Sticky Buns!

One of my favorite meals is breakfast. I especially love when I get to sit on the couch and actually enjoy breakfast. On Sunday, I made a Sticky Bun breakfast ring for my lovely visitors. My house was jam packed all weekend - and I was on cloud 9.

Thanks to pinterest, I found and used The Jones Way recipe found here. 

Before

You'll Need:

2 small tubes refrigerator buttermilk biscuits

1/2 C. pancake syrup 

1/3 C. packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Click here to follow Nicole's delicious recipe. Your breakfast eaters will enjoy as much as mine did!

Delicious & Sweet

Happy Monday! 

Breakfast with Martha!

I decided to make breakfast for the fam Christmas morning and I went with the recipe guru herself, Martha. 

Bacon, Egg, and Toast Cups from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 8 slices white or whole-wheat sandwich bread
  • 6 slices bacon
  • 6 large eggs
  • Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions

1. 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 edge of cup. Use extra bread to patch any gaps. Brush bread with remaining butter.
2. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium, until almost crisp, 4 minutes, flipping once. (It will continue to cook in the oven.) Lay 1 bacon slice in each bread cup and crack an egg over each. Season with salt and pepper. Bake until egg whites are just set, 20 to 25 minutes. Run a small knife around cups to loosen toasts. Serve immediately.

Ready to Eat!

Hot Chocolate and Bacon, Egg, and Toast cups!

Have a great new year! Here's to a fantastic 2012!

Rise and Shine!

Horror struck again at 8:00 AM when my stomach began rumbling like an angry hippo and I realized that my breakfast was a lousy one. Thankfully, I have plan time at 9:00 and I scarfed down a granola bar. Whew! Close one.

Then, it was as if Kraft was reading my mind and magically decided to send me an email with their latest recipes. Woot woot! While clicking through their website (productivity at its finest), I was intrigued by their "Morning Rise and Dine Cups." When I got home, I rummaged through my supplies and pulled out what ingredients I had in my 'ol fridge.

Rise & Dine! It's muffin time. 

The peppers are in hiding. 

Warning: 409 is not and ingredient. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Interested yet? Feast your eyes on the recipe courtesy of Kraft Foods: 

what you need

1 can (6 oz.) refrigerated biscuits (5 biscuits)

1-1/4 cups  cholesterol-free egg product

1/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers

3   green onions, sliced

1/2 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese, divided

make it

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

SEPARATE biscuits; cut each crosswise in half. Press each into 4-inch round. Place 1 dough round in each of 10 muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray.

COMBINE egg product, peppers, onions and 1/4 cup cheese; spoon into cups.

BAKE 15 min. or until centers are set. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; bake 5 min. or until melted.

I put my muffins in the oven and parked my boo-tay outside to enjoy the weather (and grade papers).  I even downloaded and "EZ Grader" app on my phone to make the process EZ-er. I felt really cool after doing so. 

Treasures, anyone?

But of course, I wanted to experience the best of both worlds so I propped my door open and watched TV simultaneously. Why am I watching TV all night long you ask? One reason:

My favorite 6 friends are now on Nick@Nite! So naturally, I had to watch the BEST of Friends this evening. It's completely irrelevant that I own all 10 seasons and can quote them for memory. Doesn't matter people! A marathon is a marathon!

Brilliant. 

Now, I'm sure you're wondering how those muffins taste....

So am I! Ask me tomorrow because I'll be enjoying one for breakfast. 

A Little "Sammich" for Your Morning

"I could write a blog, I have thoughts." -Julia & Julia

Anyone else spending their Sunday glued to the TV like me? It's a beautiful thing after a great weekend with my girly-friends!

On Friday morning, I concocted a little breakfast dish that I had to share. On Pinterest, I found this photo and the wheels started turning.

Shutter Bean has a fun post about frying an egg inside a bell pepper and throwing it into your regular 'ol breakfast sandwich. YUM. I could spend the rest of my life eating breakfast sandwiches. I love everything about them and unfortunately they can add up (even at $2 a piece!) plus they aren't the healthiest for you!

My absolute favorite breakfast sandwich was brought into this world by Starbucks. Starbucks has brought us many delightful things, but this sandwich takes the cake!

Bacon, Gouda and Egg on Artisan bread

Let's stay focused here or I may have to hop on over to Starbucks and eat one for dinner!

Last year, I started making quick breakfast sandwiches in the morning as a quick "out the door" meal. People would later ride in my car and wonder why so many plates were roaming in the back seat. Blame the sandwich!

My breakfast sandwiches consist of:

1 bagel (toasted)
1 egg
1 cheese (american, or pepperjack tastes great too!)

I fry the egg (no juicy yolks for me!) and place it on my warm sandwich and scoot to work.

Friday, I added the pepper! I cracked my egg inside of a red bell pepper and let her cook. I assembled my sandwich and headed out the door. Warning: don't be too distracted by your sandwich and forget your lunch! :)

It was a heavenly meal for breakfast and I would highly recommend it! If you're the more adventurous type, you should test out Shutter Bean's recipe.

Bell Pepper Egg-in-a-hole

2 teaspoons olive oil

(recipe EVERYDAY Food Magazine)

• 1 bell pepper (any color) cut into four 1/2 inch thick rings
• 4 large eggs
• coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 slices multi-grain bread (I use English Muffins)

In a large cast-iron skillet or nonstick pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add bell pepper and cook for 1 minute. Crack 1 egg into the middle of each pepper ring. Season with salt & pepper and cook until the egg whites are mostly set but yolks are still runny, 2 to 3 minutes. Gently flip and cook 1 minute more for over easy. Sprinkle with Parmesan and place egg on a slice of toast- or serve with an English muffin like I did!

This recipe serves 4 people.

Now, I only have a short amount of time to buzz to the store, pick up a few things from school, and park my butt back on the couch where it belongs for the VMA's!

"Breakfast"

I wanted to think of a fancy title for this breakfast series. Here are a few I came up with:

"Let's Find Jordon Something FILLING to Eat So She Doesn't Have to Eat McDonalds Everyday"

"Let's Find Something Really Great for Jordon to Eat For Breakfast That is QUICK and EASY"

I stopped after that and realized titling things is not in my job description. I decided to make this one easy by naming it, "Breakfast".

It all started with this image that popped into my life via Pinterest. Naturally I was drawn to it because:
a. It's food
b. It's multiple photos of food

Need I say more?

Keep Your Diet Real posted 20 quick ideas for breakfast. GENIUS! Wahoo! YIPPIE! Just what I was looking for. This week, I have been making a conscious effort to make delicious breakfast before life gets too crazy.

To begin, I closed my eyes and pointed at a random photo. When my finger landed on no where near the photo I decided to pick number five first. Now my friends, meet contestant number fiiiiiiiiiiiive: (cue applause)

Keep Your Diet Real photo

Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip

Ingredients

• 4 oz honey flavored Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1.5 Tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoons of peanut butter
• 2 oz Reduced fat cream cheese, softened

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Chill in the refrigerator for 15+ minutes or serve immediately. Store in the refrigerator.
3. Serving suggestion: 2 tablespoons of dip with ½ cup fresh fruit or sliced apples.

Oh LAWDY! This dip was amazing. Literally, as I continued with each bite of my apple I thought I was going to end up licking my ziplock container. Don't worry, I'm not an animal! I resisted temptation. 

The best part was, it filled me up! My stomach wasn't tossing and turning at 9:00 AM. I actually made it until lunch (very important for teachers!!)

For Tuesday, I decided to jump on the smoothie bandwagon. If you can't tell, I kind of enjoy jumping on bandwagons. 

To be honest, I wanted to jump on this bandwagon a few months ago. Sadly, it didn't work out that way. One morning while searching my kitchen for something yummy to eat I decided, "ah-ha! I'll make a smoothie!" I gathered some ingredients and started to look for my blender. Then I realized I didn't have a blender. 

Needless to say, it's extremely difficult to blend things without a blender. A few months later, I invested in a blender so I could really jump on this bandwagon.

I borrowed a delicious smoothie recipe from Yum Sugar and started blending.

The Basic Classic Smoothie
From Michael Sweeney

Ingredients

6 frozen strawberries*
3/4 cup plain, low-fat yogurt (feel free to substitute a flavored yogurt for plain: strawberry and blueberry work well)
1 banana
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon of honey
protein powder or flax, optional

Directions

1. Place the frozen strawberries in the blender. Let sit for 10-15 minutes, so they have time to thaw.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and blend. Check consistency: if too watery, add more yogurt. If too thick, add more orange juice.
3. Pour into a glass and enjoy!

Makes 1 smoothie.

I grabbed my smoothie from the fridge this morning and had several smoothie fouls. It leaked on my desk, purse, and inside my car. It was probably on my face all day, too.

I think for the time being I'm hopping off this smoothie band wagon.