Breakfast for lunch...

As an intermediate foodie, I sometimes have to remind myself that there are no rules when it comes to food. No rules against pairing food combinations together, how we must prepare a type of food, or when we should eat said food. After a treacherous car accident today, I was pretty shaken up when I got home. I laid down and relaxed for a bit, but pretty soon, it was time for lunch and I had a family begging to be nourished. Since my husband works from home, he is lucky enough to partake of my foodie cooking all day long. I also feel a natural desire to make meals special on a regular basis since I know a tasty meal shows him how much I appreciate all he does for our family.

So today, in the spirit of ease and of tastiness, I decided to make some hearty breakfast foods for lunch. I thought it would warm everyone's tummy and soothe our stress from the events that took place earlier in the day. Kind of a 'new start.'

So, I made simple foods: Fried Eggs, Refrigerated Canned Biscuits, and paired them with a new favorite, Aidell's Maple and Sweet Potato Sausage Links. They come fully cooked, so they are a snap to prepare and the flavor is amazing. The maple adds a sweet flavor you expect in breafast sausage, and the sweet potato continues the sweetness in an unexpected way. My husband and the girls devoured their sausage first, and I'll be honest, so did I. There's a recipe on the back of the package for some soup that you can make with them, that sounds just fantastic. I'll probably try that next week, and I'll post the results.

Great way to start my day....

This morning, my 5-year old, Elisabeth got up and woke me up complaining of flu-like symptoms. She had a fever, tummy-ache, and general body aches... so a little Motrin and a lot of love... would get her on the road to recovery. "Mommy, can you make me some soft food?" and I immediately knew what to make. I made a different variation of this for Christmas brunch and the everyone loved it... Spiced Pears. It is super simple to make, and warming to the soul. The recipe I made today was as follows:

2 cans sliced pears in lite syrup (Drain syrup from one can, and leave syrup in second can)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Directions: Place pears and remaining syrup in saucepan and heat on medium high until syrup begins to boil. Add brown sugar, vanilla extract and pumpkin pie spice and let boil for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium low and let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and serve. I gave the pears (warm) to the girls with some Stoneyfield Farms Organic Vanilla Yogurt and they devoured it. On Christmas I used honey instead of brown sugar and omitted the vanilla extract I also added a tablespoon of butter. I chilled them afterwards and served them cold, as a side dish to the rest of the brunch we had.

Such a simple thing, and Elisabeth swears she feels better. I know it is placebo, but those pears always warm me up when I eat them.