Slow Cooker Farina (Cream of Wheat)

This farina recipe will make anywhere between 5-10 servings, depending on how large a breakfast you like :)  Once cooked, you can place into portion-sized containers, take to work, and then heat in the microwave. Making this on the weekend can save you valuable time during the week.

Ingredients for slow cooker farina

What You Need:

• 2 Cups- farina
• 1/2 Cup brown sugar or honey (cinnamon sugar is perfect just omit the 1-tsp of cinnamon) 
• 1/2 Cup White sugar (if you think this might be too sweet for you, reduce to 1/4 cup) 
• 1 can of pumpkin (optional)
• 2-tsp pumpkin pie spice OR 
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp ginger
• ¼ tsp cloves

Scrambled Eggs Casserole

The following is a recipe I came up with to take a different spin on the usual scrambled eggs routine.It includes: scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, spinach, and feta cheese. I originally came up with this to stuff into the calzones I like to make, but I have since found a variety of ways in which to use it. 
For example, you can:

• Just eat it from your dish
• Use it as a casserole (brunch idea)
• Use it as a stuffing in burrito shells (brunch idea)
• Use it as a pizza topping (my kid's favorite)

• Make calzones (use your favorite pizza dough or make your own. Here's a link to my Pizza Dough Recipe)
• Try it as a sandwich
• Use up pie crust by making it into a pie (I did this as well. I just topped it with mashed potatoes, cheese, and baked)

As you see, there are several things you can do with this recipe. Since this recipe makes so much, you can experiment with several ideas from just a single batch. Also, once made, this recipe keeps well for several days in the refrigerator. Just remove the portion you want and microwave to heat. Now, onto the recipe...

What you need:

• 12 Eggs
• 1 Cup buttermilk (adds a great tang flavor to the eggs)
• Sausage...use your favorite
• 6 Slices bacon (or more if you want)
• 2 Handfuls of fresh baby spinach...(see photo below). You can also just use frozen spinach that has been thawed and drained. It will work just as well and you won't have to cook it :)
• Feta Cheese...again, a few good handfuls (adjust to suit your taste)
• Salt...to taste
• Pepper...to taste
• Rice wine vinegar...for spinach (Optional, but adds a great taste)
• Minced garlic...for spinach (optional)
• 6 Tbsp. Ranch Dressing (optional, but really adds a unique flavor).

Now that we have our ingredients, let's begin. What we will do is cook everything separately and then, once the eggs are cooked, we will combine all the elements together.

Bacon: 

• Pre-heat oven to 400°
• Place your bacon on a baking sheet (I line mine with foil, but parchment paper will work as well)
• Bake your bacon for 10 minutes, turn and then bake an additional 10 minutes (this will give you fairly crispy bacon. If you like yours less crispy, just reduce the bake time
• Remove and drain on paper towels, crumble, and set aside

Spinach: 

• Place two generous handfuls of spinach in the frying pan and season with salt and pepper

• Saute the spinach until cooked and then add some minced garlic (about a teaspoon) and rice wine vinegar

• Drain and set aside

Sausage:

•  Place sausage in pan and cook until done
• Drain and set aside

Eggs:

• Place the eggs in a bowl and, using a whisk or fork, break the yolks and beat until smooth

• Add the buttermilk (1 cup) and mix well
• Add salt and pepper and mix well

• Add the eggs to frying pan and cook until scrambled to your preferred level of doneness (some people like their scrambled eggs well done and dry, while others prefer them more moist).
• Drain any extra liquid if needed

Putting it together:

• With the eggs still in the frying pan, add the spinach and combine well
• Add the sausage, bacon, and mix well
• Add the Feta cheese mix well and heat until cheese begins to soften
• Lastly, add the Ranch dressing, if desired, and mix

You now have a very versatile dish that can be enjoyed in a variety of different ways. Have fun and try and invent new ways of serving this. If you do, please leave me a comment and I will add your ideas to this article, along with a nice link to your site. :)

Frosted Toast Crunch Giveaway

Contest is now closed.


Congratulations, Manda!!
I will be contacting you for your mailing information. I want to thank all of you who have participated and I hope that you will come back again for the next giveaway


When I saw this giveaway, my first thought was to remember back when I was growing up and getting ready for school. Each morning, my mom would make me breakfast and even though it was healthy and filled me up, it was usually the same thing every day. However, on those occasions when she got something new, I would actually look forward to getting up and eating breakfast. Yep, any break in the routine was something to look forward to. Granted, since I was getting ready to go to school, my day kind of went downhill from there, it was still a fun way to start the day.

Are you currently in the breakfast doldrums and trying to find a way out? Well, there's good news, because General Mills is introducing a new cereal called Frosted Toast Crunch, which has the delicious taste of frosted vanilla (frosted vanilla coating is artificially flavored). Each square of this cereal is baked with the wonderful taste of frosted vanilla and is dusted with a dash of cinnamon. We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but that doesn't mean it has to be boring. Frosted Toast Crunch gives you the nutrition you need with the taste you'll crave!

Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls Gift Pack Giveaway

One of the nice things that I like about Sunday mornings is that it gives us a chance, as a family, to just take it easy and spend some quality time together. On those Sundays when we don't go to church, we take the relaxation-thing up a notch and do something different. Most of the time, I'll make eggs and bacon (nothing smells better first thing in the morning than bacon and coffee), but this past Sunday, I decided to try something different. I mean, this is the time for me to spend with my wife and kids, not be stuck in the kitchen cooking and cleaning. So, while at the store last week, I decided to pick-up a can of Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls and give them a try. I'm the first person to tell you that I'm not a pastry chef, so when it comes to making rolls or any type of pastry, I'm more than happy to save the time and trouble and leave the work to the experts.

I must say that I'm very glad that I did, because the one thing I really don't like to do first thing in the morning is make a mess. If I were to do this the old fashioned way, I would be dragging out the yeast, flour, powdered sugar, and butter to name just a few of the items needed, which kind of defeats the entire purpose of trying to spend time with my family. I found it much faster and easier to just open a can, separate the rolls and place the rolls in a round cake pan (which happens to be just the right size for the five rolls). I then popped them in the oven and in just twelve minutes it was time to dig-in. As they were baking, their sweet aroma permeated our house and actually managed to get our daughters out of bed, which is no small feat on the weekends. Once out of the oven, I just added the icing and enjoyed.

These rolls were quick and easy to make and I have to say that they tasted fantastic. Warm from the oven, I took the first bite and it was so tender, it actually began to melt in my mouth. While my wife and daughters enjoyed their rolls with a glass of cold milk, I had mine with a fresh cup of hot coffee. Now, from my experience there are two ways to eat these rolls: you can either dive right in and take a bite or you can unroll them and nibble away. I happen to be an unroller. I like to unroll it little by little until just the center is left and then I pop it into my mouth and the deed is done.

I like to think that spending moments like this with my family is like storing memories for later. My daughters are growing all too quickly and in a few years, they'll be away at college and living their own lives. We really enjoy our times together and I like to think that maybe they'll look back fondly on these moments.

As you could tell from the title of this post, Pillsbury is giving away free gift packs and I would like to pass one along to a lucky reader. If you would like to participate in this giveaway, just submit your favorite Sunday Morning Moment along with any pictures you wish to include. I will then post your entries here, along with a link to your site. Once the winner is chosen, I'll send your mailing information to Blogspark and Pillsbury, who will send you the gift pack.

To tempt you further, here is another photo of some cinnamon rolls we also made...



Legal stuff...As you may have guessed, Pillsbury provided me with a free sample of the rolls, information, and the gift pack through MyBlogSpark