Zucchini waffles

So, I started with a recipe, it was too liquidy, then I added some pancake mix, it was too dry, then I added more egg, milk, and zucchini and it was perfect. I've estimated what I used:

What I had:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup fine corn meal
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 medium zucchini finely shredded
• 2 eggs
• 1.5 cups milk
• 4 tbsp olive oil

What I did:

• Mixed the dry ingredients
• Added the wet ingredients and whisked it together
• Poured into waffle maker till it told me it was done
• Served with sunny side up eggs for Oliver, and egg whites for Jeff and myself
• Poured some hot sauce and yummmmmmy

Crab quiche

What I had:

• 8 oz crab meat
• 1 can pillsbury crescent roll
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup chopped poblano peppers
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 8 eggs beaten
• Salt, pepper, paprika to taste
• Old Bay, as much as you can handle

What I did:

• Sautéed the onions, and both peppers in a tablespoon of olive oil for a couple minutes
• Added salt, pepper, paprika and mix well
• Added the crab meat and Old Bay, tasting as I went
• Pre-heated the oven to 375
• Unrolled the crescents and layered a 9" pie dish, cutting and replacing as needed, pinching together any seams
• Baked for 6 minutes
• Whisked the sautéed mixture into the eggs, and poured into partially baked crust
• Baked for 40-45 minutes till edges are brown and the filling is set
• Enjoyed with my favorite hot sauce

Southern biscuit & sausage gravy casserole

What I had:

• 1 can Pillsbury Southern style biscuits
• 1 lb hot sausage, browned and drained
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1packet gravy mix
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• Salt & pepper to taste

What I did:

• Cut the biscuits into quarters and lined a greased 9X13 pan
• Layered the crumbled sausage on top of the biscuits
• Layered the shredded cheese on top of the sausage

• Whisked the eggs and milk together with salt and pepper, poured it on top of the cheese

• Made the gravy according to package instructions and poured it over everything

• Baked 55 minutes at 350 degrees

• Enjoyed it a lot with some cholula hot sauce!

Things to change for next time:

• Double the amount of sausage
• Lower the amount of salt - there was enough in the sausage and the gravy mix
• Mix the eggs, milk and gravy together before pouring it over the biscuits and sausage

Rolled up French toast

What I had:

• Challah bread
• Eggs
• Confectioners' sugar
• Cinnamon
• Cream cheese
• Strawberry lavender jam (or whatever flavor you have)
• Chocolate chips

What I did:

• Cut the crust off the challah bread slices
• Created a spread with 2 tablespoon cream cheese and 2 tablespoon jam
• Spread that on half the slices
• Poured chocolate chips on the other half

• Rolled up the slices 

• Whisked eggs, cinnamon and sugar together
• Dipped the rolled up pieces of bread in the egg mixture

• Fried it on medium heat in a pan sprayed with Pam

• Made sure all sides were golden brown

• Rolled them in a sugar-cinnamon mix
• Enjoyed with or without forks
• Got 20 thumbs up from my 5 year old

Biscuit wafles stuffed with omelets

Biscuit waffles stuffed with cheesy omelet

What I had:

• Pillsbury Grands biscuits
• 9 eggs
• shredded cheese - I used taco style
• red onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• paprika
• garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• butter

What I did:

• Melted butter on griddle
• sauteed garlic till entire 3300 square foot house smelled of garlic
• added onions till soft
• added crumbled bacon (because I don't need an excuse to bacon)
• beat eggs with salt, pepper and paprika and added to griddle
• cooked till it somewhat resembled a large omelet
• put biscuits on a baking sheet
• cut them 3/4ths of the way
• put a piece of omelet inside each biscuit, topped with some cheese and then closed it up
• placed 4 on each side of my waffle maker (it's 2 sided, we are fancy that way)

• once they were done, placed them back on the baking sheet, added more cheese (because it's cheese)
• broiled them in the oven for 5 minutes till cheese was melted and tops were even more brown (because it's cheese and burned cheese is even better)

• ate them with condiments of choice
• Jeff had none
• Oli used ketchup
• I used my previously made Jamaican Jerk marinade as salsa

 Notes for future: as you can see from the top photo, I totally could have stuffed it more (that's what she said ....)

Spinach pancakes

or sneak some veggies into your breakfast pancakes :-)

What I had:

• 1 cup tightly packed spinach
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup flour of your choice (I used all purpose)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• spray/butter/oil for frying

What I did:

•  combined spinach, yogurt, egg and oil in a blender till smooth
• in another bowl, sifted the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt till well mixed
• slowly whisked wet ingredients into dry
• poured a tablespoon at a time on a greased iron griddle
• cooked till brown

Ate till gone!

Lower carb egg white strata

I call it lower carb because I used the new Pepperidge Farm Light bread that has 9 grams of carbs per slice, versus the usual 12 or up. If you are watching carbs, every little gram helps.

What I had:

• 12 slices Pepperidge Farm Light Style 7 grain bread
• 4 ounces pancetta, cubed
• 12 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and water squeezed out of it
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 ounces of Cabot Hot Habanero Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 16 ounce containers of  egg whites

What I did:

• Heated the garlic till fragrant, added pancetta and cooked till brown
• Added spinach and bell peppers and cooked till soft
• Cut bread slices into 9 pieces each and spread across the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan
• Sprinkled the cooked vegetables over the bread
• Sprinkled the cheese over the vegetables
• Poured the egg whites over everything
• Baked at 375 degrees for 30 minutes
• Checked and left them in there for another 10 minutes

Look at the beautiful colors:

It didn't fluff up as a regular egg one would but it's delicious nonetheless:

Zucchini feta flapjacks

I had torn this recipe out of a Parenting magazine for zucchini feta flapjacks. I thought I had everything listed but I didn't so I adjusted the quantities. As you can see, they are toddler approved.

What I had:

• 2 zucchinis shredded
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp oregano

 What I did:

• Heated small fry pan with spray olive oil
• Mixed all ingredients together well
• Dropped spoonfuls onto fry pan so it made a thin pancake, cooked about 2 minutes on each side
• Served with yogurt on the side

My ingredients made 8 flapjacks, I calculated 2 per serving and it was only 95 calories.

Oven baked breakfast casserole

We had friends coming over this morning and I promised them the slow cooker breakfast I have made before. The only problem was Oli decided to sleep in and by the time I got myself up and going, I didn't have the 4 hrs needed for my crock pot. So, I looked at some recipes online, looked at what was in my fridge and decided to try an oven casserole that could be baked in an hour. If I might say so myself, it was successful.



What I had:

• 32 oz bag of tater tots
• 10 eggs
• 1 medium onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed and diced finely
• Green Giant frozen vegetables (I had the antioxidant blend with the olive oil)
• 1 cup shredded cheese, I used the Mexican mix

What I did:

• Turned oven on to 350 degrees
• Cooked the garlic on medium heat in a tablespoon of olive oil till we could smell it in the entire house
• Added onions and cooked till they were soft and translucent
• Added the frozen veggies and cooked till soft
• Beat the 10 eggs in a large mixing bowl, added the vegetable mix and cheese to it
• Added the tater tots and mix well
• Poured into a greased 9X11 pan
• Baked in the pre-heated oven for 1 hour or till the middle is cooked through
• Served with some crescent rolls, scones and fresh fruit that friends are generous enough to bring over

Egg cups

What I had:

• 12 eggs
• thinly sliced ham and roast beef
• onions, bell peppers, chopped and cooked for 5 minutes

What I did:

• Layered 2 slices of meat each in a muffin tin
• Put a spoonful of vegetables in the bottom of this meat cup
• Crack open an egg and carefully pour it over the vegetables
• Bake at 375 for 16-20 minutes. I started at 12 minutes, and it wasn't nearly enough, so I kept adding 2.5 minutes till I was done. I think I did close to 20 minutes but they might have been slightly overdone.
• Enjoy!

Slow cooker breakfast

What I had:

• 32 oz frozen tater tots (you can use hashbrowns or O'brien style potatoes)
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 medium bell pepper, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup julienne cut sun dried tomatoes
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan-Romano cheese
• 12 eggs
• salt, pepper to taste

What I did:

• Cook garlic in a little bit of oil till fragrant, add onions and bell peppers and cook till slightly soft. Add sun dried tomatoes.
• Spray the inside of your slow cooker (I have a 6 quart oval one)
• Layer half of the frozen potatoes on the bottom
• Spread the vegetable mixture on the potatoes
• Spread half of both cheese on top of the vegetables
• Repeat potatoes, veggies and cheese one more time
• Beat eggs with salt and pepper and pour over the mixture
• Cook on high for 4 hrs
• ENJOY!

I wasn't sure from the look of it if it was good, but brunch guests raved about it. I didn't even get a before photo, so I apologize for the half eaten photo :)

Vegetarian rosti

What I had:

• bag of frozen hashbrowns
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 jalapenos, diced
• 1 pint mushrooms, sliced
• olive oil, 2 tbsp
• salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne pepper to taste
• 4 eggs
• shredded cheese (I used Mexican style mix)

What I did:

• sauteed the onions, peppers and jalapenos in a little bit of olive oil till soft, add mushrooms and spices and cook for another minute. Set aside
• browned the hashbrowns in a 12 inch pan till they are well done (or crispy to your liking)(they should cover the bottom of the pan)
• layered the vegetable mix over the potatoes
• whisked the eggs and poured over the vegetable mix
• sprinkle shredded cheese over eggs
• covered and cooked till eggs were cooked through

Enjoy!

Egg white frittata

What I had:

• 2 cup egg whites
• 1 cup frozen spinach
• 1 medium white onion chopped
• 1/2 bell pepper, chopped
• 2 jalapeno peppers, diced
• salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

What I did:

• saute the onions and both types of peppers till soft
• add spinach and cook for 2 minutes
• add salt, pepper and garlic powder
• pour the egg whites over the veggies
• cover the skillet and let it cook for 10 minutes or till eggs are cooked through 

Enjoy with your favorite fruits on the side.

Strata

I found this idea when I was searching for vegetarian options for a brunch I was hosting. A strata is a  layered baked dish of eggs, bread, cheese, and often sausage, vegetables, and herbs, according to dictionary.com.


As part of my healthy eating initiative, I've been making breakfast items with egg whites over the weekend for the whole week. So, I'll make omelets, or a quiche and divide it into servings to last through the week. I figured baking a breakfast strata would be a wonderful way to change things up a bit.

What I used:

• 7 slices Italian bread, torn into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 10 slices hot sopressata cut into quarters (you can use your favorite meats)
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 2 cups egg white
• greased 9X13 glass baking dish

 What I did:

• Layer half the bread at the bottom of the pan. Spread the bell peppers and half the meat over the bread. Sprinkle half the cheese over this.
• Layer rest of the bread over the cheese. Spread the onions and the rest of the meat. sprinkle with rest of the cheese.
• Whisk milk and egg whites together and pour over everything in the pan.
• Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 12 hrs. I left it in till the next evening.
• Bake covered at 350 for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 20 minutes. the initial recipe had called for 35 covered and 15 uncovered, but the eggs were still runny so I let it go another 15 minutes.
• Enjoy with your favorite hot sauce!

I didn't even use any salt or pepper, and it tasted delicious. You can add seasonings if you want but the hot sopressatta I used provided enough seasoning.