Quick Banana Bread

When Grandma showed up with 6 overripe bananas that needed used immediately and with a lack of desire time to whip up a couple batches of banana bread, I decided to try out artsyfartsymama.com's easy version. Although I would have to say this has more of a light cake with banana flavor appeal that actual banana bread, the way my kids ate through 2 loaves in 8 minutes deemed it a keeper! And hands down it is a lot easier and quicker! 

1 box yellow cake mix

2 eggs

3 overripe bananas, mashed

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix everything together and pour into greased bread pans (I find it cooks better if they aren't super thick which is why I do 2 pans. You can do just 1 pan with it being really thick if you want though). Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Egg in a Hole

Ree, from thepioneerwoman.com, has some killer recipes that this family loves. And this one has just been added to the list! My kids love (love, love!) over-easy eggs with toast and beg Mr. Amazing to make it for them often (I'm a scrambled eggs only kinda gal so they know who to ask if they want it done right haha ;). So when I found this recipe that combined the two, it was guaranteed to be a keeper. And it is! And with Grandma's hearty whole wheat bread, it only took 1-2 of these babies for the kids to be stuffed! 

1 slice of your fav bread

1 Tbsp butter

1 whole egg

Salt and Pepper to taste

With a biscuit cutter or the rim of a glass, press a hole in the center of the slice of bread. Next preheat a skillet over medium low heat and melt a tbsp of butter in it. When the butter is spread out, place the piece of bread in the skillet and crack the egg straight into the center of the hole. Cook for a good minute or so and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then flip it over with a spatula and cook another minute of so. Let it cook until the yolk feels soft without feeling over-jiggly. If using a griddle to cook (like you cook pancakes on) then butter the bread itself like you would grilled-cheese sandwiches.

Heavenly French Toast

These really are Heavenly french toast... eaten by the angels. (Ok, lame joke, I know!). But I am quite sure you will agree with me that these french toast are amazing!!!

1-2 loaves of Angel Food Cake
Eggs
Milk
Jam
Cool Whip

Cut the Angel Food Cake into slices. Mix up eggs and a little milk (just like you make normal french toast). Dip the slices into the egg mixture and cook on a preheated griddle. Serve with butter, jam and Cool Whip. Then you will eat like the angels do (ok, another lame joke, but it's no joke you will enjoy it! :)

Breakfast Casserole

I was shocked when I realized I hadn't posted this recipe yet! This is one of our biggest breakfast for dinner fav's EVER! My kids devour this pan so quickly that unfortunately, there is never enough for next night leftovers haha! This meal freezes so good, and I love to make a couple of extra pans to stick in the freezer. (Just note, that it takes quite a while to thaw out though and if not completely thawed out, plan on an extra 20-30 minutes cooking time!). 

1 lb bacon crumbled (or buy the pre-cooked crumbled bacon for an even quicker version :)

1/2 cup onion chopped

3/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped (optional. We like it both ways)

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

3/4 cup milk

12 eggs

1 pkg frozen hash browns, thawed

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Cook bacon and then remove and saute onion and pepper. Set aside. In large bowl beat milk and eggs. Add the mustard, salt and pepper. Set aside. Grease a 9x13 and spread half of the hash browns in the dish. Spread the bacon onion pepper mixture on top. Sprinkle on 1 cup of cheese. Spread remaining hash browns  over top. Pour egg mixture over the top of hash browns. Bake, uncovered at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cup of cheese (and any extra bacon if you have it) on top! Serve with toasted English muffins or bread.

Instant Oatmeal

Ahh... breakfast. The most important meal of the day. And what a better way to start it off than with hearty homemade instant oatmeal! My kids eat tons of this stuff, and we go through it quickly, so I needed a better way to make prep this so I wasn't busting out a bunch of ingredients every day or week. So my mom and I 32x'ed the recipes and figured out how to buy me a few months in between each prep session! 

What's nice about this is how versatile it is. You can use any flavors you want. You can make it stronger or more subtle. You can make as much or as little as you want. After you make, just store it in an airtight container (#10 cans are my preference). We use an electric kettle (about $13 at Walmart) so my kids can get their own breakfast without getting burned as well.

Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Oatmeal

For 32 servings

8 cups of quick oats

4 cups powdered quick oats

3 tsp salt

2 cups brown sugar

8 tsp cinnamon

For Apple Cinnamon:

Switch brown sugar for white sugar and add 4 cups chopped dried apples

Strawberry or Blueberry Oatmeal (We have also done Peach and Banana)

For 16 servings

4 cups of quick oats

2 cups powdered quick oats

1 ½ tsp salt

2 cups blueberries or strawberries

(Freeze dried or dehydrated)

1 cup non dairy creamer

1 cup white sugar

Mix everything together and put into airtight container. We don't measure out proportions. We just use 1/3 cup scoop and then the kids pour in the water to their preference!

Breakfast Pizza

I have a slight obsession with breakfast for dinner, but after having breakfast burritos almost weekly, my hubby decided we had to find another way to present it. He suggested pizza, and I figured, "why not?" Now this is one of our ultimate favs! Unfortunately there just really isn't a way to take a great pic of this pizza, but it is so good! When my brother in law first went to college and came over (starving of course), he took one look at it and decided to forgo (despite his hunger). My hubby got him to take a bite and well, next thing we knew, 1/2 the pan was gone! As he said, "It looks disgusting, but it tastes amazing!" Serve with fruit and muffins!

Dough:

1 tsp yeast

1 cup warm water

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp oil

2 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp garlic salt

1/8 tsp pepper

3 cups flour (more if needed)

1/3 cup powdered milk.

Dissolve yeast in the 1 cup of warm water. Then add salt, oil, sugar, garlic salt, and pepper. Stir and add 2 cups of flour and 1/3 cup powdered milk, gradually adding another cup of flour as needed for a good stiff dough. Knead until smooth. Let rise about an hour. Roll out thin. Bake 400 for 10-15 minutes.

Toppings:

2 cups of prepared Country Gravy (or homemade cream gravy)

1 lb cooked and crumbled bacon

12 eggs, scrambled

16 oz. hash browns, cooked

2-3 cups shredded cheese.

Spread the gravy on the dough (after you have rolled the dough out onto the pan of course! ;). Then spread hash browns and eggs (I find it works so much better if you cook the hash browns first and then while they are still in the pan, pour the beaten eggs over the hash browns and stir frequently. Then they are already combined!). Sprinkled the bacon on top and cover with cheese. So good!

Blueberry French Toast

My family loved this meal. In truth, we were all surprised we did, though. None of us like soggy bread (who does?) and I have never had a french toast casserole turn out not soggy. But this one actually did! I used 12 slices of bread (we used the Texas toast), which was plenty! And next time I need to cube the cream cheese into smaller chunks and spread out more evenly because it never really melted. The sauce is to DIE for (pass the syrup... and give me a big spoon please!) and quite honestly, the french toast really isn't good without it. But with it... whoa baby, it's dang good! (Recipe from Jessi's sister in law).

Blueberry French Toast

14-16 slices of bread (crusts can be removed if desired)
4 - 8 oz of cream cheese
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
12 eggs
2 c milk
1/3 cup maple syrup or honey

Sauce:
1 c sugar
2 T cornstarch
1 c water
1 c blueberries
1 T butter

Cut or tear bread into 1 inch cubes. Place half of the bread cubes in an oiled 9 x 13 inch dish. Cut cream cheese into 1 inch cubes and place over bread. Top with the berries and remaining bread. Beat eggs well, then stir in milk and syrup or honey. Pour over bread mixture. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 25-30 minutes more or until golden brown and center is set. 

In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and water. Boil mixture for 3 minutes on medium heat, stirring constantly. Stir in blueberries and simmer 8-10 minutes until berries burst. Stir in butter. Serve sauce over individual portions of the toast.

For freezer meal: Mix up the eggs, blueberries, milk and maple syrup in freezer bag. Thaw freezer bag with egg mixture and pour over the bread and cream cheese in the 9x13 pan. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 25-30 minutes more or until golden brown and center is set. Microwave the blueberry syrup (pre-make, let cool and then freeze in ziplock) and pour over individual portions of the toast.