Breakfast Muffins

20 eggs1/2 pint half and half
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
16 ounces bulk breakfast sausage (cooked, drained and crumbled)
48 Ritz crackers (crushed)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Put muffin cups into 3 dozen muffin tins.  Whisk eggs and half and half together in a large bowl.  Stir in crackers, cheese, and sausage.  Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Cheesy Bacon Potatoes

Crispy Cheese and Bacon Potatoes
Yield: 6 servings

1/2 pound bacon
3 extra large russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2"-3/4" pieces, about 6 cups worth
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar or Mexican blend shredded cheeses
3 green onions, sliced thin

COOK THE BACON: Spread the bacon strips out across a large rimmed baking sheet pan and place on the middle rack of a COLD oven. Set the temperature to 400 degrees. Set a timer for 16 minutes and check the bacon. Remove it from the oven when it is as crisp or crunchy as you like. I remove ours at 18 minutes and it's a great balance of chewy crunch. If you like your bacon crispy enough to crumble, you will probably want to cook it another minute past that.

COOK THE POTATOES: While the bacon is cooking, peel and chop the potatoes. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain. There should be 2-3 tablespoons of bacon grease left on the tray. (If there is more than that, drain off a bit.) Put the potatoes on the tray and toss with tongs to thoroughly coat them in the bacon grease. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread the potatoes out in a single layer and bake for 20 minutes, stir well and bake an additional 20 minutes. Stir again, making sure that none of the potatoes are sticking to the tray. Bake another 15 minutes.

Chop the bacon into small pieces. Remove the potatoes from the oven, stir again and sprinkle generously with shredded cheese and chopped bacon. Return the tray to the oven and bake an additional 2-3 minutes, until the cheese has melted. Top with sliced green onions just before serving. Enjoy! 

I made these last night and they were SO GOOD!!! We had them with fried eggs and toast, and could hardly stop eating them.  YUMMY!!

Recipe Source: http://www.barefeetinthekitchen.com/2014/11/crispy-cheese-bacon-potatoes-recipe.html?m=1 

Orange Oatmeal Pancakes

Orange Oatmeal Pancakes
Serves 4, 3 (4-inch) pancakes per serving

Ingredients
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup nonfat milk
3/4 cup orange juice
2 Tablespoons canola oil (I used olive oil)
Non-stick cooking spray

Directions

1. Measure and combine both flours, oats, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.  Mix well.
2. Crack egg into another bowl, and beat lightly with a fork.
3. Measure and add milk, orange juice, and canola oil to egg, and mix well.
4. Coat a large frying pan with non-stick cooking spray, and heat pan over medium-high heat.
5. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.  Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.  Do not over mix.
6. Use a measuring cup to pour 1/4 cup batter into hot pan for each pancake.  Adjust heat as needed to avoid burning. 
7. Flip pancakes when bubbles appear on top of the batter and the edges are slightly browned.  Cook until second side is slightly browned.  Serve warm.

I made these in our Cooking Matters class and then replicated them again at home.  They are so good!  We had them in class with mashed berries on top, which was really good.  At home we had them with butter and syrup, which was also very good!

Source: http://cookingmatters.org/

Garden Breakfast Casserole

Garden Breakfast Casserole

1 Anaheim Chile (from my garden!)

1 small green bell pepper (also from my garden!)

1/4 of a small red onion

Cheese blend

8 eggs

A few shakes of seasoning (any kind you like, I used garlic/herb McCormicks)

Salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.  Dice up the Anaheim Chile, green bell pepper, and red onion.  Saute them in olive oil.  Cover the bottom of a greased square, glass baking dish with cheese (use however much you prefer).  Crack the eggs into a bowl, add a few shakes of seasoning and beat with a fork until blended together.  Add the pepper and onion mixture to the eggs, stir together, then pour over the cheese.  Shake salt and pepper on top.  Bake for approximately 30 minutes, until eggs are set. 

This is especially good if you have a tiny helper that is pulling everything out of the cupboards while you are busy cooking.  See my little helper?