Tag Archives: breakfast

Keto/low carb

Sausage puffs, milestones are blessings but simple is good too

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Oh my. What a weekend, y’all! What. A. Weekend. Actually what a week!! A week full of milestones. Wonderful blessings, but milestones none the less. First of all, I registered my oldest for high school. We are so proud of him and so excited but man, it’s a hard pill to swallow! High school!

So that was Wednesday! Thursday, we celebrated my daughter turning 13. She became a teenager. So now we have 2 teenagers in the house. Craziness!! She’s blossoming and becoming her own person, so it’s hard to be sad, as I’m lucky to see her grow, but man 13 years went by quickly and sometimes that’s a little overwhelming. I’m sure lots of mamas and daddies out there can relate.

Her actual birthday was Friday, but we celebrated Thursday because big brother had a Sadie’s dance and had to be there. Then on Saturday, Big Daddy and I celebrated 17 years of marriage! Yikes! How did that happen? I feel like all week I asked myself how in the heck did that happen? Time sure is not slowing down for anyone.

A wonderful friend of ours had gotten us a night at a bed and breakfast last year, but we never used it. Life was just chaos at that time and then suddenly another year had gone by. How did that happen?! See?! There I go again! So she came and stayed with the kids, who were all too anxious to see us move along as Lo spoils them rotten and they have too much fun together.

So off we went. And we had so much fun. Just a nice break from reality. Frankly, we were past due. It was time. Fairfield Manor treated us like royalty and even served us breakfast in bed. If you are in the area and looking for a place to stay, I highly recommend this bed and breakfast!

So now it’s Sunday and it’s time to get back to reality. Cue that song from the late 80’s by Soul II Soul…back to life, back to reality, back to the hear and now…lol! I’m frankly looking forward to a week of no milestones. After a week of nothing but milestones, a week of regular days sounds so lovely. It’s always nice to celebrate and enjoy, but I love simplicity. And these low carb, keto friendly sausage puffs go right along with that simple vibe. A friend of mine who subs up at the school where I work sent this recipe for low carb sausage puffs one day and said they were a hit at her house. I got the stuff and finally tried them this afternoon, thinking that they’d be a nice breakfast or a quick bite for lunch. They make your kitchen smell so yummy and they are so delicious!! My little tootie girl, aka #3, loves them! Rachel warned me I needed to double the recipe and she was right! I should have! They are super simple to whip up, and they bake up quick. Yes, they are basically sausage balls. Yummy! I usually balk at using coconut flour, as I do not enjoy it in pancakes, but in this recipe you can hardly taste it. Sometimes the simple things make life so much better! Quick bite to grab if I know I need to eat but don’t want the extra carbs?! Score!

Sausage puffs (makes about 25)

Stuff you need~

1 pound (roll) breakfast sausage, browned and drained-not crumbled!!!

4 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter, cooled

4 eggs

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar

1/3 cup coconut flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

A few turns of Himalayan pink salt

What to do with the stuff~

Melt the butter in the microwave and then put in fridge to cool. The pampered chef 2 cup prep bowl works great for this!

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Brown your sausage in a large skillet. Do not crumble the sausage completely. Just sort of break it up a little. I use my Pampered Chef mix n chop for this in my big all purpose skillet and it was a breeze.

In a medium size bowl, add your eggs, sour cream, garlic powder, salt and cooled butter and whisk together.

Whisk in the coconut flour and baking powder to this mixture.

Next, add the broken up browned and drained sausage and shredded cheddar. Mix well. I use my Pampered Chef mix n scrape and I find that incorporates all the ingredients together beautifully.

Now, using a spoon or In my case, a Pampered Chef scoop to make these sausage puffs a reality. It works great. The original poster said she made 35 puffs, but I only managed to get 25. I imagine I used a bigger scoop. It’s all good. She said you did not need much space in between each puff, so I just loaded up that baking sheet.

Pop these bad boys into your preheated oven for 15 minutes give or take. And prepare for the wonderful smells to draw people in. When done allow them to set for a few minutes. Store in a air tight container in the fridge. Be prepared to stay in your macros all week long!

Here’s to a simple, keto friendly week of no milestones!! Yes!!

Enjoy and God bless!!

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Pioneer Woman’s Eggberts Sunriser

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Ok, first of all, it may seem like I have a slight fixation with the Pioneer Woman aka Ree Drummond.  I admit, that may be a little true.  I think she is beautiful, witty, smart, and I love her recipes.  She has 4 kids just like me and she was a city girl who married a country boy and learned to adapt and bloomed where she was planted.  I got to say, that is a lot like my story.  So I guess I identify with her and I love to cook and her recipes seem to be the ones I gravitate to.  So, I showcase many of her recipes on my blog and all of this is amounts to a hill of beans except you get the benefit of my take on her recipes and I share them with you.  Do ya’ll remember this pic…Image

Yeah…I guess I have a little fan obsessed when it comes to PW.  That’s ok…we all have our thang, right?  So, naturally I follow her on Facebook and the other day a picture popped up on my newsfeed that made me drool.  A recipe that I knew I could not walk on this Earth much longer without making.  It practically cried and begged me to make it.  Bless its little heart…I had to answer its cries.

So,  a little back story here.  Big Daddy loves him some breakfast.  I grew up in a household that did not make breakfast except for rare occasions and on vacation.  He grew up in a family of pancakes or french toast every morning.  Breakfast was a must and for him it still is.  I have certainly developed a deeper appreciation for the most important meal of the day and now that we have our kiddos, they of course eat breakfast every morning.  It stands to reason that seeing a recipe for a wonderful concoction called an Eggberts Sunriser would drive me to drop it all and make one ASAP.  Well, it just so happened that the perfect occasion presented itself almost immediately.  Our 13th anniversary.  What?  You say, a breakfast recipe for your anniversary.  Well…yes.  Let me tell you, Saturday my youngest starts complaining of a sore throat.  When I tell you my easy going baby boy does not complain often, I mean that.  So I knew something was up.  Then Sunday, when some friends were over to celebrate our oldest daughter’s birthday, started running fever and it was downhill from there.  The writing was on the wall…our anniversary was the next day and going out to dinner was probably not going to happen that day.  BUT I could make him a delicious anniversary breakfast.  Eggberts Sunriser seemed appropriate.  So I made it.  Ya’ll…it was so perfect.  I looked so tasty when I put his together that I followed right in there and fixed myself one.  OH.  MY.  WORD.  All I can say is, if you are a breakfast lover or like me a brunch fanatic, you have to get in there and try this.  You can read all about PW’s take on this recipe here…http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/12/the-eggberts-sunriser.  For now, here is my take on this fabulousness. Oh and after a trip to our pediatrician’s office, it has been confirmed that my baby has strep throat and a double ear infection.  Yeah, fancy dinner out for 13th anniversary was not in the cards.  That’s ok…plenty of time for that.

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Happy 13 years of wedded bliss/craziness to us!!  I love this man so.  He makes me happy.  And nuts.  But mostly happy.  

Eggberts Sunriser 

Serves:4

Stuff you need~

8 cups frozen hash browns

20 whole frozen mini potato wedges (I used some leftover baked potatoes that I had from Sunday lunch.  I cut those up into wedges and then did the same thing)

Canola oil for frying

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 whole medium onion, diced

1 whole green bell pepper, diced

1 whole red bell pepper, diced

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced (optional)

1 1/2 cups diced ham

1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

4 Tablespoons butter

8 whole eggs

Salsa for topping, optional

What to do with the stuff~

Now, I will start by telling you that I halved this recipe because I knew it would be only Big Daddy and I eating this, but next time I will probably make extra because you could easily reuse this stuff together for breakfast burritos.  We love breakfast burritos in this house and also like to use up what we cook, so for us this is a win win.  Also, I think next time I will omit the hashbrowns and mini wedges and just use all cut up baked potatoes.  What my mother in law (the great and wonderful Deb) calls country fried potatoes.  Mmmmm.

Ok…Now, to start off…grab a big cast iron skillet and really douse it well with canola oil.  Cover the bottom and then add some more.  Trust me.  I tried to use my oil sparingly and it resulted in the frozen hash browns sticking to the bottom of the pan.  You don’t want to deep fry them, but you want them crispy and browned well.  Not stuck to the bottom.  Got it?  Good.  Heat the oil over medium heat and then cover the bottom of the pan with the hash browns.  Now, season them really well as they cook and don’t turn them much.  Ideally, you want to let them brown and then flip them maybe once.  Let them be, precious little darlings.  Let them become crispy and brown.  Again…don’t let them burn.  If you need more oil, add some to the pan.  I did and it was all good.

Now, if you are going the frozen wedge route, you will add considerably more canola oil to your skillet so you can kind of deep fry the wedges.  I just added the baked potato wedges to the pan at the end of frying the hash browns and let them brown some.  Or you can bake the frozen wedges.  It is really up to you.  I HATE to deep fry.  It is just so messy and makes the house smell.  To each his or her own though so do your thing!  In another skillet, add some canola oil and warm it over medium heat.  Not a lot of oil, but enough to just grease the skillet.  Now, stir in the diced veggies and ham.  You want to stir it around just let the raw veggies get a little tender and take the rawness away.  Unless you like all that stuff raw, then, well skip this step I guess.  I probably cooked mine for about 8 or 10 minutes, stirring several times.

Now, in a bowl, layer a some of the hash browns, then wedges, then the veggie and ham combo.  Now, sprinkle some cheese over this.  While the cheese is doing its melting thing, get out a small skillet and add your butter to it.  Turn on the heat on medium low and let the butter melt.  Crack your eggs into the skillet and cook them to taste.  Big Daddy likes his sunny side up but I am an over medium gal.  The pic I took is of mine so it is not as pretty as his was.  Or PW’s picture on her’s.  But mine still had the yellow juice and it dripped down over the potatoes and…oh just writing about this is making my mouth absolutely water.  Sweet Maria, that was an excellent breakfast.  Definitely put a fresh start on our 13th anniversary and if this next year of our marriage is as good as Eggberts Sunriser…well we are in for one wonderful year.  I am pretty dang sure we have started a new anniversary tradition…or a once a week tradition.  Yeah, this dish is that good.

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Happy, happy, happy!

 

breakfast

Beignets…the real deal

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Ok a few things.  The other day I  am scrolling through my Facebook feed the other day and I see The Sweet and Savory Sisters’ recipe for real authentic beignets. Not fried biscuits…beignets  out of made from scratch batter.  The real deal.  The full enchilada.     Well, the deal was sealed and I knew right then and there that those babies would be on our table at some point this weekend.  We all love Cafe Du Monde, right?  It is the quintessential NOLA experience.  Well, these babies will take you there.  If you have never been, first of all, bless your heart because you are missing out and second of all, the taste of these beignets very closely mimics theirs’.  Now, naturally, the ambiance that makes Cafe Du Monde what it is, is missing.  But with a plateful of these and a cup of cafe au lait, you can almost close your eyes and make believe.  They are that good.  The almond extract makes all the difference, much to my surprise.  This recipe is very simple and quick to pull together.  You just need basic ingredients and cooking oil.  I had an oil thermometer and it really made the job super easy.  Your oil needs to be at 375 degrees and stay there as consistently as possible.   My beignets came out perfectly browned and ready for all that delicious powdered sugar.  I am pretty sure these will be a Sunday morning tradition in our house from here on out.  And I hate to fry.  So for me to say this, it tells you how little trouble these were.  I encourage you to bring a little bit of NOLA home, no matter where you live.  On a spring day, when the birds are chirping and the morning air is a little crisp, you will almost swear you can hear the jazz music and the church bells ringing at St. Louis Cathedral (you can tell I have usually been to Cafe Du Monde on Sunday mornings).  And best of all…you don’t have to wait for a table!  Get the powdered sugar ya’ll…it is time for some beignets!

Now, the other thing is that I love the Sweet and Savory Sisters.  These girls have roots in Avoyelles Parish, which makes them just a little more precious to my heart.  My good friend, Angie, turned me on to them.  Like with many of my good friendships, Angie and I both love to cook and she loves good recipes.  I knew we were destined to be close when she barely knew me and emailed me a recipe for the best roast for poboys I have ever had.  Makes a poboy so close to the ones in NOLA that you will swoon.  You will want to slap your mama even if she is the most precious lady you know.  So, she continued to forward me their recipes.  I finally started getting their Facebook feed…that was a game changer.  These girls are flipping hilarious, love to cook and have a good time, yeah Cher!!  My kind of chicks.  So, maybe check them out.

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the grease is gettin’ hot baby!

Beignets (from http://www.thesweetandsavorysisters.com)

Stuff You Need:

1 cup water

1 cup milk

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon almond flavoring

3 cups of all purpose flour

2 Tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

oil for frying

powdered sugar

What to do with the Stuff:

Mix water, milk, egg, and almond flavoring.  Add flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar; mix until smooth.  Drop by spoonfuls into 2 inches of grease heated to 375 degrees.  Turn once to ensure even cooking.  Cook about 2 minutes on each side, depending on size it may take longer.  Drain well on paper towels and sprinkle (ok..douse) with powdered sugar.  OOOOH WEEEE!!!  Talk about good!!!

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Mixing up that sweet beignet batter…

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Just scrumptious…bringing NOLA home 

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Breakfast Danish Casserole

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I love brunch. I am not sure if I have ever shared that little tidbit with ya’ll…but I do.  It is just such a convenient meal.  It is so versatile.  It can be as big and fancy of an ordeal as you want, but it can be laid back and relaxed if you choose.  You can have such a variety of foods when you plan a brunch too.  It is a culmination of all things good.  It’s an ANYTHING goes meal for the most part.  Who doesn’t love that?  The part I enjoy the most about it is that I can have a cup of coffee or two before I have to get cracking.  That makes for a much happier household and Cajun Mama likes happy.  Now, when you factor in that brunch makes it perfectly acceptable to drink at 10 in the morning, that just pushes brunch to the top of my list.  Mimosas, Bloody Marys, and coffee with Bailey’s in it.  I mean….what is not to love?  Over the next few days, I will be sharing my favorite brunch recipes.  I have some yummy, super easy ones and some that are a little bit more involved but totally worth it.  We can call it Blog About Brunch Week!!  Extra, extra bloggin about brunch, ya’ll!!!  Hope you will come back for some more scrumptious brunch recipes.

I am sure it would not tax anyone’s imagination to find out that I have an entire Pinterest board (or two..) dedicated to brunch foods.  So, when I ran across this Breakfast Danish casserole, it was an absolute shoe in for me to try ASAP.  I made it once a few months ago and it was a hit across the board.  Perfect with coffee and a definite kid friendly dish.  It is like dessert..at breakfast!  This is so easy to prepare, I can do it after only one cup of coffee.  That is pretty easy…let me tell you!  I had been pondering what to make for our Christmas morning breakfast.  I wanted to do  a brunch so that it would give us a chance to let the kids open their gifts and give us something more substantial than cinnamon rolls from the can.  Don’t get me wrong, we LOVE cinnamon rolls from the can…just wanted to do something more special for Christmas morning.  Big Daddy asked me to make biscuits and sausage gravy, so I knew we would have that and I LOVE grits and I have an excellent recipe for a cheesy garlic grits casserole (hint hint at my next post)…but I wanted something sweet to round it out.  Yes, I could have chosen fruit and we usually put that in there, but it is Christmas morning and I felt like breaking a few rules.  Being naughty after being nice for so long.  LOL!!  Plus, I didn’t have any fruit and there was no way in the world I was fighting the lines at Brookshires or Kroger to buy fruit.  So, breakfast danish casserole it is!!!  This was an EXCELLENT brunch menu.  With some fruit to add some color and nutrition to it, it would have been perfect!  It was pretty much a cinch to make and everyone was happy and full.

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Scrumptious I tell ya’ll…mmmm

Breakfast Danish Casserole (adapted from Key Ingredient http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes)

Stuff you need:

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls (like Pillsbury)

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (My mother in law turned me on to Butter Nut Vanilla Extract…excellent in this recipe)

1 egg

1 egg white

1 cup of powdered sugar

milk

dash of vanilla

What to Do with the Stuff:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a 9 x 13 dish by spraying it with a light coating of cooking spray.  Lay out one tube of crescent roll dough (don’t separate) in one long piece on the bottom of prepared dish.  Pinch together any separated pieces or use your pastry roller.  In your standing mixer, cream together cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth.  Spread the mixture  evenly over the layer of crescent roll dough.  Lay second tube of crescent roll dough over the cream cheese mixture.  Brush the top with the egg white to ensure a nice golden brown top crust.  Pop this into the oven at bake for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden brown.

While the casserole is baking, make up your glaze.  It couldn’t be easier.  Dump powdered sugar into a small mixing bowl.  Add a little milk at a time, whisking after each pour of milk.  Add milk gradually until you have a mixture that is a little more runny than a paste.  You want it to pour but not be super runny.  Not as thick as peanut butter, but not as thin as syrup.  Does that make sense?  Probably more like molasses.  Whisk in a splash of vanilla.  When danish casserole is out of the oven, let it cool for about 15 minutes.  Pour the glaze over the semi cooled casserole.  Cut into squares and serve.  This will stand alone with a cup of coffee or a glass of ice cold milk.  You will love it.  I promise.

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As my Daddy says, “plum larapin”

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Cinnamon Toast Pioneer Woman style

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Morning everyone!!!  So this morning I went on a walk/run and it was wonderful.  Geez it is better than any medication I could ever take.  And then I came home and made some Pioneer Woman cinnamon toast.  Not sure if my walk/run did anything other than make me feel awesome, but oh well.  This cinnamon toast is totally worth it.

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When I say worth it, it is worth it.  So worth it.  Now, some of you may be wondering what kind of cajun mama needs a recipe for cinnamon toast?  Well…me.  I came across this recipe earlier in the year on the food blog, A Feast for the Eyes.  I had been making cinnamon toast here and there for breakfast and it was ok.  It really was.  But you must understand, my standard for cinnamon toast was pretty high.  My Momou used to make the BEST cinnamon toast (with cheesy eggs) for me when I would spend the night with her.  And I tried to duplicate it, but never could quite do it.  Well, now I know why and I have been able to recreate her cinnamon toast perfection.  The only thing missing is her.  She is still alive, but lives a little ways from me so that is not always possible on a Sunday morning.  Ok…so for those of you who love cinnamon toast.  Or love toast. Or even if you don’t, trust me, you should try this.  This is not ordinary, plain old cinnamon toast.  The key here ya’ll is REAL butter.  Not the tub stuff, not the stick “margarine”…the real deal people.  That is all I use anymore.  So do as I say and get the good stuff.  You can thank me later.  Or call me and sing me a song about your new love PW’s cinnamon toast.

Cinnamon Toast Pioneer Woman style (adapted from A Feast for the Eyes food blog)

You will need:

8 slices of bread (wheat or white is fine.  I have used both and it was divine)

A stick of real salted butter, softened (I usually pull my stick out and unwrap it and set it on the counter in a bowl when I get up and make my coffee.  After my first cup, it is usually good and soft.)

1/2 cup of sugar

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (I use roasted saigon cinnamon and it is ah-mazing!!  But the regular stuff is great too)

1 tsp.  vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (optional)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degress.

Mush softened butter with a fork.  Add sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg if you are using it.  Stir until it is all mixed together.  Stop licking it off of the fork.  You won’t have enough for the toast if you eat it all.  (not that I speak from experience…ha ha)

Spread evenly on each slice of bread.  You want to cover each piece from one edge to the other.  Place each piece on a cookie sheet.  Bake in preheated oven for about 10 minutes.  Then turn your broiler on lo and until it is a beautiful brown and it is bubbling slightly.  Watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn and you won’t cry because you have to start all over.  About 1-2 minutes.

Remove from oven, slice diagonally, and try to let it cool a bit before sinking your teeth into cinnamon toast heaven.  Try to share some with your family.  They would most likely like a piece too.  🙂