Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

This is a yummy way to start the day!! Happy Fall Baking!

INGREDIENTS

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin purée 

1/2 cup brown sugar 

2 large eggs
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

1.5 cups milk 

2.5 cups dry old-fashioned oats

STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin purée, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and baking powder until smooth. Whisk in the milk (and yogurt if using).

STEP 2: Mix the dry oats into the pumpkin mixture. Coat an 8x8 (or similar sized) baking dish with non-stick spray. Pour in the pumpkin oat mixture. Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, removing the foil after the first 30 minutes.

STEP 3: Serve hot right out of the oven or refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be eaten cold or reheated. Top with milk, maple syrup, whipped cream, or nuts.

My Kneaders Chunky Cinnamon French Toast!

I just ate at Kneaders for the first time and tired their french toast. I found the recipe online and decided to try making it  myself. It's very simple to make and tastes just like the real deal!

I purchased the kneaders Cinnamon bread while I was there. You could use Cinnamon Swirl bread without the raisins or make your own.

 Recipe or Kneaders Chunky Cinnamon French Toast
1 loaf of chunky Cinnamon bread cut in 8 slices
8 eggs
3 cups milk
1 TBSP brown sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 TBSP vanilla
2 TBSP butter
Butter a 9 x 13 glass baking dish generously. Mix all ingredients, saving the butter for later. Dip each slice of bread in batter and place bread flat in the baking dish. ( I had to use a small glass pan for the 2 ends of the bread) Pour remaining batter over bread. Cut butter into pieces and dot over the top. Refrigerate over night or at least one hour before baking.. Bake 45 to 50 min. at 350*. Serves 8

Kneaders Caramel Syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup creme (heavy whipping cream)
1 cup light Karo syrup.
Blend together and heat on stove top until sugar is smooth. Serve warm.

Soaking in the refrigerator.....

  Out of the oven...

So delicious........

 My son loves the caramel sauce!

Carrot Cake Oatmeal

Pinterest is really supplying me some great recipes this day! That is where I found this hot bowl of goodness!!! 
CARROT CAKE OATMEAL
Ingredients    FOR THE OATMEAL:
1 cup Milk (Almond, Soy, Coconut, Your Choice)
1 cup Water
¼ teaspoons Salt
½ cups Rolled Oats
¾ cups Grated Carrot
2 whole Egg Whites, Beaten (or You Can Substitute 3 Tablespoons Of Egg Beaters Whites For The 2 Whole Eggs)
1 Tablespoon Sweetener
½ teaspoons Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 Tablespoon Chopped, Toasted Walnuts

FOR THE ICING DRIZZLE:
2 Tablespoons Nonfat Greek Or Plain Yogurt

1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup Or Agave

FOR THE TOPPINGS:

1 Tablespoon Shredded Coconut (or LOTS)

Preparation Instructions:
Combine milk, water, salt and rolled oats in a saucepan. Bring to simmer (until it’s almost boiling, but not quite) for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add grated carrot. Simmer for another 4 minutes.


Lower heat to medium-low and add the egg whites, immediately stirring vigorously.
Stir in the sweetener, cinnamon, vanilla and walnuts. Allow the oatmeal to cook for another several minutes, until it reaches desired thickness.

For the icing drizzle:
Stir together yogurt and maple syrup until combined.

Pour oatmeal into a serving bowl and top with the sweet yogurt drizzle and shredded coconut.

Thanks you  for this recipe!!!  http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/breakfastbrunch/carrot-cake-oatmeal/k

Post Workout Breakfast

A healthy tasty pancake ! It's nice to get my protein powder in for the day!

Pumpkin Pancakes

4 Egg Whites

1 Scoop of Protein Powder

1/3 c. of Canned Pumpkin

1/2 c. Oats

1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon

Preheat Grill 300 degrees

Mix all ingredients using a blender. If the mixture is too thick, add a little water to thin it out. Drop pancake mixture on electric grill and cook at 300 degrees. When pancake mixture starts to form bubbles, flip the cakes over to grill the other side.

The Best Pancakes on the Planet

These are the best pancakes. My family requests these all the time! You can add chocolate chips or blueberrys.
Pancakes
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1- 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
opt. Orange Honey Butter
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/3 cup honey
2 tbsp. orange juice concentrate
In mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine buttermilk, eggs, oil and honey; add to dry ingredients and mix well. Pour batter 1/4 cupfuls onto a lightly greased hot griddle; turn when bubbles form on top of pancakes, Cook until second side is golden brown.  For orange butter, combine butter and honey in a medium; beat well. Stir in orange juice concentrate until smooth. Serve with pancakes.
Yield 12 pancakes

What's for Breakfast?

Steven likes to bring me home recipes to try. Im really glad that he brought me home this one! It's not hard to make and it tastes great! It's perfect for any meal not just breakfast!
Italian Sausage Quiche
Source: Close to Home
Pastry for single-crust pie (9in.)
1 lb. bulk Italian sausage
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
4 tsp. chopped seeded jalapeno pepper
1 cup (4oz.) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3 eggs
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. minced fresh parsley
1 tsp. minced fresh basil
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
Dash garlic powder
Dash cayenne pepper
1. Roll out pastry to fit a 9-in. pie plate. Transfer pastry to pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate; flute edges. line unpicked pastry with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Fill with dried beans, uncooked rice or pie weights.
2. Bake at 450* for 8 min. Remove foil and weights; bake 5 min. longer. Cool on a wire rack.
3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the sausage, onion, green pepper and jalapeno over medium heat until meat is no longer pink;drain. Spoon into shell and sprinkle with cheese.
4. In a large bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients; pour over cheese. Bake at 3758 for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the enter comes out clean. let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Looking forward to breakfast!

One thing that helps me from eating after dinner snacks is my next breakfast !! I like to  plan something really yummy for the morning!
I love K.E.R.F.s blog(Kathy eats real food). I have found the best ideas for healthy eating from her. Most of all I love her tribute to Oats..My very favorite thing in the entire world to eat for breakfast!
In my fridge I have Overnight oats, waiting for me in the morning. I used a mason jar and added..
1/3 cup dry oats
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup Almond milk
1 tbsp. chia seeds
1 tbsp. organic peanut butter
You can add a half of banana or whatever sounds good!
Let set in refrigerator all night. In morning take take out and crumble muffin on top if you desire. I plan to warm it up add a little more cold milk and eat with a Great harvest muffin. It has bits of peaches in it!
*My daughter works at Great harvest bread. Every so often she will bring home some day old baked goods  My favorite our their yummy muffins. The best one is a trail mix sort of muffin. It has oats, almonds, honey, raisins and flax seeds. I love it!

Breakfast Trifle

I made this last week and was very pleased with the way it turned out! Feel free to tweek the recipe to your liking!


Breakfast Trifle Recipe


Ingredients

1 1/2 c. of 1-inch chunks fresh pineapple or one 20-ounce can pineapple chunks (juice pack)

1 c. halved fresh strawberries

1 c. fresh blueberries

1 c. seedless green grapes

1 4-serving-size instant banana cream pudding and pie filling mix

1 1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. sour cream

2 T. slided almonds, toasted

How to make it

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Drain canned pineapple well (if using) and pat dry with paper towels. In a 1- to 1 1/2-quart trifle bowl or individual clear glasses, layer pineapple chunks, strawberries, blueberries and grapes; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine dry pudding mix, milk and sour cream. Whisk for 2 minutes or until thickened; let stand 5 minutes. Pour over fruit. Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours. Sprinkle with almonds before serving. Makes 6 servings.

Use what ever kind of fruit you want. You can double this recipe too

Different kind of Breakfast for me

Ba-nilla Buckwheat Breakfast Bake

Be sure to check the following blogs for the recipe.

I love these two blogs.....

http://www.katheats.com/

http://www.tiana-coconut.com/coconut_flour_recipes.htm

I drool over their yummy healthy food and try recipes from time to time.

 Check out Kathys blog for the recipe....

http://www.katheats.com/the-little-rascal

I was introduced to Chia seeds by reading Kathy's blog. I love adding goodies to my  oatmeal so it was just another fun healthy treat!

I was up at 5am to lift weights. Monday is leg day! I had all the ingredients for the buckwheat bakes sitting on the counter. I made the recipe for 4 servings.

It's a lot of measuring. You will want to give yourself 20 minutes to prepare them. The fun part is popping them in the microwave. 1 min. and 45 sec. later you will have a healthy warm cake ready to eat!!

Have you ever baked with Buckwheat flour? This is my first time. It's so dark!

I have to share my flowers.....

Have you ever tried All Natural "White Chocolate Wonderful" Peanut Butter! If not you must try it, All I can say is Yummmm!!

This is my Breakfast Bake..it's much darker then the Buckwheat cakes I saw on the Kathy and Ashley's blog...

This is my fav. picture out of the bunch...I love the peanut butter on top!

Samuel was not to sure about the Breakfast this morning. He was great to try half of one. He ate a few bites drenched with the White chocolate peanut butter. My girls said they taste OK.

Peanut-Butter French Toast Waffles With Mixed-Berry Sauce and First day of school

It's finally here, the first day of school. Our school started 2 weeks later this year. It was nice having the kids around for some extra days of summer, but nice for them moms going crazy and running out of things to do to get back in a routine.

My three all ready for the first day of school. I have a jr., 7th grader and a senior this year!

I was actually excited for the first day of school to start so I could make this new recipe! Every year I make the kids a special breakfast. I found this recipe in the Sunday paper and knew it was the one for this year!

Monique and her bestfriend Savannah. they are both seniors this year!

Now on to the recipe! Isn't it nice how special occasions always come with good food. Man life is good!

Peanut-Butter French Toast Waffles With Mixed-Berry Sauce

Mixed-Berry Sauce

One 16 oz. bag Frozen mixed Berries, thawed

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp. seedless raspberry preserves

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Combine the fruit and sugar in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil stir occasionally, until berries soften, 10 minutes.

Transfer Berry mixture to a blender or food processor. Add the raspberry preserves and lemon juice;blend until smooth. transfer to a bowl;cool to room temperature.

Waffles

8 slices whole wheat or white bread, crust removed

4 large eggs

3/4 cup milk

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

4 tbsp smooth peanut butter

Nonstick spray

The night before. Put bread on a baking rack;let stale overnight.

Crack eggs into a medium baking dish and whisk lightly. Add milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt; whisk.

Spread 1 tbsp of peanut butter on 4 slices of bread. top with remaining slices to make four sandwiches. Flatten slightly. Soak sandwiches in egg mixture, 4 to 5 minutes per side.

Heat a square four-slot waffle maker according to the manufacturer's directions. (I used my heart shaped waffle iron and it worked well) Spray top and bottom grates with nonstick spray. Remove sandwiches from the egg mixture using a slotted spatula, allowing excess liquid to drip off.  Make two at a time on the diagonal of the grates. Press down lightly at first, then add a little more pressure to the cover and press until it is completely closed. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Carefully remove each waffle to a plate. Drizzle with mixed berry syrup.

Monique and I enjoyed the berry sauce. My other two liked it with maple syrup. Either way is good just don't forget to add whipped topping!

Very good and very filling!

So this is my spinning,kickboxing and yoga instructor Brandi. She is also my friend. I didn't make it to the gym this morning at my usual 5am time. So... she showed up on my door step at 7:00am. I was glad I could feed her so she didn't make me drop and give her 50!!

Oh my gosh..she's gonna kill me...ha ha...lol!!!

Homemade Crunch Granola

I made this Granola for my kids and they love it. It's very simple to make and so yummy. Homemade Crunch Granola
3 1/2 cups Old Fashioned oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup coconut
1/4 cups slivered almonds
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup oil
1 tbsp. vanilla
1/2 cup raisins(optional)


Directions
1. Mix all together with a spoon, spread evenly on 2 baking sheets with edges. Bake at 250* for 45 to 60  minutes or until golden brown.

2. Turn and stir after 30 min. Remove from oven, add raisins. Cool and sotre in plastic bag.
This is very good with milk for breakfast or used as a topping on yogurt or ice-cream.

Nutritional information:
1/3 cup-188 calories
24 grams of carbs
5 grams of protein
8.9 grams of fat
3.7 grams of fiber

Buttermilk Waffle recipe

A few of you asked for my Buttermilk Waffle recipe. I hope you enjoy it!
 Ingredients :
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs, seperated
2 cups buttermilk
 2/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
 Fresh apricot slices, optional Mint leaves, optional
Directions: In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat egg yolks.
Add buttermilk, sourcream and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until combined.
 Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into batter.
Bake in a preheated waffle iron according to manufacturer"s directions until golden brown.
 Garnish with apricots and mint leaves if desired.
 Serve with warm maple syrup! My kids love to put whipped cream on these too!!

Flowers, Pumpkins and good Old Fashioned Coffee cake

Big sister and little brother work so well together!

My kids minus one(she was away at a soccer tournament) had fun carving pumpkins together..These flowers are from some dear friends of ours......

I love this arrangement....

Looks like a burst of sunshine to me....

Sorry I can not participate in TWD this week. I just made a chocolate cake,a sourcream coffee cake (see below) and my son wants dirt cake for his birthday, on Oct. 30. I think we all ready had way to many sweets in the house.

This is one of the recipes I grew up with. My mom made this at least once a month. I can remember smelling this early in the morning as I laid in bed, waiting to arise. What a delicious memory of a warm house, sweet mother and this perfect coffee cake to start the day. I was so fond of this recipe and can't believe I misplaced it. If you know me I keep great track of my recipes and cookbooks. I have a special place for all of them. Well today a friend shared this recipe with me and I can't tell you how thrilled I was to see it. It's the exact one my mom used to make for us years ago. I didn't waste any time making it! Here is the recipe...

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Recipe....

1 1/2 c Cake flour 1/2 c Flour 1 ts Baking soda 1 ts Baking powder 1/2 c Butter 1 c Sugar 1 Egg, lightly beaten 1 ts Vanilla 1 c Sour cream ----------------------------------TOPPING---------------------------------- 1/4 c Flour 3/4 c Brown sugar; packed 1/4 ts Salt 1 c Chopped walnuts 1/4 c Butter

Directions : All ingredients should be at room temperature. In bowl mix together flours, soda and baking powder. In another bowl cream together butter with sugar until fluffy and light. Add egg and vanilla and mix well. Add half of dry ingredients, mixing just until flour is blended. Blend in sour cream, then remaining dry ingredients. Spread half of batter lightly into a 10-inch tube pan. Sprinkle with half of Topping and spread with remaining batter. Sprinkle with remaining Topping. Bake at 350 degrees 40 to 45 minutes. TOPPING: Mix together flour, sugar, salt and nuts. Add butter in small pieces. Rub in by hand until mixture is crumbly. Be careful not to over mix. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I found this very interesting too...I don't remember this in my school cafeteria.... Do you?

By: Rose Dosti, L.A. Times, Culinary SOS, in response to, "If I were dying, I would want the coffee cake served in the junior and senior high schools in Los Angeles as my last meal. Do you, by chance, have the recipe?" Rose responded, "Our sentiments exactly. Here's the recipe as provided by the Los Angeles Unified School District archives. As a matter of record, the sour cream coffee cake has been served in city school cafeterias since 1959."