Bacon and Egg Breakfast Cups

I am ALWAYS on the lookout for a quick, healthy and easy breakfast to feed the girls.  Our mornings are sometimes a little (lol!) hectic and having some thing made ahead or that is fast makes it oh so much better.  Usually they get these really tasty breakfast sandwiches but when I saw these on Kristen’s blog (Dine and Dish) I knew I would have to try them.

They were a real hit.  I ended up changing it and using bacon that I cooked up the night before because I didn’t have any ham.  The kiddo’s loved them.  Lauren will eat 2 of these at a sitting.  Easy to make a dozen and heat them up over the next couple of days…

Bacon and Egg Breakfast Cups (Dine and Dish)
Ingredients:

• 12 eggs
• 1 cup chopped cooked bacon
• 2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Spray a muffin pan generously with Pam cooking spray
3. Crack one egg into each hole of the muffin pan, using a fork to gently break the yolk.
4. Sprinkle each egg with bacon, salt, cracked black pepper and cheese.
5. Bake for 20 minutes.
6. Pop out of muffin tins and serve.

Dark Chocolate and Bacon (yes, bacon) Cupcakes

I have so many things that I have made and kept meaning to post.  You know like the perfect popsicle, or salad and then you get distracted by a play date by the pool, or a trip to the beach, or a lengthy vacation?  Well that’s exactly how my summer went. 

So better late then never here are some cupcakes that I made for Tony’s birthday by special request.  I won’t even tell you when his birthday was but I will tell you that he loved these things!  For me it was really the novelty of it and I really didn’t like the smokiness with the chocolate but truth be told I am not a huge smoky flavor lover.  Really none of that mattered anyway.  It was his birthday and these are what he wanted…

Dark Chocolate and Bacon Cupcakes (allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 12 slices bacon
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup cold, strong, brewed coffee
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, 3/4 cup cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the eggs, coffee, buttermilk and oil. Stir just until blended. Mix in 3/4 of the bacon, reserving the rest for garnish. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, dividing evenly.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan set over a wire rack. When cool, arrange the cupcakes on a serving platter. Frost with your favorite chocolate frosting and sprinkle reserved bacon crumbles on top. Dust with additional cocoa powder.

Pasta All'Amatriciana

Sunday dinner for us has usually included a big meal that generally takes a ton of prep and a long time to cook as it is the one day of the week that we don’t have anything going on.  This week was going to be different and I wanted to try a recipe that would help me to feel really good the next morning when I went for my run!  This recipe fit the bill perfectly and one I will be adding to our regular rotation. The balance of salty, smoky and sweet is amazing and I loved the whole wheat pasta that we used with it!

This is a traditional Roman dish and the next time I make it I want to use some good pancetta in it.  I used bacon and loved it so can only imagine how great it would be with pancetta!!!  I think I will also add some red pepper flakes to give it a spicy edge to it…

 

Pasta All'Amatriciana (How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 to 1/3 cup minced good bacon or pancetta
1 small onion, minced
1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes, drained
1 pound linguine, spaghetti, fettuccine, or other long pasta
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese
Minced fresh parsley leaves

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Place the oil and bacon or pancetta in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the meat becomes crisp, about 10 minutes.
3. When the meat is done, remove it with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat in the pan. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until it browns. Turn off the heat for a minute (this will reduce the spattering when you add the tomatoes).
4. Crush the tomatoes with a fork or your hands and add them to the pan. Turn the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down and the mixture becomes saucy, about 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, salt the boiling water and cook the pasta until it is tender but firm. Drain it, toss it with the sauce, and top with the reserved bacon, the Parmesan, and the parsley. Serve, passing additional Parmesan at the table.

***This is really such a perfectly balanced dish!  Salty, sweet and acidic all in one forkful.  I did use whole wheat linguine instead of white and 2 can of diced and drained tomatoes.

***I calculated this without the Parmesan and Romano cheese as you can sprinkle this on yourself and it came out to 7 WW points based on 4 servings.

Breakfast Sandwich that’s better than that other place…

My girls are pretty self sufficient in the morning when it comes to making their own breakfast but usually it is just a bowl of cereal with some fruit, toast or some oatmeal.  This works out great for me because I work every morning and when it’s busy I just don’t always want to stop to make them something to eat! 

On special days or days when I know they have worked their little bodies pretty hard the night before (BMX or Ice Skating) I will get up early and make them their favorite breakfast…

It’s really nice and simple and they truly love it…

Breakfast Sandwich (makes 2)

     Ingredients:

4 slices of bacon, cut in half so they fit on the Sandwich Thin
2 eggs
2 slices of American cheese
2 Arnold’s Select Multigrain Sandwich Thins

 

Directions:

Place the bacon slices in your cast iron skillet (works best but you can use any skillet), cook until nice and crispy.

Toast your sandwich thins once the bacon has cooked.

Cook your eggs in the same skillet with the hot bacon grease.  Salt and pepper the egg and gently break the yolk.  Turn the egg to make it over easy and have the yolk mostly hard.  Top with the slice of cheese and allow to melt slightly.

Top one half of one of the toasted Sandwich Thins with 4 slices of the bacon (cut in half so they fit right?), then top with the cooked egg and melted cheese and the other Sandwich thin half.

Repeat for second one.

**They really like this with a cut up banana and some OJ.

***We have been known to have this for dinner as well…We love “Breakfast for Dinner Nights”!