‘Breakfast Recipes’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Recipe: Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cakes {Kathy Wakile}

November 3, 2014 · Narrative

A delicious little grab-and-go coffee cake just bursting with blueberry flavor.

Sometimes new favorite recipes come from the most unlikely of sources.

This is that.

Kathy Wakile is a semi-frequent cast member of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. She is not one of the loud, brash, table flipping members. Rather, she is quite the opposite, and usually the peace maker amongst all the troublemakers. Known for her delicious homemade desserts, a year or two ago, she turned that passion into a business and started producing her own dessert line, offering it in both retail locations and direct from her web site. And just recently, she introduced a new cookbook, Indulge. And this recipe was recently excerpted in People magazine.

And here we are.

It caught my eye because I’m always looking for a new grab-and-go item for the kids’ for breakfast. These Banana Chocolate Chip Espresso Muffins from the Brooklyn bakery, Baked, have been in regular rotation for a few years, but I like to change it up every now and again and this time, it came by way of these Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cakes.

Or Exploding Blueberry Muffins, and I prefer to call them.

One of my gripes about muffin recipes is that I can never seem to get them to dome the way they do if you buy them somewhere. So when I saw them rising, and keeping their shape, I knew we were onto something good.

They came together in under ten minutes, mixing mostly traditional ingredients together, and baking in the oven for about 25 minutes. Once they come out, you are rewarded with simply gorgeous muffins. Beautifully domed, and full and plump, they were filled to capacity with blueberries, pretty much guaranteeing a burst blueberry with every bite. And then the little bit of crispy streusel topping was just the lily gilding it needed.

My favorite way to enjoy them? As with all muffins. Split in half, toasted, with a light smear of butter.

I packaged up a bunch and shared with the bus stop parents this morning.

I would say that Monday was off to a good start, but it went sharply downhill from there.

But we’ll always have these muffins.

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Recipe: Grab-and-Go Breakfast Sandwich {Farmland Products}

September 3, 2013 · Ad-Free, Narrative

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Farmland but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #porkinapinch http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO

Today, Madeline had her Kindergarten orientation. Met her teacher. Took a short bus ride. Checked out her classroom. Met the other students in her class.

And, let me tell you, I am so not ready.

Not ready for either of them to grow up anymore than they already have.

And so not ready to put her on the bus come Monday morning.

I know she will be fine. It will be fine. All will be fine.

But I guarantee I will still be a mess.

She’s growing up, with or without my consent.

And that bus next week? It’s going to come awful early. And Nick’s? Even earlier still.

Like before 7 am early.

Talk about a reality check.

And so this week, in our last week of summer vacation, we’re getting ourselves ready.

Buying the last of the school supplies.

Buying that “first day” outfit.

Meal planning ahead for easy dinners when weeknights aren’t our own anymore.

And figuring out breakfast.

Because these kids of mine? Are not fans of eating before school. Nor an early morning alarm clock.

And so I have grown accustomed to showing something in their hand on our way out the door, hovering that line between doing my job to nourish them, but not nagging them to infinite levels.

Because breakfast? It’s still considered the most important meal of the day.

And who am I to stand in the way of that?

So I will have bags of cereal that they can grab and munch on (sans milk, of course).

Healthy granola bars (some homemade).

These banana muffins that both of them love (make a batch or two on a less busy weekend and stash them in the freezer; take a few out the night before, and they’ll be perfect for a grab-and-go breakfast).

And when they need something slightly heartier and more filling, these sandwiches.

Like the banana muffins, I make a bunch ahead of time, individually wrap them, and freeze them. In the morning, I toast the muffin portion, microwave the egg portion, put it back together, rewrap, and they’re on their way. By having a stash in the freezer already, it makes for a filling breakfast that they can take with them on their way out the door. My conscious is clear, and I’ve done my job.

I use pre-cooked sausages from Farmland. Cheddar cheese from Cabot (my favorite). Eggs (and sometimes just egg whites). A little sprinkle of Mrs. Dash. Perfection. And since I assemble them ahead of time, it means I can also individualize them. Nick likes eggs, Madeline doesn’t (yet), so I can easily mix and match what goes inside the sandwich for each of them. When I wrap them up in foil, I just mark the outside with their initials, and I’m set.

Because anything to make the am routine go a little smoother, and allow for a few more minutes of shut-eye, is a movement I can totally get behind.

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Recipe: Banana Crumb Muffins

October 24, 2012 · Narrative

Alright, time to lighten the mood. For at least a post.

When it comes to Nick and food, there are two things I can count on.

He loves muffins.

He loves soup.

For the most part, pretty much any kind of either.

It’s like, if I want to see an insta-smile, I just make one and I’m the world best mom.

Like ever.

I haven’t yet figured out the keys to his sister’s castle.

She’s a work in progress. Particularly when it comes to food.

Last week, she all out refused to eat dinner three nights in a row.

And even went so far as to sleep through dinner to prove her point.

Little stinker.

Nick went through the same thing when he was her age, and I distinctly remember his pediatrician standing in front of us, saying “Some adults don’t eat dinner either. They’re grazers.”

Kids eat when they’re hungry. I get it, and believe it.

And darn it if Madeline isn’t set out to prove that to be truth.

When the kids are with their dad on his weekends, I try to bake some extra special treats on the Sunday when they come home. Either a fun dessert. Or cookies. Or granola bars for lunch boxes. Or muffins for breakfast.

Because it’s super easy to get more cooking done without 1,567 interruptions.

You know how it goes.

And because when there are exactly four overly ripe bananas sitting on my kitchen counter.

Just begging to turn into mush.

There is no better thing than to make them into muffins.

Or bread.

Or banana pancakes.

But for the case of tonight’s post, it’s muffins, so keep up.

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Recipe: Cinnamon Sugar French Toast

July 20, 2011 · Narrative

I’m a big fan of breakfast for dinner. Mostly because it’s a break from the ordinary and something we can all agree on. That means it’s easy, and I don’t know about you, but when the temps soar well past the 90 degree mark, I am all about the easy. Hello Breakfast for Dinner, welcome to our life.

Growing up, my mom made great breakfasts. And not for dinner. French Toast, pancakes, scrambled eggs… and bacon. Extra crispy if my Dad wasn’t paying attention, which is good ’cause that’s the way everyone else happens to like it. You know, so crispy that it crumbled when you took a bite. I totally miss her breakfasts. And actually, just someone else making breakfast. I swear, that first meal of the day just gets harder and harder, and knowing how important it is, well that just puts all the more pressure on us, doesn’t it? I mean, healthy, quick, kid-approved, family-friendly AND before getting out the door for work, school, camp and what have you? It’s quite the tall order for us, and at such an early hour of the day.

My cheat? When I have extra time, I make a big batch breakfast of something that I know the kids like … Banana Pancakes, sweet breads, regular pancakes, muffins and even French Toast … then I freeze the extra and that way, I can just heat and eat and skip the guilt. Can I get an amen?

Last month, the folks at General Mills invited several bloggers to create something using one of their new products, Land O Lakes Cinnamon Sugar Butter. As soon as I heard “cinnamon sugar,” my mind went instantly to French Toast. Wait, that’s actually a lie. The FIRST thing I thought of was the cinnamon sugar toast that my Mom used to make us sometimes, but, well, I’m not sure that’s what they had in mind when they asked for a new recipe. Almost certain it wasn’t. So the SECOND thing I thought of was to use the new product on a batch of French Toast.

And we ate it for dinner. With about a half pound of crispy bacon. I didn’t say this was a clean eating night. All things in moderation, folks.

Mystic happened to come by after work, and he and Nick camped out in the living room, watching an episode of iCarly and chowing down on this breakfast treat. Nick has probably seen every episode of iCarly about ten thousand times. Which means we pretty much have too. And since iCarly is also a favorite with Mystic’s daughter, you know he’s the patient sort when he sat down to watch that episode. That, and food is an excellent distraction, methinks.

Nick topped his with maple syrup, as did Mystic. I snuck a piece in the kitchen while finishing off cooking the last few pieces, and I went the whipped cream and strawberry route. Madeline went the “I’m not eating anything for dinner and you can’t make me” route, even though she admitted it looked good. If there was someone else dropping in, I would have convinced them to try it with a bit of jam smeared on it. Or maybe with a little dusting on confectioner’s sugar and rolled up. The possibilities are endless.

July 20, 2011 – Bonus Photos

She found out that I have a date tonight. With my favorite almost nine-year-old. And went and got a dress on, a purse and my shoes. Wearing a dress on a non-holiday or occasion is huge for her. Hopefully they are not too many tears when we leave.

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