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Sunday, February 13, 2011

Valentine's Day Breakfast

There are many ways a wife can show her husband how much she loves and appreciates him.  It didn't take me very long to find the way to Ben's heart - through his stomach.  That and weird Science Fiction movies.  Anyway, this year Valentine's Day falls on a Monday, and I was immediately ticked off.  Ben has class every Monday until 8:00, and apparently Valentine's Day is not a good enough reasons for a law school to cancel classes.  After much pouting, whining, and complaining (by yours truly), we decided to just celebrate V-Day on Sunday.  So I woke up early and made Ben a breakfast of all his favorite foods - Honey Cornbread Muffins, Egg Bake, and Homemade Hashbrowns.  He slept for another 2 hours and then read the paper for an hour.  Aren't I a nice wife? 
Enjoy the recipes!

Honey Cornbread Muffins
12 Muffins
I've been making these for a couple of years.  I believe they were adapted from foodnetwork.com, but I do not remember for sure. 


1 c. yellow cornmeal
1 c. all-purpose flour (1/2 wheat and 1/2 white works fine)
1 T. baking powder
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. salt
1 c. milk
2 eggs
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 c. honey

1.)  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line muffin pan with paper muffin cups.
2.)  Mix cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt.
3.)  In another bowl  whisk milk, eggs, butter, and honey.
4.)  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.  Pour into muffin pan - fill to the top.
5.)  Bake 15 minutes until golden and toothpick comes out clean.







Brunch Egg Bake
adapted from allrecipes.com
Serves:  4
I cut the original recipe in half, so my version can easily be doubled.

1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
1 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 (4 oz) jar, mushroom stems and pieces, no salt added
1/4 c. red pepper, chopped
2 tsp. canola oil
3 T. sliced green onions
1 c. ham, diced and cooked
4 eggs
3/4 c. + 2 T. milk
1/4 c. flour (whole wheat worked just fine for me)
about 1/2 T. parsley, dried (The original recipe called for 1 T. fresh)
1/4 tsp. basil, dried
salt and pepper


1.)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.)  Shred and combine cheeses.  Place 1 cup (half) in an greased 8x8 baking dish and set aside.
3.)  In a medium skillet, saute mushrooms, onions and red pepper in canola oil until tender; drain.
4.) Place over cheese; top with ham. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
5.)  In a bowl, beat eggs. Add milk, flour, parsley, basil, salt and pepper; mix well. Slowly pour over the cheese.
6.)  Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting. 


 




Homemade Hash browns
Serves 2
Ben was complaining a couple of weeks ago how I never let him buy frozen hash browns anymore, so I came up with these.  They turned out really well!

1.)  Peel 2-3 Potatoes
2.)  Grate using a cheese grater and soak up excess moisture with paper towels. 
3.)  Put in a microwave safe container and microwave for 3 minutes. 
4.)  Heat a pan with 2-3 tsp. of canola oil on medium heat. 
5.)  Place shredded potatoes in pan and flatten with spatula.  Cook on both sides until lightly browned. 
6.)  Turn burner to high and sear the outside. 





And the final result....
Our breakfasts usually include a little more healthy food - such as fruit or yogurt, but you don't celebrate V-Day every day of the year!