Scrambled Eggs with Ricotta

I had heard someone mention putting fresh ricotta in scrambled eggs to make them creamy once and have wanted to try it since. Then I made my own fresh ricotta and then it was like everywhere I looked there was someone talking about scrambled eggs and ricotta. So this Sunday I decided to whip some up since I was making some ricotta for another dish anyway and I had some other goodies in my fridge and pantry I needed to use up too. So I scrambled some eggs, mixed in some ricotta and added some onion, cheddar cheese, and tomato. It was delicious. I may never make plain ole' scrambled eggs again. Just like any omelet what you can add to it is up to you. Endless possibilities. But the ricotta is the key. Yummm. 

Scrambled Eggs with Ricotta

From: Me

6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups fresh ricotta 
Green onion, diced
Tomato, diced or cherry tomatoes halved
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
salt and pepper to taste

Mix 6 eggs with 1/2 cup milk and scramble in a frying pan as usual. Once eggs are cooked, but still hot, mix in the ricotta, onion, and tomatoes. Toss until all ingredients are heated warm. Add shredded cheddar and toss until melted, serve while hot. 

"Instant" pancake mix recipe

A few months ago Jeff and I wanted pancakes but I didn't have a recipe to make them from scratch, and we were out of pancake mix. So Jeff googled a recipe and since Alton Brown is one of his favorite tv chefs- he thought we should try his recipe for instant pancake mix. That way if we were out again we would have this as a back up. It was so good we made another batch and stored it in a tupperware container. Any time we want pancakes I just add a few ingredients to the mix and we are done. Just as easy as the boxed pancake mix from the store, only home made and none of that extra stuff you don't want or need in your pancakes. Plus it is easy to throw together out of stuff you have in your pantry. Also- I do NOT use buttermilk in mine because I never have it on hand and I don't like buttermilk. :-) 

"Instant" pancake mix

Alton Brown / Food Network site

Ingredients

• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda (check expiration date first)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

Combine all of the ingredients in a lidded container. Shake to mix.

Use the mix within 3 months.

"INSTANT" PANCAKES:

• 2 eggs, separated
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 cups "Instant" Pancake Mix, recipe above
• 1 stick butter, for greasing the pan
• 2 cups fresh fruit such as blueberries, if desired

Heat an electric griddle or frying pan to 350 degrees F. Heat oven to 200 degrees F.

Whisk together the egg whites and the buttermilk in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the melted butter.

Combine the buttermilk mixture with the egg yolk mixture in a large mixing bowl and whisk together until thoroughly combined. Pour the liquid ingredients on top of the pancake mix. Using a whisk, mix the batter just enough to bring it together. Don't try to work all the lumps out.

Check to see that the griddle is hot by placing a few drops of water onto to the griddle. The griddle is ready if the water dances across the surface.

Lightly butter the griddle. Wipe off thoroughly with a paper towel. (No butter should be visible.)

Gently ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle and sprinkle on fruit if desired. When bubbles begin to set around the edges of the pancake and the griddle-side of the cake is golden, gently flip the pancakes. Continue to cook 2 to 3 minutes or until the pancake is set.

Serve immediately or remove to a towel-lined baking sheet and cover with a towel. Hold in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes.

Yield: 12 pancakes

Breakfast Casserole

Another Pinterest recipe! Gotta love Pinterest! Ha! This was a simple and delicious recipe. I think it would be great for feeding a large group of people breakfast, or for Christmas morning because most of the ingredients could be prepared ahead of time and just thrown together. The original recipe, found at Bubble Crumb called for bacon, but I had sausage already so I used that instead. I also used a few more eggs, onion, and peppers than the original called for. This is a keeper! 

Breakfast Casserole 

From: Bubble Crumb

3/4 bag frozen tator tots
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 package sausage, cooked and crumbled
10 eggs
2 cups milk
3 cups shredded cheddar (or colby jack)

Preheat oven according to directions on tator tots package. Place tator tots in a layer on bottom of 9x13 pan. Salt and pepper to taste. Bake until tots are golden brown, according to package directions. Remove from oven and set aside. Lower oven temp to 350. 

In a mixing bowl combine eggs, milk, and cheese. Mix well and set aside. 
In a frying pan cook sausage and crumble (or use a broiler pan and bake it along with tots) 
Reserving some bacon grease (about 1 T) and add onions, bell peppers and saute' until soft. 
Layer cooked onions on top of tator tots. 
Then add a layer of sausage or bacon. 
And finally pour the egg and cheese mixture over the top. 
Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. 
Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes. 
Serve while hot. 

Clean Granola Bars

I found this on the plum organics facebook page. Who knew those little fruit and veggie pouches for kiddies could be used in recipes too? It makes sense though, I have used carrot baby food in carrot cake before to make it moist, and of course replacing oils with applesauce is always great.. so it makes sense that these can be used too, after all it is just baby food in a pouch instead of a jar really. I have tried several granola bar and breakfast bar recipes and a couple turned out OK, but these are fantastic. They are full of good stuff and super easy to throw together. Mine turned out a little crumbly, but I think I either needed a tad more honey, or I used the wrong type of oats? I am not sure. But they did stay together and taste great.. I can see myself making several variations of this in the future. Jeff and I grab cereal bars for breakfast a LOT in the mornings so I am desperate for a healthy and clean recipe that we will actually eat. I think this is it. Yay! Next I think I will add a little peanut butter, you could sweeten it with chocolate chips, change cranberries for raisins, different types of nuts, the possibilities are endless. Plus there are TONS of flavors of the fruit/veggie pouches, some that have greek yogurt, some that have quinoa, oats, barley.. all kinds of stuff hidden in them. Plus MOST of them (read the labels) are clean because it is just whatever fruit or veggie is in it and a little citrus to preserve them. Not ALL of them are, but a lot of them are. So far Target has had the best selection, and Toys R Us has some of the hard to find flavors. You can get them anywhere though, Wal-Mart, Schnucks, pretty much anywhere that sells baby food or toddler snacks has them now. 

Clean Granola Bars

1 just prunes pouch

1/3 cup honey

2 ½ cups old fashioned oats

½ cup chopped almonds

1 apple, raisin, qiunoa pouch

½ cup sunflower seeds

1 cup dried cranberries

whisk together pouches and honey in bowl

combine with oats, nuts, wheat germ, and cranberries

line 8x8 pan with parchment paper and pour mix into pan.

Bake at 325 for 25 minutes

cool one hour them remove from pan and cut into bars- makes 12 bars.  Each bar is 191 calories. 

*NOTE* I couldn't find the apple, raisin, quinoa flavor so I used barley, plum, apple. It was REALLY good. 

Breakfast Burritos

Trying to think of something a little different for dinner? Everyone likes breakfast for dinner once in a while, here is an easy way to have it a little easier! Make breakfast burritos! It's simple. Take your favorite breakfast foods and place them in a warmed tortilla shell, maybe add some shredded cheese, and enjoy! You can make them ahead of time and warm them in the oven, or place ingredients on the table and let everyone make their own. Here is how we make ours!


Scrambled eggs
Shredded Cheddar
Diced Onion
Diced Tomato
Diced Bell Pepper
Sausage patties cut in half
Tortilla shells


To make it even easier, get the pre-diced veggies in your produce section. We actually use a non-spicy pico mix from schnucks that is just delicious! Obviously the list of what you can add is endless. (peppers, fresh vegetables, different cheeses, salsa's, gravy, bacon, sausages...)

Orange Marmalade Rolls

These are DELICIOUS. It doesn't have a strong orange taste. Just the perfect hint of orange. If you like Orange Marmalade, you will love these. If you don't.. you will love these. Trust me! Yum. These, of course, are a Pioneer Woman recipe! 

Orange Marmalade Rolls

By: Pioneer Woman 

Ingredients

FOR ROLLS:

1/2 whole Recipe Of "Cinnamon Roll Dough"

8 Tablespoons Orange Marmalade

1/2 cup Melted Butter

1 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

ORANGE GLAZE:

2 pounds Powdered Sugar

6 Tablespoons Melted Butter

1/2 cup Milk

1/2 cup Orange Juice

1 dash Salt

Preparation Instructions

Roll out dough into a long rectangle. Spread marmalade over the top. Pour on butter, and then sprinkle on the brown sugar evenly. Sprinkle with salt.

Beginning at the long side farthest from you, roll the dough in a long roll toward you; begin careful to keep it tucked tightly. Pinch edge to seal.

Cut rolls into 1 to 1 1/2 inch rolls and place into buttered pans. Allow to rise for at least 20 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown (but not overly brown).

While baking, mix together the ingredients for the orange glaze, thinning with more milk or orange juice to make mixture thin enough to be pourable.

Immediately drizzle orange glaze over the top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

NOTE: We could not find pans with straight sides, so we used regular pie pans. After the rolls baked we pinched the sides upward to make a lip around the pan and that made it easier to get some icing around the edges. 

This is how ours came out. We made both cinnamon rolls and orange marmalade rolls. They are both delicious! 

Cinnamon Rolls

I have seen this recipe on The Pioneer Woman Blog for a long time. I kept thinking they looked so delicious. But my fear of baking kept me from trying them. Well Mom and I were in a baking mood and we decided we were gonna make these no matter what! We are SO glad we did! They were really easy to make, and oh wow are they good. These are the best cinnamon rolls I have EVER had in my entire life. Not the best ones I've made, or the best home made.. the best EVER. So here is the recipe for Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls. There is also an Orange Marmalade version, which we also made and are also delicious! If you would like a better step by step with photos- please go check out her website! For that matter, you should go check it out anyway if you never have. It is amazing. Trust me!

Cinnamon Rolls

By: The Pioneer Woman

1 quart whole milk

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

2 packages active dry yeast (0.25 ounce packets)

8 cups all-purpose flour (plus 1 cup extra, separated)

1 tsp (heaping) Baking Powder

1 tsp (scant) Baking Soda

1 T (heaping) Salt

Plenty of melted butter (as in 3 or 4 sticks..)

2 cups sugar

Generous sprinkling of cinnamon

Maple Frosting:

1 bag powdered sugar

2 tsp Maple Flavoring

½ cup milk

¼ cup melted butter

¼ cup brewed coffee

1/8 tsp salt

Mix the milk, oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir Mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir mixture together. (at this point you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it- overnight or even a day or 2, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down.)

When ready to prepare rolls, sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle ½ cup to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Spread 1 T of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ inch to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375 until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

For the frosting mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don't skimp on the frosting.

Note: My rolls don't work at 400 degrees anymore, I now bake them at 375 degrees.  

NOTE: We could not find pans with straight sides, so we used regular pie pans. After the rolls baked we pinched the sides upward to make a lip around the pan and that made it easier to get some icing around the edges. 

This is how ours came out. We made both cinnamon rolls and orange marmalade rolls. They are both delicious! 

Easy Homemade Donuts

Yay! I just found another recipe that Meemaw had sent me buried in some old emails! I can remember her making these for us when we would spend the night and she would let us help her. 

Easy Homemade Donuts

From: Meemaw

1 or 2 cans biscuits ---4--6  cups oil  put in large sauce pan --heat to boiling--make holes in  center of each biscuit --drop biscuits -3 or 4 at a time into the oil  and cook till they turn over and are brown on each side .--place 1/2 cup sugar  in paper bag or ziploc bag drop doughnuts in bag and shake it till they are coated with sugar. also can add cinnamo or cocoa  to the bag [ try it they are delicious ]  mee-maw.

Jamie's Hashbrown Casserole

This is another one of those that we have at almost every family function and you better get some fast or it will be gone. So good, so easy. I craved this when I was pregnant with Zach. Another good one from Jamie. 

Jamie's Hashbrown Casserole

From: Jamie R. 

2 lbs. Frozen Hashbrowns

½ cup melted butter

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

½ tsp. pepper

1 tsp. salt

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

Special K Cereal

Topping: Mix 2 cups crushed Special K cereal with ½ cup melted butter

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into 9x13 baking pan. Top with Special K topping mixture. Bake @ 350 for 1 hr, 15 minutes.

*You can use the chunked potato style hashbrowns, or I have used the shredded kind too and either work fine. 

Eggs and White Sauce

This is a recipe i had heard of for years but never had. Jeff's Grandma used to make it all the time and taught him how. It is SO good. Enjoy! 

Eggs and White Sauce

From Jeff (and his Grandma Dolly)

6 hard boiled eggs

2 T. butter

2 T. all purpose flour

1 cup milk

Salt

Pepper

Peel eggs, cut them into halves, separating the yolk from the whites. Mash the yolks with a fork until semi-chunky (not powdered, chunky), set aside. Cut the egg whites into chunks and set aside. In a sauce pan melt butter. Slowly whisk in flour. Then slowly whisk in milk. Cook mixture for 2 minutes or so, stirring it until thickens to consistency of thin gravy. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and mix in egg yolks and egg whites.Serve over Toast or Biscuits while hot. 

Cinnamon Toast

OK so this "recipe" is here because when I started this whole "family cookbook" idea I emailed all my family asking for recipes and my younger brother sent me a few that just cracked me up. This was one of his "recipes" which is something Mom used to make for us for breakfast when we were little. I already had it in my stash of recipes, so I decided to go ahead and post it as a "Basic" recipe. Thanks James.. or thanks Mom? haha

Several slices of white bread

Butter

Cinnamon

Sugar

Butter several slices of bread and place each on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon and sugar. Place it in the oven at 350 until sugar is slightly caramelized. Serve hot.

*You may also toast the bread ahead of time, depending on how dry you want it.