Steel Cut Oatmeal

Steel cut oatmeal...we love this stuff around here. On this cold, rainy morning, Riley chose to top it with vanilla yogurt, blueberries, blackberries, and honey. It was delish!!

One happy fella...bedhead and all!

Eggs Benedict Stacks

We were going to have grapefruit this morning, but when I realized Saturday morning is my only morning to really cook breakfast, I switched gears and started looking through my recipe folder.

I decided on Eggs Benedict Stacks, but changed the plan just a little to work with what was in my freezer. Instead of English Muffins as the base, we used hamburger buns. Where the heck did all of those hamburger buns in my freezer come from, anyway?

So off I went, I was so much more excited about this recipe than sectioning a grapefruit!! Don't get me wrong, I love grapefruit!!

Eggs Benedict Stacks

6 large eggs, divided
2/3 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 English muffins, cut in half (I substitued hamburger buns and they were great)
8 slices Canadian bacon

Easy Blender Hollandaise sauce

3 egg yolks
1 T lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 cup butter



In a pie pan or other shallow pan, whisk together 2 eggs, milk, and salt. Soak English muffin halves for 1-2 minutes. Heat small frying pan with with butter or nonstick spray over medium-high heat. Fry soaked muffin halves until lightly browned.
Place cooked muffin halves on a plate and set aside.
Cook remaining eggs individually as desired.

Prepare hollandaise sauce. In a blender, blend egg yolks, lemon juice, salt, and white pepper. Melt butter in microwave until sizzling hot. Turn blender on low and slowly pour in all melted butter. Serve warm. Store in refrigerator 3-5 days. Makes 1 cup.


To assemble stacks, toast 2 muffin halves in toaster to warm and lightly crisp. Place 1 muffin half on a plate and then spread with 1 T of hollandaise sauce. Place 2 slices Canadian bacon over sauce. Place a cooked egg on top


and then drizzle generously with more sauce. Lay remaining muffin half on top (or on the side) and serve.



(Adapted from recipe found at http://www.thenest.com/)

Pigs in a Blanket...in a Basket

Always a good idea to have ingredients for these oldies but goodies on hand. Great for a laid back morning at home or even guests. I don't make them often, but when I do, they're always a hit! And Riley loves to help roll up the piggies too. I love it when he's excited about helping me in the kitchen.

These also remind me of my friend Sonia who would make these for my Bunco Girlies, the morning after our slumber party at Christa's. Or a Girls Getaway to Rockport!

Pigs in a Blanket

1 can crescent rolls
24+ 'Lil Smokies (I prefer that description to "cocktail weiners", thankyouverymuch)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray cookie sheet with Pam. Unroll dough and separate into triangles. Cut each triangle into 3 smaller triangles.

Place 1 'Lil Smokie on base of triangle and roll toward point. Place point side down on cookie sheet.

Bake 11-15 minutes (more like 15-17 in my oven to brown crescent rolls) oruntil golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet.

Think these would be great with a little drop of apricot preserves tucked inside...and of course you could tuck a slice of cheese in there...and a jalapeno? Yummy!

Tangy Turkey Salad

This was a yummy, unique way to use up some Thanksgiving turkey leftovers. The cranberries and oranges appealed to me, so I gave it a shot. I don't love pecans, put I put them in there anyway and liked them in this recipe. This was a refreshing alternative to the typical turkey/chicken/tuna salad.

Tangy Turkey Salad

2 cups cooked turkey breast, cubed
1/2 cup cranberries, finely chopped
1 orange, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup mayo
1 tsp. mustard
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 chopped pecans

In large bowl, combine all ingredients; chill. Serve on the bread of your choice.



(Makes about 6 sandwiches.)
(From Gooseberry Patch's Harvest Kitchen Cookbook)

Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce

Last year I ate my Thanksgiving meal in a hospital bed and still had another month to go on bedrest. My wonderful family came to visit, of course, bearing Thanksgiving food from home. I was thrilled to receive this, of course, but couldn't have been more disappointed in one thing...

THERE WAS NO CRANBERRY SAUCE! AAAAAH!

If I wasn't so incredibly thankful, it would've ruined my meal! I didn't let it though, but this year I took the cranberries into my own hands and made them myself, my first attempt at cranberry sauce and I was thrilled with the turnout. I even heard my very traditional, "keep things the same" father-in-law say that he tried it and liked it (even though he usually prefers the jelly kind in a can )! Maybe I've converted him? Nah, I don't think so.

The recipe was Pioneer Woman's. I saw it on her website and was immediately sucked in because of the beautiful cranberry photos. It's as delicious as it looks!!

Pioneer Woman's Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce

1 bag (about 12 To 16 Oz) Fresh Cranberries
16 ounces, fluid Pomegranate Juice
¾ cups Sugar, More Or Less To Taste

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Mixture will thicken as it cooks, and will thicken more as it cools.

Cool in a jar or bowl in the fridge.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Well, as you can see, there is a Pumpkin Festival going on in my house. It seems like everything I want to make has pumpkin in it. It won't last forever, I promise, but I sure am enjoying this!

I found this recipe in Kraft Food and Family Magazine (Holiday 2009) and they're pictured with a cup of coffee and called Pumpkin Cream Cupcakes. I can't feel good about calling anything I eat for a breakfast a cupcake, so I changed the name to suit my needs! :-) In my world a cupcake should have gobs of buttercream icing on top anyway...

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

1 pkg spice cake mix
1 pkg vanilla instant pudding
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare cake batter as directed on package. Add dry pudding mix and pumpkin; mix well. Spoon into 24 paper-lined muffin cups.

Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy. Blend in sugar and egg; spoon over batter. Swirl gently with small spoon.

Bake 18-21 minutes (longer for me) or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes and cool completely.

Special extra: Stir 1/4 ground nutmeg into 1 1/2 cups thawed Cool Whip and spread over cooled cupcakes. Keep refrigerated.

I actually froze these and Riley and I ate them in the mornings on our way to school and work. When there were only 3 left, he said, "Okay Mommy, you can have one and I can have two, right?" He loved these, told me I needed to make some more because they were "the best", and they froze well. I just zapped them for 30-45 seconds in the morning right before we walked out the door.

Pumpkin Crunch

I've made this before, but never posted and when we decided to have a Southern Cooking potluck lunch at work to celebrate some fall birthdays, I figured Paula Deen's Pumpkin Crunch would suffice. It was a big hit and I didn't even ice it...I can only imagine that the iced version would be that much better!

Pumpkin Crunch

Ingredients:
1 (15 oz.) can fresh pumpkin
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 c. sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans (I used chopped walnuts instead)
2 sticks butter, cut into pieces
FROSTING:
1 (8 oz.) pkg. softened cream cheese
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin, evaporated milk, cinnamon and sugar until well combined. Add eggs and mix well.
Pour mixture into a 9X13 baking dish prepared with a non stick spray. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over entire top. Sprinkle nuts evenly over cake mix and top with butter pieces. Bake at 350º F for 50-60 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Prepare frosting while cake is cooling. In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, whip cream cheese until light. Add in whipping cream and continue to whip until fully combined and thickening. Add powdered sugar and cinnamon and whip until smooth.

To Serve: Scoop out a slice of the pumpkin crunch and top with a dollop of the cream cheese frosting, or frost the entire pumpkin crunch with the frosting.



It was so delicious, this is all I brought home!