If you have some leftover bacon in the frig or freezer, this goes together almost as quickly as just toasting a bagel. If your bagel is frozen, pop it in the toaster or microwave for a minute or two first thing. If your bacon is frozen, pop it in the microwave for a minute or just make sure you pull it out first thing to get up to room temperature.

Pop your split bagel(s) in the toaster while you heat a skillet on medium low heat.

Put a pat of butter in the skillet and when it has melted  add your egg(s).

Scramble the egg with just a bit of salt (the bacon will add plenty!).

When the bagel is done, spread one half with cream cheese, then top with the scrambled egg, then the bacon (or ham) , then the other bagel half. That’s it! Bit into and enjoy.

I think a great snack involves just a bit of effort, a spreading of something, a building up of something, a blending… Sliced apples and peanut butter fit the bill !

A simple sliced apple and a spoonful of peanut butter make a great after-school snack and has become my 15 year old’s newest favorite.

My eldest is suddenly taken with eating a sliced apple at breakfast, along with her Raisin Bran.  She skips the peanut butter though.

I like this for a late night snack/dessert. It would also make a good lunchbox addition. If you spritz the sliced apples with a bit of lemon juice and water they won’t turn brown so quickly.

Oh, and my pediatrician said the apples that do NOT turn brown are generally lacking in iron, among other things. So you actually WANT to eat the ones that do turn brown, but use the lemon juice spritzer trick to keep them from turning brown!

Cheese Quesadillas

I like to pan fry my quesadillas rather than microwave so they get a bit crispy on the outside.

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Butter one side of a tortilla and lay it butter side down. Sprinkle grated cheese (Cheddar, Jack, Colby or a Mexican blend) to lightly cover.

Spread butter on one side of another tortilla and place it butter side UP. Cook a few minutes, till lightly browned on the bottom, then gently flip over with a spatula.

When the cheese is all melted, put it on a cutting board and cut into wedges.

Want less? Butter a single tortilla, start it cooking, spread the grated cheese over half the tortilla, then fold the tortilla in half. Flip when browned on one side, cook a few more minutes, slide out onto a cutting board and cut into wedges.

For a breakfast quesadilla, add applesauce and sprinkle with cinnamon, then add the cheese.

Okay, these are a treat!  But still pretty frugal and way better tasting than storebought stuff.

I used to use my bread machine all the time. I would regularly make pizza dough in it, bake bread, and periodically make these fantastic cinnamon rolls. Now that it is just two of us in the house, I find myself using it less and less, however I still pull it out for treats like these cinnamon rolls that have become a Christmas morning tradition.  I figure the machine paid for itself many years ago. I could mix these up in my Kitchen Aid mixer but it’s easier just to dump in the ingredients when it’s convenient at some point point on Christmas Eve, then I make up the rolls and refrigerate them for tomorrow morning. Since we’re just 3 tomorrow, I made two pans up tonight, one with 5 rolls and the other with 8  or. I’m freezing the larger one, then will bring it up to our large family gathering tomorrow and share with the others on the 26th at our large breakfast.

Tomorrow, I’ll pull these out of the frig first thing and let them warm up and rise while we do stockings and such, then bake so they’re ready for a breakfast of scrambled eggs, orange juice, and cinnamon rolls.

• 3/8 cup milk
• 3/8 cup water (just make sure the total is 3/4 cup liquid)
• 1 egg
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 Tbs softened butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp yeast

Put all the above in your bread machine and set to the dough cycle.  When it beeps continue.

Melt

• 5 Tbs butter

and pour into a 9×13 pan or two 8 or 9″ round pans.

Sprinkle with

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Roll the dough out on a floured board to a 8×14″ rectangle.

Brush the dough with:

• 1 Tbs melted butter

In a small bowl combine:

• 2 Tbs sugar
• 1 Tbs cinnamon
• 2 Tbs brown sugar
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional, we leave them out)

Sprinkle the sugar, cinnamon, brown sugar and raisins over the dough.

Starting from the long end, roll up and pinch the ends to seal the seam.

Cut into 1 1/2″ sections. (An easy way to do this is to use dental floss!  Just slide a foot long piece of dental floss underneath the dough and pull up and cross over then pull together to slice the dough cleanly.

Place the pieces cut side down in the pan(s).

You can refrigerate overnight or freeze up to 1 month at this point. Just cover with foil and put in the frig or freezer. Before baking, allow rolls to come to room temperature then proceed with the second raising.

Cover and let rise in a warm oven or other warm spot for 45 minutes or so, until doubled.

You can warm your oven by turning it onto the warm cycle for 3 minutes then turning it off. Leave the interior light on to help keep the oven warm.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes. Take the pan(s) from the oven and invert onto a plate or large serving dish so the sticky part is on top.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake 25-30 minutes.

I’ve stopped drinking coffee for a bit. It’s too hot and it was bothering my stomach. But I still want something to sip in the morning before I sit down for breakfast. On cooler mornings a cup of tea does the trick, but lately it’s been too hot to want anything warm to drink.  I’ve switched over to making a sweet lassi. Sometimes I’ll make a large one and that’s all I need for breakfast, but usually I just want a little something to tide me over while I read a bit, put away dishes, and check my email. Then I’ll fix some toast and sliced tomatoes or a scrambled egg or something.  If I keep doing this reguarly, I’ll get back into my yogurt making habit too.

For a smallish lassi:

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup ice water
• some ice
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• a dash of salt
• a sprinkle of rosewater (optional, but a nice touch if you can find some)

Blend all this in a blender, then drink. For me, it’s got a perfect balance of tartness and sweetness. It would also make a nice afternoon pick-me-up.

Hi, I’m Allison, Ellen’s youngest daughter. Tonight, my sister was out, so I decided to make dinner for my mom. It was my first time cooking a meal on my own, and mom enjoyed it so much that she told me I had to blog it.

I decided that my meal was going to be a breakfast for dinner type thing. I made fresh squeezed orange juice in our Vita Mix, and I fried up some potatoes that my mom had already cubed, parboiled, and frozen. (When the potatoes were cooking in a bit of olive oil and butter, I sprinkled on garlic powder, a pinch of salt, and seasoned pepper.)

For my main dish, I wanted to make an omelet, because I have never had one before. I mixed up a lot of different recipes and techniques from a book called “How to Cook Without a Book” and I made my own recipe.

• 5 eggs
• 1/2 a chopped up onion
• 4 slices of bacon
• handful of chopped parsley leaves
• 2 table spoons of plain yogurt
• salt and pepper

cooking bacon

I started out by putting all the bacon pieces in my omelet pan and letting them cook until they were dark brown, flipping them over every couple minutes.

While they’re cooking, crack open all the eggs into a medium sized bowl and mix them until all the colors blend together. Set aside.

Chop the onion into about 1/4 inch pieces, put in a bowl, and set aside.

By the time you have done those, your bacon will probably be done cooking. Lay out a paper towel on a small plate and put the bacon on top, then cover them with another paper towel.

Leave all the grease in the pan and add the chopped onion, and saute until they become limp and darken a bit in color, then put them back in the bowl and dump out some of the grease.

Then you will pour your egg mixture into the greased up pan, still gently until it starts to set, then leave it alone until it’s a little soft and wet on the top, but not liquidy.

Take the bacon out and chop or tear it into small, half inch pieces.

On half of your eggs, sprinkle on the bacon, then the parsley leaves, then the onions and the yogurt.

When I put the yogurt on, I scooped some into a spoon and shook it gently over my omelet so that small portions could be distributed equally.

Then, fold the empty half of the eggs on top of the other half.

Mine broke, but it still tasted delicious.

When I was looking through the Scarpetta cookbook, I spotted Marino’s Breakfast Bagel Sandwich and noted it mentally. Then when I went shopping the prosciutto just about jumped into my shopping basket. NOT cheap cooking. But very delicious.

I bought some onion bagels, prosciutto, and Swiss cheese. Split the bagels in half and toasted one half, then buttered it. Topped it with a slice of prosciutto and a slice of Swiss cheese and ran under the broiler for a minute or two.

Youngest declined to even consider them this morning and went with her usual egg salad sandwich for breakfast. I made mine and it came out from under the broiler right as my eldest came downstairs. She looked at it and said “What is that?” I told her and offered it. She took it and said “Oh, this is REALLY good!” I made myself another sandwich from the bottom half of the bagel.

And I said not  cheap cooking, but I think if you compared it to a box of sugared cereal, you’d find it not that outrageous on a per serving basis and probably more nutritious. Not healthy either, but I’d rather eat this than what a lot of people seem to eat for breakfast!

But tomorrow it’s probably back to homemade granola and yogurt. Well, maybe the next day. I have enough prosciutto and bagels for at least two more of these!

This is good for a fairly quick but yet special breakfast. It served 3 of us about perfectly. You spend a few minutes getting everything ready, then pop it in the oven for 20 minutes.

• 6 Tbs butter
• 2 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
• 3 Tbs lemon juice
• 5 Tbs powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup flour

Preheat the oven to 425.

Melt the butter in a 10 inch oven proof skillet while you get the apples ready. Take 2 Tbs butter out and put in a small bowl for the batter. If the butter is melted before the apples are ready, turn the heat down. Put the sliced apples in a bowl, sprinkle with lemon juice and toss, then toss with the sugar and cinnamon. With the heat on medium, add the apples and stir, cooking about 3-4 minutes until the apples are tender.

In a blender, mix the eggs, milk, flour, reserved melted butter and salt. Spread the apples so they’re evenly distributed in the pan and turn the heat off. Pour the batter over the apples and put the pan in the oven to bake for 20 minutes.

Turn onto a plate so the apples are on the top, sprinkle with a bit more powdered sugar if desired and serve.

I’ve been cooking from The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great and have several great new additions to my repertoire. I picked this book up on the basis of a recommendation from one of the blog readers and want to say “Thanks!” It’s as fantastic as her other books. The recipes are delicious, easy to follow and very flexible, with lots of ideas for adaptations and swapping out of ingredients.

First, for breakfast my kids have been enjoying her soy milk smoothies. I’ve been using fresh bananas rather than the frozen she recommended because the kids like them a bit more drinkable rather than thick. We tried once without the banana but even though neither of the girls are big banana fans they both found the smoothie too overpowering in the other fruit flavor.

1 cup vanilla soy milk
2 tsp honey
2 tsp lemon juice
1 banana (frozen or not)
1 cup frozen fruit

Blend this up in the blender and drink.

I’ve been buying the shelf stable soy milk which is great to have around in a pinch. We’ve used frozen mangoes and raspberries so far. I also had some leftover frozen jello and fruit things that no one liked so a few times I used one of those instead of honey.

Anyway, I think it’s a great breakfast for those that don’t actually like to eat much in the mornings. For me, I’m sticking with my toast and fresh tomatoes from the garden until the tomatoes are gone! Or on the weekends, I might add a scrambled or fried egg.

Another hit from The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great, a crustless quiche with chicken apple sausage and apples and sage. I cheated a bit and used all whole eggs rather than half eggs and half egg whites. Mainly because I’m just in it for the good food and not the weight loss! So I don’t buy egg beaters.

2 tsp olive oil
1 tart apple, diced
2 chicken apple sausages, diced
pinch of dried sage

4 eggs (or 2 eggs and 1/2 cup of egg whites or egg substitute or egg beaters type thing)
1 15 ounce can evaporated milk
2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 and lightly spray or grease a 9″ pie pan or quiche dish.

Heat the oil in and saute the apples for about 4 minutes, then add the sausage and cook another 2 minutes or so. Sprinkle with sage and remove from the heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, evaporated milk, and mustard. Stir in the cheese and the apple-sausage mix.

Pour this all into the pie pan and put it in the oven. Bake about 30 minutes. Let it sit about 5 minutes before serving.

Serves about 6 if you don’t have big eaters or have a side dish. Salad or just sliced tomatoes go great! We’re eating the leftovers for breakfast tomorrow. Mmmm!