Waking up to hot oatmeal is a joy.  And this Peaches and Cream Oatmeal is absolutely scrumptious!  It only takes a few minutes to prep in the evening.  I use my small slow cooker with a cheapo hack to make it programmable.

This recipe makes 4-6 servings.  The leftovers heat up well in the microwave.  It’s thick after being refrigerated, but just add a little milk to thin them down.

Here’s what you’ll need: 

I used peaches in light syrup, but you could use heavy syrup instead if you like it sweet.  My daughter and I both added a little sugar to our bowls, but it was just right for Jim without the added sugar.  What can I say?  We girls like our sweets.

Oh my goodness.  This is beyond amazing.

Nutella slathered over malt waffles and piled high with bananas, blueberries and strawberries.  Wow!

A while back I saw a post on the Disney Food Blog about new waffle sandwiches available at Sleepy Hollow in Magic Kingdom.  I’ve vowed that we will try these on our next trip.  But I couldn’t wait that long.  I decided to make them at home.

I used malted milk powder in the waffles to make them more like Magic Kingdom waffles.  I don’t own a Belgian waffle maker, but if you have one, you’ll want to use it for this recipe.   I think thicker waffles might make them easier to fold into a sandwich.  We ate them on a plate, with a fork.

I don’t have a photo of all the ingredients, but here’s a picture of malted milk powder in case you’ve never seen it before.

I doubled the original recipe, so it would make plenty of waffles.

Yesterday, we covered making whole wheat bread.  I used 1 loaf of bread dough to make 2 pans of cinnamon rolls.  Yum!

The process is easy and not scientific at all.  You’ll need the whole wheat bread dough first, of course.

Roll it out to about the thickness of pizza crust.  It should look like this: 

Generously spread butter over the surface of the dough.  Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.  Then roll lengthwise, like this:

Slice into 1″ thick slices.  This made 2 pans of rolls.  Place in a greased pan and cover loosely with a cloth.  Let rise about 30 minutes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

I made a simple glaze of powdered sugar and milk to put on top.

I baked one pan right away and saved the second pan for the next morning.  Just put the unbaked rolls in the refrigerator overnight.

I was so excited to find Quaker Steel Cut Oats on the grocery shelf the other day.  They were over a dollar less expensive than the brand my store usually carries, making them pretty affordable.  I like to use steel cut oats in the slow cooker, because they hold up better.

I wanted to make something more interesting than a normal bowl of oats, so I checked out the Quaker site.  Lots of recipes over there, but none for steel cut oats.  I couldn’t believe it!

Since I didn’t find any recipes, I created my own.  Actually, the idea comes from Good Life Eats.  Katie created Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal using old fashioned oats.  I didn’t follow her recipe, but the idea came from her.

Here’s what you’ll need:  

Do you eat a hot breakfast everyday?

The other day, I posted a list of 28 Muffins You’ll Want to Try and Terri left this comment:

Hi,
I was looking at your muffin recipes. They look yummy! I’m also looking for a coconut muffin maybe with mini choc chips added. Have you ever heard of something like that? I thought maybe replacing the liquid with coconut milk then add either maybe a streusel with toasted coconut and a drizzle of chocolate. What do you think? Do you have any suggestions? I have tried a couple of your recipes and passed on your site to some friends.
Thanks,
Terri

Oh, what a good idea!  I went into the kitchen and got creative right away.  These are the result.  The muffin is infused with coconut flavor and studded with mini chocolate chips.  The streusel topping has cocoa and coconut.  Oh yeah!

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbs. baking powder
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp. coconut extract
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Stir the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar.  Add the eggs, coconut extract and milk and mix until well blended.

Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients with a spoon.  Stir gently, just until combined.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Fill greased muffin pan with batter.  Top with Streusel Topping before baking.

For Streusel Topping:

• 1/4 cup coconut
• 5 Tbs. sugar
• 2 Tbs. butter
• 2 tsp. cocoa
• 5 Tbs. flour

Combine all the ingredients with a fork or your fingers to make crumbs.  Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with topping.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

I love muffins.  I love them even more than cupcakes.  Probably because they are so quick to make.  It’s almost instant gratification from the time the muffin idea pops in your head until you’re pulling them from the oven.

Of course, not all muffins are the sweet variety.  They are delicious savory versions that can round out and stretch a meal.

Here’s a list of muffin recipes gathered from this site and all around the web too.  Enjoy!

Snickerdoodle Muffins – Just like the cookie, only in muffin form.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

Cranberry Muffins with Orange Marmalade Glaze – The glaze would be really good on other kinds of muffins too.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Blueberry Muffins with Orange Glaze

Apple Brown Betty Muffins

Poppy Seed Muffins

Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins

Graham Muffins

Pumpkin Muffins

Argan Banana Muffins from Maroc Mama

Sweet Potato Spice Muffins from The Jammie Girl

Pumpkin Muffins with Streusel Topping from Hoosier Homemade

Banana Muffins with Tart Lemon Icing from Addicted to Recipes

Apple Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins from Barbara Bakes

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins from Mommy Hates Cooking

White Chocolate Pineapple Muffins from Mommy Hates Cooking

Grain Free Banana Nut Muffins from Community Cucina

Mocha Banana Muffins from The Happy Housewife

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Muffins from The Happy Housewife

Whole Wheat Banana Millet Muffins from The Happy Housewife

S’more Muffins from The Happy Housewife

Pear Muffins from The Happy Housewife

Cheddar Muffins

Cornbread Muffins

Make Your Own Cornbread Muffin Mix

Goat Cheese Biscuits – Not really muffins, but muffin-like and oh, so good.

How to Make the Best Muffins Ever + One Bowl Oatmeal Muffins with variations from Simple Bites

Some of you wonderful readers recently introduced me to the blog, Picky Palate.  The first post I saw there was Peanut Butter and Jelly Skillet Monkey Bread.   Heavens to Murgatroyd!  That looks delish!  And you know how I love peanut butter.

But as I read the recipe, the words “jelly of your choice” caught my attention and all I could think of was apple jelly.  Which pairs perfectly with cinnamon and brown sugar.  So I took the original recipe and did a bit of tweaking to come up with this:

Here’s what you’ll need:

Devour with a glass of milk.

They scraped the pan clean!

I still want to try Picky Palate’s Peanut Butter version.  I also thought about making it with peach preserves.  Mmmm…

What kind of flavor would you make?

Have you noticed grocery prices racing up?  Yikes!  It’s gotten crazy.

This month we’re going to be focusing on saving money on food.  We kicked it off yesterday with a new Low-Cost Meals Menu.  Today, I’m sharing a list of the least expensive recipes I have.  Nearly all of my recipes are budget friendly, but these really counteract those rising prices.

You may notice a lot of rice, beans, pasta and eggs in this list.  Basing meals on these ingredients is a great way to keep the cost low.

Main Dishes

1. Bean and Bacon Soup
2. Bramble Beans
3. Ham and Potato Chowder
4. Refried Bean Quesadillas
5. Bean and Cheese Enchiladas
6. Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce with Two Cheeses
7. Vietnamese Style Chicken Noodle Soup
8. All Veggie Vegetable Soup
9. Loaded Baked Potatoes with Homemade Cheese Sauce
10. Pasta Soup
11. Ham, Broccoli and Cheddar Soup
12. South of the Border Skillet
13. Potato Soup
14. Mac & Cheddar with Broccoli
15. Baked Spaghetti
16. Creamy Potato Soup
17. Ham & Pineapple Fried Rice
18. Chicken Tortilla Soup
19. Lentil Tacos
20. Red Sauce DiPaola
21. Grandma’s Spaghetti Sauce
22. Vietnam Fried Rice
23. Shaker Village Tomato Soup
24. Chipped Beef Gravy over Cornbread or Biscuits
25. Mexican Beans and Rice
26. Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil
27. Egg Salad Sandwiches
28. Asian Noodles with Stir Fry Veggies and Chicken
29. Calico Bean Soup with Smoked Sausage
30. Hamburger Vegetable Soup
31. Crockpot Chicken Soup
32. Corn Chowder
33. Taco Soup

Breakfast for Dinner

1. Western Omelette Casserole
2. Scrambled Eggs, Ham and Muenster
3. Scrambled Eggs and Peppers
4. Garden Frittata
5. Bread Eggs
6. Whole Wheat Pancakes
7. Whole Wheat Apple Pancakes
8. Cheesy Eggs and Ham

Meal Stretchers

1. Depression Era Bread
2. Corn Bread
3. Biscuits
4. Graham Muffins
5. Cornbread Muffins
6. Whole Wheat Biscuits
7. Hoe Cakes
8. Cheddar Muffins

Desserts and Snacks

1. Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
2. Snickerdoodle Muffins
3. Moosehunter Cookies
4. Apple Brownies
5. Wacky Cake
6. Apple Crinkle
7. Peach Crisp in the Slow Cooker
8. Apple Brown Betty Muffins
9. Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins
10. Pumpkin Muffins
11. Butterscotch Cookies
12. Simple Coffee Cake
13. No Bake Cookies
14. Amish Oatmeal Cookies

This post is linked to:

A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned Beginner Recipe Link Up

For Christmas morning, I wanted to make a different type of breakfast casserole than the egg/sausage one I usually make.  We have to have some kind of protein to counteract the cinnamon rolls, frozen fruit cups, and hot cocoa.

I set out on a search to find a recipe that suited me, but since I’m picky, I couldn’t find the perfect casserole.  So, I created one based on several recipes.  I knew I wanted ham, peppers and onions.  And it needed to be something I could make the day before and pop in the oven on Christmas morning to bake.

The result was exactly what I hoped for.  The green and red pepper made it look Christmasy, but it would be good for any brunch.  It would also make a good breakfast-for-dinner meal.  I didn’t get a photo of the ingredients, but here’s what you’ll need:

• 1/2 – 2/3 loaf of French or Italian bread
• about 1/8 cup finely diced onion
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
• 1-2 cups diced ham
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 10 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tsp. dry mustard
• salt and pepper, to taste

Butter a 9×13 casserole dish.  Tear the bread into pieces and place in the dish.  Scatter the peppers, onions, ham and cheese over the top of the bread.  Beat the eggs with a whisk.  Stir in the milk, dry mustard, salt and pepper.  Pour over the other ingredients.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Last month when I went to the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter test kitchens they fed us some delicious foods.  Lots and lots of food.  All made with ICBINB, of course.

Leave it to me to pick out the simplest idea to share with you.  In a room full of cheesecake, stuffed mushrooms, truffles (I may still have to share those) and scones, I zeroed in on toast.   I love simple, easy, manageable, effortless recipes.

Grab that tub of ICBINB and get ready to transform your morning toast.

I tweaked the original recipe a bit.  I increased all the amounts so there would be enough for my family to eat for several days.  I also decided French Toast demands syrup, so I added a bit to the mix.

• 1/2 cup I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spread
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbs. pancake syrup
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Put all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir until well combined.  Spread on hot toast.

Store the extra in the fridge.  I have noticed that they syrup separates a bit after storing, but it’s easy to give it a quick stir before serving.

Do you eat a big breakfast on the weekend?  What do you like to have?