The Peony Life » adaptable http://thepeonylife.com Creating memories through food Thu, 19 Jan 2017 01:07:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.3.19 Bacon & Egg Baked Breakfast Cups http://thepeonylife.com/2015/10/bacon-egg-baked-breakfast-cups/ http://thepeonylife.com/2015/10/bacon-egg-baked-breakfast-cups/#respond Sun, 25 Oct 2015 04:18:30 +0000 http://thepeonylife.com/?p=1375 I suck at breakfast! There is no denying it anymore. My fiancé is always getting on my case about not eating breakfast and he’s starting to sound like a broken record (it’s been almost 3 years). I know it’s super important but it’s always been difficult for me to eat in the morning. For years my... 

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Bacon & Egg Baked Breakfast Cups are equally convenient if you're cooking for one or feeding a family of five.

Bacon & Egg Baked Breakfast Cups are equally convenient if you’re cooking for one or feeding a family of five.

I suck at breakfast! There is no denying it anymore. My fiancé is always getting on my case about not eating breakfast and he’s starting to sound like a broken record (it’s been almost 3 years). I know it’s super important but it’s always been difficult for me to eat in the morning. For years my daily breakfast of champions consisted of a large coffee with cinnamon and maybe a banana when I’m flying. Don’t judge! I’m challenging myself to break this habit so be prepared to see more breakfast posts from me.

I like to serve this with a simple cucumber and avocado salad with sriracha greek yogurt dressing.

I like to serve this with a simple cucumber and avocado salad with sriracha greek yogurt dressing.

Let me just say I love a recipe that gives you a ton of freedom to modify ingredients depending on what you have available. Bacon & Egg Baked Breakfast Cups is absolutely one of those recipes. You can use a variety of ingredients: mushrooms, onions, peppers, tomatoes, spinach and cheese to name a few. This weekend I used my leftover Sautéed Shishito Peppers and they were stellar diced up and added to this recipe.

Local & Organic Pasture Raised Eggs from Lonely Mountain Farms CA

Local & Organic Pasture Raised Eggs from Lonely Mountain Farms CA

Another thing I love about this recipe is how easily you can cater to individual preferences. Maybe someone dislikes mushrooms or wants to include every vegetable known to mankind. You can put whatever you want in each muffin cup and everyone will be happy at breakfast. This recipe is equally convenient if your cooking for one or feeding a family of five. This recipe is simple enough that you can easily adjust the ingredients depending on the number of mouths you need to feed.

These Bacon & Egg Baked Breakfast Cups are making breakfast easier than ever! It's a great way to use leftover veggies or whatever you have at home! So many options!

These Bacon & Egg Baked Breakfast Cups are making breakfast easier than ever! It’s a great way to use leftover veggies or whatever you have at home! So many options!

I’ve experimented with this recipe quite a bit because the first time I made it, the yolks were too hard and the bacon was undercooked. Well that’s just not going to fly. Challenge accepted!

After I line around the muffin tin with a slice of bacon, I bake it in the oven for about 10 minutes to jump-start the cooking process. The bacon takes longer to cook than the eggs so I precook the bacon to end up with a crispy outer shell. I also prefer to scramble each egg individually in a small bowl and add 2 tbsp of whatever ingredient before adding to the muffin tin. I prefer the texture and find everything cooks more evenly if it’s mixed together. This is totally personally preference.

Enjoy! xx

Bacon & Egg Baked Breakfast Cups
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Enjoy Bacon & Egg Baked Breakfast Cups this weekend for brunch and then take them to go for breakfast during the week. It's the meal that keeps on giving! Set yourself up for success and don't skip breakfast!
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 12 eggs
  • 12 slices of bacon (I use applewood smoked)
  • 1.5 cups total or 2 tbsp per muffin tin of your desired ingredient(s)
  • salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  2. Line each muffin cup with a piece of bacon
  3. Put bacon lined muffin tin in the oven and bake for approximately 10 minutes. You want the bacon to look half cooked before adding the eggs.
  4. While bacon is in the oven prepare your desired add in ingredient(s) like peppers, mushrooms etc. You should allocate for 1.5 cups total or 2 tbsp per muffin cup.
  5. In a small bowl lightly beat 1 egg and add 2 tbsp of desired ingredient(s). Pour egg mixture into bacon lined muffin cup and repeat the process for each egg.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes or until done. Everyone likes their eggs cooked differently so take a peak at about the 15 minute mark. They might be done to your liking!
Notes
I served this with a simple cucumber & avocado salad with a Sriracha greek yogurt dressing.

 

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Simple Pesto Pasta with Peas http://thepeonylife.com/2015/08/simple-pesto-pasta-with-peas/ http://thepeonylife.com/2015/08/simple-pesto-pasta-with-peas/#respond Fri, 14 Aug 2015 08:00:55 +0000 http://thepeonylife.com/?p=712 This is hands down the recipe I’ve made the most in my kitchen. It has few ingredients, not a lot of preparation and is very simple to execute well. I have made this so many times; I could make it in my sleep. This simple recipe is consistently delicious. I’m never disappointed when I make this for... 

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OFTEN TIMES, SIMPLICITY IS BEST.

OFTEN TIMES, SIMPLICITY IS BEST.

This is hands down the recipe I’ve made the most in my kitchen. It has few ingredients, not a lot of preparation and is very simple to execute well. I have made this so many times; I could make it in my sleep. This simple recipe is consistently delicious. I’m never disappointed when I make this for lunch or dinner.

This is one of those recipes that is so quick to produce but tastes like you’ve been cooking all day. It makes me fall in love with my simple pesto pasta, every damn time!  I cannot stress to you how much I love this recipe. This is a recipe on my blog you need to have in your repertoire and stat!

FROZEN PEAS ARE GREAT TO ALWAYS HAVE IN YOUR FREEZER. THEY ARE PERFECT IN THE SIMPLE CLASSIC!

FROZEN PEAS ARE GREAT TO ALWAYS HAVE IN YOUR FREEZER. THEY ARE PERFECT IN THE SIMPLE CLASSIC!

There is no real cooking involved in this dinner, seriously! You make the pesto in the food processor and boil the pasta & peas in the same pot, which makes for a super easy and low maintenance clean up! Remember that the peas don’t take as long as the pasta to cook, frozen peas only take 3 minutes, so pop them in when your pasta is almost al dente. Be really careful not to overcook your pasta. You want the noodle to be firm to the bite because the cooking process will continue over medium/low heat, when you toss the pasta with pesto.

I LIKE TO THROW IN A HANDFUL ON SMALL, WHOLE BASIL LEAVES RIGHT BEFORE SERVING.

I LIKE TO THROW IN A HANDFUL ON SMALL, WHOLE BASIL LEAVES RIGHT BEFORE SERVING.

Simple Pesto Pasta with Peas
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 3 cups basil(sweet not thai), packed
  • ⅛ cup pine nuts
  • ⅛ cup walnuts
  • 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
  • ¾ cup GOOD Olive Oil
  • ½ cup parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated
  • ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
  • salt to taste
  • 454g package pasta of your choice
  • 1 cup peas
Instructions
  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
  2. Combine all ingredients except for olive oil and parmigiano reggiano in the food processor and pulse.
  3. With the motor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the feed tube and process, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
  4. Transfer to a bowl and stir in parmigiano reggiano.
  5. When the water comes to a boil add pasta and stir with a wooden spoon.
  6. Add frozen peas when the pasta is a few minutes from being al dente. Read the cooking instructions on the back of the pasta because different kinds vary. Do you not overcook! The pasta is going to cook a little bit more when we toss it with pesto so it's better to have it slightly undercooked, if anything. Reserve a cup of pasta water. You can use this to thin out your sauce if need be.
  7. Drain the pasta & peas, rinse with cold water.
  8. Return the pot to stove over medium low heat. Add 1 tbsp of pesto and 1 tbsp of pasta water and let the bottom of the pot heat up.
  9. Add pasta and mix with hot pesto slowly strip in the remaining pesto, thinning out the sauce with pasta water 1 tbsp at a time
  10. Top with basil and a sprinkle of parmigiano reggiano
  11. Enjoy!
Notes
*Reserve a cup of pasta water. You can use this to thin out your sauce.
*You will need a total of 1 cup prepared pesto for this recipe.
*Be careful not to overcook the pasta!!! It should be slighty undercooked when you rinse the pasta. Remember that we will continue the cooking process over medium/low heat when we toss the pasta with pesto.
*Please read my 'Classic Pesto' post for tips and tricks on getting a perfect pesto and how to freeze it.

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