YEAST RAISED WAFFLES

If you have never tried a yeast raised waffle, you are missing out on a real treat! If your idea of a "good" waffle is "Waffle House" you are still missing out, I have made waffles for years for my family, Just recently though I came across the yeast raised waffle. Let me tell you, it is a game changer! I will NEVER make my old waffle recipe again! This one is THAT good! It is light and fluffy on the inside and mildly crispy on the outside. The perfect combo to stand up to that melty butter and warm syrup that you'll drizzle over it! Put this one on your "to make" list this week! You won't be sorry that you did!

YEAST RAISED WAFFLES

Yield: 8 waffles

Marion Cunningham’s Raised Waffles
From The Breakfast Book

½ cup warm water
1 package (2 ¼ tsp.) dry yeast
2 cups whole milk, warmed
1 stick (½ cup) butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 tsp. table salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
¼ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Pour the water into a large mixing bowl.   Sprinkle the yeast over the water, and let stand to dissolve for 5 minutes.

Add the milk, butter, salt, sugar, and flour, and beat until well blended and smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it stand 30 to 40 minutes at room temperature.

Pre-heat your waffle maker,  Spray waffle iron with cooking spray.

Just before cooking the waffles, add the eggs and baking soda and vanilla and stir to mix well. The batter will be very thin.  I did about a ladle and a half for each waffle and I had full waffles each time.  

Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy. Remove from waffle iron and serve immediately with softened butter and warm maple syrup.

*These keep well in the freezer and after a few minutes in the toaster oven, they taste like you just made them! 

CLASSIC BISCUITS

OK I've made a lot of biscuits in my lifetime, but these really were THEE best I've ever made! And you can't go wrong baking on or in a Pampered Chef stone! Baking stones make any bread item bake up to perfection! And these biscuits didn't disappoint. Be sure to liberally brush the tops of these babies with butter as soon as they come out of the oven. Then watch in sheer delight as the melted butter slides down off the top, over the sides and onto the piping hot stone and FRIES the bottom of the biscuit to give it a crispy edge! Mmm! Makes me want to run into the kitchen right now and whip up a batch of fresh biscuits for absolutely no reason at all, other than to slather them with butter and homemade strawberry freezer jam! OK AND to eat them! :-)

CLASSIC BISCUITS

If you want your biscuits to turn out light and feathery, then handle the dough as little as possible. You're sure to get a nice flaky biscuit if you do it that way.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1⁄2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 stick cold butter, diced into cubes
• 2⁄3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450°F. 

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With a pastry cutter, cut the cold butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the milk and blend w/ spoon just until all the liquid has been absorbed. With lightly floured hands, work the dough briefly until it barely holds together in a flaky ball. 

Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Roll or pat the dough out into a round about 1⁄2 inch thick. With a 2-inch biscuit cutter, cut out as many rounds as possible. Gather up the scraps, reroll and cut out more rounds. Do not reroll the dough more than once or you will end up with tough biscuits.

Transfer the biscuits to the baking stone and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately with real butter and homemade jam. Or top them with piping hot gravy! ENJOY! 

BISCUITS W/ BACON GRAVY

"First, you make a roux..."
There's nothing quite so simple as breakfast for dinner! It's what most harried moms turn to when the dreaded question gets asked, "What's for dinner mom?" and they have no clue!
I believe the test of a seasoned cook is whether she can make good gravy or not! LOL I suppose I'm teasing a bit, as there are a lot of good cooks out there who just cannot make good gravy. It really isn't as daunting as it seems though. As long as you can master making the roux without burning it. This has never been a problem for me, as the perfect color for a finished roux is the color of peanut butter - my all time favorite breakfast treat! I've looked at that color every morning of the world for nearly 53 years! It's emblazoned in my brain! If you are prone to dumping your "instant gravy" out of a jar or out of a bag and mixing it w/ water.... do yourself and your family a favor and learn to make homemade gravy! It will be the star of the show!
Most of you are probably more familiar with sausage gravy than bacon gravy. I have never been a huge fan of sausage or sausage gravy. I grew up eating my mother's bacon gravy and it was the BEST!

BACON GRAVY

1 lb of good bacon - cut into bite size pieces (I use my kitchen scissors for this)
1/4 cup of all purpose flour
2 - 3 cups of milk (depending on how thick or thin you like your gravy)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

In large skillet or dutch oven, over med-high heat, fry cut up bacon until golden brown and lightly crisp. Remove pan from burner and with slotted spoon, removed bacon bits from the fat in the skillet. Leave bacon grease in skilllet. If it is very greasy bacon, you may want to pour a little bit of it off into a bowl. To the bacon fat in the skillet, add 1/4 cup of flour, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Stir constantly with wooden spoon or whisk until flour is cooked through and begins to turn a medium golden brown (the color of peanut butter). Don't let your roux burn! Quickly add milk and whisk to prevent any lumps forming. Add in bacon bits. Let simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally to prevent clumping or sticking.  Taste test to add more salt and/or pepper. I season mine pretty heavily. Serve over warm biscuits w/ a side of tender, scrambled eggs! ENJOY!

Here are a couple of good recipes for buttermilk biscuits or Classic biscuits.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS W/ STREUSEL TOPPING

ALWAYS on the hunt for a good muffin recipe and this one didn't disappoint!! My muffin criteria: must be light, moist and flavorful! These scored high in every area. A definite keeper! We have a dear lady in our church who was just recently widowed (a week ago) when her husband was killed in a very tragic work accident. It has only been a week, so it is still very fresh to her. But bless her heart, there she was this morning, at Saturday morning prayer breakfast, as usual, serving her Lord and cooking for the ones she loves. And to top it off, today is her birthday! A very hard weekend for her, I'm sure. So last night, I stopped at the church and decorated the fellowship hall with some festive birthday decorations in honor of her special day. I wanted everything in place before she got there this morning, knowing she would arrive before me. I know it's not the same, but thought it might lighten the heaviness a bit for her. Then this morning, I got up early and whipped up these little beauties as a surprise birthday treat for her. The first batch I made were in Happy Birthday muffin cups and had Happy Birthday picks stuck in the top of them. Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of those. Saturday mornings are usually a whirl of activity to get ready to go. ESPECIALLY when our precious 2 year old grandson, Gideon, spends the night on Friday! :-) I mean we HAVE to have "MooMoo" (my Grandma name from the grandbabies) and Giddy cuddle time and do cheers with our coffee cups together, before we rush into the day! :-)

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Yield: 24 muffins

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Streusel toppping (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, prepare Streusel topping and set aside. A pampered chef, stone muffin pan works best for these, but if you don't have one, a metal one works just fine too. Fill muffin wells with paper liners. Lightly spray liners with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a small mixing bowl, melt 1 stick of butter, and add remaining wet ingredients: milk, sour cream, applesauce and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. Do not overmix your batter, or your muffins will be tough. Gently fold in fresh or frozen blueberries.
Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle evenly with streusel topping.
Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Turn oven down to 350 and bake an additional 12 - 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Remove from pans and let cool on wire racks (if you can wait that long!) :-)

STREUSEL TOPPING

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3 Tblsp butter, softened

In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and butter. Mash with fork or pastry blender until well combined and mixture is crumbly.

STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM

It's that time of year again! Strawberry season is upon us! For you folks in the cold North, you still have another month to wait for berries! Someone gave me a bunch of "leftover" berries the other day and it was so many that my first thought was to make freezer jam with them! I ended up making 20 (1/2 pint) containers and still had enough left over to make a batch of strawberry shortcake! WooHoo!
Strawberry freezer jam is so quick and easy to make! And makes such a nice gift when you pair it w/ a loaf of homemade bread or biscuits. To make preparing the berries quicker, I chop mine in my food processor. But you could mash your berries with a potato masher or just mash them with your hands even. At any rate, any work that goes into making the jam is WELL worth the effort!

STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM

2 cups  crushed strawberries (buy 1 qt. fully ripe strawberries)

4 cups  sugar, measured into separate bowl

3/4 cup  water

1 pkg.  SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin

 

RINSE 5 (1-cup) plastic containers and lids with boiling water. Dry thoroughly. Discard stems. Crush strawberries thoroughly, 1 cup at a time. Measure exactly 2 cups prepared fruit into large bowl. Stir in sugar. Let stand 10 min., stirring occasionally.  

 

MIX water and pectin in small saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Continue boiling and stirring 1 min. Add to fruit mixture; stir 3 min. or until most the sugar is dissolved. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)

 

FILL containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or in freezer up to 1 year. (If frozen, thaw in refrigerator before using.)

 

*I'm still trying to master the low sugar version. I made both kinds yesterday. The regular one set up quite nicely but the low sugar one did not. I'm working on fixing it and figuring out what I did wrong. 

If I can't fix it, I'll have 8 jars of ice cream topping to give away as gifts! When life hands you runny jam, make ice cream sundaes!  :-)   

BANANA CINNAMON WAFFLES (Low Carb-GF)

Breakfast can be a real challenge when you are trying to eat Low Carb - GF. I try to rotate different meals so we aren't just eating eggs every morning. For a while now I have been making Cream cheese waffles that, if I remember right, have roughly 2 carbs each. These have a few more, but are still only 6 carbs each. I have been seeing this recipe all over Pinterest and decided to give them a try this morning. It received a thumbs up from hubby so that's all I needed to add them to my blog. I keep over ripe bananas in my freezer, and just popped a couple in the microwave to thaw, so this went together super quick and easy!

BANANA CINNAMON WAFFLES
Yield: 2 waffles

1 over ripe banana
2 large eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp Splenda (optional)

Heat waffle iron until your light says it's ready.
The easiest way to mix this up is to throw everything in a food processor or blender. Start by adding eggs and banana to the processor, blend until thoroughly combined. Add in remaining ingredients and give it another whirl until it's smooth and creamy.
Spritz hot waffle iron w/ Pam cooking spray. Add half of the batter to the hot iron and close cover. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes or until medium golden brown. Remove and drizzle with melted butter.

6 carbs each

BACON BREAKFAST CUPS

It doesn't take much to make my hubby happy - especially when I say the word, "BACON!" He got so excited when he saw me putting these together this morning. They turned out extremely delicious! These don't go together in a snap, however, like I am so used to saying about many of my recipes. Although they take a little time, they are WELL worth the wait! These would be so fun to fix for a big family breakfast! Pair them w/ a big ol' batch of hash browns and some fresh fruit and you will have yourself a breakfast feast!
The amounts listed here are to fill a 12 cup muffin tin. But you can easily pair it down to the number you need.

BACON BREAKFAST CUPS

12 slices bread
24 slices bacon, fried until almost crisp (will finish cooking in oven)
12 eggs
Butter
Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly fry bacon and drain on paper towels. Butter muffin cups. With rolling pin, roll each slice of bread until thin. Using kitchen shears, hold bread and cut off crusts, shaping into circle as you go, keeping as much of the bread as you can. Butter the top side of the bread. *Using your hands and fingers, form the bread into a 4 leaf clover shape. Carefully position it into the muffin cup. Gently open the bread up so it will hold the remaining ingredients. Take 2 slices of bacon and form an X on the bottom of the bread cup w/ them. The bacon will hang out over the top of the cup. (I know mine barely look like that, but it is because hubby wanted to help put them together and he started breaking the bacon up into the bread cups! haha) Now crack 1 egg into each muffin cup, on top of the bacon. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Bake at 375 for 20 - 25 minutes, or until whites are set.
*NOTE* Don't try to force the buttered bread circle into the muffin cup w/ a tart shaper. Tried it, it doesn't work! :-)

CREAM CHEESE WAFFLES (LC GF)

Wow I have really neglected my poor little food blog! Shame on me! I find it ironic though, that my last post back in February was also a waffle recipe! This one is totally different, although very tasty! I had to come back to this recipe and edit the photo! I just couldn't look at the sad photo anymore, that I had on here before!  I have always tried not to "overdo" it in the cooking and baking department here at home since my husband is diabetic. Many of the luscious recipes you see on here were made for a church fellowship or for dinner guests that we had in our home. Recently though, it is my undying quest to see my hubby be totally insulin free - no more shots. 9/10 of that is going to be done through our diet. Although I titled this "Low Carb - Gluten Free" I'm not totally beating the gluten free drum just yet. The idea was just recently introduced to us as a possible help with several health issues. But since one of the health issues we are dealing with is diabetes, I also have to consider carb intake. So for me to replace regular carbs with gluten free carbs really doesn't help the sugar reading. It is just easier for us to go w/out certain things like bread, pasta & desserts. Every once in a while though you find a golden nugget. That's what this little recipe is. The first time I made it I used a small, individual size omelette pan. It worked fine that way, to make the mix into pancakes. This morning I made fluffly, golden brown, belgian waffles for our grandchildren for breakfast. Hubby came into the kitchen and said, "Man what I wouldn't give to have one of those for breakfast!!" So I got to thinking ..... Hmmm... I'll bet I could cook my cream cheese pancakes in the waffle iron. But they needed a little tweaking to make them puffier - so I added the baking powder. Also the cinnamon. As best I could figure, I believe they are about 2 or 2.5 carbs each. If you are doing low carb or gluten free, I dare you to give these a try! You will be pleasantly surprised. I promise!

LOW CARB - GLUTEN FREE WAFFLES
Yield: 2 waffles

4 oz cream cheese
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)
2 tsp Splenda (or sweetener of your choice)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 - 2 Tblsp Superfine Almond Flour

Heat Belgian waffle iron until it reads "ready." While it's heating, combine all ingredients in blender, magic bullet or food processor. They all work fine. Blend on high until the batter is smooth and cream cheese is completely blended in. Spritz waffle iron with spray of your choice or basted with butter. Pour half of the batter into the waffle iron and cook for 2 - 3 minutes or until light golden brown. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve with butter and if you desire - sugar free syrup. These are also VERY delicious with fresh fruit and whipped cream or butter & powdered sugar on them (or powdered Swerve if you're being strict), Depends on how many carbs you want to add.

* You may want to have a paper towel under your waffle iron to catch drips. My first one squeezed out the side and ran onto the cupboard and made a mess.

HOMEMADE WAFFLES

In keeping with my breakfast food theme lately.... who doesn't love breakfast for dinner, once in a while? And what could be better than a steaming, hot waffle with deep pockets to hold all that butter and warm, sweet, delicious, homemade syrup?! These waffles have a 2 step process, but are well worth the time invested. I've used this same waffle recipe for over 25 years and it always gets rave reviews. You can top them with all your favorite things: sauteed apples, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, whipped cream, bananas, pecans, let your imagination run wild here! And then ENJOY!

HOMEMADE WAFFLES

2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 egg whites, beaten stiff

Heat waffle iron to med-high. In the meantime, in a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the 2 egg yolks and milk and whisk into the flour mixture. Stir to combine. Next, add the melted butter. Again, stir to combine. In a clean separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, and then fold gently into waffle batter. Pour 1 1/2 soup ladles of batter onto hot waffle iron and bake for 3 - 5 minutes or until desired crispiness is achieved.
Yield: 4 round waffles

*When I am making this for my family, I usually double the recipe. 


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PANNEKOEKEN

 Many years ago (early 90's) we were in Rochester, MN at the Mayo Clinic as our 6 yr old daughter was diagnosed with Rhabdomyasarcoma there. The Lord miraculously healed her of it - Praise His Name! She is a beautiful young woman, married with a new baby. And all that after the doctors telling us she probably wouldn't have children because of the chemo. GOD IS ABLE! The day before her biopsy we found this cool little restaurant in town called "Pannekoeken." They served these delightful puffed pancakes. When they come out of the oven they are puffed up real high, but they quickly deflate. So as soon as the pancake came out of the oven, the waitress would hoist it up in the air and run through the restaurant to your table, shouting "PANNEKOEKEN!!" The kids thought it was so cool. I had forgotten about that little treat until recently when I found a recipe for "Dutch Baby." I made it and hubby & I both said, "this is Pannekoeken!" Super easy to make and the kids love watching it puff up in the oven. You can serve it with fresh fruit, sauteed apples, whipped cream, powdered sugar, or just maple syrup. It's just plain yummy! It has become one of hubby's favorite breakfast treats!

PANNEKOEKEN

3 tablespoons butter

3 eggs

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup milk, heated 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Pinch salt

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Put the butter in a large, ovenproof, nonstick saute pan and place in the oven.
Meanwhile, in a blender, combine the eggs, flour, warm milk, sugar, vanilla extract and pinch of salt, and blend on medium-high speed until uniform. (If mixing by hand, combine the eggs with the milk until the mixture is light yellow and no longer stringy, about 1 minute. Add the flour, sugar, vanilla, and pinch of salt, and whisk vigorously to remove the lumps, about 30 seconds.)

Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven. The butter should be melted. Swirl the butter around the pan to coat completely, and then pour the remaining butter into the batter and pulse to blend. Pour the batter into the hot pan and return the pan to the oven. Cook until the pancake is puffed in the center and golden brown along the edges, 20 to 25 minutes.

Using a spatula, remove the entire Dutch baby from the pan and place on a cooling rack for a few minutes to allow the steam to escape without condensing along the bottom and rendering the pancake soggy. Dust with confectioners' sugar when cooled slightly. Slice the pancake into 8 wedges on a serving platter or cutting board

PEACH FRENCH TOAST

This is a lovely recipe! A few weeks ago we were invited to accompany a family from our church on a 2 night get-away, to go rafting and stay in a Bed & Breakfast. We drove about 5 hours South, down to the Ozarks. It is beautiful down there! We took a small detour and stopped off at Lamberts for lunch, before we made our way down into Eminence. Lamberts is home of the "thrown rolls!" They were DEElicious too! Well worth the 1 hr wait to get in! Late in the afternoon we arrived at The Hawkins House Bed & Breakfast in Eminence, MO. Miss Patty is a FINE hostess and made our first ever stay in a bed & breakfast just delightful! It felt just like home! The morning we left she made this wonderful Peach French Toast for breakfast. We were all proclaiming how wonderful it was and talking about trying to finagle the recipe out of her. Next thing you know, out she walked from the kitchen with a smile and plopped the recipe down right in front of my plate! I was so happy and couldn't wait to get home and experiment on family and friends with a new recipe! I made it for my family when they were all gathered here last week for a Revival meeting with the Tharp Brothers. Then I made it for the Saturday morning soul winning crowd today. Both times it has gone over with a bang! Everyone loves it!
The only difference between Miss Patty's recipe and mine is, I have to make everything on a LARGE scale! Other than having to add a little extra cooking time, it still turns out MAHvelous Dahling! I know you'll enjoy this one!

PEACH FRENCH TOAST

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 Tblsp water

1 (29 oz) can sliced peaches
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 Tblsp vanilla
1 loaf french bread, sliced about 3/4" thick

Drain peaches. Heat brown sugar and butter on medium heat until melted. Add water and continue cooking until sauce foams up. Pour into 6 individual buttered baking dishes and cool 10 minutes.
Place peaches on cooled sauce and cover with slices of bread placed close together. In separate bowl, beat eggs, milk and vanilla until mixed. Pour over bread, cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, remove from fridge and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Loosely cover with foil the last 10 - 15 minutes if browning too fast. Remove from oven and loosen from edges of dish. Invert each dish onto serving plate to serve (so it is peach side up!)

PECAN FRENCH TOAST

Make caramel sauce from peach french toast. Pour into 6 buttered baking dishes and cool. Add chopped or whole pecans. Cover with slices of bread placed close together. Pour egg mixture over, cover and refrigerate overnight. Next morning bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

*TIP* I skipped the cooling time on the caramel sauce and it didn't affect the recipe at all. Actually placing the room temp peaches on the sauce probably helped cool it down faster. Also, since I frequently cook for a crowd, I doubled this recipe to fit a 1/4 sheet cake pan (lasagna pan). I think I fit 16 slices of french bread in the pan. You can get 16 slices out of one loaf if you slice it down the middle and slice each half into 8 equal portions. I also added 10 - 15 minutes of extra baking time to allow the custard laden bread to cook through all the way. The tricky part to making this in a large batch is inverting it when it is done baking. I use the 1/4 sheet cake pan because it doesn't have handles on the edges and I can fit my 1/4 sheet cookie pan over the top and then invert it right onto the cookie sheet. You still have to be very careful for two reasons: 1) it's VERY hot and 2) remember there is sauce in the bottom of the pan and when you invert it, if you are not flush against the bottom of your cookie sheet, the sauce may splash out. I did it over the sink. You may want to wrap a towel around it just to be sure you don't splash or burn yourself. If you do it quick though, you should be alright. I was, but still, please be very careful when you invert it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If you ever get a chance to travel down to the Ozarks, I encourage you to look up The Hawkins House Bed & Breakfast! Each bedroom has it's own private bath. Very clean and beautifully decorated. And a HEAVENLY wrap around porch with all sorts of swings and bistro sets and wicker furniture! We stayed in Annabelle's room - it has a partriotic theme - just lovely! http://hawkinshousebb.com/index.html
Tell her the preacher and his wife from Independence recommended her!

BACON CHEDDAR PULL APARTS

This one is super yummy! When my daughter Sarah and her friend, Amy were raising funds for their missions trip to Brazil - this was one of the top sellers every week at our bake sales. It always sold out first, and was being requested every week at the sales. I made these today for our Saturday morning soul winners / prayer breakfast. We had a ladies meeting last night and there was all kinds of left over fresh fruit to go with them. So I served Bacon Cheddar Pull Aparts, Scrambled Eggs and Fruit. It was the perfect breakfast combo! The muffins went really well with the eggs!



BACON CHEDDAR PULL APARTS

2 eggs

4 tablespoons milk

4 (7.5 oz) (10 count) cans refrigerated biscuits

1 lb bacon, diced and cooked

1 (8 oz) bag shredded Cheddar cheese (I've also used Shredded Monterey Jack)

1/4 cup finely chopped green onions (4 medium) (I use half of the tops too)
1 stick butter, melted

Optional: 1 small can diced green chiles, drained
Can also add: diced green pepper or diced red pepper if you like those.

DIRECTIONS

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 2 regular size muffin tins with cooking spray. In large bowl, beat eggs and milk with wire whisk until smooth.
• Separate dough into individual biscuits; cut each into quarters. Gently stir biscuit pieces into egg mixture to coat evenly. Gently fold in bacon, cheese and onions. Spoon mixture evenly among 12 sprayed muffin tins. You could also use the foil muffin liners - but I would even spray those.
  
• Drizzle melted butter evenly over top of pull aparts.
• Place muffin tin on cookie sheet - the muffins tend to leak the butter a bit and the cookie sheet helps contain the mess.
  
• Bake at 350°F. for 20 - 23 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from muffin tins.
  
• Best served warm.

AMISH BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

There are SO many recipes for breakfast casserole floating around on the internet and in cook books. You'll find them as breakfast casserole, quiche, strata, etc... Some of them are made with meat, eggs, cheese & bread cubes.... some with veggies.... this one was made with bacon, eggs, cheese & hash browns, which made it seem like a pretty hearty one dish breakfast. So I opted for this one for our soul winner's prayer breakfast this morning. Then I set out the toaster and a loaf of whole wheat bread, so they could make a piece of hot, buttered toast with it, if they wanted to. It must have been a winner, because the pan was empty at the end! That's always a good sign!

My co-hostess, Brenda Bell, made a Mexican Breakfast Casserole & that one had corn tortillas in it. She served it with Salsa. If she'll give me the recipe for it, I'll add that one too. She also made a delicious, " "cinnamony" bread pudding as a treat! Didn't get a pic of it, but got a few nibbles and it was YUMMY! Special THANK YOU to Miss Brenda for her good help this morning! (Should have snapped her pic! I'll do it next week.)

AMISH BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

1 lb slice bacon, diced (I use scissors - makes it quick)
1 medium onion, chopped
6 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups frozen, shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese
1 1/4 cups shredded swiss cheese

In a large skillet, cook bacon and onion until bacon is crisp. Drain. In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, stir in bacon mixture. Transfer to a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 - 35 minutes or until set and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

EGG NOG FRENCH TOAST

What's your favorite thing to make on a Snow Day? School is canceled, many can't get out to go to work, you're not going anywhere until the driveway is plowed or snowblowed. You may as well make a hot breakfast for everyone. If you like egg nog and can get your hands on some, you have GOT to try this! It's so custardy and delicious. The only thing I would change would be to use a heartier bread. All I had in the bread box was Aunt Millies Cracked Wheat bread, and it was a bit to thin for this thick, custardy recipe. I still used it, but a nice, crusty, french, bread loaf, sliced thick, would work a lot better for this.

EGG NOG FRENCH TOAST

2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup store bought egg nog
1 tsp rum flavoring (or vanilla, it's your choice)
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1/8 t. cinnamon + 1/8 t. nutmeg)
6 slices bread

Whisk together eggs, egg nog, rum flavoring and spices. Heat a griddle to hot. Dip bread in egg mixture, allowing it to soak in slightly. Butter (or oil) the hot griddle and place soaked bread on griddle. Cook on each side until golden brown and crispy. Serve with butter and powdered sugar or hot syrup.

*Note* To increase the recipe: for every additional 3 slices of bread, add one egg, 1/4 cup of egg nog and 1 tsp. rum flavoring (or 1/2 t. vanilla)

OATMEAL ALA MODE w/ FRESH PEACHES

If you're not a fan of oatmeal, you will be after trying this treat! What a grand way to wake your kids up in the morning.... tell them they are having ice cream for breakfast! We all love oatmeal this way. But I buy the Carb smart ice cream to keep it lower in sugar. Are you a fan of the hot / cold duos? This one will be right up your alley then. Give it a try and let me know how you liked it.

OATMEAL ALA MODE w/ FRESH PEACHES

Prepare your oatmeal according to package directions. I like the quick oats that cook in 1 minute. Hubby likes the old fashioned oats.

1/2 cup prepared oatmeal
1 tsp butter
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 cup ice cream (use good quality ice cream, so when it melts it won't be gooey)
1 fresh peach, peeled and sliced
Sprinkle of cinnamon/sugar

Place prepared HOT oatmeal in bowl, top with butter, sprinkle with brown sugar. Place scoop of ice cream on top of hot oatmeal. Top with sliced peach and sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar. ENJOY!

WARM CINNAMON MINI SWIRLS (WW)

Here's a yummy little Saturday morning treat to lure even the worst sleepy head out of bed! And with a points value of only 1 each - what's not to love?! They are super quick & easy to make and so good! If you're doing WW and are craving a big fat cinnamon roll - then QUICK make these and it will take care of that craving! These make a nice treat for company too. Serve them up with a hot mug of coffee or a tall cold glass of milk.

WARM CINNAMON MINI SWIRLS - WW 1 pt each

1 (8 oz) pkg refrigerated reduced fat crescent rolls
4 tsp bottled cinnamon sugar
cooking spray
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp 1% milk

Preheat oven to 375. Unroll crescent roll dough onto work surface. Separate the 2 hunks of dough. Leave 4 of the crescent rolls hooked together, and with a mini pie dough roller, press the perforations together. Sprinkle each portion of dough with 2 tsp of the cinnamon sugar. Starting at the wide side, roll up 1 portion of dough, pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets. Pinch seams to seal. Cut roll into 10 slices. Place rolls, cut side down on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Repeat process with remaining dough and cinnamon-sugar. Bake at 375 for 10 - 12 minutes or until golden. Whisk together powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Drizzle over warm rolls with a small whisk.
Yield: 20 swirls
Serving sz: 1 swirl
Points value: 1 pt
Cal: 55
Fat: 1 g

MUFFIN MONDAY - CHEESECAKE STUFFED PUMPKIN MUFFINS

CHEESECAKE STUFFED PUMPKIN MUFFINS

This was actually a 2nd attempt! I made this muffin on Saturday for the group on Sunday. The original recipe called for sour cream in the batter and for a cube of plain cream cheese to be shoved down into the center of the muffin batter before it was baked. At first bite, I told myself that nobody will like these. I bit into it and immediately had this feeling, that I didn't know how I felt about that cube of cream cheese! Then one by one, as different ones tasted, they all said the same thing - it wasn't horrible, but .... that cube of cream cheese.... ugh!
So today I remade them. I couldn't handle the defeat! I was really pleased with the results!

CHEESECAKE STUFFED PUMPKIN MUFFINS


Philadelphia brand, prepared cheesecake filling mix (sold next to regular cream cheese)
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup applesauce

Combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt in bowl.

Mix eggs, pumpkin, butter and applesauce together, then add to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened.

Fill greased muffin cups 1/3 full. Place 1 Tblsp of the prepared cheesecake filling , in center of each. Add remaining batter to fill cups 2/3 full. Sprinkle with chopped pecans and then with sugar.

*NOTE* When you fill the muffin papers - be sure to spray them with Pam first. Also, after you spoon in the cheesecake filling, and add the top layer of batter - do not seal the top layer. Just spoon it on top - and let the cheesecake filling show on the sides or however it turns out. Don't smooth the top over.

Bake in 375ºF oven 15 to 18 minutes or until they spring back when lightly touched.

FOR COFFEE CAKE: Spread half of batter in a greased 9 inch square pan. Arrange cheese cake filling evenly spaced over the batter. Top with remaining batter. Sprinkle with chopped pecans, and cinnamon & sugar. Bake approximately 30 minutes.

Yields: 12 muffins

MINI SAUSAGE AND EGG CASSEROLES

I like to surprise my family once in a while on Saturday or Sunday morning with a new treat. This one was for a Sunday morning. That is rare for me, since Sunday mornings here are so very busy with bus routes. The girls and I are all up and out the door pretty early. I didn't take into account that I had to allow for the set up and photographing of the dish! haha So I really pushed myself on time this particular morning - but it was totally worth it! Sooo good! The nice thing about these, is you can mix them up the night before and just toss them in the oven in the morning.

MINI SAUSAGE AND EGG CASSEROLES

8 (1 1/2 oz) sourdough bread slices, cut into cubes (or any other favorite bread)
1 (16 oz) package ground pork sausage, browned and crumbled
2 1/2 cups milk
4 large eggs
1 Tblsp dijon mustard
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Divide bread cubes among 10 (8 to 10 oz) lightly greased ovenproof ramekins or coffee mugs. Top with cooked sausage. Whisk together milk, eggs and mustard. Pour over bread and sausage mixture in ramekins. Whisk together buttermilk and cream of mushroom soup. Spoon over bread mixture in ramekins. Sprinkle with cheese. Place ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes or until set and puffed. Serve immediately.
*NOTE* Unbaked ramekins of casserole can be covered with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and frozen up to 1 month. Thaw in refrigerator 24 hours. Bake as directed.

CHICKEN AND WAFFLES

I couldn't help myself! I just had to show you what my son's birthday meal wish was. Chicken and waffles! This would probably be an acquired taste for some, but my family all loves it. My son's sweet wifey made a huge batch to feed our group for my son's birthday this year. He was as happy as a hog in slop! hahaJust in case you don't have a good recipe for homemade waffles - I've used this one for years.

BUTTERMILK WAFFLES

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking soda
3 Tblsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs separated
1 1/2 cups buttermilk or regular milk (can also substitute eggnog if you prefer)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup melted butter

Heat a waffle iron to high.
In a clean dry mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside. In small mixing bowl, beat the 2 egg yolks with the buttermilk (or regular milk or eggnog) and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Carefully add in the melted butter and stir to combine. Fold beaten egg whites into batter until thoroughly combined. Spray top and bottom half of your waffle iron with cooking spray and fill bottom half with waffle batter. Lower top lid and cook for about 2 minutes or until brown and lightly crisp. Makes 8 waffles.
You can also add chopped pecans to the waffle batter. Just sprinkle them on after you pour the batter onto the hot iron. Or you can add fresh blueberries or cherries or chocolate chips, etc... use your imagination. These are sooooo good for dinner!

HANNAH BANANA MUFFINS

Don't you just love a good muffin? But I think it's a cardinal sin to make or eat a DRY muffin! I just won't do it. I like muffins to be MOIST and have a nice crispy, light brown, crown on them. To me, that is perfection in a muffin. You can tell these muffins are moist, because they don't crumble when you cut them. I probably make these a couple times a month, or whenever the bananas don't get finished off after I buy them. Tonight I had 4 dark bananas sitting in the fruit bowl, staring at me, wondering what their fate would be. I finally took pity on them and re-made them into some glorious "Hannah Banana" muffins. They were so happy! *hehe* If you're wondering where "Hannah Banana" came from, it was when our daughter (now 23) was diagnosed with cancer at 6 yrs old. It was the nickname attached to her by her nurses and caretakers in the hospital. The name has just kind of stuck, so these muffins are in honor of my sweet "Hannah Banana!" I'm so glad we still have her with us! THANK YOU Lord!

HANNAH BANANA MUFFINS

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
3 or 4 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup sweetened applesauce or 1/2 sour cream
(whichever you prefer or happen to have on hand)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 heaping tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Chopped pecans & extra sugar for topping

Cream softened butter and sugar together with a mixer. Add eggs, bananas, applesauce (or sour cream, whichever you decided on) and vanilla. Mix well. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Slowly add to creamed mixture a cup at a time, beating with mixer after each addition. Line a jumbo muffin tin with jumbo muffin papers and fill each one 3/4 of the way with muffin batter. Sprinkle liberally with chopped pecans and then liberally with sugar. Bake at 375 for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. DO NOT overbake them or they will dry out. Remember the 20 - 25 minutes is for JUMBO muffins. If you are using a regular size muffin pan, you will need to adjust your cooking time accordingly. I LOVE the crunchy topping these get while they are baking! Mmm!To get the full effect of this delicious muffin, you HAVE to eat it warm. So if you make them the night before (like I did) be sure to warm yours in the microwave for about 10 seconds before you eat it. When you sit down with your hot cup of coffee and a warm banana muffin in the morning, think of me and say a prayer for this preacher's family.