Breakfast is the favorite meal of the day at our house. Sheralie is even kind enough to make us a breakfast meal every Saturday night. I've decided to compile a ranking of our top 20 favorite breakfasts:
20. Quinoa - Sheralie's mother brought us quinoa on one of her three trips to the Philippines. The main thing it has going for it is that it is a super health food. A complete protein or some jazz like that. It is a grain based cereal like cream of wheat or roman meal, but a tad bit tastier. Peruvians are fueled by it and we were too, for a few days. Unfortunately, the ants also found it a great source of nutrition, so we only had it a few days.
19. Cold cereal - We used to eat this every Sunday because it required minimal preparation. Our favorites were Clusters and Raisin Bran and Cheerios. However, we soon realized they were very expensive and we would always be hungry an hour later. So it was ditched in favor of #18.
18. Quaker Instant Oatmeal - assorted fruits variety pack. We can order these via Amazon in bulk, so they are the new Sunday morning breakfast. Usually there is a fight over the Blueberry packages (Jeffrey and Laird), Lucy is solidly banana and Sheralie and I will take peach or strawberry. The actual instant oatmeal is a little too sugary, so we add our own oats to lessen the impact. Then we add our own fruit and toast and it is a decent meal with minimal work.
17. German pancakes - The kids are much more a fan of this one than I am. I'm not really sure of the ingredients, but Sheralie puts quite a few eggs, butter and other ingredients in and bakes a concoction for 15 minutes. The result is "puffy pancakes", a cake-like pancake that invites syrup or jam. I don't find it very filling, but the kids love it.
16. Hard Boiled Eggs and Toast - Generally we break up the toast and mix it in with our hard boiled eggs with salt and pepper and you've got a hearty, if a bit dry, meal. It's better if you butter the toast.
15. Breakfast Tacos -This is Sheralie's favorite, but unfortunately one we don't have very much. Usually we have it soon after we have had a taco dinner, so we have all the tortilla shells and other condiments necessary to mix in with scrambled eggs.
14. Croissant breakfast sandwiches - This is a great combo of croissants loaded with ham, cheese and a fried egg. You can't miss. I can even make this one.
13. One-eyed Jacks - This is a combination of fried eggs and french toast. Generally we toast a piece of bread on the grill, remove the center circle and replace it with a fried egg. Add syrup or jam and it's delicious. You also have the small circular bread pieces that are a nice small size for little ones.
12. Rice Pudding - Sheralie likes to make this the night before from leftover rice. Then it is ready to go in the morning, just add milk and/or whip cream. It's very good.
11. Scrambled Eggs - A tried and true standard. Lucy especially will gobble down several eggs - often times we have to donate unfinished eggs from other plates to her. Works very well with good breakfast side dishes - bacon, hash browns, grapefruit or toast.
10. French Toast - Best with coconut syrup, but maple syrup or boysenberry jam is also good.
9. Pancakes - You can get a wide variety of quality with pancakes, depending on what you put in and on the pancakes. Chocolate chip pancakes are great, but a little heavy. Generally a solid choice.
8. Waffles - Waffles take a bit more prep time, but are in the same ballpark as french toast and pancakes - hard to go wrong.
7. Farmer's Breakfast - Potatoes, onions, cheese and eggs combined make a great breakfast. Hearty too.
6.
Fancy French Toast - I think Sheralie also calls this one "Creme Brulee" French Toast. It utilizes French Bread and needs to time to soak, but it is very good. Can be a little high on the sweetness meter, but a great fancy breakfast.
5.
Granola - This is a recent introduction into our breakfast rotation. This is a homemade granola combination that is very good. Add some fruit and it is awesome.
4.
Cookie Crumble - Lucy and Laird both claim cookie crumble as their favorite. It is an oatmeal based recipe that goes through several microwave trips. We usually add fruit to the top - banana, blueberries, mangoes, etc. It is very tasty.
3.
Creamed Eggs over Toast - Another classic. This is a very hearty meal and so delicious.
2.
Swedish Oatmeal - I have tried to describe this to people, but I can never do it justice. Hopefully Sheralie will post the recipe so I can link to it. It involves oats, yogurt, sugar and fruit. We are limited here by the yogurt, which is always in short supply (we generally have to make it ourselves). I could eat this everyday.
1. Omelets - you just can't beat a good omelet. I may be biased because Sheralie made a terrific omelet for me tonight, but when you get the right ingredients, it is dynamite.
It wasn't until Jeffrey and I made this list tonight that we realized what a large variety of breakfasts we enjoy. This doesn't even include Filipino breakfasts, which I love but I have not found too much enthusiasm from fellow Americans for. Special thanks to Sheralie for keeping us fat and happy with her extraordinary cooking skills.
