Bacon, Egg, and Toast Cups, revisited

This is a recipe I've made and posted in the past, but I wanted to revisit it. It deserves a much needed revamped picture and is so delicious and easy that it needs to be known. I love these little cups because they have all of your breakfast necessities in one: dairy, protein, and bacon. (All of the important food groups.) Haha. But seriously, they are so delicious you will want to make more than 6 if you plan on sharing. They tend to go fast and are very addicting!

Bacon, Egg and Toast Cups

Adapted from: Annie's Eats, originally The Noshery

6 pieces of bread

6 bacon slices

4-5 eggs (beaten if you like scrambled eggs)

shredded cheese

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Meanwhile, cook bacon on medium-high heat for about 6-8 minutes on each side to slightly cook (you still want them to be flexible). Place bacon on plate with paper towels to cool. While the bacon is cooling, cut out a 3-inch round out of the bread slices.

Take the bacon pieces and wrap them around the edges of the bread. Then, place the round bread pieces in each of 6 greased muffin cups so that it forms a little bowl. Note: The bread WILL stay in the muffin cups since it's not toasted yet. I was somewhat skeptical of that. Next, pour the egg into it until it almost fills up and sprinkle with cheese on top. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the egg is done (will not be liquid anymore).

Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve immediately!

M&M Cookies

The usual M&M cookie recipes I've made in the past produce thin, greasy cookies. I was looking for a thicker and softer recipe to make for Santa's cookies this year. I was pleasantly surprised when I found this recipe (random Google search, FTW) and the cookies didn't look thin. Or greasy. They turned out great and even kept well over night. Okay, over several nights. :) We will definitely be baking these Monday for Santa since I am working Tuesday. This will be an exciting year since our son is really starting to understand a little more about Christmas.

M&M Cookies

Adapted from: All Recipes

Yields: 2 dozen cookies

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1 egg

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup M&M's, plus more for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the sugars, shortening, egg, and vanilla until smooth. In a medium mixing bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Move mixer to slowest speed and add flour mixture in small increments. Blend well. Add M&M's to mixing bowl and mix on low speed.

Roll dough and place on cookie sheet lined with silicone baking mat. Slightly flatten with hand and press a few M&M's to the tops of cookies. Bake in preheated oven for 9-11 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 3-5 minutes and transfer to cookie rack.

Oven-Baked French Toast

My family was tired of the traditional pancakes (from scratch, I might add) that I usually make for weekend breakfast. We just needed something different, so over to Pinterest I went. I found this amazing recipe for baked french toast that is quick, easy, and uses regular bread. 

Yes, regular bread.

French toast usually requires Italian bread or some other kind you usually don't have lying around. This recipe is great because it uses your every day sliced sandwich bread you already have! I was skeptical as to how these would turn out but they were amazing and my 2-year-old loved them! They were soft yet firm enough to be considered "finger food" which, let's face it, is a toddler's favorite kind of food. Best part is they take about 6 minutes to cook (and probably only 5-10 minutes to prep). 

Easy peasy jungle breezy! (Wow. Too much Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.)

Oven-Baked French Toast
Yields: 20 small slices; serves 4
Adapted from: A Beautiful Mess

Ingredients

4-5 slices of bread
3-4 eggs
2 Tablespoons cream (or half & half, or milk)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cinnamon
Cinnamon & sugar mix (your preference)

Directions

Preheat broiler on low setting and place top rack about 3-4 inches from top of oven.

Mix the egg, cream, vanilla, and a generous sprinkle of cinnamon to a shallow baking dish. Mix well. Slice bread into 4 equal slices, lengthwise and quickly coat on both sides with the egg mixture. Allow excess to drip (being careful to not allow the bread to tear) and place on a prepared baking sheet. I use a Silpat mat but you can grease your baking sheet if you don't have one. NOTE: DO NOT USE PARCHMENT PAPER.

When all slices are lined on the baking sheet, sprinkle some cinnamon sugar mixture on top. Place under the broiler (low setting) for 2-3 minutes or until the egg is cooked and sugar is starting to caramelize. 

Remove pan from oven and flip sticks onto other side and sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar topping. They will stick well to the Silpat mat so be careful when flipping. Broil an additional 2-3 minutes and serve warm.

Graham Crackers

Graham crackers never get old in my opinion. Plain, cinnamon sugar, chocolate. They're all so good! With summer here, it's s'mores season. Yup, I said it. I know we all daydream about a sunset at home with a toasty marshmallow sandwiched between a piece of chocolate and two tasty graham crackers. (crickets) Oh, that's just me? Oh, well that's my dream at least. Anyways, I found several graham cracker recipes and the one on this website looked the best, and had the best variety of common ingredients, or so I thought. 

The day I decided to make these, I couldn't find my whole wheat flour and realized last-minute that I didn't have half of the other ingredients (honey, molasses, etc) so I improvised. When I say improvise, I use that term very loosely. I Googled the crap out of "x substitute" recipes. I decided to give this recipe a try with some odd combinations of ingredients based on the original. Guess what?! They turned out JUST like the store-bought ones, only slightly a lot less stale. Delicious! My 11-month-old also loves them to gnaw on since he's teething and he loves his crackers. These would be a great toddler snack!

Graham Crackers

(Loosely) Adapted from: Confections of a Foodie Bride

Yields: 40 crackers

2 cups plus 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour *

1/4 cup wheat bran *

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

4 Tbsp. butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. light corn syrup (or honey)

2 Tbsp. maple syrup

1 egg

Whisk the dry ingredients together and set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the corn syrup and maple syrup just until incorporated. Add the egg and beat for another minute. 

With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in 3 equal batches, mixing well in between. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap at least 4 hours, or overnight. 

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325ºF.

Divide the dough into two equal halves. Roll one half onto a lightly floured surface until very thin. The crackers will puff slightly in the oven and the thinner they are, the crunchier they become. (I'm talking 2-4 mm thick here, people.)

Cut the dough with a dough cutting tool or pizza cutter to desired shape and size. Prick a fork into the top, centers of them to prevent too much puffing.

Bake for 12 minutes, or until starting to brown. They will be very soft, but will harden when cooling so leave them to cool completely on the baking sheet. Store in an airtight container. 

* Instead of using all all-purpose flour, you may substitute and use 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour + 3/4 cup plus 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, just omit the wheat bran. 

Strawberry Banana Muffins

For the past few summers (and since starting this blog), I've always wanted to go strawberry picking. This was my first summer doing so and I absolutely loved it! My 11-month-old had a blast (eating too many, probably) and we are all enjoying having all of the strawberries around! These muffins were the first recipe I tried with our strawberries from Spencer's Farm. It was an older recipe from Annie's website but nonetheless I knew it wouldn't disappoint.

Normally I have a pretty big sweet tooth so these muffins, at first bite, were a little on the dry side. I think next time I might add a tiny bit of cinnamon sugar to the top before baking. Or I'm sure more strawberries couldn't hurt. Nobody ever complained about too many strawberries. None of my friends anyways. ;) These are a great breakfast and my son really enjoyed them as well!

Strawberry Banana Muffins

Adapted from: Annie's Eats

Yields: 12-14 muffins

3/4 cup light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large, ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries, chopped

Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease a muffin tray. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and banana's. Add the melted butter and mix to combine.

In a separate large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Fold in the strawberries and toss to coat them well. (This prevents the strawberries from sinking during the baking process.)

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, just until combined. Do not over-mix.

Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full of batter and bake for 20-25 minutes,  until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool slightly and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Baby Food - Carrots

Although my son doesn't like carrots (and is now almost 11 months old), I though I'd post this recipe anyways. I loved the puree carrots! I would highly suggest using organic carrots if you are going to make them for your young baby. There are certain fruits and vegetables that are just much safer to give to your little one when they are organic (not to mention, for yourself). We only really did puree foods for about 2 months and my son quickly learned to self-feed. (Boy, has that been messy.) These were so easy to make and I even still steam carrots for him today and he loves them!

Baby Food - Puree Carrots

Adapted from: Kelly's Kitch original

1 pkg organic carrots, peeled and chopped into 1-inch sized pieces

water

Steam the carrots stove top and allow to cool, reserving the liquid. Place carrots and 1/2 cup water from the pot into a food processor (you may have to do this in several batches). Puree until the carrots are the consistency you want for your baby. Keep adding liquid from the pot that you used to boil the carrots with until the perfect consistency. Pulse the carrots instead of pureeing if your baby is old enough for thicker foods.

Pork Baby Back Ribs

Ribs are something I really didn't enjoy growing up. (I know; you're sensing a theme here, huh.) I've always been a picky eater and when it came to ribs I only ate my step-dad's ribs. He would slow-boil them all afternoon with some special juices and they would almost fall off the bone. They were perfect! I have tried for a while now to improve my ribs, but not have to stay in the kitchen all afternoon while they cook. I have to say that this recipe is one of the best. I've tested crock-pot recipes and stove-top and this is what I've found to make the perfect baby back ribs!

Pork Baby Back Ribs

Adapted from: Kelly's Kitch original

Yields: 1 rack; 3-4 servings

1 rack baby back ribs

juice of one lime

juice of one lemon

Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce

Cut the ribs every two bones to separate them. Place into a large pot or dutch oven and fill with enough water to cover, plus a little extra. Stir in the juices, lemon and lime halves, and bring water to a boil stove top. Once water is slowly boiling, turn the temperature down to medium-low and allow to simmer for 1-2 hours (or however long you can allow). 

Once the ribs are cooked, remove them from the water and slather with BBQ sauce. NOTE: If you make these a day ahead of time, you can store the cooked BBQ ribs in an airtight container overnight and cook the next evening. This gives the ribs a chance to soak in some of the sauce. 

Place ribs on a grilling tray lined with foil and cook on the grill on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, flipping halfway. Since you've already cooked the ribs stove top, all you're doing on the grill is giving them a bit more flavor and reheating them. 

They will be tender, but not completely fall apart. Add more BBQ sauce as desired and enjoy!