Breakfast Deliciousness – Strawberry French Toast Bake

Breakfast is that one meal you should really eat each day. My mornings are usually a rush to get  myself showered and presentable, get the dog fed and outside for potty time, and make sure the chickens have food and water. I could rush less if I got up a little earlier, but I’d rather sleep in a little longer. Those precious extra minutes help to make me a pleasant human. Otherwise…you don’t wanna know. That being said, breakfasts on a weekday consist of cereal, a couple of eggs and an english muffin and coffee, or recently, a smoothie.

Saturday and Sunday I usually put in extra effort for breakfast. Percolated coffee. Bacon or sausage. Fresh made pancakes or Belgian waffles. Biscuits and gravy. Quiche. Not all of those items at once, but a mixture of them, making breakfast more of an event rather than just food for nourishment. Enter in the invention of my Strawberry French Toast Bake. I like to keep a couple of baguette cut into sandwich sized chunks in the freezer. They freeze nice, thaw quickly, and are great for impromptu guests or invites to a party where I will take an appetizer. And, they make for amazing french toast. I had a whole one, unfrozen just hanging around and was in the mood for french toast. But I wasn’t in the mood to soak those little rounds and make a bunch of 3 bite french toasts. I wanted something quick, simple, and hearty. I also wanted something with berries. Whenever strawberries go on sale, I buy a bunch and then cut some up into cubes, freezing them for later uses. The berries took it to another level. Served with some bacon it was a very filling breakfast. This recipe will easily serve a family of 6. Hubs and I had it for breakfast on a Sunday, and then throughout the week. It’s fantastic. A must make.

Strawberry French Toast Bake

2 cups frozen chopped strawberries, thawed and excess liquid drained

12 eggs

1 1/2 loaves baguette bread, cut into slices and torn in half

1/2 cup milk

sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg & ginger

1 teaspoon vanilla

Grease a baking dish (I used a heart shape that was roughly 9×9).

In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, spices and vanilla, whipping to combine. Sprinkle some of the strawberries on the bottom of the baking dish. Add in your bread chunks. Scatter the rest of your strawberries all over the top. Pour on the egg mixture, being sure to coat all of the bread.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. While your oven is preheating, you’re going to let the bread soak up all that egg mixture.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, until top of the french toast bake is golden brown, and the center is set. Serve immediately with butter and maple syrup.

German Pancakes with Wine-y Strawberries

Have I ever mentioned that I am a big fan of dessert? No? Well let me clear the air – I am a big fan of dessert. I feel so liberated now. Whew. So, on to the german pancake. I have been eyeballing this treat for some time, but never gotten around to making it.There are SO many recipes out there. Some that are super simple with few ingredients, others that are multi-layered, therefore making something that should be simplistic complicated. It’s called a pancake for goodness sakes! I had a hankering for dessert one day and figured what better time to try one out than right now? But wait. I would totally need a topping of some sort. What a surprise – I had frozen chopped strawberries portioned out into 2 cup servings from when they were fresh and on sale. Ta-da! And I wanted them to be juicy and warm on my warm german pancake. So Wine-y Strawberries were born!

I found the german pancake recipe in one of the old church cookbooks from my Bubba’s collection that were saved and given to me. It was as simple sounding as I was looking for and fairly quick to whip up. I cheated and didn’t sift the flour or really measure out any of the other ingredients. It turned out to be delicous as is. I don’t know the name of the cookbook since the cover has long since been MIA. But it’s got some good old fashioned recipes in it. Along with some weird sounding ones that I wouldn’t feed to an enemy. The recipe makes 2 pancakes, but hubs and split one because I didn’t want to force myself to eat a whole one. He had the other one the next morning for breakfast. Said it tasted great all by itself at room temp and a day old.

This pancake is a nice canvas to add anything you want as a topping, from the sweet to the savory. Just omit the vanilla for a savory dish. It would be good topped with some goat cheese, spinach and artichokes. Mmmm.

German Pancake

Serves 2

adapted from an old church cookbook

4 eggs

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon sugar

2/3 cup milk

2/3 cup flour

2 tablespoons butter, divided

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a food processor or blender, add the eggs, salt and sugar and process/blend until a light yellow color. Add the milk, vanilla and flour and process/blend again until combined.

Grease 2 8 or 9 inch cake pans and divide the batter in between them. Add a tablespoon of butter to the center of the pancake.

Cook for 20 minutes. At 20 minutes, rotate your cake pans and turn down the oven to 350 degrees, cooking another 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and plate up, topping with Wine-y Strawberries. You could also top these with some jam or preserves, fresh berries and whipped cream, or just eat them like a pancake and douse it in maple syrup.

Wine-y Strawberry Topping

2 cups frozen strawberries, chopped (if using fresh, see note)

2 tablespoons sweet read wine

1 tablespoon sugar

In a small saucepan, place the berries, wine and sugar, stirring to combine everything together. Over medium-high heat, cook the berries until the are bubbling and the juices & wine start to cook off and thicken a little. Turn off heat and place the hot berries on top of your german pancake. These would also be a good topping for regular pancakes or even a chocolate sheet cake. Yum!

Note: if using fresh berries, chop them and place them in a small bowl. Add the 1 tablespoon of sugar, stirring your berries to coat and let sit for 10-15 minutes. This will get the juices in your berries to come out, helping you increase your sauce to berry ratio. Then just add the juicy berries to your pan with your wine and cook as directed above.

Raspberry Almond Breakfast Quinoa – Filling, GF, Vegan – and 4 days worth of breakfast!

Let’s face it. If you are a working stiff Monday – Friday, you can be hard pressed to eat a breakfast that is healthy, filling, and easily prepared the night before. Skipping breakfast is not an option for me, and it shouldn’t be for anyone else either. Breakfast is the meal that gets our motors running, our brains firing on all cylinders. Your body NEEDS fuel.  My fellow working stiffs need me to eat breakfast. Otherwise, by 11 am, hunger has mixed with anger, making me hangry…and things can get ugly. So unless I’m not feeling well, I eat breakfast. I’m trying to lose some weight, tone up, and make some adaptable life changes. Eating healthier. Now, I’m not doing a gluten-free diet. I am trying to cut out white pastas & breads, white rice, “whole wheat” pasta’s & breads that aren’t really all that more nutritious than plain old white bread. I’m working to incorporate more whole grains, more quinoa. I’m lucky in that I don’t HAVE to do GF. That my stomach won’t be in an uproar if I eat a sandwich on wheat bread. But I know so many people out there don’t have a choice but to be GF. And since so many people are having to adopt a gluten-free lifestyle, it makes gluten-free food items more readily available to the general population. A welcome side effect. Now, back to the recipe. I’ve been experimenting with quinoa, using it in place of rice and pasta where I feel it’s a good substitute. But everything I’ve been using it in thus far has been a savory dish. I wanted to try it in a sweeter option, like something for breakfast. I wanted to incorporate fruit, since I know that I’m not eating enough servings of it each day. I wanted the recipe to taste good, be healthy, but not lack flavor. I wanted it to be something I could make a big batch of, and reheat throughout the work week. Raspberry Almond Breakfast Quinoa was born. It’s quick and easy to make, has a small list of ingredients, and is a healthy, portable, filling breakfast option! I get 4 packed pint jars worth.

If you aren’t into using almond milk, you could totally replace it with your regular milk. I think chocolate almond milk would also be a tasty sub. Raspberries aren’t your thing? Try blueberries or strawberries in the same ratio. Or do a mix! Use fresh if you have them. I’m using berries that I froze over the summer. Based on the ingredients I used, this recipe is around 125 calories per serving, with maybe 2 grams of fat. You can also sprinkle on some cinnamon, or unsweetened cocoa powder for an extra flavor boost!

Raspberry Almond Breakfast Quinoa

1 1/2 – 2 cups frozen raspberries

1 cup organic quinoa, rinsed thoroughly

1 1/4 cup organic vanilla almond milk

slivered almonds, about 1/4 cup – optional

Stevia to sweeten

In a medium saucepan, add your almond milk and 1 cup of the raspberries. Cook over medium heat until the raspberries start to soften and break apart. Add your quinoa, letting the mixture come back up to a boil. Simmer on low for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside for 10 more minutes. Once the mixture has cooled slightly and thickened, sweeten with Stevia to taste. I used about 1 1/2 teaspoons Stevia powder for mine to get it to the taste I wanted. Portion your quinoa mixture into pint mason jars, filling right up to the threaded part of the jars. Top each jar with the other cup of raspberries, sprinkling each jar with slivered almonds. Seal jars and store in fridge. You can reheat this on the stove, in the microwave, or enjoy it at room temp. Either way, it’s good!

Breakfast Idea: Bacon Egg & Cheese Mix/Spread

I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again – I LOVE BREAKFAST! I can’t help it. It’s the best meal of the day in my opinion, and breakfast for dinner is really a treat. But back to this spread. It’s cheesy, it’s got some zing from the mustard powder, smokiness from the bacon, and the mayo helps bind it all together and up the creamy quotient. Another plus is on it’s own it’s Gluten Free (obviously you’ll have to put it on GF bread or crackers to keep it that way)! It’s yummy, quick, and can be used in a variety of ways listed below.

Bacon Egg & Cheese Mix/Spread

adapted from The Pioneer Woman

12 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped

12 slices bacon, cooked and chopped

2 cups freshly grated cheese ( I used Colby Jack)

1/2 cup Hellman’s Light Olive Oil Mayo

1 heaping teaspoon mustard powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

6 slices bread of choice

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix until just combined. Refrigerate 1 hour to let flavors meld. (If freezing, skip this step)

I have used this recipe 4 different ways, all with great results:

1. Frozen – Top english muffins with mixture and freeze individually. Remove from freezer letting thaw overnight for use the following day. Place under broiler for roughly 5 minutes, until golden brown and warmed through.

2. Microwaved – for 30-60 seconds and topped on crackers.

3. Traditional – top a toasted piece of bread or english muffin with the mix, and place under broiler for about 5 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly.

4. Appetizer – follow original directions, but chop the egg and bacon a bit finer. Heat is a small crock pot and serve with crackers, melba toast, or slices of baguette bread. Yum!

With breakfast being the most important meal of the day, I feel that you need variety! A cold bowl of cereal just won’t cut it to cover 7 days a week! I hope you guys enjoy this breakfast treat as much as we do!

English French Toast

I LOVE breakfast. LOVE IT! I would eat it for lunch, dinner, and well, breakfast. I especially love it for dinner though, because it’s like a sinful treat…it feels like I’m getting away with something eating a pancake or scrambled eggs for dinner. I’m a total rebel. And breakfast for dinner is a rather quick meal to prepare when you’re covering the basics. And it’s filling. And it’s breakfast, so it’s great!

On to french toast. I’ve made it will all types of bread. Sandwich bread, italian, whole wheat, whole grain, hot dog buns, kaiser rolls, french bread, sourdough, sausage rolls, baguette. Everything. Except english muffins. Then I saw a post over at thekitchn.com and was slack-jawed. HOW had I never made french toast out of english muffins???? The horror. I had to rectify this error. So, with english muffins as my bread, I got to mixing up my egg bath for those nook and cranny filled rounds and English French Toast was born. This recipe listed is the standard recipe I use for all french toast making, regardless of bread type. The version over at the kitchn.com is the runnier version, as there are fewer eggs and more milk/cream. I prefer and eggier version for myself, because it’s a more well-rounded breakfast for me. In my mind. Feel free to use either recipe, but be sure to try french toast out with english muffins.

The hubs confirms it’s a hit. The chewy texture of the english muffin elevates it to new levels, and those nooks and crannies help to keep parts of the muffin moist and custard like with those crisp direct contact with the pan parts.

This recipe can be adapted to fit your needs. I make a large enough batch that the hubs can have seconds, and I’ll still have a slice or two to eat for breakfast the next day. I just pop the slices in the toaster to reheat and crisp up and then slather in syrup. Bliss.

English French Toast

5 english muffins, split

8 eggs

1/4cup milk or cream

1tsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon for sprinkling

1-2tbsps butter for the pan

Directions

Pre-heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the butter.

While your skillet is pre-heating, add eggs, milk and vanilla to a baking dish and whisk to combine.

Pop in your english muffin halves, coating both sides in the egg mixture. Let them soak a bit to absorb as much egg as possible. I poke mine with a fork to help the egg penetrate the muffin better.

When all of your english muffins are coated in egg, place them in your skillet smooth side down. Sprinkle nook and cranny side with cinnamon. After about 3 minutes, flip the muffins. Cook for another 3 minutes.

If doing this in batches, I find it best to have the oven set to warm and will place the cooked french toasts in the oven to stay warm while I finish up the batch.

Serve with butter, good REAL maple syrup, or even some strawberry jam. Enjoy!

Note: These freeze really well too, so if you wanted to make a double batch and have them frozen for weekday breakfasts, go for it! Take them out the night before to thaw in the fridge and then just pop in the toaster until warm and crispy!

Pumpkin Pie….Smoothie!

Ah pumpkin. And my new addiction to smoothies. Because they offer a sweet treat, without all those pesky calories that usually convert to fat that goes right to my ass, hips and thighs.

I love pumpkin pie, but let’s be honest – that crust is a killer when it comes to calories. And I just can’t bring myself to eat just the filling on a pumpkin pie, leaving behind the crust to be tossed or fed to birds. I blame my childhood. I was raised to clean my plate, and wasn’t permitted to leave the table until my plate was clean of all food. So, ya.

Since the fall starts the pumpkin food obsession in my house, I figured I needed a smoothie option. Hubs and I aren’t the only ones eating pumpkin. The chickens and ducks are enjoying a whole pumpkin. It’s helps keep them from getting bored when they are in their run, and it’s a great nutrient booster to their eggs! It will also supposedly help fend off intestinal parasites, which is always a good thing if you are a chicken. Plus, we’ll get nice orange yolks from all that pumpkin ingestion! Yay!

For us humans, pumpkin is also super beneficial. It’s loaded with fiber, so it’ helps you feel fuller longer, which in turns helps aid in weight loss. It contains beta-carotene, which helps our body prevent cancer, as well as help to keep us looking wrinkle free. 1 cup of pumpkin contains 564 milligrams of potassium, which is a great way to refuel after a workout. They also contain vitamin c, which can help ward off colds. Oh ya, and pumpkin tastes great, sweet and savory!

This recipe tastes decadent. The key is blending it for a longer period of time to get that creamy ice cream like richness without all the fat. Don’t get lazy and only blend it for a minute. Go for 2-3. It makes ALL the difference! For those calorie conscious folks, this recipe is only 114 calories per serving. If you were to drink the whole recipe, that’s still only 228 calories – and you will be so full I don’t think you’ll be ABLE to finish it!

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1/2 cup organic pumpkin puree

1 tablespoon molasses

1 gram of Stevia sweetener

1tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup non fat milk

1 cup ice

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until about double in size. You want to blend it for about 2-3 minutes. This will create lots of air bubbles and make the smoothie taste rich and creamy like a milkshake! Serve immediately and enjoy!

Hearty meal idea – Spinach and Ricotta Quiche with Savory Chive Crust

Breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, you can’t go wrong with Quiche. It can be a hearty and filling meal addition. For breakfast or brunch, it’s great served with some fruit and a few slices of bacon. Add a salad and you have a lunch or dinner option.

With our chickens laying between 4-7 eggs (plus the duck laying almost every day too!), we are ending up with a huge vast amount of eggs – as of this morning, we have 52 eggs – before todays offering from the ladies. For a household of 2, even with our love of eggs, that’s a lot to eat up. What better way to use up some of that egg surplus than quiche! You COULD make this a crustless version (just skip the part about the crust and follow the balance of the directions) but it’s pretty tasty so I don’t know WHY would actually WANT to.

I whipped this up over the weekend so that I could have something tasty to heat up for breakfast during the work week. This would also do well in the freezer to save for when you have unexpected breakfast guests or need something to take to a pot luck. Just partially bake it (in an aluminum pan, you do not want to use ceramic as the frozen to hot oven will most likely break your dish)- 20 minutes in the 375 degree oven, remove and let cool to room temp. Freeze with a double layer of saran. To finish cooking, remove from the freezer and place in your preheated 375 degree oven, cooking for 30-40 minutes until center is set.

Spinach and Ricotta Quiche with Savory Chive Crust

serves 6

Seasoned with Sarcasm Original

1 Chive Pate Brisee (recipe below)

2 cups frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess liquid

1/2 cup milk

1 cup ricotta cheese

4 eggs

3/4 cup freshly chopped cheddar cheese

kosher salt & pepper

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Spray your 9″ pie pan with non stick cooking spray. Roll out your Chive Pate Brisee and place in your prepared pie plate. Press down the edges and trip off any excess crust. I did a rough edge for my Quiche, but you can pretty yours up if you like. Puncture the base of the crust with a fork.

Add your spinach to your crust, distributing evenly. Sprinkle the spinach with your chopped cheddar cheese.

In a small bowl, add your eggs, milk and ricotta cheese, whisking to combine. Pour your egg mixture over the spinach & cheese. Season with kosher salt & pepper.

Place your Quiche into your preheated oven, cooking for 40-45 minutes, until center is only slightly jiggly.

Remove from oven and let sit for 10 -15 minutes to finish setting the Quiche. Serve hot. Refrigerate or freeze any leftovers.

Chive Pate Brisee

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Yield: 1 pie crust for single 9″ pie

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons chives – fresh or dehydrated
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 stick butter, cut into cubes
• 3 tablespoons ice water, more if needed

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt and chives, pulsing a few times to combine. Drop your cubes of butter into the flour mixture, and pulse until the dough resembles a dry coarse crumb.

Turn your food processor on and slowly add the ice water through the feed tube in a steady stream just until the mixture starts to come together. If dough appears to still be crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Turn dough out onto a piece of saran wrap, press together into a flat disc and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. You can also freeze the dough, double wrapping in saran.

Bake according to directions for your recipe.

 

The DIY Life: Chocolate Cherry Coconut Granola

Wow. That is a mouthful – Chocolate Cherry Coconut Granola. A mouthful that you want to eat again. And again. And AGAIN! I love granola. Especially in my yogurt. It’s filling, it’s healthy, it reminds me of being a kid. What I don’t like? The high price to purchase it at the grocery store. Blech. I also don’t like having big chunks of the stuff to eat. It makes me feel like a hog shoveling a huge hunk of yogurt covered granola into my face in public. Plus, let’s face it. Your flavor options are limited when it comes to what’s out there. So I decided to concoct my own recipe. This yields a lot of granola, so feel free to cut the recipe in half if you don’t think you will eat it all. My recommendation is to make the whole batch and share it. I gave some to a couple of friends so they could try out the fabulousness that is this recipe. I think this will quickly become one of my favorites when whipping up a batch of granola.

If you are fan of the chunks of granola clustered together, double the amount of oil in the recipe. Don’t have coconut oil on hand? Substitute olive oil, sunflower oil, whatever your heart desires. I chose coconut because it’s good for you and I have a tub on hand. Please just don’t use canola or vegetable oil. Are you a total chocoholic? I find the chocolate flavor of this to be just right for me with the combo of the cocoa powder and dark chocolate almonds, but if you want it REALLY chocolate laden then add another tablespoon of cocoa powder. I wanted the other ingredients to be able to be tasted so I only used 1 tablespoon. It’s totally adaptable!

And since you’ve gone to the trouble of making your own granola, why not make your own Vanilla Bean Yogurt to eat up with it? Mhmmm.

Chocolate Cherry Coconut Granola

4 cups quick cooking oats

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup coconut oil

1-2 cups unsweetened organic coconut flakes (depending on how much you like coconut)

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 5oz bag cherry craisins

2 1/2 cups Blue Diamond dark chocolate almonds, pulsed a couple times in the food processor

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat. In a large bowl, add your oats, brown sugar, coconut, coconut oil, salt and cocoa powder. Stir to combine and no lumps remain. Pour your mixture onto your prepped baking sheet and place in your preheated oven. Bake for 1 hour, stirring oat mixture about every 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for about 15 minutes. Add mixture to a large bowl, then add almonds and cherry craisins. Stir to combine.

Once mixture has completely cooled, store in mason jars or other air tight containers and enjoy! Stored this way it should last you awhile. Exactly how long I have no idea because it doesn’t last long enough to go stale. This is fantastic on my Vanilla Bean Yogurt. I had a friend who enjoyed it on some vanilla bean ice cream as well. Or, you can just eat it straight out of the container. Whatever your heart desires! 

The DIY Life: Vanilla Bean Yogurt

Yogurt – one of those foods that are a staple in my house and my eating routine. I’ll occasionally take a break from eating it because like anything you eat with regularity, you get sick of it.  But still, I eat it enough that after thinking about it, it was justified to start making it at home. It doesn’t get much cheaper. I bought a half-gallon of 2% milk from a local dairy, then a single serving container of some plain greek yogurt. The cost for those 2 items? $3.68. That means I ended up with 1/2 gallon of yogurt. yep. I’ve paid more than that for the tubs of yogurt.

This is so simple to do you’ll be kicking yourself for not doing it sooner. You can make as little or as much as you want, but don’t make more than you can consume in 2 weeks time.

You’ll want to use 2 tablespoons of yogurt per quart of milk.

Vanilla Bean Yogurt

1/2 gallon 2% milk

4 tablespoons plain yogurt (I used greek)

1 vanilla bean, split with seeds scraped out

Place your milk in a large pot along with the vanilla bean and the seeds. Whisk to break up the seeds and distribute them throughout the milk. Heat until the milk reaches a temperature of 180-190 degrees. Once it reaches that temp, shut the burner off and move from the heat source. Let the milk cool down to 115 degrees.

In a small bowl, place the 4 tablespoons of yogurt and add some of the cooled milk. Whisk to combine until no lumps form. Add the yogurt/milk mixture to your milk pot and whisk to get everything mingling. Remove the vanilla bean.

Turn your oven on to the warm setting (170 degrees). Once it hits that temp, turn it off.

Fill clean jars with the yogurt mixture and put lids and rings on. It doesn’t matter if you do not have the same amount of liquid in each jar, they will all process/set at the same rate. Place on a cookie sheet and put in the warmed oven. Leave them alone for 8 hours. After 8 hours, remove the jars and place them in the fridge to cool and set up more.

If a thicker yogurt is desired, line a colander placed over a bowl with a clean flour sack cloth (you can find them at Walmart in the dish towel section) or a double layer of cheese cloth. Pour your yogurt into the flour sack/cheese cloth, cover with another towel and place in the fridge overnight for a greek style yogurt. I drained mine for a few hours and ended up with a nice consistency. Be sure to stir it up because the yogurt coming in contact with the towel will be a thicker consistency. Store the thickened yogurt in your containers and enjoy!

That’s it. Very little hands on time and money to get something right from your own kitchen. The taste is a very light vanilla flavor with a good tangy taste. You can add sweetener or vanilla extract if you choose. I added a little bit of agave nectar and it really brought out the vanilla bean flavor!  I think vanilla stevia would be a good addition for some more sweetness and pronounced vanilla flavor too.

Pinterest Idea: Waffle Iron Hash Browns

I’m a sucker for breakfast foods and anything that helps me stuff that breakfast in my face faster. Or anything that helps make a one trick pony kitchen item more useful and efficient. Enter in the hash browns in the waffle iron. I’m kicking myself for not thinking of this myself. Now, this doesn’t make getting breakfast on the table any faster, but it does save on heating up the kitchen and limits the number of pans you’ve got going on the stove. I’d say this took me about 20 minutes to get hash browns that were nice and crispy on the outside but soft and fluffy on the inside. Not bad, just remember to start these FIRST before making any of your other breakfast foods. Our breakfast the day I tried this tip out was pretty simple – toast, eggs over medium, and bacon.

I started by defrosting my hash brown potatoes to expedite the process. While those were defrosting, I heated up the waffle iron, placed a pat of butter into it and let it melt around the grooves to keep my potatoes from sticking.

I then placed my defrosted potatoes on the buttered waffle iron, topped with a little more butter and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Closed that baby up and left it alone for the next 10 minutes. They still needed to crisp up more so I let them cook another 10 minutes, checking them periodically for doneness. At the 5 minute mark, toast went into the toaster, bacon got nuked to crispness (I use precooked, so it takes all of 30 seconds to go from cold to crispy) and the eggs got to sizzling in the frying pan.

Verdict? I’m digging it. Now we can have hasbrowns with breakfast without me having one more pan to wash, and they are nice and crispy and golden brown fantastic. And my not used enough waffle iron will finally get the action it deserves!