Breakfast....maybe....

Breakfast!

I am not a breakfast eater...I never have been. Well, let me correct that, I am not a breakfast first thing in the  morning during the week person. I actually love breakfast food. But, you see I have found that if I eat breakfast early in the morning when I first wake, 9 times out of 10 in an hour - I am starving! This feeling will continue throughout the day no matter how much I eat. I do best with just having coffee first thing and then snacking about 9 am. One of the few things that I have found to sit well on my stomach first thing in the morning and and also not lead to day long hunger is:

Greek yogurt, berries and granola!

Yogurt, Raspberries and my secret ingredient

When I was young I hated yogurt. To the point when I had to eat it because I was on anti-biotics about all I could stomach was tiny little bites and spread it around in the bowl to make it look like I had eaten more. I actually haven't started to appreciate yogurt until I lived in France for a month back in 2007. The yogurt I got there was good! I don't know how to describe it, but it was wonderful. When I got back to the US I tried similar brands and it just wasn't the same here. I have found some brands and types that I like which include Brown Cow Fruit on the Bottom and Wallaby Organic Yogurt?


What I use:

Greek Gods Plain Yogurt (it is the best in my opinion and having the plain on hand
Frozen fruit (my favorite are rasberries)
Granola (any type would work! Silvered almonds are also a great choice)
Honey OR my own Orange Syrup! (it is the by product of candying orange rind - blog to come soon!)



Here is what I do:

In a bowl pour some frozen rasberries in. If you think of this the night before you can leave them covered in the frig and they will defrost over night. If you are like me and do not think of these things ahead of time then you can microwave them to defrost them quickly. I use the lowest power setting for 40 seconds - this leaves them soft but not hot. In the past I have tried the highest power setting (default on most microwaves) for 10 to 20 seconds and some times ended up with a mix of still frozen berries next to ones that were quite warm making me let them sit for a while to let the temperature equilibrate (yes I just used that term for any of you who might doubt that I am a scientist).

Next I scoop some Greek yogurt on top the berries and then drizzle honey or  orange syrup on top.

The Orange Syrup is there however it is pretty light so you can't see it

Stir to mix up all the ingredients and top with granola and enjoy!

Mmmm it looks so good! It just needs one more thing!

Yup for me it is coffee!

 I hope you enjoy! I really like this combo and it does keep me going all morning which is a big plus. There is also a lot of benefits of eating yogurt. Choosing a granola with flax and other grains will add to the benefits and slivered almonds will add some extra protein.

Now for any of you wondering if I make my yogurt look so pretty in the morning don't worry! Normally my bowls look more like this:

Everyday breakfast!

Happy Eating!

Recipe:

6 oz plain greek yogurt

3 oz frozen fruit

1 to 2 Tbs honey or orange syrup

1/4 to 1/2 cup granola

Thaw frozen fruit add yogurt on top and mix together with the honey. Top with granola and enjoy!

Omelette Night 2

Time for omelettes again! 

There was a little hiccup in ESFSW and my communication over who was actually going to be cooking the omelettes. In the end he ended up doing the omelette making although I put the salads together and cooked the sausage. It wasn't until after I had started cooking the sausage that I realized I could have made sausage patties to have with the omelettes....que sera sera!

The photos for this post were taken by myself using a tablet, so they aren't the best. In time we will work out the kinks and I will have my actual camera back.

Here's what we used:

4 Eggs (two each omelette)

Sausage (uncased, spicy breakfast sausage)

1 Avocado

Shredded cheddar cheese
salt
white pepper

Salad: Spinach, Tomatoes and Radish

Here is what we did:


Brown sausage in a small fry pan/omelette pan with a little olive oil.

Browned sausage - set aside on paper towel to soak up extra oil.

Mean while whisk four eggs together with a small amount of milk/half and half with a dash of salt and white pepper. Make sure the eggs are beaten well!

It is best if you are making multiple omelettes to have multiple pans so that who ever is enjoying the omelettes can enjoy them together! Using one pan that the sausage was browned in dump out any pooling oil. It can be poured into a second pan. Heat both the pans over medium high heat until water droplets sizzles when splashed in the pan. Pour half the egg into each pan and let the egg cook. Adjust heat as needed so that the egg cooks evenly. Using a soft spatula you can gentle nudge the egg around the pan so that the bottom and edges set well.

Once the egg is starting to set up you can add the omelette fillings that you want. We chose sausage, avocado (cubed) and cheddar cheese (grated).

Cheddar and Avocado! One of my favorite combinations!

Add fillings trying to keep it on one side of the egg

The tricky part is folding the omelette in half. This works best not to do it too soon. I've always used a hard spatula but ESFSW uses a soft one which makes turn delicate egg easier without it tearing.

Folding the omelette in half.

After the egg has been folded over let it cook a little bit more. If you have an electric range you could probably turn the burners off at this point since they remain hot. If you are lucky enough to have a gas range just turn the heat down to the lowest.

Spinach and Green Leaf Lettuce

In the mean time, prep the salad that you will serve with the omelettes and toast any bread that you decided to serve with the omelettes. I used spinach and green leaf lettuce and then added some radish and tomatoes.

ESFSW's Omelette!

ESFSW definitely pulled through despite having to deal with a different stove, different pans, a small kitchen and trying to work around another person cooking! He made wonderful omelettes despite him not be in his element! I can't wait to taste his future cooking endeavors!

Happy Eating!

Omelette Night Try 1!

 

There are nights when the only thing that sounds appetizing is breakfast foods! I am not snobby I have no problem eating breakfast any time of day. I do however do have issues eating non-breakfasty foods in the morning. Luckily ESFSW also enjoys breakfast for dinner and omelettes. He actually makes them quite frequently for himself. I haven't tasted any of his yet but he promises to make one for me soon! 

Omelettes are not tricky to make, although it did take me a while to find the patience to let the egg cook before I accidentally just turned my omelette into a scramble! I also learned that it is best to use slightly cooked vegetables and always use cooked tomatoes or else the whole thing gets watery! Ewwww!

The omelette I made this night was asparagus, blushing tomato and goat cheese! I also made hash browns, but I haven't been too successful in that endeavor so I didn't take a picture of those.

And here is what I did:

Ingredients:

2 eggs (per omelette)

1/8 onion - diced and saute in butter

3-4 asparagus stocks (cut into thirds and lightly steamed)

blushing tomatoes

herb goat cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

butter

Beat two eggs in a bowl. Heat frying pan and melt butter. Heat on medium high heat (adjust as needed). Once butter has fully melted, tilt pan to make sure it coats the entire surface. Pour egg into the pan. Add onions on top the egg. Let the eggs cook undisturbed when you start to see the edges firm up add other ingredients to one side of the pan. Let eggs continue to cook. Gently with a spatula fold the egg only side over the other ingredients. Let it cook til the egg sets. You can actually turn off the heat at this point. 

Now the tricky part! Take a plate and with a sure and quick movement turn the frying pan over flipping the omelette onto the plate. Now I usually would eat mine with some mixed salad greens, but hash browns also are tasty!

My Omelette!