Zucchini Breakfast Bars with Alfalfa Sprouts

I've been having fun growing sprouts in the dead of winter. I was looking for recipes that I could add them to and decided to try making a zucchini muffin bar. Alfalfa sprouts hide very well in these since you expect some green flecks from the zucchini anyway. The sprouts add a ton of vitamins but don't change the flavor at all. Hooray! My kids have devoured these and don't even care that I hid sprouts in them!

Zucchini Applesauce Breakfast Bars

We're still working through the zucchini that we shredded last fall and put in the freezer for later. This is one of the ways we love to use it! These are a muffin like bar that are low in sugar and high in fiber. They freeze very well. I just place a piece of waxed paper between the layers in a freezer safe container.

Banana Bars

These bars are a great way to trade up what you have available for a quick breafast on the run or an after school snack. I often double the recipe and cook up two jelly roll pans at once. These bars freeze well.

Carrot Cake Muffins

The holidays come and go too quickly! My husband was able to take a few days off and we enjoyed some slower mornings as a family. One morning he surprised us with these delicious muffins. When I got out to the kitchen and could smell them cooking, he said,"Don't worry, I put in whole wheat flour for half of the flour and applesauce for half of the oil." Then he smiled and added,"I am learning."

Crustless Quiche

When you need a quick dinner in a flash or something a little special for breakfast or brunch, this is the recipe to turn to. It is so versatile since you can choose whatever fillings you sprinkle on. I always sprinkle in a few dehydrated onions and green peppers

Overnight Whole-grain Breakfast Cake

Are you looking for some new breakfast inspiration? Look no further!This overnight breakfast cake has the goodness of whole grain and the addition of plain yogurt and bean puree

Coconut Syrup

If you are looking for something to add pizzazz to your traditional pancake breakfast, look no further! This coconut syrup is amazing! It also tastes great drizzled over cake or ice cream. My cousin's wife served it this summer on a camping trip and I have been craving it ever since.

Green Tomato Muffins

We enjoyed these delicious muffins for breakfast. I was trying to come up with one more thing to do with my remaining green tomatoes. My kids devoured these and wanted the leftovers for their snack when they came home from school. I can add a new recipe to my success list! They are very similar in taste and texture to zucchini bread. Hopefully, your family will enjoy them too. The tomatoes hide even better than zucchini so even your little picky eaters won't mind.

Apple Orchard Pancake Mix

I just developed a new mix to store in my pantry that allows us to enjoy the tastes of Fall. If you are lucky enough to have fresh apples on hand, you can leave the dry apples out of the mix and just add 1 large chopped apple to your pancake batter. 

Pantry mixes add convenience to my life, but they also work great as gifts. Add a cute tag and enjoy sharing the healthy goodness!

Apple Orchard Pancake Mix

For the mix, place the following dry ingredients in a ziplock bag or layer in a quart jar.

1 cup whole wheat flour (I used white wheat flour)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup milk powder

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup chopped dried apples

Add:

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

To make: Pour your mix into a bowl and add the wet ingredients. Mix well. Allow to sit about 5 minuets to allow the apples to re-hydrate a little. Add some more water if batter appears too thick. Cook on a hot griddle just as you do regular pancakes.

Our Very Own Fair Experience - Homemade Funnel Cakes

Our kids all chose to enter some items into the state fair this year. It was fun to go see their projects - each one of them received some sort of ribbon for their category. My one son took first place in the yeast bread category using my Fabulous Homemade Bread recipe. They were all pretty excited.

Before leaving for the fair, we discussed the amount of money it was going to cost to get in, ride the rides, purchase food, etc. We talked to the kids about needing to make some choices to be able to stay within the amount we had budgeted for this activity. They all decided to forgo any food purchases at the fair knowing we could make something at home for a lot less. For breakfast the next day, we made funnel cakes.

After mixing the batter, pour it through a funnel into hot oil, swirling a little as you go. I used a plastic cup for a funnel - just poke a hole in the bottom. It worked great and I could just toss it when we were done.

Fry until it is golden brown on one side and then flip it over to complete cooking.

Drain it on a paper towel when it is done.

The kids were so quick at grabbing them that I had to settle for pictures of half eaten samples. You can top them with powdered sugar like the recipe suggests.

Or honey is tasty - 

My favorite and many of the kids' favorite is raspberry freezer jam. Honey butter would also be delicious! We don't make these very often - once every year or two probably, but when we do, we devour them! Perhaps your family will love them too.

Funnel Cakes
2 eggs, beaten	1 tsp baking powder
1 ½ cups reconstituted powdered milk	½ tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour	2 cups cooking oil (for frying)
Combine milk and eggs. Stir in dry ingredients. Drip through a funnel into hot oil, swirling the funnel a little as you go. Fry until lightly browned, turning once with tongs. Remove to a paper towel covered plate. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. I use an electric frying pan with the temperature set at 350° F to help control the temperature of the oil. Note: I use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour

Berry Cream Cheese Danish Pull-Apart Bread

I attempted a recipe I came across on the web. I couldn't get the image out of my mind so after a few days, I tackled it. You can find the original recipe here.

I made a batch of my basic bread dough instead of using pre-made dough. I also followed the suggestion to mix freezer jam with cream cheese for the filling. The result was amazing! The only thing I will do differently next time is drizzle the whole pan with frosting - it won't keep it healthy, but it will be soooo good. You could also make the presentation a little cleaner by baking them like cinnamon rolls instead of jamming them all into the pan. But, hey - no one complained at our house. The entire 9x13 pan was devoured for breakfast!

We will most definitely be making this again.

Whole Grain Waffle Mix

When strawberries are in season, waffles with strawberries and whipped cream are always a request at our house. We have a few waffle recipes I use. One is an oatmeal waffle and one is for pumpkin waffles. Here is our other favorite - just a classic whole grain waffle. To make it go quickly in the morning or at night for dinner, I always keep a few mixes on hand.

Combine the dry mix with the wet ingredients right in the blender. Process until smooth. Add a little more water if it appears too thick. (Only do a single size batch in your blender - a double batch is just a little too big - trust me on this one.)

Pour into a heated waffle iron and cook until done (3-4 minutes).

Allow to cool on a wire rack - this keeps the bottom waffle from getting soggy before you have enough made for everyone. You can also freeze any leftovers once they have completely cooled. Then they are ready to pop in the toaster another time.

Whole Grain Waffle Mix

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

4 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp sugar

5 Tbsp dry milk powder

Add:

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups water

Pour the mix into your blender and add the wet ingredients. Blend until smooth. Add a little more water if the batter is too thick. Cook on a hot waffle iron. Feel free to sneak in a little more nutrition, by substituting 2-3 Tbsp ground flax seed in place of some of the all purpose flour.

(You can make a large batch of the basic mix. Then just measure out 2 1/2 cups of mix to make one batch of waffles.)

There you have it - go grab some of those fresh strawberries and enjoy! The waffles are also great with maple syrup or homemade freezer jam. Yesterday we enjoyed them with homemade blueberry syrup - that is a post for another day. I'm sure your mouth is already watering and you have your own ideas of what you will put on top of these wonderful waffles!

Griddle Biscuits

I got creative the other day and attempted biscuits without an oven. We were ready for something different for breakfast than what I had pre-baked and had in the freezer. I used my biscuit mix which I had all put together. You can find the recipe for this mix here.

I heated up the electric griddle to between 325-350 degrees. You don't want it too hot or the biscuits will burn. (I learned that with my first batch.) I spooned biscuit batter onto the griddle just like you do for drop biscuits on a baking sheet. (You could go to the work of rolling the dough out and using a biscuit cutter to give you perfectly round shapes, but I didn't want to deal with the added mess since I was baking in a makeshift kitchen in the basement.) Allow them to cook for 8-10 minutes before flipping to allow the bottoms to brown nicely. Flip over and mash slightly with the back of the spatula to make then all about an even thickness. Allow to cook anther 8-10 minutes to brown the other side and to allow the centers to be done.

We served them up with sausage gravy cooked on a hotplate. Delicious!

Maple Bars

Maple bars are a favorite at our house! The preschoolers and I will make them for an after school snack and they are devoured within a matter of minutes. They are also easy to make ahead and have in the freezer for a quick and easy breakfast treat. School friends often request that we bring them for parties and snack days because they have learned to love them as well.

Any basic bread dough recipe will work fine. My recipe is below. I like to add 1 tsp of cinnamon to the dry ingredients for extra flavor. I also always do them with 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 white flour to get the added nutrition of the whole grain. Once your dough has completed the first rise, punch it down.

Roll it out so it is about 1/2 inch thick.

Cut into bars using a pizza cutter.

Place on a baking tray.

Spray the tops with Pam so they won't dry out as they rise.

Cover with a towel and allow to rise for about 20 minutes. Bake at 375° F 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

While rising or baking, make the maple icing. Mix 3 cups powdered sugar with 2 Tbsp butter or margarine and 1 tsp maple flavoring. Add 1-2 tsp milk to thin to the right consistency.

Here it is all ready to spread.

Here is the pan of bars all baked to a golden brown.

Place bars on a wire rack to cool. Brush the tops of the bars with melted butter - my shortcut is to just rub the stick of butter on top of the hot bars. Frost those that you will be eating right away. Freeze leftover bars without icing in a ziplock bag or freezer container. Frost them once you thaw them out. The icing will stay good in the fridge for quite a few weeks.

Oh, so good!

Basic Bread Dough
3 + cups bread flour	1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp gluten flour	1 Tbsp yeast
3 Tbsp dry milk powder	2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp sugar	1 ¼ cups hot water
Mix according to basic bread making instructions (found here). I always do ½ white and ½ wheat flour. Cover and allow to rise until double in size. Shape and bake as desired. Maple Bars: Add an additional 2 Tbsp sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon to the above recipe. After the first rise, roll dough out to about ½-inch thickness and cut with a pizza cutter into rectangles. Place on a greased baking sheet. Allow to rise for about 20 minutes. Bake at 375° F for 10–15 minutes or until lightly browned. Frost with maple icing and enjoy! I always triple the batch and freeze any extra before frosting. Pull them out of the freezer at night and frost in the morning for a quick breakfast treat or serve for a fun after school snack. Maple Icing: Mix with a hand mixer 3 cups powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp margarine or butter, 1 tsp maple flavoring and just a bit of milk (1–2 tsp).

Holiday Oatmeal Mix

Oatmeal is a breakfast we eat often during the cold, winter months. It is so convenient to have it all prepared in a mix so breakfast can be done in 5 minutes! I prefer using the regular, old-fashioned oats as compared to the quick oats. They take a bit longer to cook, but give me the texture I want. Nutritionally, old-fashioned oats and instant oats offer the same benefits so it truly is a texture thing for me. I packaged a few of these mixes up for family and friends this holiday. I used a sharpie marker to write the instructions on the lid of the snowmen buckets I found to pack them in. You can also package the mix into a ziplock bag or ice cream bucket to store in your pantry.

Holiday Oatmeal Mix
6 cups regular oats	¾ cup dried cranberries
1 cup brown sugar, packed	¾ cup slivered almonds
1 Tbsp cinnamon	¾ cup coconut
¾ tsp salt
For 1 serving, bring 1 cup water to a boil. Add ¾ cup oatmeal mix. For a larger batch, boil 2 ½ cups water and add 2 ½ cups oatmeal mix. Cook for about 5 minutes until all the water is absorbed and the oats are tender, stirring occasionally. Every now and then, I need to stir in just a little more water because the water is absorbed before the oats are tender. You can also substitute other fruits such as raisins, blueberries, etc. It is always delicious! To make it gluten free, be sure to use gluten-free oats.

Omelet Casserole

This is a favorite breakfast at our house. I also sometimes serve it for dinner. It is easily made with items you can have on hand. Feel free to mix it up the night before and store it in the fridge. I have also prepared 2-3 at once and stored a couple in gallon ziplock bags in the freezer to thaw and bake at a later time. 

Start with 1 (32 oz.) bag frozen hashbrown potatoes. We prefer the cubed potatoes, but the shredded ones work too. You can also rehydrate some dehydrated hashbrowns and use them. Spray a 9x13 pan with Pam before filling.

Add any toppings you like in your omelets. I use dehydrated peppers and onions since they rehydrate during the baking process - just sprinkle a few across the top. This time I added sliced olives, leftover ham and grated cheese. Other topping options that work well are sausage, mushrooms, bacon bits, etc. You are limited only by your tastes and what you like.

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Scramble 12 eggs with 1 cup of milk (use reconstituted powder milk) and add some pepper and maybe some salt. Sometimes the ham or bacon is salty enough and no more is needed - you decide.

Pour the egg mixture over the omelet mix.

Use a spoon to mix it around a little and make sure the eggs get all the way to the bottom of the dish. When mixing some extra casseroles, I just throw everything into a gallon bag and then lay flat to freeze at this point. To use frozen casserole, allow to thaw and then dump into a greased 9x13 pan and bake. It's that easy. Because it is so easy to make ahead of time, I like to use this when company is coming or for holidays.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until set.

Serve for breakfast, brunch, or dinner. This recipe can easily be cut in half. Bake a half batch in an 8x8 pan for about the same amount of time. Any leftovers freeze pretty well. My husband likes to take them into work for breakfast or lunch. I usually serve with pancakes, muffins, or toast with some fruit on the side. Enjoy!

Make-ahead Cinnamon Rolls

After the roll making class I taught last week, I've had a few requests for my recipes for overnight cinnamon rolls. I haven't remembered to take pictures when I've made these this year and I don't want to wait to share the recipe until I get around to taking a picture so I borrowed this picture from lanascooking.com. She has quite a few fabulous looking items on her blog and you may just want to check it out. Anyway, this picture mimics what my rolls look like fresh from the oven.




For Christmas a few years ago, we had some amazing neighbors share these rolls with us as a neighbor gift. They put the rolls together Christmas Eve and brought them down for us to refrigerate overnight and bake the next day as part of our Christmas breakfast. The Ruxtons are some of our closest friends. She is a school teacher and so doesn't have much time off ahead of the holiday to prepare gifts. This was the perfect solution. We loved it and quickly requested the recipe. Here is what they shared with us. It's very brief and missing quite a few directions.

Working Girl's Cinnamon Rolls

Dissolve 1 tsp yeast in 3 cups warm water
Add 1 cup sugar
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup shortening
1 Tbsp salt
10 cups flour
Knead 20 minutes
Let raise 5 hours . . . at 10 pm make into rolls
Let raise overnight
Bake at 350 degrees about 25 minutes

Here are my directions after making this recipe many times.

Place 5 cups of bread flour and 1/2 cup gluten flour in a large bowl or mixer. Add 1 tsp SAF instant yeast, 1 cup sugar, and 2 tsp salt. (I cut this down from the original recipe.) Melt shortening. Add melted shortening (or substitute 1/2 cup vegetable oil) to the dry ingredients. Add 3 cups warm water and 2 beaten eggs. Begin to mix and add additional flour until you have a nice dough. You may not need all 10 cups of flour. Knead until you have a nice dough. Allow to rise for 3-4 hours. Shape into cinnamon rolls. Cover with plastic wrap and place the rolls in the fridge. Pull out of the fridge about 3 hours before baking to allow to rise until double their original size. If you have a rather cool place in your home, you may be able to leave these out rising all night. I've had better luck leaving them in the fridge and then pulling them out at 4:00 or 5:00 am or so when one of my young kids gets me up for something. I have made these using 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 white flour. When I do this, I always add 1 1/2 Tbsp white vinegar to the  dough with the water. It really helps the texture stay light and fluffy.

Here is another one of my favorite recipes for make-ahead cinnamon rolls. You can freeze these ahead of baking or just allow them to rise in the fridge. These directions include more detailed information on the filling for cinnamon rolls and how to roll them. These tips will help you if you are trying the recipe above. You'll have to try both recipes and determine which is your favorite. Enjoy!

Freezer Cinnamon Rolls
4 ½–5 cups white bread flour	Filling:
¼ cup gluten flour	½ cup butter, melted
½ cup sugar	1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ tsp salt	4–5 tsp cinnamon or to taste
1 Tbsp yeast	¾ cup chopped nuts, optional
3 Tbsp dry milk powder	Frosting:
½ cup butter, melted	2 oz cream cheese, softened
2 eggs, beaten	¼ cup butter, softened
1 ¼ cups hot water	1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla	½ tsp vanilla
Mix according to basic bread making instructions.  After completing the kneading process in your mixer, allow to rise for 10 minutes. Roll dough out into a 15x24-inch rectangle. Combine the filling ingredients to form a thick paste and spread over dough. (Chopped apples are delicious in place of the nuts.) Roll up jelly roll style, starting from the long side. Do not roll too tightly or the centers of your rolls will pop up as they rise. Use a sharp knife to mark off 1 ½-inch sections. You can either use a serrated knife to very carefully saw through the roll to make individual rolls or slide a piece of dental floss under the roll and bring the ends up crossing them as you do so. Pull the ends in opposite directions until the floss cuts through the dough forming individual rolls. Place in greased baking pans. Do not pack the rolls in the pan. They need to have space in between in order to allow room for them to rise. Remember cinnamon rolls rise out not up. To bake immediately: Cover with a towel and allow to rise until double in size. After rising they should be touching each other and the sides of the pan. Bake at 350° F for 20–25 minutes or until golden brown. Spread with frosting after cooling slightly and enjoy! To bake in a day or two: Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. They will slowly rise in the fridge. When ready to bake, remove from the fridge and allow to rise a little more, if needed. Then bake and frost as above. To freeze: Cover with heavy duty foil and freeze immediately. They can be frozen for up to 1 month. The night before baking, remove from the freezer and sit on your counter for 10–12 hours to thaw and rise. Then bake and frost as above. To make frosting: Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. If needed, you can also add just a touch of milk to get the consistency you like. You can make the frosting ahead and refrigerate until ready to use.

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

I had my cub scout troop coming over to work on earning the nutrition belt loop. I wanted to provide them with a healthy snack. So, after reading a few recipes, I came up with this one. They turned out delicious! They are very low in fat and high in protein with the yogurt and the whole wheat flour. The whole wheat flour and old-fashioned oats also add a lot of fiber. The boys told me that if "healthy" could always taste this good, they would love it! The bars froze well so don't hesitate to make a large batch and save them in the freezer for school lunches or a quick breakfast on the run. They are much less expensive to make than the store bought breakfast or protein bars and really don't take that long to put together.

Note: If you've tried this great recipe and you feel ready to try  an alternative, egg-free option try out banana oatmeal breakfast bars. It's very similar to this original recipe but has the distinct flavor of bananas. We love it!

Mix wet ingredients.

Add dry ingredients.

Mix well.

I added the oatmeal in a separate step, but you don't have to.

I made a double batch so I divided it into two 9x13 pans before adding the dried fruit.

I put raisins in one batch and chocolate chips in the other. Mix together well.

Press into greased pans. It doesn't look like much, but they rise to nearly double in size.

Delicious!

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup plain yogurt

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup dried fruit or chocolate chips

Mix brown sugar, yogurt, egg, vanilla and oil. Add dry ingredients and mix well. If mixture looks too dry, add 1-2 Tbsp milk. (The need for milk will depend on how thick your yogurt is. My homemade yogurt is thinner than store bought so I did not need to add any milk.) Add dried fruit or chocolate chips very last. Press into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 min. or until golden brown.Cut into bars. These freeze very well. Allow the bars to cool completely before placing in freezer bags or containers.