Baked Eggs on Toast

My favorite comfort food breakfast! I mean, I love oatmeal, too, but there's something about this dish that just makes me feel really good inside.

Several times I asked my hubby if he wanted some, but he would always respectfully decline. He thought it was a bit bizarre for him. One day, he brought up maybe trying them. He's asked for them several times since then. My kids weren't excited to try them. This morning, my boys finally tried them - and I know one of them went back for seconds! My daughter will only have them a certain way, but I'll cover that later.

How I came up with this is that I came across a recipe that included cheese with it, and, in my own opinion, has a misplaced step. (HERE)

Since I love to post food pics of my breakfast when I make this, and I've had enough people ask how to do it, I decided to do a blog post about it. Plus? It's been a REALLY long time since I've done one of these posts! Crazy life, yo!

Here's what I did:

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BAKED EGGS ON TOAST

Ingredients:

* 2 slices sandwich bread of choice

* 2-4 (appx) Tbsp butter

* 2 eggs

* salt & pepper to taste

* pinch dried parsley (optional)


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375° F

2. Take a baking sheet, cover with foil, and spray with cooking spray

3. Place slices of bread side-by-side on the foiled baking sheet

4. Using a spoon, take the edge of the spoon & lightly press inside the perimeter of each bread slice CAREFULLY! Do not tear the bread!

5. Lightly take your fingers to flatten inside the edge created to create a bit of a pit in the bread

6. Carefully butter the raised edges of the bread

7. Add a bit of salt & pepper to the bread pit

8. Crack an egg, then add the yolk & white to the bread pit

9. Repeat with other egg & bread pit

10. If you want a hard yolk, take the edge of the spoon & pierce the tops of the egg yolks (optional)

11. Add a bit of salt & pepper to the top of the eggs

12. Add a pinch of dried parsley for pretties (optional)

13. Place the baking sheet in the oven - 13-15 minutes for a runnier yolk, 20 minutes for hard yolk

14. Remove from the oven & enjoy


Yield: 1 serving

NOTES:

* After you've salted & peppered the eggs, you can add some shredded cheese to the buttered edges if you choose.

* My daughter has an issue with textures & doesn't like egg yolk together; you can scramble one egg at a time before adding to each bread pit - you can use a lesser baking time in this case.

* One time I accidentally picked up Kerrygold garlic & herb butter. I used it anyway, and it actually turned out pretty good. If you want some additional flavor, I suggest this.

* I use whole wheat bread, slivers of Kerrygold stick butter, I pierce the eggs & bake for 20 minutes. The outcome is what you see in the pic.

* Today, I made a dozen baked eggs on toast - the 20 minutes at 375° still worked well.

* If you use the longer baking time, you can do this in the morning while getting ready for the day, just prep it all, stick it in the oven, take your shower & get dressed, then get those suckers out of the oven. I mean, if you can do all of that in 20 minutes.

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Today we enjoyed brunch for our last day of vacation. My husband tried his hand at fried potatoes & onions, so I thought the baked eggs on toast was a great addition! We've been adding a side of fruit, like blueberries right now, to help balance out everything. Having bacon with it is yummy, too!

BOOM! A new go-to comfort food for breakfast or anytime.

ENJOY!

Respectable King Cake

Happy Carnaval!

It's just a few days past 12th Night (aka - 3 Kings Day/Epiphany), and it is now carnaval time in the NOLA (New Orleans, LA) area, leading up to Mardi Gras!

Parades happen all throughout, and many, many festivities!

As the hoopla is getting going, so is the desire for Cajun dishes.

Our family celebrates Mardi Gras (now), even though we've never been to the NOLA area during this time. My hubby has been there for some mission work to help with some cleanup from Hurricane Katrina, but that's the extent of it.

One of these days, I would love to go! I have an online friend that lives there & keeps me up-to-date. I want to go meet her, too. In the meantime, I recreate what I can, here in the midwest.

We usually make Dirty Rice around this time. I've made my own, but we tend to be convenient & use either Zatarain's or Knorr's. I add our own ground beef, sausage, bell peppers & celery when I make it.
Last year, we switched it up! We did a divided shrimp boil with potatoes, corn & sausage. YUM!! I also used Zatarain's Red Beans & Rice to accompany it. Sometimes we use Knorr's version of it, too.

I've also made some versions of a Hurricane mocktail. I even bought short hurricane vases to use as glasses to serve it up in! I just need to track down what I actually did for it. That's for another time.

I also added another Carnaval/Mardi Gras staple to the celebration last year. I finally faked a King Cake!! I say "faked" since I needed a shortcut to get the same type of result. I was trying to find which recipe I basically used from last year, but couldn't find it, or even very few others, due to links being gone/broken or now having a virus or spam attached to the link. Bummer. So, I remember the basis & was ready to do a test run as I attempt to make it a few times during this year's Carnaval as it leads up to Mardi Gras! I also research & try to do my best to recreate something as authentic or authentic-like as possible...even in short-cut mode...yet still respectable.

(check out some of my past Mardi Gras celebrations HERE)

Here's what I did:

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RESPECTABLE KING CAKE

Ingredients:

* 3 Cinnamon roll cans, with cream cheese icing (set aside)
* 2-3 T butter, melted
* 1/4 C brown sugar (not packed)
* 2-3 T ground cinnamon
* 1 T lemon juice or 1/2 tsp lemon extract
* sanding or decorating sugars in purple, green & gold/yellow (the darker colored, the better)
* 1 tiny plastic baby (without the King baby, it's only "cake")


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F or what your canned cinnamon roll packaging tells you

2. On a flat, clean, then floured surface, open the cans of cinnamon rolls, setting the icing packets aside for later, and use hands to squish it all together to create a lightly-kneaded cinnamon roll dough ball; I unrolled them all, first, then squished them together

3. With a rolling pin, gently roll out the dough ball so it makes one large rectangle-like shape, about 20-22" long; be careful not to make it too thin, maybe a quarter-inch to haf-inch thick

4. In a microwave-safe dish or bowl, melt the butter for just a few seconds; 20-30 seconds should probably do the trick

5. When the butter is melted, with a spoon or basting brush, "paint" the butter over the top side of the flattened cinnamon roll dough

6. Once the surface of the dough is covered in melted butter, sprinkle the surface with the brown sugar & ground cinnamon (you may not use all of it, but even sweeter if you do)

7. After the dough is covered with butter & brown sugar, begin tight-rolling the dough back up; start from one of the long sides & roll to the other - keep tucking & rolling (it may take some time depending on how long your dough is rolled out to be), until you have the dough rolled into a log

8. Take a bundt pan (or fluted pan) & spray it with cooking spray (I love using the one with flour already in it)

9. Carefully take your cinnamon roll dough log & snake it into the bundt pan, pinching the ends together, when it makes a full circle, to close it as best as you can; make sure the "seam" of the roll is facing upward in the pan

10. Place the pan with the cinnamon roll cake circle into the oven for about 20-30 minutes, until golden brown (check to make sure it's baked thru - not to "squishy")

11. While the cake bakes, take the packets of cream cheese icing & combine them together into a small bowl or directly into a small storage baggie

12. Add the lemon juice/extract (I used lemon juice) into the cream cheese icing, then mix it together (if it's in a small baggie, close the baggie & "mix" it by squeezing & "pinching" the mixture); set aside, best in the fridge until ready to use

13. Once the cake is done baking, remove from inside the oven & allow to cool IN THE PAN for about 10 minutes

14. After the cake is fairly cooled, take the tiny plastic baby & insert it SOMEWHERE in the cake

15. On a round plate or platter large enough for the cake, invert the cake pan onto the plate so the cake exits the pan & onto the plate/platter

16. When the cake is cool enough that icing won't melt when added to it, drizzle/spread the lemon-ized cream cheese icing over the top of the King cake (now there's the baby in it); if you are using a storage baggie with the mixture, cut a hole in one of the bottom corners of the baggie & squeeze the icing over the top of the King cake; let it "drip" down the sides, then use a little rubber spatula or small knife to even out the covering, if need be, depending on how thick the icing is

17. While the icing is still "wet", begin to sprinkle the sugars in alternating colors in a stripe pattern to adhere to the icing

18. Allow icing glaze to set & harden; about 30 minutes to an hour

19. Slice CAREFULLY (there's a baby in there!) & serve

No baby...just layers of sweet deliciousness...

See? There's a baby in there!

Yield: up to 18 (depending how small you cut the pieces)

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The pics, above, are from my early test-run. After I went thru all the steps I need to so I could remember what the heck I'd done before, I now know what I need to do differently the next time around. I will update this post when I have pics of the updated product. Use the ingredients I have listed!! It's what I will use next time around...
This time, I didn't use enough cinnamon rolls to make the cake a bit thicker & fuller, and maybe baking it a minute or so longer than I did this time.

My NOLA friend was kind enough to send me a couple of King babies to use in future cakes (yes, the one in the pic, above, is one of them). And, after I was worried how my King Cake looked last year, she saw the pics & said it looked like King Cake to her! WHEW! I do try really hard to get culture as authentic as I possibly can...within my skill set & resources.

(By the way, King Cake is also delicious the next morning for breakfast with your coffee. It's pretty much a beautifully decorated cinnamon roll. BOOM! You're welcome.)

Also, when you serve the cake in slices, whoever ends up with the baby usually gets a special prize or holds the next get-together...something. And they can keep the baby to use in their making of King Cake!

Someone is getting da baby...

Looks like it was my hubby who got da baby! Guess I need to figure something special. LOL!

Also, a little history in some of what's going on with the King Cake/Carnaval/King Cake colors...

Purple - Justice

Green - Faith

Gold - Power

On a semi-different, but totally the same, note, there were 3 gifts given by the magi to Baby Jesus, celebrated on Three Kings Day/12th Night (aka - the 12th day of Christmas), which is January 6th. Even though the Bible states 3 gifts given, it's often depicted as 3 wise men, one to bring each gift...even though it's never stated how many magi showed up. It's plural...so there were at least 2, but not sure how many for sure.

Some have pointed out that the colors of Mardi Gras/Carnaval also seem to represent the gifts:

Gold - gold

Green - frankincense

Purple - myrrh 

And they were on their journey to find Baby Jesus (aka - King Baby), which actually took them 1-2 years after Jesus was born. Interesting fact! Right?

Oh! You need to remember...the cake without the baby is just "cake"! Maybe a Carnaval Cake?? Can we make that a thing that sticks in case you don't have the baby but want to make the cake? You'd still respect the cake. Amm-i-rite?

See? An easy-peasy recipe AND we learned a little something! You're welcome.

Hope you enjoy it & make it a few times between now (or beginning January 6th) thru Mardi Gras!

Laissez les bon temps rouler!
(That's French for "Let the good times roll!")

ENJOY!

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UPDATE:

I finally got around to doing a cake with the right amounts of stuff & a couple of tweaks.

Isn't it beautiful? Yeah it is!

I have figured out that I should bake this for about 25 minutes in MY oven. I still say start checking at 20, and keep it in, if needed, for around 30 minutes. Each oven is a bit different. You want golden brown & not super squishy. I slightly over baked this one by leaving it in for the full 30 minutes without checking. Hey...I was multitasking...and just forgot. Thank God for the timer!

Also, when I prepared the icing glaze, I also added some extra powdered sugar to insure it was less runny. I added about a quarter of a cup & squished it in with the cream cheese icing & lemon juice. It worked like a charm! A perfect dripping without running. And it gave a beautiful canvas for the colors.

I decided to make the colors pop a bit more with one of my favorite decorating tools: spray color.

Yes. When my kiddos want me to bake a cake that I have to cover in a color, I turn to this Wilton product to just spray...and it gives a fun, airbrushed, artistic look to it. Just watch where you use them, wear an apron for protection, and spray. They are aerosol cans, so it will have particles floating...so just make sure you watch where it goes. I love them. And I just happen to have colors I needed for the cake!

So, with the thicker white icing with the colors sprayed was already awesome looking...but you know I was adding the colored sugar, too! And I wound up with a bold color cake! So happy with it!!

But I'm going to make a confession about this update, I didn't put the baby in it. So it's what I consider "Carnaval Cake". It looks like King Cake...but it doesn't have the baby.

And even with it being slightly over-baked (it was NOT burned), this turned out fabulously! I cannot wait to do it again & I am now satisfied with my cake, whether it be Kinged or just Carnival.

Hope you enjoy trying this, too! BOOM!

De[con]Structed French Toast

Lately, I've been looking for easier (lazier) recipes to fix. We have super-crazy schedules right now, so finding meals with a lot of steps to it is just nearly out of the question! But...what if I could just do something nice, tasty, but with very little work? Like maybe not even having to mix much of anything?

I came across some recipes in "deconstructed" form. Basically, it's your favorite meals/dishes that you just layer instead of mix together. And I'm game!

So, I'm thinking about starting a whole new category of recipes based on this idea. And, since I tend to tear things up & make them look demolished instead...I like the thought of having them "destructed".

Today, I bring you the first recipe in the De[con]Structed series...and it's breakfast!

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DE[con]STRUCTED FRENCH TOAST

Ingredients:

1 slice slightly-stale bread
1 egg
1/2 T cinnamon
1 T brown sugar
2 drops (1/4 t) vanilla extract
3 T milk
1/2 T sugar
1 pinch ground nutmeg


Directions:

~ preheat oven to 350 degrees F

~ in a small baking dish or ramekin dish, spray with cooking spray, then place your slightly stale bread in the bottom (may want to tear in half or into smaller pieces)

~ sprinkle with cinnamon & brown sugar

~ crack the egg, leaving the yolk in tact (if possible), on top of the bread

~ in a tiny glass (like a shot glass), pour in the vanilla & milk, then swirl to mix

~ carefully pour the vanilla milk over the eggs & bread

~ sprinkle it all with the sugar & nutmeg

~ place the baking dish into the oven; 20 minutes for softer yolks, 30 minutes for harder yolks

~ when the French toast is done, pull out of the oven

~ top it with powdered sugar &/or maple syrup, if desired

~ serve


Yield: 1

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I doubled this since I like having a couple of slices at once. Plus, I used slightly stale Pepperidge Farms brown sugar & cinnamon swirl bread. The brown sugar & cinnamon were already in it.

However, all of the measurements are approximate. Just eyeball it according to your taste!

Now then, if you are concerned that the 20-30 minutes is too long for you in the morning, just think: you can layer your stuffs, place it in the oven, go get ready, then have a hot breakfast ready to go!
TA-DA!

Also, this form of "deconstruction" is very elegant & minimalist...so it creates a gorgeous presentation.

Imagine doing a few of these for a brunch! YUM!!

ENJOY!

Rice for Breakfast

As the family slowly continues the move toward cleaner eating, I have to take a look at breakfast. It starts our day & gets us going. But grabbing a Pop Tart is probably not the best option.

For Christmas, my hubby & I got a rice/veggie steamer. We were STOKED to get it! We haven't used it a whole lot, but we do use it & find new ways to make rice all of the time. The kids really enjoy some plain, steamed, white rice. So do I! But finding out that the white rice is fairly "empty", I wanted to boost it up to brown rice. Yes, it takes longer & takes more prep in planning, but we do what we can.

Now, when we received our steamer from the in-laws, my MIL questioned why we wanted one so badly. I told her we like rice. I thought it was a no-brainer. But then she wanted to know why we have so much rice for breakfast. Yeah...she asked me about that. I was confuzzled!! I informed her we have it or dinners mostly, and she graciously accepted my answer. But her inquiry got me thinking...

Several years ago, my hubby was on a week-long mission trip in Nicaragua. He said that they were served rice pretty much every morning for breakfast. They just added some milk & sugar...so treated it like we look at cereal. He has brought up wanted to do that at home, but we didn't have the thought process or prep in planning to do so.

In the quest of cleaner eating, I decided to swap out some oatmeal (even though good for you...still very heavy for summertime) with rice! And I found a wild rice blend at the grocery store, so I mixed it with some brown rice.

Here's what I did:

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RICE FOR BREAKFAST

Ingredients:

~ 1 C steamed brown &/or wild long grain rice
~ 1/4 C dried or fresh fruit
~ 1/4 C nuts
~ 1 T honey or agave
~ 1/2 T cinnamon

Directions:

* I used equal parts of wild rice blend & brown long grain rice & steamed it according to my steamer's brown rice directions; about enough to last 4 days (about 4 cups worth)

* When finished (about 45 minutes later), I scooped about 1 cup of steamed rice into a small bowl, then added the fruit (I used a dried berry mix) & the nuts (I used sliced almonds); you may mix it all together at this point

* Drizzle the cereal, fruit & nut mixture with the honey or agave (I used honey), and then sprinkle with cinnamon; you may mix it all together at this point

* Consume

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I love this for breakfast!! And it's very vegan friendly, too! It's easy...plus you can refrigerate the left over rice & have it for a few days afterward, too.

If you want to change it up a bit, change up the fruit and nuts. You can also add raw sugar or a sugar-free maple syrup & a bit of milk for cereal option less heavy than oatmeal. I've even mashed up a banana in with it. YUM!!

So...happy eating!

ENJOY!

(Shortcut) Coconut Lime Cheese Danish

**Adapted by this recipe RIGHT HERE that I found on Pinterest by The Country Cook (TheCountryCook.net) quite some time ago.

I made these shortcut danish pastries quite some time back, and really enjoyed them! But I just haven't gotten around to making them a second time, until recently...

For some bizarre reason, I had a craving for cheesecake...but not just any cheesecake! I wanted Key Lime Cheesecake!! Then the creaminess made me think about these pastries...and I got thinking...

"What if I make the cheese part of the danish lime-flavored?"

Mmmmm...I was entertaining myself with this idea quite a bit! And then...I kind of wanted to add coconut for a tropical kind of flavor blend. So, I bring you...

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(SHORTCUT) COCONUT LIME CHEESE DANISH

*Pastry Ingredients:

2 cans crescent rolls (I used the big & buttery variety)
3 T butter, melted
8 T brown sugar
8 T shredded coconut (plus a little more for the top)
1 8 oz block cream cheese, softened
1/4 C granulated sugar
2 T lime juice


*Glaze Ingredients:

1/2 C powdered sugar
1 t coconut extract
1 1/2 t lime juice
4 t milk

Directions: (You can follow the picture instructions from the link, above, to help make sense)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Combine cream cheese, sugar, and lime juice in a small bowl. Mix until smooth & creamy

Open cans of crescent rolls & separate into 8 rectangles & then seal the perforations by pinching them

With spoon or brush (I used a brush) cover each rectangle with melted butter

Sprinkle each rectangle with 1 T brown sugar

Place 1 T of coconut down the diagonal perforation of each rectangle

From long end of crescent roll rectangle to long end & then pinch each end to "seal"

Loosely coil each roll to make a spiral

Take fingers & lightly mash & make a "well" in the middle of each pastry

Fill each well of the pastry with about 2 T of the lime cream cheese mix

Take just a few shreds of coconut & sprinkle on top of the cheese-filled well

Place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes (until the pastry is golden brown & coconut topping is getting toasty)

Then mix the glaze:

in a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, coconut extract, lime juice & milk and make sure all is mixed until smooth

Drizzle glaze mixture over each warm danish pastry

** Makes 8 danishes

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Oh my...these turned out SO good! Are they good for you? Close your eyes & pretend they are...cuz they are worth it!!

ENJOY!