Quick and Easy Bacon Eggs Benedict!

I am a HUGE fan of Eggs Benedict. If I'm brunching, it's the main thing I order. Since I love it SO much, I have found a way to streamline the process for cooking at home. I can have you Eggs Benedict in around 10 minutes.. no lie.  

 

Here's what you do:

1) Microwave the bacon on a plate between 2 sheets of paper towel. I used turkey bacon and have found it will cook in about 2 - 4 minutes depending on how many slices.


2) Toast your English Muffin slices in the toaster.


3) For hollandaise sauce for 2 people, add 1 egg yolk to the blender along with a half tablespoon lemon juice and a half tablespoon warm water. Blend until frothy. Melt 1/4 cup (half a stick) of butter in a mug in the microwave. Slowly pour butter into yolk mixture with the blender on low. Then crank it up till its thick.


4) For a BIG time saver, cook your eggs in a non stick skillet over easy. (That's where you flip the egg without breaking the yolk). Be careful not to over cook if you want the runny yolk!

 

5) Place an egg on one half of an English Muffin, top with slices of bacon and drizzle with hollandaise sauce. Optional: top with fresh cracked pepper, chopped green onions or chopped fresh parsley. 

 

Brunch on!

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Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

There are not many things more southern than a good old fashioned from scratch buttermilk biscuit. Not many things as tasty either! Fear not, they are so easy and quick to make. Once you've made homemade biscuits, you may never go back to canned or frozen! 

  I typically don't keep buttermilk on hand, but it's so easy to make on your own and I have always had good results in my baking as well has homemade dressings and marinades. All you do is add 1 Tablespoon of vinegar for every 1 Cup of milk. Let it sit a little bit before you use it. Works every time!  

 

 

 

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients:

3 Cups Flour

4 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Salt

1 Tbsp Sugar

3/4 Tsp Cream of Tartar

1/2 Cup Butter

1/4 Cup Shortening

1 1/4 Cup Buttermilk 

Directions:

Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cream of tartar in a large bowl. Cut in butter and shortening with a pastry blender or potato masher (works well!). Make a well in the center of the mix and add in your buttermilk. Stir to combine until just moistened.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 3-5 times or until dough comes together. Be sure to not overwork. Flatten out to 3/4" and cut with a floured biscuit cutter.

Place on an ungreased sheet or stone 1" apart. Bake at 450º for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately.

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4 Things this Friday!

Four things I'm currently digging right now.

1. Grownup coloring books. What?! I am in love. Yes, I have a toddler and yes I can and do color with her, but she hasn't been too into crayons as of late so I had to take matters into my own hands. Coloring is proven to reduce stress and calm you down. Check out this one and this one.
   
   
2. With 4th of July this weekend, I'm feeling all things summer and red, white and blue. We had a festive little breakfast to celebrate with doughnut holes and fruit. I've also been eying this recipe for lime colada popsicles. Only 3 ingredients!
   
   
   
3. Foam Back rollers. Where has this little thing been all my life? I've been doing the 30 Day Shred and evidently I shredded a little too hard. This roller has been a life saver!
   
4. Watching Storybots videos with my daughter. The Down By the Bay one is hilarious! Fun to find out they have a free app. These little toons are by the Jib Jab Bros. If you have a toddler, get it!
   
   Everyone have a safe and fun 4th of July!!

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Bananas Foster Panini Press French Toast

Hands down, my favorite meal of the day is breakfast. I love getting up early and making breakfast for everyone. Sometimes, though, the getting up early part doesn't happen and I need something tasty and fast. Here's where my beloved Panini Press comes in (like this one). It makes the fastest most delicious French toast. I plug mine in while I get my ingredients and let it preheat. Then it's ready to rock and roll out perfect French toast in 2 minutes! 2 minutes! I usually like to serve mine with butter, syrup and a little fruit on the side (or right on top). That's where I came up with this tasty recipe - melding two of my favorites into one quick meal!

Like I said earlier, I preheat my press so it's hot and ready. Crack 2 eggs into a medium sized bowl or pie pan (bread sized for dipping). Then I add 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp tepid water and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Whip it up till it's nice and fluffy.

Put your slices of bread in and flip to cover. This mix will do 4 slices of bread.

 

Place bread slices on your hot and ready to go panini press and close the lid. Mine took 2 minutes to cook. Meanwhile you can slice up your banana. Carefully remove your toast from the press and onto your plate. Top with sliced bananas and drizzle with caramel sauce. Now eat up buttercup. Yum!

Bananas Foster Panini Press French Toast

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of bread
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 bananas, sliced
• Caramel sauce for drizzling 

Directions:

1. Preheat your panini press
2. Crack eggs into a medium bowl or pie dish. Add cinnamon, water and vanilla extract. Whip until light in color and a little frothy. 
3. Dredge bread slices in egg mixture, being sure to coat evenly. Place in hot press and close the lid.
4. Cook for appx 2 minutes or until done.
5. Top French toast with sliced bananas and drizzle with caramel sauce.

5 Uses for Vinegar

The Mr is away on business and the little one and I have been flying solo. So naturally, that means waking up early on a Saturday and cooking up 20 buttermilk pancakes. That makes sense for one person and a one year old, right? The recipe calls for one egg so I wasn't sure how to split it. If anyone has suggestions for that please let me know! I'm just freezing the leftovers for later.

All that cooking made me think of how many times I've used vinegar this past week. What? How do pancakes make me think of vinegar? Because I used it in my recipe! I used to buy buttermilk for baking only to have it go bad and have to throw it out. (I do, however, still buy it when I fry a bunch of chicken since it gets used up in my recipe.) So here's my top 5 uses for this inexpensive staple, starting with cooking:

1) Make your own Buttermilk: Add 1 Tbsp Vinegar to 1 Cup milk and let sit for a few minutes.

2) Clean clogged faucet head: get a small zip top bag and pour a little vinegar in it. Put it over the faucet and secure with rubber bands or twist ties. Leave on for at least an hour or overnight if you can. Scrub off leftover gunk with an old toothbrush. 

3) Clean windows: I just put a little vinegar on a microfiber cloth and rub. I ran out of glass cleaner this week and this really worked well!

4) Freshen and clean disposal: Pour a half cup of baking soda down the disposal, then a cup of vinegar. Let it sit and bubble up. In about 20 min, flush with hot water. Gets rid of gunk and smells.

5) Hard Boil a Cracked Egg: Add a tablespoon of Vinegar to your boiling water. The vinegar will keep the egg from leaking out.

Do you have any other uses for this wonder juice?

I love the polar vortex

I know it's cliche - but how bout this weather! I cannot get over the fall like temps we are having in the middle of July! I've been sitting on the back porch reading in jeans and a long sleeve t shirt. LONG SLEEVE. What?! I decided that it was mandatory that we eat all three meals outside today. Days like these only come around every now and then and it's important to enjoy every second.

We kicked off the day with buttermilk blueberry pancakes and fruit. Yum. 

Then we headed to the park for a hike and a picnic

 

Cheese, crackers, nuts and grapes. PB sandwich for the little one, and fresh squeezed lemonade. I kept the lemonade in a mason jar in our cooler. I hope no one thought we were drinking shine..

 

Someone LOVE riding down the slide. I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful week!

 

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. Maybe it's because the morning brings with it the hope and excitement for what a new day may hold. You get a fresh start everyday to make that day better than the last. If only doughnuts and coffee cakes were healthy choices, I would probably eat breakfast for every meal of the day! I'm a coffee drinker and I think it's so relaxing to have a hot cup of coffee and a sweet baked good. These Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins fit the bill for a tasty, easy and filling breakfast. My one year old LOVES them and I hope you will, too!

All the ingredients for these Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins are things you may already have on hand. We always have different fresh berries in the house in the summertime. Feel free to substitute you're favorite berry, either fresh or frozen.

Mix all the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry in another. Then slowly incorporate the dry and the wet. The batter will be sticky, so I saved back some of my blueberries and pushed them into the batter once I had spooned it into the pan. I like to make sure all the muffins have enough berries.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 Cup Half & Half
• 1 Cup Blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, oats, sugar, baking soda and baking powder.
2. In a second bowl, mix together the eggs, oil and half &half. Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry ones, mixing to incorporate. Batter will be sticky.
3. Gently fold in your berries. Spoon into 1 large or 2 small greased muffin tins. (Makes 12.)
4. Bake for 25 minutes or until tops are golden.