Five minute Breakfast Burrito

I fix breakfast for my husband every weekday morning. On those mornings he's hit the "snooze" button a few too many times, I need a breakfast he can grab and eat on his way to work. This "cooked in the microwave" Breakfast Burrito is my solution.

BREAKFAST BURRITO

Ingredients
1 8-inch flour tortilla
1 egg
1 tsp water
2 Brown n' Serve sausages
1 slice American or Cheddar cheese

According to package directions, cook your sausages in the microwave and cool slightly. Split in half, lengthwise.

Crack egg into a small container (I use a microwavable measuring cup) with water, and whisk with a fork until thoroughly mixed. (Do NOT add salt until eggs are cooked!) Place in microwave and set to cook on High for 1 minute. After 20 - 25 seconds (when eggs are about half-cooked), open up microwave and whisk the eggs again, mixing the cooked in with the uncooked. Return to microwave and cook until desired consistency - about 15 to 20 more seconds.

 

Assemble your Breakfast Burrito by putting the slice of cheese on first (I didn't have sliced American, so used a few slices of sharp cheddar), topped with the split sausages, then adding the scrambled eggs. Salt and pepper to taste.

 

Roll the up as you would a Burrito. Return it to the microwave for 10 seconds on High - just enough to melt the cheese and re-heat the sausage.

Wrap in aluminum foil by folding up one end, then two sides, leaving one end to fold over last. This makes it easier to open and eat from one end in the car!

Put a fresh cup of coffee in a travel cup, hand him a napkin and his Breakfast Burrito, and he's on his way!

The cost of this filling breakfast? About 43 cents!

Strawberry Bread for toast (Bread machine recipe)

I'm still on a quest to use up the packets of Strawberry Oatmeal my grandson won't eat. (I don't care for flavored oatmeals). Waste not, want not. So today I tried my hand at some Strawberry Bread, which made absolutely excellent toast. I think it would also make an excellent French Toast.

This bread has a very light smell and taste of strawberries, but it's not a sweet bread. If you want more strawberry flavor, I would add either 1/2 cup diced strawberries or 1/4 cup strawberry jam. I prefer just the "suggestion" of strawberry aroma and flavor for toast.

I have no photos to step you through the mixing process, but have had some folks request the recipe, so here it is. My bread machine is one of the larger ones -- I cut this loaf of bread in half from the top, then flip each half on it's side and slice evenly for toast. So I actually get TWO loaves of bread from this recipe! If your bread machine is smaller, I don't see why you couldn't just cut the recipe in half.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup very warm water
1 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 8oz cup vanilla low-fat yogurt
1/4 cup ground flax seed (optional)3 cups white flour (extra if dough sticks to side of pan)
2 packets Strawberry Instant oatmeal
1/4 cup ground flax seed (optional)
2 tsp Fleishmann's Yeast

DIRECTIONS:
Place ingredients in your bread machine in the order given in the list above. Set your machine for a standard, light loaf of bread, following your bread machine's instructions.

As your dough mixes, watch it closely and add a tablespoon of flour at a time IF your dough is sticking to the edges of the bread machine pan. When you touch the dough with your fingers, it should not feel wet, but soft and moist. If it feels dry and makes a bumping noise in your bread machine, add a tablespoon of warm water.

It is very rare that I simply throw the ingredients in the bread machine and walk away. I normally have to add either flour or water to make sure the dough has that beautiful, elastic, moist feel. Often I will add one or the other five or six times until I'm satisfied the dough has the correct consistency!


HELPFUL HINT:
Once your loaf of bread is cool, cut it with an electric knife. The serrated knife cuts smooth, even slices and you can cut the bread in much thinner slices than when using a standard sharp knife.

Don't have a bread machine? Simply use your favorite white bread recipe, substituting the vanilla yogurt for 1/2 of the oil, adding the 2 packets of flavored oatmeal for about 1/4 cup of your flour, adding the nutmeg, cutting down on salt and sugar if necessary.

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Packet Muffins

My grandson loves flavored oatmeal. Blueberry. Banana. Peaches. Not strawberry. Every mixed box of instant flavored oatmeal comes with at least two, and sometimes three, packets of Strawberry Oatmeal. So I came up with a recipe to turn the unused oatmeal into muffins.


INSTANT STRAWBERRY OATMEAL MUFFINS

3 packets Strawberry (any flavor) Instant Oatmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola (or vegetable) oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp lemon juice (optional, but adds a nice flavor)

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Place paper cupcake liners in muffin tin.

Put all ingredients in large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with spoon (not electric mixer) until you can no longer see dry white flour. Let mixture sit for about 5 minutes (for dried fruit to absorb moisture), then stir again.

Spoon mixture into muffin tins, filling 3/4 full.

Bake 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned on top and toothpick inserted into middle of muffin comes out clean.

Cool muffin tin for 5 minutes, then remove muffins to wire rack and let cool completely. Once completely cooled, place muffins in freezer Ziploc bag and freeze.

The Perfect Food - Quiche!

I don't care for eggs, but I do love Quiche! Quiche is a great way to use up bits of leftover vegetables and meat. You can also mix and match the cheese you put it the quiche. It's a very flexible dish.

INGREDIENTS

1 Refrigerator Pie Crust (such as Pillsbury)
6-8 ounces cubed hard cheese  - swiss, cheddar, pepper jack, whatever you like. Do not use soft cheese, such as cottage cheese, mozzarella, etc.
1-2 cups chopped vegetables - Good choices are onion, green pepper, tomatoes (remove the juicey pulp/seed area), brocolli, chopped brussel sprouts, peas, corn, cauliflower. Do not use vegetables that get "mushy" when cooked, such as zucchini, potatoes, sweet potatoes.
1/2 to 1 cup of cooked, diced meat - Whatever you have. Cooked hamburger, leftover meatloaf, chicken, turkey, ham, lunch meats such as boiled ham or salami. You don't have to put in any meat at all!
6 eggs
1/2 cup milk or cream
1/4 cup Bisquik
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp grated cheese (the green can kind)
Salt, pepper, oregano to taste

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Bring pie crust to room temperature (read package directions) for 15 to 20 minutes. Lightly Pam Spray the bottom of pie plate. Put pie crust in pie plate, bring edges up to top of rim of plate. Poke a few holes in the bottom of the pie crust with a fork.

Dice your cheese into approximately 1/2 inch chunks. I use mostly swiss cheese, but this time added in some garlic cheddar I have on hand. Distribute cheese evenly over bottom of pie crust.

Dice up whatever vegetables you want to use. I used 1/2 cup diced onion, 1/2 cup diced green pepper, 1/2 cup brocolli florets, 1/4 cup tomatoes (juicey seed and pulp removed). Distribute veggies evenly over cheese.

In this quiche, I used a small piece of boiled ham (called "cooked ham" at the Deli counter -- ask them to slice one piece, 1/4 inch thick. You can use this for omelettes, scrambled eggs, and quiche.), diced.

In small mixing bowl, add eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup Bisquik, 1/4 cup mayo, 2 tbsp grated cheese, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and 1 tsp of oregano. Mix thoroughly. Stir just as you do when you make scrambled eggs. When you're done, there should be no lumps or bumps.

The mixture will be thick. It will be thinner than pancake batter, but thicker than eggs for scrambled eggs.

Pour mixture GENTLY and SLOWLY over vegetables in pie plate. Start at center and work your way around to the sides of the pie so the mixture is distributed across the pie evenly.

Place the quiche on the middle shelf of the 375 degree oven. Bake it for 10 minutes. Without opening the oven door, re-set the temperature to 325 degrees. Cook for 30 minutes more. At the end of 30 minutes, put a sharp knife into the center of the quiche -- if it comes out clean, the quiche is cooked. If not, return to oven and cook for 5 more minutes, then check again.

Cool the quiche on a rack for at least an hour before eating. Personally, I like it best the next day, cold!