Tag: make ahead breakfast

Chocolate Overnight Oats with Chia Seeds

Chocolate Overnight Oats with Chia Seeds
Chocolate Overnight Oats with Chia Seeds

Never underestimate the power of chocolate. My lovely 3 year old, who has had chocolate only a handful of times but was not only willing to try this, but begging for a bite; and she kept eating. This is a fun treat, super easy to throw together the night before, and perfect for a quick breakfast, or in our case, a mid-morning snack. The toppings you use are totally up to you and what you have in your pantry. I love some sort of tart fruit, I usually use frozen raspberries, and the extra crunch of the almonds and coconut. Wolfie loved the bananas and Fox loved the coconut and freeze dried strawberries.

Chocolate Overnight Oats with Chia Seeds

Makes 2 large servings

Ingredients

  • 2 cups non-dairy milk
  • 3 TBL pure maple syrup
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • 2 TBL cocoa powder – I used a mixture of dutch and natural
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup chia seeds
  • Toppings of choice, this time I used: 1/2 a banana, sliced, 1 TBL sliced almonds, 2 TBL coconut chips, 2 TBL freeze dried strawberries, and a few chocolate chips. Other ideas are nut butter, coco nibs, frozen fruit, fresh fruit, other chopped nuts, whatevs.

Instructions

  1. Whisk together the milk, maple syrup, vanilla, almond, and cocoa powder in a bowl that has a lid.
  2. Stir in oats and chia seeds, cover, and refrigerate overnight, at least 6 hours.
  3. If you’re using frozen fruit you can toss it on top the night before and it will be thawed and lovely when you get to it in the morning.
  4. In the morning top with anything you desire.

 

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Vegetarian Tater Tot Hot Dish or as I like to call it “Careful, your Midwest is showing”

Tater Tot Breakfast Hot Dish
Tater Tot Breakfast Hot Dish

I blame Pinterest for this one, and the short days, and just feeling a little homesick after the move. Not that this dish would be found anywhere near Cambridge, MA, but it would be found in Wisconsin where I’m originally from. All I can think when I look at this is “careful, your midwest is showing.”  That being said it is everything a midwest dish should be; homey, salty, comforting, easy, cheesy, serves a crowd, and topped with tater tots. It is truly perfect for New Year’s Day because you can make it ahead of time, and just hang out drinking coffee while it bakes in the morning. You can start your New Years resolution eating at lunch.

This is a perfect dish for when you have overnight guests as it feeds a crowd with minimal effort, and will make most anyone happy if they are ok with tater tots for breakfast. And if they aren’t, well, you might want to decide if you need that kind of negativity in your life. If you really want to make it minimal effort in the morning just sauté your vegetables the night before and assemble the morning of.

Happy Midwestern Breakfast to you. I hope you’re holidays are merry and bright.

Breakfast Tater Tot Hot Dish

Ingredients

  • Oil for cooking
  • 2 cups chopped kale or mixture of vegetables -spinach, chard, broccoli, mushrooms, whatever
  • 1 leek, sliced lengthwise, rinsed, and thinly sliced into half moods if you don’t have a leek onion will be fine in a small dice.
  • salt and pepper for seasoning
  • 1/4 package soyrizo or 2 vegetarian breakfast sausages that have been warmed and chopped (optional)
  • 6 eggs
  • 3/4 cup milk or non-dairy milk
  • 1 cup shredded cheese – I like goat cheddar, but most anything will be good here
  • 1/2 LB frozen tater tots

Instructions

  1. Butter a 9×9 square baking pan.
  2. Preheat oven to 375 – if you’re prepping this a day ahead obviously do not preheat the oven. Wait until the morning are planning to cook please.
  3. Heat a medium skillet over medium high heat.
  4. Add oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan.
  5. Add kale and leek and cook stirring frequently until softened, 5-7 minutes.
  6. Season kale and leeks with salt and pepper, then stir in soyrizo or breakfast sausage and remove from heat.
  7. Spread the cooked vegetables and fake meat into the bottom of the buttered baking pan.
  8. Top with cheese.- At this point you can cover everything tightly and refrigerate until the next morning.- If you’re making it all the day of just continue on my friend.
  9. In the morning whisk together the eggs and milk and pour the egg mixture over the top of the vegetables.
  10. Place the still frozen tater tots in the egg mixture in a single layer and put the whole thing in the preheated oven.
  11. Cook until the tater tots are golden brown and crispy and the egg is set in the middle, about 30-35 minutes.
  12. Allow to cool for 5 minutes or so before cutting and devouring.

Banana Zucchini Baked Oatmeal Muffins

Banana Zucchini Baked Oatmeal Muffins
Banana Zucchini Baked Oatmeal Muffins

Are you suffering from an overabundance of zucchini? I’m here to help. These delightful oatmeal muffins are the perfect healthy make ahead breakfast or snack that sneak in a some zucchini. They are perfect cold from the refrigerator, reheated, hot from the oven, and they even freeze well! This is also a wonderful place to get a few more veggies into my lovely daughter. She loved these, even sneaking them off the cooling rack as soon as they came out of the oven. With no added sugar, and filled with fruit, vegetables, and whole grains I was perfectly happy to let her “sneak”.

Banana Zucchini Oatmeal Muffins

Adapted from www.hummusapien.com

Makes 12 servings

 Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp ground flaxseed or chia seeds + 6 tbsp water (alternatively, you can use 2 eggs)
  • 2 medium to large over-ripe bananas
  • 2 small zucchini, grated (don’t squeeze water out)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray or grease with coconut oil.
  2. Place flax and water in small bowl. Stir and set aside to “gel.”
  3. Place bananas in a large bowl and mash with a fork. Add grated zucchini, vanilla extract, and flax mixture, stirring to combine.
  4. Add oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, Stir until just combined.
  5. Spoon mixture into muffin cups, filling nearly to the top.
  6. Bake for 18-22 minutes until golden brown and dry on top.
  7. Store cooled oatmeal cups in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. These freeze well, too!