{Guest post by Terri DeWulf}

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If your family is anything like mine, we love eggs! Individual quiches are an easy way to prepare a quick and delicious meal anytime of the day. And they are good for you too! What I like most about this recipe is they can be made to order for each member of the family, and they all can be baked at once.

Ingredients

-Large Eggs (1 per individual quiche)

-1/4 C 1% Milk per three eggs

-Cooking spray

-Salt and pepper

-Various fillings such as turkey sausage, shredded cheese, left over veggies, shredded baby spinach, green peppers, lunch meats such as lean ham or turkey, salsa, hot sauce. Get creative!

Baking Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray muffin tins with non stick spray so the quiche will easily come out once cooked.

In a large bowl whisk three eggs, 1/4C of milk, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

In your prepared muffin tins, place your fillings. This is the fun part, especially for kids, because they get to choose exactly what they would like! Then pour your eggs into each filled tin. Don’t over fill because these will puff up.

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Tops should be golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes. To remove them, take a knife and run it around the edges and gently pop them out of the pan. Enjoy!

Terri DeWulf is a stay at home Mom to seven children, ages 16 down to two and a half. She holds her degree in nursing and currently resides in Indiana with her husband and children. She enjoys cooking and gardening.

Two times of the day that can be a little hairy at our house are breakfast and after school.  The kiddos are hungry and they are looking for whatever isn’t nailed down to eat.  If not careful, they will eat their body weight in junk and empty calories.  One trick I have is to make sure to have healthy, tasty alternatives ready at hand.  One of my secret weapons is a super rich and creamy yogurt with granola and berries ready and handy in the fridge for them to easily grab.

I know this isn’t a new concept at all but what makes it a little different and super economical is the way I make the yogurt extra special.  Instead of buying the more expensive individual cups or even the creamy and a little more decadent Greek yogurt, I buy the cheaper low-fat or fat-free vanilla yogurt that you can purchase in large containers.  This is then where the magic a happens…

I pour all of the yogurt in to a mesh strainer lined with a paper towel and let that sit in the fridge for a few hours.  This drains some of the excess liquid from the yogurt and makes it extra decadent and creamy.  My kids LOVE it!  I top it with berries, granola and then drizzle a little Agave nectar over it and they couldn’t be happier.

So here is what you will need…

• Large container of your favorite yogurt
• Fresh or frozen berries
• Granola
• Agave nectar or honey
• Small containers in which to store individual portions of the tasty treat {optional}

For more fun tasty treats and some crafty idea as well, come visit me over at WhipperBerry.  Stop in and say hello!!

Since we moved in together, Kyle and I have always lived within two minutes of a grocery store. I’m not really sure why we’re drawn to grocery store neighborhoods, but it might have something to do with my general laziness re: food shopping. I love to grocery shop, but I hate carrying the food in and putting it away (I know…laziness has reached new heights…), so Kyle often does grocery runs for me. 

It’s become something of a Sunday tradition that Kyle ends up at the grocery store finding us breakfast food. Usually it’s because I’ve forgotten something essential (like syrup). However, we’re trying to eat a bit healthier these days, so he’s been doing fresh produce runs instead. Mmm…I’ll take a good avocado over a stack of pancakes any day.

The best part is that I get to hang out in my pjs all morning and when he gets back from the store, he can entertain the baby…

…so I can do this:

Sunday Morning Omelette:

• Eggs (three per person if using whole eggs, four per person if using one whole egg and three egg whites)
• Fresh produce for inside (we’re fans of mushrooms, peppers, and spinach)
• Fresh produce for outside (ripe avocados or tomatoes are best)
• Shredded cheese or crumbled feta
• Flax seed (optional – we like the taste and it adds a little texture)
• Milk
• Olive oil

(1) Dice up the fresh produce and toss into a pan with some olive oil. Pay attention to what you’re cooking…peppers take longer than things like mushrooms and spinach, so put them in first and let them cook for a while before you add the other stuff. When everything is nice and yummy looking, put it all into a bowl and set aside.

(2) Whisk eggs together with a splash of milk. Good cooks recommend using milk with some fat in it (you can even use half and half), but we always use skim milk and it turns out fine. Pour the egg mixture into the hot pan you used for the vegetables and spread it around so you have a very thin layer. The olive oil left over from the vegetables should be plenty to grease the pan, but if you need to add more before you put the eggs in, go ahead. Nothing more annoying than sticky eggs.

(3) Cook the egg mixture on medium-low heat without flipping it over until it looks mostly dry. Make sure that you don’t have the pan too hot while you’re cooking the eggs or one side will cook faster than the other and you’ll get that weird chewy brown layer on the outside. Once the egg mixture looks dry (or mostly dry), sprinkle cheese, flax seed, and the vegetables you set aside over the omelette and then wrap it up burrito style. Give it a few seconds to melt the cheese, remove from heat, and serve with whatever produce you’d like on the side.

Note – if you don’t want to eat that many eggs, you can reduce the omelette to two eggs and serve black beans on the side instead, so you still get all your protein for breakfast. Omelettes and black beans are an all-time favorite meal of mine…especially with peppers…and some lowfat sour cream…mmmm…

Carly Morgan is a mommy/wedding/Disney blogger. She’s been blogging full-time for about two years now and for the last three months has enjoyed blogging about her first kid, Eva. Carly lives in Salt Lake City, UT.

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Since so many fruits are in season during the summer, you can usually find them on sale at the store.  I like to wait until my berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries) go to $1.00 a package and then I buy them up and freeze them for later use.  It’s so nice to be able to make a pie or cobbler in the winter with fresh fruit from my freezer, and I think they taste so much better than store bought frozen.  Another thing I like to do with those berries is make muffins with them and then freeze those muffins for later use.  This makes a quick and frugal breakfast for another busy morning.

Freezing Muffins

Freezing muffins is really easy.  After cooking the muffins according to your recipe, let them cool completely.  I like to wrap each muffin individually with wrap and then place enough for a family breakfast in one large freezer bag.  Make sure you get out all the air in the bag. I like to wrap them individually to prevent freezer burn. The muffins can stay in the freezer for up to three months, so make sure you label and date your bag.

Reheating Muffins

Reheating muffins from the freezer is really easy and quick.  First, you can get them directly from the freezer and place them back in the muffin tin and then place them in 350 degree oven until heated through.  If you have time to thaw them out before using them, you can just place them into the microwave for 20 second interval until you the muffin is as hot as you like.

Freezing Muffin Batter

Another way to freeze muffins is to just freeze the batter. In this method, all you do is make your batter as directed in the recipe and then place the batter as you would in the muffin tins.  Next, place the whole muffin tin in your freezer until the batter is frozen solid.  Then all you do is break the frozen batter from the tins with something, like a butter knife, and gently get it out.  Then place them in a freezer bag and get out all of the air. Make sure to label and date the bag.  Frozen muffin batter will last for about four months in the freezer.

Reheating Frozen Muffin Batter

To reheat frozen muffin batter, just place the batter back into the muffin tins.  You will then need to wait until the batter has completely thawed. Then you can heat the muffins as directed in your recipe.  This method is not one I choose for a quick breakfast.  If I know I’m going to have the muffins in the morning sometimes I’ll place some wrapping over the muffin tin and then thaw the batter overnight in my refrigerator.  Then all I have to do is place it in the oven in the morning. 

Berry Muffin Recipes

There are lots of berry muffin recipes that can be found searching online.  Here are a few of my favorite ones.

Berry-Smash Muffins

Blueberry Muffins

Raspberry Muffins

Photo Credit: Dano

My family loves bagels.  They seem to cost a lot more than I’m willing to pay at the grocery, almost $4.00 a pack, and you can even pay up to $3.00 for a freshly made one at a bakery.  They are so easy to make and cost less to make them at home, and I think they taste better.  I used a recipe that uses the bread machine to make the dough.  This made the whole bagel making process easier for me and took less of my time.  If you do not have a bread machine, you may want to try a different recipe. Here’s the recipe I tried and my family really enjoyed them.

Easy Bread Machine Bagels

Dough Ingredients

1  1/8 cups lukewarm water

3  1/2  cups bread flour

3  1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2  1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast or 1 packet

1 tablespoon white sugar

Egg Wash Ingredients

1 egg, mixed with 2 tablespoons water

poppy seeds, optional

sesame seeds, optional

Directions

Measure the first five ingredients into the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer.  Select the dough setting.  When the cycle is complete, remove the dough from the machine and place on a floured surface.  Divide the dough into ten equal parts.  Form into balls, gently press thumb through center of the ball and slowly stretch into bagel shape.  Place on a greased baking sheet, cover with a kitchen towel and set in a warm place to rise for 30 to 40 minutes.  Bring three quarts water and one tablespoon sugar to a rapid boil in a large saucepan. Use a slotted spoon to drop 2-3 bagels into the rapidly boiling water.  Boil on both sides for one to two minutes each.  Remove and cool on a wire rack for 1 minute.  Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds, if you desire.  Bake at 400 degrees F on a baking sheet  that is sprinkled with cornmeal for 30-40 minutes or until the bagel tops are golden brown. After cooling, you can cut in half and toast and serve with cream cheese or butter. You could also slice them and use them to make a sandwich to pack in a lunch.

My Review

This is the first batch of bagels that I have ever made.  I am really glad I challenged myself to make them.  They are so easy to make.  I think the hardest part was shaping the bagels.  You had to make sure that you stretch them big enough so that you will still have the whole in the middle after the rising process.  I also thought that the bagels tasted really good.  My kids loved them.  I did not add anything to top the bagels because I was trying to keep the cost down.  I had all the other ingredients on hand so this recipe did not cost much at all to make.  I plan to make these again as they were so easy and tasted quite good.

Other Bagel Recipes

Stand Mixer Recpe: Homemade Bagels

By Hand: Homemade Bagels

Blueberry Bagels

Pumpkin Spice Bagels

I buy English Muffins at the store all the time.  My family loves them.  The ones we buy are about $3.00 a pack.  So, I decided I wanted to try to make them myself at home.  I am on a quest to try new things in the homemaking department and this has been on my list for a long time. English Muffins were orginally something the “downstairs” sevants made with the leftover bread and biscuit dough scraps and mashed potatoes in England’s Victorian society. Once “upstairs” tasted these rich muffins they requested them, especially during teatime.  They really are not like American muffin’s at all and are closer related to a crumpet.   I had all of the ingredients at home to make the homemade version and those ingredients are something I usually always keep on hand. I like knowing that I can make things myself without having to buy them from the store.  Here’s the recipe if you want to try it yourself.

English Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup hot water                                                               

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp honey

4 cups white flour (or you can use 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat)

2 teaspoons instant yeast

2 Tablespoons oil

cornmeal

Directions

Add water , milk, honey and salt in a mixing bowl. (I mixed mine in my Kitchenaid.) Combine. Add 2 cups of flour and yeast, stir to mix until combined.  Cover with a clean towel and allow to rise for one hour.  Add remaining 2 cups flour and oil and stir until well combined.  Roll out onto a cornmeal covered surface and use a cookie cutter or cup, cut out into round shapes.  Let cut muffins rise, covered, for one hour.  Heat a griddle to medium high heat and coat with a little oil (I sprayed mine with nonstick cooking spray). Grill muffins on both sides until lightly brown.  Take grilled muffins and place on a cookie sheet.  Place cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes or until the middles are done.  I like to cut the muffins in half, toast them and serve with butter and jelly.  You can also serve them for breakfast, after heating them add egg and cheese and eat like a sandwich.  After making these sandwiches, you can freeze them and then microwave them on a busy weekday morning. I

My Results

If you want to make these you will need to plan some time to be at home.  While they really did not take much effort to make, there was a lot of waiting time for rising.  The hardest part is getting them the right size when you cut them out and grill them.  They do sell English muffin rings that you can buy to help you keep them the right size as you are grilling them.  My muffins might not been the right size or perfectly round, but they tasted great.  We made breakfast for dinner and enjoyed these wonderful muffins. I do plan to make these again as they were so easy.

There are so many coffee cake recipes that it is sometimes hard to choose which one to try. A friend gave me this recipe when my son was young. When I would ask him what kind of cake he wanted, he always asked for this coffee cake…. even on his birthday!!!

When you are in a hurry and want a really quick coffee cake try this delicious spiced coffee cake. The secret to this coffee cake is to stir it with a spoon, do not use a mixer. When the ingredients are well blended, you are ready to bake the coffee cake.

If you use the coffee cake for a dessert add a dollop of your own homemade whipped cream.  You only need a couple of ingredients to make homemade whipped cream and it is so good you will not want to buy the whipped cream in a can again.

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2  cup white sugar
1/2  tsp salt
1/2  cup salad oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking power
1 tsp nutmeg
1 egg (beaten)
11/4 cups buttermilk
Oil Spray

Topping
½ cup nuts (walnut, or pecan)
½ cup batter

Preparation

Turn oven to 350 degrees.

Put flour, sugars, salt, and oil in a medium bowl. Mix with spoon until blended.

Remove 1/2 cup of the mixture and place in a small bowl. Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts. Mix with a spoon.  Set aside to use later for the topping.

To the first mixture add cinnamon, baking soda, baking power, nutmeg, egg (beaten with a fork), and buttermilk.  Stir with a spoon.

Lightly spray 9 x 13  pan like a Nordic Ware 9-by-13-Inch Cake Pan with Storage Lid.  Pour into pan, spread evenly.  Sprinkle topping over the top. Bake 25-30 min

Homemade Whipped Cream Topping

Ingredients

1 Half pint of heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons of sugar

Preparation

Place a bowl and the mixer beaters or whisk in the freezer for a few minutes.  Be sure and use a bowl big enough for the whipped cream. The cream will double in volume when you beat it.

Put the heavy cream and sugar in the chilled mixing bowl.

Beat the mixture on low until you see little bubbles beginning to form about 20-30 seconds.

Turn the mixer to medium until soft peaks begin to form and then turn the mixer to high for 20-30 seconds until the cream thickens and the peaks stand up.

You can touch the whipped cream lightly with your finger, or a knife, and raise it quickly. If the peak stays up, your whipped cream is finished. You can also put the beaters straight up out of the whipped cream and peaks should keep their shape.

Tips
The whipped cream does not take long to whip with a mixer. DO NOT over beat the cream or it will separate and curdle. Once it forms stiff peaks, stop beating.

Add flavors to your whipped cream to compliment your dish when the soft peaks begin to form. Try using one of these flavorings: 1 teaspoon of vanilla, bourbon, orange, mint, or rum.

Try adding a small amount of food coloring to give your whipped some pizzazz.

The whipped cream will last about 24 hours in the refrigerator, so only make what you will use quickly.  If you have any leftover whipped cream, try some in a cup of coffee or in hot chocolate.

Beating the cream by hand with a whisk, it going to take longer, so if possible use a mixer.

The whipped cream tastes wonderful and you can use the whipped cream for many desserts like cakes, pies, ice cream sundaes, and decorations.

Enjoy!

For the last couple of months, snow days have kept my kids at home more than at school.  My grocery budget has had to expand now that I am also fixing them breakfast and lunch, which they usually eat at school.  I have had to come up with some inexpensive meals to have on hand for the kids when they have snow days.  I also like things to be quick as my kids are ready to eat as soon as they get up.  I also like to use these quick, low cost breakfast ideas for the weekend.  Here are some of the breakfast ideas my family enjoys.

Cold Cereal

I like to find cereal on sale and match it with a coupon and sometimes even use the store reward card.  I can usually get a box of brand name cereal for under a dollar and have even found some for free.  That is the big thing that makes this meal seem cheaper for me.  I usually keep milk on hand for my kids to drink.  I also try to serve a fruit with my kid’s breakfast like a banana or apple.  There are several cereal coupon on Coupons.com right now that you could match with a sale or reward card deal.  You can also check the Sunday paper inserts for more.

Oatmeal

A whole container of oatmeal cost me about $3.00 for the generic brand.  There are 30 servings in a container, so that makes this a pretty cheap meal.  I usually add some brown sugar to the oatmeal and my kids seem to eat it better.   I also like to serve this meal with some bananas to help my kids get in some fruits.  I like to make the Old Fashioned Oatmeal and it takes about 5 minutes to cook, so this meal can be made pretty fast.

Pancakes/Waffles

Most kids love to eat pancakes for breakfast. I have a couple recipes my family enjoys.  I like to make a big batch on Saturday when I have more time.  I take the leftovers and place them on a long cookie sheet placing wax paper (I found the brand name at the Dollar Tree) between the layers of pancakes so they will not stick together.  I place the whole cookie sheet in my freezer.  This is called flash freezing.  After they are frozen, I place them in Ziplock freezer bags.  When you are ready for breakfast, you take them out of the freezer and heat them in your microwave.  These are very similar to the expensive frozen pancakes you can buy at the store.  You can also freeze waffles the same way if you want to make those instead. These will save you a lot of time in the mornings.  Here is my favorite recipe for bulk pancake making, I usually double the recipe.

Fluffy Pancakes

2 cups flour

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1.5 tablespoon baking powder

1 large egg

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 tablespoon vanilla

Mix the dry ingredients with a fork.  Beat the egg. Add milk, vanilla, and mix well.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients mixture. Slowly pour the liquid ingredients mixture into the well. You may need to add more flour or water to get your batter to the consistency you desire.  Do not over mix.  The batter should be lumpy.  Place on a skillet (I like to use my long electric skillet) which has been heated over medium high heat and sprayed with butter flavored nonstick cooking spray.  I like to use ¼ cups of batter per pancake.  Those come out great for kids.   Cook until large bubbles form and then flip until golden brown.  Serve and freeze the leftovers.

 My kids go through a lot of syrup and sometimes I just do not have any in my pantry at the time. So I like to keep some homemade on hand. It is cheaper than the pancake syrup at the store and really easy to make. 

 Cheap Homemade Pancake Syrup

 4 cups white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

2 cups water

2 teaspoons vanilla or maple (I use whatever I have in the pantry)

Mix the sugars and water in a pot and simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in flavoring. Cool and pour in a container.  I keep mine in the refrigerator, but you really do not have to do that.

My husband and oldest son love Little Debbie Honey Buns.  I told them awhile ago that I thought I could make some homemade honey buns that were cheaper and better tasting.  The ones they were buying were about $3 for 8 buns.  I found a recipe to try and I had every ingredient already at home, so I tried them out.  I really thought they would be quite difficult to make but they were pretty easy with the bread machine.  My 10 year old son told me they were not exactly the same, they were better.  So, I think I found a winner.    Here’s the recipe if you would like to try it out on your family.

Ingredients

FOR THE BUNS:

1  1/3 cup water

1/3 cup honey or sugar or a combination of both ($0.70, I used all honey)

4 teaspoons butter ($0.15)

1 teaspoon cinnamon ($0.05)

½ teaspoon ginger ($0.03)

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups flour ($0.50)

2 teaspoons yeast ($0.25)

 FOR THE FROSTING:

2 cups Confectioner’s sugar ($0.25)

1 teaspoon vanilla ($0.03)

4 tablespoons milk (more or less to reach desired consistency) ($0.10 depending on how much you use)

 Preparation Instructions

Place all the ingredients into your bread maker according to your bread maker’s guidelines.  I have a Sunbeam Bread Maker that you put in the wet ingredients first then the dry ingredients and then you make a well and place your yeast in it.   Most bread makers are like that, but check yours to make sure. Set on the DOUGH cycle.  You can add all honey or substitute some for sugar.  I recommend add at least half honey because it gives the bread the rich honey flavor.

 When DOUGH cycle is finished, divide dough into about 30 pieces, cover so they do not dry out.  Roll one at a time into snakes and coil them, moistening the tail and pressing it down on the edge to make a coiled bun.  Keep the others covered until they are all coiled or they will make a crust and won’t rise properly.

Place on foil lined baking sheet and spray the foil with non stick cooking spray.  You can get about 15 buns on a sheet.  Place in a warm, draft free place to rise.  I find that the oven with the light turned on and a bowl of boiling water set in the bottom works best.  Allow the buns to rise until they have doubled in size about 45 minutes.  Remove pans and preheat oven to 400degrees F. Bake for 15 minutes or until they are lightly browned.  My honey buns took about 14 minutes to bake.

 To Make the Frosting:

Mix together all the ingredients and drizzle on the Honey Buns after cooling.  Icing will be firm like donut icing when ready.

 Cost Comparison

Homemade Honey Buns= 30 buns for $2.06

Honey Buns bought from store= 8 buns for $3.00

 You end up getting more buns for cheaper than the store bought and my family thought they tasted a whole lot better.