugar and dipped it in the crushed cereal. But here's the recipe if anyone wants to give the fancy version a try.

Cap’n Crunch French Toast
recipe by Melanie Knight- inspired by Blue Moon Café

4 cups Cap’n Crunch original cereal (no Crunch Berries)
10 slices Texas bread (thick sliced bread)
4 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
10 tablespoons butter
Whipped cream for topping
1 pint strawberries
½ pound seedless grapes

Place the cereal in a casserole dish and crunch it into crumbs with the bottom of a glass.

Mix the eggs, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon together and place in a shallow dish. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Take 1 slice of brad, dip both sides in the egg mixture, then coast with the Cap’n Crunch crumbs.

Cook each side 2-3 minutes until light brown. Repeat for the other 9 slices of bread.

Stack 2 French toasts on the center of the plate. Top with a generous helping of whipped cream and strawberries and grapes.

Makes 5 servings

Wheat Berry Waffles or Pancakes

Tricia's friend Matt made these for us when I went to KC. They were so good.


1 c. Wheat berries - rinsed and drained
1 1/2 c. Milk
1/3 c. Oil - applesauce may be used for half the oil.
1 egg
1 Tbsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 Tbsp. Pure maple syrup or honey

Put milk in blender. Add wheat berries and blend for 5 mins. Add oil, egg, salt, and maple syrup. Blend for 15 seconds. Add baking powder and blend just to mix in. The batter will start to rise. Bake as waffles or pancakes.

As an alternate to butter and syrup, you can serve the waffles with the following - applesauce and whipped cream and pecans
Or rasperry jam and sour cream
Or diced fruit and whipped cream.

Janey's German Pancakes

In the past few weeks, I've been craving breakfast food....a lot! German Pancakes have the least dishes and easiest cleanup, so I've had the chance to perfect my recipe!!!

2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Flour
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 Tsp. Cinnamon (or more...)

Put everything in the bowl and mix just enough to break up the eggs. Heat the Oven to 425 with a 9" cake pan in it--when the oven is hot, melt 1 notch (is it a tsp or a tbsp?...just the notch on the butter...) in the pan, and swirl it around so that butter covers the entire bottom of the pan. Pour the batter in the pan and bake for 15 minutes.

My favorite toppings are fresh peach jam (if you want some i have a freezer full!) a little bit of powdered sugar, and buttermilk syrup. MMMMMm I might go make another one!

Sourdough Pancakes

These have become my favorite pancakes. I love these with buttermilk syrup. The only thing is you have to remember to start them the night before.

Sourdough Pancakes
1 large egg - lightly beaten
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 TBSP water
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsps. butter - melted

Starter:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsps. yeast
2 cups milk

In a bowl whisk together 1 1/2 cups of the flour, yeast and 1 cup of the milk. Let mixture stand in a warm place, covered loosely, overnight.
Whisk 1/2 cup milk into the starter. Dissolve baking soda in 2 TBSP. hot water. Add to the starter, remaining flour, egg, salt, sugar, baking soda mixture, butter, and remaining 1/2 cup of milk; whisk until the mixture is combined well. Heat and grease griddle, then cook pancakes.

Pineapple Upside-Down Biscuits

I found this Paula Deen recipe about a month ago and I have made it a few times now. And I really like it. I don't have any maraschino cherries so I haven't used them. Also one time I added a little cinnamon to the butter, sugar, and pineapple mix, I really liked it and will probably add cinnamon every time now. If you like pineapple upside-down cake you will probably like these too.

• 1 (10-ounce) can crushed pineapple
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 10 maraschino cherries
• 1 (12-ounce) package refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (10 count) or homemade biscuits

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Grease 10 cups of a muffin tin. Strain the can of crushed pineapple, save juice for later. Combine the pineapple, sugar, and butter, and mix well. Divide the pineapple mixture among the muffin cups. Place a cherry in the center of each muffin cup, making sure cherry hits bottom of cup. Place 1 biscuit in each cup on top of sugar and pineapple mixture. Spoon 1 teaspoon reserved pineapple juice over each biscuit. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden. Cool for 2 minutes. Invert the pan onto a plate to release the biscuits. Serve warm.

Katie's Famous Granola

My roommate Katie used to make this granola almost every week. I have to say it's among the best ever. And you don't need a granola roaster pan!!

3 cups oats (I use whole oats, not the quick kind)
1/4 cup and 2tbsp of brown sugar
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup walnuts/pecans (or really any kind of nut you want)
1 tsp cinnamon (if you like cinnamon, I do)

1/4 cup and 2tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup oil (vegetable, olive, canola whatever ya got)
1 tsp salt

Mix the two sets seperately, then combine.
Put on jellyroll sheet.
Bake for 1 hour on 200, stirring every twenty minutes. For the last twenty minutes you can add about 1/4 cup of light karo syrup and mix it in if you want clumpy granola. If you want it cruchier, bake it for an extra twenty minutes.

Cool for 30 mins, then add mix-ins. (My personal favorites are dark & white chocolate chips and craisins.)

Streusel Coffee Cake

This Streusel Coffee Cake recipe used to be on the back of the Bisquick box. A friend made this for us so we looked up the recipe and made it this morning for breakfast.

Streusel Coffee Cake

Cinnamon Streusel
1/3 cup Bisquick® mix
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons firm butter or margarine

Coffee Cake
2 cups Bisquick® mix
2/3 cup milk or water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Grease 9-inch round pan. In small bowl, stir streusel ingredients until crumbly; set aside.

2. In medium bowl, mix coffee cake ingredients until blended. Spread in pan. Sprinkle with streusel.

3. Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Heat oven to 425°F. Use 9-inch square pan. Stir 2 tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour into the 2 cups Bisquick® mix. Increase milk to 3/4 cup. Bake 15 to 20 minutes.

These were some suggestions in the reviews:
(suggested 1/4 cup sugar in batter)
(suggested 1 tsp vanilla in batter)
(suggested double topping and use knife to swirl into batter)
(suggested add 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce to batter to help moisten the cake)
(suggested add cinnamon to batter)

I just added a little more sugar in the batter, a little vanilla, a little cinnamon in the batter, and 2 Tbsp applesauce.  The reviews indicated that the original recipe was a little dry.  I did not follow High Altitude directions.

Cinnamon Apple Pancakes

I woke up this morning to Jimmy making these pancakes. He found the recipe on All Recipes. He said they weren't amazing, but they were good. Surprisingly, I really liked them. And Abe said, "These are really yummy. Thanks for making them dad." And Abe hardly eats anything!! Plus it's one more way to get some whole wheat in your diet.

2 cups whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups fat-free milk
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium apple - peeled, cored and chopped
(suggested add-ins: a little more cinnamon, a little vanilla, and 1-2 Tbsp lemon juice)

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Combine the eggs, milk, honey and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Add apple.

Pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto a hot nonstick skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray. Turn when bubbles form on top; cook until second side is golden brown.

Seven Wives Inn Granola

8 cups oats, not instant
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups wheat germ (optional)
8 oz. almonds
8 oz. cashews
3 oz. sunflower seeds
8 oz. coconut
3 oz. flax seeds (optional)
1/2 cups water
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cups raising/craisins (optional)

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Heat water, oil, honey, and peanut butter until it begins to bubble. Add vanilla and pour over dry ingredients. Mix well and spread on two large cookie sheets. Bake in 200 degree oven for about two hours or until coconut is golden. Stir occasionally while baking. Add craisins when cool. Store in an airtight container.

Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Coffee Cake

So, I had never made coffee cake before, but last weekend I had run out of muffin mixes and needed a ready breakfast for the next morning that was faster than cold cereal for on the run, and I found this... it is really yum and easy.

BROWN SUGAR AND CINNAMON COFFEE CAKE

3/4 c. butter, softened
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. sour cream
Filling (recipe follows)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12 cup bundt pan. In large mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt alternately with sour cream. Spread 1/3 of batter (about 2 cups) in pan and sprinkle with 1/3 of filling (about 6 tablespoons). Repeat twice.

Bake 60 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. This is my best coffee cake recipe and the one that always gets the most compliments.

FILLING: Mix 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. (no walnuts for me)