Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

 
I first made these muffins around Thanksgiving to bring for our family to enjoy before the wonderful feast ahead of us. They are very easy to put together, and we enjoyed them so much that I made batches around Christmas to give as gifts to coworkers and others. They have a ton of flavors, and thanks to the pumpkin, not much oil/butter is even required.

A big thank you to Jourdan for always posting such great recipes that I must immediately recreate! Hopefully you enjoy these as much as both of our families have. Cheers!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Recipe via Jourdan Leigh in the Kitchen, adapted from Pumpkin Bread

Yields 12 muffins

Veggie, Bacon & Cheddar Frittata

Hi friends! Boy, do I have a super delicious recipe for you. I realized we had a crazy amount of eggs in the fridge, plus tons of veggies, and I got to thinking of a frittata for some reason. I've never made one, but I figured I could do it while using up all those eggs and veggies. After lots of internet researching I finally gave up on finding a recipe, and I decided to just go with it.

The result? John walked past the kitchen while it was cooking and went, "Whoa! Come smell this! It smells gooooood!" I agreed with him, but when he "mmmm'd" about 5 times in a row while eating his first few bites, I knew I had a winner. I was quickly told I needed to make this again "very soon," and I'm looking forward to all the variations I can play with. You can make this as healthy or indulgent as you like, but it's super easy and a great way to sneak protein and veggies into your diet. Try it! And tell me if you come up with a good variation, please!

Veggie, Bacon & Cheddar Frittata
Recipe by Call Me Mrs. Rapp
Serves 3-6, depending on portions*
*add more eggs for more servings - up to 18 eggs total - plus more veggies/additions

Eggs Florentine

Since I had the whole week off I thought I would be crazy not to make breakfast at least once this week. This dish was inspired by the eggs florentine from the cookbook Easy Breakfast & Brunch, which was, not surprisingly, another wedding gift!

To be honest, I was totally craving eggs Benedict, bur I didn't have any Canadian bacon, nor did I have the desire to go to the grocery store. Besides, the spinach makes this dish a little healthier, especially when you consider how delicious yet how unhealthy hollandaise sauce is.
If you wanted a much lighter meal, simply don't add the hollandaise sauce. It will still be a light dish that you can enjoy for breakfast or brunch.

We loved these! I made one for each of us, and after wolfing his down, John turned to me and gave me this sheepish look. I asked him, "Do you want one more?" and he goes, "Well I wouldn't say no..." and gives me another sheepish look. So I made two more. But they were good. Oh, so good.

Ingredients:
*2 eggs
*1 tablespoon vinegar, preferrably distilled (all I had was apple cider vinegar)
*1 tablespoon butter
*1-2 big handfuls of baby spinach leaves
*a pinch of ground nutmeg
*2 English muffins (I used crumpets, thank you Trader Joe's!)
*salt and pepper
*hollandaise sauce

Preparation:
*To poach the eggs, bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the vinegar and reduce to a gentle simmer. Swirl the water well with a fork  and crack the eggs into the water.

*Cook for three minutes and remove with a slotted spoon.

*Prepare your hollandaise sauce.

*Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the spinach. Cook for about three minutes, stirring occasionally, until the spinach begins to wilt. Season with nutmeg and salt and pepper.

*Remove spinach from heat and cover to cook warm.

*Toast the muffins whole and spread with butter.

*Spoon some spinach onto each muffin (taking care to drain off any excess liquid). Set an egg on top, spoon over the hollandaise sauce, sprinkle with a little more pepper and serve immediately.

Thank you, Trader Joe's! I feel like I belong in England.

Very similar to English Muffins (ahh, the "English" in it...)

Time to saute the spinach!

Not a very pretty picture,  but what my egg looked like. The vinegar keeps the egg from falling apart.

Wish I had a colored plate to take the picture on, but alas this will do.

Ta-da! Yum!

Cheddar & Brown Sugar Cornbread Muffins

Oh. Oh wow. Oh, that's good. Something amazing is happening. It is the making of these muffins. These. Are. Good. I mean, real good.  

Whenever I find a recipe I want to try, but know it will be time-consuming, I save it for Sunday.
John has been great all weekend. Spending all day Saturday cleaning with me before heading out for our friend Corey's birthday. I figured I better send him off to the Colts game with love, since he may not get any at the game...(Hopefully my Bears fare better!)

Anyhoo, to accompany the amazing Super Hearty Chili recipe I spent my Sunday salivating over, How Sweet It Is came up with these muffins. Wow. They are perfect with the chili and great to have leftover for breakfast the next day. They're also great to dip into the chili. Or use in a casserole that you will also find on How Sweet It Is. Have I given you enough to do?

These would be great with or without chili, but somehow I feel it came together for a perfect meal. :)

I should note that my recipe differs because the hubby came home with Jiffy cornbread mix instead of cornmeal. I did my best to guess and alter to make these as yummy as they should be. Thus, below is my version of this recipe. :)

Ingredients: (14 muffins)
*2 8.5 oz boxes of jiffy corn muffin mix
*3 tablespoons brown sugar
*1/4 cup creamed corn
*1/2 cup butter, melted
*1/2 cup milk
*1/3 cup heavy cream or half and half
*2 eggs
*1/3 cup freshly & finely grated cheddar cheese

Preparation:
*Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

*Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder together and mix with a spoon.

*Add the egg, corn, heavy cream, melted butter and milk, stirring until smooth.

*Fold in cheddar cheese.

*Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray (or use liners) and using a 1/4 cup measure, spoon batter into each muffin tin.

*Bake for 15-18 muffins, or until tops are golden and muffins are cooked through. Serve hot with cinnamon or honey butter.

Egg and Veggie Quiche Cups

I saw this recipe that someone pinned on the amazing Pinterest, and I was inspired to create my own version, knowing it would be great for an easy breakfast. Now, I've never baked eggs before - is that weird? I've always used my ever-trusty skillet to whip up sunny-side up eggs or scrambled eggs. And that's about where my egg cooking ends. Until now.

These egg cups were flavorful and fluffy and perfect for a light breakfast. You can freeze them, too, so next time I might make a double batch to freeze for quick weekday breakfasts. One of the best parts about this dish is that you can modify it however you'd like! You can add more veggies, different veggies, less veggies, add meat - whatever your heart desires!

Ingredients:
*6 eggs, whisked
*1/4 onion, chopped finely
*1/3 green bell pepper, chopped
*1/3 red bell pepper, chopped
*3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
*1/4 cup spinach, cooked
*salt and pepper

Preparation:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

*Place foil baking cups in a muffin pan (9 total). Spray with Pam or nonstick cooking spray.

*Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Using a ladle, spoon mixture into each cup.

*Bake in oven for 20 minutes, or until knife comes out clean.

All my ingredients

Whipped up

Into the oven

All done!

What a perfect breakfast!

Zucchini Pancakes with Hollandaise Sauce

If you're anything like John you saw the heading for zuchinni pancakes and thought "umm...no thanks."  If you're a good sport, like John, you'll be happy you kept a smile on your face and tried these delicious veggie pancakes. John admitted to being less than thrilled about this dish, but when I was done making the first batch he said, "Can you make like 20 more?" Pairing them with the hollandaise sauce made it extra yummy and added some great creaminess and flavor to the dish. I'd serve these for breakfast (Saturday breakfast in our case) or as a side to some chicken or other light entree. Let me know what you think!

PS: Again, these came from Barefoot Contessa At Home. I'm trying to make the most of this great cookbook my Aunt Em gave me! The recipe didn't call for or recommend the hollandaise sauce, but I think it's an excellent addition - though certainly not required! :)

Zucchini Pancakes with Hollandaise Sauce
Recipe by Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa)
Yields about 12 pancakes  
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Ingredients:

Zuchinni pancakes:
*2 medium zuchinni
*2 tablespoons grated red onion
*2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
*6-8 tablespoons all-purpose flour (note: I ended up using 10)
*1 teaspoon baking powder
*1 teaspoon salt
*1/2 teaspoon pepper
*unsalted butter and vegetable oil

Hollandaise sauce:
*1 1/2 sticks butter
*4 egg yolks at room temperature (you can put them out for a whole 24 hours before they'll go bad)
*1 1/2 teaspoons salt, if using unsalted butter
*3/4 teaspoon pepper
*3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preparation:

Zuchninni Pancakes:
*Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

*Grate the zuchinni into a bowl using the large grating side of a box grater. Immediately stir in the onion and eggs.

*Stir in 6 tablespoons of the flour, the baking powder, salt and pepper. (If the batter gets too thin from the liquid in the zuchinni, add the remaining 2 - or more - tablespoons of flour). 

*Heat a large (10 to 12-inch) saute pan over medium heat (*for our electric stove medium-high was required) and melt 1/2 tablespoon butter and 1/2 tablespoon oil together in the pan. When the butter is hot, but not smoking, lower the heat to medium-low (*medium for our electric stove).

*Drop heaping spoons of batter into the pan. Cook the pancakes about 2 minutes on each side, or until browned and crisp (see pictures).

*Place the pancakes on a sheet pan and keep warm in the oven. Wipe out the pan and continue to fry the pancakes until all the batter is used. The pancakes can stay warm in the oven up to 30 minutes.

Hollandaise sauce:
*Melt butter in a small saucepan. Heat until butter is hot! (I decided my butter was hot enough just as it started to bubble and steam a bit.)

*Place the egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and pepper in the jar of a blender. Blend for 15 seconds.

*With the blender running, slowly pour the hot butter into the blender and blend for 30 seconds until sauce is thick.

I mixed the egg and onion before grating the zuchinni.

Grated zuchinni

Last of the ingredients. You can see the juice from the zuchinnis starting to pool.

Batter all ready to go.

Looking and smelling great!

Thick, creamy, EASY hollandaise sauce

A little glance of the inside of the pancake.

Apple Turnovers

Apple pie is one of my favorite desserts. However, with only two of us, it seems a little excessive to make an entire pie. After making the Brie En Croute, I had an extra puff pastry to use.  I remembered taking a cooking class with my aunts once where we used puff pastry to make some apple turnovers.  I got hungry just thinking of it, and I was not disappointed with my results. These are perfect for a light dessert or even a special breakfast. Let me know what you think! :)

Ingredients:
*2 tablespoons orange juice
*1 1/2 tart apples (I used granny smith)
*2 tablespoons splenda (or regular sugar), plus extra to sprinkle on top
*1/2 tablespoon flour
*1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
*slightly less than 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
*pinch of slat
*1 sheet of puff pastry, defrosted
*1 egg, beaten

Preparation:
*Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

*Peel and quarter the apples. Slice them into thin pieces (about 8 per apple) and then cut the slices into halves or thirds. Place the apples in a bowl and pour the orange juice over it to prevent the apples from browning. Be sure to mix it well.

*Add splenda, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to bowl. Mix well with a spatula or spoon.

*Flour a board and lightly roll the puff pastry to a 12x12 inch square. (Just eyeball it!) Cut the sheet into 4 smaller squares, and keep chilled until ready to use.

*Place 1/3 cup of apple mixture on half the square. Brush the edges of each square with egg wash (beaten egg). Fold the pastry diagonally and seal it by crimping the edges with a fork. Transfer to a pan (you can line it with parchment paper to make it less messy, or just spray the pan with Pam or a nonstick spray).

*Brush the tops of the turnovers with the egg wash. Sprinkle the tops with splenda and a dash of cinnamon. Make 2 small slits in each turnover.

*Bake for 20 minutes until browned and puffed! :)

My apple mixture

Time to egg wash and crimp before going in the oven!

Ready for the oven

A view of the inside - cooked! Yum :)