Breakfasts Around The World

Just a quick link to this Woman's Day article:
http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Food/Breakfasts-Around-the-World.html

Frittata With Leftovers

I was pleased with how last night's supper turned out.

First, I browned together in a large skillet:

1 1/4 lb ground turkey
1 onion
1/2 green pepper
2 T. coconut oil
salt and pepper, or other seasonings, to taste
(I used Penzey's Northwoods Seasoning , my lastest go-to spice)

When that was browned, I added

1 c. leftover cooked corn
Leftover French fries and steak fries from Sunday night's dinner out, cut up (probably about the equivalent of 2 cooked potatoes)
1 c. shredded cheese

When that was all mixed together, I added 10 eggs, well blended.  I made sure everything was smooshed under the egg mixture, and baked it for about 1/2 hour at 350.

I could have mostly cooked it on top of the stove, and then put it in the oven for about 10 minutes to set.  But, I had to leave the house for a little while, and I wanted it to cook while I was gone.  We ate it with salsa on top.

This can be a very versatile recipe, depending on what type of leftover vegetables or meats you might want to use up.

Peanut Butter Breakfast Cake With Leftover Oatmeal

My kids are not big oatmeal fans, but I feel like we should have it at least once a week, especially since it's so nutritious and cheap.  I would love to be able to have it more often.  I was delighted when I came across this recipe for using leftover oatmeal.   The author calls them 'bars', but I would call them cake.  (Of course, if I called them bars, I could cross post this to Hath Bars :) ).

Peanut Butter Cake With Leftover Oatmeal

2 c. leftover oatmeal
1/2 c. butter or coconut oil, softened
1 c. sweetener (or 1/2 c. honey, just watch that it doesn't get the batter too moist)
1 egg
1 c. whole grain flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 t. vanilla

Cream butter, sweetener and eggs in a bowl.  Add oatmeal and other ingredients.  Mix well.  Spread into a greased 9 x 13 pan.  Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.  Cool and cut.

This can also be served hot in bowls with milk on top.

The kids all seemed to like this.  I think I might even add this to our weekly breakfast plan.

Popcorn?

My mother-in-law mentioned that they used to have popcorn with milk when she was growing up. I haven't tried it myself, yet. Here it's suggested as a breakfast cereal. The same blog has some other interesting breakfast ideas that I'll have to remember to try sometime.

Greekish Egg Dish

I made an egg dish the other morning that I was quite pleased with. The kids weren't so thrilled, but they ate it.

I was using up leftovers, so the amounts of the first four items are approximate.

8 oz. cooked spinach
1/2 c. Greek style yogurt
2 1/2 oz. feta cheese

Mix the above together and spread in a greased 10 x 8 pan.

Sprinkle over the top:

1/3 pound chopped cooked bacon

Blend together:

6 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
pepper to taste

Pour this over the spinach mixture. I baked it for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

I thought this had a nice flavor, but I had added balsamic vinegar when I originally cooked the spinach. You might find you want a little more zip. If I make this again, I might add an additional cheese with the bacon. I also might try blending everything but the bacon and cheese in the blender, pour it in the pan and let that cook for about 1/2 hour. Then, sprinkle the bacon and cheese on and let it cook another 10 minutes or so.

Yogurt Update

I had taken a break from making yogurt, but recently I discovered that I can buy a decent Greek style yogurt locally to use as a base culture. Walmart started carrying Oikos brand yogurt, which really is thick, creamy and delicious. I've used it to make yogurt twice so far, and I'm quite pleased with the results.

The Oikos brand lists 5 active cultures: S. Thermophilus; L. Bulgaricus; L. Acidophilus; Bifidus and L. Casei. Dannon only lists L. Acidophilus.

Previously, I've linked to the crockpot yogurt recipe I use. Here's my basic method:

At about 2:30 in the afternoon, I fill my 2 qt. crockpot with milk. I turn it on high, and let it go until 5:30, which is about the time I serve supper. So, I'll unplug the crockpot then. When Dave goes upstairs to tuck the kids in, around 8:30, I'll put a couple ladles of the milk in a bowl, and add about 1/4 c. of yogurt. I'll mix it well, and then add it to the rest of the yogurt in the crockpot. I put the cover back on and a heavy towel around the entire crockpot. It sits overnight, and in the morning I have 2 quarts of yogurt.

I've been putting some honey and vanilla in about half of it for sweetened yogurt, and I leave the rest plain. I haven't started substituting it for sour cream, but I think I could.

I usually write "Yogurt - 5:30, 8:30" on my kitchen whiteboard, to help me remember the times I need to take action. I also freeze the base yogurt in ice cube trays and then put them in freezer bags. On days when I'm making yogurt, I'll take out 2 cubes at 2:30 and let them thaw for when I need them at 8:30. I know you can just save out some of the homemade yogurt for the next batch, but I don't like to do that because I think the final product is too tart.

Chocolate Bread Pudding

We still had some rolls left this past Sunday night. I couldn't inflict them on my friends and family any more, so I decided to make a bread pudding. My kids don't like regular, raisiny bread pudding, so I decided to try a chocolate one.

In a greased 13 x 9 pan, I put a layer of cubed rolls, and about 5 oz. of cubed cream cheese that needed to get used. I put the rest of the roll cubes on the top of this. For good measure, I cut up a leftover powdered sugar donut (I needed to feed helpers, remember) and spread that over the top.

For the liquids, I mixed:

6 eggs
1 can coconut milk
2 c. milk
2 t. vanilla
1/2 c. chocolate sauce

I poured this over the top, and pressed down on the bread cubes so they could soak up the liquid. I could have let this sit covered in the refrigerator overnight. I just let it sit for about 15 minutes. I cooked it for about 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

This did not come out very chocolatey, so you might want to adjust that. We served it with extra chocolate sauce, and I think everyone liked it. (Especially compared to the oatmeal we usually have on Mondays)

On a normal day, this is a nice treat. Yesterday, Dave got up at 4 am to grade papers and do some itunes downloading. At 5:30 on a Monday morning, we were sitting in bed watching the season finale of Mad Men while eating chocolate bread pudding with chocolate sauce. It was positively decadent.