Monday Matchup-Breakfast

I hope everyone is rested up from the food and family frenzy. We had a wonderful time with new friends and I'm ready for a week of light eating.

Erica and I are starting to feel a little stumped as far as the match-up goes, so if you'd like to see a recipe for something let us know. Any ideas? For this week, I decided to do a breakfast item. I love breakfast foods. In our family it has always been Aaron's thing. I've enjoyed relaxing Saturday mornings and letting Aaron do the cooking. He is good at it too. Unfortunately, he is busy with school and I have kinda slacked on our traditional Saturday morning breakfasts. Cold cereal, anyone? Good thing my kids like cold cereal. Hence, my choice for this match-up. I think Aaron was pleasantly surprised to see me actually making breakfast.

I chose to do a muffin. I love muffins but grew up on the boxed kind. Lately, I've been more interested in making things from scratch for various reasons. I guess I've been a little freaked out by all the garbage that goes into the all the mixes. Although making stuff from scratch takes more time, I know exactly what is in it. No extra stuff that we can't even pronounce. I'm not a huge health nut, just a little concious of what my kids are eating. Anyway, I get off track easily...sorry.

Cranberry-Lemon Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Zest from 1 lemon
Juice from 1 lemon
1/2 to 1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, halved

In large bowl, mix your dry ingredients together. In smallish bowl, beat eggs, then add milk and oil (you can use applesauce too). Add your zest, lemon juice, and extract. Now you can really choose how "lemony" you want these. For my recipe I just added the zest and juice but would have preferred a little more lemon taste. Next time, I will add 1/2 teas. of lemon extract. You decide though. :)

Next, mix your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients just until everything is moist. Don't overmix muffins. Last, fold in your cranberries. Fill your lined muffin tin 2/3 full and bake at 400 for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick poked in the middle comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes then turn over on cooling rack. Enjoy warm or cold. These are moist and delicious. My kids like them too, tart cranberries and all!

Source: Adapted from Here

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I am the usual pancakes or waffles with a breakfast meat, so this time I wanted to try something a little different.  I was craving sweet...which is normal, but I wanted to please the hubs.  :o)  So, I made something more savory with everything you need on one thing.  Eggs, bacon, bread, and cheese.  You are supposed to mix it all up the night before and let it sit, but I didn't do that, so I did it this morning and let it sit til after lunch.  We were gonna have them for breakfast, but plans changed and we went and got our Christmas tree.  These were perfect to throw together as soon as we got home and had them with hot chocolate.  My family loved them, and they warmed us right up.  Oh, and I halved the recipe and it was perfect for my family of 4.

Here's the recipe~

Good and Melty English Muffins
12 whole hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
12 slices of bacon cooked crispy, crumbled
1 c. mayo
1 Tbsp. dijon mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 dashes of worcestershire sauce
6 whole english muffins, split

Stir everything together, and cover and let sit over night, or a few hours.  Spread english muffin halves with egg mix and broil for 3-5 minutes until good and melty.  Don't set it too close to the heat.  Keep an eye on them.  Serve immediately!

Source: Adapted from Here

And, Moni's right...what kind of recipes would you like to see?  We'd love to hear from you.  :o)  Have an awesome week!