Candy Cane Coffee Cake

I wanted to make Jessica's beautiful Candy Cane Coffee Cake as a special St. Nicholas Day treat this year but also had some crescent rolls left over from Thanksgiving to use up. So I decided to combine the shaping of that treat with the recipe for her Cherry Cheese Coffee Cake.

I opted for strawberry pie filling since I'm the only one here who likes cherry and only ended up using half a can. I made the cream cheese filling just like the recipe called for but didn't use all of it on the candy cane. I used two rolls of crescent rolls. The first one and a half I used to make the shape of the candy cane and then the other half, I used for the stripes. You can see the stripes better in this pre-cooked photo. It was delicious!!!

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Pan de Santa Teresa (St. Teresa’s Bread)

This recipe, adapted from Cooking with the Saints, was submitted by Hi Cookery in honor of today's feast of St. Teresa of Ávila!  This recipe is similar to the Pan de Santa Teresa, adapted from A Continual Feast, which can be found in the archives.  

October 15: Feast Day of St. Teresa of Ávila/Jesus

We had blogged previously about pain perdu, a French toast-style bread associated with St. Anthony of Padua. Pan de Santa Teresa is very similar and it is linked to St. Teresa of Ávila/Jesus. Making her bread requires two separate steps of flavoring the milk then dipping it in egg, instead of coating the slices into one mixed batter, followed by frying. The subtle yet sweet citrusy-cinnamon taste of St. Teresa’s bread is a nice change to regular French toast. Prepare Pan de Santa Teresa as a feast day food in honor of St. Teresa of Ávila/Jesus.

Recipe

(Adapted from Cooking With the Saints by Ernst Scheugraf)

Ingredients

• 8-10 French bread slices (3/4-inch thick)
• 2 cups milk (we used Lactaid brand)
• 3 tablespoons sugar, granulate white
• 1 lemon peel piece
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 eggs
• pinch of salt
• olive oil
• cinnamon sugar

Directions

Mix the milk with the sugar, lemon peel and cinnamon stick. Heat over the stove top or in the microwave on medium heat. Simmer for about five minutes until the lemon and cinnamon flavors are well-infused. Let cool. Strain over the bread slices in a large pan, allowing them to soak up the flavored milk. Beat the eggs with the salt in a shallow dish.

Coat the bread on both sides. Fry in olive oil until brown and crusty on both sides. Transfer to a serving platter. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Notes

• Day-old French or Italian loaves are preferred for this recipe as regular white bread slices are too soft and become mushy when soaked in the flavored milk and eggs.

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St. Matthew's Silver Dollar Pancakes

September 21st is the feast of St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist. Since St. Matthew was a tax-collector and often symbolized by a bag of coins or loose coins, I thought Silver Dollar Pancakes would be perfect for celebrating his feast day! 

You can make these using your own favorite pancake recipe, a gluten-free recipe, or my favorite which can be found in the archives.   This time, however, I'm planning on using an extra quick and easy Pancake Mix!   My husband has been out-of-state on a wildfire assignment (today is only day 8 of 16) and I'm on my own with our seven kiddos.  Quick and easy is about all I can manage at the moment! 

Once you have your pancake batter ready to go, heat a griddle or frying pan until it is good and hot.  (Or you can use a Silver Dollar Pancake Pan, if you happen to have one on hand.)  Grease the pan and drop spoonfuls of batter onto the griddle - just enough to spread to an approximately 2 1/2-inch round.  (I used a 1 Tablespoon Scoop for this step.)  

When a few bubbles form on top of the pancakes, flip them over and cook for another minute or so.  

Repeat the process until all of the batter has been used. Transfer pancakes to warm plates and serve with your favorite syrup.

You can find additional ideas for celebrating this feast day over at Shower of Roses.

Happy Feast of St. Matthew! 

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St. Patrick's Shamrock Eggs and Fruit Rainbows

This past October, when studying colors and guardian angels with my pre-schooler, we made some fun and colorful flower eggs for breakfast.   Looking back at the pictures I realized that by using just three-lobed peppers, like we've used in the past for our Shamrock Toasties and Mini Pizzas, we could make Shamrock Eggs by just adding a stem!  I gave it a try yesterday morning with the Green Pepper I  happened to have in the fridge.  It would have worked much better if I had used a larger pepper, but at least you can still get the general idea.  Our four oldest children aren't very picky, and they love these.   Our extra picky pre-schooler, on the other hand, won't even touch them!  :)

I'm thinking that these will make a great addition to the Cinnamon Shamrocks for our St. Patrick's Day brunch!  I just need to get back to the store for a few more green peppers.  

St. Patrick's Shamrock Eggs

Ingredients:

Cooking Spray or Coconut Oil for Pan
Three Lobed Green Bell Peppers
Eggs
Salt and Pepper (optional)
Fresh Fruit

Directions:

Heat a non-stick skillet to medium low heat. Lightly spray skillet with cooking oil spray.

Cut bell pepper into 1/2 inch thick slices. (You should be able to get four slices from a larger pepper.)  Slice some "stems" from the remaining pepper.  Place pepper rings and stems in the skillet.

Crack one egg into each pepper ring. Cover and cook for a few minutes, until egg yolks are to desired firmness. If you like your yolks firm, it helps to break the yolk right after cracking into pepper rings.

Place one stem on each ring, completing your "shamrock." Season to taste. 

Serve with fresh fruit rainbows! (In the past we have made rainbow fruit skewers, a rainbow fruit platter, and mini rainbow fruit plates.)  Enjoy!

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Cinnamon Shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day

Here is a fun and easy recipe for the upcoming feast of St. Patrick.   This recipe calls for Rhodes™ Anytime! Cinnamon rolls, but it could be made with your favorite homemade cinnamon rolls as well, though it might take just a little longer.  :)   For those with allergies, you can find a gluten-free cinnamon roll recipe in the archives.   We have made smaller Shamrock Cinnamon Rolls in the past, but I love the look of this larger shamrock made with three heart shaped cinnamon rolls.

Cinnamon Shamrocks

adapted from Rhodes Bread

Ingredients: (For each large 2 serving Shamrock)

• 4 Rhodes™ Anytime! Cinnamon rolls
• Cream Cheese Frosting (included with rolls)
• Green Sugar Sprinkles

Directions:

Defrost the cinnamon rolls.   To do so quickly, place one frozen roll at a time on a microwave-safe plate and microwave on high for 12 seconds.

Unroll one half of the roll then start rolling the dough from the unrolled end to form a matching spiral. When each spiral looks the same, pinch the dough between the two spirals to make a point at the bottom. Repeat with two more rolls.

Cut off a piece from the last remaining roll to use for the stem. Arrange the 3 heart shaped rolls and the stem into a shamrock shape (use the leftover part of the last roll for additional shamrock stems).

Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes. Glaze with cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with green sugar sprinkles.

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Meatless Meals :: Zucchini and Sweet Potato Frittata

I hope you are all having a blessed and fruitful Lent! I wanted to take a second to share one of our new favorite meatless meals this year: Zucchini and Sweet Potato Frittata.  With a newborn in our home I've had to find meals that are not only healthy, but quick and easy to make as well.   For those with allergies, this recipe is also free of dairy and grains. I've made it a few times now and it is definitely a keeper!

Zucchini and Sweet Potato Frittata

adapted from Paleo Diet Lifestyle

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp Coconut Oil (or butter)
• 8 eggs
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut in slices
• 2 sliced zucchinis
• 1 sliced red bell pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Salsa, optional

Directions:

Heat the coconut oil in a pan over a medium-low heat.  Add the sweet potato slices and cook until softened, about 6-8 minutes.

Add the red bell pepper and zucchini slices and cook for another 4 minutes.

While the vegetables cook, whisk the eggs in a bowl, seasoning with salt and pepper.  Add the egg mixture to the cooking veggies.

Cook on low heat until just set, about 10 minutes.  Finish the frittata until golden under a heated broiler.

Cut the finished frittata into wedges and serve salsa, if desired.

You can find additional Meatless Meals for Lent in the archives!

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Heart of St. Valentine Egg Toast

..."Man looks at how someone appears on the outside.  But I look at what is in the heart."

~1 Sam. 16:7~

It works!

We have been SO excited about trying this idea that we found in one of our children cookbooks.  We finally gave it a whirl this morning and it works!  

This was a fun idea for St. Valentine's Day and the heart would be perfect for the Sacred Heart of Jesus or Immaculate Heart of Mary feast days.

Pick your cookie cutter and imagine the FUN while having a healthy breakfast...We want to try a clover for St. Patrick's Day!  You could also use anything that might fit an egg...Maybe a flower for St. Therese, a fleur de lis for Marian feast days, Mardis Gras, etc., etc!  The best part...It's a "piece of cake" toast!

Ingredients:

Larger size whole wheat bread

Cooking spray

Margarine

Eggs

Cookie cutter of choice

Step 1.

Spray a cookie sheet generously with non-stick cooking spray.  Lay out your toast and spread a light coat of margarine across the toast.  Use a cookie cutter to cut out the shape of your choice. 
Note:  If you would like your toast a little extra crispy, try toasting it lightly prior to this step! 

Step 2.

Crack the egg into a shallow saucer first!

Then slide the egg over into the hole from the saucer...Ours just slid right in place so easily!

Step 3.

Bake for 7 minutes at 400 degrees for slightly runny...Our family's favorite.  Bake A little longer if you like your eggs with no runny yoke.  Scoop them off the cookie sheet with a spatula, directly on to your plate.  Do not attempt to flip them over.

They turned out so cute and fun!

(And they didn't stick a bit:)

Share the love!

"Today it is your turn and my turn to love one another as Jesus loved us.  Do not be afraid to say yes to Jesus."~(Blessed) Mother Teresa of Calcutta~


A little side note...If you are looking for an easy way to remember the love that Jesus first had for us, you can easily convert plain heart cookies into Sacred Hearts with a little brown icing.

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St. Valentine’s Healthy Heart Breakfast

“God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” –1Jn 4:16

SAINT VALENTINE

Priest and Martyr

February 14 -  feast of St. Valentine in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite

SIMPLE / RED

During the persecution under Emperor Claudius II, Valentine, a zealous priest in Rome, ministered boldly to the martyr. He was arrested and taken before the prefect, who made tempting offers to induce him to apostatize. Finding that he was wasting his breath, the prefect condemned Valentine to death. The beheading took place on February 14, about the year 270. The true follower of Christ ignores worldly caution when he is called upon to bear witness to Jesus. "The inclination of the flesh is death, but the inclination of the spirit, life and peace" (Rom. 8:6)

~~~

St. Valentine is my family’s patron saint for 2012.  We are trying to find simple ways to celebrate.  This is the first, complete year for my family’s radical diet change.  That mean’s no more traditional sweet treats for us.  (Don’t worry, we are not deprived and we do eat!)

We start the day with a healthy serving of protein, usually eggs and bacon.  Here is our take for St. Valentine’s Breakfast – Egg cupcake, heart bacon, and love berries.

I’ve listed more St. Valentine’s resources here.

St. Valentine ~ ora pro nobis

~~~

Recipe: St. Valentine’s Health Heart Breakfast

Egg Cupcakes

Prep Time: 10 min. | Cook Time: 18 min.| Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 18-20 Egg Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS:

• 10-12 eggs 
• cooked meat (optional)
• 1 green onion
• 1-2 zucchini
• 2-3 cups spinach
• red & yellow bell peppers
• olive oil
• sea salt and black pepper

PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS:

• Grease muffin pan with olive oil
• Scramble eggs in bowl
• Use the food processor to finely chop spinach, zucchini, bell peppers and green onion. (Do not purify mixture.)
• Add the mixture to the scrambled eggs.   Mix well and season to taste.
• Fill the muffin pan with 1/4 cup of the egg mixture. 
• Bake for 18-25 minutes or until the eggs are set in the middle. – DO NOT OVERCOOK.

NOTES:

The kids love this version of eggs.  It’s perfect for breakfast on-the-go.  We use it for our Sunday breakfast since we have an hour drive to Mass.  You could also make these the night before and re-heat.

Dad likes to garnish his egg cupcakes with salsa.  I prefer guacamole.

I pictured another version of eggs - soft boiled egg and plain egg cupcakes.  Soft boiled egg – break the egg into a greased cupcake pan, season, and bake for 8-10 min. Plain Egg Cupcake – follow the directions above sans veggies.

-----

Heart Bacon

INGREDIENTS

• bacon

PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS:

• fold two pieces of bacon into a heart shape
• cook in a George Forman Grill or oven.

NOTES:

This shaped bacon works better in a George Forman Grill.

-----

Love Berries

INGREDIENTS

• strawberries

PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS:

• remove the stem by cutting a small triangle into the top of the strawberry
• slice strawberry in half – horizontally

NOTES:

I often use frozen berries.  Defrost the berries. 

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Gluten-free St. Lucy Cinnamon Buns

The following recipe was submitted by Jeannine, from Grace and Peace. Thank you Jeannine!

These are gluten-free cinnamon buns, and they are, in my opinion, easier to make than ordinary cinnamon buns!  No rising time!

I think I found a link to the original once when I was poking around Sarah's charming Amongst Lovely Things, which is, indeed, lovely!

They may be refrigerated overnight in the pan, and then baked up the following morning! Sometimes we must toy with the plan and have them for dessert rather than breakfast, but my daughter always gets to carry them in on a tray. We stick candles into the buns rather than atop her head!

Gluten Free Cinnamon Buns

- with dairy-free options!

Dough:

2 tbsp. butter (I have used shortening with success)
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup milk, warmed gently (I have used almond milk with success)
1 tbsp. rapid rise yeast
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup potato starch
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract

a couple extra teaspoons sugar for sprinkling the plastic wrap

Filling:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Frosting:

I usually just make a glaze with two tablespoons of soft butter or shortening and about a cup of confectioner's sugar, thinned with a few drops of milk or almond milk. Add a sprinkle of salt (yes!) and a few drops of pure vanilla. It would be easy to use commercial vanilla frosting from a can, too.

1. Oven to 375.
2. Grease a round pie pan.
3. Add yeast to warm milk, plus a couple of spoonfuls of sugar from your measured 1/4 cup sugar. Combing thoroughly and let it bubble a bit.
3. In a medium bowl, combine sugar and butter.
4. Add yeast/milk mixture to sugar/butter mixture.
5. Add remaining ingredients. Dough will be very, very soft, but the xanthan gum will work its magic and make it stretchy enough.
6. Lay down a 14" long strip of plastic wrap on your counter. Sprinkle a couple spoonfuls of additional white sugar on the wrap. Lay the ball of dough on the sugared wrap. Lay another 14" strip of plastic wrapover the dough. Pat the dough down to make a rectangle that fills the plastic wrap almost to the edges. I use a rolling pin, too. Lift the top wrap periodically to reposition if necessary. The dough is incredibly sticky, but the plastic wrap tames it magically. Remove the top piece of wrap when you are satisfied with your rectangle.
7. Combine the filling ingredients. Sprinkle evenly over dough. Use the plastic wrap to roll the dough. Slice the log into 10-12 slices. Lay the slices touching in your greased round pie pan. Bake 20 minutes. Frost while warm.

Sprinkling the additional sugar on plastic wrap.

Using the plastic wrap to roll the dough.

Here they are unbaked, tucked into the pan. Sorry I don't have a luscious baked picture...we will bake them early tomorrow morning, for the feast of St. Lucy. Then we'll spread them with frosting, too! Kids are having carrot sticks, poached chicken, and celery for dinner to balance all the sugar coming in the morning!  (Updated to add additional pictures of the baked cinnamon rolls. Thank you Jeannine!) 

These are heavenly. The whole family will appreciate them, but especially your gluten-free loved ones. I do hope you try them.

Lovely for St. Lucy, or for any time during the Christmas season!

Additional recipes for celebrating Santa Lucia Day can be found in the archives.

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