Best Breakfast Recipes

"Breakfast is a notoriously difficult meal to serve with a flourish." Clement Freud

If I have one hard to break flaw it is that of an overachiever.  While this is a great quality to have at work it sometimes interferes with everyday life.  A great example of this is last week.  For those of you who read my blog regularly you know that I haven't written in about a week and here's why.  Last week I was preparing for a high school camp that I had organized and found out mid-way through the week that my husband had "signed me up" to make breakfast for his office.  Not only was my week busy but I had a ministry I served with until 8 PM on Thursday and I had to be at work at 5 AM Friday and the breakfast was Friday morning.  Needless to say I ended up getting about 2 hours of sleep Thursday night because yes, I am an overachiever.  While most people could have said go pick up some doughnuts or grab something from Publix.  I would have been horrified for my husband to show up at his office with something store bought (trait #1 of an overachiever).  So instead I stayed up all night making what I thought would be good to take to his office.  I then had to figure out how to keep it warm from the time I left my house at 4:30 until he left at 8:30 (yes I was immensely jealous of the fact that he slept 4 hours longer after I left the house).  Due to this I decided to leave some of the items in the oven with the oven on off (after I had used it to bake) and my egg casserole was a little overcooked, however, I convinced myself not to make another one (trait #2 of an overachiever) and just let it be.  Shale did tell me the office loved the breakfast and I figured I would share my recipes with you.  I hope you get to enjoy them on a leisurely Saturday morning while you get to sip your coffee and read while they bake preferably in the fabulous little turquoise nook area I found in the picture above (instead of running around the house baking while throwing on makeup like I did). 

A healthy recipe I can't wait to try... egg muffins???

All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.
John Gunther





Sometimes I find recipes in the most bizarre places.  This one was on a Facebook photo with a link to the recipe from healthy recipes.  I can't wait to try it out!  I don't know about you but my morning breakfasts are pretty boring and predictable to be honest.  I usually get stuck in a rut of a bowl of oatmeal or an egg white omlette so when I find something that is different and sounds delicious I absolutely have to try it out.  This one is great because it is low in carbs and super high in protein (sounds like a great after workout snack Bethany!).  They use green onions in their muffins but I'm thinking sundried, bell peppers, mushrooms, anything you love!  I'm also thinking of trying them with egg whites for a lighter points value... I'll update with new recipes as I work them out!  Plus I read that you can pop them in the fridge and heat them as you need them. Since I have to wake up at 5 am in order to workout before work this is a definite must, and yes I do workout mainly because this blog would make me a fatty if not :)!!!  On a side note how cute is this little turquoise table area?  I would LOVE having my quiet time/breakfast here every morning.  Suffice it to say... I'm jealous!  Oh well, enough babbling from me... here's the recipe!

A few of my favorite things right now... (food wise)

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things"

I just had to use the song as a quote because as I was typing the title this song immediately popped into my head.  I don't know about you, but I go through "phases" with my foods.  I'll get really hooked on one thing that I love and I'll eat it until I don't want to eat it any more.  Sometimes this is healthy, for example I went through an egg-white omelet stage where I made on for breakfast every morning.  Other times it's not so healthy, for example the little love affair I had with cheeze-its for a while was not healthy.   Try as I may I find myself constantly falling into patterns where I really love some foods.  Most of the time it's a seasonal food thing, which helps because I can eat it until it is out of season and then still want some by the time another year comes around.  I thought for this post I'd share with you some of my favorites right now.

10 Recipes Every Newlywed Needs to Know

Love seems the swiftest but it is the slowest of all growths.  No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century. 

Mark Twain

I love this turquoise/yellow wedding

I'm celebrating my first anniversary today!  It is so crazy to think how fast a year flew by.  Before getting married I had this thought (actually we should probably call it an illusion) that I would cook a new dish for dinner every night, keep an immaculate house, decorate, spend time with the husband and still have time for things like running, working, friends, etc...  Sadly in about month 6 of our marriage I realized this was definitely not going to happen.  At that point I had a basket of laundry to do, the floor needed to be vacuumed, I didn't feel like cooking and couldn't remember the last time I had ran.  It was then that I realized married life wasn't the clean houses I saw when I went over to visit someone (because they shoved everything in the closet before hand), it wasn't the elaborate dinners (because really they had picked it up at the local restaurant before hand), it wasn't a perfectly designed house (because they had hired an interior decorator for that) or the relaxed feeling I felt when around the couple.  Actually it may have been the relaxed feeling but that was mainly because the wife (or husband) had taken the advice in the parenthesis above so really they were just chilling.

Turquoise/Orange Inspiration

Joking aside though I did come to realize that marriage is more than living up to these standards I had set in my head.  Marriage was loving someone, serving together, standing side by side, and (for those who are a Christian like me) bringing God glory in all you do.  I quickly learned that in reality the laundry could wait until tomorrow, the house would always need something else dusted, decorating is a lifetime project, and some nights it's ok to order in.  I do have to say though in regards to cooking there were a few amazing dishes that really helped me get through this first year of marriage.  If you know me you know I love experimenting with different dishes but every now and then even I have to have those standby recipes to fall back on when everything else fails.  So for those of you who are newlyweds, write these down! For the rest of you who already have your recipe "repertoire" why not consider adding some of these.  I promise they are delicious, filling and always seem to please both the husband, guests, and myself.

A Healthier Muffin

"How can you sit there, calmly eating muffins when we are in this horrible trouble, I can’t make out. You seem to me to be perfectly heartless."
"Well, I can’t eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them." 

- Oscar Wilde from the Importance of Being Earnest

I must start by saying that contrary to the above quote if you would like these muffins to be healthy you must refrain from adding butter to them.  However, these muffins are so moist I do not think that butter is needed.  When I travel I have one habit that really makes my flight so enjoyable.  Before I leave I stop by the airport bookstore and buy a book that requires absolutely no thought.  On a flight I don't want to read something that requires me to analyze the way I act, change my diet or attitude, or cause me to cry over the state in which our world exists.  If I'm already going to have to go through an outrageous security line, endure sitting next to an absolute stranger, and feel cramped (I have long legs) for the next several hours I at least want to read something that is mindless.  I love reading a really great fiction story that can transport me to another place and time.  The book I picked up wasn't my favorite but definitely had the best layout of any book I've seen.  The book was called How to Bake A Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal and everything from the turquoise cover (we know how I love that color) to the fact that almost every chapter was finished with a recipe made me absolutely ecstatic with the layout.  I mean why haven't they combined fiction and recipes before this?  So when I saw the book I read about 2 sentences regarding what it was about and bought it.  My thought process was even if the book is awful I can still use the recipes. 

Savory Oatmeal

Where I'm From:

by Allison Greer
I am from matching dresses,
hair bows, and from fresh water lakes.
It smells of dirt, as the
wind blows through the old oak trees.
I'm from a one stop light,
small, quaint town.

I am from orange trees and orange blossoms,
from popsicles melting on
the old wicker swing.
From Claudia I learned
to straighten up and fly right.
I'm from cheese pizza,
from mom's red lipstick and red nail polish.

I come from follow your heart,
from dress-up clothes and dolls.
I am from Richard, that tiny
old Mason Jar and wonderful role models.
The glassy lake being broken under,

water skis that follow behind our boat.
Girls laughing on swings as the Spanish moss sways high above.

I am from heartfelt memories, scrapbooked
pictures through the years, decorated and preserved.
I'm from chicken nuggets and laundry baskets
in front of the television.
I am from magazines and sisters, who
never go to bed angry.
I'm from white sand beach front, happiness,
and pink strawberry cake.

My youngest sister wrote this poem and I love it so much. It totally describes in a completely unique way the things my 2 sisters and I were brought up around. I had to share it today instead of my typical quote.  I also had to share it because this next dish reminds me a lot of my sister.

Oatmeal Challenge Days 16 - 28

"Your heart understood mine" - Little Women

Thursday, Day 16: Boring Oatmeal
Today I was NOT feeling ambitious, I literally put oatmeal on the stove and tossed in a box of raisins and brown sugar.  It was still good but SO not creative!


Friday, Day 17: Bob Evan's Oatmeal
A few mornings a week I go to breakfast with one of the girls I mentor. This was one of those mornings and she suggested Bob Evans.  I had never tried Bob Evans and decided we'd try it out.  How have I never been there before????  The oatmeal was fabulous and came with brown sugar, raisins, dried cranberries, and pecans! What a creation!!!

Days 11-15 of the Oatmeal Challenge

All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.
John Gunther




Turquoise Polka-Dot Pitcher

 

I've gotta admit I love polka dots so I'm in love with this pitcher!  How cute is this!  I could imagine it filled with fresh lemonade, perfect for summer.  I've kept up the oatmeal challenge and wanted to update you with more creative oatmeal recipes.  I'm half way through and actually starting to enjoy oatmeal.  I hope you enjoy the new combinations!

Days 4-10 of the Oatmeal Challenge

Ruffled Bowl From Etsy

 "Eat a good breakfast - there's no better meal to help fuel a great day." - Matt Bean

Let me first admit.  This oatmeal challenge has been hard.  It's easy the first few days when I can think of awesome new recipes but then after a while my mind kind of goes blank.  Fortunately I have this blog to keep me accountable (I would feel like I let you down if I didn't eat oatmeal for the full thirty days).  I do however apologize for not keeping up with the blog posts for the past 8 days.  So this post will be longer and full of new fun oatmeal recipes I hope you enjoy.

 

Day 3 of Oatmeal Challenge... Dates are Great!

Oatmeal makes a filling, healthy breakfast.
Ruth Frechman

Lenox Chirp Plates
bedbathandbeyond.com

Today I woke up and realized I didn't have any fresh or frozen fruit for my oatmeal (yes I desperately need to go to the grocery store).  I also didn't have what I wanted to try an idea for a savory oatmeal (recipe coming soon).  So I scrummaged through my pantry to try and find something worthy of covering up the oatmeal texture I hate.  I found a package of dates I had bought a while back and came up with this recipe, and I have to admit it is my favorite so far!!! Want more info about how dates are a good source of fiber, vitamins and low in calories and fat?  Look Here  On a side note, don't you just love these dishes??  I try to find something turquoise to put on each post and I absolutely love these... too bad my kitchen/house is tuscan colors of orange/red/brown... these would definitely clash!

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal and Blueberry Apple Oatmeal

“Once we sowed wild oats, now we cook them in the microwave.”

Vera Wang for BB&B

I laughed when I read this quote and knew I had to use it for my post.  I do have to admit since starting I have not cooked my oatmeal in the microwave, granted it's only day two but please let me relish in my domesticity of using the stove :)  For those of you who don't know my sister Meredith and I decided to start a 30 day oatmeal challenge (you can see the full story here).  We're on day 2 and have cooked up some delicious concoctions to share with you!  They are both completely different in approach so hopefully it will help give you some variety if you decide to participate in the 30 day challenge also.  ENJOY!!!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Oatmeal

You have to eat oatmeal or you'll dry up. Anybody knows that.

 Kay Thompson

Denby Monsoon Dinnerware

My sister and I decided to start a 30 day oatmeal challenge (see here for more info) where we would only eat oatmeal for breakfast for the next 30 days.  For those of you who don't know, I hate oatmeal, the texture just drives me nuts.   So while making my first batch this morning I told the husband "well, I may not be eating breakfast for the next 30 days" to which he replied "well that sounds like an awesome way to loose weight".  I have to admit I was quite offended at this comment :) was he implying something?  I know we are newly weds but isn't there an unspoken rule among the guys to never make diet/weight comments to your wife?  Well we both laughed it off due to the look on his face of "oh crap, why did I say that".  As for my oatmeal, it turned out really well and I actually ate about half the serving before the texture started getting to me.  The spices and combination really complimented each other well so I had to share.  Hope you enjoy and who knows maybe it will be a great diet!


Day 1: Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Oatmeal