Egg and Bacon Cups

These Egg and Bacon Cups are a nice change of pace for breakfast. Each family member gets his or her own individual serving of toast, bacon, and egg cooked in a cup. The kids will enjoy putting together their own egg cup!

You might also try cooked, crumbled sausage instead of bacon. Add a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese or cheddar cheese.

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
8 slices white or whole-wheat sandwich bread
6 slices bacon
6 large eggs
Watkins Sea Salt from Sea Salt Grinder
Watkins Pepper from Peppercorn Grinder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly butter or spray with non-stick cooking spray 6 standard muffin cups or ramekins.

With a rolling pin, flatten bread slices slightly and, with a 4 1/4-inch cookie cutter, cut into 8 rounds. If you don’t have a 4 1/4- inch cookie cutter, cut a 4 1/4-inch diameter circle from a piece of paper or cardboard and cut around to make bread rounds. Cut each round in half, then press 2 halves into each muffin cup, overlapping slightly and making sure bread comes up to edge of cup. Use extra bread to patch any gaps. Brush bread with remaining butter.

In a large skillet, cook bacon until almost crisp. The bacon will continue to cook in the oven. Lay 1 bacon slice in each bread cup.

Crack an egg into a cup and then gently pour into bread cup over bacon. Season with salt and pepper. Bake until egg whites are just set, 20 to 25 minutes.

Run a small knife around cups to loosen toast cups. Sprinkle with cheese if you like. Serve immediately in ramekin or place on plate. Serves six. Serve with fresh fruit or a glass of orange juice.

Tips

  • Substitute Texas toast or biscuits for the bread.
  • Standard muffin pans come in 6- or 12-cup size; if baking 6 items in a 12-cup pan, leave empty space in between. Nonstick pans are nice but not essential. Beware of very thin pans, which often lead to burning. 

Eleisia

www.NotJustVanilla.com
www.everydaynecessities.com

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Crafting in the Kitchen

I’ve talked before about wanting to teach my daughters some useful crafts in addition to the arts and crafts stuff we do most of the time. One of those useful crafts is cooking and baking, and here is one of the first things I am going to teach them to make:

Don’t they look delicious! And, I have to add, that panckaes made from scratch taste better than anything I have ever got from a mix or at any pancake house. My girls love them, I love them, and even my husband who doesn’t normally like pancakes will eat several.

The recipe I use was passed down from my Grandma. Shortly after getting married, my dad requested pancakes for breakfast, and my mom pulled out the pancake mix. He commented on liking his mom’s pancakes so much better, so my mom called her up and got the recipe. They turned out awful! She called back and asked what went wrong and found out that when my grandma says “2 cups of flour” she actually means “2 heaping-as-tall-as-you-can-get-it-without-making-a-mess cups of flour.” So, my mom watched her cook them, wrote down what she did, and then made adjustments to come up with this recipe:

  • 4 cups of flour
  • 1/2 cup of sugar
  • 1 large spoon of baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup of oil
  • 4 cups of milk
  • vanilla
  1. Mix all the dry ingredients together. (My mom never did figure out an exact measurement for the baking powder. She just uses a large tablespoon, the kind my dad uses to eat soup. I usually use a heaping tablespoon. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s somewhere between 1 1/2 and 2 tablespoons.)
  2. Make a crater in the dry ingredients.
  3. Crack eggs into the crater.
  4. Add oil (I use corn oil, canola oil and vegetable oil work too) into the crater and lightly beat the eggs and oil together. (If you really want extra dishes to wash, you can beat your eggs in something else first.)
  5. Add the milk and vanilla and mix everything together. (Again, there was never an exact measurement on the vanilla. I just got used to how much was enough by watching my mom put it in. If I had to guess, it’s probably just a teaspoon or two.)
  6. Warm up your griddle or pan. (In my electric skillet, 350 degrees was about perfect. Since that is gone I use a pan on my stove-top set to medium heat.)
  7. Pour batter onto the pan. (I figured out 1/3 cup of batter makes pancakes pretty close to the size I want, so I use a measuring cup instead of a spoon or ladel.)
  8. The pancakes will start to bubble and as the bubbles pop they refill with batter. When you start to see a bubble or two that doesn’t refill then it’s time to flip them. The second side doesn’t take as long to cook, and I usually take them off as soon as I stop hearing the sizzle.

We’ve made some changes to this recipe over the years, but they still turn out amazing.

  • When we didn’t have milk my mom would mix powdered milk in with the dry ingredients and use water instead. When she was out of powdered milk, she just used plain water and they still turned out just fine. I prefer milk, it seems to make the batter a little thicker and easier to handle, but have been known to mix half milk and half water, or use just water.
  • My mom has started making these with powdered milk, powdered eggs, and powdered shortening. She now uses the recipe to make her own pancake mix so she can mix up as many or as few as she wants without having to worry about adding anything but water. I haven’t tried them that way yet, but she says they taste just the same.
  • I also prefer pancakes made with whole wheat flour, especially when mom would grind the wheat herself right before making the pancakes. The ones I made today are white flour because I grabbed the wrong bag in my hurry through the grocery store this last time.
  • Because this is such a basic recipe it is really easy to mix in fruit or anything else you want to get just the kind of pancakes you like. Our favorites are chunks of banana or dried blueberries. I’ve also been wanting to try some with nuts or dried apples and cinnamon.
  • This recipe also makes really good waffles.

So, exactly how many pancakes does this recipe make? That’s a good question. Growing up, our family of 6 kids could eat them almost as fast as my mom could cook them. A single batch would usually feed our family with a few leftover for snacks later or to give as treats to the dog. When we had friends sleep over or other company she would make a 1 1/2 batch or double batch to make sure there was plenty. For my family now, usually just me and the girls, I make a 1/2 batch and we have leftovers that are snacked on throughout the day and gone by the time my husband comes home from work. Occasionally I will make a full batch and just put leftover batter in the fridge so I don’t have to mix it up again the next morning. It will seperate in the refrigerator, but give it a good stir and you’re good to go. My sister also reminded me that you need to add just a little bit of baking powder too if you want them to be nice and fluffy the second day.

Topping the pancakes can be almost as much fun as making them. My favorite is butter and a little bit of powdered sugar. My husband likes butter and syrup. My 6 year old likes peanut butter and syrup (I think my husband gave her that idea). My almost 3 year old just wants whatever she sees anyone else putting on their pancakes. Jam is always really good, and if we’re feeling a little spoiled we throw in some whipped cream or chocolate syrup. No matter what you top them with, this is what you’ll end up with:

(Courtesy of my almost 3 year old, after 4 pancakes.)

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Start Your Day Right

Everyone knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But did you know that it can also keep your weight down?

A recent study of almost 7,000 adults from Cambridge University in England found that although both breakfast eaters and non-breakfast eater both gained weight, those who ate breakfast gained less weight. Another study also found that approximately 25% of teen girls skip breakfast and those who ate breakfast took in more fiber and less saturated fat as part of their regular daily diets. So, what does that mean? If you eat breakfast you are less likely to indulge in fatty foods throughout the day.

Eating breakfast will increase your energy and concentration throughout the day. You will not encounter those feelings of ‘starvation’ that tend to occur when you have deprived your body from food for long periods of time. The reason you feel this way is because the last meal your brain remembers having may have been dinner the evening before and skipping breakfast in essence is like starving your brain since it needs food which is energy, to function.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture suggests some of these healthy breakfast meals to start your day:

  • A cup of low-fat yogurt with fruit or nuts for variety
  • An omelet with 2 eggs, with vegetables such as peppers, onions,mushrooms and cheese along with some fruit and a glass of non-fat milk
  • A slice of whole grain toast with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and a glass of non-fat milk
  • A bowl of whole-grain cereal with non-fat milk and fresh fruit

When eating breakfast it is important to avoid sugary cereals or other sugary foods. Not only will this trick your brain into thinking you are feeding it a meal, it will give you burst of energy followed by a crashing feeling because of the sugar; most commonly known as a ‘sugar rush’. You will be defeating the purpose of starting your day with a healthy meal. Eat healthy and smart and you will then in turn not only have a great day but will also lose weight.

Dr. Daisy (aka Dr. Mommy) is a Doctor of Chiropractic by profession, wife to a loving and supporting husband and home school mom to 5 beautiful children. She is a speaker, blogger and freelance writer that devotes her time to educate the public on the importance of nutrition and their health.

For more insight on her love of health and nutrition you can visit her Healthy Nutrition Hints Blog. http://healthynutritionhints.com

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