It was another lovely weekend in Cap City. We decided to forgo the couple of festivals this weekend and have a more laid back time. Saturday was started off like most weekends – with a big cup of coffee. And not just any coffee, whole bean coffee from Stauf’s. I’ll admit it, I’m a coffee snob.

After that it was a fun day at Sharon Woods Metro Park. We are slowly working our way through all the parks, which has been a lot of fun. Sharon Woods was no exception. The trails were very pretty and the playground equipment was great.

Best of all it was close to shopping, so we got a little retail therapy in on the way home. The munchkin got his Halloween costume and has not taken it off since. He put it on as soon as we got home, slept in it, wore it today, and is still in it. Hopefully, I can peel it off before school tomorrow.When someone commented how he looked like Batman he replied, “I’m not dressed LIKE Batman, I AM Batman.”

Sunday I was itching to bake again. I made up a vegetarian breakfast bake. Yum!

Good Morning Grandview Breakfast Bake:

Ingredients:

1 cup tater tots
5 eggs
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 bag veggie ground beef crumbules (I used Boca)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded Gouda cheese
salt, pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×9 pan and cover bottom with a single layer of tater tots and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, wisk eggs as set aside.
3. In a skillet on medium heat the oil and then cook the garlic until slightly brown. Add in onion and burger crumbles until well heated.
4. Add onion mixture to eggs. Stir in shredded cheese and season to taste. Carefully spread in 9×9 pan on top of layer of tater tots.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until eggs are cooked and top is slightly browned. Garnish as desired.

And because I can’t go a week without baking some sort of muffin, I found the Empire State Muffins on my favorite recipe site, Allrecipes.

Empire State Muffins:

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded tart apples
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, combine apples and sugar. Gently fold in cranberries, carrots and nuts. Combine dry ingredients; add to mixing bowl. Mix well to moisten dry ingredients. Combine eggs and oil; stir into apple mixture. Fill 18 greased muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before removing from tins.

I followed the recipe exactly except I used dried cranberries instead of fresh or frozen since that is what I had on hand. They were very moist and I love that the munchkin is eating some veggies!