Sunday Brunch: Delicious Breakfast Cups and a Healthy Portion of Fruit Salad!
Weekdays in our household are busy, sometimes chaotic, and mornings are quite often rushed. As such, taking the time to sit down to a nice, relaxing, cooked breakfast that we can linger over while chatting, is almost impossible to do. Then comes Saturday morning, when a tonne of chores await, all the things that we didn't get to during the week have to be tackled. For the most part, there might be some bacon and eggs, but nothing requiring much thought or time. But then comes Sunday....the one morning in the week where we all stay in bed just a little longer. For my husband and I, that usually means him reading or checking his emails while I catch up on the goings on for 'Coronation Street' the past week.
Around 10, though, the stomachs start to groan and my thoughts turn to creating something special for all of us to eat. For the most part, my family are quite happy to go with whatever I decide to throw together. And while it might seem that they are fortunate to have someone who enjoys cooking as much as I do, what I prepare is never done completely selflessly. In fact, if I'm to be completely honest, one of my first considerations when it comes to brunch is 'what do I want to eat?'. (But shhhhh.....I would prefer for them to think of me as some sort of culinary martyr!).
Yesterday morning I was feeling I wanted something light but filling. I wanted eggs and bacon, but I didn't really want eggs and bacon. I wanted something savoury, but I wanted something sweet too. My food emotions were all over the place. Then I thought....'what about a little breakfast cup thingy, with hashbrowns, onions, cheese, eggs and bacon and a fruit salad with watermelon, strawberries, blueberries and grapes?'.
I think I frightened my husband a little bit when I literally hopped out of bed, excited to see what I might create. As I scurried down the hall, I told Stephen and Mackenzie over my shoulder that brunch would be ready in about 30 to 40 minutes and 'hopefully it'll be worth the wait'. I think I heard my daughter mutter, 'and she's off!', but that could have been my imagination.
First up was the Breakfast Cups. I looked in the freezer....phyllo, puff pastry, hash browns and tater tots. Hash browns. I looked in the refrigerator....eggs, bacon, shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese and green onions. I decided to make a cup, or basket for the egg and bacon. In a small mixing bowl, I combined thawed hash browns, shredded cheese, some finely diced onion and extra virgin olive oil. I divided it among 6 muffin cups, pressing the mixture into the bottom and along the sides. Then, I baked the cups in the oven on 425 for 15 minutes or so. After removing the baked cups, I lowered the heat in the oven to 350. I crumbled some bacon into each cup, cracked an egg on top of that, then sprinkled with some more bacon, shredded cheese and chopped green onion. I then baked the cups for 15 minutes on 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
To serve with these yummy cheesy little breakfast cups, I made individual fruit salads with watermelon, red grapes, green grapes, fresh strawberries and blueberries. I topped each little dish with some Greek yogurt, a sprinkling of ground flax seed, and a few extra blueberries.
My husband and my daughter were hovering before the Breakfast Cups came out of the oven and were eager to dig in. My daughter asked if there were any left over, which there were and she had one reheated in the microwave for breakfast this morning....and made her own dish of mixed fruit and berries with yogurt. I think she just might have inherited my foodie gene, which pleases me greatly! She says the Breakfast Cup was just as delicious this morning as it was yesterday, which means making them the night before is a very viable option!
Fruit Salad sprinkled with Flax and Greek Yogurt, and Breakfast Cups of eggs, bacon, cheese and hash browns....easy, inexpensive, healthy AND delicious! Sunday Brunch....the Kim's Cookology way!
