Crock Pot Gourmet: Cherry Cheese Surprise

Every year when I was growing up, my mom would make a huge, pink and red Valentine's Day breakfast for us. We'd have pink pancakes, strawberry whipped cream (with real strawberries and real cream), strawberry yogurt, pink syrup (my dad's contribution to the breakfast - flavored with whatever variety of pink Kool-Aid we happened to have in the pantry)... even the milk was pink! Mom would set the table with fancy place-settings and put little gifts and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates on each plate before waking us. To me, this is what Valentine's Day is all about. It's not the roses and diamonds and extravagant gifts, but the little things that say "I love you." And it's not a couples-only holiday, because love is everywhere.

I've tried to keep up the tradition with my own kids, and we always eat a lot of pink and red foods on Valentine's Day. But these days, it's difficult to gather everyone together for a big breakfast (especially since the oldest is taking an early-morning Bible study class, and he has to leave the house by 5:00 every morning), so our big, fancy sit-down-as-a-family meal is usually dinner. Still, we can't ignore breakfast (most important meal of the day and all), so this year, I put together a special Crock Pot Gourmet breakfast that could cook while we slept and be ready at 4:00am for my earliest riser.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Cherry Cheese Surprise with plain yogurt
Printable recipe (without pictures)

You will need:

24 corn tortillas
1 (21oz) can cherry pie filling
1 (12 oz) bag frozen, pitted sweet cherries
2 eggs
24 oz. cottage cheese
1/2 c. sugar (optional)

Grease crock pot with cooking oil spray.

In large mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese, eggs and cherries. (As I was making this for breakfast, and I don't like to start my day with too much sugar, I didn't sweeten the mixture. If, however, you plan to serve this as a dessert, you may want to add 1/2 c. sugar to the filling.)

Spread a thin layer of the cherry/cheese mixture in the bottom of your 5-quart crock pot.

Layer 4 corn tortillas on top.

Spread a generous scoop of the filling onto the tortillas.

Repeat layers until you've used all of the tortillas, ending with the cherry/cheese mixture.

(If desired, sprinkle 2 Tbsp. sugar on top.)

Cook on low for approximately 5 hours.

Serve warm or chilled. Either as-is:

Or with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt: