Breakfast

VANILLA ALMOND GRANOLA

April 14, 2019 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

I currently have two food obsessions. First, popcorn. My daughter and I have been sharing a bowl of popcorn after school lately. We sit on the front porch and snack while we wait for my husband to get home. She isn’t old enough for this to become a long-term memory for her but I’m holding it dear to my heart. When I look back at my own childhood memories, it is the simple moments of quality time with my parents that are my favorites. I am trying to be fully present in these little moments with my daughter so that eventually they become memories for both of us.

My second food obsession of the moment is homemade granola. I’ll eat it as a bowl of cereal or mixed in with some yogurt. If nothing else is available, I’ll just eat it by the handful. I have rarely bought granola in recent years simply because of the frequently high sugar content. One of the things I love most about cooking is knowing exactly what is in my food. Granola incredibly easy to make, my daughter was able to put it together with me helping her with measuring ingredients. Granola is also easy to customize. You can keep it simple or add in all sorts of nuts or dried fruit. I’ve been making a batch every week over the past month and this particular recipe is too good not to share with you.

Tips:

If you like a chunkier granola, let it cool completely before stirring it.
I like to store my granola in the freezer to keep it fresh and crunchy longer.

VANILLA ALMOND GRANOLA

This lightly sweetened granola is easy to make and easy to customize.

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Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 1 hr

Total Time 1 hr 5 mins

Servings 7 servings (1/2 cup)

Calories 383 kcal

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup crisp rice cereal
1 Tablespoon chia seeds
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
2 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300F.
In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together.
Spread mixture out on a parchment lined sheet pan.
Bake for 1 hour. Let cool before serving.

BROCCOLI CHEESE QUICHE & SWEET POTATO HASH

April 10, 2019 by Sarah Baade 9 Comments

I’ve mentioned before that breakfast isn’t typically my thing, but brunch? Brunch is my jam! On the weekends, my husband and I each take a day to sleep in while the other one gets up early with our toddler. First of all, I love this sleep plan because we both end up feeling rested and rejuvenated. Second of all, by the time we are both up for the day it is the perfect time to hit up a restaurant for brunch. Our local favorites tend to give large servings which means leftovers. Leftovers that are absolutely delicious and all of us are eager to dive into during the week. There’s just something about breakfast foods for lunch or dinner that really hits the spot! I’m not alone on this line of thinking, am I?

A typical work day isn’t exactly conducive to brunch. Or is it? Hello meal planning! I was challenged by my friend, Nicolas, over at Blogtastic Food to create a dish that would work well for meal planning. I came up with two recipes to create a mini-brunch that I can take to work. These recipes reheat well which is ideal for this challenge but they are also easy to make. You can cook the sweet potato hash while the quiche is baking so everything is finished at the same time. Once it has all cooled off, pack individual servings into containers so you can grab and go as you head out the door for work during the week.

Tips:

Blind baking means you are going to partially bake the pie crust before you add the filling. It is worth the extra little bit of effort to blind bake your crust so you don’t end up with a soggy bottom on your quiche.
One of the great things about quiche is that you can take the egg base and change out the fillings. You could add ½ cup chopped ham cooked ham or bacon. If broccoli isn’t your thing, toss in some chopped bell peppers instead. Get creative!

Broccoli Cheese Quiche

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Servings 8 slices

Ingredients

1 premade pie crust
8 large eggs
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup gouda cheese, shredded
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh broccoli florets, chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375F. Arrange pie crust in a 9.5” pie dish. Line top of pie crust with parchment paper and then fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake crust for 20 minutes.
While crust is baking, beat eggs in a large bowl. Mix in cheeses, cream, salt and pepper. Stir in broccoli.
Once blind bake is finished, pull the crust out of the oven then remove beans/weights and parchment paper. Pour egg mixture into pie crust and return to the oven and bake 40-50 minutes or until egg mixture has set.

Sweet Potato Hash

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Ingredients

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add sweet potatoes and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add onion and sauté 5 more minutes or until onions start to become transparent. Add bell peppers and spices, sauté an additional 2 minute.

For more meal prep ideas, check out the following recipes from the other “meal prep challenge” collaborators.

THAI CHICKEN GREEN CURRY MEAL PREP
https://www.blogtasticfood.com/thai-chicken-green-curry-meal-prep/

MUSHROOM RISOTTO MEAL PREP
https://juliarecipes.com/2019/04/30/mushroom-risotto-meal-prep/comment-page-1/#comment-806

VEGAN MEAL PREP CHILI
https://holistichormonehelp.com/2019/04/24/vegan-meal-prep-chili/

RED LENTIL, TAMARIND & TOMATO SOUP
https://cuisinedeli.com/2019/04/30/red-lentil-tamarind-tomato-soup/

PUMPKIN, RICOTTA AND SAGE PASTA SHELLS
https://itsnotcomplicatedrecipes.com/pumpkin-ricotta-and-sage-pasta-shells/

INSTANT POT ROPA VIEJA FOR MEAL PREP
https://www.hangrywhitemale.com/instant-pot-ropa-vieja-for-meal-prep/

MEAL PREP: GARLIC SHRIMPS SKILLET WITH BULGUR
https://healthylaura.com/dairy-free/meal-prep-garlic-shrimps-skillet-with-bulgur/

EASY MEXICAN LASAGNA
https://realfoodhappyhome.com/easy-mexican-lasagna/

MAKE AHEAD MEAL PREP MINI FRITTATAS IN MUFFIN TINS
https://www.31daily.com/make-ahead-meal-prep-mini-frittatas-in-muffin-tins/

INSTANT POT STUFFED PEPPERS {WITH TURKEY AND QUINOA}
https://www.mealswithmaggie.com/instant-pot-stuffed-peppers/

CELEBRATION PANCAKES

March 28, 2019 by Sarah Baade 3 Comments

When I was a kid, my dad would get up early and make a hot breakfast for us every day. I didn’t realize how lucky I was until I talked to a friend at school who said her mom just had a variety of cereal to choose from each morning. Here’s the thing though, I rarely ate it. It was always delicious but I’ve never been much of an early morning breakfast person. I just didn’t wake up hungry; I needed to be up for a couple of hours before I was ready to eat. Now that I’m a mom myself, I have an extra appreciation for Dad’s cooking. He could whip up biscuits and sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, pancakes… all the traditional breakfast items. He also taught me that pancakes freeze really well. He would make a huge batch all at once and freeze half of them for us to eat later on. I still do this every time I make pancakes. I love being able to heat up homemade pancakes from the freezer whenever I’m craving breakfast or just don’t have the energy to cook.

Let me start by saying there is a special place in my culinary heart for pancake mixes – “just add water”. However, there are days when I have run out of pancake mix and don’t want to run to the store for that one single item. The beauty of homemade pancakes is that you probably already have all of the ingredients in your kitchen. We only need the basics here and you can still end up with super fluffy pancakes. On an extra special day such as a birthday or your kid aced a test or maybe your spouse got a promotion, take things up a notch and add sprinkles. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, sprinkles bring joy! And yes, in my house, sprinkles are just as much a pantry staple as flour or sugar. You never know when you’ll want to spark a little extra joy so just keep those rainbow sprinkles stocked at all times!

Tips:

Definitely melt the butter before you start mixing any ingredients. This will allow it to cool before you add the eggs so that you don’t end up with a scrambled egg batter.
Keep the heat on medium to medium low. I know it is tempting to crank it up to get things cooking faster but you’ll just end up with pancakes that are burnt on the outside and raw on the inside.

CELEBRATION PANCAKES

Homemade pancakes with a little extra joy.

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Servings 12 pancakes

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup rainbow jimmies/sprinkles
Optional toppings: butter, maple syrup, whipped cream, more sprinkles

Instructions

Heat a lightly oiled griddle over medium heat.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Stir in the melted butter, milk and vanilla. Stir in the egg and then the sprinkles.
Scoop about a ¼ cup of batter onto the heated griddle. Depending on the size of your griddle, you can make more than one pancake at a time. Cook until batter starts to bubble on top and bottom is golden brown. Flip and continue cooking until the second side is also golden brown (about 1 minute). Remove from griddle and continue this process until all batter is used.