Tag: breakfast

Sweet Potato Breakfast Strata

Leave a comment

Sweet Potato Strata (2)

If you do the prep work for this strata the night before, all you need is 1 hour to bake it in the morning. Perfect for weekends, in sum – or heck, any weekday before school if you have early birds like I do!

Ingredients:

  • Cooking spray
  • 4 Lightlife bacon pieces, chopped
  • 1 cup peeled and chopped sweet potato
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1 cup chopped Granny Smith apple
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 2 cups cubed whole-grain bread
  • 4 Ener-G eggs
  • 1 cup oat milk
  1. Heat a large skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add the Lightlife bacon; cook for about 4 minutes, until crisp and browned. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
  2. Recoat the skillet with cooking spray and add the sweet potato and onion; cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the apple, maple syrup, rosemary, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook for a final 2 minutes, then remove from heat and return the bacon to the pan.
  3. Arrange 1 and 1/2 cups bread cubes in the bottom of a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray.  Top with the sweet potato mixture.
  4. In a bowl, whisk together the Ener-G eggs, oat milk, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Pour over the sweet potato mixture. Top with a final 1/2 cup bread cubes.
  5. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours, and up to overnight.
  6. Bake at 325 degrees F for 50 minutes, uncovered. Let stand a few minutes before serving.

Sweet Potato Strata (1)

And although we do like this for breakfast, it’s also great as a side at dinner! Try serving with Gardein chick’n and peas.

Sweet Potato Strata (3)

Apricot-Gingerbread Oatmeal

1 Comment

Apricot Oatmeal.JPG

We woke up to snow this morning! Which meant it was the perfect morning for a loaded bowl of oatmeal to warm us up.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups oat milk
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 tablespoon molasses
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1. Combine the milk, oats, apricots, walnuts, cinnamon, and ginger in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
  2. Remove from heat and stir in the molasses and vanilla.

Serve warm and be cozy!

No-Cook Overnight Oatmeal

Leave a comment

no-cook oats (5)

Let’s face it – mornings are crazy, amiright? High Five magazine must know it, because Travis’s January issue featured a great recipe that kids can help make the night before. Shake up these no-cook oats, and they’re ready to go for breakfast!

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup plain non-dairy yogurt
  • 1/4 cup non-dairy milk (we used coconut)
  • 1 teaspoon agave nectar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Handful of dried apricots or raisins
  1. Combine all of the ingredients in a jar with a tightly-fitting lid.no-cook oats (2)
  2. Seal the jar and shake – kids will love this step!no-cook oats (3)
  3. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight.

no-cook oats (4)

In the morning, simply uncap the jar and voila – breakfast is served. You can serve cold like muesli, or warm it briefly in the microwave.

 

Berry Coconut Smoothie Bowl

Leave a comment

Berry Smoothie BowlThis breakfast bowl will give a powerful boost to your kiddo’s day. I love that it’s packed with superfoods, and kids just love that it tastes good.

Ingredients:

  • 10 ounces coconut yogurt
  • 1 cup frozen strawberries
  • 1/4 cup cashews
  • 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
  • 2 tablespoons coconut water
  • 1 tablespoon shredded coconut
  • 1 tablespoon cacao nibs
  • Strawberries, for serving
  1. In a blender, combine the yogurt, frozen strawberries, cashews, flaxseed, and coconut water; process until smooth.
  2. Divide the mixture evenly between two bowls, and sprinkle evenly with the shredded coconut and cacao nibs. Add extra berries for serving, if desired!

Breakfast Banana Split

1 Comment

Banana Split

It’s my boy’s fourth birthday, and that calls for something a little extra special at breakfast. Ice cream sundaes for breakfast? Why not, if it’s summer and you’re turning 4! If you want to make this dish a little more everyday-friendly, replace the ice cream with your favorite non-dairy vanilla yogurt.

Ingredients:

  • 1 banana
  • 2 scoops non-dairy vanilla ice cream
  • 1/4 cup blueberries
  • 2 tablespoons granola
  • 1 tablespoon almond butter, warmed
  1. Cut the banana in half lengthwise, and arrange on a plate.
  2. Top the banana with the ice cream, blueberries, and granola. Drizzle with the almond butter.

Now that’s a sweet start to the day!

Crack-of-Dawn Muffins

Leave a comment

Early Muffins (2)

When your preschooler wakes up at 5.30 in the morning and immediately says, “Mom, let’s make a recipe!” you need something that only relies on pantry staples. Thinking quick, we put together this basic-as-can-be muffin recipe, and had warm muffins for breakfast about 30 minutes later. The perfect start to the day!

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 Ener-G egg
  • 1 cup plain or vanilla almond milk
  • 1/4 cup melted Earth Balance butter
  • 1/2 cup chopped dates (optional)
  • Brown sugar for dusting (optional)
  1. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; set aside.
  2. In a second, bowl, whisk together the Ener-G egg, almond milk, and butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
  3. Stir in the dates (if using), then divide the batter evenly among 10 to 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Dust each muffin with a little brown sugar, if you have it on hand.
  4. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

Early Muffins (1)

Easy-Freezy Breakfast Burritos

Leave a comment

Freezy Burrito alt

Make a big batch of this burrito filling on the weekend, roll up the filled burritos in foil, place them in the freezer, and bam! Breakfast all week is solved. Or in a pinch, we love these for dinner!

For my picky preschooler, I leave the scrambled tofu rather plain – just a dash of turmeric for color. Feel free to add additional spices or chopped veggies for older kids and grown-ups. We like to use the slightly-sweet breakfast sausage from Field Roast for these burritos.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 2 cups frozen hash browns
  • 6 ounces chopped vegan breakfast sausage
  • 1 (14-ounce) package firm tofu
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 to 8 flour tortillas
  1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the hash browns and cook for 4 minutes.
  2. Stir in the chopped sausage and cook for an additional 3 to 4minutes, until browned.
  3. Mash the tofu with a fork until it resembles scrambled eggs. Add to the pan, along with the turmeric and salt. Cook for a final few minutes until heated through.
  4. Warm the tortillas for about 15 seconds each in the microwave. Divide the filling evenly among tortillas – depending how stuffed you want your burritos, you’ll have enough to fill 6 to 8 tortillas.
  5. Roll up in foil. Store in the fridge up to 3 days, or place in the freezer until ready to eat!

 

Quick Steel-Cut Oats

Leave a comment

Quick Steel Oats.JPGI used to prep steel-cut oats at night, but somehow this was much easier when my son was a toddler versus now in preschool. And as much as I love the taste and nutrition in steel-cut oats, they’re way too time-consuming to make in the morning. Enter quick steel-cut oats, sold much like quick-cooking barley so that the cooking time is nearly a third. This recipe comes together while your crew is stumbling out of bed and getting dressed.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups vanilla non-dairy milk
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup quick steel-cut oats
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • Pinch of ground nutmeg
  1. Combine the milk and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
  2. Stir in the oats, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and nutmeg. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 7 minutes, until thickened. Cover and let stand for 1 minute.

We like the oats drizzled with maple syrup and then topped with strawberries and chopped pecans. How do you top your oats in the morning?

Berry Good Baked French Toast

Leave a comment

French Toast (1)

Yes, you can make weekday mornings feel less frazzled and more special. Prepare this dish the night before, pop it in the oven, and a weekend-worthy breakfast is ready on a weekday morning!

Ingredients:

  • 1 teaspoon Earth Balance butter
  • 1 (12-ounce) loaf French bread
  • 1 and 1/2 cups frozen blueberries, divided
  • 4 ounces Daiya cream cheese, divided
  • 4 Ener-G eggs
  • 1 and 1/2 cups plain non-dairy milk
  • 2/3 cup plain non-dairy creamer
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  1. Butter a 3-quart baking dish and set aside.
  2. Cut the bread loaf into 1-inch pieces and arrange half of the bread in the bottom of the prepared pan. Top with 2/3 cup blueberries and 2 ounces cream cheese (cut into small pieces). Repeat the layers with the remaining bread, blueberries, and cream cheese.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the Ener-G eggs, milk, creamer, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Pour over the bread mixture. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours, and up to overnight.
  4. Bake the French toast a 350 degrees F for 50 to 60 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving. Dust with powdered sugar if desired, or top with a drizzle of maple syrup!

French Toast (2)

Apple-Spice Mug Muffin

Leave a comment

Mug Muffin (2)

When you’re craving muffins but don’t want a whole batch sitting around in the fridge or freezer, these individual mug-sized muffins are the answer to your prayers.

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 4 teaspoons brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3 tablespoons plain unsweetened non-dairy milk
  • 1 tablespoon Earth Balance butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons shredded apple
  1. The night before, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and baking soda in a microwave-safe mug; Cover and set aside.
  2. In the morning, add the milk, butter (melted), and vanilla, stirring to combine. Fold in the apple.
  3. Microwave for 2 minutes, then let cool slightly before serving.

My son likes his muffin plain…

Mug Muffin (4)

…but I like adding a little extra chopped apple and a spoonful of vanilla non-dairy yogurt to serve. Or try a little dollop of soy whipped cream!

Mug Muffin (3)