The Morning Madness

Your alarm didn't go off, it's only Tuesday, and the bus comes in 20 minutes. Well, for most families this seems like a grab a bag of cereal or granola bar type of morning. But with a little preparation and some speedy assembly skills, you can feed your family a quality breakfast even when everyone’s rushing to get out of the house on time. On the menu is stuffed French toast, mini egg frittatas, and baked hash brown potatoes. There’s nothing better than starting your day with a warm, home-cooked breakfast. I would suggest making big batches of each item either on the weekend or on a night when you have time to spare and storing them in the fridge. This ensures that in the morning all that you have to do is simply heat everything up. Now, let’s get cooking!

One of my favorite breakfasts is a stuffed French toast that my mom has been making for my family since we were little. It’s two pieces of buttery, griddled bread sandwiched between a layer of fresh fruit and cream. Decadence at its finest! To start out, you want to make the actual bread component of this stuffed French toast. To start out, to want to choose a type of bread such as white, wheat, brioche, or challah. This recipe is surprisingly very good when you have stale bread because it will soak up the egg mixture better than pliable fresh bread. Once you’ve chosen your bread, you can start on the egg mixture to soak the bread in and make it soft and pillowy. To make the egg mixture, simply beat as many eggs as you want, add a splash of milk, some melted butter, a little bit of sugar, and a tiny drop of vanilla extract. Once this mixture has been whisked and is fully combined, add the bread into the bowl, and let it soak, constantly checking to make sure that the bread doesn’t get too soggy. After your bread has soaked, you want to cook your bread in a frying pan or on a grill pan. Once your toast is done cooking, wrap it in foil and store it in the refrigerator for breakfasts in the morning. To reheat it the next day, you will want to microwave it in 10 second increments until it is warm, or if you have time, you can surely griddle it again for about a minute. For the filling to the stuffed French toast, combine softened cream cheese, a sprinkle of confectioners’ sugar, and a fruit of your choice. I particularly like to mix in strawberries or raspberries. This cream is perfect to just keep in a bowl in the fridge to use whenever you want to enjoy this delicious sandwich.

The next item that can be made ahead of time for breakfast are mini frittatas. A frittata is typically an Italian egg dish resembling a large egg omelet with cheese and mixed veggies. I like to make mini frittatas in cupcake pans because they are individual portions that can just be popped in the microwave whenever you want to eat them. For the egg mixture, combine eggs (as many as you want to make), milk, salt, pepper, your choice of sautéed vegetables, and a cheese that easily melts. I like to combine asparagus, tomatoes, fried onions, and fontina cheese. Stir all of these ingredients together and ladle into your greased cupcake tin. The end result is a golden mini egg frittata perfect for a quick meal and served either plain or dipped in ketchup. Reheating the egg frittatas is just as easy as making them; pop them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and enjoy!

The last element to this make-ahead breakfast is hash brown potatoes. Similar to everything else, these can be made in a big batch and reheated whenever you want. To start, choose which type of potatoes you would like to use. I like to combine Yukon gold and russet potatoes because of their contrasting flavors, colors, and textures. Cut the potatoes into bite size pieces and place them into a bowl. Then you want to take some vegetable oil, salt, pepper, and fresh herbs such as parsley, oregano, or rosemary, and toss the potatoes in these seasonings. Then spread the potatoes onto a baking sheet and cook until tender and golden brown. Store the potatoes in a plastic bowl in the fridge, and microwave for 20 seconds for a satisfying side to a breakfast that can be made in a flash.

Between a stuffed French toast loaded with cream and fresh fruit, mini veggie and cheese frittatas, and homemade hash browns, you can still feed your family a quality breakfast on those mornings when nothing seems to be going right, all possible when you're Cooking with Carly!