Southwest Breakfast Wrap

Since I was making breakfast sandwiches, my son wanted a breakfast wrap. Every time my husband would go buy his cup of coffee, my son would ask his Dad for a breakfast wrap. So, I figured I should try making them. It would be a lot cheaper and healthier. I had some leftover Southwest Eggs from the breakfast sandwiches so I just used them. I like them. They aren't a big sandwich but filling. My son is so happy. I placed extra in the freezer so he can heat them up before school. Good job, Mom, good job!

Southwest Breakfast Wrap
4 large flour tortilla
6 egg whites
2 whole eggs
1 Tbsp milk
1/4 cup spinach, sliced thin
1/8 cup red bell pepper, sliced small
4 oz. pepper jack cheese, shredded
6 slices of bacon/Canadian bacon

Directions:

1. Using a large biscuit cutter or a large glass, cut out 4 circles from each flour tortilla. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
3. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg whites, eggs, and milk. 
5. Evenly pour a little of the egg white mixture into each muffin tin.
6. Add a little spinach and red bell peppers to each egg mixture.
7. Cook the eggs for 5 minutes.
8. Rotate the eggs and cook for another 5 minutes or until the egg is cooked through. 
9. Remove the eggs from the oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes.
10. Lay one of the flour circles on a plate. 
11. Sprinkle a little of the cheese over the tortilla.
12. On one side, place 1/2 slice of the Canadian bacon. 
13. Cut one of the baked eggs in half.
14. Place 1/2 of the baked eggs on top of the Canadian bacon. 
15. Return the breakfast wrap to the oven for one minute.
16. Remove from the oven and fold in half. The melted cheese should hold the wrap closed.

Recipe by Jen of Sweet Morris.

One year ago............................I made Cherry Cheese Danish.
Two years ago..........................I made Mascarpone.

Did you already know..................
-Each day, Dunkin' Donuts serves over 3 million customers. 
-There are over 10,000 stores worldwide.
-Dunkin' Donuts is a subsidiary of Dunkin' Brands.

Breakfast Southwestern Egg Sandwich

I like a quick breakfast on weekdays. I love cereal but I want something I can grab and go. I have made breakfast sandwiches before but I just scrambled the eggs. For something quick, it is pretty messy plus if I'm dressed up then I really don't need it on me. I can only imagine what I would look like showing up to an important meeting corrected in egg. I would share but I'm not sure anyone (besides my husband) would take me up on it. When I saw baked eggs, I realized it was the way to go. I could freeze any extra and have them on other days. I like my eggs mostly egg whites so I made them this way. The kids never know the difference.

Breakfast Southwestern Egg Sandwiches
6 egg whites
2 whole eggs
1 Tbsp milk
1/4 cup spinach, sliced thin
1/8 cup red bell pepper, sliced small
12 slices of pepper jack cheese
12 English muffins (I used whole grain.)
12 slices of Canadian bacon

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg whites, eggs, and milk. 
4. Evenly pour a little of the egg white mixture into each muffin tin.
5. Add a little spinach and red bell peppers to each egg mixture.
6. Cook the eggs for 5 minutes.
7. Rotate the eggs and cook for another 5 minutes or until the egg is cooked through.
8. While the eggs are cooking, lightly toast the English muffins.
9. Top the bottom section of the English muffin with a slice of Canadian bacon.
10. Toast the English muffin until the Canadian bacon is warm.
11. Remove the English muffin and add a slice of cheese on top of the Canadian bacon.
12. Carefully remove one of the baked egg sections from the muffin tin and top the English muffin.
13. Close the English muffin with the other section to form a sandwich.

Recipe adapted from Jeff Mauro.

One year ago...........................I made Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes.
Two years ago.........................I made Savory Lobster Cheesecake.

Did you already know.............
-In 1971, Herb Peterson invented the Egg McMuffin.
-Herb Peterson modified the Jack-in-the-Box's Eggs Benedict Sandwich.
-Breakfast makes up about 15% of McDonald's sales.

Hardtack

My daughter's school does a reenactment of the Civil War. My oldest daughter fought for the North. Since my younger daughter wanted to fight for the same side as her sister, she was undecided. She wanted to talk to her sister first. She took to long deciding what side to pick so by default she became a Southern. Most of my daughter's friends had picked the North. (We do live in Maine.) Since my husband and I were both born in New England, I reminded her that her Grandfather is a Southern and one of her Aunts were born in the South so she should fight for them. We did get a photo of her with President Lincoln so I think her fellow Southerns believed she was a spy anyways. Also, she was seen often speaking with a lot of the Northern soldiers. Part of the experience is all the soldiers had to eat what the soldiers were served back during the Civil War. If for some reason you need a recipe for hardtack, this is the place to find it. I will admit I felt bad for all the soldiers if they had to live off of hardtack. Hardtack is hard and salty. Now, these crackers were fresh so I could only imagine how hard they were when the soldiers did receive them.

Hardtack
4 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
2 Tbsp vegetable shortening
2 tsp salt
1 to 1 1/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a food processor, combine the flour, shortening, and salt.
3. Slowly, pour in the water while pulsing.
4. Continue adding the water to form a stiff but not sticky batter.
5. Knead several times.
6. Roll the dough onto an ungreased baking sheet to 1/2 inch thickness.
7. Bake the dough for 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
8. Remove from the oven.
9. Cut the dough into 3 inch sections. 
10. Using a fork, punch several rows of holes into the dough.
11. Flip the dough over so the punched side is down on the baking sheet.
12. Bake the dough for another 20 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.
13. Turn off the oven and allow the oven to cool.

Recipe adapted from American Civil War Recipes.

One year ago........................I made Creamy Chicken Enchiladas.
Two years ago......................I made Feta Topped Chicken.

Did you already know...........
-The hardtack was issued to Union soldiers as part of their rations.
-Due to lack of proper storage, the hardtack often arrived infested with bugs called weevils. 
-To make it easier to eat, many soldiers would dunk it into a liquid to soften it or cook it into a mesh with grease.

Molasses Spice Cookies

Recently, my friend had surgery. I wanted to bring her something more than just flowers so I made her cookies. I knew she would like these cookies so I had to make them for her. I shared some with my sister and she said they taste like gingerbread. My daughter loved them. I mean loved them. Since there was no chocolate in them, I even shared one with our dog. He instantly became my best friend. He already was my friend but I think it brought us closer. I think it doesn't hurt that I also give him pieces of cheese, apples, and carrots (his all time favorite snack) but the cookie helped our friendship.

Molasses Spice Cookies
10 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
1 1/4 cup sugar, divided

Directions:

1. Melt the butter and set aside to cool.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine the egg and molasses.
4. Add 1 cup of sugar and mix until incorporated.
5. Add the cooled butter and mix until incorporated.
6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix well. Scrap down the bowl.
7. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix well. Scrap down the bowl.
8. Add the remaining flour mixture.
9. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
10. Remove the dough and form about a Tablespoon of dough into balls.
11. Place the dough onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper.
12. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
13. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
14. Place the 1/4 cup of sugar into a small bowl.
15. Roll each ball of dough into the sugar to coat.
16. Flatten the balls slightly.
17. Space the dough about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
18. Bake the cookies for 5 minutes.
19. Rotate and bake the cookies for another 5 minutes or until the cookies are dark golden brown.
20. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Recipe adapted from the Standard Baking Co. Pastries Cookbook by Alison Pray and Tara Smith. 

One year ago........................I made Peanut Butter Cup PB Cookies.
Two years ago......................I made Mahogany Cake.

Did you already know...........
-Molasses is the byproduct of the extraction of sugar from sugarcane and sugar beets.
-The Molasses Act of 1733, the British imposed a tax on all non-British imports of sugar and molasses to the colonies.
-On January 15, 1919, a large molasses storage tank collapsed in the North End of Boston creating a two story flood causing the death of 21 people and about 150 injuries.

Red, White, and Blue Cake

Memorial Day signifies many things to many people. My Grandmother would visit the graves of family members. For others, it is the parade and remembering lost service members. For us, it signifies my husband's birthday since often his birthday falls on the holiday. Well, I had to make him a patriotic cake. My sister found the idea on pinterest and sent it to me. I decided to try making star shapes. I did learn that the cake needs to be frozen so it is easy to cut out the shapes. Also, I used the rest of the red and blue cake to make my bottom layer so I didn't waste any cake. I liked the affect. I used this cake recipe.  The best part of making this cake is my daughter helped.

Red, White, and Blue Cake
1 baked red cake
1 baked blue cake
1 white cake batter

Directions

1. Freeze the red cake and the blue cake for 1 hour.
2. Cut out the star shapes from the frozen cake.
3. Place the cut out cooked red and blue cake stars into the white cake batter.
4. Make sure the cut out star shapes are covered by the white cake batter.
5. Bake the white cake as normal.
6. Once cooked, frost as desired and serve.

Recipe adapted from Recipebyphoto.

One year ago.................................I made a Star Cake.
Two years ago...............................I made a Stuffed Burger.

An example of my cut out blue star.

Did you already know...................
-Memorial Day once was called Decoration Day.
-Decoration Day began to remember all the fallen Civil War soldiers.
-On May 5th, 1868, the Union Veterans decided to establish a day to decorate the graves of the fallen soldiers with flowers.