Bacon-Egg Breakfast Bites

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I confess.  I love bite-size breakfast.  The funny thing is that I never eat on the run.  I just like bite sized food.

I’m sure there is a therapist somewhere that read that and said, “She needs help.”

I do not deny that fact.

One difficult thing about bite size breakfast foods is that they can kind of be a pain to make.  Like a GIGANTIC PAIN.  I’ve done recipes like these Bacon-Egg Breakfast Bites from Pillsbury before and sworn that I would never make anything like that ever again.  Yet as I am flipping through April’s issue of Bake Off winners, I immediately gravitated to this recipe.

© Pillsbury

As I look at this picture, I remember why.  I get to eat bacon and tater tots… for breakfast.  Of course, there is no guarantee that my breakfast bites are going to turn out the same way.

© You Want Me to Cook?
Bacon-Egg Breakfast Bites

But they did!  Well at least they were very close.  Mine don’t seem to have the same lovely golden color of the ones Pillsbury produced.

They did make me reaffirm that I don’t want to make anything like this again, though.

What I Made: June 7, 2012

I had a lot of things planned for June 7.  Then my body decided to not agree with me and I had a pain flare.  While my dogs enjoyed me sitting around and napping, I didn't get a lot of cooking/baking done.

That doesn't mean I didn't make ANYTHING.  It just stopped once I couldn't take it anymore.

My morning started off with a smoothie from my archives.  Good Housekeeping had this Jump-Start Smoothie in their September 2011 issue.

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Jump-Start Smoothies

Mango-Lemon Drop Sunshine Puffs

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – April 25, 2011

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Mango-Lemon Drop Sunshine Puffs recipe originally published by Pillsbury: Bake-off Winners – April 2012.

Since my husband has been home in the mornings, I’ve decided to try to make breakfast more often than just the weekends.  

Okay, total honesty here… my husband makes most of the breakfasts on weekends.  I assist!  

Okay, no I don’t... I watch TV while drinking coffee and reading magazines.

So yeah, I decided I need to start making more breakfasts.  I wanted to start easy and simple so I picked a pastry.  Looking for something different, I went with a mango and coconut puff.

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Mango-Lemon Drop Sunshine Puffs

They look very tasty, but not quite like the picture on Pillsbury’s web site or in the magazine.  I think what I consider “golden brown” and what they consider “golden brown” are two totally different things.  Also, my glaze looks a lot darker, but I’m not too worried about that.  I used a different jam than what was used in the recipe.

Bacon Potato Omelet

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – September 4, 2011

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Bacon Potato Omelet recipe originally published in Taste of Home Holiday Collection 2008.

My husband rarely cooks, but he makes a MEAN breakfast.  His eggs come out perfect sunnyside-up.  The bacon is oh-so-crisp.  There are hash browns that make my mouth water.  Of course, this is the exact menu we have each time… not that I mind at all.  On occasion, I do enjoy mixing things up a little and that’s when I take over.

So when I look at the ingredients of this recipe, it mimics very closely my husband’s "Breakfast of Success."  I love omelets!  I LOVE me some bacon!  And everything is better with cheese.  I decided to give my loving husband a break and made this yummy looking Bacon Potato Omelet.

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Bacon Potato Omelet

I was ridiculously proud of the way it looked when I was done.  Usually my omelets are broken, oozing messes.  They’re in one piece, but they’re never what I’d call “pretty”.  Yeah, I know it all looks like mush in our stomach, but I do enjoy looking at nice looking food before I eat it.

It looked perfectly cooked and was almost identical to the picture published with the recipe.

Overnight Brunch Egg Bake

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – March 13, 2011

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Recipe originally published by Pillsbury – Tuesday, March 18, 2008.

One of the things I really liked about this recipe from the beginning is its honesty.  It tells you right in the title “you have to let this set overnight.”  So don’t blame Pillsbury if you wake up on Christmas morning expecting to whip this little ditty out as the centerpiece of your Christmas breakfast.

The recipe itself is a basic egg casserole with all the yummy ingredients in it – onions, red peppers, mushrooms, and LOTS OF CHEESE!!!  But that wasn’t the only thing that attracted me to it.

See, I’m not a morning person.

In fact, I’m not an early afternoon person.

I hit my stride about 7:00PM.

Still, I have a husband who gets up semi-early (someone has to walk the dogs - hehehehe) and eats breakfast every morning.  I do enjoy preparing his meals, and I know he likes it a lot too, so I like to make him breakfast at least on the weekends, but I HATE getting up early enough to actually get it done before noon.  This recipe allowed me to assemble a meal when I’ve got my most energy, wake up, stumble down to the stove, put the casserole in the oven, take a nap on the couch with an alarm set and voila!  Breakfast is ready!

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Overnight Brunch Egg Bake

This recipe lists the things you can garnish the casserole with.  I chose not to garnish it, mostly because it was just my husband and I.  Looking at the picture… Cripes I should have garnished.  I also had a small issue with the ordering of the layers.  The cheese on top is my mistake.

Overall, it just looks… solid.  Not necessarily appetizing.

Toffee-Flavored Coffee

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – March 4, 2011

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Recipe originally published in Taste of Home, Holiday Collection 2008.

I LOVE Starbucks!  In fact, I did a short stint there (well I worked for Target but I was in the Starbucks) and I did love making the drinks.  It was a lot of fun… but working for Target sucks rocks, so my “career” as a barista was much shorter than I had liked. 

I’m not a fan of a regular cup of coffee, but give me a tasty latte or iced drink and I’ll be set for the morning.  Now, I fantasize about owning a beautiful and commercial grade espresso machine with steam, but I know that’s not going to happen… at least anytime soon.  Therefore, I’m always on the lookout for recipes that don’t require one.

This particular recipe includes toffee and butterscotch.  I can’t even get that combination from Starbucks (they don’t have a butterscotch syrup) which is a shame because I love butterscotch.  Also, it uses brewed coffee so I didn’t have to worry brewing shots of espresso or steaming milk.  I found this one in a holiday collection magazine so I’m guessing that it is meant to be served for special occasions, but I’m the type of person who would drink Pumpkin Spice Latte every day of the year, so I don’t care.

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Toffee-Flavored Coffee

First, take in the awesomeness of my Chicago Blackhawks mug.  It was a gift from my husband, bought from Hawk Quarters Blackhawks Store, and the main vessel of my morning coffee.

The coffee looks very decadent, rich and creamy at least from the top.  Yes, you can’t see the coffee through the mug.  Then I looked at the picture from Taste of Home and realized that they didn’t photograph theirs in a clear mug either.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook on February 26, 2011

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Recipe originally published in Simple and Delicious, December/January 2011.

I have to be honest; I don’t have much of a sweet tooth.  If I do get a craving, it is usually in the morning and can be taken care of with a cup of coffee with cream & sugar.  Of course, that isn’t the healthiest option and doesn’t leave me full to make it to lunch.  Because of this, I am always looking for easy to make and semi-healthy morning pastries.  I don’t try to fool myself: Muffins, bagels, donuts are not the healthiest option for me, but every once in a while, I just gotta have one!!!

I was really excited that this recipe used a whole wheat flour blend.  I really want to start cooking with more whole grains, and this was a great place to start.  Simple and slightly healthier than normal – I’m in!

Breakfast Biscuits

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? on February 20, 2011.

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Recipe originally published in Good Housekeeping, February 2011.

I’m not one for spicy food.  I like a little kick, but too much seems flavorless to me.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t knock anyone who likes the spice, I’m just saying I don’t care for it.  The reason I bring this up now is that when I read through this recipe, I didn’t realize how much of a kick pepper Jack cheese had.  I had the biscuits in the oven when I sampled my cheese and started wondering if I was going to like this or not.

I made the entire recipe of biscuits (I’m not going to save a ½ container of refrigerated biscuits), but since I cook for only two of us, I cut the eggs in half.  I could have made the entire dish, but I don’t care for scrambled eggs as leftovers.

My finished product: © You Want Me to Cook? Breakfast Biscuits

Picture published with recipe: None

This is a quickie recipe from Good Housekeeping that didn’t post pictures – again.  I have a vision in my head of the chefs running around screaming, “the Breakfast Biscuits are done.  What is next?  No, throw it away; I’m in a hurry here!  It’s QUICKIE RECIPE TIME!”  At least my picture looks gorgeous.  Golden-browned biscuits with fluffy eggs is my idea of a breakfast.

Sticky Pecan Buns

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? on February 20, 2011

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Recipe originally published in Good Housekeeping, February 2011.

So my quest to make breakfast has lately hit a roadblock.  Before it did, I was cranking out an egg dish every week.  Then I decided I needed to make a pastry as well, if only because I have a ton of recipes for muffins, rolls, waffles, pancakes, etc…  I was going to start out big and bold and then chickened out.  I ended up picking out a quickie recipe for a very complex pastry.

My finished product: © You Want Me to Cook? Sticky Pecan Buns

Picture published with recipe: None

Good Housekeeping had done a whole bunch of these quickie recipes and none of them had pictures.  And what a shame!  I am far from a professional photographer (I barely can point-and-click) and look how gorgeous these look on the plate.  As I was going through my pictures for this post, I began to drool.

Egg Scramble with Maple and Black-Pepper Bacon

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? on February 6, 2011

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These recipes had been on my mind for awhile.  First, the egg scramble had sounded delicious, but I didn’t want to make a breakfast dish that served 10 people.  Problem solved when I read the recipe in more detail and saw that you have to make it half at a time.  Bravo!  Then there is the bacon.  As much as I’d like to eat an entire pound of bacon for breakfast, the intelligent part of my brain tells me that isn’t a good idea.  I like to listen to that part of the brain every now and again.  So one day, I decided to make these two together.  Now don’t think it went completely smooth.  Nope, I had issues, but nothing too horrible that I wouldn’t make both or either again.

Egg Scramble recipe only.

Egg Scramble recipe originally published in Taste of Home, November 2007.

My finished Egg Scramble: © You Want Me to Cook? Egg Scramble

Picture published with recipe: © Taste of Home

My eggs look slightly drier than theirs did, most likely because I had to wait for my bacon to be done to eat.  The look of the picture aside, I had light and creamy eggs and good vegetable distribution throughout the dish.  Will they pair well with the bacon?  Let’s see!

Maple and Black-Pepper Bacon recipe only.

Maple and Black-Pepper Bacon recipe originally published in Gourmet, December 2008.

My finished Maple and Black-Pepper Bacon: © You Want Me to Cook? Maple and Black-Pepper Bacon

Picture published with recipe: © Gourmet/Epicurious

Bacon makes everything better.  This recipe was challenging, but as you can see, I must have done something right.  It turned out crisp, sweet, salty and spicy… oh, and gorgeous.

Smoothie Central

Oh yeah, you saw it right.  THIS is Smoothie Central.  You get four recipes in one post!  Mostly because I figured you’d all hate getting a single smoothie recipe for four days.  Don’t you agree?  This also marks the first time I did not make each of the recipes.  My husband blended the smoothies (and continues to make these on a daily basis) so I essentially watched and interviewed him as he was making them.  Yes, even a guy who doesn’t cook can complete these recipes!

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Gingery Berry and Oat Smoothie recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – January 30, 2011

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Gingery Berry and Oat Smoothie recipe originally published in Real Simple, February 2011.

© You Want Me to Cook?

Spiced Pumpkin Smoothie recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – February 2, 2011

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Spiced Pumpkin Smoothie recipe originally published in Real Simple, February 2011.

© You Want Me to Cook?

Banana-Cashew Smoothie recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – January 29, 2011

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Banana-Cashew Smoothie recipe originally published in Real Simple, February 2011.

© You Want Me to Cook?

Strawberry-Flax Smoothie recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – February 12, 2011

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Strawberry-Flax Smoothie recipe originally published in Real Simple, February 2011.

I hate breakfast.  I’ve never been a fan of breakfast food and often I wake up feeling less than stellar.  For those of you who don’t know me personally, I have fibromyalgia and my pain manifests itself as migraine headaches and severe nausea – especially in the morning.  My husband, who lost 130 pounds, knows that I need to fuel my body in the morning to jumpstart my metabolism.  So we began searching for easy-to-make breakfasts that look yummy, appeal to what foods I do enjoy in the morning and that I can take with me on the run.  Around the same time Real Simple had their smoothie issue, my husband asked me about making them for breakfast.  We picked out a bunch and my husband made one each day.

Breakfast Upside Down Cake

Recipe modified by Gretchen Wilson – December 25, 2010

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Recipe originally published by AllRecipes on March 27, 2007.

I’ve made it my mission to start eating breakfast more often.  I could list a million reasons why I don’t eat it, but here’s the main two:

• I am not hungry in the morning
• Breakfast food doesn’t interest me

Now, it is possible that reason #2 actually drives reason #1; therefore, I have been looking for interesting and yummy breakfast dishes that make me say “hey, I think I’m hungry for breakfast!”  This had it all, potatoes, bacon, eggs with cheese, onion and red bell pepper.  I decided to make this for breakfast on Christmas day.  It was a great choice.

My finished product:

Picture published with recipe: © AllRecipes.com

One of the things about allrecipes is that almost all of the photos are user photos.  That means there is no control over the picture quality or how the dish was prepared.  I followed the recipe as was written.  This is the closest picture I could find in all the photos uploaded to allrecipes.com.  It looks like the chef included sausage in their casserole and omitted the red peppers.  Some of the others looked similar to mine, although they used a round pan (more on that later).  I absolutely think mine looks much more appealing.