Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

 

I love this recipe.  First of all, it's a hands off breakfast.  Make a batch in the afternoon and you've got breakfast for a couple of days that your kiddos can just grab and eat.  Second, it's packed full of veggies and that's always a win.  Third, they're SOOOOO good.

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup milk

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup zucchini, shredded

chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350.  Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. 

In a medium mixing bowl, add the oil, milk, egg, and vanilla and whisk well.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix well.

Add the zucchini and as many chocolate chips as you like.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

For a different variation, omit the cocoa powder and add 1 tsp. cinnamon.

Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner Egg Casserole

 

This recipe is SO easy to whip up and you probably have all or most of the ingredients already on hand.  We love this dish for any meal, not just breakfast.  It's a go-to lunch for us many days and a great way to use up those farm fresh eggs.

1 pound of sausage, browned

1 stick butter

10 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

pepper to taste

2 cups cottage cheese

2 cups your favorite shredded cheese

Optional: 

Extra add-ins of your choice: diced bell pepper, small diced onion, 8oz can chopped green chilies, etc.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large cast iron skillet, brown the sausage (and peppers and onions if using) and remove from heat.  Add the stick of butter and allow it to melt while the skillet cools down.  Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs.

Add the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper.  Combine well.

Gently stir in the cottage cheese and shredded cheese.

Pour the egg mixture into the cooled skillet and stir to combine with the sausage and butter.

Place the skillet in the preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and set in the middle.  

Peanut Butter Cheerio Bars

 

Lately I've been making a pan of these on Saturday's to have for breakfast for the week ahead.  The kids love them and will usually have them with a side of yogurt and piece of fruit.  They're only three ingredients and SUPER quick and easy to make.

8 cups Cheerios

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup honey

In a large glass measuring cup (I use my 4 cup measuring cup) add the peanut butter and honey.  Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and microwave an additional 30 seconds.  Mix well to combine.

In a large mixing bowl add 8 cups of Cheerios.  Pour the peanut butter/honey mixture over top and mix well to combine.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray, place the cheerio mixture into the baking dish and press into the bottom of the pan.  Cover and refrigerate for one hour or until set.  Slice into bars.  Keep refrigerated.

Puff Pastry Braid

 

Lately this has been my go-to dessert for everything!  It's SO versatile and the easiest thing ever to make.  My most recent one was an Apple Cinnamon one and it was DELISH!  I'll put more suggestions at the bottom of the recipe, but the possibilities are endless.  This recipe is enough for two braids.

2 puff pastry sheets, thawed (I buy the Pepperidge Farm two pack, found in the freezer aisle)

1 block cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 can of pie filling

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla.  Set aside.

On a parchment lined baking sheet, lay out one sheet of puff pastry.  Cut slits on the outer thirds as shown in the picture. 

Place half of the cream cheese mixture down the center third of the puff pastry.  Top with half of a can of pie filling.

Take the pastry slits and begin placing them on top of the fruit filling, alternating each side to give it a braided look.

Beat the egg and water together in a small bowl.  Use a pastry brush to brush the top of the pastry.

Repeat the process for second puff pastry.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 18-20 minutes.

If you want it to look extra fancy you can drizzle it with a topping of your choice.  You could make a powdered sugar glaze or drizzle caramel or nutella over it depending on what flavors you're going for.

Filling Ideas: (Keep in mind the cream cheese mixture stays the same.)

Apple Pie Filling (sprinkled with cinnamon)

Cherry pie filling

Blueberry Pie Filling

Raspberry Pie Filling

Strawberry Pie Filling

Peach Pie Filling

Lemon Curd

Nutella

Chocolate Chips

Dutch Baby

 

I recently discovered and fell in love with the Dutch Baby pancake!  You may have heard of it by another name.  It goes by many.  Dutch Baby, German Pancake, a Bismarck, Dutch Puff, Hooligan, Hootenanny...whatever you choose to call it, you'll for sure call it delicious.  We are currently a family of 6 with our foster placements so the recipe I'm posting is enough to make two 9x13 baking dishes and we eat every last bite.  Also, what I REALLY love about it, is that you mix it all up in your blender.  No mixing bowls, no whisks, just dump everything in and you're done!

12 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups milk

2 cups flour

2 sticks butter

Two 9x13 baking dishes

Place one stick of butter in each baking dish.  Place the baking dish in a cold oven.  Turn the oven on 425 to preheat.

While the oven is preheating and the butter is melting, add the eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla, and milk into a blender.  Blend for 30 seconds on high speed.

Add the flour to the egg mixture and pulse until incorporated.  Let sit until the oven is preheated.

Once the oven has preheated, carefully remove the hot baking dishes and slowly pour half of the mixture into each baking dish.

Place the baking dishes back into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the edges are super puffy and nice golden brown.

Serve immediately with all of your favorite pancake toppings.  

Biscuits and Gravy

 

My family's favorite breakfast food is Biscuits & Gravy!  I usually make it for dinner and we have enough leftover for everyone to have some in the morning for breakfast too.  These biscuits are SO flaky and tall and buttery and the gravy is rich and creamy.  It's the ultimate comfort food.  

Biscuit Tips

-It's SUPER important that you keep your milk and butter as cold as possible.  To begin, pop 2 sticks (1 cup) of butter in the freezer for at least 20 minutes prior to making your biscuits.  

-Keep your milk in the fridge until the minute you're ready to mix it in.

-Of all the kitchen gadgets I have, I do not own a biscuit cutter.  I never think to buy one.  Maybe one day I'll think of it.  But until then, I always use the ring of a wide mouth canning jar.  They make the perfect size and this recipe will make approximately 12 biscuits using this size of a jar ring.

-When you're cutting your biscuits, push strait down into the dough and do not twist.  Twisting will seal off the edges of the biscuits and keep them from rising.

Biscuit Recipe

5 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

4 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 cup butter, frozen

2 cups milk (or buttermilk)

Place your butter in the freezer for at least 20 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees with the rack positioned in the upper third of the oven.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.  Whisk together until well combined.

Use a box grater to grate your frozen butter.  Add the butter pieces to the bowl and gently mix it into the dry ingredients using your hands until the dry ingredients have coated each piece of butter and the butter is  evenly distributed.  Be careful to not let the warmth of your hands melt the butter.  Work kind of fast to get them all coated yet remain frozen.

Pour the cold milk into the bowl and stir until the dough comes together.  It's fine of there are a few bits of flour not yet incorporated.  However, if your dough seems very dry and is not coming together as much as you'd like, add 1-2 tablespoons of milk until it does.  Your dough will be on the dry side though.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat the dough into a 1 1/2 inch thick rectangle (or as close to a rectangle as you can get).  Fold the dough in half on top of itself and pat it down into another 1 1/2 inch thick rectangle.  Repeat this folding process 4-6 times. (This is where all of your delicious flaky layers are made!)

After your last fold, press the dough down into a 1 inch thick rectangle.

Use your biscuit cutter (one that measures approx. 2 1/4 inches) or the ring of a wide mouth jar, and press straight down into the dough without twisting.

Once you've cut out as many biscuits as you can, gather your dough scraps, and pat the dough back into a 1 inch thick piece.  Continue until you've used all of the dough.  Place the biscuits onto your prepared baking sheets.

I have the best results if I bake one sheet at a time.  Place one baking sheet of biscuits into the oven and bake for 14-17 minutes.  My oven takes more around the 17 minute mark but start checking them at 14 minutes.  You want a golden brown bottom and a slightly golden top.

Sausage Gravy

1 lb. ground sausage

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

6 cups milk (whole is best)

salt and pepper to taste

Begin by browning and crumbling the sausage in a skillet.  Do not drain the grease.

Once the sausage is fully cooked, sprinkle the flour over the sausage and cook for approximately 1 minute to get rid of the raw flour taste.

Slowly whisk in the milk.

Stir constantly until the gravy is thick.  

Season with salt and pepper to your liking.  Serve over biscuits.

Banana Nut Muffins

 

Do your kids ever go through bananas like they're the best snack EVER so then you buy more and then they're totally over them?  Yeah, mine too.  I had six...SIX bananas in our fruit basket that no one would touch.  So I decided I wasn't going to make breakfast for the next few days and pumped out 3 dozen of the most delicious banana nut muffins I've ever made.  I was able to use all 6 bananas and everyone had grab-and-go breakfast for several days.  Win WIN!

1 stick butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

6 very ripe bananas 

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

3 cups flour

1 tsp. cinnamon 

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 cups chopped walnuts

*Optional Topping (but you should totally do it!):

additional chopped walnuts

about 1/3 cup granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Fill 3 muffin tins with cupcake liners (I ran out and just sprayed the muffin tins with cooking spray and it worked just fine).

In a large bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, and salt.  Set aside.

Using a paddle attachment cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes.  

Add in the bananas.  No need to mash them before hand.  Let the paddle attachment do all the work.

Once the bananas are incorporated (the mixture will be runny), add in the vanilla and eggs.  Mix until well combined.  

Add the dry ingredients and the walnuts to the wet ingredients and allow the mixer to stir the ingredients together until just mixed.

Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to add the batter to the muffin tins.  I used a heaping 1/4 cup.  Just make sure the muffin cups are 3/4 full.

If you're doing the topping (DO IT) sprinkle about 1/2 tsp. of granulated sugar to the top each muffin and sprinkle with a few more chopped walnuts.  I just eyeballed it.

Place the muffins in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.  Mine are never done by 30 minutes so I continue baking in 3 minute increments until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin tins and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Friends.  Let me give you a little tip that will change your life.  Google "raw milk near me" and see what pops up.  We have started purchasing raw, organic milk from a local dairy farmer and it.will.change.your.life.  So many good things are lost through homogenization and pasteurization of your dairy products and you guys, if you understood the hormones in your store-bought-non-organic-milk-off-the-shelf it would make you gag.  And meat.  The hormones in your non-organic beef is mind blowing.  Your bodies, your kids bodies, you're worth eating good food.  You can do it.  Is organic milk and beef more expensive?  Yep.  But don't ask yourself "why is organic so expensive?!"  Instead, ask yourself why hormone filled, antibiotic filled, pesticide laden, fake crap food so cheap?  If you want a good read, google Weston A. Price and read "Nourishing Traditions".  So so good.

ALL THAT TO SAY, we are buying raw milk now which comes with all of the amazing, better than gold, CREAM!  Oh my word.  You will hear angels singing when you put that in your coffee first thing in the morning.  But did you know...if you take that cream, put it in a big mixing bowl, and beat the tar out of it for a while, it turns into the most amazing, nutritious butter in the world.  The color alone is incredible.  It's this super vibrant yellow because of all of the beta carotene.  Grass-fed cows store the yellow pigment (beta carotene) naturally found in those plants in their fat and the cream in their milk is very fatty (and this fat is NOT a bad thing).  So when you make the butter, the beta carotene stays in the butter.  The byproduct of making your own butter is buttermilk!  In order to use up all of that liquid gold, I've been making organic buttermilk pancakes on Saturday afternoons for a quick, out the door breakfast for Sunday morning.  Super easy.  SUPER delicious.

2 cups organic all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. organic granulated sugar

2 cups buttermilk

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Whisk everything together until you have a thin, smooth batter.  Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to ladle the batter onto a preheated griddle or skillet.  

Cook until you see several bubbles forming on the tops of each pancake.

Flip them over and cook until golden brown.

Serve with your favorite syrups and/or fruits and for crying out loud SLATHER your amazing raw butter all over them before stuffing them in your face.  

Bread Machine Cinnamon Roll Dough

I have two fantastic Cinnamon Roll recipes on my blog already.  A Keto version and a Traditional version.    If you haven't made either of them, you totally should.  They're incredible.  If you're just not feeling kneading that dough though, I get it.  I love for my bread machine to do the work for me.  If that's your jam today, here you are my friends.  All that is required is for you to dump all of your ingredients into the bread machine, turn it on, and let it go.  When it's done, I use the filling recipe already posted in my Homemade Cinnamon Roll post.  I'll link it here for your convenience.  This recipe makes a slightly bigger sheet of dough but the filling is still enough.  

1 cup warm milk

1 large egg

4 tablespoons grass fed butter

3 1/3 cups organic flour

3 tablespoons organic sugar

1/2 tsp. pink Himalayan salt

2 tsp. active dry yeast

Add the milk, egg, and butter to the pan.

Add the flour, sugar, and salt to the pan.  Tap the pan to settle and level it off with your finger, if needed. 

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the yeast.

Lock the pan into your bread maker and close the lid.  

Select the Dough function on your bread machine and press Start.

When the dough cycle is done, remove the pan from the bread machine and place the dough on a floured surface.  Knead the dough by hand for 1 minute, then let it rest for 15 minutes.

Roll the dough into a 15x10" rectangle and continue with the filling, slicing, second rise, and baking instructions found here.  *Note: use a 9x13" baking dish for this recipe.

Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Bread

This is a super yummy breakfast bread!  I love to have it toasted with lots of grass fed butter.

1 1/4 cups warm milk

2 tablespoons grass fed butter

2 3/4 cups organic flour

3/4 cup quick oats

2 tablespoons organic brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 3/4 tsp. active dry yeast

1/2 cup raisins **

Add the liquid ingredients and butter to pan in the order listed.  

Add the dry ingredients in the order listed, except yeast and raisins.  Tap the pan to settle the dry ingredients and level off with your finger, if needed.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the yeast to the well.

Lock the bread machine pan into place and close the lid.  

Program your bread machine for the Basic setting, choose the crust color you like, and press Start.

On my machine, there is a beep during one of the knead cycles.  If you have that feature on your machine, add the raisins when the beep sounds.  Once it's finished, remove the pan from the machine and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before shaking the bread out of the pan to cool completely.  

Honey Oatmeal Bread

This is my all-time favorite bread to use for just eating.  It's *amazing* fresh out of the bread machine and also *amazing* toasted.  Slather some fresh grass-fed butter and homemade Strawberry Freezer Jam on it...so good.

1 cup + 2 Tablespoons hot water

2 1/2 Tablespoons raw organic honey

2 Tablespoons grass fed butter

2 1/3 cups organic flour

1 cup quick cooking oats

2 Tablespoons dry milk

1 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt

3 teaspoons active dry yeast

Dump all of the liquid ingredients and the butter into your bread machine pan in the order listed

Dump all of the dry ingredients, except the yeast, into the bread machine pan in the order listed.  Tap sides of the pan to settle the dry ingredients.  Use your finger the level it off if needed.

Make a little well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the yeast to the well.

Lock the pan into the bread machine and close the lid.  Use the One Hour setting on your bread machine and press Start.  

Once finished, remove the pan from the machine and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before removing the bread. 

Keto Cinnamon Rolls

Alright.  Time to lighten things up again.  I've sampled too many quarantine baking projects and I'm starting to feel it.  Before this COVID mess started I was on a really clean diet and lost 20lbs!  I don't want to relapse!  Time to make some goodies that mama doesn't feel guilty about.  

These little guys are a combo between a cinnamon roll and a pecan swirl?  Remember those?  Tasty Cake, or something like that, made them?  I remember my dad sneaking a sweet on occasion and he really likes pecan swirls.  This reminds me of them a lot!  Only these are guilt free, sugar free, and low carb at only 2 net carbs per roll.

For the Rolls:

2 cups shredded mozzarella

3oz. cream cheese

3/4 cup almond flour

2tsp. baking powder

For the Filling:

4 tablespoons softened butter

1/4 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 1/2 tablespoons granulated Swerve

For the Icing:

2oz. cream cheese

3 tablespoons powdered confectioners Swerve

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 8 cups in a muffin tin with non stick spray.

In a microwave safe bowl combine the mozzarella and cream cheese.  Microwave for one minute then stir to combine.  Add the almond flour and baking powder, stir until somewhat incorporated and return to the microwave for an additional 30 seconds.  Combine the mixture until a soft ball forms.

Place the mixture on a sheet of parchment paper and top it with another sheet of parchment.  Using a rolling pin, roll the dough until you have a rectangular sheet that measures roughly 13x10.  Remove the top piece of parchment paper and discard.

Now the filling!  Spread the softened butter all over the sheet of dough making sure to get all the way to the edges.  Combine the cinnamon and granulated swerve and sprinkle liberally on top of the butter.  Sprinkle the chopped pecans all over the top of the cinnamon and Swerve.

Then, starting on a long edge, begin to tightly roll up the dough into a log.  Cut the log into 8 pieces.  Place one piece per muffin cup.  Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown.

Once they've cooled slightly, it's time for the icing!  Place the cream cheese in a 2 cup measuring cup or small bowl.  Microwave the cream cheese for 15 seconds or so, until it is creamy and can be stirred easily with a fork.  Add the powdered Swerve and heavy cream.  Stir vigorously with a fork until the powdered Swerve is dissolved.  The icing is pretty thick.  If you like it thinner, thin it out with some more cream.  If you like it thicker, add some more powdered Swerve.  Add a generous plop of icing on top of each cinnamon roll and serve!

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

I know...how hard can it be to make hard boiled eggs?  Does it really deserve a blog post?  Yes!  If you use your Instant Pot to hard boil your eggs, you absolutely need to know this method.  So many people do the 5-5-5 method or the 6-6-6 method or a 4-5-4 method....blah blah blah.  I'm a busy mama and don't have time to carefully time eggs.  I'll mess it up because there's always something to distract me.  So here's the easiest way AND it doesn't require you to babysit it.

Eggs, room temp (I do a dozen or two at a time)

1 cup water

Place the trivet in the bottom of your instant pot.  Add the water to the pot.  Place the eggs on top of the trivet.  

Secure the lid, set the valve to sealing, and process on high pressure for 2 minutes.  THAT'S IT!!  2 minutes!!

Allow the pressure to completely release naturally.  (Read: forget about it while you do other stuff)

Once the pressure has released, take your eggs out and store in the fridge.

"Fat Head" Dough

I don't know why it's called Fat Head.  I'm just glad I can still have pizza and it be 100% guilt free.  See, my family and I have been eating "keto" for the past few weeks and WE LOVE IT!  We're about 90% on plan and feeling so much better.  We're probably seeing such great results because we can still have pizza.  So, what is it?  It's basically a dough made primarily from cheese.  Glorious.cheese.  (I love this "diet"!)  It's a very versatile dough.  You can leave it as one big batch of dough and spread it out like a pizza.  You can portion it out into smaller pieces and make personal size pizzas.  You can cut it down to bun size and have an alternative for your burgers and breakfast sammies.  You can make them even smaller and stuff sausage, egg, and cheese in them for a breakfast bite.  You can wrap hot dogs in them for pigs in a blanket.  Hop on Pinterest and see what you can find.  It's super quick to whip up which makes it perfect for a late night quick dinner.  Below are the directions for pizza.  If you want to use it for something else, you'll just need to adjust the thickness as you're rolling it out (bun, biscuit, etc.) and also the baking time.

3/4 cup almond flour

1 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 tbsp. cream cheese

1 egg

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning (if using it for pizza dough)

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Combine almond flour and mozzarella cheese in a microwave safe bowl.

Add in cream cheese and place it in the microwave for 1 minute.

Stir well and microwave an additional 30 seconds.

Add the egg, salt, and Italian Seasoning, if using, and combine well.

Shape the dough into a ball and place it between two sheets of parchment paper.

Roll the dough between the parchment paper until it's about 1/4-1/8" thick (however thick you like your pizza dough)

Remove the top piece of parchment paper.

Keeping the dough on the bottom piece of parchment paper, slide the dough onto a pizza stone or baking sheet.

Use a fork and pierce the dough all over.

Place into the preheated oven for 12 minutes.

Once it's been baked, add your favorite pizza toppings and bake an additional 5 minutes or until your toppings are heated through.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Is there anything better than a recipe from your grandma?  Nope.  I think not.  This freezer jam is incredible.  Like...I can't even.  I could literally eat it with a spoon strait from the jar.  I don't.  But I could.  It's amazing on toast, rolls, waffles, on top of yogurt...basically anything carb.  Just put it on all the carbs.

2 cups crushed strawberries

4 cups sugar

1 box Sure-Jell (the yellow box...she said that's important)

3/4 cup water

Clean, dry, and remove the tops of your fresh strawberries.  Crush 'em up (blender, food processor, potato masher...whatever) and add the sugar.  Mix the sugar and crushed strawberries really well and let them sit for 10 minutes.

In a small saucepan combine the Sure-Jell and water.  Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute.  Pour the boiled Sure-Jell into the strawberry mixture and stir for 3 minutes.

Ladle the strawberry mixture into clean, dry jars and place the lid on the jar.  Allow the jam to sit on the counter for 24 hours.  Pop in the freezer and store until ready to use.  When you're ready to eat it, thaw the jam in the fridge for 24 hours.

Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

This.  Is amazing.  It's easy and yummy, and all things comfort food, and you must make it.  This makes a big 'ol 9x13 pan of it...which is a lot of baked oatmeal.  You could easily feed a family of 3 or 4 breakfast for a week on this pan.  But it's awesome for taking to a brunch or having people over for breakfast.  And your overnight guests will feel super special if you feed this to them in the morning.

Now, it's super super versatile.  You can make it as-is and it will be amazing.  If your'e the kinda person who likes fruit in your baked oatmeal you can always add a cup of dried cranberries or raisins.  A diced apple would be AMAZING in here with all of that yummy cinnamon that's in it.  Fresh blueberries baked in would be delicious.  Bananas...walnuts...almonds...strawberries...whatever your little heart desires.  My family LOVES it just like this served hot in a bowl with some milk poured over it.  I'm so excited for you to make this!

6 cups rolled oats

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

4 tsp. cinnamon

4 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. salt

2 cups milk

2 sticks melted butter

1/2 cup maple syrup

4 eggs

4 tsp. vanilla

any additional dried fruit, fresh fruit, or nuts you desire; optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Mix together the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.  

Beat in the milk, melted butter, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla.  

Fold in any of the fruit(s) you're using, if any.  

Spread the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Bake in the preheated 40 minutes.

Serve hot.  

Sausage Crescent Bites

It doesn't get any easier than this for breakfast.  It's perfect for having friends over for breakfast, or taking to a brunch, or a shower, or overnight guests.  Super simple and just a few ingredients.

1lb. of your favorite sausage, browned and crumbled (we like Jimmy Dean Sage sausage)

2 pkgs. crescent dough

1 block cream cheese

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Brown and crumble the sausage in a skillet and drain the grease.

Add a pinch of salt and pepper to the cooked sausage.

Add the block of cream and stir until the cream cheese is melted and coating all of the sausage.  Set aside.

On a baking sheet, unroll one package of crescent dough and gently press the seams together.  Spread the sausage mixture over the dough leaving a 1/2" border all around the edges.

Unroll the second package of crescent dough over top of the sausage mixture.  Seal the 1/2" border together and gently press the seams together.

Bake in your preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until the crescent dough is golden brown.  Remove from the oven and cut into 1-2 inch squares (however big you want your bites).  A pizza cutter makes super quick work of this.  

*If you want to do some prep the night before, you can brown the sausage and keep it in the fridge.  When you're ready, just reheat it in the skillet and add the cream cheese once the sausage has been heated.

Sausage Gravy Biscuit Breakfast Casserole

This.  If this is all I ever had for breakfast ever again I would be a happy girl.  It's everything you want!  Eggs, Biscuits, sausage gravy, cheese...everybody is here.  

1lb. sausage, browned and crumbled 

1pkg. Pioneer brand Original or Peppered Gravy Mix, prepared according to the package instructions

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

6 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

1 8oz. can Pillsbury Grands Biscuits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish and set aside.  

Cut each biscuit into 1" pieces (about 6 pieces per biscuit).

Scatter the cut biscuits over the bottom of the baking dish.

Sprinkle the browned sausage over the biscuit pieces.

Sprinkle with cheese.

Whisk the eggs and milk together and season with salt and pepper.

Pour the egg mixture over the entire dish.  

Pour the prepared gravy over to top of the egg mixture.

Bake in the preheated oven 30-45 minutes.

Easy Instant Pot Yogurt

Y'all know I love me some Instant Pot.  My husband goofed one night and called it a Miracle Pot...which is probably what it really should be called.  We love the thing.  When I bought mine, I noticed that it had a "Yogurt" button and quickly dismissed it.  I thought to myself "well that button's never gonna get pushed".  I even explored it a bit and read through some blogs and tutorials and the sheer number of steps and seemingly endless instructions just further confirmed that I would not be using the Yogurt feature on this thing.  Then.  I stumbled across a video that changed my mind.  You can watch it HERE for step-by-step, super easy instructions and I highly recommend you do.  Then you can just reference this post for quick glances and reminders without watching the whole video again and again.

What you need:

Instant Pot

Milk (I looooove Whole Milk for this.)

Yogurt Starter (This isn't scary.  Simply buy a small container of plain Greek yogurt.  That's it.)

1 tablespoon measuring spoon

Clean Mug

Whisk

Ladle

Instant Read Thermometer

Mesh Strainer and Coffee Filters or Nut Milk Bag

Medium Mixing Bowl

Containers for storing your amazing yogurt.

-Before you get started, take 1 tablespoon of your yogurt starter (remember, that's just plain Greek yogurt that you buy in the yogurt section of your grocery store.  I used Fage 2% Plain Greek Yogurt) and add it to your clean mug.  You want it to come to room temp.

-In your clean Instant Pot, add 8 cups of milk to the liner.

-Put the lid on your pot and set the valve to Sealing.

-Press the Yogurt button until it says boil and the "more" light is on.

-Allow the pot to do it's thang.  It will "boil" for about 25-30 minutes.

-Once the boil cycle is over, take your whisk and run it over the top of the milk to remove any skin that has formed.  

-Use your instant read thermometer to make sure the temp has climbed to 180 degrees.  If it hasn't, simply put the lid back on and set it for another boil cycle.

-Once your milk is 180 degrees, stick your liner in the kitchen sink that has been filled with ice water.  

-WITHOUT EVER TOUCHING THE BOTTOM OF THE POT WITH YOUR WHISK...Stir your milk with a whisk while it sits in the ice bath and every couple of minutes check the temperature with your thermometer until it gets down to 110 degrees.

(It's important not to scrape up the milk solids that have scorched to the bottom of the pot.  This will make your yogurt gritty and you'll have milk solids in your yogurt.  Ew.)

-Once it's 110 degrees, remove the liner from the ice bath, dry it off, and stick it back in the instant pot.  

-Take your ladle and scoop some of the warmed milk into the mug with your Yogurt Starter.  You want to temper the starter (bring it up to the temp of the milk) before adding it into the pot.  Use a fork or a small whisk to stir the yogurt starter and milk together in the mug; making sure there are no lumps.

-Pour the mug of starter into the instant pot and whisk it into the batch of milk.

-Put your lid back on the Instant Pot and set the valve to Sealing.

-Press the Yogurt button again and it will say Yogrt. 

-(If the display keeps saying "boil", press the Cancel/Keep Warm button, Yogurt again and then the Adjust button until the timer display reads.)

-I like to set mine for 10 hours.  If you would like to adjust the time from 8:00 to 10:00, just push the + button until it reads 10:00.

-The Instant Pot will now begin to count up and incubate your yogurt.

*I like to start this process around 9:30pm.  That gives me time to get it up to temp, then cool it down, and set it start incubating right before I go to bed.  Then it incubates all night while we sleep and in the morning, you've got your finished yogurt and the only thing left to do is strain it.

*For Greek Style Yogurt:

-When the timer is up, remove the lid and transfer your yogurt to a mesh strainer that's been lined with coffee filters and placed over a bowl.  

-Stick it in the fridge and let it strain for 2-4 hours.

-After it's strained, (that liquid is called Whey) I like to transfer my yogurt to a mixing bowl and add 8 packets of Pyure (it's Stevia), about 1tsp. of real, good quality Vanilla, and my secret ingredient....a little bit of powdered sugar.  Yum!!!  I also add anywhere between 1/4-1/2 cup of the whey back into the yogurt to make it the consistency we like.  Whisk all of that together and then when it's the flavor and consistency you like, store it in a container in the fridge.  I like to store it in 8oz jelly jars for me and my husband to grab right out of the fridge.  For my daughters, I put some in reusable food pouches.  These are my favorites!

*For a thinner yogurt, just don't strain it as long...maybe an hour or two.

*For a drinkable yogurt, don't strain it at all.

*To use this as a substitute for Sour Cream or Mayonnaise, don't add any of the sweeteners or flavorings.

*You can add any toppings you want when you're finished and ready to eat it!  

-Fresh Fruit

-Crystal Light

-Strawberry or Chocolate Quick

-Honey

-Granola

-Nuts and Seeds

-Fruit Preserves

-Whatever you want!

*The Whey can be used for a ton of stuff too!  Substitute it in your homemade bread recipes for the water (just bring it up to about 110 degrees first), make Pancakes and Waffles with it, water your plants with it (especially tomatoes because they LOVE that extra calcium)...google different ways, it's kinda fun!

Homemade Pancake Mix

I'm guilty.  I always used to use Bisquick.  There's nothing wrong with that.  I did it for years.  Until one night this pregnant mama wanted pancakes for dinner and we had NO Bisquick.  NOT having pancakes wasn't an option so what's a girl to do?  Pinterest, of course.  I found this recipe and OHMYWORD I'm never going back to Bisquick.  These pancakes are SO good.  Getcha a container or mason jar...whatever...and make a batch of this dry mix and have it ready to go for when your pancake craving hits.  Delish!

2 cups plain flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

Mix the dry ingredients together and keep in a dry place until you're ready to use.  When you're ready...

Place the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and add:

1 egg (if you have a duck egg handy...USE IT!)

1 3/4 cup milk

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Any additional things your family likes in your pancakes.  Chocolate chips, nuts, bananas...or our personal favorite LOTS of fresh blueberries and 3 drops of Young Living Lemon Vitality essential oil.  It will blow your mind!

Whisk all of the ingredients together.  Spray a non-stick skillet or griddle with non-stick cooking spray or butter.  I use a soup ladle and ladle out the batter in the size that we like (you know...normal size pancakes, I guess?).  Leave them alone until bubbles appear and when the bubbles pop they leave a crater.  When that happens, you're ready to flip them.  Flip the pancakes and let them cook another minute or two.  When they're golden brown, transfer to a plate to keep warm and keep going until all of the batter is used up.  Yields approximately 14 pancakes.