Breakfast Taquitos

This is the final installment in Breakfast Week (for now).  I still have a few more recipes to try and I'll post them as I try them.  But I hope these recipes will help make your busy school mornings run a little more smoothly.  I like that the kids that have to leave early can still go to school with stomachs filled with fast, nutritious foods, ready to learn, even if they are eating as they run to the bus stop.

These taquitos might be my kiddo's favorite breakfast item so far.  I think it has something to do with the tortillas.  But these are really good.  They are also easy, which always works for me.  There's no chopping or cutting involved.  They are also portable and freeze really well.  They get the flavor from salsa and cheese.  The eggs are moist and the tortilla slightly crispy.  Delicious!

Breakfast Taquitos
Makes about 16 taquitos


1 Tbs. butter
12 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp. kosher salt (less if you use table salt)
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I used Monterrey jack and cheddar, but queso would be good too.)
1/2 cup salsa
16 (6 inch) flour tortillas

Heat the oven to 425°.  Spray a baking sheet with non stick cooking spray.

Crack the eggs into a large bowl.  Whisk in the sour cream, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Heat the butter in a skillet and add the egg mixture to the pan.  Gently scrape the bottom of the pan and fold the eggs over to scramble.  When the eggs are slightly under cooked, remove from heat.  Add the cheese and salsa and gently combine.  You don't want to break the eggs into tiny pieces.

Warm the tortillas in the microwave for a few seconds to make them easy to roll.  Place a 1/4 cup of the egg mixture down the center of the tortilla and roll up tightly.  Place seam side down on the baking sheet.  Lightly spray the tops of the tortillas with cooking spray.

Bake for 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown and crisp.

To freeze:  After the taquitos are rolled, but before they are baked, put them in the freezer and allow them to freeze individually before transferring them to a freezer bag.  To reheat:  Heat the oven to 425° and bake for 20 minutes or until heated through and golden brown.

Ham and Cheese Omelet Roll

Welcome to Mommy's Menu--home of the customizable make ahead breakfasts!  I've had a ton of fun toying around with breakfast foods.  There are so many different ways to make breakfast nutritious and easy.

This is so easy to put together and the eggs turn out light, fluffy and delicious.  Anything you put in an omelet, you can put in this roll.  Sauteed green peppers and onions, sauteed mushrooms, cooked asparagus, crumbled bacon, seeded, diced tomatoes, the list is endless.  Just don't use more than about 1 1/2 - 2 cups of filling (not including the cheese) and you'll be just fine.  Again, this picture is the vanilla version I made for my onion and green pepper hating children.

Ham and Cheese Omelet Roll
Makes about 12 slices


4 oz. softened cream cheese
3/4 cup milk
2 Tbs. flour
1/4 tsp. kosher salt (just a pinch of table salt)
12 eggs
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard (Don't leave this out, its delicious)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
2 cups finely chopped, fully cooked ham (I used a good quality lunch meat, but leftover ham would be even better.  You can also substitute 2 cups of your favorite omelet fillings)

Line the bottom of a greased 15 x 10 baking sheet with parchment paper.  Grease the paper and set aside.

 In a bowl, beat the cream cheese and slowly add the milk until smooth.  Add the flour and salt and mix until  combined.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs until the mixture is homogeneous.  Add the cream cheese mixture and mix well.  Pour into your prepared pan.

Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until the eggs are puff and set and golden on the edges.

Remove from the oven and use the parchment paper to remove the egg from the pan.  Immediately spread with mustard and sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese.  Sprinkle with ham or other toppings and remaining cup of cheese.  Roll up from the short side, peeling the parchment paper away while rolling.  Place the roll back on the baking sheet and put back in the oven for about 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

To freeze:  Allow the roll to cool completely before slicing.  Slice into 12 pieces and lay them flat on a greased baking sheet.  Freeze.  When frozen, transfer to a freezer bag.  To reheat, cook in the microwave for 1-1 1/2 minutes or until hot and the cheese is melted.

Source:  A family recipe

English Muffin Bread Breakfast Pizzas

This is a super hearty make ahead breakfast.  My family has loved these.  The great thing about them is that you can customize them however you want.  This is a picture of the vanilla version I made for my kiddos--just bacon and cheese.  My hubby's had a lot more good stuff on it.  You can play around with the toppings and have fun with them.  I did some with cheese, bacon, green onions and red peppers.  I even put some partially steamed broccoli on a batch that I made.  Since I'm having a love affair with pesto right now I'm going to try putting a little pesto in with the eggs next time.

I love that one little item can meet my breakfast standard of a carb and protein all at once.  I make sure they have some fruit to go with it and its perfect!  Fresh strawberries or melon would be great.

I only have one word of caution.  If you are using sausage, ham or bacon on these, then leave the salt out of the egg mixture or it will be too salty.  You don't want to dehydrate your kids on the way to school.

English Muffin Bread Breakfast Pizzas
Makes about 10 pizzas


8 eggs
3 Tbs. milk
1/4 tsp. salt
About 15 dashes of Tabasco sauce (this doesn't add heat, just flavor)
1 loaf of English muffin bread sliced quite thick  (You can also use English muffins)

Toppings:

Cooked crumbled bacon
Chopped ham
Cooked sausage
Cheese
Green onions
Red peppers
Chopped tomatoes
Steamed broccoli
Be creative!!

Heat the oven to 400°.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray generously with non stick cooking spray.

In a shallow bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, salt and Tabasco sauce.  Soak the English muffin bread in the egg mixture so both sides are coated.  Don't let it get too soggy.  Place on the baking sheet.

Top as desired then sprinkle with cheese.  Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the egg is set.

After baking, loosen the pizzas from the pan and let them cool completely.  Freeze them individually on the baking sheet then transfer to a freezer bag.  To reheat, microwave them for 1 1/2 minutes or heat them in the oven or toaster oven for 10-15 minutes at 350°.

Recipe source:  Adapted from Our Best Bites

Ham Egg and Cheese Muffins

Its time to talk breakfast!  With school starting and my kiddos needing something nutritious in the mornings, I've really started taking breakfast seriously again.  Let me start by saying, we are NOT a cold cereal family.  My kiddos might get cold cereal 10 or 12 mornings a year.  Its just too expensive, especially when they eat 2 or 3 bowls in a sitting.  I also don't think its healthy.  The labels might say whole grain, but I just can't go for all the other ingredients.  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so I try to make it as nutritious as possible.  I always try to make sure my kiddos have a protein and a carb at breakfast and often we have fruit with it as well.  It just helps keep them feeling full longer.

The problem I have with breakfast is that my kids leave at different times of the morning.  My oldest daughter, Bailey, has to leave the house at 6:10 am to catch the bus.  My boys, Colton and Wyatt, leave at 7:10 am for the car pool to their charter school, and my 3 younger girls, Brandee, Brinlee and Brylie, hop on the bus at 8:05 am. With a schedule like that I can't cook individual breakfasts every day.  I would be insane.

So, what's a mom to do?  I spend one day a month cooking breakfast items that can be frozen and quickly re-heated in the toaster oven or microwave.  Egg dishes freeze great as do muffins and coffee cakes. For these little egg muffins, all it takes is 10-15 minutes in the oven (or about 1 1/2 minutes in the microwave if you must) and they are hot and taste fresh.  If they're really running behind they can eat on the way out the door.

Ham, Egg and Cheese Muffins
Makes about 30 muffins

12 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. dried dill weed
1-2 cups shredded cheese (I used a mixture of cheddar and Monterrey jack)
1-1/2 cups ham, cubed or chopped (I used a good quality lunch meat)
Salt to taste (I didn't add much because the ham made it salty enough)
2 green onion, sliced thin (optional)
1 1/2 cups frozen shredded hash browns, partially thawed

Heat the oven to 400° and grease the muffin tins.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, sour cream, pepper and dill until well mixed.  Make sure the whites and yolks are really well mixed.  Add in the cheese, ham and green onion and salt, if desired.  Mix well.

Place a small amount of hash browns in the bottom of each muffin cup (I filled each cup about 1/4 of the way up with hashbrowns).  Then spoon the egg mixture over the hash browns.  You want each muffin cup filled about 3/4 of the way full.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a light golden brown on top.  Remove from oven and run a knife around the edged of each muffin.  Allow to stand for about 10 minutes before removing from pans.  Cool completely, then freeze individually on a baking sheet before transferring to a freezer bag.

To re-heat, microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes or until hot.  Or bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes or until hot.  (We love the toaster oven for this.)

Source:  A Mommy's original recipe

Frozen Fruit Pops

We are big fans of summertime treats at our house.  The freezer is always full of Popsicles and ice cream and other junk.  But interestingly enough, my kiddos prefer the healthier frozen treats.  Namely, these fruit pops.  And its easy to see why.  They taste fresh and really cool you off on a hot day, but most important to me is that they are much more healthy than traditional frozen treats.  These pops are a delicious mixture of fruits and juice.  And at about 12 cents each, they won't break the bank.

Frozen Fruit Pops
Makes about 50 3 oz. pops

2 (20 oz.) cans crushed pineapple, undrained
2 (10 oz.) packages frozen sweetened strawberries, thawed and mashed
1 (20 oz.) can fruit cocktail, undrained
1 (15 oz.) can Mandarin oranges, drained
1 (12 oz.) can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 (6 oz.) can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
6 medium firm bananas
3 ounce plastic cups
Popsicle sticks

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.  Mix well.  Spoon into cups and insert Popsicle sticks.  Place on a cookie sheet and freeze until solid.

Source:  A Mommy's original recipe

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Will you just look at these little beauties?  I mean really look at them.  What do they look like to you?  If you only see pumpkins, then you are really missing out!  When I look at them I see pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin bars, pumpkin soup, pumpkin rolls.... The list is really endless.  Pumpkin is one of my favorite ingredients to bake with.  I love the flavor and the spices that cooking with pumpkin brings.

Now this year, we're hearing all about the big pumpkin shortage.  About how we may not get to enjoy all our favorite fall treats.  Boy do I have a solution for you!  The large growers may have had a failed crop, but check out your local farmer's market (or even the grocery store), and you will find these little pie pumpkins in abundance.  And they are cheap!  I got them for 75 cents each!  So there is no excuse not to be cooking with pumpkin this year.

When you shop for pie pumpkins, remember that it's not the big carving pumpkins you want.  Look for the small pumpkins.  These have a higher sugar content than carving pumpkins, so they taste better in baked goods.

Lets get down to business.  The first thing you want to do is cut the stem end off your pumpkins and then cut them in half, exposing the seed cavities.

The next step is one of my favorites!  Scoop out all the seeds and guts to leave the inside nice and clean.

Turn your pumpkins upside down on a foil lined cookie sheet, cover with another sheet of foil and bake at 350° for about an hour and a half.  You want them nice and soft so they are easy to mash up.

Remove them from the oven and let them cool enough to be handled.

Then simply scoop the flesh out and into a bowl.  Give it a good stir.  It should be soft enough that you won't even need to run it through a food processor.  Hello beautiful!!

Then just scoop it into freezer bags, label it and freeze!  I freeze mine in 3 1/2 cup portions since thats how much is in a 29 ounce can of pumpkin.

When you're ready to use it just thaw in the fridge and use it just like canned pumpkin!

Source:  The sticker on the bottom of the pie pumpkins I bought at Walmart

How to Freeze Bell Peppers

Its that time of year again!  When stores, fruit stands and gardens are overflowing with fresh local produce.  Its a great time to start canning, freezing and dehydrating the abundance of produce.  In our family, home food preservation is very important.  It means we have high quality produce through the winter that has been locally grown and is free of preservatives and heavy processing.  I love that I can give my family the best food possible. 

It also saves us money.  If I grow fresh produce or buy it in season and preserve it, I can save a small fortune over buying it in the winter.  Take red bell peppers, for instance.  I grew them in my garden, so they were almost free, but I also saw them on sale at a local grocer for 20 cents each.  If I freeze them and use them through the winter, I've still only paid 20 cents each.  If I buy them in January, I'll pay $1.50 each at least.  These days, I can't afford NOT to do a little home preservation.

Back to freezing peppers.  These are probably one of the simplest vegetables to freeze because they don't require blanching. (Blanching is the process of boiling the vegetables enough to stop the ripening process, but not to cook the food.)  Peppers are pretty much washing, cutting and freezing.  Here's how:

Pick young, high quality, fresh fruit.  Avoid any fruit that is over ripe or of poor quality.  Peppers should be firm and free from blemishes.  Wash them in cool water, cut off the tops and remove the seeds and membranes.

Next, chop the peppers into the desired size.  They can be diced, chopped into chunks, or cut into strips.  I like to freeze the strips to use in fajitas.

Once the peppers are cut up, I like to put them on a cookie sheet in a single layer and flash freeze them.  This prevents them from freezing together in a big chunk that will be hard to break up later.

Once they are frozen, use a spatula to break them apart and loosen them from the cookie sheet.

Finally, put the peppers into labeled freezer bags, squeeze out the air and freeze.  They will keep in a deep freeze for up to 14 months. 

When you are ready to use them just remove the amount needed and put the rest back in the freezer.  They can be used fresh, but they'll be better cooked.

Good luck to everyone and I hope you'll try your hand at this simple process!