Granola You Make In A Skillet

Easy Skillet Granola

If you have some oats and a skillet, you’re halfway to having homemade granola.   I was skeptical about this recipe before I tried it.  I’m a big proponent of oven-baked granola.  I’ve spent months trying to find ways to make prefect granola clusters in the oven.  So, the idea of just throwing a bunch of stuff in a pan seemed like a lot of hopeful thinking.  To my surprise and delight, this recipe actually works quite well.

You end up with a looser granola than the oven produces, but it’s every bit as flavorful.  As I was making it, I couldn’t help but think how fun it would be to make this over a campfire.  I’d like to see how a little smoke from the fire affects the oats.  I’ll let you know next time I go to the forest. But for now, I used the stove-top.  Here’s how it’s done…

Melt butter and add honey and nuts

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Win A Breakfast Sandwich Maker

Win A Breakfast Sandwich Maker

From now until July 14th, everyone who signs up to receive updates from this blog will be
eligible to win a FREE Breakfast Sandwich Maker.  To enter, just go to the upper-right column of any page on the Team Breakfast blog and look for “Join Team Breakfast.”  Enter your email address, hit the subscribe button and confirm that you subscribed via an email you will be sent immediately.  It all takes less than a minute.

By signing up, you’ll get updates every time I post a new article.  Don’t worry about getting too much mail. I rarely post more than once a week.  But when I do… you’ll get tasty recipes, great tips, fun features and all the latest and greatest from the world of breakfast.

The winner of the Breakfast Sandwich Maker will be chosen randomly from all those who sign up during the promotion.

Please be sure to use an email account that you check occasionally as that will be the same address I’ll use to notify the winner.

If you decide to enter, let me be the first to say, “Welcome to Team Breakfast!  Good luck!”

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Top O’ The Mornin’ Lads And Lassies

Green Egg Casserole For St. Patrick's Day

As St. Patrick’s Day approaches, many people are looking forward to healthy (size-wise) portions of corned beef, cabbage, Irish whiskey and Guinness.  While I plan to partake in all those great things, I’m most excited about St. Patrick’s Day breakfast.  Every year, I try to find new ways to incorporate green into my omelets, pancakes, waffles and other morning dishes.

One of my St. Patrick’s Day breakfast dishes was so green that it was literally unbelievable.  I submitted a photo of my Green Egg Scramble to the popular food picture site FoodGawker and they wouldn’t accept it.  They said it “looked overproccessed.”  I can see how they thought that, but seriously, it was food coloring and green peppers – not Photoshop.

Green Egg Scramble: Too Green?

Today’s featured St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast recipe is festive but not quite as over-the-top.  It’s a basic breakfast casserole with accents of distinct green from spinach, green pepper, green onion, chopped jalapeno and a garnish of parsley.

Ingredients For Green Egg Casserole

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Retro Classic: Baked Birdie In A Nest

Baked Egg Nests Recipe from 1976

I discovered this recipe in a 1976 advertisement from the Egg Farmers of Ontario.  The ad promoted the recipe as The 42 Cent Lunch, but it struck me that eggs on toast might be better suited for breakfast.  It’s an interesting take on the classic Egg in the Hole.  Instead of cooking an egg within a slice of toast, the egg rests on top of the toast.  The yolk is supported by a pillow of beaten egg white that’s baked until golden brown.

This morning I “got cracking” and tried making this vintage recipe.

Retro Classic: Baked Birdie In A Nest

Above, you can see that the dish turned out pretty much like the picture in the ad.  The yolk wasn’t quite as vibrant, but other than that, it was awesome. It was easy to make, tasty and a really fun way to do eggs and toast in a unique way.

Here’s how to make it…

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U.S. Presidents Eating Breakfast

U.S. Presidents Eating Breakfast

Today, we’re eating waffles with Barack Obama, flipping pancakes with George W. Bush and picking out donuts with Bill Clinton. It’s a trip though U.S. history as we examine American Presidents and their favorite breakfast foods.

In part one, you’ll find images of recent Presidents ordering, making and eating breakfast.  Part two is a study of our Presidents and what they ate for breakfast, going all the way back to George Washington.

 

The Presidential Breakfast Image Library

Barack Obama with a box of Dunkin' Donuts

Candidate Barack Obama with a box of Dunkin’ Donuts and a jug of coffee. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Montage of President Barack Obama enjoying breakfast

A montage of President Barack Obama enjoying breakfast.

George W. Bush flipping pancakes

George W. Bush flipping pancakes on the campaign trail in 1999.

President George W. Bush showing off a pancake

President George W. Bush showing off a pancake as he eats with the troops.

President Bill Clinton selects a doughnut

President Bill Clinton selects a doughnut.

Bill Clinton having breakfast with ABC's Charlie Gibson

Bill Clinton, then governor of Arkansas, having breakfast with ABC’s Charlie Gibson in 1992. (Credit: ABC News)

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Breakfast Cereal Valentine’s Treats

Two Kinds Of Breakfast Cereal Valentine's Treats

Today, we’re making two kinds of Breakfast Cereal Valentine’s Treats.  The first is classic Rice Krispies Treats in the shape of a heart (with several decorating options).  Next, we’ll apply the technique of making Rice Krispies Treats to any other cereals you might have lying around the house.

Melting Marshmallows For Valentine's Treats

You start with the Classic Rice Krispies Treats Recipe. Melt about 3 Tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over low heat.  Add a 10-ounce bag of marshmallows and stir until they’re completely melted.  At this point, I added 2 drops of red food coloring so my final treats would have a pink hue.

Making Rice Kripsies Valentine's Treats

Take the pan off the heat and add the Rice Krispies.  Mix it up really good.

Lay out a big piece of wax paper.  Turn out the Rice Krispies mixture and mold it into a rectangle about 10 x 12-inches.  Let this set and firm up for about 20 minutes. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out heart-shaped treats.

Rice Krispies Valentine's Pops

Now the fun part… decorating the hearts.

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Side Dish: Spice Up Your Oranges

Oranges With Honey And Jalapeno

I love a little citrus as a breakfast side dish.  The smell is second only to coffee as as a way to wake up your sleepy senses.  The humble orange is is a sensible part of any breakfast.  It’s light, sweet and fresh.  It adds contrast and helps balance heavier breakfasts like pancakes or loaded omelets.  But let’s face it… how many times have you gone to a restaurant and ordered orange slices?  What we need to do is to make the simple orange pop (an allusion to a twist later in the post).  Nature has given us a great gift.  It’s time to appreciate it again in a new way.

Alicia Keys has a hit song right now called “(This) Girl (Is) On Fire”.  I offer you a new culinary hit called “This Orange Is On Fire” – a simple combination of oranges, honey and jalapeno!  (Don’t worry – it’s a subtle fire because the cool orange flavor and a drizzle of honey tone down the heat of the jalapeno.)

To make this extremely simple dish a little more interesting and beautiful, I went looking for a mix of different citrus fruits.  My local Ralph’s grocery store didn’t have a lot going on in the citrus department, but I was able to come home with a few navel oranges, Minneola  tangelos and honey tangerines.

A Selection Of Different Citrus

Equipped with citrus, a single jalapeno and bear-shaped jar of honey, I was ready to take on this mad experiment.

Ingredients For Oranges With Honey And Jalapeno

You can probably surmise how this dish is made from the pictures.  But here’s how I did it…

Making Oranges With Honey And Jalapeno

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Retro Classic: Meal In A Muffin Tin

Meal In A Muffin Tin Recipe Card

I love finding fun retro recipes.  I’m always scouring through kitschy vintage cookbooks, classic recipe cards and magazines from the 60′s and 70′s.  There’s a certain lost naivety to many of those recipes.  It used to be just about the food.  Increased knowledge of nutrition would soon destroy the innocence of a generation who thought margarine was a health food.

Today’s featured recipe is from 1971… a time when G.I. stood for a manly soldier and not a way to measure blood sugar (the Glycemic Index was yet be defined).   This is a complete breakfast that you make in a muffin tin. It consists of oven-fresh corn bread and cups of corned beef hash cradling baked eggs.

You can see the original recipe card above.  Below, you can see what it actually looked like when I made it this morning.

My Meal In A Muffin Tin

I can report that the recipe worked as promised and tasted exactly like you might expect.  It’s not fancy, but it is convenient, filling and fairly delicious.

Here’s how to make it…

Muffin Tin Meal Ingredients

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