Scrambled Eggs with Chorizo

I remember eating this as a kid. It's a great brinner option. Very easy!

1 9-oz. package Mexican-style chorizo, either beef or pork

6 large eggs

Salt to taste

Mexican Style or Fiesta Blend shredded cheese, optional

Cook and stir chorizo in a skillet over low or medium heat until browned, about 5-10 minutes (internal temperature of at least 160°).

Whisk together eggs and salt to taste in a medium bowl until combined. Pour eggs over cooked chorizo in the skillet. Cook and stir until eggs are set, about 5 minutes.

Add shredded cheese, if desired, and stir until melted.

Serve in heated or "soft fried" corn tortillas.

This recipe is very forgiving. Use less chorizo or fewer eggs according to preference. Add cooked potatoes and put mixture in a flour tortilla for a breakfast burrito. Top with avocado, sour cream, salsa, and/or cotija cheese. The key to a successful dish is cooking the chorizo first and then adding the eggs last.

Amish Breakfast Casserole

From Taste of Home.

1 pound pork sausage

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

6 large eggs, lightly beaten

4 C. frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed

2 C. shredded cheddar cheese

1-1/2 C. 4% cottage cheese

1-1/4 C. shredded Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, cook sausage and onion over medium heat until sausage is brown and reaches internal temperature of 160 degrees; drain.

In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients; stir in sausage mixture. Transfer to a 9x13-inch baking dish.

Bake, uncovered, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Note: May substitute 1 pound sliced bacon (diced) for sausage.

Sausage Gravy

From @amberskitchen on Instagram.

1 lb. sausage (such as Jimmy Dean)

1/3 C. flour

4 C. whole milk

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper (or less to taste)

In a deep skillet, brown and cumble sausage over medium-high heat until fully cooked. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Sprinkle the flour over the cooked sausage and stir around until sausage is evenly coated in flour. Add the milk, salt, and pepper. Mix to combine. Increase the heat to medium-high. Stir the mixture often as it boils and thickens, about ten minutes. If gravy gets too thick, thin the mixture by adding more milk. Serve gravy over warm biscuits.

Cheesy Baked Eggs

From The Girl Who Ate Everything.

1 Tbsp. butter, melted
12 eggs, beaten
1 lb. (16 oz.) shredded cheese (see notes)
16 oz. cottage cheese
1/2 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt (see notes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and brush a 9x13-inch baking pan with the melted butter. Whisk together the eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, flour, and salt in a large bowl. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven until eggs are completely set about 50-60 minutes (eggs should reach internal temperature of 160 degrees). Start checking eggs around 40 minutes. Cut into squares and serve with salsa, sour cream, guacamole, tomatoes, or onions, if desired.

Notes: Any type of cheese can be used in this recipe. The original recipe called for 16 oz. Pepper Jack cheese, but I used 8 oz. Monterey Jack (for melting) and 8 oz. Sharp Cheddar (for taste).

I used Lawry's Seasoned Salt. I found the dish a little salty, so I recommend using 1/2 teaspoon in the recipe, but the original recipe called for a full teaspoon.

Whole Wheat Waffles

From King Arthur Flour's website. As advertised, no one will suspect these are made with whole wheat flour because they are so light and crisp. And the recipe is almost as simple as using a pre-made mix!

1-1/2 C. 100% whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt, optional
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 large egg
1-1/2 C. lukewarm milk
1/3 C. vegetable oil

Preheat the waffle iron. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and oil. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. The batter will be a bit lumpy. Cook the waffles as directed in the instructions for the waffle iron.

Makes 3-1/2 round Belgian-style (deep-pocket) 7-inch waffles.

Notes: The recipe on the website includes the following tip: If you or your family is very sensitive to whole wheat's sometimes assertive flavor try substituting 2 Tbsp. orange juice for 2 Tbsp. of the milk. The orange juice tames whole wheat's potentially tannic taste without adding any citrus flavor of its own.

I heated the milk in the microwave until it was lukewarm.

I want to try to modify this recipe to use less vegetable oil. I am also interested in adding cinnamon to the batter.

Healthy Oatmeal Pancakes

I am trying to eat more healthy meals and one of the things I am watching is my sodium intake. Most of the time when I read nutrition labels, I only focus on the calories and fat. When I started looking at sodium content, I was shocked! I could not believe how much sodium is in canned vegetables and beans; things you would think would be healthy. In my search for more healthy recipes, I came across these pancakes from The Girl Who Ate Everything's website. I omitted the salt and added cinnamon. They were very tasty and hearty!

2 C. oats
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2-1/4 C. milk
2 Tbsp. white vinegar or lemon juice
1 C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt, optional
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 C. vegetable or canola oil
2 eggs, beaten

Combine milk and vinegar or lemon juice. Let mixture stand for five minutes, or until milk appears to curdle. Add baking soda and oats to milk. Let stand overnight in refrigerator.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt (if using), and sugar. Add oil and eggs to the oats mixture and stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the oats mixture and stir until blended. Cook on lightly greased griddle or skillet.

Makes about 12 pancakes.

Notes: I made the pancakes without including the baking soda with the oats and milk and there did not seem to be any discernable difference. The original recipe calls for 2-1/2 C. buttermilk instead of the milk and vinegar/lemon juice substitution. However, buttermilk is high in sodium and so I just included the substitution as part of the recipe. I also added about 2 tsp. cinnamon to the flour mixture for a little more flavor.

Butter Syrup

Another recipe from the "What's Cooking" with Ruthie blog. This syrup is so delicious that everyone was eating it directly from the pan! We were also dipping strawberries in it!

2 sticks butter, cut into tablespoon-sized slices
1-1/2 C. sugar
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
3/4 C. buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix butter, sugar, corn syrup, and buttermilk in a large saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla and baking soda (baking soda will make the syrup frothy). Remove syrup from heat and serve. Syrup may be made ahead and reheated.

Note: When I made the syrup, it was a beautiful buttery color. However, I left the syrup over low heat to keep it warm and the syrup turned a caramel color. It didn't affect the flavor, but I recommend not leaving the syrup on heat.

Decadent French Toast

The local newspaper recently featured the "What's Cooking" with Ruthie blog. After browsing through a few recipes, I bookmarked her site. The recipes look so delicious and I love her step-by-step picture instructions. It's so much easier (and reassuring!) to see what something is supposed to look like when you're making it for the first time. When I saw her post for this French toast, I knew what would be on the menu for Christmas morning...and I don't even like French toast. The best part is that you make it the night beforehand so there's no prep work in the morning.

12 slices of soft white bread (I used Dunford's)
4 oz. whipped cream cheese
1 stick butter, sliced
1/4 C. pancake syrup
1 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon (I used a heaping teaspoon)
6 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1-3/4 C. milk (I used whole milk)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large casserole dish add sliced butter, syrup, and brown sugar. Place dish in oven and melt together for 5-7 minutes, or until caramelized, stirring once. Spread cream cheese on half of the bread slices. Place additional slice of bread on top of cream cheese to form a "cream cheese sandwich." Set aside. In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs with a wire whisk. Whisk in vanilla and milk.

When butter mixture is caramelized, remove casserole dish from oven. Put sandwiches in the dish. Sprinkle tops of sandwiches with cinnamon sugar mixture. Pour egg mixture over sandwiches. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes. Serve caramel side up. Top with berries, syrup, and sour cream.

Bacon

Bacon seems to be a big fad right now. It's even in cookies of all places. I don't mind bacon in salads, soups, or on baked potatoes, but I rarely eat it for breakfast. Bacon is typically too salty for me and I hate it when it is undercooked (i.e., slimy or wiggly). I like my bacon crispy! But the real thing I dislike is cooking bacon. Grease splatters all over your kitchen and you can only fit a few pieces in the skillet until they shrink down--it's a big time commitment.

For a while now I've seen instructions for cooking bacon in the oven rather than on the stovetop. Today, for Christmas breakfast, I finally tried cooking bacon in the oven, and it was perfect! The process was very low maintenance: the whole slab of bacon fit on one baking sheet, I ended up with no second-degree burns from grease splatters, and the smell of cooked pork didn't linger in the air or in my hair. And, as my dad, said: "Doesn't it make sense to cook bacon that way? After all, BACON contains the word BAKE!"

I'm sure there are different variations for "baking" bacon, but here's what I did:

1 pkg. thick-cut bacon (regular or low sodium)

Lay strips of bacon in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees and continue cooking for about 15 minutes longer, or until the bacon is at the desired crispiness. WATCH CAREFULLY so that the bacon does not burn (oven temperatures may differ). There is no need to flip the bacon during the cooking process. Remove pan from oven and transfer bacon to a towel-lined plate. Serve or wait until cool and crumble.

Notes: Using two temperatures is probably not necessary. For this particular breakfast, French toast was already baking so I just stuck the bacon in the oven at the same time. However, it seems like the lower temperature renders the fat and then the higher temperature crisps up the pork. I just put the bacon directly on the pan, but it seems you could line the pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil to minimize the cleanup process.