Blueberry Pancakes!

We've finally felt some relief from the heat.  It's been so HOT here in New Jersey, in the upper 90's, and it hasn't rained in two weeks!  Our grass is starting to burn up, that crunchy sound when we walk on it.  We've been watering our garden's every day, especially our veggie garden, it looks really good, and the Zucchini are finally growing!!!

Our local grocery store had a sale on fresh New Jersey Blueberries, I bought 6 packs, put them on cookie sheets, froze them, and then put them all in a big Ziploc bag.  We love blueberries in our house, and we love Blueberry Pancakes!

Here's a great recipe for my Blueberry Pancakes, when I have the time, I do like to make pancakes from scratch, and this recipe is easy.  I do use Bisquick from time to time.....don't faint, I know, but Bisquick makes really delicious pancakes. 

Try this recipe you will love it!

Blueberry Pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour                                      
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

3 cups buttermilk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1/2 teaspoon for griddle

1 cup of Blueberries

Heat griddle on High. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, and 4 tablespoons butter; whisk to combine. Batter should have small to medium lumps.

Don't over mix!

In a small bowl add the blueberries, and with a fork squish them slightly, kind of making them a little mushy, but not too much. Add this to the pancake batter, and stir.

Butter the griddle, and pour the pancake batter, in pools 2 inches away from one other. When pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around edges, about 2 1/2 minutes, flip over. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minutes.

On the hot griddle!

All ready to get turned!

Repeat with remaining batter. YUMMO!

So YUMMO!

Blueberry Muffins!

We are having a rainy day here in New Jersey, and the kids only have 2 more days of school left.  I am excited for our Summer to start, but I'm not enjoying this weather. 

I like to make muffins for my family.  Blueberry Muffins is a favorite, but my little boy doesn't like the blueberries. I can't leave my little boy out, so I make a batch with blueberries, and a batch without, and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on the tops right before baking.

These Blueberry Muffins are easy, and really delicious, perfect for a lazy Summer morning, and I plan on having many of them this Summer!  Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup Blueberries

Topping: 2 TBS sugar, with 2 tsp cinnamon

Mix all the dry ingredients together, and whisk to incorporated.  In a separate bowl combine the oil, milk and egg, and mix with a fork, add to the dry ingredients, add the blueberries, and stir just to combine.

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray, and fill each with a heaping spoonful or use an ice cream scoop.  Mix the 2 tbs of sugar with the 2 tsp cinnamon and sprinkle on the tops of each muffin.  Bake in a 350 oven for 20 minutes.  ENJOY!

HINT:  Since my little boy doesn't like blueberries, I make a double batch of these muffins, and divide the batter into two separate bowls, one bowl for the blueberries, and the other bowl for plain muffins. YUMMO!

Quiche....it's not just for Breakfast anymore!

What a beautiful weekend we are having here in Northern, New Jersey, but it's chilly!  I am looking forward to the warmer weather, and yes, even Summer!  It's been a busy couple of days around here.  We went to visit my Mom yesterday, she's doing great, just a week after open-heart surgery!  She's a trooper, and I sure hope I follow in her footsteps when I'm 80 years old!

Since we have chickens, we get a lot of eggs.  I use our "farm fresh eggs" in cooking, and baking, they are delicious!  I'm so thankful we have our ladies laying such beautiful eggs!  So, to use up these eggs, I like to make Quiche for dinner now and then.  Now I know, "real men don't eat Quiche...."  but in my house they do!  It took a while for my Hubby to get use to eating Quiche, but these days, he enjoys it, as long as there's some kind of MEAT in it.....and of course a squeeze of ketchup on top!

I got this recipe from my sister, Lois years ago, it's easy, and you can put whatever you want in the batter, just use your imagination! My sister like's to use heavy cream, but I use whole milk instead, yes heavy cream is better, but I like to use whatever I have in the frig, and I usually don't have heavy cream sitting in the frig on a regular week night.  You have to let the Quiche sit for at least 15 minutes after baking, or it will be watery.....this is a MUST!

YUMMO, with my own Pie Crust!

Bacon & Cheese Quiche

This recipe makes 1 Quiche - I always double this recipe, one Quiche is never enough!
2 cups Whole Milk (or Heavy Cream)
4 Eggs
4 slices of cooked bacon crumbled
1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese (or whatever cheese you have on hand)
1 unbaked pie pastry shell (I make my own, would never spend extra money on a store-bought pie shell, try my recipe)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg

I usually bake bacon in the oven, put the slices on a foiled cookie sheet, and bake at 375 for 15 minutes until crisp.  Drain on paper towels.

In a bowl whip up the eggs with a fork, add the milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg, whisk with a fork until well combined.  Put the cooked and crumbled bacon on the bottom of the pie shell, add the cheese on top, and pour in the egg and milk mixture.  Bake in a 350 oven for 50 minutes, or until the top is set and nicely puffed.  Remove from oven, and cool for 15 minutes before eating. ENJOY!

Variations - add frozen broccoli or whatever kind of veggies you want.  When I make this, I usually make one bacon and cheese, and one broccoli and cheese, or sometimes I substitute the bacon for sausage. YUMMO!

The Quiche has grape tomatoes and cheese!

This one has broccoli and cheese!

Breakfast Crescent Ring!

I hope you all are enjoying your Spring Recess,  I sure am!  Just not having to wake up early and get my kids to school is pure bliss!

I made this really delicious Breakfast Crescent Ring this week for one of our lazy breakfast's.  It's made with Crescent Rolls, and is so easy!  This is a recipe where you can use your imagination, and put anything you want in it, change it up for lunch, dinner, and even a snack.

I hope you make this delicious and easy Breakfast Crescent Ring, it's perfect for a lazy morning! 

Breakfast Crescent Ring

1 tube Crescent Rolls
6 eggs scrambled
6 pieces cheese, whatever you like or shredded whatever you have available
8 pieces of bacon cooked and drained well

HINT: I cook bacon in a preheated 350 oven on a foil lined cookie sheet, doesn't mess up your stove, and easy clean-up.  Drain on paper towels.

Bacon, bacon, bacon!

Scrambled Eggs!

Unroll the Crescent Rolls, and on a large cookie sheet, lined with foil, spray with veggie spray.  Arrange your crescent evenly in a circle with the points pointing outward, looks like a SUN!

Crescents arranged on pan!

Spoon all the eggs around the widest part of the crescent, then top with the bacon.....

Eggs, Bacon........

And top with the cheese!

Top it off with the cheese.  Simple fold each point over the eggs, bacon, and cheese, and tuck underneath.

Not the neatest, but it will do the job!

Bake in a 350 oven for about 20 minutes, cut into nice size pieces, and YUMMO!

Right out of the oven! YUMMO!

Breakfast Casserole........GREAT for Christmas Morning!

Whew......what a weekend, yes it was fun, had friends over on Saturday for dinner, then Sunday we were in church all morning!  It was our Sunday School Christmas program, and the kids all did such a wonderful job!  I am loving this festive time.  We came home and didn't even get to rest, I went right into the mode of , Christmas Cookie Baking!  My whole family helped and it was really a wonderful time!  I will post some Christmas Cookie recipes tomorrow, I promise!

Today I am posting a really easy Breakfast Casserole recipe.  I'm sure many of you have already made a similar one, but it's so easy, and perfect for Christmas morning.  You put the whole thing together at night, and the next morning, all you have to do it pop it right in the oven!  In 40 minutes of so, it's all ready for you and your family to enjoy! 

Breakfast Casserole

12 eggs beatened
2 cups  milk (I use 2 %)
2 cups  shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp. mustard (yes, it will be fine)
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
4 pieces bread cubed  (whatever you have, I have even used hamburger buns in a pinch!)
1 lb cooked bulk sausage (cook it in a frying pan before, and drain all the fat)

Mix the eggs with the milk, add the mustard, salt, pepper, cubed bread, cheese, and COOKED sausage.  Mix really good.  Pour into a greased (with cooking spray) 9x13 casserole dish.  Cover, put into the frig for overnight.  In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 and bake for 20 minutes covered with foil, and then 20 minutes uncovered.  SO YUMMO!!!!!

Something Comforting....Steel Cut Oatmeal!

Well, it's finally cold outside, a chilly 38 this morning when I took my daughter Becca to the bus.  Loving this weather, and I'm ready for the colder months.  I hear rumors that we may get some snow tomorrow, wouldn't that be nice.  But, it is very soon, Summer was extended this year so it seemed.

Here's a quick and easy recipe when you're on the go. When the weather gets chilly out, I want a comforting breakfast, and I think oatmeal is just that! So, last night I whipped up a batch of Irish Steel Cut Oatmeal. You may be asking, why did you make it last night? Well, I made it in the slow cooker. It cooked all night long, so it would be ready for us when we all woke up.

I love oatmeal, and it's so good for us! And I wanted to try something different, and I heard about this Irish Steel Cut Oats....and always wanted to try it. I found a recipe for it online, and guess what, this morning it was waiting for us, and it was truly delicious!!!!

My hubby has been asking me to make oatmeal lately, and I've been forgetting. So this morning he was welcomed with the delicious smell of oatmeal cooking right when he woke up. Mind you, the kids wouldn't even try it, of course not. What is with them? I tried everything when I was a little girl, and I loved everything! Here's the recipe.

Slow Cooker Irish Steel Cut Oats

1 cup Irish Steel Cut Oats

1 cup dried cranberries or raisins (or just leave them out)

1/2 tsp. salt

4 cups water

1/2 cup half & half or milk, or whatever milk you have

2 Tbs honey, or sweetener, or even sugar (I used the honey, next time I will leave it out and just add sweetener on to my own serving, I have to watch my sugar intake)

Spray the inside of a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Combine all the ingredients into the slow cooker, except the half & half and honey. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours. When you wake up, it's all cooked, just add the half &half and honey, and serve.