I love breakfast. When we travel my only requirement of the hotel is to have a great breakfast buffet. I love eggs, pancakes, waffles, muffins, fruit, bacon...well, you get the idea. Sometimes my family gets breakfast for dinner. It is one of my kids' favorite dinners. I just came across a new breakfast recipe. Brace yourself for the...FRITTATA! It calls for a little of this and a little of that but the great thing about this recipe is you can customize your frittata. This is how I make mine:

Dice 1/2 onion and 1/2 green onion. More or less as desired.

When onion and pepper are tender, add spinach and potatoes.

Add bacon and the beaten eggs.

Stir and cook until eggs look like this.

Sprinkle freshly shredded cheese on top. Place in oven set to broil (watching carefully).

When cheese is melted, remove from oven and slice to serve. Top with sour cream, salsa and tomatoes.

Enjoy!

Frittata

olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 handful spinach
1/2 cup shredded potatoes, frozen
3-4 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 to 1 cup freshly shredded cheddar cheese
6 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to broil. Saute onion and green pepper in olive oil on medium heat until tender. Throw in spinach and shredded potatoes. Cook stirring until spinach shrinks and potatoes are tender. Add bacon and beaten egg. Stir mixture until eggs start cooking and solidifying. Salt and pepper to taste. When eggs are almost completely cooked, turn stove off, sprinkle cheese on eggs and place pan in oven. Let broil (watching carefully) until cheese is melted. Remove from oven, slice and serve with salsa, tomatoes, sour cream etc.

Other things you can add to your frittata: mushrooms, tomatoes, sausage, green tomatoes ...etc. etc. Customize it for your guests. Printable recipe.

Do you feel sluggish? Like you ate WAY too many treats over the holiday? Are you like me and feel like you need a little detox? This always works for me...a Green Smoothie. Drink one for breakfast for a few days and you will feel full and satisfied until lunch. Please note: although the smoothie is an unattractive green color it tastes sweet like the fruit...not spinach-y. This is how I make mine:

Green Smoothie Jodi Style

1 apple, sliced
2 oranges, peeled
1 banana, peeled
1 cup water
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup other frozen fruit ie raspberries, blueberries, mango, pears etc
2 generous handfuls of spinach
1 Tbs agave to sweeten (optional)

Blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Other add ins: carrot juice, flax seed, coconut water, olive oil

Interested in more green smoothie recipes? Look here

I first saw this recipe here. Intrigued, I copied the recipe and put it in my gi-normous recipe folder to make sometime...later. When I finally found the time to make these delicious morsels, my husband was at work so my kids and I each ate a few and we froze the rest. Then, a few weeks later I was out of town with my kids and my husband was left home to forage food for himself. He discovered these muffins in the freezer and ate them as a little snack. He LOVED them.

I put this in my "keeper" file. Try them soon. They are especially good with herbal tea or hot chocolate or milk......or a Diet Coke. I'm just sayin' they are GOOD.

Muffins That Taste Like Donuts
*Pioneer Woman

1 -3/4 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup milk

For the Topping
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbs cinnamon

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.
Combine oil, sugar, egg and milk. Add dry ingredients and stir only to combine.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a bowl. combine the sugar with the cinnamon i another bowl. Shake muffins out of pan while still hot. Dip muffins in butter, then into the sugar/cinnamon mix. Let cool if you can. Printable recipe

I love breakfast food. When I am on vacation the most important thing to me is what the hotel's breakfast buffet is like. We recently went to Puerta Vallarta and the breakfast buffet at the Marriott was the best, most extensive menu I have ever seen. Sometimes I salivate when I think about all of the delicious food we ate. I came across a pancake recipe that is worthy to be served at the Marriott, or to your weekend guests. The buttermilk syrup is a sweet and slightly salty welcome addition to these pancakes. Serve with bananas or peaches and whipping cream and be ready to impress!

Buttermilk Pancakes (aka The Best Pancakes on the Planet)
adapted from Clawson Live

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
2 Tbs sugar
2 cups buttermilk (I use a little more)

Mix the above and pour onto a greased waffle iron or griddle and enjoy. Can add mashed bananas, pecans, berries or mini chocolate chips.

Buttermilk Syrup

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
Mix and bring to a boil in a large pot because it foams up a lot. Boil for about 5 minutes until a thick caramel color. Take off heat and add 1/2 tsp vanilla. This is so good over pancakes, fresh fruit, pound cake and peaches. Enjoy! Printable recipe

I have always been intrigued with people who make their own granola. It seems like so much time an effort when I can go to the supermarket and buy a box. Then I came across this recipe on sisterscafe.blogspot.com. I had company coming into town for the weekend so I thought I'd try it. It was so easy to make and much better (and cheaper) than the granola you find in the supermarket. My favorite way to eat granola is layered with a drizzle of honey, Tillamook vanilla bean yogurt and fresh or frozen berries. SO GOOD. Try it...you'll love it.

My Favorite Granola
submitted by Melanie at Sisters' Cafe

3 1/4 cups oats (Old Fashioned or Quick - any combination)
1 1/4 cups white wheat flour
1 1/3 cups shredded coconut
1/4 cup flax seed (optional) I used ground flax seed
1 cup or more coarsely chopped almonds and/or pecans
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I didn't use cardamom but I raised the cinnamon to 1 tsp)
1/2 tsp cardamom

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large mixing bowl combine the oats, flour, flax seed, coconut and nuts. Set aside. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar, butter, and water and heat until the butter has melted and the mixture is bubbly. Using a wooden spoon, stir the mixture together until smooth, and then stir in the salt, vanilla and spices. Pour mixture over the oats mixture and stir well to coat. Let stand for about 10 minutes.

Spread mixture on a jellyroll baking sheet, pressing into the pan. Slide it into the middle of the oven and bake until the top is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir. Return to the oven and bake again for 15 minutes before stirring again. Bake for another 15 minutes or until the granola is uniform golden brown and completely dry - this usually takes a total of 45 minutes (it may still seem soft but it will get crispy as it cools). Cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an air tight container. Printable recipe

Two words. Monkey. Bread. Oh my word I think I have died and gone to heaven. This recipe is the best I've tasted and my kids request it daily. I have Pastor Ryan (www.thisisreverb.com) to thank for this little gem. Please, please make it when you get a chance. It is so easy to make and delicious. You will not be disappointed.

Pastor Ryan's Monkey Bread

3 cans Buttermilk Biscuits (the non-flaky ones)
1 cup Sugar
2 tsp - 3 tsp Cinnamon (I always do 3 tsp)
2 cubes Butter
1/2 cup Brown Sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Open all three cans of biscuits and cut each biscuit into quarters.
Next, combine the white sugar with the cinnamon. Dump these into a 1 gallon zip bag and shake to mix evenly.

Drop all of the biscuit quarters into the cinnamon-sugar mix. Once all the biscuit quarters ae in the bag, seal it and give it a vigorous shake. This will get all those pieces unstuck from one another and nicely coated with cinnamon/sugar. Spread these nuggets out evenly in the bundt pan.

Melt the two stick of butter with 1/2 cup brown sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook mixture, stirring for a few minutes until the two become one. Immediately when the brown sugar butter has become one color, pour it over the biscuits.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes until the crust is a deep brown on top. When it is finished cooking, remove it from the oven. If you have the willpower, allow it to cool for about 15-30 minutes before turning it over onto a plate. We don't have the willpower. We eat them steaming hot! Printable recipe