Breakfast for a Week ~ by Sarah

My co-worker, Mary Ruth, made this breakfast up and when I saw her eating it I had to have the recipe.  It smelled amazing!  She makes a big batch of it on the weekend, stores it in the fridge, and then eats it every morning.  I made my first batch today and it is delicious!  I can't wait to have a quick, healthy, and delicious breakfast each morning when I'm in a rush!

Ingredients:
1 lb. breakfast sausage (not maple--hot or mild regular)
1 bunch kale
1 bag spinach
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 package mushrooms
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
any other veggies you think would be good--she puts jalapeño peppers in hers, but that's too spicy for me!
12 eggs, beaten

Directions:
Cook sausage in large skillet until completely browned.  Take out and drain on a paper towel.  Using a food processor, shred kale and spinach.  Cook in skillet over medium-high heat until tender.  Add sausage back along with the peppers, onion, and mushrooms.  Saute until everything is tender.  Add in beaten eggs and stir pretty constantly until egg is completely cooked.  Season well while cooking.  It will smell amazing!  Cool for awhile and then store in a large airtight container.  Take what you want in the morning and heat it in the microwave.

Mom's Meatloaf ~ by Sarah

Wes and I had a hankering for meatloaf, so I called Mom and she gave me the rundown on how she makes her delicious version.  Very easy and very delicious!

Ingredients:
2 lbs. ground beef
2 eggs
1 c. oatmeal
5 or so butter crackers, crumbled
1 can cream of mushroom soup
a few dashes of Worcester sauce
a long squirt of ketchup
salt, pepper, seasoned salt, garlic salt
1 packet dry onion soup
barbecue sauce

Directions:
Combine all of the above ingredients except the barbecue sauce and mix well.  Pat into a 8x8 or 9x9-inch baking dish.  Top with barbecue sauce in a pretty design.  (The barbecue sauce was my idea.  Mom tops hers with ketchup, but Granddad tops his with barbecue sauce and I like that topping better!)  Bake at 350 degrees for a good hour.  Delish!

Hamburger and Green Chili Casserole~by Kelsey

This recipe comes from my Bring 'Em On Home cookbook.  It is simple and really good, especially if you top it with sour cream and salsa.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped onions
1 1/2 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup Bisquick
1/2 teasp salt
1/4 teasp pepper
1-7 oz can whole green chilies (I found these in the ethnic foods aisle)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Brown hamburger, onions, and seasoning.  Place in the bottom of a casserole or deep pie dish (I used about a 9X9 pan, a 9X13 would have been to big.  Lay the green chilies over the beef mixture.  Cover the chilies with the cheddar cheese.  Beat together the milk, eggs, and Bisquick.  Pour it over the top of the cheese.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the eggs set.  Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Crepes Part Deux~by Kelsey

Grace found this recipe in a cookbook and we decided to try it.  We actually like it better than the other crepe recipe on here, and we always use this one now.  The nice thing is that you make it in the blender so it gets nice and smooth, and it's easy to pour right in to the pan.  We make a double batch and it JUST barely all fits in our blender.  Remember to only put a little bit of batter in the pan and then quickly swirl it around to make it nice and thin.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups milk
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

powdered sugar, bananas, chocolate, syrup, jam, strawberries, peanut butter for topping

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Pour a small amount of batter in the center of a frying pan and quickly swirl it around to reach the edges of the pan.

Blueberry Muffins ~ By Sarah

I love blueberries muffins, but I find that the Betty Crocker ones from a box are hard to beat.  This recipe came from Mary Hunt of Everyday Cheapskate and they are excellent!

Ingredients:
1/2 c. soft butter or margarine
1 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
2 1/2 c. blueberries, drained (frozen, fresh, or canned)
2 c. flour
1/2 c. milk
1 T. sugar mixed with 1/4 t. ground nutmeg

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 12-muffin tin (or use metal cupcake liners--not paper).  In a medium-sized bowl, beat butter until creamy.  Add sugar and beat until the mixture is creamy and pale.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Beat in vanilla, baking powder, and salt.  Mash 1/2 blueberries with fork.  Fold into batter.  Stir in half the flour and then half the milk.  Add remaining flour and milk.  Fold in the remaining blueberries.  Scoop batter into muffin cups.  Sprinkle with nutmeg sugar.  Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.  Mine were done at 20 minutes, so check them often after about 15 minutes!

Sausage-Kale Breakfast Strata ~ by Sarah

I made this for the first time the other day and took it to a breakfast potluck at school.  It is a Pioneer Woman recipe, so it is not fat free.  It got rave reviews.  I liked how I made it the night before and then just had to bake it in the morning.  Kale is growing on me...this is really good!


Ingredients: 
12 whole Eggs
2-1/2 cups Half And Half (or Milk, If You Prefer)
Salt And Pepper, to taste
4 Tablespoons Minced Fresh Oregano (or Parsley, Basil, Etc.)
1 loaf Crusty French Or Italian Bread, Cut Into Cubes
2 pounds Breakfast Sausage Patties, Cooked And Cut Into Cubes
1 bunch (large) Regular Kale, Torn Into Pieces
Olive Oil (for Frying)
16 ounces, weight White Mushrooms, Halved
2-1/2 cups Grated Monterey Jack Cheese

Preparation Instructions: 
*Note: Recipe can easily be halved.

Mix together eggs, half-and-half, salt, pepper, and minced oregano. Set aside. Drizzle olive oil over mushrooms and sprinkle with salt and pepper, then roast in a 425 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat, then throw in kale. Cook for 2 minutes, or until slightly wilted. Remove from heat and set aside. Layer half the bread, half the kale, half the mushrooms, and half the cheese in a large, buttered lasagna pan. Repeat with the other half of all the ingredients, ending with the cheese. Slowly pour egg mixture all over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight if possible. To bake, remove from fridge 20-30 minutes before baking. Replace plastic wrap with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until top is golden brown and slightly crisp.

(Pioneer Woman picture)

If you want to see her step-by-step pictures, you can see her post here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/01/sausage-kale-strata/

Roasted Cherry (or Berry) Dutch Baby with Caramel Sauce

After doing seven hours of cardio in the past five days plus snowboarding and tubing for several hours yesterday, I woke up this morning needing something sugary and full of carbs and calories. Luckily for me, TheKitchn.com had posted a recipe for Dutch Babies (or Pannekoene if you actually want to be fancy and call it by it's Dutch name) with cherries and caramel sauce earlier this week. Because I didn't have any frozen cherries, I used about a cup of frozen blueberries and it worked wonderfully! This recipe isn't quick --it took almost an hour from start to finish-- it's definitely worth the effort! I also don't have a cast iron pan big enough, so I just used an oven safe skillet. Some people commented on the original post that enamel cast iron pots work, too.

PS According to the recipe, it serves 8. I have already eaten half and I'm contemplating more. Keep that in mind if you are trying to serve several people.

I love TheKitchn not only for its recipes, but because their food is always so perfectly photographed!

Roasted Cherry Dutch Baby with Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Sauce
Serves 8

For the Dutch Baby:
1 cup (5 oz) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (2 oz) white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (6 oz) whole or 2% milk
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 12- or 16-oz bag frozen sweet cherries
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons (1 oz) unsalted butter

For the Sauce:
2 tablespoons (1 oz) unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch salt

Heat the oven to 425°F.

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor or blender and pulse several times to combine. Add the milk, eggs, and vanilla and blend continuously for 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides, and blend continuously for another 10 seconds or until there are no more lumps and the batter is frothy. Let the batter stand in the blender for 15-20 minutes to give the flour time to absorb the liquids.

Meanwhile, toss the cherries with the brown sugar. Scatter them in a 10-inch cast iron skillet or other oven-safe dish of similar size. Roast for 18-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cherries look wrinkled and their juices have turned syrupy.

Add the butter to the cherries and return the skillet to the oven for 2-3 minutes to melt the butter. Stir the melted butter into the cherries. Whiz the pancake batter to froth it up again and pour it immediately over the cherries. Don't stir.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. When finished, the edges of the pancake should be domed and turn deep brown while the middle should look puffed and golden. The dark cherry juices will make the edges look nearly burnt, but continue cooking until the middle looks done.

While the pancake is baking, prepare the sauce. Combine the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the butter has melted, and let the butter and sugar come to a boil. Off the heat, whisk in the cream, cinnamon, and salt. Return to heat and let the sauce come back to a boil. Immediately remove the pan from heat and set the sauce aside.

Serve the dutch baby as soon as it has finished baking. Drizzle some sauce over the entire pancake and then divide it into eight wedges. Serve with extra sauce on the side.