Fruit, Granola, and Yogurt Parfait

Here's what my Valentine concocted for me this year, it was quite tasty and pretty cute, way to go Honey! Thanks for sharing YOUR recipe with ME!!!! (he found it himself, I was quite impressed!)

Granola:

1 cup old fashion oats

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds

3 TBSP oil or butter (if butter, melt it first)

2 TBSP honey

Fruit:

8-10 strawberries, diced

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup pineapple, diced

or substitute any of the above with raspberries, blackberries, bananas, or more!!!

2 cups plain yogurt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350, mix all your granola ingredients together and spread them out on a cookie sheet baking for 18- 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove immediately from the cookie sheet (so it doesn't keep cooking) and put it in a bowl. Mix your fruit up and scoop it into the bottom of a glass parfait dish or tall glass, then continue to layer it with yogurt and the granola as much as you would like. This recipe will make approximately 4 servings.

And if you need some cheering up in the kitchen or a little giggle.... this story should do the trick!

My sweet husband wanted to surprise me and make me this for breakfast, but ran into a little snag if you will, when he realized he shouldn't have pre-cooked the oatmeal for the granola!!! In his defense he did show me the recipe which DID say "1 cup oatmeal" instead of a more accurately "1 cup oats"... so he had to dump the first batch and start over for round #2... what a trooper! (And yes, he gave me permission to share the story and the picture!! )

Check out batch #1:

Quick Frittata....

I modified this weeks recipe from Abundant Harvest Organics Newsletter, and used this frittata as a dinner option this week- with leftovers for lunch or breakfast. It was really simple, fresh, and easy to prepare- and a great way to pack a lot of veggies into one meal!

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 crown broccoli, chopped

6-8 mushrooms, diced

2 huge handfuls fresh spinach, chopped

10 eggs, beaten

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/2 cup cheese, parmesan or cheddar

**The original recipe called for sausage (cooked & diced) and for cheddar cheese as well, I opted for no sausage and to use parmesan, but you could really use a lot of different variations with this recipe.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to a low broil. In a large oven proof skillet, heat 1 TBSP grape seed oil and saute your garlic and onion for 2 minutes. Add all your veggies and let them cook for about 3-4 minutes. In a separate bowl, beat your eggs and add your s & p and your cheese. Mix well and pour into skillet, stirring everything around to get it all mixed up. Then let is sit until the bottom begins to cook (you will see the egg starting to solidify around the edges of the pan) lift up the sides and let the uncooked egg drain to the bottom of the pan like you would an omelette. Then, put the whole skillet into the oven (on LOW broil) and let it cook for 5-7 minutes making sure it doesn't burn on top, it will get a toasty brown. Remove, let it rest for a few minutes, cut and serve in wedges for any meal of the day!

Spanish Potato Omelet

So here's my grandma's recipe for her Spanish Potato Omelet (it's also posted on my sister's blog). I love this recipe, it brings back so many fond memories and it fills the belly as a meal or tantalizes your taste buds as an appetizer. I made it tonight with the Simple Spinach Salad for dinner and it was DE-LICIOUS!

First, you will scrub, peel, cut in half, then slice your potatoes in 1/4 inch pieces (pretty thin). By the way, can you see my little scrubber brush in this picture?? I love that thing! I scrub my potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and more with that thing! It's great!!!!

After you cut your potatoes, you will chop your onion, green onion, and ham and add it to an OVEN SAFE frying pan that has 2 TBSP butter and 1 TBSP oil in it. Once they saute for 10 minutes and start to brown, you are going to beat 12 eggs, yes I said 12!!!!

Then add 1/4 tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp salt to your eggs, as well as 1 TBSP chopped parsley, and pour it over your potato mixture, making sure it's evenly covered.
Next, put it in your oven that has been preheated to 400 degrees for 20 -25 minutes until it is golden brown around the edges and on top. Pull it out with a pot holder (and I recommend leaving the potholder on the handle, even if you have to attach it with a rubber band because I have burned my hand many a'times forgetting that it's hot once it's out of the oven and sitting on the stove).
To get it out of the pan, simply slide a spatula around the edge and slide it (or flip it upside down) onto a plate. Then, you can either slice it in squares for an appetizer or pizza wedges for a meal. You could technically make this for dinner or breakfast, or heck, eat it for lunch for all I care!
Ingredients:

4 medium potatoes, peeled

12 eggs

1 small onion, chopped

4 green onions, chopped

1 TBSP fresh parsley, chopped

12 pieces canadian bacon or ham, diced

1/4 tsp pepper

2 TBSP butter

1 TBSP oil

1/2 tsp salt

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees.

Zucchini Bread...

grating the zucchini

mixing all the ingredients together

splitting it in two loaf pans

the finished product... with chocolate chips of course!!!

Well, fall is right around the corner, so I thought a new recipe for some yummy warm autumn bread was in order. I had my last huge zucchini left over from my garden, so away we went! I have only tried this recipe once, and it turned out delicious, but I will be trying it again with the hopes of tweaking it a little to lessen the brown sugar and white flour- but for the first spin, I followed the directions as they were (well, almost!).

Ingredients:

1 cup applesauce

3 eggs

2 cups grated zucchini

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3 tsp cinnamon

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup flax seed

Directions:

Really simple. Preheat oven to 350. Mix your applesauce, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and grated zucchini. (You can use your hand cheese grater or your food processor to grate your zucchini.) Then add your flours, baking soda & powder, salt, cinnamon, wheat germ, and flax seeds. Mix that really well. Then, lastly add your raisins and chopped walnuts. Spray or grease 2 bread pans and pour your mixture evenly into both and cook for 30- 37 minutes on the same rack in the oven. Test your bread with a toothpick, if it comes out dry, it's all done! If it's gooey, leave it in for a little while longer.

** So a few modifications that I made, I didn't have walnuts, so I used pecans and they were just fine. And also, you know me, I think everything is better with a handful of chocolate chips :) So one pan had just raisins & walnuts and the other had raisins, walnuts, and chocolate chips! Yum, Yum, Yum!

Almond-Coconut Granola

Here's a quick and easy recipe for granola, you will love it!

Ingredients:

3 cups old-fashion rolled oats

2/3 cups sliced almonds

1/2 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut

1/3 cup sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter

6 TBSP honey or agave

1 cup mixed dried raisins, cherries, cran-raisins, or apricots

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325. In a large bowl stir together oats, almonds, coconut, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, and salt. In a small saucepan melt butter with honey over low heat, stirring. Pour butter mixture over oat mixture and stir until combined well.

In a large jelly roll pan (or cookie sheet with a lip on it) spread your granola evenly and bake in the middle of the oven, stirring it halfway through baking. Bake it until it's golden brown for about 15 minutes. Cool your granola in its pan on a rack and stir in dried fruits. You can keep your granola in an airtight container at room temperature for about 2 weeks and enjoy it all the time!

Oatmeal Part 2

So, here's another oatmeal that we enjoy over here (Emery more than the rest of us!) this is the creamy kind, not clumpy like the Steel Cut Oats, this is called McCann's Quick Cooking Irish Oatmeal, and the best part about it... it is ready in 3 minutes on the stove top! What you say??? Yes my friends, it is true, it rivals toast in terms of a fast breakfast and it is very good for you- soluble fiber, low cholestrol, low fat, and no preservatives like other oatmeal packets... what more could you want?? Throw in some dried raisins or cranberries or sprinkle some fresh fruit or agave on top and you have yourself a hearty and healthy start to your day!

Saturday Morning Scramblers

We don't eat these very often, not because they aren't good, but because I don't usually make a big breakfast in the morning. But this is a fun "treat" breakfast in our house- good to wake up to on a birthday morning or for a fun surprise for the family. And I only make it on the rare occasion that all these ingredients are already in my fridge! (usually the weekend following the week when I have made a Steak Cob Salad for dinner one night).

Ingredients:

eggs

green onion

bell pepper

shredded cheddar cheese

3 pieces of bacon 

mushrooms

pepper

* Mix and match the ingredients, the more the merrier! If you have to omit some or don't like others, that's a-okay too!

Directions:

Add a little coconut oil to a hot frying pan, beat your eggs in a bowl with a little pepper, and pour into the frying pan. With a spatula, move the egg batter to the center of the pan, in a motion all the way around the pan. When the eggs are half way cooked, add your green onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers and those continue to cook with the eggs. Then add your already cooked chopped bacon and your shredded cheese until the cheese melts. Constantly turn the eggs so that they don't burn or stick. Serve with some fresh fruit and enjoy!

French Toast Sticks....

Here's a quick post I have been meaning to put up for awhile for a great kids breakfast! It's super easy and quick, and those little fingers will love having their own finger-licking stick for breakfast! 

Ingredients: (ingredients are for one serving, increase for more servings)

1 slice of Bread ( I use Whole Grain Bread from Trader Joe's)

1 egg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, crack your egg, and pour in your cinnamon, use a whisk to blend the 2 ingredients together. Next, slice your bread (cut the crust off if needed for your munchkin). Then I slice it into 4 pieces, and then let them soak in the egg mix for a few seconds, turning them over. They don't need to soak very long because they are so small. Heat your frying pan medium to high heat, add  some kind of non-stick to it (coconut oil or olive oil or spray) and place your sticks on it. Let them cook on one side until it's browned (use a flipper to peek underneath) then flip it and brown the second side! Wha-la! That's it! Serve plain or with "dipping sauce" like agave, maple syrup, or fruit sauce.

Variations: When I have over rip bananas I add 1/2 of a banana smooshed up into the egg mixture and make it with banana chunks. Emery loves this kind! Give it a whirl- you may have to scoop the banana onto the slices once it's in the pan, but it's a fun variation (the pictures above have banana in it). Another variation, add 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract for a change.

Banana Bread....

Another Breakfasty item is Banana Bread. I have two recipes that I love... 1 is naughty and the other is nice.... take your pick! First, the naughty Banana Bread (beware, you could eat the whole loaf in a day!)

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 c flour

1 c sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Other Ingredients:

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 c melted butter

3 mashed bananas

1 Tbsp. milk

a handful of chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mash the bananas in a seperate bowl, add those. Then beat 2 eggs, add those. Melt your butter, add that. Pour your milk in and toss a handful of chocolate chips! (The recipe is fabulous without them as well).

Spray or grease your loaf pan (or pans). Pour batter in and bake for 1 hour. ***Helpful Tip: If I am short on time or want smaller slices I split the batter between 2 loaf pans and make "half loaves" cooking them for 30 minutes (at the same time on the same rack in the oven). Great for serving lots of people or for keeping a loaf for yourself and having one to share! (see picture above)

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Now the Nice (healthy) Banana Bread

Wet Ingredients

1 1/2 c mashed ripe bananas

1/4 cup oil

1/2 c honey

1 tsp. vanilla

2 beaten eggs

Dry Ingredients

2 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c wheat germ

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

** 1/2 c chopped walnuts

Mix the wet ingredients together first, then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix well, and bake in a sprayed or greased loaf pan for 1 hour at 350.

Steel Cut Oats...

So, this isn't technically a recipe, more like an idea- but a friend of mine asked me the other day what I eat for breakfast, she was in a breakfast funk! So, I told her about my latest favorite quick & easy breakfast. You can buy steel cut oats anywhere, but I found my favorite brand of quick cooking oats and you guessed it- it's from Trader Joe's! I love this option because it's chunkier than oatmeal (not as mushy) yet it's filling and healthy!

Directions:

Boil 3/4 cups water, add 1/4 cup oats (just like the directions on the container) and I add a handful of raisins, and/or some bits of apple. Cover and let cook for 5-7 minutes, until it reaches the consistency that you like, I stir mine every once in awhile to keep it from sticking to the bottom. You can add some sprinkled brown sugar or a healthier option: honey and some cinnamon. 

 

Breakfast Strata....

How about a little menu for breakfast items- the next few entries will be a few everyday items and some special occasion items. Here we go, for starters, this delicious breakfast strata, great for big groups like showers and perfect for holidays like Christmas morning or EASTER BRUNCH! The best part, you get to make it the night before (in 10 minutes!) and then you are free the in the morning while it bakes away in the oven!

Ingredients:

8 slices of potato bread, cut into cubes (no crust)

8 cups diced ham

2 cups of shredded swiss cheese

8 eggs

2 cups of milk

4 tbsp. melted butter

1/2 tsp. dry mustard (you can use regular mustard if you don't have dry)

s & p to taste

Directions:

Butter a 9x13 dish, layer it with bread, then sprinkle the ham over top, then the cheese. In a bowl whisk the eggs, butter, mustard, and S & P. Pour that mixture over the top of the dish. Cover the dish and refrigerate it over night. In the morning, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake it for 50 minutes. Let it stand for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Serve with: fresh fruit and juice!