RECIPE: Peachy Oatmeal with Bittersweet Chocolate Bits

This recipe is from my newly purchased 50 Best Plants on the Planet by Cathy Thomas. I decided to try the recipe for Peachy Oatmeal, and it was so good, it was like eating dessert! And the recipe is easily halved.







Peachy Oatmeal with Bittersweet Chocolate Bits
Makes 4 servings

2 1/2 cups milk (I used almond milk)
pinch of salt
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 tbs agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs chopped bittersweet chocolate (I used about 1 tbs semi-sweet chips per serving)
2 ripe peaches cut into thin slices

Bring milk and and salt to boil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Mix in oats, agave, and vanilla. Lower to medium heat and cook until thickened, about 4 minutes. Divide mixture into four bowls, sprinkle with chocolate and press lightly into mixture and top with peach slices.

RECIPE: Heather's Breakfast Burrito

I made the best breakfast burrito yesterday, and it was so easy to make! Here's what I did:

Breakfast Burrito
Makes 2 small burritos

1 tbs butter
1/4 cup onion, chopped small
1/4 cup roasted red pepper, chopped small
1/8 cup tomato, chopped small
2 eggs
Almond milk
Salt and Pepper
Cheese
2 flour tortillas

1. Melt butter in pan over medium-high heat. Saute onion until it begins to caramelize.
2. Add in pepper and tomato and saute a couple of minutes until heated through.
3. Meanwhile combine eggs and a little milk (I use almond milk) in a small bowl and beat to combine well. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add eggs to veggies. Scramble eggs until done. Top with cheese to melt. (I used a Swiss slice this time, torn into pieces).
5. Remove egg mixture from pan (reserve in a small bowl), and warm tortillas in saute pan. Assemble egg mixture in tortilla and roll up to serve.

RECIPE: Heather's Banana-Blueberry Breakfast Protein Shake

Since trying to lose weight through exercise and better eating, I've gotten into making shakes for breakfast many mornings. This is one I made the other day that was really good:

Banana-Blueberry Breakfast Protein Shake

8 oz almond milk
2 scoops Curves vanilla protein shake powder
1 scoop vanilla Instant pudding mix
1/2 banana
1/2 cup blueberries


Directions:

Combine ingredients in blender and process until smooth. Makes 2 servings.

Sunday Morning Breakfast of Oven Baked French Toast

Sunday morning we decided to make breakfast for a change, and I made a deal with Woodrow: I would make the french toast, and he would make the scrambled eggs. This was really a totally selfish tactic, as I wanted good scrambled eggs and knew that Woodrow makes better scrambled eggs than me! But before he started on the eggs, I got going on the french toast:

Oven Baked French Toast

3 tbs melted butter
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tbs honey
3 eggs
Cinnamon
Vanilla
8 slices of french bread, sliced 1 inch thick

Directions:

• First drizzle the melted butter across the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch pan.

• Slice french baguette into 1 inch slices.

• In a medium-large bowl, add 1/3 cup of OJ, 2 tablespoons of honey, 3 eggs, a dash of cinnamon and a bit of vanilla (maybe 1/2 tsp)...

• Beat mixture well with a hand beater until the mixture becomes a bit frothy.

• Dip the bread into the egg mixture and thoroughly cover it with the mixture. Place each slice in the pan with the melted butter.

• Allow the bread slices to set for up to 12 hours in the frig. I would let them set for at least 30 minutes.
• Bake in 450 degree oven until golden brown. I think it takes about 6-8 minutes on one side, then flip and cook the other side.

And there you go! Yummy french toast that is crispy on the outside and soft in the center, with a hint of citrus flavor.

And look at those perfectly cooked scrambled eggs! I get impatient with mine and cook them too high, resulting in browning.

Nice breakfast! Next time we'll try making regular french toast using the same egg mixture and see how that turns out.

ARCHIVE: Buttermilk Belgian Waffles w/ Blueberry Maple Syrup

Archived. Originally posted on Homemaker's Who Work on 3/13/10, but recipe archived here in case that site goes down.

I recently made my first batch of homemade butter, and I was so excited to share my experience with all of you! But wouldn't you know, I missed my posting day! So I had to settle for posting about the experience on my own blog instead.

After making butter, I was left with about 2 cups of buttermilk as well as three different flavored butters to use up. I tried to think of what I could use the buttermilk in, and I decided on buttermilk Belgian waffles!

I've only made waffles once before, and I don't think they turned out that great. So I was keeping my fingers crossed on this one! The first thing to do was to get out the waffle iron that just sits around most of the time, as it probably does in most households.

So I decided to surprise my boyfriend with buttermilk waffles on a typical Monday morning . I started with a buttermilk waffle recipe that I believe came from America's Test Kitchen. This recipe was suppose to make 4-6 regular buttermilk waffles, but I got 2 Belgian buttermilk waffles out of the recipe.

Buttermilk Waffles

1 cup flour

1 tbsp cornmeal

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 egg separated

1 cup buttermilk

2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

Nonstick cooking spray

• Start preheating your waffle iron.


• In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking soda.
  
  
  


• I paused for a moment to toss some blueberries and maple syrup in a saucepan, and brought it to boil for a few minutes. Then turned it down to simmer until the waffles were done.
  
  
  


• In another mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolk with buttermilk and melted butter until combined.
  
  
  

• Clean your whisk and beat the egg white to soft peaks. (This about killed me! My arm was on fire. Next time I will use a hand blender I think, and see how that works.) I never quite got soft peaks to form, but got it quite foamy after probably 4-5 minutes of vigorous whisking.


• Fold the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. The batter will be quite thick. (I didn't think that mine was overly thick.) Then add the egg whites and gently fold them into the batter.
  
  


• Spray the waffle iron with some nonstick cooking spray, and spread the batter onto the iron. Cook until the waffles are golden brown, about 2-5 minutes, depending on your machine (mine probably cooked more like 7 minutes to get them golden).

I decided that this would be a great use of some of the homemade butter I had made, and spread it with some of the Orange-Blueberry Honey Butter that I had just waiting for this waffle. Then I drizzled it with some of the blueberry syrup that I'd had simmering on the stove. This is what my boyfriend's waffle looked like...

...but this is what mine looked like...

This was really easy to do (except for whipping the egg whites to soft peaks!), and really delicious! The waffles were cooked perfectly! This was simple enough for me to throw together in the morning before I left for work.

This would be a great breakfast to start off a special day, like the first day of school or before finals, or make it for your husband the day of a big meeting. This breakfast is love on a plate, smothered in syrup and whipped cream.

If you want to make extra to store in the freezer, they recommend that you leave them golden but slightly underdone. They can be frozen and then popped into the toaster for a quick breakfast.

Put a little love in your family's collective tummy!