Brunch Cold Items and a Yummy beverage!

I know I'm a day behind... such a slacker!

Today I'm going to share some of my favorite yummy items that are served cold or at room temperature for brunches.

Greek Yogurt, Fresh Berries (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries), and Granola

For my Greek yogurt I'm actually REALLY  picky and for the longest time would only buy Chobani Vanilla Greek Yogurt but I have found the best money saver... the GIANT brand vanilla Greek yogurt. In fact I like it even more and it is typically $2-1.50 cheaper! For granola.. I'm  a huge fan of the Nature's Path Organic Pumpkin Flax Granola and I typically get it a COSTCO but it is also available on Amazon

Mini Muffins

I went with the easy way out on this one and used pre-made mixes from the grocery store. My go to brand is Krusteaz and I find them to be most like homemade and they actually contain some of thef fruit listed on the box... 

For this shower I made three different muffins (Wild Blueberry, Cranberry Orange, and Banana Nut). I was very careful to make the Banana Nut muffins last to make sure that no other muffins were contaminated with a nut product and I used a different mini muffin cup for them so that it was clear to any individuals with a nut allergy which muffins to stay away from. I also made an announcement that it contained nuts.

Bagels, Cream Cheese and Lox

I also served this classic breakfast/brunch dish. With Thomas Bagel thins, Whipped cream cheese, some smoked salmon and capers. Now this is not a dish that I'm a fan of but surprisingly the salmon went fast!

And now for a SUPPER YUMMY beverage!!! I failed to take any photos of this but Christine, an attendee, managed to snap a few shots and made the below collage...

You can see from the lower left photo that I had a beverage contain and I filled it with Ocean Spray Whit Cran-Peach juice and some frozen peaches.

I made sure that everything in the beverage container was alcohol free... as we were celebrating my preggers bestie Holly and there were other ladies that were also pregnant.

I also has a large silver ice bucket that was full of yummy bottle of Prosecco and Sparkling Apple cider so that the original peach drink could be "enhanced". It was SUPER yummy and I liked that guests could customize what they wanted.

Best Ever Breakfast Sausage

I LOVE the Rosemary and Mustard Breakfast Sausages from my awesome bon appetit fast easy fresh cookbook. (I LOVE this cookbook and in fact was why I started writing this blog!)

Anyway... the sausage is so yummy and has become a default breakfast item when we have guests over. Like the other brunch Items I'm sharing this week you can make this ahead of time and freeze.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 Medium Onion, Finely Chopped
• 1Teaspoon Chopped Fresh Rosemarry
• Package (16 oz) Bulk Breakfast Sausage (I use Jimmy Dean all Natural)
• 1 Teaspoons While Grain Mustard

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add onion and rosemary

 

Saute until onion is golden brown, about 10 minutes.

 

Transfer onion to a mixing bowl and add sausage and mustard.

 Mix gently

Form into 2 inch patties

At this point if you are making for another day you place the sausage patties in the freezer. I freeze on a baking sheet for 1 hour and after frozen through I place in a freezer safe container that seals. 

When you are ready to cook the sausage... remove the sausage from the freezer and set out at room temperature for 30 minutes. Place rack at lowest position and preheat oven to 500. Bake the sausages until just cooked through, about 12 minutes.

Transfer sausages to paper towels to drain. Arrange on the platter... Below is a photo of both the sausages and the bacon that I made... so YUMMY!!! Sorry that I didn't get a better photo!

Quiche LOVE

I love myself a good quiche and today I'm going to share TWO recipes! The first is Ham, Cheese and Green Chili and the second is crab and swiss! The assembly directions for both are the same and this is an easy make-ahead recipe.

HAM, CHEESE and GREEN CHILI QUICHE

• 1 Deep Dish Pre-Made Pie Crust (Room Temperature)
• 1 Cup Ham
• 1 4-Ounce Can of Diced Green Chilis, Drained
• 4 Green Onions, Chopped
• 1 Cup Grated Monterey Jack Cheese
• 1 Cup Grated Cheddar Cheese 
• 4 Large Eggs
• 1 1/4 Cups Half and Half
•  1/2 Teaspoon Salt

Preheat oven to 425. Pop in the deep dish Pie crusts and bake for 5 Minutes

While the pie crust is browning it is time to make the filling. In a large mixing bowl wish the eggs together.

Add in all other ingredients

and mix

 After you remove the crust from the oven, lower the oven temperature to 375 and pour in the filling. (I did a double recipe since we had so many people for the shower)

Bake the quiche for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

CRAB QUICHE

• 1 Deep Dish Pre-Made Pie Crust (Room Temperature)
• 8 oz can of crab meat, Drained. 
• 1 Cup Shredded Swiss Cheese 
• 1/3 Cup Finely Chopped Onion
• 4 Eggs
• 2 Cups Half and Half
• 1 Teaspoon Salt 
• 1/4 Teaspoon Pepper 
• 1/8 Teaspoon Cayenne

Follow same cooking instructions as the Ham Quiche above!!!

NOTES:
If making the quiche for the next day...  cover with foil and refrigerate. The next day, preheat oven to 350 and cook covered for 20 minutes.

After removing from the oven let the quiche stand for 10 minutes before cutting. ENJOY!!!

Overnight Eggnog French Toast

Today I am sharing my first recipe as a part of Baby Shower Brunch week... 

I found the BEST RECIPE EVER on pinterest the other day and just at the right moment!

Via

This recipe was SUPER easy to make and I will take you through it step by step! 

 

INGREDIENTS:

•  1/2 Cup (1stick) Butter
• 1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar 
• 2 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
• 1 and a half Loaf of Challah Bread
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• 8 Eggs
• 2 Cups Eggnog (store bought)
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla

DIRECTIONS: 

Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan with cooking spray or butter... 

Melt stick of butter over medium heat in a small saucepan.

Once fully melted, add in maple syrup and brown sugar. 

Whisk continuously until boils and pour over the bottom of your greased pan and spread evenly.

Cut up the bread into 1/2 inch pieces. (The original recipe called for plain french bread but I prefer the taste of Challah bread and I think that it absorbs the wet ingredients in a really nice even way)

Add the bread to the baking dish

Next it's time for the wet ingredients... In a large mixing bowl whisk the 8 eggs and the vanilla. 

Add in the eggnog and whisk until fully incorporated.

 

Pour the wet ingredients over the bread in the baking pan and smash down to make sure that all pieces are wet. Here is what the casserole should look like at this point.

Cover the casserole with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight (or at least 8 hours)

The next day... 

Preheat oven to 325 

Remove the casserole from the refrigerator and place in oven for 40 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 375 and remove the foil. Bake uncovered for 10 additional minutes. The top should be golden brown. 

Remove from oven and add (if you want) powdered sugar and berries. 

ENJOY!!!

This is BEYOND yummy!!! The caramel on the bottom is just perfect!

Baby Shower Brunch Week!!!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to host a beautiful baby shower for my best friend Holly. Holly and Greg are expecting their first child this February and are excited about welcoming a little man into their loving family!

I plan to share all of the photos of the brunch on Friday along with some of the details (I need time to edit and organize the photos) but until that time I wanted to share a few of the brunch items that I prepared for the event.

I decided to only make dishes that could cooked ahead of time and just heated up or foods that could be served cold. I wanted to do this because I'm preggers so didn't want to be stressed and because this was a brunch and I knew that I wouldn't be able to cook all the food before 11 a.m. on the day of the event...

SO... this week I'm going to share some of the yummy recipes that I cooked up for the baby shower.

Here is the plan:

MONDAY 

• Overnight Eggnog French Toast Casserole

TUESDAY

• Ham, Cheese and Green Chili Quiche 
• Crab and Swiss Quiche

WEDNESDAY

• Rosemary and Mustard Sausage

THURSDAY

• Cold Brunch Items 
• Yummy Beverage

FRIDAY

• Brunch Details and Fun Photos

But because I cannot leave you empty handed...

Remember this photo from under a month ago at my Christmas Party...

Well our little group has now turned into this...

 How funny that we are all in the same colors... So excited that little Kamden is here and I cannot wait to meet Ethan!

I'll be back tomorrow with the yummy Casserole!