Mini Frittatas - Review

These were fairly easy, and good. The work is all in whisking eggs, cutting up veggies, shredding cheese, or dicing ham (or cooking sausage, if desired). Not too bad. It was a little fancier way of eating basically scrambled eggs, or an omelet.

from familyfun.go.com

We put in cheese, green peppers, ham & sausage. They turned out great. Actually, I was expecting them to look all nice and flat and pretty like in the picture, but when I went to check on them in the oven, I saw something more like this (but bigger - they'd settled a little at this point):

Seriously, I had "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (think 2001: A Space Odyssey) spring right into my head. They looked a little out of control, but they eventually flattened out nicely. I'm wondering if part of this was because I used milk instead of half and half. ?

Overall, they were tasty. All agreed they were better than scrambled eggs, but I would leave out the salt next time. Especially with the ham and the sausage, they were plenty salty as it was.

Family Rating: ****
My Rating: ****
Cost: $
Difficulty: Easy.

Pumpkin Waffles & Cinnamon Syrup - Review

This recipe is awesome. Of course it is - breakfast for dinner is always a winner. The cinnamon syrup is AMAZING. It is very easy to make too.

from theidearoom.net

***A tip: Make the syrup BEFORE you start the waffles. Then your waffles aren't waiting and getting cold while the syrup finishes.***

As far as the pumpkin in the waffles goes, I get a can of pumpkin, and then measure out as many 1/2 cup sized blobs as I can and freeze them (and label the bag). That is how much we love these. And then the pumpkin left over doesn't go to waste - you can know you are set for the next few rounds of making these, or other pumpkin-y things.

The cinnamon syrup is fantastic. The only change I make is that it is a bit too thick for me, so I cut the flour down to about 1, maybe 1 1/2 T. Yes, that is up to half of the amount, but it's a bit gloppy for me at the full amount. Also, I have not had a good experience with trying to keep the syrup for longer than a couple of days in the fridge.

We top this with whipped cream as well, and eat scrambled eggs w/ ham. Yum. :)

Family Rating: *****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $
Difficulty: Easy.

Greatest Granola - Review

One of my friends posted this recipe for granola, and it is our favorite. It is SO-O-O good. Good enough to get my husband to eat breakfast whenever we make it, which is not a normal thing for him. Usually if he eats breakfast, he eats leftovers instead of breakfast food (gross), so this is huge.

from 320sycamoreblog.com

It's one of those recipes that is good enough to give away, but then you think that maybe you'll try a little.....and then you realize that you CAN'T give it away because you NEED it. So if you plan on giving some away, make sure you have enough of the ingredients for at least a double batch. :)

We don't put nuts in ours because we have a nut-averse child, and it still is fantastic. I add the full 2 tablespoons of cinnamon because I love how full the flavor is. We have also discovered ground flax, which the kids don't notice and handle better than flax seeds. Wheat germ is also a good stealthy add-in, as mentioned in the recipe.

Also, I shared this with my mom and she mentioned that it worked better for her to mix the dry ingredients together first, then add the rest because then you get a more consistent texture. I tried that this last time and it was great. But even the throw-it-all-in-at-once granola is great too. We love it.

Family Rating: *****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $
Difficulty: Easy. You put stuff in a bowl, mix, and bake. A'int no thang.

Breakfast Potatoes - Review

On my quest for a good breakfast potatoes recipe, I found this one from Our Best Bites. It was genius. I had tried to make them "from scratch" before, and been frustrated when the potatoes took forever to cook, or looked like they just absorbed oil, but were still hard. BUT, this one is a two-step process. A smart one.

from ourbestbites.com

After cutting up the potatoes, you BOIL them for five minutes to get them on the road to softened up. Then you put them in the skillet and finish what I had been trying to do unsuccessfully before. And they are very good.

Two modifications that we make: 1) We use more than four small-ish potatoes. They are good enough that we definitely eat more than that and would love to have some left over. 2) I'm not sure how anyone can endure 10 dashes of Tabasco sauce, unless they meant drops and not "small arm flicks worth". I did about five of what I would call dashes on one side, then flipped over and did two on the other side, and we were definitely feeling the heat. I can't imagine what 10 on one side and "to taste" on the other side could mean. I think about three would be perfect for our family.

We make ours in an electric skillet too. Watch the onions once you put the potatoes in. They can get a little crispy.

Other than the "heat" factor and the fact that the recipe doesn't make nearly enough - it is awesome. We've made it a couple of times and will do it whenever we have our "breakfast" nights, which is every weekish or two. So good!

Family Rating: ****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $
Difficulty: Easy. Especially since it doesn't need much babysitting. Super delicious.

Homemade Pancakes & Syrup - Review

Our family has a homemade pancake recipe that we LOVE and is very easy. It has come through the family on my husband's side. Originally the recipe calls for separating the egg whites and yolks, putting the yolks in with the batter, then beating the egg whites until stiff and folding them in. We just skip that step and put the eggs in all at once, then beat the batter for a little extra time and the pancakes still end up fluffy. BUT, my mother-in-law has amazingly fluffy pancakes and she goes through the extra step of separating the eggs. Either way, it's a good recipe. Also, we add a little more milk than the original recipe calls for.

     

PANCAKES (or waffles)

      2 c. flour

      ½ tsp. salt

      2 T. sugar

      1 T. baking powder

      2 eggs

      1 tsp. vanilla

      1/3 c. oil

      2 c. milk

     BEAT together well. Cook on 325 degree skillet.

There ya go! It really isn't much more difficult than pulling out a mix and adding ingredients to it, and it has a great flavor.

Also, in our quest to find a good homemade syrup, I found this recipe and tried it today. It was fantastic. Most of the homemade syrups we've tried have been really watery (like the quick recipe on the side of the mapeline extract). This one is the right thickness for a syrup and has a great flavor.

Family Rating: *****
My Rating: *****
Cost: $
Difficulty: Easy.