Cooking in Pajamas

Most of us do not have the time to make a delicious and nutritious hot breakfast on weekday mornings. Personally, I am very happy with a bowl of cereal, but my 17 year old son Joey likes a hot meal in the morning. It needs to be healthy and hearty, as well as tasty, because he leaves the house by 8am and doesn't eat lunch until almost 1.

 I have always been a big believer in teaching my kids to prepare their own meals. Once they hit middle school, I had them prepare their own breakfasts. Within a few weeks, Jamie and Joey were making their own morning meals, "tag team" style. One would make the eggs and the other would prepare English muffins and hash browns.  That said, I know they love having a great breakfast prepared for them and I enjoy cooking breakfast. These burritos make me feel like I've cooked them breakfast, yet it encourages a bit of independence, because they heat it up themselves. This is a good way to begin to teach your kids how to prepare themselves a hot meal.

Breakfast burritos are also a good breakfast to serve after a slumber party. Make the night before, and in the morning, all you have to do is reheat.  Or, serve them at dinner time, or pack one for lunch.

Remember, breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

Breakfast Burritos

1 # breakfast sausage
12 eggs
¼ c. half-and-half
6-8 oz. shredded cheddar
1 tsp. seasoned salt
ground pepper
hot sauce
12 flour tortillas
Optional: Add sauteed veggies to your eggs. Some good options include bell peppers, onions, scallions, spinach and mushrooms. Sautee in a separate pan and add to the mixture after the eggs are in the pan.

Brown the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat. When you can no longer see any pink in the sausage, drain the fat and reduce heat to medium..

Crack the eggs into a bowl. Add half and half, seasoned salt and pepper. Whisk everything until completely mixed.

Add the egg mixture to the sausage in the skillet. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, gently stir the mixture until the eggs begin to set (and are still runny). Add in the cheese and hot sauce and continue to cook until eggs are done.  Taste the eggs and season to taste with more seasoned salt, pepper and/or hot sauce.

To assemble, warm the tortillas in a stack in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Place a heaping spoonful of the egg mixture onto the center of a warm tortilla. Tuck in the sides and roll the tortilla until closed. Wrap in foil and keep warm until ready to eat.

Note: This makes 12 burritos. They will hold in the refrigerator for 5-7 days, wrapped in the foil. To reheat, you can place the wrapped foil in a toaster oven for 10 minutes. To reheat in the microwave, remove the foil and rewrap in a paper towel. Heat on high for 30 seconds.  These can also be frozen for 2 months. Place the foil wrapped burritos in a ziploc bag and freeze in the bag.

I have been perfecting my granola recipe for years.  I love having homemade granola in the house to have as a quick breakfast, to stir into yogurt, or as a snack.  Granola from the grocery store is expensive and full of artificial ingredients.  When you are able to find a delicious, all-natural granola from a specialty gourmet shop, it costs a fortune!  Homemade granola costs just a few dollars to make (pennies per serving), and is customized to exactly what you like.  I'll give you my original recipe, along with the options to customize the recipe.  This granola will keep in an airtight container for 2 weeks, or in the freezer for 2 months.

Our very good friend Tamar, brought over a tray of banana bread, as a get-well gift for Jamie, who had back surgery last week.  Tamar makes an awesome banana bread....it is dense, moist, not too sweet and tastes like banana.  She gave me the recipe years ago.  It is easy to make, and everyone loves it.  Between the four of us in the house, the banana bread did not even make it to the next morning.  Jamie went to take a slice before bed on the night Tamar brought over the banana bread, and it was already gone!  I felt bad, because I had snuck a few pieces myself.  After all, the banana bread was for Jamie!  I told her to chill out, and that I would make her another banana bread the next day.

I was planning on making Tamar's banana bread recipe, but I must have misplaced her recipe, because I couldn't find it anywhere.  She is currently on vacation with her family, so I decided to take an old banana bread recipe, and improve it.  I wanted LOTS of flavor, so I decided to add some cinnamon and vanilla extract to the batter.  I also increased the number of bananas from 3 to 5.  Although I like my banana bread to be moist and dense, I added 1/2 tsp. of baking powder, just to assure it wouldn't be too heavy. I threw in a few chocolate chips, because I love chocolate chips in banana bread, but this recipe would be just as good plain, or with chopped nuts instead.  Finally, I sprinkled the top with a few tablespoons of brown sugar for a sweet, rustic crunch on top.

I love the result...a moist, delicious banana bread, that has tons of banana flavor!  It makes a great breakfast or snack, and can be eaten plain or toasted.  It also freezes very well.

Banana Bread

2 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 c. softened butter

3/4 c. brown sugar, packed, plus extra for sprinkling on top

2 eggs, beated

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 - 5 ripe bananas, mashed

OPTIONAL:  3/4 c. chocolate chips, cinnamon chips or chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 9 X 5 loaf pan with nonstick spray.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar.

Mix in eggs and mashed banana until well blended.

Stir in flour mixture, just until well moistened.  Fold in chips/nuts.  Do not over-mix.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.  Sprinkle the top of the batter with brown sugar.

Bake in preheated oven for 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.  Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.