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Posts tagged as “breakfast”

Maple French toast breakfast bake

Maple French toast breakfast bakeBrowse recipes, menu ideas and more From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

Growing up, my dad, Ed, often made French toast for Sunday breakfast. It was always a highlight of the weekend, but he would also make it during the weekday for a special treat before school, too, with two caveats.

The first was I had to ask nicely. The second was I had to wake up early that morning.

Given how infrequently waking up early happened by the time my senior year of high school rolled around, French toast mornings were always infrequent but very special days in the Parks household.

Menu Idea: Tips for a Holiday Brunch

Menu Idea: Tips for a Holiday BrunchBrowse recipes, menu ideas and more From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

I'm used to smaller holiday gatherings already—4-6 people is the norm for me, as my family isn't that big—but the holidays may be different for many this year. There are still ways to make it as special as possible, even if it's a smaller group than usual that you may be entertaining.

Brunch is probably my favorite thing to make for the holidays. It's easy, delicious, and doesn't leave everyone with a stuffed feeling that typically comes with eating dinner late in the day by the time all of the cooking is done. What you serve, or how you serve it, can also help elevate the experience to make what you are eating feel even more special.

Continue reading for fun ideas for a holiday brunch for two that could also be scaled for a group in the future.

Coconut-Currant Steel Cut Oatmeal

Coconut-Currant Steel Cut OatmealCoconut-Currant steel cut oatmeal recipe From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)
Have you tried steel cut oats? Sometimes also called "Irish oats", steel cut oats when cooked generally have a chewy, al dente texture and a nutty taste. They are oat groats, or oat kernels with no husk, that have been cut into smaller, coarse pieces using a steel blade. Size-wise, they remind me of tiny Acini di pepe pasta. Like their cousins rolled and instant oats, steel cut oats are a blank canvas for adding different flavors and ingredients. You can cook steel cut oats longer to make them a little more softer and creamier, as I usually do, but don't expect them to fall apart and turn to mush as instant oats would when cooked. Of course, adding a pat of butter or a touch of cream when cooking would help add creaminess and richness, as well. Much like my recipe for banana-pecan oatmeal, this one requires a couple more steps than just opening a package of instant oatmeal, adding water, and heating—but it's still very easy to make, and the results taste much better than what comes in a package. [caption id="attachment_1091" align="alignnone" width="900"] Raw steel cut oats[/caption]

Banana-Pecan Oatmeal

Banana-Pecan OatmealBrowse recipes, menu ideas and more From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)
The combination of bananas, pecans, and spices has always been one of my favorites. When I got back on an oatmeal kick recently, especially with overnight oats, this was one of the first flavor combinations I tried. It's probably my favorite that I make at least once or twice a week. This could easily be made as overnight oats—add all ingredients into a container, stir, and let sit in the fridge overnight—but if you don't have the containers or fridge space, or just don't want to bother, make this as regular oatmeal. It's just as good. Fresher-tasting than a packaged oatmeal, this is cheap and easy to make. To make things faster in the morning, I pre-measure all of the ingredients in a bowl the night before. In the morning, I just add the wet ingredients, heat, and eat.

Strawberries & Cream Overnight Oats

Strawberries & Cream Overnight OatsBrowse recipes, menu ideas and more From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)
Growing up, there was a time where breakfast almost every morning consisted of instant oatmeal and cinnamon-sugar toast, usually prepared with love and care by my dear dad. I didn't hate it, but I think the 7 year-old-me would have just wanted cinnamon toast or, even better, a sugary toaster pastry—the furthest thing from wholesome and, even as an adult with the "freedom" to make and eat anything for breakfast that I please, I wouldn't opt to eat to start the morning. I rediscovered and started to enjoy oatmeal again when I started working after college. It was cheap, easy to make at the office, and filling enough to tide me over until lunchtime. By that time, there were also plenty of options beyond the tiny paper packages with the same old fruit-and-cream, apple cinnamon, and brown sugar flavors that I grew up eating on a daily basis. Enter overnight oats, which I have wanted to try for a while. A few things along my 12-hour journey from making to eating told me it would be a success.