Breakfast, again?

When cereal is not an option, every morning becomes a challenge to put a nourishing breakfast on the table that the kids will devour. My recent decision to go mostly Paleo has added additional difficulty. I mean really, how many eggs can a kid have before they just won't eat anymore?

I still let my kids eat some grains, (sprouted of course), because it helps to round out my weekly meal plan...and well, to be perfectly honest, I am not a huge proponent of throwing all of your proverbial eggs into one basket...

Which brings us to this morning! (Well, not technically since it has nothing to do with grains...)
I was reading through one of the Paleo blogs which just has tons of food ideas and came upon one that I knew would work for the kids. And then I modified, of course.

I knew that the main draw for this breakfast would just be that each kid get's their own individualized dish. The possibilities are endless!

So here it is:

First, heavily butter some ramekins, (raw butter for my allergy boy).
Add in some homemade salsa (ours is lacto fermented) or veggies, meat (we did bacon and chicken) and raw cheese (not paleo).

Lame picture that is blurry. That is bacon and chicken with a bit of cheese.

Crack an egg or two on top, add another tiny bit of raw cheese, some salt and pepper and bake in the toaster oven at 350 degrees for about 12-15 minutes.

My kids all had special requests. One didn't want bacon, (I know, I know! I am working on her!), one wanted extra salsa, one only wanted one egg...and really, it is SO easy to make them exactly what they want!

Overall, it was a good response. My non-bacon girl didn't like it, (duh! It needs bacon!), and only one of the ramekins ended up on the floor!

The accidental meal success

Sometimes it is good not having a menu plan! Well, okay, maybe I won't go that far, but this made up dinner marks a true highlight in my culinary adventures, and it was all because I thawed some meat without a plan!

That morning, I pulled out 1 1/2 pounds of beef (from Organic Pastures) from the freezer, thinking that surely I would be able to make something yummy, (if I could just sit down for a second to figure out what!). Then, for breakfast we had scrambled eggs (pastured, of course), with raw cheese and 1/2 package of bacon. Bacon is just so good!

All day, I just kept thinking about that other 1/2 package of bacon...(it could be because my whole house still smelled like it...), and how I could work it into dinner. OOOOOOOH! Bacon cheeseburgers...yum...

However, 4pm rolled around pretty quickly and we have an old charcoal grill...I just didn't want to go through all the trouble of getting it going! Plus, I was out of bread, completely. So...how can I make something with bacon and beef, that won't take that long, and that the kids will devour...?

Behold, the bacon cheeseburger meatloaf!
(Sorry, I didn't think to take a picture until we had almost finished the whole thing! Even then I had to keep pushing my DS's hand out of the picture cuz he wanted more!)
Can I copywrite a recipe? Cuz this one is somethin special!

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf
1 1/2 lb. pastured ground beef
1/2 lb. uncooked bacon, sliced small
1 onion minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. lacto-fermented ketchup (I haven't made this yet but when the tomatoes are ripe...)
1 1/2 c. shredded raw cheddar cheese (reserve the 1/2 c.)
1 pastured egg
1 c. *soaked oats (soaked with 1/4 c. buttermilk for 12-24 hours), optional: sub. 1 c. sprouted breadcrumbs (remember, I said I was out of bread?)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together in a bowl really well, then throw it into a glass baking dish, (9x13 maybe). Sprinkle the reserved 1/2 c. cheese on the top and bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes. Then enjoy!!!

We had these with another made up recipe, Skillet Au Gratin Potatoes made with organic potatoes, raw cream and raw cheese(See picture at the top). I'll have to blog on that one next. Yum yum!
*Disclaimer: Okay, my oats weren't soaked this time since I was on such a time crunch and hadn't planned ahead. However, next time I make this, (and I will!), I will either use leftover bread (sprouted) or soaked oats. I have no doubt that it will still be just as good...

This blog is part of Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Cheeseslave.