Baked Eggs

Every morning, by the time I've gotten myself dressed and all three of my kids ready for school, there isn't enough time for me to sit and eat breakfast.  I'm not about to start my day without something in my stomach, so I usually grab a breakfast bar or toast and English muffin that I can eat in the car.  

It gets a little old.  

Then I stumbled across this brilliant idea!  You can BAKE raw eggs in a muffin tin!  They come out looking like little patties.  

Refrigerate them and each morning, pop one in the microwave for 25 seconds and put between an English muffin for an instant breakfast egg sand which!

Baked Eggs

Ingredients:

eggs

salt/pepper for seasoning

shredded cheese

Directions:

Spray your muffin tin with cooking spray. Crack one egg in each muffin space (or as many as you'd like to bake), season with some salt and pepper and sprinkle in some cheese.  Stir if desired.

Bake for 15 minutes or s at 350º. 

Place between two toasted English muffins and douse with Tabasco Sauce.  

Eat in the car as you drive to work. 

Cinnamon Rolls

A stand mixer was something I always knew I wanted.  I would say, "In the future, when I have a bigger kitchen to store it."  I knew it was a great tool to have in the kitchen, but it wasn't like I was feeling inconvenienced because I didn't have one.  

Little did I know!

Last October, my husband and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary.  Yea!  And one of his gifts to me was to finally get me a stand mixer.  

My life changed that day.  

I'm not kidding.  

When I say I wasn't feeling inconvenienced or anything it's because I didn't KNOW how amazing these things are!  It's like having a handy helper in the kitchen.  I'm in love.  I've used it almost every single day since I've gotten it.  Everything from making these amazing cinnamon rolls to shredding chicken to making a cheese ball.  

One of the first things I made was my first-ever cinnamon rolls.  Wow... why didn't I get a stand mixer years ago?  These were awesome!

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

Dough:

1 cup of warm whole milk (110ºF)

2 eggs at room temperature (put them in a bowl of room temperature water to speed up that process)

1/3 cup of margarine (melted)

4 1/2 cups of bread flour (or more)

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of white sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons of dry yeast

Filling:

1 cup of brown sugar, packed

2 1/2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon

1/3 cup of unsalted butter, softened

Frosting: 

1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

3 oz of cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 cup of butter, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

 1 small pinch of salt

drops of water

Directions: 

Using your stand mixer, pour in the warm milk and add dry yeast and 4 teaspoons of sugar (taken from the 1/2 cup of sugar you will use later).  Whisk quickly to mix and cover with a kitchen towel for about 10 minutes. 

Once it is bubbly and puffed up, attach the hook attachment and mix on low speed.  Add melted margarine, eggs and remaining sugar.  Now start adding the flour and salt, one cup at a time.  You may end up using more than 5 cups of flour.  Let the mixer work the dough on the slow speed for about 10 minutes.  Do this until the dough does not stick to the bottom of the bowl.  Or you can check it by getting a small piece of the dough and squeezing it between your finger and thumb.  If it doesn't stick, the the dough is ready.  

Place plastic wrap over the top of the dough (touching the dough) to cover it.  Let it rise for about 1 hour or until it doubles in size.  Keep it in a warm place.  I put it in near the dryer.

Sprinkle some flour over a clean surface and put the dough over it.  You'll need to stretch the dough using a rolling pin.  Shape it to about 16x21 inches in a rectangle.  Now spread the 1/3 cup of softened butter all over the dough. 

Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle this over the dough.  The butter should hold the mixture in place. 

Now roll the dough VERY TIGHTLY, the long way.  Then cut the dough into 12 pieces.  Cut in half first, then half of that then half of that...and so on. 

Lightly grease a 9x13 metal pan and place the rolls inside.  Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes or until they double in size.  Keep in a warm place. 

Bake rolls at 350º for about 15 minutes until golden brown. 

While baking, make the frosting:

In your stand mixer, add the cream cheese and butter and whip with the whipping attachment until they are evenly combined.  Add the vanilla and then the powdered sugar.  You will need to add a few drops of water to help it combine.  

Spread the frosting over the rolls once they come out of the oven, while they are still warm. 

source http://www.gotmixer.com/cinnamon-roll-recipe/

Breakfast Casserole

Near the end of the school year, all the teachers hosted a Parent Appreciation breakfast.  I signed up to bring a breakfast casserole.  Since I'd never made one before, I made my family one on Saturday to test out the recipe.  I'm so glad I did, because it turned out great! 

I added mushrooms to the "real" casserole and that version was my favorite.  Green peppers definetly deserve a spot in this recipe too.  

I have to make this again because the picture is sad, but don't be fooled.....this casserole was really tasty! 

**This is a make-the-night-before dish, so plan ahead!  It's perfect for feeding company. 

Ingredients:

1 lb spicy pork sausage

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped (optional)

1/4 cup green peppers, chopped (optional)

2 1/2 cups frozen diced hash brown potatoes

5 eggs

1 3/4 cups milk

1 cup Original Bisquick mix

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Spray a 13x9 glass casserole dish with cooking spray.  

In a skillet, cook sausage, green peppers, mushrooms and onion over medium heat for 5 minutes.  Stir in potatoes.  Cook another 5-7 minutes, until the sausage is cooked through and the potatoes are slightly browned. 

Drain the mixture onto paper towels, then spoon into the casserole dish. 

In a medium bowl, stir eggs, milk, Bisquick and salt and pepper until well blended.  Stir in cheese. 

Pour over the sasuage mixture and mix well.  

Cover with foil and refrigerate for 8 hours. 

Heat oven to 350º and bake casserole for 45 minutes.  Uncover and make another 10 or 15 minutes (until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean)

Serve with your favorite hot sauce, salsa and sour cream. 

Source: bettycrocker.com

Cream Cheese Cinammon Rollies

Nothing makes me happier then when I make a dish for someone and later they ask me to make it again!  This weekend, my family went to Park City for a reunion and I made these for breakfast one morning.  Two days later, my older brother asked if I'd make them again.  Honestly, I didn't exactly want to get up before everyone again and make breakfast (it was MY vacation too, ya know!).  But how could I say no?  My eagerness to please dominated my desire to sleep in a bit longer. 

It seems like these are meant to be a breakfast item, but I see no reason why they can't be made as a dessert.  They are similar to a Churro, but smaller and the insides are a cream cheese filling. 

Cream Cheese Cinammon Rollies

Ingredients:

1 loaf of white bread

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 container cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, melted

Cinammon and Sugar mixed together to sprinkle over the top

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350º

In a medium bowl, combine the powdered sugar and soft cream cheese until smooth. 

Using a knife, cut the crusts off each slice of bread. Then with a rolling pin, flatten the bread.  (I like to do a few at a time, so the bread doesn't dry out)

Scoop a spoonful of the cream cheese mixture onto each piece of flattened bread, and spread it over the surface area of the bread.   Then roll up the bread, removing any excess cream from the seam. 

Brush melted butter over all sides of each roll and then sprinkle all sides with the cinammon/sugar mixture. 

Bake about 20 minutes until the rollies are nice and toasted. 

**My mom suggested adding some orange zest to the filling.  BRILLIANT!  I will be trying that added ingredient next time!

** I re-made these a few months later and experimented with nutella and strawberries for the filling rather than the cream cheese mix.  The possibilities are endless!