brunch | Stephanie's Slice Of Life

Category: brunch
- Chocolate Waffles
  
  Posted at 10:55 am by StephMo
  
  Sep 16th
  
  What is better than a thick, warm, waffle? How about a thick, warm, chocolate waffle! So delicious and decadent. Chocolate waffles make a perfect dessert treat with some ice cream, but today they were a special breakfast treat for my son. I thought I had some strawberries in the house to top them with to make it seem somewhat healthy, but I’ll just have to get some fruit into him later.
  
  Waffles might seem like a difficult thing to make, but they are actually quite easy. The only reason I don’t make them more often is because I have to go get the waffle maker from “down cellah” as us Bostonians say.
  
  So let’s make waffles!
  
  Ingredients:
  
  1 1/2 cups flour
  
  3 tsp. baking powder
  
  1/2 tsp. salt
  
  1/2 cup sugar
  
  3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
  
  1 cup milk
  
  2 large eggs
  
  4 tbsp. butter, melted
  
  mini chocolate chips, optional
  
  Sift together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. As I always say, make sure to sift when using cocoa powder because it really makes a difference.
  
  Whisk in the milk, eggs, and melted butter until smooth.
  
  I added a few mini chocolate chips because that’s how I roll. Honestly, when are chocolate chips ever a bad thing? Right?
  
  Spray your waffle iron with cooking spray and heat per the manufacturer’s instructions.
  
  Once heated, ladle the batter into the iron and let cook for about 4 minutes. I used a fork to remove them.
  
  I spread the batter out a little more for my second batch.
  
  Serve warm with fruit, ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, or whatever you like. Yum, yum, yum!!
  
  Posted in brunch, Recipes | Tagged brunch recipes, chocolate waffle, chocolate waffle recipe, chocolate waffles, dessert waffles, food blog, stephanie's slice of life, waffle recipe, waffles
- Baked French Toast
  
  Posted at 11:31 am by StephMo
  
  Apr 13th
  
  This baked french toast will be your “go to” brunch recipe from the moment you taste it. I started making this years ago for Easter brunch, and it has become a dish that my family looks forward to all year. It has become such an awaited favorite that I am pretty sure I would be disowned if I ever were to decide to make something else. No joke, it’s that good.
  
  This recipe makes enough for a large and a small glass baking dish of french toast. Since this year it was only the four of us, I started to just prepare one dish and the evil stares I received from my children made me quickly realize that was a bad idea. I guess if you wait 365 days for something, you want as much as you can get. A few days extra of this yummy treat for breakfast was a small price to pay for my children’s happiness.
  
  To make your new brunch favorite you need:
  
  2 large French breads
  
  8 eggs
  
  2 cups of milk
  
  1 1/2 cups half and half
  
  2 tsp. vanilla
  
  1/4 tsp. cinnamon
  
  3/4 cup butter
  
  1 1/3 cups brown sugar
  
  3 tbsp. light corn syrup
  
  Butter a large and a small glass baking dish. Cut the french bread into 1″ – 1/2 ” pieces and arrange in the baking dishes.
  
  Whisk together eggs, milk, half and half, cinnamon and vanilla in a mixing bowl.
  
  Ladle over the bread ensuring that every piece is covered.
  
  Cover and refrigerate overnight so the egg mixture can absorb into the bread.
  
  The next day combine the brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a saucepan over low/medium heat until everything is melted.
  
  Spread the mixture on the french toast until evenly coated. I never use it all, but that is up to you.
  
  Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, sometimes longer, until the egg is fully cooked. You may need to cover with aluminum foil near the end to prevent excessive browining.
  
  Absolutely delicious! You will see why my family counts down the days until I make this french toast again.
  
  Posted in brunch, Recipes, Uncategorized | Tagged baked french toast, baked french toast recipe, brunch, brunch recipes, food blog, food blogger, french toast, french toast recipe, make ahead french toast, make ahead meals
- Pumpkin Pancakes
  
  Posted at 3:22 pm by StephMo
  
  Feb 25th
  
  My family loves pumpkin pancakes all year round, and not just in the Fall. These pancakes are one of our favorite pumpkin foods other than my Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread. Have you tried making that bread yet? If not, make sure to take a look at that blog after you read this one. It’s so good! This pancake recipe is so amazing and requested quite often by my children with no complaints by me.
  
  My family is split down the middle in regards to whether or not there needs to be chocolate chips in the pancakes, so I always make half with chips and half without chips.
  
  Here is what you need to make these yummy pancakes…
  
  Ingredients:
  
  2 cups flour
  
  3 tbsp. brown sugar
  
  2 tsp. baking powder
  
  1 tsp. baking soda
  
  1 tsp. cinnamon
  
  1 tsp. ground allspice
  
  1/2 tsp. ginger
  
  1/2 tsp. salt
  
  1 1/2 cups milk
  
  1 cup canned pumpkin
  
  1 egg
  
  2 tbsp. vegetable oil
  
  2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
  
  Mini chocolate chips
  
  Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl.
  
  In a separate large mixing bowl combine all the rest of the ingredients, except chocolate chips, with a whisk.
  
  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until well mixed, the batter will be thick.
  
  Heat a frying pan on medium heat and spray with cooking spray.
  
  Ladle the batter into the heated pan and flip when the bottom turns slightly brown. These pancakes don’t really bubble like other pancakes will, so you kind of have to get used to when they are ready.
  
  If you are using chocolate chips, just sprinkle them on right after you ladle the batter into the pan. The thickness of the batter requires they cook a little longer than regular pancakes.
  
  Once they are finished you will have trouble trying to stop eating them. Yum!
  
  Posted in brunch, Recipes | Tagged food blog, food blogger, pancakes, pancakes recipe, pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin pancakes recipe
- Homemade Waffles
  
  Posted at 4:00 pm by StephMo
  
  Feb 17th
  
  There is nothing like a thick, soft homemade waffle, and a waffle iron is not a bad appliance to have in the house. They are not only great for breakfast with syrup and butter, or with strawberries and whipped cream, but make a perfect dessert sundae! One of my children’s favorite ice cream places is a waffle sundae shop, and since I was making chicken and waffles for dinner I decided to make a few extra for a treat for the next day.
  
  My son loved his treat, who wouldn’t?
  
  I have made chocolate waffles in the past for ice cream sundaes, but I stuck with regular waffles this time. Especially because chicken doesn’t really go well with chocolate waffles. Here is a picture I had taken of the chocolate waffle and it looks so good that I think I need to make these again soon.
  
  I have also made gingerbread waffles from a Stonewall Kitchen waffle mix which was quite good.
  
  Ok, I am digressing and getting very hungry, let’s get back to the waffles I am currently blogging about.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  2 1/2 cups flour
  
  4 tbsp. sugar
  
  2 tsp. baking powder
  
  1/2 tsp. salt
  
  3 eggs
  
  2 cups milk
  
  Cooking spray
  
  Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
  
  In a small bowl beat the egg yolks. Add the milk, and then add egg milk mixture to dry ingredients.
  
  In another small bowl beat the egg whites until foamy, and then add them to the other mixture.
  
  Heat your waffle maker and cook waffles per the instructions. Mine cooked for about 3 minutes.
  
  Serve them warm and enjoy!
  
  Posted in brunch, Recipes, Sweet Treats | Tagged food blog, food blogger, homemade waffles, how to make waffles, waffle maker, waffle recipe, waffle sundae, waffles
- Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
  
  Posted at 12:58 pm by StephMo
  
  Feb 2nd
  
  What better recipe to follow up my biscuit recipe, than a biscuits and gravy recipe! For some reason when it is just my children and I home for dinner we almost always have breakfast for dinner. I love breakfast for dinner, don’t you? For some reason it just tastes better. That could be because I hardly ever make anything other than cereal or bagels for breakfast, at least during the week, and a big home cooked breakfast is such a nice treat.
  
  So, last night we decided on one of our absolute favorites, biscuits and gravy. Pumpkin or regular pancakes are usually our choice when we have breakfast for dinner, but we decided to treat ourselves to something healthier, not! But it’s ok to treat yourself every once and awhile.
  
  I had never even heard about biscuits and gravy until a few years ago, and it has been a family favorite ever since. Biscuits, of course, but never with sausage gravy.
  
  The first step is to get yourself some biscuits. If you haven’t already seen my biscuit blog, the link is at the bottom of this blog. Once you’ve made your biscuits, then it is time to make the gravy.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  1 lb. breakfast sausage
  
  1/3 cup flour
  
  4 cups of milk
  
  1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
  
  1/2 tsp. pepper
  
  Brown sausage in a frying pan until it is no longer pink. Personally I like to use the tubes, I think you would call them tubes, of either Jones or Jimmy Dean sausage. They have a seasoning in them that really adds to the flavor of the meal.
  
  Add flour to the sausage in small increments and mix well until it is really incorporated into the sausage. Cook for a minute or so.
  
  Add milk and stir well.
  
  Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes or until it thickens. Stir and scrape the pan frequently.
  
  Once it thickens add seasoned salt and pepper, stir well and cook for a few more minutes on low heat.
  
  Serve over biscuits! As promised, here is the link for my homemade biscuit recipe.
  
  https://stephaniessliceoflife.com/2020/02/01/butter-my-biscuits-easy-biscuit-recipe/
  
  Posted in brunch, Dinners, Recipes | Tagged biscuits, biscuits and gravy, biscuits and sausage gravy, biscuits recipe, easy biscuit recipe, food blogger, homemade biscuits
- Spinach Sausage Strata
  
  Posted at 10:45 am by StephMo
  
  Dec 14th
  
  Who doesn’t love a meal that you can put together whenever you want, and then just pop in the oven at dinner time. I don’t know about you, but for me dinner time is always when I have the least time, or I’m just the most tired. Life has slowed down somewhat now that my children are getting older, but this recipe was great during the crazy car pooling or sports days. Even though a strata is a perfect brunch dish, I make this for dinner along with a salad. It makes a ton, and freezes well for another night’s dinner.
  
  The nice thing about a strata is that you can pretty much put whatever you want in it. You can add mushrooms, or use different vegetables instead of the spinach. This is the recipe that I enjoy making (and eating) and I hope you will enjoy it as well.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  Loaf of French bread (cut into cubes)
  
  Package of Jones or Jimmy Dean sausage
  
  Fresh spinach
  
  1 cup shredded cheese
  
  A dozen eggs
  
  2 1/2 cups milk or half and half
  
  Salt, pepper, and dried oregano
  
  Cook sausage in a frying pan until it is no longer pink. I like to drain the grease on paper towels while I am preparing the other ingredients.
  
  In the same pan I saute a bunch of fresh spinach. I’m not exactly sure how much I use, I guess as much as I can fit in the pan because it cooks down so much. I probably should have used a larger pan because it didn’t yield much cooked spinach.
  
  Once the sausage and spinach are both cooked, you can start putting the strata together. Grease a 9″ x 13″ glass baking dish with cooking spray and use half of the bread, sausage, spinach, and cheese for the first layer, then repeat the ingredients for a second layer ending with the cheese. I used 2% Mexican cheese in this strata, but you can use whatever cheese you prefer.
  
  Once the layers are complete, beat a dozen eggs with 2 1/2 cups of milk, salt, pepper, and dried oregano. I use about 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of each spice, it all depends on how much seasoning you prefer. Sometimes I might use some half and half in place of the milk. This time I used 2 cups of 1% milk, and 1/2 cup of half and half. If you would rather it fattened up a bit, use all half and half.
  
  Once your egg mixture is beaten, slowly pour it into the glass dish making sure to cover every bit. Since I tend to make a mess, I use a ladle.
  
  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Overnight is best, but at least a few hours. When you are ready to put it in the oven, remove the plastic wrap and cover with aluminum foil for about the first 35-40 minutes of baking at 350 degrees. Remove the foil and cook about another 10 minutes or until it starts to brown.
  
  Posted in brunch, Dinners, Recipes | Tagged brunch recipe, food blog, food blogger, make ahead dinners, recipe blog, sausage strata, spinach sausage strata, spinach strata, strata, strata recipe
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