During the summer my guys love to sleep in & then start their day with a big breakfast.Now that we are back at school I don’t want them to miss out on the big breakfast that starts their day off right, but we don’t have the kind of time it takes to leisurely make a large 1st meal either.

So to solve this problem I have a few tricks that have made sure my guys get a great healthy hearty start to their day & I don’t have to get up at 5 am to do it.

*Plan ahead!

I make up a menu at the beginning of the week & post it on the fridge so that my family knows what’s available to choose from. I don’t assign a day to each meal-we aren’t that scheduled & the lack of choice never has worked with my boys. But this takes the Uhhh what’s for breakfast today, that usually leads to  coffee & a donut.

*Make ahead

Protein is the most important part of a healthy breakfast & often times the most time consuming. So I buy sausage or bacon & cook it all on Monday so it is ready to go for the week. You can also do this with eggs & taters. One of our favs is breakfast burritos, you can make a mess of them & freeze or refrigerate them for later. They are easy & can be grab & go too.

I alos cut fruit ahead of time for wasy grab & go!

*Forzen if from your toater is still homemade!

That’s right! I do frozen waffles or you can make your own on Sunday & save some to freeze and toast later if you prefer. But this is quick, easy & still hot & ready to go with out the mess of waffle or pancake prep to worry about. I also do biscuits this way & my guys eat em up!

*Enjoy

By taking as much work out of breakfast as you can you know have a few minutes to sit with your kids. Often schedules are so crazy this might be the only time you see each other today, so take advantage of it. Feed yourself & sit down to a hot, home cooked meal with your kids! You will be amazed  how this helps your day get off on the right foot too.

I remember the good old days of eating the “fake” crab and loving it. Then on a trip to San Francisco I decided to impress my partner and order crab. Little did I know that I had been eating “fake” crab the whole time. I really did not like the real crab that first time – but now I just can’t get enough of it. I still like the fake stuff too.

I found a great recipe for Crab Quiche from All recipes – check it out. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Crab-Quiche/Detail.aspx. I am going to try this on the weekend and let you all know how it turns out.

Ingredients
1 (9 inch) deep dish frozen pie crust
4 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 dashes hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™), or to taste
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 (8 ounce) package imitation crabmeat, flaked
1 green onion, chopped

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake the pie crust for about 10 minutes, until just starting to brown. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Stir in shredded cheese, onion and imitation crab. Pour into the pie shell.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, then turn off the oven, but leave the door closed. Leave quiche in the oven for an additional 20 to 30 minutes until firm. This will give it a smoother texture.

Eggs Benedict is one of my all time favorite dishes. It’s perfect for any meal and simple to make.

Bring 8 cm (3-inches) of water to a boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer.
To keep egg whites from sprawling, crack eggs, one at a time, into a small dish, then slip into simmering water.
Cook in barely simmering water 3 to 5 minutes. Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and drain well.

Tips
Use the freshest eggs possible for oval shaped poach eggs.
Use cold eggs
The best pan is a shallow saucepan with large surface.
Eggs can be poached in dry white wine, chicken broth or tomato juice for added flavour.

Hollandaise Sauce
Hollandandaise sauce is the icing on the cake sort of speak.

It is not that difficult to make at all if you remember not to let the sauce boil as you are thickening it or let the water in the double boiler boil.

Hollandaise Sauce

2 egg yolks
4 – 8 tablespoons butter, cut or broken into small pieces
pinch cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
1 – 2 tablespoons lemon juice or white wine vinegar

Separte the egg whites from the york. Put the egg yolks in a metal bowl. Sit the bowl over a saucepan filled with cold water. Heat the water, beating the egg yolks constantly with a wire whisk. The water in the pan should not boil and the bowl should stay cool enough to hold with your hand.

*Tip save the egg whites for an egg white Omlete.

Continue beating the yolks constantly until they thicken. You will know when the yolks have thickened enough, when you begin to see the bottom of the bowl between strokes and the mixture forms a light cream on the wires of the whisk.

Immediately remove the bowl from over the water. Add the butter, in tiny pieces, whisking in each pat and allowing it to melt before adding the next. When you are finished, the mixture should be very smooth and light. Pass the sauce through a fine sieve and stir in the seasonings and lemon juice.

Tip: If the sauce is too thick, thin it a bit with cold water. Keep in a warm place.

Yogurt and Chive Hollandaise Sauce
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
150 g Greek-style yogurt
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives
pepper to taste

So we have our poached eggs and hollandaise sauce, all we need now is english muffins and some ham slices.

1. Cut english muffin in half.
2. Place one piece of ham on english muffin half.
3. Gently place poached egg on to ham.
4. Pour the hollandaise sauce over the poached egg.

Now we have Eggs Benedict

More Information:
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After being subconsciously wooed by Special K*’s  current television commercials, I decided to Google the brand and found the following recipe:

SPECIAL K* Banana Muffins

Ingredients

* 325 ml             1 1/3 cup        all-purpose flour

* 75 ml               1/3 cup           granulated sugar

* 15 ml               1 tbsp             baking powder

* 2 ml                 1/2 tsp            ground cinnamon

* 1 ml                 1/4 tsp            ground nutmeg

* 1 ml                 1/4 tsp            salt

* 375 ml            1 1/2 cup        Cereals Special K* cereal

* 1                                               egg

* 75 ml              1/3 cup          skim milk

* 50 ml              1/4 cup          vegetable oil

* 250 ml           1 cup              mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium)

Directions

* In large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir in crushed cereal.
* In small bowl, beat egg slightly; stir in milk, oil and bananas. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. Portion batter evenly into lightly greased or paper lined muffin-pan cups.
* Bake at 200°C ( 400°F ) for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch.

Nutritional Information

* PER SERVING:
* 145 Calories (610 kJ)
* 3.0 g Protein
* 25 g Carbohydrate
* 4.5 g Fat
* 1.0 g Dietary Fibre

* In keeping with good allergy practices, we remind you to be aware of allergens and to check labels on any packaged goods used. This recipe has been tested using Kellogg’s* products. Results with other products may vary.

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

I don’t know if  Special K* cereal is the end all of cereals but I do know this,  it makes an already great banana muffin recipe even better.

Found this recipe in a card mailed to me by Body & Soul Whole Living Magazine.

In an electric blender, combine frozen organic blueberries and strawberries, 1/2 cup chilled green tea (unsweetened), 3/4 cup plain low-fat organic yogurt, 2 tbs ground flaxseed and a little trubinado or raw organic sugar to taste.

Blend till smooth—yum…and don’t you look young!

Contains about 250 calories, 13g protein, 9 grams fat, 35 g carbs and 8 g fibers–the perfect calorie combo. Thanks, Martha Stewart!

Last weekend I attended a brunch put on by a busy mother with two babies and a full-time, work-at-home job.

I never would have attempted such a feat–I find it enough of a challenge trying to toast two English muffins at once. Never mind trying to whip up egg batter for 20.

But she had a tip that she was trying for the first time, and it worked. Just throw all the eggs with either milk or water in a blender. They blend perfectly and are much easier to pour, in either one big batch or several smaller ones.

Isn’t that eggcellent?