French Toast Sticks

As the school year just started, I wanted to find some other quick breakfast recipes that I can prepare ahead of time and freeze for my kids to eat as we rush out the door in the morning.  (In the past, we've relied on this, and it's still a favorite).  I came across a version of french toast from iowagirleats that baked them, instead of pan frying them.  I instantly thought, SCORE!!  I don't want to have to stand over a hot stove for about 30 minutes frying up these babies.

As my son is now 5.5 yo (and I'm more willing to have him help), he helped me mix the eggs into the dip mixture, as well as pour in the vanilla.


Original recipe

Makes 12 French Toast Sticks

Ingredients
- 4 slices Texas Toast
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 C milk
- 1 TBSP melted butter, slightly cooled
- 1 Tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, then spray a baking sheet very well with non-stick spray and set aside. Cut bread slices into thirds, then set aside.

2. In a large shallow dish, whisk together eggs, milk, melted butter, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Dunk bread sticks into batter, let excess drip off, then place onto prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 16-18 minutes, spraying the tops of the French toast sticks with non-stick spray before flipping halfway through.

3. To freeze: Let cool, then place onto baking sheet and freeze.  (I don't have that much freezer space, so I just cooled it on wax paper, stacked them with a sheet between each layer, put into a ziploc, and then froze flat).  To reheat, microwave for 30 second to 1 minute.


They came out great!  I didn't have texas toast, nor did I want to hunt for it.  So I went to our neighborhood small chain market and found some bread that was sliced thicker than a regular slice of bread.   I also doubled the recipe so that I would have more.  I figured that the more bread to soak up the dip, the better.  And I've made french toast with regular toast before, and I wouldn't think they'd hold up as well when cut into sticks.  I even forgot to add the butter I had already melted and they still turned out great.  A side note, instead of placing the battered bread straight onto the cookie sheet, I used my Silpat mats.  Easier clean up and more even cooking, without the spray. 

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Cookie

I happened upon an article online that talked about breakfast cookies.  Cookies and breakfast together?  How can that be healthy?  Intrigued, I read on, and found a couple of recipes that I thought was interesting.  What was most interesting to me was the Sweet potato cookie.  (If you don't know why sweet potatoes are healthy, you can find more info here.)  The recipe is Paleo friendly, as it contains no grains whatsoever.  A cookie without flour?  I had to try it out.  Mind you, we are not a Paleo family, but as I'm learning more about it, I thought it wouldn't hurt to try out some recipes.  And as my kids are into sweet potatoes right now, why not make them a "treat" that was healthy at the same time? 

This recipe is adapted from one I found on here.  I actually made the original version first, but found that two eggs made the final product more cake-like and VERY moist.  I couldn't hold up the cookie without it drooping on itself.  The taste, however, was superb!  So after browsing around some more, I decided to use one egg instead of two.  The result was a cookie that held up to being held up.  :)  It didn't have the crispness that I'd want in a cookie (I like crisp and chewy cookies), so it won't pack well, but again, the flavor was yum.  Try it out!  You won't be disappointed.  At the very least, if it doesn't hold up, just use the crumbles like you would for a brownie sundae, but with half the guilt.  Haha.  You can always change the fixins' too (the last 4 ingredients on the list) to make it even healthier.

Be warned: the cookie concoction is runny, but don't worry, it'll puff up in the oven.  No need to add any flour into it.  Also, I find this to be good enough as a desert.

Ingredients
Makes about 18-20 cookies

• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup sweet potato purée (I baked a whole sweet potato in aluminum foil for about 40 minutes on 350 degrees F while I was baking sweet potato fries for the kids—scooped out and mashed the insides)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. finely ground salt
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Method
1)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2)  Beat together the almond butter, sweet potato, maple syrup, eggs and vanilla with a rubber spatula.
3)  Add in the baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt—stir until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
4)  Fold in the peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, walnuts and dried cranberries. Carefully pour small circles of batter onto a lined baking sheet (roughly 1 1/2 teaspoons each, though I pretty much just eyeballed it).  I used parchment paper the first two times around and it held up.  The third time (yes, I've made this 3 times already), I used both parchment paper on two baking sheets, and then a silpat on another baking sheet.  The silpat had the most solid cookie-like results in terms of stability).
5)  Bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before diving in. Be careful removing the cookies from the pan—they can be fragile. Store in an airtight container for 5 days and enjoy as a breakfast treat or on-the-go snack all week.

Final disclaimer: I am not to be blamed by how many cookies you end up eating.  I'm having a hard time keeping myself from eating them.  :)  I'm thinking these aren't 21 Day Fix Extreme approved.

Quick and Easy Mini Vegetable Egg Cups

Some times we just need quick and healthy breakfasts that we can chew.  (You know I love my Shakeology!).    These mini egg cups were super easy to make ahead of time and they have spinach to boot. Just pop them in the microwave for 20 seconds and you're good to go.  Yum! 


Nonstick cooking spray
12 large eggs
sea salt and ground pepper to taste
1 (10oz) bag baby spinach, finely chopped. (I eyeballed my amount)
1 medium red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 green onions, finely sliced (I opted out of this)

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Lightly coat a twelve-cup muffin tin with spray.
3. Place eggs in a large bowl; whisk to blend. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
4. Add spinach, bell pepper, and onions; mix well.
5. Evenly pour egg mixture into muffin cups.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread/Muffins

 Have you noticed that a lot of my recipes consist of breakfast foods?  Why do I post so many breakfast-y foods you may ask?   Because our mornings are go-go-go and I want my kids to have as healthy a meal as they can even when we're rushing out the door.   Another go-to in our family is Zucchini bread baked in muffin tins.  Here's the recipe with my tweaks in parentheses. ‪

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hr (if in loaf pans). ~30 minutes in regular sized muffin tins. ~20 in mini sized muffin tins

Yields about 18 muffins.
Ingredients:
- 3 C all-purpose flour (I made mine with 2 C whole wheat, 1 C white flour)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 tsps ground cinnamon (I used 2 tsp)
- 3 eggs
- 1 C vegetable oil (I used 1 C coconut oil, melted)
- 2 1/4 C white sugar (I used almost 2 C)
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 C grated zucchini (about 1 medium and 1 small)
- 1 C chopped walnuts (I opted out as I didn't have any)

Directions:
1. Grease and flour 2 8x4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. (I greased two regular sized muffin tins).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. If you're making muffins, bake for ~30 minutes or until tested in center comes out clean. Cool in muffin tins for 10 minutes. Remove and completely cool on rack.
If you're baking bread, bake for 40-60 minutes. Cool in pan for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Spinach Banana Smoothie Pancakes

YUMMY!

Another staple in my household, Spinach Banana Smoothie Pancakes. I'm always trying to find ways to get my kids to eat more veggies. I found this recipe online a few years ago when I was trying to get my son to eat green things, and have tweaked it here and there. I made a double batch of these over the weekend, so I could freeze them for the kids' breakfasts. I just placed them between wax paper, put them in a ziploc freezer bag, freeze, and voila! Easy breakfast. The great thing about spinach is that it's super healthy, and when blended, there's no taste to it, especially when you have ripe bananas in there too.


Single batch...makes about 22 pancakes, using scant 1/4 cup to pour batter.

1 C almond milk, unsweetened
1 very ripe banana
2 C fresh baby spinach
1 C flour (I did 1/2 wheat and 1/2 white)
1 TBSP sugar (I already reduced this from the original 2 TBSP)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
2 TBSP butter, melted  

Syrup and butter for topping, or whatever you'd like. My kids get a few chocolate chips on top.

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a blender, add milk, banana and spinach and blend until there are no flecks of spinach seen in the mixture. Blend in the egg and butter.

Pour green mixture in with the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Preheat griddle on medium low. Using a 1/4 measuring cup, drop batter onto the griddle. Cook until the tops are bubbly and edges are dry (darker green). Flip and cook another minute or so.