Migas in a Taco Bowl

My family love eggs. I love them since they are a cheap, fast breakfast, brunch, or supper. When I added tortilla chips to the eggs, the kids thought this was the best thing ever. I thought they would even think it was more cool if they were served in Taco Bowls. I made my Taco Bowls from corn tortillas since they tied with the corn tortilla chips. They are really easy to make. I used these directions but there are even YouTube vidoes.

Migas in a Taco Bowl
4 large eggs
2 egg whites
2 Tbsp skim milk
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 tsp butter

1 cup tortilla chips, crushed (I used blue corn tortilla chips)
1 cup Monterey Jack with Jalapeno Cheese
4 Taco Bowls
Optional garnish toppings:  guacamole, sour cream, cheese, salsa, salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, and skim milk. Set aside.
2. In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.
3. Add the onion, red bell pepper, and jalapeno pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes while stirring occasionally.
4. Add the whisked egg mixture to the skillet. Stir well. Turn the heat to medium low. 
5. Add the butter and cook until the eggs are fluffy. 
6. Add the crushed tortilla chips and fold in the cheese.
7. Serve the egg mixture into the center of the taco bowls.
8. Top with desired garnish.

Recipe by Jen of Sweet Morris.

One year ago..........................I made Chicken Salad Roll Ups.

Did you already know............
-The Spanish word Migas translates into crumbs.
-Migas ordered in Spain or Portugal is a dish made with stale bread, olive oil, sausage, or pork.
-The Tex Mex version is just scrambled eggs with tortilla chips.

Yogurt Pancakes

My niece spent the night this past weekend. So, I made the children pancakes the next morning. Now, my son is not a big pancake person. He would rather have eggs. He ate five pancakes and wanted more. My youngest daughter loves pancakes and she had at least five pancakes. My niece ate five pancakes and she wanted more. I'm just lucky my husband was able to have two pancakes. I was able to have two pancakes too. They even wanted my pancakes but I was able to distract them.

Yogurt Pancakes
1/2 cup all purpose flour 
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup Greek yogurt
2 eggs, whisked slightly
butter for the skillet
vegetable oil for the skillet

Directions:

1. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt until just mixed.
2. Add the yogurt and eggs. Mix until just combined.
3. Heat a skillet over medium heat.
4. Add about 1 tsp vegetable oil and 1 tsp butter to the skillet. 
5. Add 1/4 cup of batter to the skillet and cook until top is bubbly.
6. Flip and cook the other side until golden brown.
7. Add additional vegetable oil and butter to the skillet when needed. 
8. Continue cooking the remaining batter in batches.
9. Serve immediately.

Recipe by Jen of Sweet Morris.

One year ago......................I made Margaritas.

Did you already know........
-Greek yogurt is high in protein.
-Greek yogurt is strained to remove the whey.
-Greek yogurt tends to have less sugar than regular yogurt.

Peanut butter Nutella Oatmeal

I am always surprised with the request my children make. My oldest daughter woke up and wanted oatmeal. Oatmeal? No one ever asks for oatmeal. Waffles, eggs, or pizza are the most popular request. My favorite is cereal. I'm still trying to make it for supper but no takers. Well, my two youngest children said they don't like oatmeal. My oldest likes instant only. I haven't purchased instant for years since no one ate it. I told my oldest that I only had the old fashion kind. She informed me that it was too much work. So, I decided to make her oatmeal. I saw this great recipe but I changed it up since I didn't have a lot of strawberries left. Strawberries somehow disappear in my house. After I made this oatmeal, my two youngest children loved it. My oldest daughter said that she just wanted plain. I can't please everyone but it is nice to know that I can serve oatmeal more often.

Peanut Butter Nutella Oatmeal
3 cups milk (I used skim)
1 cup water
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups old fashion oats
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp brown sugar

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine the milk and water. Bring to a simmer an then reduce to medium-low. Stir often to make sure the milk doesn't scorch.
In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the oats to the skillet and toast for about 2 minutes.
Stir in the toasted oats into the heated milk. Allow to simmer gently until the mixture is thick. It will take about 20 minutes. 
Stir in the salt and brown sugar. Allow the oatmeal to continue to simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed and the oatmeal is creamy.
Stir in the peanut butter and Nutella.
Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats.

One year ago..............................I made the very cool Agent P sandwich.

Did you already know................
-Quaker Old Fashion Oats are whole oats which have been rolled to flatten them into flakes.
-Quick Quaker Oats are Old Fashion Oats which have been cut into smaller pieces.
-Steel Oats are whole oats which have been cut into thirds.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Scones

Pumpkin is one of those recipes in which you are a fan or not. I am a huge fan of pumpkin. I'm not picky either I like pumpkin bread or pumpkin pasta. My husband doesn't encourage me to make pumpkin recipes. Maybe he thinks I would go overboard? Unbeknown to him, I have a recipe that recently asked me to make a pumpkin recipe. To please my sister and my love for pumpkin, I decided I would make something for breakfast. Just because it is almost Thanksgiving, the kids expect me to feed them a couple meals before the big feast. Muffins were my first choice but I realized I hadn't made scones lately.

I decided to take one of my favorite pumpkin muffin recipes and adapt it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The dough was sticky but when it came out it tasted really good. So, I tried again the next day and added more flour but I still thought the dough seemed too sticky. However, it still tasted really good. My daughter brought some to school and shared with her classmates. They told my daughter they loved it. I even had a friend sample it and he really liked it. My husband brought three pieces to work for his lunch.

The cream cheese filling spread over the dough

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Scones
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
6 Tbsp butter, cut into small cubes
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin
1/4 cup heavy cream

Direction:

1. In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar. 
2. Place in the refrigerator to chill for several hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking liner. 
5. In a food processor, add the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and baking soda. Pulse 10 times.
6. Add the butter and pulse about 10 to 15 times.
7. Add the egg, pumpkin, and heavy cream. Pulse about 10 times or just combined.
8. Scoop half the batter and add to the middle of the baking sheet.
9. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the dough. (See photo above.)
10. Cover the cream cheese mixture with the remaining dough.
11. Bake the dough for about 20 minutes.
12. Remove from oven and cut into wedges and return to the oven. Bake for another 5 minutes or until the center of the wedge is cooked. (If a toothpick is inserted, the center will be gooey due to the cream cheese mixture.)

Recipe inspired by Annie's Eats.

A year ago................................I made Pancakes. 

Did you already know................
-Pumpkins are native to Central America.
-The colonist cooked pumpkins over hot coals with the inside filled with honey, milk, and spices.
-Pumpkins are grown all over the world beside Antarctica.

Happy Thanksgiving from Sweet Morris! 

I am thankful you took the time to stop by.

Blueberry Season

Are you blue? Have you been having some bad luck lately? Yesterday was Friday the 13th and it is over. Only good luck ahead for all of us, right? I will admit the only thing blue lately for me would be all the blueberries I have been eating. My husband can not say the same since he just had knee surgery-yes ouch!

 It is blueberry season here in Maine and I have picked over 6 cups of wild blueberries lately. So, please forgive me now but I will be posting some blueberry recipes in the next coming days. I have warned you. Don't worry I will be going raspberry picking in a couple of days. Then I may surprise you one day when you are expecting another blueberry recipe and they are gone like all my blueberries.

I decided to remake the Ultimate Streusel Cake with Streusel Filling into a blueberry coffee cake. This remake was suggested by my oldest daughter and it came out pretty good. My husband really liked it and he doesn't eat fruit often.

Blueberry Coffee Cake 
Streusel Filling:
1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4cup sugar
3/4 cups almonds, toasted and chopped
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature

Cake:
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp coarse salt
10 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1  cups sour cream 
1 cup of blueberries ( I used wild Maine blueberries)

Icing:
2 1/2 cups of powder sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Additional powder sugar, for dusting if desired


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease the Bundt pan.
3. Combine all the ingredients of the streusel filling together. Store in the refrigerator until needed.
4. In another bowl to make the cake, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.
5. In a third bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
6. Add the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream to the butter mixture. Mix until just combined.
7. Slowly, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until just combine.
8. Spoon half of the batter into the Bundt pan. Top with two thirds of the streusel filling.
9. Spoon the rest of the batter into the Bundt pan covering the streusel filling.
10. Top with the remaining streusel filling.
11. Bake until golden brown and cake tester comes out clean, about an hour.
12. Transfer cake to wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes.
13. When the cake is cooled enough, remove cake from pan.
14. In a medium bowl, prepare the icing by mixing the powder sugar and milk until well combined. Drizzle over cake.
15. Dust with powder sugar.

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living 2002 Annual Recipes. 

Did you already know...
-The most common knee injure is a torn meniscus.
-Each knee has 2 meniscus which is the cartilage that acts like a cushion between the shinbone and thighbone.
-By forcefully rotating or twisting the knee, the meniscus can become torn.

Cinnamon Rolls

My Dad would make cinnamon rolls once a year. He would make so many rolls we would be eating them for weeks (at least it seemed that way). He would also give a lot of the cinnamon rolls away to friends.

Since my children love cinnamon rolls, I figured it would be a nice treat to make for the holidays. I have made this recipe before. The recipe makes a lot of rolls so I recommend following in my Dad's example and sharing. The recipe does freeze well just in case you do not want to share. I made 7 pie pan of these cinnamon rolls so be prepared to make new friends. I used skim milk in the recipe since that is what we had in the house.

Cinnamon Rolls
Rolls:
4 cups of milk 
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 packages (4 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast
9 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt

Filling:
2 cups butter, melted plus more to coat the pans
1/2 cup ground cinnamon
2 cups sugar
7 disposable foal cake/pie pans

Icing:
2 lbs. powder sugar, sifted
1/2 cups milk
6 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup brewed coffee, decaffinated
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp maple syrup

Directions:

1. Heat the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a large saucepan just to below a boil over medium heat.
2. Let the milk mixture cool to warm (around 110 degrees).
3. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the milk mixture and let it sit for 1 minute.
4. Add 8 cups of flour and stir to combine. 
5. Cover the mixture with a clean kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place for 1 hour.
6. After the hour, add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and the remaining 1 cup of flour to the mixture. Stir to combine. (Store in the refrigerator up to 3 days or prepare rolls immediately after chilling for one hour first.)
7. Punch down the dough after chilling. 
8. Remove half the dough from the pan.
9. Flour a clean baking surface and roll out the dough thinly to 30x10 inches. 
10. Pour 3/4 cups of melted butter over the surface of the dough. Spread the butter evenly over the dough. 
11. Generously sprinkle 1/4 cup ground cinnamon and 1 cup of sugar evenly over the butter.
12. Working slowly, roll the dough tightly towards the other end of the dough forming a log. 
13. After rolling to the other end, pinch the dough seams together. Flip the roll so the seam is facing the surface.
14. Cut the dough into 1/2 inch slices.
15. Coat the disposal pans with melted butter.
16. Place about 7 to 9 cinnamon rolls into the pan without overcrowding.
17. Repeat the process with the other half of the dough. Let the dough rest on the counter for at least 20 minutes before baking.
18. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
19. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 15 to 18 minutes.
20. While the rolls are baking, prepare the icing.
21. In a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, butter, coffee, and salt.
22. Add the maple syrup and whisk until very smooth. Taste and adjust the icing to taste. 
23. Drizzle the icing over the cinnamon rolls immediately after the cinnamon rolls are removed from the oven. 
24. Allow the cinnamon rolls to cool and enjoy/share. 

Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook.

Did you already know............
-Cinnamon Rolls are called "kanelbulle' in Sweden.
-On Oct. 4th, it is known as National Kanelbulle Bun day in Sweden.
-In Europe, cinnamon rolls are commonly topped with nib/pearl sugar.
-In America, the cinnamon roll is commonly topped with a glaze/icing.

Pancakes

When I was a teenager, I would occasionally have to watch my baby sisters. My mom would tell me that I would have to cook them supper. I knew how to cook but I didn't. I have three younger sisters. (I still tell my Mom that I am an only child.) My sister who is over a year younger than me would cook all the time. So, I didn't. When I would ask my baby sisters what they wanted for supper, they would tell me cereal. Why argue with them? Cereal is great! My kitchen always has a minimum of five different boxes of cereal at a time. 

Growing up, there was one food I really liked to cook and it was pancakes. My youngest daughter has inherited my love for pancakes. I normally do not order pancakes for breakfast if we eat out. I like my pancakes better. 

Silver Dollar Pancakes

 Pancakes

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk
1 egg
2 Tbsp butter, melted
vegetable oil or butter to coat the skillet

Directions:

1. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
2. Whisk the dry ingredients.
3. Add the buttermilk and mix just to combine.
4. Add the egg and still a few times just to combine.
5. Add the melted butter and mix just to combine. Don't over mix.
6. Set the batter aside.
7. Heat a skillet on medium to medium low heat.
8. Add oil or butter to the skillet.
9. Scope about 1/3 cup of batter into the pan for regular size pancakes. Scope about 1/8 cup of batter into the pan to make silver dollar pancakes.
10. Once the batter starts to form bubbles, flip the pancake. Cook about one minute and serve.

Recipe adapted from Katy's Kitchen originally from Pastry Queen.

 Did you already know............................
-In the past, buttermilk was the liquid left over after milk was made into butter.
-Today, dairies usually adds lactic acid to low fat milk to produce buttermilk.
-Buttermilk is low in fat and calories.
-To help with digestive problems, buttermilk is said to be a better choice than milk because of the lactic acid and it is quicker to digest.

Cranberry Scones

What is your favorite juice? Is it the popular orange juice? My son will pick cranberry juice over orange juice. To tell the truth I would too. Since it is so close to Thanksgiving, it is so easy to find fresh cranberries.

Tea anyone?

Talking about Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my family. After I had my oldest daughter, it was almost ten years before my youngest daughter arrived. I recently asked her why she made me wait ten years before entering my life. She looked at me and smiled. She told me that she was up there (as she glanced upwards) and she was really busy helping people out (in heaven) but once she was done she rushed right to me. Is that not the cutest answer? I can see her helping people out since she is very thoughtful.

If you are having guest arrive for the holidays, this is a great recipe to prepare for breakfast one cold morning. They can be made prior to your guest arriving and be frozen until needed. 

Cranberry Scones 2 Tbsp grated lemon zest
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp sugar for the cranberries and additional for the top
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1¼ cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a small bowl, toss the chopped cranberries and the 3 Tbsp of sugar.
4. In a food processor, combine lemon zest, flour, ½ cup of sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pulse about 5 times.
5. Add the butter and pulse about 8-10 times until it looks like course crumbs. 
6. Add the egg, egg yolk, and heavy cream to the flour mixture.
7. Pulse about 10 times.
8. Generously flour working surface.
9. Add the dough to the flour working surface and form a ball.
10. Using a 2½ inch round biscuit cutter, scoop some dough into the cutter to form a 1 inch scone.
11. Repeat with the remaining dough about 3 inches apart. ***
12. Sprinkle the top of the scones with sugar.
13. Bake the scones for about 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown.

***Place the baking sheet in freezer about 30 minutes or until frozen. Transfer the frozen scones to a freezer storage bag until ready to use. When ready to use, continue with direction 12 but bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats and originally from Gourmet.

Did you already know.............
-Scones can be found in the 1513 Oxford English Dictionary.
-Scones are usually associated with Scotland, Ireland and England.
-English plain scones are often eaten with jam, preserves, lemon curd or honey, or clotted cream.
-Dried fruit scones and other flavored scones are usually enjoyed without butter or jam.

I enjoy my scones plain or with a little butter and of course tea!

Ultimate Streusel Cake with Streusel Filling

By making breakfast on Sunday night, it makes Monday (maybe Tuesday) mornings a little easier. I am ashamed to say I am popping a frozen mini waffles into the toaster on Fridays. My neighbors have witnessed my children eating them on the way to the bus stop. What shame! 

Do you have any tips to make Monday mornings a little less hectic?

Ultimate Streusel Cake with Streusel Filling
(Makes 1 ten inch cake)

Streusel Filling:
 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups of chopped almonds
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature

Cake:
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp coarse salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
10 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sour cream

Icing:
2 1/2 cups of powder sugar
1/4 cup milk

Additional powder sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease the Bundt pan. (I used the wrappers from the two sticks of butter.)
3. Combine all the ingredients of the streusel filling together. (Note: the original recipe called for pecans but I wasn't going to make a special trip to the store since I had almonds. You could omit all nuts, if preferred.)
4. Store streusel filling in refrigerator until needed.
5. In another bowl to make the cake, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.
6. In a third bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. (Since I was complaining about all the bowls, I mixed the butter-sugar by hand but you can use a mixer.)
7. Once the butter-sugar is well combined, add the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream. Mix until just combined.
8. Add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix until just combine.
9. Spoon half of the batter into the Bundt pan. Top with two thirds of the streusel filling.
10. Spoon the rest of the batter into the Bundt pan covering the streusel filling.
11. Top with the remaining streusel filling.
12. Bake until golden brown and cake tester comes out clean, about an hour. (My streusel filling was looking dark around 45 minutes so I covered with foil.
13. Transfer cake to wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes (or overnight).
14. When the cake is cooled enough, remove cake from pan.
15. In a medium bowl, prepare the icing by mixing the powder sugar and milk until well combined. Drizzle over cake.
16. Dust with powder sugar.

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living 2002 Annual Recipes.

I recommend serve with coffee or tea for the adults. One time, we were visiting my father-in-law and the children wanted ice cream. Well, the only ice cream happen to be espresso ice cream. As you can imagine, our children were crazy. They could not stop bouncing. I kept saying the children never act like this then it dawned on us our mistake. Please learn from my lesson I recommend milk for the children or you may get a call from the teacher.