I know I’m a bit late, but I wanted to share some snippets from my very first Mother’s Day with you. To be honest, I was looking more forward to Mother’s Day than my own birthday this year- I feel so special to be able to celebrate being a mother. That is SO cool. The whole weekend was special- Joel took care of Cassidy so I could sleep in Saturday and Sunday (the best gift of all!), I got to be with family, Joel gave me a beautiful ring with Cassidy’s birthstone, and we made a big, delicious Mother’s Day breakfast Sunday morning, which included this french toast (so good!). And of course I spent most of the day snuggling my sweet little girl!
Baked french toast, asparagus and goat cheese frittata (recipe to come), grilled bacon (insanely good!) and grapefruit halves. Yummy!
All in all, the day was so, so special. I will always remember my first Mother’s Day and how beautiful it was thanks to my amazing husband and precious baby girl!
Now, back to the french toast! It’s gooey, sweet, and incredibly easy. Throw everything in the baking dish the night before and pop it in the oven the next morning! We used some leftover sourdough bread, which makes the best french toast, in my opinion, but you could use any bread you have on hand- french, challah, brioche…whatever! Give it a try next time you’re in the mood for a lazy weekend breakfast- it won’t disappoint!
Overnight Banana Caramel French Toast
3-4 cups bread, preferably slightly stale, crusts removed and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch salt
2 bananas, sliced
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup jarred or homemade caramel sauce (I like the Hershey’s brand)
Grease a 9×9 baking dish. In a large bowl, toss the bread cubes with the sliced bananas and walnuts. Place in the baking dish.
Whisk the milk, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla and salt together in a large bowl. Pour over the bread cubes. With the back of a large spoon, gently press down on the bread so that it absorbs all the milk mixture. Drizzle caramel sauce over the bread. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the plastic wrap from the french toast and bake for 35-45 minutes, until no longer jiggly. Top with additional bananas if desired. Serves 4.
Recipe source: Sing For Your Supper original
My house is an absolute wreck. A disaster zone. A nightmare. We’re still in the big middle of renovations (we should be long-since finished by now, but you know how these things go…), so all of our furniture is piled in the middle of rooms, half of our carpet is rolled up and disgusting looking, our stairs don’t even have carpet on them, so all that’s there is ugly, torn up padding and tack strips, and up until last night there was a layer of dust 1 inch thick covering every surface of my kitchen and dining room. And on top of all that, we just had a baby shower recently, so there’s baby stuff all over the place and nowhere to put it! It’s. A. Mess. Luckily, (hopefully…) everything will be finished by the end of this week (please, Lord!). So, with all this madness, stress and clutter everywhere, you can imagine I haven’t done much cooking. And by much, I mean practically none. That’s where the beauty of this recipe comes into play. You throw your oats, water, spices and fruit in the slow cooker and let it do its’ thing overnight. In the morning, you’ve got hearty, delicious oatmeal waiting for you. No standing over the stove stirring involved. It’s a beautiful thing. Not to mention really, really delicious. Give this a try this week- your family will love it!
Overnight Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
1 cup steel cut oats**
3 1/2 cups water
1 medium-large apple, peeled and chopped (I like Honeycrisp or Pink Lady)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar
Spray a slow cooker with non-stick spray and place the oats, water, apple, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar inside. Stir to combine. Cover, set to low, and allow to cook overnight (about 8 hours). In the morning, stir the oatmeal one last time before serving. Serve with milk and additional brown sugar if desired. Serves 4.
**you don’t have to use steel cut oats, but it’s highly recommended -the texture will be mushier with regular oats since they cook for so long.
Recipe source: adapted from allrecipes.com
Please don’t go running off! I KNOW this smoothie looks anything but appetizing, but trust me- it is! It really is! It’s smooth, refreshing and chock FULL of vitamins and good-for-you fruits and veggies! The reason mine is brown instead of green (like the traditional green monster smoothie) is because I added strawberries and blueberries- those colors together give you….brown. Not pretty but darn tasty!
What is a green monster smoothie, you ask? It’s basically just a fruit smoothie with the addition of fresh spinach (an addition you can’t taste, but your body will thank you for!). Spinach is high in calcium, vitamin A and iron, to name a small few. This smoothie is a great solution for people wanting to get their daily fill of fresh fruits and vegetables; it’s SO good for you. I made these a lot when I was first pregnant…unfortunately, little Peach (as my mother has fondly starting referring to the baby) doesn’t care for them much anymore so I haven’t had one in awhile. Hopefully she (or he!) will come around soon, though! 
The beauty in these smoothies is that you can use any fruit you like- bananas, strawberries, peaches, plums…whatever! They make a great breakfast or quick power lunch and keep you full and satisfied! Try one! You’ll love it!
Green Monster Smoothie
1 banana, roughly chopped
4 or 5 strawberries
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1 small peach, peeled and roughly chopped
1 heaping cup (or more) fresh spinach leaves, thoroughly rinsed
splash vanilla soy milk
1 tablespoon Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 cup crushed ice
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.
*this recipe makes a very large smoothie- two could easily share.
Recipe source: Sing For Your Supper original
Here are some other great recipes for green monster smoothies:
Annie’s Eats
Oh She Glows
Naturally Ella
Believe it or not, every now and then I like a healthy treat. Although I mostly crave baked goods of the gooey, chocolaty variety, it’s nice to take a break from all that and bake up something that’s actually good for me. For some reason, the other day I had a serious craving for bran muffins….how odd. Who craves bran muffins?! Anyway, I remembered I had a box of Bran Flakes cereal in the pantry and thought I’d try making a bran muffin with it. These were actually very light and fluffy (you can thank the banana for that) and not heavy or overly “bran-y”. We really enjoyed them with a little butter and honey. My coworkers loved them too! Next time you need a good, quick, healthy muffin, gives these a try- they’re highly satisfying and actually good for you! 
Banana Bran Muffins
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups bran flakes cereal
1 1/4 cups fat-free milk
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 ripe bananas, mashed
Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In large mixing bowl, combine bran cereal and milk. Let stand about 2 minutes or until cereal softens. Add honey, egg and oil. Beat well. Add flour mixture, stirring only until combined. Stir in the banana. Spoon evenly into 12 muffin pan cups fit with cupcake liners.
Bake at 400 degrees about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.
Recipe source: adapted from Kellogg’s.com
For some strange reason, scones are something I don’t often make. I really have no idea why, because I actually love them. They’re like biscuits, but slightly sweeter and you can add any number of ingredients to customize them however you like! Chocolate chip, strawberry, cinnamon, ginger….anything you want! I chose to make lemon blueberry because I had a couple of big, beautiful lemons and a pint of fresh blueberries just begging to be used. These were SO good! Light and tender, just bursting with fresh lemony flavor and full of big, juicy blueberries – a perfectly delicious breakfast (I really need to make scones more often!)! Believe it or not, I’m not one of those people who love overly sweet, heavy foods at breakfast – sure, I’ll indulge in a stack of chocolate chip pancakes every now and then, but really, I prefer more subtle breakfast foods, like scones. They’re ever-so-slightly sweet and light enough that I can have more than one. 
I started with Dorie Greenspan’s Basic Cream Scones recipe, made a few changes and came up with a truly delicious scone that I know I’ll be making many, many times. If you’re looking for an easy, delicious breakfast recipe, this one won’t fail! Oh! And an exciting tidbit about this post- I’m guest posting over at Beantown Baker today as part of her Friday Favs series! How fun! Head over to Jen’s site and check out my post and be sure to check out all her other fabulous recipes as well! Thanks again, Jen, for inviting me to participate!
Lemon-Blueberry Buttermilk Scones
1 egg
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
zest of 2 large lemons
1/2 pint fresh blueberries
5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small cubes
1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water, for egg wash.
sugar, for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Beat egg, buttermilk and lemon zest together and set aside.
In large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Add the butter and using a pastry cutter, fork or your fingers (Dorie prefers using her fingers best) cut it into the flour until you have a pebbly mixture the size of peas.
Pour the egg and cream into the flour/butter mixture and stir to combine with a rubber spatula. Very gently, fold the blueberries into the dough, being careful not to crush them. When the mixture is totally incorporated, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat out until it is 1 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out circles and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper; alternatively you can just cut the dough into squares or triangles.
Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash, then sprinkle generously with sugar. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the are nicely browned. Serve immediately. Store any leftovers in an airtight container. Makes approximately 10 scones.
Recipe source: heavily adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours
I have to confess that one of my favorite fast-food treats is Whataburger’s breakfast taquitos. Particularly the potato, egg and cheese variety. They’re huge and full of crispy tater tots, scrambled eggs and lots of cheese. LOVE it! Unfortunately, like most places, they stop serving breakfast at 11AM, so I can’t get them at dinner time (shucks, Whataburger!), so I just made my own! These were so good and a teensy bit healthier since I didn’t deep-fry my potatoes. Topped with a big spoonful of homemade salsa, these weren’t only better than Whataburger’s, they were some of the best breakfast taquitos I’ve ever had! Go me!
Potato, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Taquitos
1 large russet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
half an onion, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 tablespoon butter
4 eggs
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
2 large flour tortillas (I used the burrito size)
salsa, for serving (optional)
Put the potatoes in a pot and fill with enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are just beginning to soften, about 5-7 minutes. You don’t want them to cook all the way; they’ll finish cooking in the skillet. Drain and set aside.
Heat the vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium heat; add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the potatoes, salt and pepper and cook for another 5-10 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through and starting to get brown and crisp around the edges.
In a separate skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Crack the eggs in a bowl and whisk until homogeneous. Add to the hot skillet and stir constantly, until all the eggs are scrambled. Season with salt and pepper.
To assemble: Wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel and heat in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, until warm. Divide the eggs, potatoes and cheese between the two tortillas. Top with salsa if desired. Serves 2.
Recipe source: Sing For Your Supper original, inspired by Whataburger (thanks, Whataburger!)
I’m one of those people that loves breakfast-for-dinner. For me, it’s like a special treat getting eggs or pancakes or biscuits and gravy at dinner. I used to love it when my mom would make breakfast for dinner – she’d fix a huge cast iron skillet full of scrambled eggs, a big plate of biscuits, sausage gravy, jelly and coffee. My dad is the pancake maker- as long as I can remember, he’s always been the one in charge of pancakes, which we’d also have for dinner a lot. YUM! I seriously LOVE breakfast-for-dinner! What a concept! So, naturally, I like to make it myself as often as possible. The other night, neither of us could decide what we wanted for dinner, so I rummaged around in the fridge and came up with this knock-out recipe. It’s one of those lovely “throw it all in” recipes that I just adore so much. You can put in whatever you like! Onions, potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes…the possibilities for dish like this are endless! A perfect breakfast or breakfast-for-dinner meal!
Breakfast Tostadas
4 flour tortillas
1 tablespoon butter
6 eggs
1/4 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled into pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
4-5 slices jarred jalapenos, chopped
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salsa, for serving
salt and pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place tortillas on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 5-7 minutes, until slightly crisp. Set aside.
In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Place the eggs in a large bowl and whisk until homogeneous. Stir in the cooked bacon, peppers and salt and pepper. Pour into hot skillet and stir continuously until eggs are completely cooked and scrambled (about 5 minutes).
Lay two tortillas on each plate. Top with the scrambled egg mixture, shredded cheese and salsa. Serves 2.
Recipe source: Sing For Your Supper original
I think as food bloggers, sometimes we tend to try to improve everything. Put our own spin on it. “How can I make this recipe even better?” or “what can I substitute to make this even more delicious?” And that’s just fine! That’s why we have readers, of course- because we take things and make them our own. But sometimes, we tend to forget that some recipes are simply perfect as is. Like this recipe for pumpkin bread. It’s one of the most popular recipes on allrecipes.com; everyone makes it. And for good reason! It’s perfectly moist, has just the right amount of spice, the pumpkin flavor really comes out and….it’s always, always perfect! It’s the only recipe I use for pumpkin bread. So naturally, I had to stop myself when the normal urge hit to start substituting and adding (think butterscotch, caramel, crushed gingersnaps…). In the end, the only things I added were a few chopped walnuts and some fresh cranberries. No substitutions. And it was perfectly, wonderfully delicious. This bread always reminds what I love most about Autumn – baking. There’s just something magical about baking up a golden brown loaf of warm, spicy pumpkin bread. Your entire house smells warm and welcoming!
Pumpkin Cranberry Walnut Bread
-recipe slightly adapted from allrecipes.com (originally named “Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread”)
1/2 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
1-1/2 cups white sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped
3/4 cup fresh cranberries (frozen is fine too- no need to thaw)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a loaf pan.
In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Gently stir in the chopped walnuts and cranberries. Pour into the prepared pan.
Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaf is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Good mornin’, good moooornin’! It’s great to stay up late, good mornin’, good mornin’ to you! Sorry. Hope you don’t mind if I hit you with a little Debbie Reynolds this morning! A personal favorite of mine…Anyway, I’m particularly excited about these muffins- they’re the perfect way to wake up in the morning! They’re cheery, colorful and full of tons of juicy, delicious fruit – who wouldn’t want to have one of these first thing in the morning?! I got the idea for these from my favorite kind of yogurt – Yoplait makes a strawberry-orange-banana yogurt called “Strawberry Orange Sunrise” and it’s super delicious! I thought it would be fun to create a muffin based on these flavors, and while I’m at it, go ahead and add in a little fresh peach (YUM!). So I got in the kitchen with my Michael Jackson blaring (yes, there was indeed some booty-shaking involved…not gonna lie) and whipped these little babies up. They’re moist, fruity and just perfect with a cup of hot coffee bright and early in the morning! Enjoy!
Strawberry Orange Sunrise Muffins
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 stick butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ripe bananas
1 1/2 cups strawberries, hulled and chopped
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1 medium-sized peach, peeled and chopped
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners. In a small bowl, mash the bananas. Add the strawberries, orange juice and peach. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, cooled butter, eggs and vanilla extract.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until combined (you’ll have a very thick batter). Gently stir in the fruit mixture. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Makes about 18 muffins.
There’s a store near our house that sells locally grown fresh fruits, vegetables and grains (and organic groceries) and every summer they’re literally bursting with ripe, delicious summer fruits and veggies. I go all the time and stock up on berries, peaches, corn on the cob, watermelons, etc. Every summer, I’m up to my ears in fresh berries and I love it! Luckily, I just happen to have some delicious blueberries, raspberries and blackberries and immediately, Ina Garten’s recipe for Tri-Berry Muffins pop into my head. What a fantastic way to use all three berries!
Unfortunately, my sweet hubby has been in Miami for two days training for a new software. Big time bummer (thank heavens he comes home tonight! Yippee!!). I had been planning all week to bake him something delicious to take on the plane (besides his travel-size bag of mini-Oreos), and these muffins were the perfect thing! Great for a snack and breakfast!
Tri-Berry Muffins
-adapted from Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa At Home cookbook
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cups milk
2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 cup fresh blackberries, sliced in half
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line muffin tins with paper liners.
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Stir with your hand (or a whisk) to be sure the ingredients are combined. In another bowl, combine the milk, eggs and melted butter.
Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture, pour the wet mixture into the well, and stir until just combined. There will be some lumps but don’t overmix the batter. Add the blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and sugar and stir gently to combine (*be really careful when you do this, otherwise the batter will turn blue!)
Using a large spoon or scoop, spoon batter into the muffin cups to fill the liners. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean and the tops are nicely browned.
Yield: 16 to 18 muffins
