Basic French Toast {Gluten Free or Not!}

The members of The Beehive needed an alternative to our scrambled eggs, toast and fruit breakfast.  I was tired of making it and The Bear and The Bird were tired of eating it.  The trouble is they LOVE toast and I needed to add some protein to keep them full longer. You see where I'm going with this?!! French Toast. So easy.  So good.

Basic French Toast

Ingredients

4 slices of bread*
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (or just cinnamon)
banana or other fresh fruit to top
enough honey to drizzle

Directions


Melt butter in a large frying pan on medium heat. Whisk eggs in a medium-sized bowl. Dip bread in the eggs and flip to coat both sides. Let the bread soak in the eggs for a few seconds so that the bread is wet all the way through. Put bread in the frying pan. Sprinkle pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon) on one side then flip over and sprinkle on the other side. Cook for about 2 minutes then flip again.  Cook until all the egg on the bread is cooked.

Pile your french toast pieces on a plate. Melt some more butter on bread, slice banana on the top, and drizzle with honey.

Dig in.  No, seriously, dig in because they won't last long!!

*You will notice that I use both Gluten Free bread for me and regular bread for the kids.  As a result, I have to dip and cook the Gluten Free bread first as to not cross contaminate.

Muffin Tin Frittata {Naturally Gluten Free}

Ever since learning about simplyrecipes.com I have been obsessed.  It doesn't hurt that recipe creator and master food blogger lives probably within 30 miles of me and I have met her at a few California Food Literacy Center events.

Now, whenever I need inspiration for a recipe I know I can start there.  I LOVE supporting local talent.

Oh, and did I mention her recipe library is insane?

So, as you can imagine, I got the recipe and inspiration from here and tweaked it to create the delightful little Muffin Tin Frittata for Christmas morning.

Ingredients

12 eggs
1 cup chopped spinach
1/2 cup chopped onion*
3/4 cup quartered mushrooms*
1 clove garlic (or more - to taste)
1 cup Quattro Formaggio shredded cheese blend from Trader Joe's (or similar)
Italian seasoning
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil

*Any veggies you would put in an omelet would work here!  Be creative!

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a muffin tin (butter, olive oil, or coconut oil will work)

Saute your vegetables in the olive oil and add the Italian seasoning to taste for 5-7 minutes (until they are soft but still recognizable!).

Beat your eggs in a bowl and add salt and pepper to taste.

Fill muffin tin wells halfway with beat eggs.  Add sauteed veggies to each one,  generously sprinkle stinky cheese (that's what The Bear calls it in our house!) nnd then fill the rest of the way with remaining egg.

Cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes making sure the egg is thoroughly cooked!

Notes:   When adding spices, vegetables and cheese be very generous!  I thought I was OVER-seasoning and when I tasted them, they could have used more!

Now go get your booty in the kitchen and warm it up! CHEERS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Breakfast Casserole Fit for Bees

My wonderful Bee-in-laws will be hosting Thanksgiving this year at their home up in beautiful wine country. DaveBee's mama always makes a wonderful spread and she is ultra-conscious of not using gluten ingredients which can be no easy task especially when cooking a large meal like Thanksgiving! She does delectable gluten-free versions of the traditional stuffing and gravy! I am a lucky girl.

I am making a few things to help lighten the meal load!

This breakfast casserole is a first for me.  Two of my sister-in-laws and my mother-in-law make versions of it so here's to hoping it lives up.  Mine is currently in the freezer ready to heat up on Black Friday morning while we are cozily tucked in up in the Sierra Nevada foothills.  If smell is an indicator I think it will be good. With these simple ingredients how can you go wrong?

Simple Breakfast Casserole {Naturally Gluten Free}

3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 bag of frozen Tater Tots (Trader Joe's has some with simply ingredients)
1 pound of Breakfast Sausage (out of the casing)

10 ounces shredded cheese (I used a mexican blend but cheddar or jack would do)

8 eggs

1/3 cup of Milk

Seasoning (Salt, pepper, garlic powder)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook up your breakfast sausage in a frying pan until the are not pink and it is crumbly. Remember to remove casing if there is any.  While cooking up the sausage, layer the bottom of a casserole dish with frozen tater tots. Drizzle evenly and generously with olive oil. Season with salt. Stick in preheating oven to lightly toast while sausage is cooking and oven is preheating.

Beat the eggs in a bowl and add milk and any seasonings you like.

When the sausage is done, pull the tater tots out of the oven and layer the sausage on top.  Next, layer the shredded cheese over the sausage. Lastly, pour the egg mixture over the cheese layer. Place in the oven for 40-45 minutes.  You will know it is done when the top is lightly browned and there is no more liquid egg mixture.

Cool and serve with salsa or hot sauce! (We always have hot sauce with anything with eggs!)