15 posts tagged “breakfast”
Ah, the interwebs. They are a wonderful place, aren't they? I have "met" so many great people through food blogs, chat boards and just via email. One of these lovely persons is my friend B over at Bella Lately. We share a love for goat cheese and smoked gouda, great movies and good music. In fact, a couple months ago, I sent B a burned Hem CD because I just knew they were a band she'd enjoy. Let me stress the fact that the CD was burned. And I sent it in this really awful, el cheapo packaging. It was nothing. Just me wanting to share a great band with someone else.
So imagine my surprise last week when I receive a package from B and it's a cookbook! And not just any cookbook but a great one--Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave. How great is that?! Ellie K cooks great food that's nutritious but also tastes great. Just like me! I am so thankful for B's thoughtfulness. Tom said he thinks I should send B at least one more CD. ;-)
So, I got right to making a recipe from the book--energy bars. I am a bit of a Kashi fanatic and tend to eat a pumpkin flax ot trail mix granola bar on pretty much a daily basis. Granola bars are just such a good, easy treat but I try to make sure I am getting ones that aren't as heavily processed and use "real ingredients." So, when I saw this recipe, I knew I wanted to try it out. It uses all natural ingredients, and doesn't even use any refined sugar. I did change the recipe a bit by totally swapping out the fruits for what I had on hand. I also upped the amount of cinnamon and added a tsp. of vanilla extract.
I thought these bars turned out great! Enough sweetness from the dried fruits and the maple syrup, a great crunch from the nuts, and a nice and filling snack. My changes did increase the calorie count slightly (probably because I used fruits that are naturally higher in sugar) but these are still a great, healthy choice for a snack. I stored a few of these in an airtight container and the rest got wrapped in wax paper and then in a ziplock bag and frozen. This way I can grab one out of the freezer on my way out the door and it will be a great work snack.
Energy Bars
adapted from Ellie Krieger
Makes 20 bars
1 cup oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup powdered dry milk
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup dried cranberries
8 dried figs, stems removed
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
2 eggs
Preheat the oven to 350 and coat a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
Add all ingredients except the syrup and eggs to your food processor, and pulse until the mixture is finely chopped. Add the eggs and then stream in the syrup, until the mixture is well-combined.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan and press down with a spatula (or your hands) to make sure it is uniformly thick. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely and cut into bars.
Nutritional Information Per Bar: Calories: 151 / Fat: 4.9g / Carbs: 23.7g / Fiber: 3/2g/ Protein: 5.1g
I really wanted to participate in Danielle and Robin's Recipe Remix this time around, since I didn't get a chance to the first time. I think this is such a great idea because really, what do most creative cooks do but remix some sort of existing dish to make it more appealing, more delicious and more personal to them. The theme this time around was breakfast.
I wanted to do something Greek-inspired and I started thinking that pretty much every Greek desert has some sort of simple syrup-based liquid in it, which makes it perfect for breakfast. You already have your syrup! I decided to go with what is probably the most famous Greek desssert--baklava--and make a baklava French....I mean, Greek....toast. French toast is probably my favorite breakfast item.
I made the typical baklava filling and sandwiched that in some tsoureki (Greek Easter bread). This is a loaf I got from my grandma but if you want to make your own, there are several Greek bloggers who have made it. Then, I made the baklava syrup which is essentially honey, sugar, and water. You can add some lemon rind or a cinnamon stick, too, if you'd like.
I wish I could make this look as good as it tasted. Unfortunately, my loaf of tsoureki was not really French toast material. It was a loaf my grandma made me over Easter, which I then I froze (I had eaten too much tsoureki in a 3 day period!), but it was a very small loaf. You couldn't make normal slices from it (because it was only a couple inches high) so I had to slice it the long way which made for some interesting slices and some falling apart. Oh well!
There isn't much of a recipe because the only things I truly measured were the syrup ingredients but the process is below.
Baklava French Toast
Crush some walnuts in a food processor and stir in some cinnamon and cloves to taste.
In a small saucepan, bring equal parts sugar, water and honey to a boil (and lemon rind/cinnamon stick if you want). Thicken it by simmering for a bit.
Slice your bread (challah or brioche would also be great here) and spoon the walnut mixture over half the slices. Place the remaining slices on top of the ones with the walnut mixture, basically making walnut sandwiches.
Make your standard French toast mixture, including a beaten eggs and some milk or cream. You can add some vanilla and cinnamon, too, if you'd like. Pour the mixture into a dish big enough to hold your sandwiches and layer them in there. Let them soak for a couple minutes before flipping (carefully...I lost some of my mixture here due to poor bread cutting and flipping) and soaking them on the other side.
Melt some butter in a nonstick skillet or griddle. Add the Greek toast and cook for a couple minutes per side, until golden.
Top with the syrup and some cinnamon, if you'd like.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: I am SO not going there. ;)
I have quite a few bloggers from the group Tuesdays with Dorie in my Google Reader. As a result, every Tuesday, I tend to drool all over my keyboard from all the lovely looking Dorie Greenspan recipes the bloggers conquer that week. I am pretty sure my pants get tighter just from reading those blogs. I haven't joined the group because I don't bake often and there's a reason for that--I wouldn't be able to fit into my pants, or the desk chair in which I blog any longer :P
But, still, I wanted to try my hand at a Dorie recipe. I came across her recipe for Oatmeal Breakfast Bread on Cast Sugar, and it looked perfect. For one, it's easy. I love easy baking. Secondly, the ingredients were also pretty nutritious and things I always have on hand. It was a no brainer.
This recipe is fairly healthy as it is, but I did make some modifications to make it healthier, like replacing some of the AP flour with whole wheat and reducing the amount of sugar (but adding a tsp. of vanilla for some sweetness). I also made this into muffins rather than bread, mostly for portion control. I got 16 muffins out of the mix just barely, so if you are not as concerned with calories, I'd probably shoot for 12-14 slightly larger muffins. For the 16, they were about 180 calories per muffin with my modificatins (the recipe below).
The batter for this is so light and airy. Make sure you don't overmix it (something of which I am frequently guilty, but luckily didn't do this time around) so that your muffins end up that way, too. These muffins are so tasty and I just love the streusel-like topping. It makes you feel like you are eating something worse for you than you really are and you won't miss all the sugar in the bread itself.
Oatmeal Breakfast Bread [/Muffins]
adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan
Makes 1 loaf or about 14-16 muffins
For the topping:
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
3 Tbsp. chopped pecans
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
For the muffins/bread:
2 egg whites
1.25 cups unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup flavorless oil (I used canola)
1/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 cup sugar
1.5 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 cup dried fruit of your choice (I used raisins and cranberries as that's what I had on hand)
1 cup oats
Preheat the oven to 350 and place the rack in the middle of the oven. Lightly grease & flour a 9" loaf pan or about 14 muffin cups.
To make the topping, mix the brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon together. Set aside.
To make the bread, whisk together the egg whites, applesauce, oil, buttermilk and vanilla until blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together whole wheat and AP flours, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Remove about a teaspoon of the mix and toss it with the dried fruit. Stir the oats into the bowl with the flour mixture.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and using a rubber spatula, stir until just evenly moistened. Fold in the dried fruit. Scrape the batter into the loaf pan or muffin tins. Sprinkle the topping over everything. Bake for 55-60 minutes for the bread, or about 20 minutes for muffins, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Every time I think of muffins, I think of Elaine Benes. ;)
I make muffins a lot. I love having something quick to grab in the morning, if necessary, but mostly I just like eating one with a few egg whites. Between the protein from the eggs and the complex carbs in the muffin, I stay satisfied for quite a while. But if I made muffins with cups of oil and butter, like most (delicious) muffin recipes call for, I'd balloon. So, instead, I am always making new versions of healthy muffins, and here's another to add to the list.
It's no secret I love Trader Joe's. One of my favorite things there are frozen whole/pitted cherries, way cheaper than you can buy them fresh. But, the last time I was there, I picked up a triple berry frozen mix of blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries instead. When I came home today, I realized I had some buttermilk to use up, thought of these berries and voila, another healthy muffin (but tasty!) was born.
I entered these on SparkRecipes (a great tool for those who don't know about it) and got the nutritional information listed below.
Healthy Triple Berry Muffins
Makes 10-12 muffins
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. citrus zest (I used lime...anything would be good really, and certain citrus pairs better with certain berries)
2/3 cup lowfat buttermilk
1.5 cups berries of your choice, fresh or frozen (not thawed)
Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease a muffin tin.
In a medium bowl, sift together the whole wheat and all purpose flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a second bowl, beat the egg with the sugar until smooth. Mix in the vanilla, oil, zest, applesauce and buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Fold the berries into the mixture. Don't overmix the batter. Your muffins could become tough and the batter may start turning colors from overworking the batter.
Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin and bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Nutritional Information Per Serving (12 Servings): Calories: 130.7 / Fat: 3.2g / Carbs: 23.5g / Fiber: 1.9g / Protein: 2.9g / Sugar: 11.2g
If I had to pick my arch-nemesis of kitchen appliances, it would definitely be the waffle iron. Honestly, who thought it would be a good idea to get something really hot (to the point of smoking) and then try to evenly spread batter over its entire surface, even as parts of the batter are already starting to cook? And, assuming you are able to do this well, you have to guess the correct amount of batter to make 4 equally sized waffles, which I still haven't been able to do. If you've managed to both evenly spread and use the precise amount of batter over the grid, your next feat will be to cook the waffles so that they are 1.) nicely (and evenly) browned on the outside and 2.) done all the way through. At this point, all you can do is hope that they taste good after all that work.
Luckily, despite the fact that these gingerbread waffles weren't very aesthetically pleasing, they did taste good. Plus, my waffles were cooked through and nicely browned (though they were not evenly shaped by any stretch of the imagination). But, I'll take 2 out of 3. As an added bonus, I ended up freezing about 7 waffles so we can have them for breakfast and I don't need to mess around with the dreaded waffle iron again for a while.
I looked at a few recipes for gingerbread waffles, including this one and this one, and ended up making my own up. It wasn't quite as unhealthy as the first recipe, not quite as healthy as the latter. They had a really great flavor.
Pumpkin Gingerbread Waffles
1.25 cups whole wheat flour
1.75 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. ground ginger
2.5 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1.25 cups pumpkin puree
1/4 cup molasses
1.25 cups low fat buttermilk
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1.5 tsp. vanilla
Sift together the whole and all purpose flours, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and egg whites with the brown sugar until fluffy. Add the pumpkin, molasses, buttermilk, butter and vanilla and beat until just incorporated. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients--don't overmix.
Add the batter in batches to your waffle iron, cross your fingers, and hope for the best.
This is certainly not the best of pictures, but given my many waffle-woes, I'll take what I can get.
Mmmm, gingerbread. I love it. Love gingerbread crusts, gingerbread men, gingersnaps, and regular ol' gingerbread. So when I saw this recipe from Joy of Baking for gingerbread scones, I had to try it. I figured these would hold up better in tins than gingerbread and I wouldn't have to roll them out/cut them like I would with cookies. Plus, I got another chance to use my mini scone pan. I made this dough about 2 weeks ago and froze it, so all I had to do was stick it in the fridge the day before and then knead and bake.
I can't begin to tell you how great my kitchen smelled when these were baking. I was ready to just plop one out of the pan and eat it half way through the baking process. And luckily, the taste lived up to the smell. I will definitely be making another batch next week!
Gingerbread Scones
Joy of Baking
Scone Dough
1.75 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp. ground ginger
1.5 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Zest of 1 lemon (optional)
1/3 cup dried cranberries or cherries (optional)
1/2 cup buttermilk
2.5 Tbsp. unsulphered molasses
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Egg Wash
1 egg
1 Tbsp. milk or cream
extra oats for sprinkling
Maple Glaze
1/2 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1.5 Tbsp. real maple syrup
1-2 tsp cream or milk (I probably used close to 3)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and position your rack in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or if you are using a mini scone pan, grease lightly with butter or oil spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the dough with a pastry cutter (or use your food processor on pulse) until the mixture looks like course crumbs. Stir in the lemon zest and cranberries, if using.
In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk, molasses, and vanilla extract. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture, just until a dough comes together. Don't overmix.
Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times. Pat the dough into a circle, which you cut into 6 triangles, or roll into a square the size of your mini scone pan and then cut into 16 pieces, placing each piece individually in the pan.
Beat together the egg and cream to make the egg wash, and then brush the mixture over the scones. Sprinkle the scones with some rolled oats.
Place the baking sheet in another baking sheet (didn't even bother with this) and bake for about 20 minutes or until done.
Once they are cooled, make the glaze by combining the confectioners sugar, maple syrup and milk/cream. Add cream until you get an icing consistency which can be drizzled over the scones.
I didn't make any changes to the recipe other than make mini scones instead of full sized ones. I used dried cranberries since I had them on hand but I love dried cherries even more, so I might do that next time. I did leave out the optional lemon zest because I didn't have a lemon on the day I made the dough. I recommend the maple glaze. It's really tasty and gives the scones just a little added sweetness.
Today, I decided to use my mini scone pan for its intended use--to make mini scones, of course. :) I don't bake often since I don't particularly like to and since I don't really need to eat what I make. The good thing about a mini scone pan is that it exercises portion control. So, you can make a batch of scones the old-fashioned, fatty way and not feel *too* badly about eating one.
I found a recipe for mini orange-currant scones on Williams Sonoma and adapted it for dried cranberries. I made it ever so slightly healthier by substituting half the flour for whole wheat and using half and half in place of cream (since I had it on hand). These end up being 145 calories and 7g of fat a piece.
Orange-Cranberry Scones
adapted from Williams-Sonoma
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 egg
1/2 cup half and half
zest of 1 orange
granulated or turbinado sugar for sprinking
Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a mini scone pan.
In a food processor, combine the white and wheat flours, sugar, baking powder and salt and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles pea-size crumbs. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the dried cranberries.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, half and half and orange zest until blended. Add to flour mixture. Using a fork, stir to form large, moist clumps of dough.
Turn the fough out onto a lightly floured surface and press together with your hands until the dough comes together (I added about a Tbsp. of water to help it come together). Roll out the dough, flouring as needed, into a 9-inch square, about 3/4 inch thick.
Cut into 4 equal-size squares, then cut each square diagnolly into 4 triagles. Press each triangle into a well of the prepared pan. (Alternatively, you could just make 6-8 regular-size scones by cutting the dough witha biscuit cutter or into wedges, after rolling it out). Sprinkle each scone lightly with sugar. Bake until the scones are golden, about 25 minutes.
Invert the pan onto a wire rack and lift off the pan. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
I really don't know why we don't eat breakfast for dinner more often. Breakfast food has got to be some of my favorite stuff, and we rarely go out to eat breakfast. Eggs, waffles, biscuits and gravy...you name it, I love it.
Since I was craving breakfast, I decided to make a hash with some odds and ends I had in my fridge.
Originally, I was going to cook the eggs separately, place them on top of the hash and make the dish all pretty-fied. But....a) sometimes a pretty picture is not worth an extra dirty pan; and b) some things are not meant to look pretty so much as they are meant to look "rustic" and homey :)
Hash Scramble
Serves 2
1 Italian sausage link (I used chicken sausage), casing removed
2 slices bacon, diced
1 Tbsp fat (olive oil, butter, margarine...pick your poison)
1/4 cup diced onions
1 large potato, cubed
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
4-6 eggs (I used 2 eggs + 3 egg whites)
1-2 Tbsp milk, cream or sour cream
1/4 cup shredded cheddar
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
salt and pepper
In a large skillet, brown sausage, crumbling as you brown. Remove from skillet.
To the same pan, add the bacon and cook. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Pour off all but about 1 tsp. of the bacon fat. Add butter/oil to the skillet.
Add onions and cook for about a minute before stirring in potatoes. Cook potatoes, stirring to brown on all sides, for about 3 minutes. Add peppers and cook for a minute. Saute garlic until fragrant, and then season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper.
Cover skillet and cook over low heat until potatoes are tender (should just be a few more minutes). In a bowl, beat the eggs with the milk and add salt and pepper to taste.
To the skillet, add the sausage, bacon and eggs. Stir frequently, just as you are making scrambled eggs.
When eggs are slightly undercooked, stir in the cheese to melt. Remove from heat and serve.
I promise to lay off the pumpkin for a bit after this week. But can you believe this is still my FIRST can of pumpkin? I wanted to use it up before it went bad, so I decided to make some pumpkin waffles today.
I used this recipe from Country Living for spiced pumpkin waffles. I liked this recipe because, per person, it didn't use quite as much butter or other really fatty things as other recipes :)
When I reduced the recipe for just my husband and me, though, I didn't have *quite* enough batter to stretch over our waffle maker, so the waffles weren't perfectly square...but they were perfectly delicious!
I topped them with some toasted walnuts and the real-deal maple syrup.
I love pumpkin. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin bars. You name it, I love it. Now that fall is (sort of) here, I felt the need to make something with pumpkin. You can bet this will be the first of many things pumpkin-related to be added to the blog in the next few months. I already have plans for some pumpkin madeleines to break in my new madeleine pan.
I was considering making a quick bread, but I just decided to make muffins for portion control and because I just love having muffins for breakfast, So, once again, I altered my basic healthy muffin recipe to make the pumpkin muffins. These are even healthier than usual because pumpkin is packed with so much nutritional goodness!
Healthy Pumpkin Raisin Muffins
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce (or vegetable oil, if you're not calorie counting)
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 400 and grease a 12-cup muffin tin. Sift together flours, baking powder and soda, salt and spices.
In a seprarate bowl, beat egg with brown sugar until well combined. Stir in vanilla, buttermilk, applesauce and pumpkin puree.
Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in nuts and raisins.
Pour mixture into muffin cups and bake approximately 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Nutrition Info, per muffin: Calories: 143 / Fat: 3g / Carbs: 27g / Dietary Fiber: 2.4g / Sugar: 2.2g / Protein: 3.8g
