Breakfast with Heart

Breakfast yum!

Here's a few different takes on popular traditional breakfasts. Easy enough for that early morning before school or even for those nights when dinner really needs to be breakfast. 

Jalapeno Hash & Egg

1/4 C onion, minced
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp butter/vegan butter melted for potatoes
1/2 C half and half or cream
1/2 8oz container of chive and onion cream cheese(Philadelphia is GF)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 medium jalapeno minced
1 20 oz package shredded hash brown potatoes
1 C shredded cheese, I used a mix of Swiss and orange cheddar
1/4 C minced fresh chives or 1 tbsp dried

*6 eggs

Heat a skillet on medium heat adding 1 tbsp coconut oil and saute your onion and jalapenos until tender. Season them lightly with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and put in a large bowl. Add hash browns and shredded cheese. Melt your 2 tbsp butter and pour over potatoes and mix. Add half and half, chive cream cheese and season with salt and pepper and mix in your chives. If your potatoes seem to dry, add a smidgen more of half and half. 

Preheat oven to 375o. Spray your muffin tin with oil/I used coconut spray. Add a heaping spoonful of potatoes, just shy of 1/4 C in each. Pop them into the oven and bake them for 15 minutes or until they turn slightly brown the edges. Take them out and add a cracked egg to each hash brown, season each one with a little salt and put back in the oven for an additional 10 minutes until the egg is over medium. 

When they are done, let them sit in the pan for about 5 minutes, take a butter knife and run it around the perimeter of the hash brown and egg and use a spoon to slide under and pull out. If you sprayed it well enough, the hash brown should be crispy and slide out well. Enjoy!

*These potatoes will technically fill 24 muffin cups worth. I cooked the potatoes, filled 6 muffin holes and then filled the muffin tin up with the remaining potatoes only without the egg so that in the mornings before school I can pop the hash brown in the microwave and then cook and egg and top it off for Sam. Of course if you're not into the muffin tin, just put the mixture in a casserole dish and cook it casserole style. 

 

Photo and Recipe Here

Cheddar Grits, Poached Egg and Avo

2 c. Water
1/4 t. Salt
1/2 c. Old Fashioned grits (Quaker is GF)
1/4 c. Half and half
2/3 c. Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
Pinch of garlic powder or 1 clove Garlic, minced finely
Pinch of Cayenne
1 T. Butter
Black pepper
1 avocado, diced
Bring water and to a boil in medium saucepan.  Add salt, and slowly stir in grits.  Cover and turn heat to low, simmering and stirring occasionally until grits are smooth and creamy, about 20 minutes.  Add in a little water if grits are too thick.  Add in half and half, shredded cheese, cayenne and garlic powder.  Stir until cheese is melted and taste for seasoning.  Add black pepper and butter, and keep over very low heat while you prepare the eggs. 

Simmer water and pour a tiny bit of vinegar in the water, like a tiny splash. Crack your egg and put it into a small bowl. Take a wooden spoon and spin it like a tornado in your simmering water. Slide your egg in and as the water spins the egg whites will form around the egg. Poach the egg in the water for about 2 minutes depending on how you like your egg. I like it just slightly harder than average, but that's just me. Take a slotted spoon and carefully remove your egg and place it on a paper towel, season with salt and pepper and top your grits. Add your diced avocado and bam, so good!

 

To be a daughter of a Kentucky man, you've got to know how to make biscuits and gravy. I had fun trying to get this recipe right. I think my grandma Julie would be proud. These two recipes are not gluten free. 

Southern Style Biscuits & Gravy

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in the shortening with a fork until it looks like cornmeal. Add the milk, a little at a time, stirring constantly until well mixed.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly two or three times. Roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut with a 2-inch cutter.

Place the biscuits in a greased iron skillet. Gently press down top of biscuits. Brush the biscuits with half the melted butter. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown. Brush the hot biscuits with the remaining butter. Split the biscuits in half and ladle milk gravy over the hot biscuits.

The Best Ever Gravy

1 pound breakfast sausage, I used Jimmy Dean Sage (It is free of gluten, but it is manufactured in a facility that does have wheat products, so choose your sausage carefully)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 to 4 cups whole milk, more to taste (You can substitute unsweetened Almond Milk)
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, more to taste

If you want to pick up regular pork sausage at the grocery store and season it yourself, with hot pepper flakes, sage, salt, pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder and marjoram. 

Your sausage gravy is only going to be as good as your actual sausage tastes. 

Brown your sausage in a skillet until browned. Drain sausage and sprinkle your flour over top of the cooked sausage. Cook flour for about 30 seconds until the raw flour cooks a bit. Add your milk, season with salt and pepper and bring the gravy to a boil. Lower the heat and keep warm until you're ready to plate.