Hearty Bacon Waffles

Wait!  Before you recoil in disgust at the name of this recipe, just hear me out.  When my husband (then fiance) told me to get excited about having waffle pancakes when we went to meet his family, I was hardly excited.  But the image that popped into my head of a waffle topped with butter, strawberries and whipped cream with a greasy slice of bacon on top was far from the truth.

Never fear, folks.  That's not what this recipe is.  Rather, these whole wheat waffles (which, by the way, don't taste like the gross wheat flavor some of you are probably thinking of) are hearty and delicious.  With crumbled bacon cooked right in, they are delicious by themselves or topped with warm applesauce and cinnamon sugar.

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I was extremely skeptical before I took my first bite, but now when I go to visit his family, the conversation goes about like this: "Hi!  How are you?  Are we having waffles for breakfast?" I request these pancakes every time we go to see his family.  And I made them myself for the first time the other day.  Am I turning into a wheat person?  Times, they are a-changin'.

Also, did you know that they sell pre-cooked, crumbled bacon at Costco that's perfect for this?  Okay, here we go.

Hearty Bacon Waffles

1 cup wheat berries (if you have a fancy blender that will mill it into flour for you...) OR 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Crumbled bacon (as much as you want!)

1. Preheat your waffle iron so it's all ready to go.  Who wants to wait for waffles any longer than necessary, really?  Let's get going!
2. If using a fancy blender (like a Blendtec or a Vitamix), blend the wheat berries with 1 cup of the milk for 30-60 seconds or until well combined.  Then add the rest of the milk.  For the rest of us, just combine the wheat flour with all of the milk.
3. Add the oil, eggs, baking powder, and salt.  Mix until well-combined.  Get our your crumbled bacon and put it where it's handy by the waffle iron.
4. Pour some waffle batter into the waffle iron, then sprinkle as many bacon crumbles as you want over the batter.  Close the lid, and cook until the waffles are browned and delicious.
5. Bacon waffles!  Eat them as they are or topped with warm applesauce and cinnamon sugar.

Country Breakfast Casserole

For being one of those what-else-do-I-have-left-in-the-pantry kind of dinners, this one was pretty darn great. Sausage, gravy, eggs, cheese. This isn't your normal cereal or oatmeal breakfast. It's down home country goodness. Gather 'round, y'all.

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Country Breakfast Casserole
(adapted from this one on Allrecipes.com)

1 lb (16 oz) turkey sausage
1/4 cup finely minced onion
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 pkg (2.64 oz) country gravy mix
6 slices bread, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
paprika (to taste)

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and grease an 8x8 square casserole dish
2.  Brown the sausage and crumble it according to package directions.  Throw the onions in there for the last minute or two of the cooking.  Drain fat, and place the sausage in the casserole dish.  Top the sausage with shredded cheese.
3.  In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, water, milk, and gravy mix.  Pour over the sausage and cheese.  Top it off with the bread cubes, making sure they're evenly spread.  If some poke up higher than the others, they'll get crispier.  If you don't want your bread to be too crispy, you can either press the bread down into the egg mixture just a bit so it will soak up more or you can drizzle melted butter over the bread.  Sprinkle with paprika, and place it in the oven.
4.  Bake for 1 hour or until a knife inserted into the center comes out almost clean--almost.  After all, there's gravy in there, so it may not ever come out completely clean until it's burned to a crisp, and we don't want that.  No sir.
5.  Let it stand for 5-10 minutes to set up completely, then ring that breakfast bell and gobble up some country goodness.

Egg and Potato Skillet

We've had an overabundance of spinach in our household lately.  So in my zeal prevent any of it from spoiling before I used it, I spent a lot of time researching recipes that use spinach.  I found this potato skillet recipe on allrecipes.com and used ideas from a lot of the comments.  The result was delicious and inexpensive.  I love when that happens.  Bon appetit!

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Egg and Potato Skillet
(adapted from Spinach and Potato Frittata on allrecipes.com)

2 Tbsp olive oil
3 regular russet potatoes, thinly sliced (or 6 small red potatoes)
1/4 cup onion, sliced
1 can mushrooms
1 cup spinach leaves, tightly packed and roughly chopped
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes (I used the Italian style, but I'm sure regular would be delicious as well)
1 tsp garlic salt
pepper to taste
4 eggs (The original recipe calls for 6, but since I added extra ingredients, 4 were all that would fit in my skillet.  If you have a bigger skillet, by all means use more)
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Toss in the potatoes, onions, and mushrooms, and cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are just tender.
2. Mix in spinach, diced tomatoes, garlic salt, and pepper, cooking 1-2 minutes more until spinach is wilted.
3. In a small bowl, mix eggs and milk.  Pour egg mixture over the vegetables in the skillet, then sprinkle on the cheddar cheese.  Cover and reduce heat to low.  Cook about 5-7 minutes more, or until eggs are no longer runny.  If you want your cheese to get a bit crispy, just remove the lid for the last few minutes.
4.  Butter up some toast and serve it up.

Fry Bread Scones

Fry bread scones are extremely versatile.  They can be eaten plain, with honey butter and cinnamon, with syrup, or they can be used to make meals like Navajo Tacos.  One day when I was searching for a fry bread recipe I could make quickly (without having to wait for it to rise), I ran across this one and thought it was great.  Give it a try!

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Fry Bread Scones

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup oil

1. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Slowly mix in milk with a fork, using just enough milk to make the dough moist.  If you don't use all of the milk, don't worry about it.  Making them too moist makes the dough extremely hard to work with.  If you end up adding too much milk, just add a little flour at a time until you can work with the dough again.
2. Knead dough for 5 minutes, then let dough rest for 5 minutes more.  Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  The oil should be about half an inch deep.
3. Separate the dough into individual scone-size pieces, using about 3/4 cup-worth of dough for each scone.  Shape each scone into a round disc about 1/4 inch thick.  For best results, make the middle slightly thinner than the edges of the scone.  
4. Fry each scone in oil until golden brown, turning once.  Remove scones from oil and drain on a paper towel.
5. Top with your favorites toppings and serve.

Finnish Pancakes

Once upon a time I was sitting in Teaching Language Arts class in my elementary ed program.  Our professor handed out some writing done by 4th graders and asked us to read through it and make comments and suggestions for them.  He handed out the papers at random.  Lo and behold, the paper that I got was an instructional essay teaching how to make Finnish pancakes.  I was intrigued!  I wrote down the recipe in my planner, took it home, and made it a few days later.  I thought it was surprisingly filling and a fun break from the traditional breakfast.  And so, dear readers, this delicious breakfast recipe is brought to you by some 4th grader who knows how to cook.  Enjoy!

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Finnish Pancakes

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

4 eggs

2 cups milk

 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place butter in a 9x13 baking dish and put in warm oven just long enough to melt the butter.  Remove the baking dish from the oven and set aside.  

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and eggs.  Add milk.  Pour mixture over melted butter.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Let cool for 2-3 minutes.  

3. Top with cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar, or syrup.

4. Enjoy your surprisingly filling breakfast.

Ultimate French Toast

Let's get one thing straight before we even begin.  This is NOT a recipe for people who want healthy French toast.  This is a recipe for people who want ever-so-delectable and absolutely amazing French toast who are going to forget about calorie counting while they eat it.  And they're going to love it while they do!  My family used to make French toast every Sunday morning for breakfast, and after trying multiple combinations of toppings, this is my ultimate favorite.

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Ultimate French Toast

(Note: this recipe includes ingredients amounts per person, not what you'll need for everyone you might serve, so you may have to double, triple, etc. the recipe)

4 slices French bread, sliced into thick slices (In my opinion, the bread makes all the difference.  You can make this with regular old sandwich bread, but it's not going to be as good.)
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
butter, oil, or bacon grease
1/2 banana, sliced
butter
syrup
cinnamon sugar

1. Melt butter (or bacon grease) in a frying pan over medium heat.  Meanwhile, combine eggs and milk in a shallow container, such as a square tupperware.  Do NOT add vanilla to the egg mixture, even if you're tempted.  Just trust me.
2. Dip slices of french bread into egg mixture and cook in frying pan over medium heat until browned, turning once.
3. Top french toast with butter, syrup, cinnamon sugar, and sliced bananas.
4. Forget all about calorie counting.  If you're still concerned, just decide to go exercise later and clear your mind of healthy thoughts.
5. Revel in the deliciousness.