Kale Breakfast Pizza

If I get kale in the meal I feel like I've done some simple form of nutrition which will make everything else ok. 

I made this the other day and it was a huge hit. 

But really, how can you go wrong with pizza for breakfast? I used a Trader Joe's   whole wheat pizza dough but, as always, you could make your own. 

Kale Breakfast Pizza

Pizza Dough

Rosemary Olive Oil

Kale

Shredded Cheese

Scrambled Eggs

Lightly spread olive oil on crust, heap with kale and a light sprinkling of cheese. 

Cook at 550 or as high as your oven will go for 3-5 minutes. 

In the meantime slightly scramble eggs on stove, not fully cooked but starting to form. 

Take pizza out and top with scrambled eggs and another sprinkling of cheese. 

Bake again until brown and bubbly. 

 

Quichitas

I make up words.

It nullifies me having to spell things correctly.

Quichitas: little quiche like things.

Quichitas are a staple and favorite around here. The possibilities are endless. To see another version click here.

Here is today's recipe:

6 raw tortilla

5 eggs

couple handfuls of kale chopped

 1 cup kidney beans, cooked

1/2 cup of milk

shredded mozzarella cheese

Toppings; Salsa, yogurt, avocado

Grease the muffin pan.

Cut tortillas in half. Bring ends to meet to make a funnel sort of shape and stuff into muffin cup. (It should look like a little pie crust, and it is ok if you stuff some down, you’re just lining the cup and making the crust.

If you don’t want to use tortillas skip the above step.

Divide the filling ingredients into each cup: kale, beans and cheese.

Beat eggs and milk and fill* each cup 2/3 full.

*I use a turkey baster to fill the cups with the eggs mixture.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the centers don’t jiggle when you shake the pan.

Top with salsa, yogurt and avocado if desired.

These are great for breakfast on the go if you so need.   

Asparagus Omelete, Turkey Bacon, Fruit Salad

 

Asparagus Omelet, Turkey Bacon, Fruit Salad (serves 4-5)

1 package turkey bacon
a dozen or so sprigs of asparagus
4-5 eggs
3/4 cup milk
4-5 tablespoons of cream cheese
coconut oil for pan
variety of fruit  - for us today it was blueberries, apples, cuties, and bananas





Cook Turkey Bacon and Asparagus on hot griddle while cast iron pan is heating.

Mix eggs and milk in bowl and when pan is hot, pour just enough to cover the bottom - the equivalent of about one egg plus milk. Add chopped, cooked asparagus and 1 tablespoon of cream cheese. Loosen sides, fold in half serve with fruit salad and bacon.






For the fruit salad chop the bigger items and mix together.

You're welcome for that little piece of advice.

But, honestly, some mornings I need my hand held.

Kale Breakfast Bowl

Kale Breakfast Bowl

Bunch or two of Kale
Olive Oil
Nutritional Yeast
Scrambled Eggs
Black Beans  
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Bacon ~ any flavor will do;  turkey, tofu... go hog wild.....sorry
Salsa
Greek Yogurt

Obnoxious right?? Not having any quantities!?!
This is more of a "to taste" recipe and it will depend on the size and tastes of your family.

Method

Cook bacon on griddle or cover and bake in oven, 

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Fill with Kale, not layered too thickly but bunched.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Bake the Kale at 385 (such an overlooked cooking temperature) for about 5-7 minutes, until crispy but not brown. You'll have to experiment with your oven to get your personal cooking time down.
When you take out of the oven sprinkle with nutritional yeast and salt to taste.

While the kale is cooking scramble eggs with milk. You can add the cheese to the eggs now and make cheesy scrambled eggs or you can save for later. 

And at the same time heat beans in a small pot.

Then throw it all in a bowl and serve or let everyone assemble their own like a taco bar sort of thing.

French Toast

I have to agree with Erin that breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day!! And I know I have the best chance of getting my oldest (a very stubborn 3 year old) to eat something of value. Yes, Erin I will have more to add about picky eaters (including the story of our 24 hour soup stand off). =)) French Toast is a household breakfast staple that has healthy carbs, fat, protein and fruit/veg! What else could you ask for in a meal?


FRENCH TOAST RECIPE:
Quick morning fill‘er up! I love to sneak in a veggie puree to the dip...no one including my husband usually notices! There a ton of cookbooks and recipes out there for "sneaky foods". I use a carrot/squash blend that I pre-make and freeze in advance. I put them in mini-muffin trays then bag for an easy add in!  Pre-made baby food or apple sauce are great to have on hand if you don't want to make your own! I'm all about healthy and quick....I've got things to do like go to the gym and work off that 10 lbs of baby weight that is still hanging on, not slave in the kitchen every waking minute!

3 eggs
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoon sugar (4-6 drops liquid stevia for no sugar)
1/8 cup milk (soy or coconut also great substitute)
1 Tablespoon cooking oil (coconut oil or butter is our favorite)
4 slices whole wheat bread
Optional: 2 Tablespoons of veggie or fruit puree (baby food or apple sauce work as well)

Crack 3 eggs in a shallow mixing bowl to dip bread into. Add spices, vanilla extract, sugar, milk and puree then mix well with a fork. Heat shallow pan to a medium heat with cooking oil. Dip each slice of bread in egg mixture on each side. Cook until golden brown on each side of the bread (about 4 minutes each side).

Dutch-influenced Baby

My family loves Dutch Baby, a puffy pancake baked in a cast iron skillet, served right out of the oven.

I love the name. I get hung up on the origins and meanings of names and such. Whether it's a song, a recipe, a book, a city, a wildflower, a tree, I can't let it go.

To me, why a Dutch Baby is called that is fairly obvious. When done right, a Dutch Baby comes out of the oven a beautiful bundle of perfectly golden, puffy lightness that you almost want to cuddle with. While my actual babies are not at all Dutch, they were both delightfully chubby, round in every detail, dimpled, and folded as infants. Oh, those irresistably puffy little fingers and toes...I remember realizing with perfect clarity why parents and grandparents, or anyone who loves a baby, is compelled to say, "Oh, I could just eat you up!" A well-made Dutch Baby pancake has many of those qualities. Well, kind of. I'm just saying I know why they were named after a baby.

Unfortunately my sense of humor has not evolved past seeing hilarity in referring to this pancake as if it were an actual Dutch baby. My daughter's has, years ago. In fact, I think she has always merely tolerated my ridicuous comments ("I'm not saying I understand the ways of the Dutch, just that their babies are delicious..."). My son, who appreciates the macabre much more than his sister, has even grown weary of my routine. My husband, although he is not able to eat breakfast with us most mornings, would probably say it is so overused by me that it doesn't even warrant a too-far card.

What is generally used to measure the worthiness of a Dutch Baby (hee hee) is it's puffiness factor. In this recipe, the rising quality of the pancake is foregone. Traditionally white flour is used, and dairy milk, and with the substitutions for these in this recipe you will not get that puffy of a pancake. But even the proudest, puffiest Dutch Baby begins to deflate almost immediately when taken out of the oven. I cut it in pieces before serving it, so by the time it reaches the table it is totally flat anyway. And my family doesn't miss the puffiness in the least. What is gained by replacing the white flour in this (and perhaps the dairy milk, although I won't knock dairy. I use raw milk for this just as often as soy, as raw milk is awesome) is a richer, nuttier, more complex flavor and texture. And more protein and nutrient-packed, if only slightly more complex, carbs. In other words, my kids don't get hungry again as fast!

So hence the name of this pancake; I cannot in good conscience call it a Dutch Baby, as it does not come out of the oven a puffy little bundle of joy. But it is delicious...if not barbaric (don't worry, I just gave myself a too-far card).

4 eggs
1 cup soy milk
3/4 cup whole wheat flour*
1/4 cup almond flour (aka almond meal)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup butter (or less, but a truly decadent Baby is rich and buttery)

Preheat oven to 425 and place oven rack near the bottom of the oven. Place butter in large cast iron skillet, and place skillet in oven. In a medium bowl beat eggs lightly and thoroughly mix eggs and milk. Add vanilla and salt. Add flour and almond meal and mix until smooth, but try not to over-beat. When the butter is completely melted take skillet out of oven and swirl butter around, tilting skillet to coat the sides. Pour mixture into skillet. Bake for 15 minutes. Do not open oven door, but lower temp to 350. Bake another 10-15 minutes, until golden.

I serve with maple syrup, or honey, or even jam.

* Erin discovered that using oat flour (grinding oats in food processor until flour-consistency) takes it to next level yumminess. I was too lazy this morning to grind oats. Actually I woke up late. Anyway, I made the recipe call for whole wheat flour because that is what I took a photo of this morning. However, the picture will be forthcoming as I have not figured out how to freaking get it on this page.  Ha!

Apple Pancakes

These are good anytime of year but, in our house, when the apple tree is brimming and fall is in the air these are an absolute must!

Apples

1 cup Oats

1 cup Milk

1 Tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

Cinnamon to taste

Slice the apples into 1/2 inch pieces and use a shot glass or whatever works to cut out the core.

Blend other ingredients into batter.

Dip apple slices in batter, cook on hot griddle as you would pancakes.

Serve plain, with cinnamon and sugar, peanut butter, peanut butter mixed with yogurt, maple syrup, honey.... basically whatever floats your boat.

Breakfast Tacos

Sometimes it’s about changing it up and being silly to keep everyone excited about their morning fare.

Tacos for breakfast?

Absolutely!

Taco Shells

Cheesy Scrambled Eggs *

Green Onions, Sliced

Black Beans

Salsa

Greek Yogurt

Guacamole or Avocado slices

Bacon or Sausage (optional)

Set it up as a taco bar or assemble them to your family’s tastes.

*Why must I call things by such weird but official sounding titles??

Besides the nerdy pleasure I derive from it, it makes things sound more exciting to the kids.

In the case of Cheesy Scrambled Eggs you scramble eggs and add cheese. Any kind, to taste.

Left Over Pizza Breakfast

Ok, I will accept that our days of eating cold left-over pizza standing at the kitchen counter are over.

At least in front of the kids, right?

But I refuse to banish leftover pizza from my breakfast options.

Solution; stick it on a  parchment paper lined cookie sheet, crack a few eggs on top (the number depends on the number of slices and size of said slices - I go with about one egg per large slice.)

Place it in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and bake until the eggs are the consistency you and your family prefer; about 4-7 minutes.

It sounds so simple but I get treated like a culinary genius, at least until they're hungry for lunch......

Quichitas

These are kind of amazing.

They, also, are just a spring board for your creativity.

Sure you can go with the traditional breakfast items to fill them; bacon, sausage, spinach, onions, cheese but I’ve had just as much success with random leftovers. Think taco left overs; meat, beans, cheese, tomatoes. Or chicken, artichoke hearts and kale. Salmon, cream cheese, and capers. Really, if it has gone together as a meal it will most likely work in this.

I use the raw tortillas from Costco for half and leave half with no shell. Both are delicious. Here is a basic recipe but the idea is fill muffin tins with yummy food (precooked meats, which is why leftovers are so perfect) pour scramble egg mixture to fill cups about 2/3 of the way full, bake.

Here is a basic recipe to get you started:

6 raw tortilla shells

5 eggs

couple handfuls of spinach chopped

bacon (cooked)

1/2 cup of milk

shredded cheddar cheese

Toppings; Salsa, yogurt, avocado

Grease the muffin pan.

Cut tortillas in half. Bring ends to meet to make a funnel sort of shape and stuff into muffin cup. (It should look like a little pie crust, and it is ok if you stuff some down, you’re just lining the cup and making the crust.

If you don’t want to use tortillas skip the above step.

Divide the filling ingredients into each cup: spinach, bacon and cheese.

Beat eggs and milk and fill* each cup 2/3 full.

*I use a turkey baster to fill the cups with the eggs mixture.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the centers don’t jiggle when you shake the pan.

Top with salsa, yogurt and avocado if desired.

These are great for breakfast on the go if you so need.   

Smoothie Pancakes

I promise to add pictures asap but I want to start putting this on now. The sooner you start making these the happier a person you'll be. You'll forgive the photo digression eventually. 

Smoothie Pancakes are far and above my favorite thing to make for the family. They are the easiest way to ‘sneak’ in veggies and other healthy foods while still appealing to the crowd. 

They are a great way to introduce your kids to different colored foods; green, purple, and yellow in natural ways which will make their appearance later less off-putting. The possibilities are literally endless and your creativity is your only limit. Here is a basic recipe from which to start.

2 very large handfuls spinach
1 1/2 cup oats (old fashioned rolled, not quick cooking)
1 cup milk (add more to desired thinness)
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 large eggs or 3 small eggs
10 almonds
1 frozen banana (fresh is fine, frozen is just more likely in my house)
1/2 tablespoon oil
pinch of sea salt
cinnamon to taste

Throw all ingredients in blender - the better your blender, the better!
Cook on hot skillet or griddle as you would traditional pancakes.

Topping suggestions: syrup (the real, pure, maple sort, in moderation of course), honey (raw, local), fruit spread, fruit salsa, regular salsa, lemon curd.
We put a fried egg on top for anyone in the mood and occasionally serve with a breakfast meat.

Alternative ingredient ideas that actually work~
Spinach: Kale, Chard, Brussels Sprouts
Oil: Coconut oil, flax seeds
Milk: any milk substitute works including yogurt
Almonds: any nut
Additions: Apples (quartered with peel and core)
Blueberries, raspberries, cherries
 
Once the family is used to the change from traditional pancakes you can  stir in some corn, peas, cocoa nibs, hemp seeds, or whatever other superfood of the moment floats your boat. 
 
You get the idea; the possibilities are endless.