Lemon-Blueberry Muffins with Almond Flour (Keto)

Food prep has been key to maintaining a low-sugar lifestyle for us.  This weekend, I prepped loaded burger bites and salads for lunches, and I made Western scrambled eggs and lemon-blueberry muffins for breakfasts.  These muffins are delicious and only 2.5 net carbs each!  

Breakfast Casserole with Sausage, Egg, Cheese & Veggies

Merry Christmas!  Among many other festivities, we enjoyed a lovely brunch with my family on Christmas Day.  I made an amazing French toast casserole that we gobbled up before I could snap a picture (recipe here), and I also made this delicious breakfast casserole with sausage, egg, cheese, and veggies.  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones!   

Everything Bagel Bites with Almond Flour & Greek Yogurt (Keto)

 

It took me an embarrassingly 45 minutes to remember my login information on blogger.  I blinked, and it's been 3 1/2 years since my last blog post.  Lots of life has happened between May 2021 and now.  My homeschooler has graduated high school and is about to get her Associates in Early Childhood Education this spring, and my son began kindergarten this year.  Through it all, my love of cooking hasn't faltered.  

My husband has recently joined me in my low carb, no processed foods eating habits, and it's been a lot of fun experimenting with and enjoying some pretty fabulous recipes together.  He recently stumbled across a recipe on Instagram, and we decided to give it a try this weekend.  This was my first time using almond flour.  While I wasn't a fan of the price, I am a fan of the nutritional information as well as the cooking results.  

These were not only simple and quick to whip up, but they were delicious!  Each bagel bite tastes like an everything bagel, has a lovely crunch on the outside, and is warm and crumbly on the inside.  The consistency isn't quite the same as a bagel - more like a crumbly cake.  Slather a smidgen of whipped cream cheese on top to take it to the next level.  

These can be stored in the refrigerator. 

Easy Homemade Yogurt - Instant Pot (Cold Start)

I'm here to profess my undying love for my Instant Pot.  I've made so many wonderful things with it, and it's hard to choose what has been my favorite so far.  Chicken that literally falls off the bone, pot roast that melts in your mouth, healthy bone broth, hearty soups, amazingly creamy yogurt... the list goes on and on.

Who knew homemade yogurt could be so easy and tasty to make!?  With the Instant Pot, there's no need to go through the tedious steps of heating the yogurt to 180, cooling it to 115 degrees, etc.  This is a cold start recipe, meaning you simply dump the cold ingredients into the pot, cover it, use the yogurt setting, and then chill it in the refrigerator!  I won't be using store-bought yogurt anymore!  I love the fact that I can control exactly what I put into my yogurt!

Crescent Breakfast Ring

Merry Christmas!!

This is a make-ahead breakfast that is just perfect for the holidays.  Think Thanksgiving morning, Christmas morning, New Year's morning, Easter morning, etc.  It's very versatile, so you can really add any ingredients that your family enjoys.  Assemble it the night before and pop it in the oven when you're ready to eat!  So simple and so tasty!  Oh, and the presentation isn't bad either, huh?!  Next time, I'll use ham or breakfast sausage in place of the bacon, as the bacon kind of gets lost in everything.

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

These are our favorite granola bars.  They're amazingly good, super easy to make, perfectly chewy, and they won't crumble on you!  The only problem you'll have with these is suppressing your urge to eat them all!  

Note:  You can substitute the honey with additional maple syrup, if desired.  

Breakfast Skillet Pie with Insanely Fast & Easy Hollandaise

Have you ever seen that Weight Watchers commercial, where Oprah Winfrey says, "I love bread," with such passion and conviction in her voice that it makes you want to run into the kitchen and gobble any and every crumb that you can find?  My little sous chef and I giggle every time we see it, and it's come to a point where we'll even quote it when something makes us really happy.  That is exactly how I feel about Hollandaise Sauce.  I could pour a vat of that velvety goodness over almost anything!  Hollandaise sauce is considered one of the hardest sauces to make because it takes patience, requires careful attention, and can be temperamental.  Too much heat, and you have a lumpy, yucky mess.  The results are well worth it in the end, but sometimes I just want to be able to enjoy it without all of that effort.  Cue this Insanely Fast & Easy Hollandaise Sauce recipe.  It takes less than 1 minute to make from start (including gathering the ingredients) to finish!  Promise not to tell anyone this, but it's made... in the microwave.  Gasp!  Yes, really!  With this recipe, you can wait until the very last minute, after everything else is cooked and ready to go, to make the sauce!  That's exactly what I did with my Breakfast Skillet Pie!  

This Breakfast Skillet Pie is made in just one skillet.  Seasoned potatoes are the base, and then you add a layer of onions and ham, top it with cheddar cheese, and then crack eggs on top, which are then finished off in the broiler.  Pour that amazing sauce on top of it all, and I promise you'll be licking the plate, wishing you made more!  

Streusel Eggnog Cupcakes with Eggnog Glaze

Every year, my little sous chef and I get all excited and giggly when we see eggnog in the stores.  Making your own eggnog from scratch is very easy and worth the effort.  Check out my recipe here.  I've made eggnog cookies, eggnog holiday cake, eggnog cupcakes, eggnog French toast... you get the idea!  We can't get enough of it!  Things tend to get very slow around the holidays with my job, and I had a full today to myself today to do whatever I wanted.  So, of course, I got into the kitchen and came up with these babies.  They are delicious, and the streusel and eggnog glaze take these muffins to a heavenly realm! 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Granola Bars with Almonds

These granola bars are a much better alternative to the processed stuff in a box.  They're easy to make, delightfully chewy, and seriously delicious.  My daughter goes nuts over them, and I frequently catch her sneaking into the kitchen to get "just one more bite".   

Peach Crumb Bars

February 22, 2010 is a very special date to me.  That was the day that I began my journey in food blogging.  I devoted every spare moment that I had to creating new recipes, styling the food for pictures, photographing them, and writing about them.  

Fast forward to present day, 5 years later.  After years of saving and living as frugally as we could, we finally did it -- we bought our dream house!  We also now have some land, and I can finally garden in my own backyard.  (The garden that I've written about countless times is one that we share with dear friends and family at a different location.)  Most of my free time now has been spent gardening, harvesting, and preserving.  I have some shelving in my basement where I store all of my canned foods, and I have a pretty nice collection so far.  My husband suggested that I start a section on my blog for canning.  Harvest is nearing an end, so maybe next year!  

I have about 15 quart jars of peaches hanging out in my basement.  It's been quite a while since I've blogged any dessert recipes, so I decided to use some of my canned peaches to make peach crumb bars as a treat over weekend.  These are delicious!  They're like a perfect mix of peach cobbler and peach pie.  My husband and I enjoy them warm, but my little sous chef likes them better cold.  However you eat it, try your best to score a corner piece!   

Perfect Crispy Homemade Hash Browns

Every Saturday morning, I cook a big breakfast for my family.  It's one of my favorite parts of the week.  The smell of bacon, the sound of dishes clanging, the warm mug of coffee in my hands, the sight of my family in their PJs... and as an added bonus, the scene of snowflakes falling silently outside the back door.  When I asked my family what sounded good for breakfast this morning, my husband suggested hash browns.  As I got to work on the potatoes, I quickly realized that I've never shared my hash browns recipe.  They aren't the prettiest things in the world to photograph, but they sure are delicious!  This method yields perfectly crispy hash browns... or as my little sous chef mistakenly called them this morning, hashtags!  The potatoes are sliced, squeezed of as much liquid as possible, par-cooked in the microwave, and then fried in a skillet.            

Skinny Overnight Oats with Chia Seeds, Blueberries & Bananas

My little sous chef was home sick yesterday with a yucky cold.  The only thing that she wanted to eat all day was oatmeal.  I get it.  It's comforting, it's tasty, and it warms the soul.  There are also so many wonderful health benefits to eating oats, and I have been trying to incorporate them more into my diet.  

Overnight oats have become one of my favorite things to look forward to in the morning.  When I stumbled across Skinny Taste's skinny version, I knew I had to try them immediately.  The oats are soaked in milk overnight in the fridge along with chia seeds and fruit.  When you wake up the next morning, you have a delicious, creamy, and healthy breakfast to enjoy before starting your day.  Give it a try!  If you decide you're not a fan of cold oatmeal, you could always just heat it up.  

Notes:  If you don't like chia seeds, you can leave them out and add an extra 1/4 cup of oats.  The general rule of thumb is equal parts liquid to oats.  Also, I don't typically add the honey called for in the ingredients because the blueberries and banana add just the right amount of sweetness for me, but you can certainly use any of your favorite sweeteners such as agave nectar, maple syrup, brown sugar, etc.  Enjoy!  

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Glaze

It started a couple weeks ago while we were celebrating the wedding of some friends.  After a very touching, beautiful ceremony, we found ourselves enjoying cocktail hour with friends and family.  Mid-conversation, a tray of what looked to be martinis were presented to us.  Pumpkin martinis you say?  Sure, I'll try one.  One sip, ahhh - I was in heaven!  They were the most it was the most (okay, so I had two!) delicious pumpkin martini I have ever had!  I tend to not jump on the pumpkin train as quickly as everyone else does when autumn rolls around, but I am officially on board!  Choo choo!  

For my first pumpkin recipe of the season, I made these delectable pumpkin cinnamon rolls.  I decided to amp up the pumpkin and add it not only to the dough, but to the filling and the glaze.  Making cinnamon rolls from scratch may be time consuming, but these are so worth it in the end!  They are certainly a family favorite, and they don't last very long around here at all.  They are amazing warm, but I enjoy them the most when they are cold.  I indulged in two of these bad boys today, so please excuse me while I go do some crunches.  

Ham & Cheddar Breakfast Casserole w/ Green Pepper and Onion

Who doesn't love ham and cheese?!  With the weather cooling down some, I've been getting a little more guilt-free use out of my oven.  Organic eggs, fat-free milk, leftover ham, green pepper from the garden, and reduced fat cheddar cheese are used to make this tasty breakfast casserole.  It has a delicious crescent roll base that just puts it over the top!  It's perfect for company or a lazy weekend and ready in less than an hour.  Oh, and it's even better cold!  Happy Friday!

Southwestern Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms for Breakfast

Organic heirloom tomatoes are given a Southwestern flare, stuffed in a hearty portobello mushroom, and topped with an egg.  It's a healthy and delicious vegetarian breakfast with a little bit of a spicy kick.  If you're not into the whole vegetarian thing, cooked bacon or ham are lovely additions.  Happy Friday!  

Cherry Crumble Bars

Oh, how I love sweet cherries!  They are in season for far too short a time, so I jump on them as soon as I see a good sale.  As a little girl, I remember my Grandmommy putting them in the freezer, pits and all.  Later on in the evening, we would take them out and enjoy them as a frozen treat.  I've carried on that sweet "tradition" with my little sous chef, but I wanted to use them in something special now that she's out of school.  I decided to make crumble bars, and they turned out fantastic!  They are a perfect summer treat for breakfast or dessert!  

A note on pitting cherries:  Once cherries go on sale, I immediately put them in my freezer, without pitting them.  Once I'm ready to use them, I run them under warm water in a colander for a minute or two in order to partially thaw them out.  I then pit them using a pastry tip.  When the cherries are partially frozen, they are easier to pit and the juices don't run everywhere.

Black Plum & Ginger Jam (Without Pectin)

Making your own jam is a great way to preserve any in-season fruits that you may have lying around the house.  This black plum and ginger jam is so easy and is made without pectin.  The ginger gives the jam a wonderful little kick.  It's soft, sweet, slightly tart, and spreads like a dream!  

Tropical Oat Bars with Pineapple & Coconut

Looking forward to your next vacation?  These oat bars will send your taste buds straight to paradise!  Sweet pineapple, flaked coconut, and freshly squeezed lime juice give them a delicious tropical flare.  The pineapple filling in the center is made by cooking fresh pineapple in some sugar and lime juice.  When the bars are baked, the the center sets up as delicious pineapple preserves.  Better yet, I made these lower in fat by using nonfat Greek yogurt to replace half of the butter!  These are great for breakfast or as a snack.  Give them a try!

(Flourless & Butterless) Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Glaze

Just because we're spring cleaning our diets doesn't mean that we have to deprive ourselves of the things that we love!  I had a few hours to myself between my little sous chef's dance recital and violin concert this weekend, so I decided to fool around with some ingredients and make healthy cookies that I can treat myself to throughout the week.  I came up with these flourless and butterless cookies that include goodies like oats, shredded carrot, flaked coconut, wheat germ, and walnuts.  They are delicious, delightfully chewy, and not overly sweet.  When paired with the cream cheese glaze, they are just dreamy.  These healthy, guilt-free cookies are so easy to make and can be ready for you to indulge in, in under 20 minutes!  They would be a great option for breakfast on-the-go, too!  

Note:  These cookies will maintain the exact shape that you place them on the baking sheet, so use your fingers to form them into your desired shape.

Strawberry, Kale & Carrot Smoothie

This is a super healthy and refreshing smoothie that is low in calories and packed with vitamins and minerals.  Oh, and it's pretty darn delicious, too!  I didn't add any honey to my smoothie because my strawberries were sweet enough on their own, but you certainly can add it to sweeten it up more.  Happy hump day!