Stuffed Breakfast Boats

I’ve been on this breakfast-y/brunch food type of kick.  Literally every day last week I had a bagel with extra garlic herb cream cheese and a side of bacon. TRUST ME, my thighs are HATING me right now.  Actually no, my spinning pants are hating me.  Yeah, I think I overdid it on the carbs. However in my defense I’m in this one month cardio challenge with a group of friends and I’ve been working out even more than usual.  I’ve added in a few times a week a ‘filler’ workout during the day when I’m not running, spinning or doing weights.  It’s Body Pump.  This class is more for overall endurance versus strength.  It has some toning involved but nothing like the workouts I do.  However you sweat… A LOT.  And it hurts, up to 2 days later.  My quads and butt cheeks were on FIRE for 2 days. I walked around like my dear sweet Grandma did.  And to do steps… might as well get the cattle prod out to get me to move up or down them any faster. So for some reason my body craved carbs.  And I’m down 4 pounds this week so it’s all good however it’s not healthy to stay at that amount, at least not for me so that week of carb overload is done.

Well… that is after I share this recipe *wink*  Like usual I made another dozen of my Soft ‘n Chewy Hoagie Rolls to which most of them get put in the freezer until we need one. Have you tried these yet?  No?  OMG you have to!  This recipe is the single highest rated and requested hoagie roll recipe on the internet. It’s THAT GOOD! I had taken a few out and was going to make us meatball subs for lunch the next day but Mr. Fantabulous was ‘burnt out on meatballs’ which meant I had to use them for something else.  I’m not one to freeze, thaw and re-freeze. That’s just bad and wrong and well… don’t do it…  ESPECIALLY with meat! The next morning I went to make him his typical Sunday breakfast when I spied the rolls. I remember having these once at my grandma’s house when I was wee little.  I think she just cracked the egg in the bread and cooked them that way.  I figured I would tweak hers recipe and give it a try.

What do you think?  Think I knocked it out of the ballpark and made my Grandma proud?

Yeah, I’m thinking she’s up in heaven right now with her pink and purple hair (yes, my grandma ROCKED the pink and purple hair!), cruising in her candied apple red souped-up Chevy nova grinning from ear to ear seeing me reinvent her recipe. Since she would just crack a whole egg and put it in the bread  I wanted to go more omelet-like. By the way, that whole egg way is AWESOME as I cook mine just until the whites are set and yolk is runny.  It’s friggen incredible when you first cut into it and that yolk just pours out all into the bread.  YUM!

With this recipe I went with ingredients I had on hand.  For the photo shoot I had bacon, tons of cheese, mushrooms and green onions.  Since the shoot I’ve made these several other ways.  Chopped broccoli, cauliflower, roasted red peppers and Jarlsberg Cheese (or swiss) in it is amazing!  I made a Tex Mex version for Mr. Fantabulous with salsa, black beans, chorizo, cheddar and onions.  Don’t worry, I’ll share in future recipes those adaptations.

Now the trick to these is hollowing out the bread like a canoe but ensuring you leave about 1/2-3/4″ depth of bread on the sides and bottom.  Any less and you run the risk of it leaking out. The easiest way to do this is cut the top and then 2 rainbows on each side of the cut, connecting then.  Gently pull that bread out and hollow out as you go. The hollowed out bread you can discard (but why! Use them to make bread crumbs or as a stuffing.  Just freeze it!).  The other trick is you must let these rest after they finish baking.  If you cut them immediately, the egg mixture, while cooked through it still way too hot and “wet”.  If you cut it, it will just fall apart.  Now it’s still edible but no where near pretty.

These breakfast boats are obviously awesome for breakfast but they are perfect for Sunday brunch, lunch, dinner or that late night snack. They cook up in no time and are portable. If you made (or bought) 3″ buns you could easily make a bunch of these up, and then when it’s time to get out the door, grab one and eat on the run. So if your kids have practice and are constantly on the go to where they have to eat on the way there, skip the drive-thru crap and give them this.  It’s healthy, it’s full of all natural ingredients that YOU CONTROL and it’s absolutely delicious!

This is a great recipe to get the kids involved in.  Let them make their own fillings.  Teach them to love being in the kitchen, creating amazing foods and how to eat healthy. Not only are you teaching them invaluable skills for later in life (God knows I thank my parents and grandma daily for teaching me) but you’re also creating memories for both of you.

So you’re probably wondering if these hold up; can you make them the day before. Yep!  I made a few of these and once cooled, wrapped them in plastic wrap and placed in the fridge.  A few days later I took one out, unwrapped and reheated in the oven for about 5-10 minutes and it was just as amazing as day 1.  I’m not sure about freezing.  Eggs, when frozen, tend to get funky.  I would advise against it but if you try it and it works, please share your tricks for all of us to know!

As for the type of bread you could use the I’d say the sky is the limit.  Next time I make pumpernickel and Jewish rye bread I’m going to make some into smaller hoagie type rolls. Sourdough bread bowls would be awesome as well come to think of it!

And stay tuned as I’ll be sharing more recipes like this not only for the breakfasty type foods but also delving into the savory side of ‘tings.

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