Dark Days Challenge Weeks 12 and 13: Breakfast!

I don't know what happened to Week 11. Work has been cah-razy. I don't remember if I cooked something and forgot to post it, or if I just didn't cook a Dark Days meal at all. We'll call it the "Lost Week" of the Dark Days Challenge.

And, I mentioned that work has been taking up all my time. Meaning no time for cooking in the evenings. Hell, I'm never home in time for dinner any more, let alone cooking it. Poor Jeremy. Luckily, I had a few casseroles and frozen meals already made up and ready to pop in the over. There are two more weeks of this, so he's going to have to continue "bachin' it".

So, since I don't cook at night anymore, I've been taking advantage of quiet lazy weekends, and spending time in the kitchen. And, breakfast hasn't been getting neglected.

A couple weeks ago, I thawed the last of my pureed pumpkin to make my all-time favorite scone recipe. The hubs is kinda picky when it comes to breakfast on weekdays. Sure, he likes bacon, eggs, biscuits and all the fixin's on the weekend, but on weekday mornings when time is short, I've had a hard time finding things he likes that don't come from the freezer aisle. So, for breakfast the last few weeks, I've been baking something Sunday night to eat through the week. And, it's paying off for me, too. I'm a person that is perfectly happy with a bowl of cereal or some cottage cheese, but having something that I can grab on my way out the door and eat on the way to work has been a lifesaver since I've been needing to be at work early the past couple weeks.

I heart scones because of their texture and because they aren't too sweet. I just can't get them to come out of the oven as pretty as they go in. But they sure are good with some jam on them.

This recipe is pretty simple. The flour is from Reeds Mill Flours in Monroe County, and sugar that was Florida Crystals organic pure cane demerara sugar. It also has baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger, all from my spice cabinet, all well past their expiration date and from far away. Also, it has butter that is Organic Valley Pasture Butter, pumpkin that was frozen from one I either grew/was gifted/bought at the farmer's market last fall, half and half from Homestead Cremery in Wirtz, VA, and 1 egg from Cozy Hollow Farm via the Monroe Farm Market.

Since I had pureed pumpkin leftover, I made Pumpkin Buckwheat Pancakes on Sunday morning. It was wonderful--Sunday paper, breakfast in bed, and cappucino.

The last time I ordered flour from Reeds Mill Flours, the owner talked me into ordering some buckwheat also. I just don't use it often. But this is a good way to work some in. The ingredients are pretty much the same as for the scones, except the buckwheat flour. The syrup is Private Selection 100% maple syrup from Kroger's.

Then, last sunday night, I made pumpkin quick bread for breakfast for the upcoing week, with the rest of the pureed pumpkin. It was delicious. So, this week, I made the same recipe with zucchini. The best thing about this bread is that it isn't really that bad for you. Instead of oil, I substitute apple sauce that I canned last fall. Both the pumpkin and the zucchini were from my freezer from last year, and there're spices, flour, eggs, sugar in it. This week, I threw in some of the black walnuts that I made the Hillbilly Blondies with.

So, even if dinner has been neglected, I have been cleaning out the freezer and my larder for breakfast the past couple weeks--and making the hubs something for breakfast that he seems to be liking that didn't come from the grocery store freezer section. It's a win-win if I'm counting.