No, I was not eaten by wild animals nor did I fall off the edge of the planet. Yes, it has taken a little while longer than I expected (okay a LOT longer than I expected) to recoup from the holidays and post again. I’m doing fine as things go. I’m due in 13 days and that’s about 20 days too many for me but I suppose I’ll survive. About two months ago I came home from an OB appointment and Ethan ran up to me and gave me a hug and said “I love you Mommy. Did the doctor give you something to make you nice again?” From the mouths of babes huh. Poor Jon just sat there trying to be invisible because he wasn’t sure if I would laugh, cry, or what in response to that comment. Oh, the joys of the hormonal rollercoaster ride called pregnancy. Luckily for the males of this household, Jon has noted that I’ve been doing much better since then and he’s just crazy enough not to lie to a pregnant woman about such matters.
Okay, down to business. Are these not the cutest deviled eggs you’ve ever seen? Come on, you know they are. I know they have nothing to do with breakfast, but they were too cute to not do before Easter. Besides, they’re eggs, that goes….kind of. I saw a picture in a magazine a while back and finally got around to trying it. They’re not much more difficult than regular deviled eggs and look how cute! It took about 2 min to make the chick and 1 for the basket so I wouldn’t recommend making fifty of them, but a few of them stratigecally placed on a tray of regular deviled eggs would be perfect for a party.
So, Jay mentioned that it might be nice to have a little variety in the foods they ate but that sometimes it’s hard to think of things to make on a budget. I told him I’d do a few posts on foods we eat to give some ideas of budget friendly foods. Some of them we eat more often, some are more budget friendly, some take less time and some are healthier than others, but variety is good and sometimes just having a list of ideas helps get us out of a rut. Obviously this first post is breakfast oriented-feel free to post any other ideas-and the next few will be….something else. (Why buck tradition and plan ahead right?) So for directions to these deviled eggs and some breakfast ideas and recipes….
Boil your eggs. People have varies methods for this, but I REALLY hate having that layer of grey nastiness on boiled eggs that you sometimes get so I have a method that ensures that never happens. I put all of my eggs in a pot and cover them with water then bring it to a boil. Once it boils I turn off the heat and then leave it alone until the water has cooled to room temp. Voila! Perfect boiled eggs with no grey nastiness. I didn’t give a recipe for the deviled egg filling because-surprise-I don’t use one. I just add mayo, mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, vinegar and paprika until it tastes the way I want it to. Use whatever recipe/ method you like to make it then put it in a ziplock and snip the end so you can easily squeeze it into the eggs.
For the chick:
Per chick you will need: 1 boiled egg, deviled egg filling, 1 raisin (the magazine actually used capers but I think they’re nasty so…), 1 carrot round, a sprig of flat leaf parsley.
Cut ¼ in off each end of your boiled egg and save the nicer looking end.
Whichever end the yolk is closest to will end up being your top but both need to be cut as level as you can get because it’s going to sit on the other end. Mix up your filling and fill the egg about ½ inch over the rim. Peel a carrot and cut a round off the thick end. Cut the feet as shown in the picture and set the egg on top of it.
Use one of the triangles from cutting out the feet as a beak and cut the raisin in half for the eyes. Cut a little slit in the top of the end that you saved a stick the piece of parsley in it. Pop it on top and you have a cute little chick.
For the basket
Per basket you will need: 1 boiled egg, deviled egg filling, 1 carrot round, curly parsley
Cut ¼ off the end that will be the bottom and cut about ½ in or so off the top part to make the body of the basket.
Fill to just over the top with the egg filling. Cut a handle from the carrot round and put it on the top. (You could also cut a thin strip of carrot, soak it in water and bend it for the handle. Or you could use pretty much any vegetable cut thin and bent.) Edge the whole thing in the parsley and you’re done.
Some breakfast ideas that don’t really require recipes (Jon says I say that about everything, so if you need a recipe of sorts for something let me know): breakfast burritos, bagels and cream cheese, yogurt with granola and fruit, oatmeal, Bob Red Mills 10 grain hot cereal (the boys and I LOVE this stuff), cream of wheat, poor man’s rice pudding (hot rice with a little butter, milk and sugar. You may scoff, but it’s good stuff), and my personal favorite, leftover lasagna. Okay the last one isn’t technically a breakfast thing but it’s still my favorite breakfast and anyone who hasn’t had lasagna for breakfast before is just really missing out.
Here are a few ideas with recipes (As a side note I’m feeling particularly lazy tonight, but I’ll update this sometime this week to include recipes for biscuits and rice pudding.):
Hungarian/German Pancakes
¼ c butter
4 eggs
1 c flour
1 c milk
Turn oven on 400 & put the butter in a 9x13 pan and pop it in the oven. Mix the remaining ingredients together & pour over the butter once it’s melted. Cook for 20 minutes. Slice and serve with powdered sugar.
Crepes
Keep in mind that crepe making takes practice and if you make ugly crepes the first several times or your crepes are a little thick when you first start don’t worry about it because they still taste great.
3 eggs
1 c milk (you can use ½ milk and ½ water if you’re trying to cut costs or you just don’t have enough milk)
3 T melted butter
½ c flour
½ tsp salt
Throw it all in a blender and zap till smooth. Now I have the patience of a 3 year old, so I just make them right away and mine are always fine. However, the experts say it’s best to pop it in the fridge for at least an hour or even overnight. Heck, I know people who insist you MUST wait 24 hours. I don’t plan breakfast that far in advance, but if you do more power to you. In a crepe pan (or non-stick frying pan if you don’t have a crepe pan which, incidentally, I don’t) add just enough batter to thinly coat the pan and tip the pan around to coat it like you would if you were swirling oil around the pan. The crepe starts to look dry when it’s cooked and will be light brown on bottom. You can flip it over and cook it 20 seconds or so on the other side or not, it’s a personal preference thing. Put the finished crepes on a plate and pop the plate in the microwave to keep them warm and continue until all your batter is gone. Fill as desired and enjoy!
Easy sweet crepe filling ideas: Jon likes his with just butter and powdered sugar, fresh fruit and whipped cream, jam
You can also have savory crepes for lunch or dinner by using fillings such as the following: Ham/Turkey, tomato slices, swiss/mozzarella cheese & herbs de Provance or Chicken & onions sautéed in butter
Loads of things go great in crepes get creative and have fun!
Popovers
4 eggs
2 c milk
2 c flour
1 t salt
Preheat oven to 450. Whisk eggs until light and uniform in color but not fluffy. Add the milk. Sift together salt and flour and dump in all at once stirring until just combined. There will be lumps. Fill 12 greased muffin tins almost to the top. Bake for 30 min and NO PEAKING! Put pan on a wire rack and poke a small hole with a toothpick or knife in each popover to let the steam release. Let stand undisturbed 1 minute then serve with flavored butters, jam or flavored cream cheeses.
Pancakes
1 1/3 c flour
3 T sugar
2 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
1 ¼ c buttermilk (or 1 c milk and ¼ c sour cream)
2 lg eggs
2 T melted butter
Mix it all together and cook on griddle.
You could also substitute ½ c of the flour with ½ c cornmeal or oat flour to add nutritional value. My boys really like them made with cornmeal.
It also makes good waffles.
If you want to add fruit you don’t need to change the recipe. Just fold in 2 c of whatever fruit you want to add in with the batter once everything is mixed together.
Easy Quiche-Chris Van Horn
Okay, okay quiche may be more of a brunch/dinner thing to some of you but I like it for breakfast. Since I didn’t include the recipe for lasanga I didn’t feel too bad about adding this one.
¼ c melted butter
1 ½ c milk
½ t salt
Dash pepper
3 lg eggs, beaten
½ c baking mix
1 c grated baby swiss cheese (yes, any cheese is fine baby swiss is just luscious)
6 slices bacon cooked crispy and crumbled up
Preheat oven to 350. Mix first five ingredients together. Add any additional fillings you want at this point (spinach, onions, etc). Stir in baking mix and pour into a 9 inch pie pan. Sprinkle the cheese and bacon on top of the egg mixture and DO NOT STIR. Bake for 45 min. Don’t overcook. It’s even better made the day before and heats up in the microwave beautifully.
Scones-Tiffany Whipple
4 c flour
6 T sugar
4 ½ t baking powder
½ t salt
10 T butter
2 eggs
¾ c plus 2 T milk
1 ½ c blueberries (optional)
Heat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients and cut in the butter until it’s nice and crumbly. Add the eggs and milk and mix till combined. Fold in the blueberries. Form into two circles about 1 -2 inches thick and cut as you would a pie (It just makes it easier to get them apart after they’re baked). Brush with milk and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
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