Mini Frittata

I have been on a frittata kick lately.  

Crockpot fritta's, mini fritta's....you get the idea.  

They are SO yummy and SO healthy.

All I could hear this morning, over and over, was "nummy, nummy. peeeeeeezzzzzzz (please)".  They were a hit!  Even my picky baby LOVED them!

I even put the rest of them in the freezer to see how well they freeze.  I can't WAIT to find out!  I want to make lots and lots of them to eat for later.  All of the ingredients freeze well.  I just hope they freeze well together :).

Mini Frittata

8 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup bell pepper, chopped (I did 1/2 green 1/2 red)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 cups spinach, chopped
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
salt & pepper
mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 325.

Saute onions and bell peppers until tender.  Add the spinach until slightly wilted.

Wisk eggs, milk and salt & pepper together and pour evenly into 12 (lightly greased) muffin tins.

Add spoonfuls of veggies to the tin.  Top with tomatoes and cheese.

Bake for 25 minutes or until egg is slightly browned.  Cool for 5 and then take out and cool completely before serving.

A variation of THIS recipe.

Oatmeal at it's Finest.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday...and Saturday and Sunday usually we have oatmeal. We are constantly changing it up. We just use quick oats, and make them normal on the stove. We do not add any honey or sugar, just a sprinkle of salt. If you add enough fruit it sweetens it up quite a bit. The ones on the picture would be great for Valentines day. Here are some idea's:

My boys favorite:

Put frozen or fresh raspberries in the water before adding the quick oats.

Slice up a banana in the oats just after adding them.

Add dried apples and raisins while the water is preparing to boil.

We also do:

Slice frozen strawberries and add them to water just before the oats.

Sliced frozen Blackberries in the water as it prepares to boil.

Fresh or frozen blueberries.

If you ask my boys what their favorite breakfast is they ALWAYS say quick oats.

Extremely Low Sugar Strawberry Jam

This can be bottled and stored on your shelf OR in your freezer.

The best thing about it is you don't have to us pectin!

So I wrote down exactly what I did today. Strawberry's went on sale for 1.27 lb so I stocked up and made some jam. We were running low. I use this EXACT same recipe for apricots and peaches...minus the lemon juice. This is about 1/6th of the jam that recipe's normally use to make jam. The riper the strawberries the YUMMIER it will be. Here you go:

Extremely Low Sugar Strawberry Jam:

6 lbs strawberries (this is 12 cups puree'd)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup modified corn starch

1/4 cup lemon juice

I started by cutting off the leaves and quartering them.

Then I put them in the blender and lightly puree'd them. I am not a big fan of the clumps but if you don't mind it you can actually skip pureeing and put them in your pan and mash them. You can use LOTS less cornstarch if you do.

Then, I added the rest of the ingredients in a sauce pan and cooked it on medium heat until it came to a boil. I boiled it for 5 minutes.

I almost immediately put it in the containers before it starts to set.

No joke that this is how clean my kitchen was 1 hr after getting the stuff out to make it. It is THAT easy.

Don't you love my empty house? We just moved in. I need to start decorating and painting and STOP making jam :D.

EASY Peasy Jam!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I have been opting to make my own jam lately because I am sick of feeding my kids sugar by the sandwich-full!

Get this: all you need is fruit, sugar, and modified cornstarch...SERIOUSLY...totally not kidding.

I wish there was a step by step instruction for you to follow on this one but there isn't. You just guess and throw it together.

I, so far, have made: Strawberry, apricot and peach jam...all the exact same way.

I chop and pit my fruit, puree it, stick it in a pot with about 8:1 ratio of fruit:sugar and then add some modified cornstarch (I use stuff from Kitchen Kneads). I boil it until it thickens (sometimes I have to add about 2 cups for 16 cups of pureed fruit). Put it in bottles or 2 cup tupperware and either bottle it or freeze it after it cools.

THAT IS IT! Feel free to ask questions if you need to. We LOVE this. We can actually TASTE the fruit and it is SOOOO yummy on toast or PB&J's!

Breakfast Crepes

Breakfast crepes. Seriously, you can use these babies for anything. For holidays we like to make crepes for breakfast. See the crepe post for how to make the actual crepes. This time we put eggs, cheese and used 2 pieces of bacon for 8 breakfast crepes. They were DELISH.

Crepes

Crepes

2 eggs

1 Tbs sugar

1 cup flour

1 1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt
Directions: Cook on med heat. Makes 10-12 8” crepes. The batter will be SUPER runny. That is the way it is supposed to be.

This is what it looks like when it is done.

Spray pan and then add about 1/4 cup batter. Roll it around until it coats the bottom. As you see it cooking around the edges, lift it up with a spatula and then flip.

They are like super soft/thin tortillas but YUMMIER.

Throughout this week I will post what we do with them. STAY TUNED.

Love Nest

Isn't this cute??? We made these for breakfast on Valentines Day and the boys LOVED them. They were sooooo delishious! Lets be honest, you could make these for any holiday or any occasion. I think I am going to do it again for St. Patrick's Day and cut out a 4 leaf clover!

Love Nest

1 piece of whole wheat bread.

butter

1 egg

Butter both sides of the bread. Using a cookie cutter cut out the center of the piece of bread. Place both the center and the piece of bread and break an egg into the middle. Let cook until the bread is toasted and the egg is fried. Flip to the other side and toast.

Hint: Small or Medium sized eggs work best unless you have a very large cookie cutter.

Both my 3 year old, and my 18 month old LOVED this!

Poached Eggs

Have you wondered how to make those delicious eggs I always have with my waffles and pancakes?? I am an egg hater!...however, I LOVE it when they are poached. Luckily, my husband is AMAZING and poaches them for me :). He also is the one that makes all the pancakes and waffles. (I make the syrup, he can't take credit for that one :))

Here is how you do it.

Fill a frying pan or small pot with at least 2 inches of water. Bring the water to a boil. Once it has boiled bring it down to a simmer and immediately crack your eggs into the water (like boiling making a boiled egg without the shell). Cover with a lid for 5 1/2-6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove them from the water and EAT THEM!

Children and babies: Both will love these. Cook them for 7 minutes so they are completely cooked through. The center will be like a boiled egg. Cut them into small pieces for them.

Fruit Syrup

...so, I have had a change in texture preference lately and wondered if you may have too. I originally posted this Berrylicious syrup recipe but it is fairly runny and chunky...which is fine and tastes excellent but I wanted something thicker. So, here you have it. I like to make lots because we have pancakes and waffles A LOT and I don't like to make it every time. I store it in the fridge and I LOVE it cold on my waffles!

Fruit Syrup

2 cups fresh or frozen fruit pureed in a blender

1/8 cup 100% Orange Juice Concentrate

1/8 cup Sugar

(you can add an extra 1/2 cup of actual orange juice if you want it more runny.)

Blend frozen fruit until it is mostly pureed. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and boil for 5 minutes.

Yep, that is all!

Kids and babies: All of my kids LOVE having a little syrup on their plate. We rip their pancakes or waffles into little pieces and they dip it in the fruit. LOVE IT!

The Most Amazing Pumpkin Pancakes

Ok...So I admit that I am starting with a repeat if you already read my family blog. I found this on a blog that I read regularly. Her name is Connie and I have know her.....pretty much forever. I grew up across the street from her and her kids and one of them was my bff back in the day....anyway, she had THIS AMAZING recipe on her blog in October. Head on over there if you wanna see pictures of how to fix it. We are still eating this as a regular...dinner. It is THAT good! Here is her recipe:

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup powdered milk
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 egg whites - beat to soft peaks

Directions: Beat the egg whites first, set them aside. Don't forget to save one of the yolks for your recipe. Put the first 8 dry ingredients in a bowl and mix together. In a separate bowl, add pumpkin, brown sugar, egg yolk and water. Stir together then add to the dry ingredients. Mix well. Stir in whipped egg whites. Add more water if too thick.

Using a 1/4 measuring cup, pour onto a 350 degree griddle. If you make the pancakes too big, they won't cook in the middle.

Top with warm apple sauce.

This is what mine looked like:

This is how we felt about them:

Kids: When we have pancakes or waffles we usually tear them into pieces for the kids and put a spoon full of applesauce or fruit syrup on the side.

Berrylicious Syrup

This is SOOOO super tasty. You can use Strawberry's, Blueberries, raspberries or whatever you desire.

1 c. Fresh or Frozen Berries
2 Tbls. Orange Juice Concentrate
1/8 c. Sugar.

Cut larger berries into smaller pieces. Place in a pot with orange juice concentrate and sugar. Bring to a boil and serve. I like it cold or hot. You can serve it either way. Mmmmmm and those poached eggs were DELISH!

Orange Bran Flax Muffins

This is another one of my moms fancy shmancy recipe's...once again I change it to how I like it though. We freeze them in freezer bags also for snacks, breakfasts and whatever we want!

I make them in 2 sizes. The large ones for me and my husband and the small ones for my little men. It is easier for them to hold onto and I think they like that they have their own special ones.

1 1/2 C. Oats - blended in the blender to make them more fine
2 C. Whole wheat Flour
1 C. Flax seed
1 Tbsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Oranges, quartered and seeded
1/2 C. Brown sugar
1 C. Buttermilk (I use powdered)
2 eggs
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 1/4 C. raisins, craisins, blueberries, raspberries....or whatever you want. I used blueberries and raspberries.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. You can use paper liners if you would like...I don't so I just coat it with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, flax seed, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a blender or food processor, combine oranges, brown sugar, buttermilk, eggs and baking soda. Blend well. Pour orange mixture into dry ingredients. Mix until well blended, stir in raisins. put in muffin tins and bake for 18-20 minutes. Makes 24 or 12 lg.

Hunsaker Family Peach Syrup....made healthy

29 oz can Peaches
1/2 T cornstarch
1/8 c. Water
1/4 t. cinnamon
dash nutmeg

Separate the peaches from the juice. Slice the peaches into small pieces. In a small bowl combine the cornstarch and water. Put the juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the juice begins to boil add the water/cornstarch mix. Whisk regularly until it starts to thicken. Add peaches back in. Serve warm on pancakes or waffles.

Whole Wheat Pancakes/waffles

1 egg
1 c. Whole wheat flour
3/4-1 c milk
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt

This is my momma's recipe and my husband makes it. Maybe that is why I love this recipe soooo much. We have it at least once a week!

(Peach Syrup recipe to come)