Birthday Brunch

Henry's birthday was last Saturday, so I did a little brunch for visiting family. What's great about this is that 90% of it can be done the night before. We were celebrating, and I wasn't really focused on low-cal or low-fat. I served Mildred's Cheese Grits (recipe below), Breakfast Enchiladas with some alterations, and Chipotle Black Beans with some alterations. We had pumpkin muffins and fruit, too.

Mildred's Cheese Grits This was my Grandmother Dawson's Cheese Grits recipe. It has been a holiday and special occasion recipe in my family for years
Cheese Grits
1 stick butter
1 stick garlic cheese (Kraft; comes in a little roll; looks like a sausage link; similar texture to Velveeta; it's usually in a little paper box on the shelf by the block cheeses)
1 cup quick grits
3 cups boiling water
2 eggs
Milk
red pepper
paprika
salt

Chop cheese into chunks. Melt butter and cheese together. Cook grits in boiling water until thick. Turn off heat. Add the butter/cheese mixture. Beat eggs in a 1 cup measuring cup (like a Pyrex one with a handle) and fill cup with milk. Add to grits mixture. Sprinkle in red pepper, salt, and paprika to taste. It can sit in the refrigerator overnight at this point if you like, but it doesn't have to! Bake at 375 for 1 hour until beginning to brown on top.

This is the cheese that it uses. Sometimes it's hard to find. It's usually in a small box that contains lots of these rolls...under the preshredded bags of cheese that are hanging. I've heard you can use velveeta and garlic powder as a substitute...

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Chop the cheese and melt it with the butter...

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Make the grits while your doing that...

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Mix an egg in a one-cup measuring cup, and then fill the cup up the rest of the way with milk.

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Mix all that together and add some red pepper and Paprika. Pour it in a 9X11 pan. Refrigerate overnight, if you want.

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Breakfast Enchiladas

This recipe only called for ham, green onions, and cheese in the Enchiladas, but I thought it needed something else, so I added spinach and cottage cheese. Next time I make it, I will add sauteed portabellas. I also used tortillas from Aparicio's Tortilla Factory at Ave K and 14th in Plano - yummy!

My ingredients for my tortilla filling:

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It really smelled great when it was all mixed together...

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I rolled the enchiladas and poured the egg/half&half mixture over them.

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I'm not going to post pictures of the Chipotle Black Bean process b/c it is so easy, but I use chopped chipotles from a can instead of the salsa to give it more bite. I use 1/8 cup per can of beans that I cook.

The finished products:

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