Breakfast Pizza

We love to have "fun breakfast" on Sunday mornings. Our usuals include egg mcmuffins, stuffed crepes, German pancakes, or coffee cake. Every once and a while, we do something really fun. What could be more fun than pizza for breakfast? This recipe is so far off from the original I found I don't remember where, so I don't feel bad claiming credit for it.;) I'm sure you could use a refrigerated pizza crust if you like, but I don't, so I included my favorite pizza crust recipe as well. Enjoy!

Crust:
2 1/2 c flour
2 3/4 tsp yeast (about 1 packet)
1 T sugar
1 tsp salt
3 T olive oil
1 c. very warm water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix 1 cup flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and oil with wire whisk for about a minute. Add remaining flour until dough leaves sides of bowl. Knead for 5 minutes until nice and springy. Allow to sit for 30 minutes, then shape on pie plate or baking stone. If you like extra thick crust, let it rise for about 30 minutes before you bake it. I bake for 17 minutes before I add the toppings.

Toppings:
10 eggs, scrambled the way you like them
1 lb. cooked breakfast sausage (I used Honeysuckle turkey breakfast sausage, it was delish)
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled (I used turkey bacon too. My kids like it better.)
1 packet country gravy, prepared with a little less liquid to make it nice and thick
grated colby jack to taste

When crust is mostly cooked (starting to brown on top) remove from oven and sauce with the country gravy. Top with eggs, sausage, bacon, and grated cheese. Return to oven for 5-10 minutes until cheese is nice and melty. Then cut and enjoy!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

This was a life changing recipe I took from my friend Natalie's blog, Perry's Plate. If you haven't checked it out at my behest yet, I strongly encourage you to do so. A wide variety of delicious recipes can be found there and she even has a search engine you can use to find whatever you never knew you were looking for.;) Enjoy!



Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirl Brownies
adapted from Cara's Cravings

Brownie Batter:
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 T vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cheesecake Batter:
6 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
2 T flour
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp each ground ginger and ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8" or an 11x7" baking pan.

For the Brownies:
Beat together melted butter, sugar, and vanilla, then beat in eggs one at a time. Combine dry ingredients in small bowl, and then gradually stir into butter mixture by hand.

For the Cheesecake:
In another bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in remainder of ingredients until smooth.

Spread about 2/3 of chocolate batter into prepared pan. Spread the pumpkin batter over top, distributing evenly. Drop the remaining brownie batter over cheesecake batter. To make the swirls, run a butter knife back and forth through the pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the center doesn't jiggle when you nudge the pan. Cool completely and chill before cutting and serving.

Taco Pasta Shells

This one was kind of a fun take on Tacos. I'm always trying to trick my kids into eating different things, especially meat. I swear they're vegetarians. Anyway, they love noodles and they tolerate tacos, so I made these the other night. It's an adaptation of a recipe I found in my sister's ward cookbook.

12 Jumbo pasta shells
1/2 med. onion, chopped
6 oz. cream cheese
1 c. grated cheese
1 lb ground beef (I used turkey burger)
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 small jar taco sauce (about a cup) -- the recipe says you can also use red enchilada sauce
Fritos
Sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil pasta shells. Cook hamburger in onion until brown. Add taco seasoning and prepare as on the packet. Add cream cheese and heat slowly until melty. Spread 1/4 c. taco sauce in bottom of pan. Fill shells with meat mixture. Top with the rest of the taco sauce and melted cheese. I think some sliced olives would have been nice too, but I was a little time crunched that night. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Serve with Fritos and sour cream.

Chicken Pot Pie

This is another yummy adaptation from a Snow family recipe. I make my own pie crust, so I included that recipe, but the recipe called for frozen pie crust which I'm sure is yummy as well. The problem with a frozen pie crust is twofold: 1) it costs money. I'm not paying $3 or $4 for something I can make myself pretty quickly with flour and shortening. 2) you have to buy it ahead of time. That requires forethought. Hee hee. Anyway, here it is!

Filling:
1/3 c. butter
1/3 c. flour
1/3 c. onion
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 can chicken broth
2/3 c. milk
Shredded chicken (She means the cannery stuff, but I cook and cube mine)
Peas and carrots (this means frozen ones. I used garden carrots and broccoli with frozen peas in mine. If you use fresh veggies, make sure you cook them a bit before you put them in or they will be just a little crunchy.)
2 frozen pie crusts (or use the recipe at the end of this post)

Melt butter. Add flour, onion, salt, and pepper. Remove from heat when it's a paste. Add chicken broth and milk. Return to heat and boil for 1 minute. Add chicken and veggies. Form pie crust. Pour mixture in crust. Put other crust on top. Pinch edges and bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes.

*sidenote* you probably already know this, but if you'll put a little layer of tinfoil over the edges of the crust until the last 5 minutes of baking, the crust edges won't fry.

2-crust pie:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup plus 2 T shortening
4 to 6 T cold water

In a medium bowl, mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or kitchen knives until particles are the size of small peas. (*sidenote* I finally bought a cheap little pastry blender at Wal-Mart for around $4. It changed my life.) Sprinkle with cold water, 1 T at a time until all the flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves the side of the bowl. Divide dough in half and shape into flattened rounds between wax paper. Refrigerate for 45 minutes until dough is firm but pliable. Then roll out and form your pie crusts. If it's too hard to roll, just let it sit on the counter until it softens up some.

*another sidenote* this one is good to make ahead of time and pop it in the fridge until you're ready to cook. We do it on Sundays sometimes so we can just stuff it in the oven when we get home from church.