Easy Back to School Breakfast "Berry Apple Swiss Oatmeal"

As I am writing this post, I am eating a jar of the Back to School Berry Apple Swiss Oatmeal my eighteen year old step daughter made for her dad and I.  She absolutely loves these jars for breakfast, lunch and dinner , LOL!  I thought it would be a good idea for her to do a run through on the recipe to see how it tasted if someone else made it.  Just as delicious. 

If you're not a breakfast person like me, this is a great alternative.  The flavors are crisp and creamy  from the apples and yogurt and with a hearty flavor from the oatmeal and nuts.  It will keep you full til lunch so you're not snacking. If you are always in a rush in the morning (like me)  packing lunches and get myself out the door, this is a great shortcut. I make them on Sunday night and we are ready to go on Monday morning, just grab a jar and a topping bag and I'm out the door.  Trust me when I say, I make this weekly... my family absolutely loves these jars.  I cannot believe I waited so long to start making them.   But here they are now. So I hope you give this recipe a try...

Happy Cooking everyone!

Easy Back to School Breakfast "Berry Apple Swiss Oatmeal"
Makes 8 jars

Ingredients:
3 cups Old Fashioned Oats
3 cups Lowfat Vanilla Yogurt (not Greek)
2 cups  Low Fat Milk (or you can use Vanilla Almond Milk)
4 Tablespoon Honey
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
pinch of salt
3 Granny Smith Apples, cored and sliced into cubes
1 cup sliced Strawberries or 1 cup Blueberries
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup of toasted almond slices
3 tablespoons light brown sugar or 2 tablespoons of white sugar

Need:
8-16 oz Mason Jars  (Target is a great source for these)
Cooking Spray
Large bowl


Directions:
1. In a Large bowl add 3 cups of old fashioned oats

2. Add 3 cups vanilla yogurt

3. Add 2 cups of milk, 3 tablespoons of honey and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix everything together

4. Core and Cut up three large Granny Smith apples into 1" cubes.


















5. Add chopped apples into the large bowls

6. Add a cup of cut strawberries or cup of blueberries and 1/3 cup of dried cranberries in the large bowl

7. Fold in the cut up fruit into the yogurt/oat mixture

8. Add 2-3 1/4 cups measurements of mixture into each of the mason jars. Tighten lids and put in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours.

9. Turn on oven to 350 degrees.   Add 1 cup a sliced almonds to cookie sheet.  Spray with coconut oil or  vegetable oil.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Bake for 5 minutes, till nuts are golden.   Remove from oven and cool.   Put 2-3 tablespoons of nut mixture in 8 plastic snack bags and serve with Berry Apple Swiss Oatmeal.

10. Oats are good in the refrigerator for 3-4 for days for freshness.

Pineapple Carrot Muffins

My first test run on this muffin recipe was a few months ago when we were having a breakfast at Faye's (the brains behind LiveBakeLove).  She had invited a few friends and their kids to just hangout and have breakfast.  She asked me to bring muffins since we were going to have kids around.  I have a basic muffin recipe which I have posted on LivebakeLove a few times using different flavor combinations, love the recipe.  Since pineapple is in season right now, it's cheap and perfectly sweet so I thought this would be a good starting point for a muffin.  I was going to follow my normal recipe and add pineapple  and carrots when I realized I didn't have enough all purpose flour, but I did have wheat flour and cake flour.  So I said, what the heck.. let me give it a try. There you have it, the creation of my Pineapple Carrot Muffins!

 

Honestly, these muffins are so delicious, no wonder the kids at the party loved them so much. And the funny thing is they were eating fruit and veggies without knowing it. 

 

I decided to remake the recipe this past weekend and brought it to a potluck party.  I sprinkled a little powdered sugar on top of them and served them as "cupcakes" without frosting, well... a hit again!  The flavor of the fresh pineapple and carrots with a hint of cinnamon makes these muffins delicious. Not overly sweet, but just enough sweetness to satisfy your sweet tooth.

 

I hope you give these muffins a try.

 

Happy Cooking Everyone

Pineapple Carrot Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients
3/4  cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 tea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup fresh crushed pineapple
1 egg, room temp
3/4 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
powdered sugar to sprinkle on top (optional)

Prep-work:
1. Carrots- I took, grated carrots you find already packaged at the store and put them in my food processor for about 1 minute. Love the way the carrots grate down to little bits. You will need 1 cup of these grated carrots.

2. Pineapple- I took fresh pineapple which I had cut into chunks and put them in my food processor for about 1 minute. Once done, I drained the excess juice.  You will need 1 cup of the crushed pineapple.

Directions
1. In a large bowl, whisk the three flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together the egg, milk, cooking oil and vanilla.  Whisk until smooth.

3. Add the carrot and pineapple to flour mixture and toss with a rubber spatula until combined. Mixture will appear crumbly.

4. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, stir just until moistened, but do not over mix or you will have tough muffins.

5. Divide mixture evenly between the 12 muffin cups

6. Bake for 20-24 minutes at 375 degrees.
7. Muffins will appear fluffy.

8. Serve warm or wait 10 minutes to cool and sprinkle with powder sugar.

Easy All-in-One Breakfast Muffns

Easy All-in-One Breakfast Muffins

I have to confess that this recipe actually came about by accident. It was a Friday morning and I was planning to make mini-quiche using ready-made biscuit dough for the crusts to bring to work to share with some co-workers. The night before I had inadvertantly bought the Grands biscuits, the kind that puff up quite a bit instead of the regular biscuits. Not realizing my mistake, the next morning I proceeded with the recipe as planned. Pulling them out of the oven, I was surprised to see muffins with egg, sausage and cheese in them instead of the quiche I had envisioned. Not having the time (or the ingredients) to remake, I brought them to work anyway and my co-workers loved them! The "mistake", which I didn't own up to at that time, turned out to be a big success. Don't you love it when life works out that way?

This recipe is also a favorite with my husband and kids. It's a quick, easy breakfast treat they can grab on the go. They can be made ahead, stored in the refrigerator and reheated as needed. Also, they can be customized to suit all tastes, even the pickiest of eaters: omit the meat and add your choice of vegetables for vegetarians, saute bell peppers, onions and mushrooms and add to to the cooked sausage for more adventurous appetites, use turkey sausage instead of pork, subtitute a different combination of cheeses...the choices and possibilities are as endless as your imagination....


Easy All-in-One Breakfast Muffins
Makes 12

Ingredients:
1 can Pillsbury Grands Butter Tastin' Biscuits
1/3-1/2 of a 16 oz roll of Jimmy Dean Regular Pork Sausage
4 eggs
1 1/2 T milk
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese (I used a combination of cheddar and monterey jack)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Spray a 12 cup regular size muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a small skillet or sauce pan, cook the sausage over medium heat until browned and no longer pink. Remove to paper towl-lined plate to drain.

Open the can of biscuits and separate. Cut about 1/4 off of each biscuit. Combine 2 of the scraps together to form 4 additional biscuits. You should have a total of 12 biscuits.

Shape each biscuit into a flat disk. Place on a cutting board and using the heel of your hand flatten until they are big enough to fit into the bottom and most of the way up the sides of each muffin cup.

Biscuits shaped into disks

Flattened biscuits ready to go into the muffin pan

Place in the muffin cups.

It's ok of the dough doesn't go all the way up the sides, the biscuits will puff up as they bake

Divide the cooked sausage evenly between the biscuit lined muffin cups.

Crack the eggs into a measuring cup. Add the milk, season with salt & pepper and whisk to combine. Pour on top of the sausage, dividing evenly.

Sprinkle each muffin with cheese.

Bake at 350 for approx 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown and done and the eggs are set.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan. Remove from the pan and serve warm.

Can be reheated in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.

Store covered in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.