Protein Bars, Take 2!

So now that my first batch of homemade protein bars are gone, I decided it was time to play around and make a 2nd batch. My primary reasoning behind making these though was to help keep me on track and honest during these next weeks of stressful holiday eating.

My goal with my nutritionist was to maintain these next 6 weeks, and as much as I'd like to actually drop sound pounds and not maintain, I know I need to be realistic. The holidays are always a challenge for me with my eating; primarily because I love to cook and bake and make wonderfully delicious foods this time of year.

So I'm hoping these will help keep me on track for a light and filling and healthy breakfast.

Here's the recipe I used this time, just mix everything in the bowl together and add in 1/4-1/2 cup water basked on the texture, it should be a bit gluey but thick:

Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Coconut Power Bars

2 Egg whites – 34 calories

3 scoops protein powder (GNC Chocolate Whey Powder) – 390 calories

Peanut butter, creamy – ½ cup - 760 calories

1 medium banana – 105 calories

4 cups puffed wheat – 240 calories *note I put this in instead of all of the oats from last time*

1/2 cup oats – 74 calories * note this is down from 3.5 cups of oats in my first recipe *

1 packet dry milk – 320 calories - make sure you're using dry non fat milk

Vanilla 1 tsp– 12 calories

Peanuts – ¼ cup – 211 calories

Coconut powder 1 oz.- 180 calories * I got this at an ethnic market. It's not sweet, it's just fine granulated coconut.*

1966 / 8 = 291 calories each

Verdict:

AWESOME! better than the first batch! I love the puffed wheat in this recipe more than the oats. They break down a bit and just make a nice chewy brownie/cookie like texture for the bar. They have a very mild taste, not too sweet, not bitter, and even the hubs agreed you can't really taste much chocolate. Love these so much more than the first batch! I need to invest in some other whey powder so I can start making other flavored bars. Again, as the first batch, heat them up before you eat them, about 15-30 seconds in the microwave -it makes a huge difference!

Homemade Protein Bars

So I love Powerbars Protein Plus bars. They run about 300 calories each or so, and they come in lots of yummy flavors (I'm partial to PB chocolate!). However, they are INCREDIBLY sweet, and when I have one with a glass of milk for breakfast it really makes me crave sweets the rest of the day. So they kind of set me up for a struggle of a day.

Additionally, protein bars are filled with so much junk that while they may fill me up with protein, they just aren't filling me with anything else worthy of a good diet.

I have been doing some searching around online for some homemade protein bar recipes that would fill me with more natural ingredients. I found a few I thought I'd like to try and today I made my first one, but I certainly tweaked it a bit.

The recipe I went off of is here. How I made them is posted below.

They just came out of the oven and I took a little taste and they are VERY good and don't have that fake sweet aftertaste. The texture is right up my alley, firm and chewy, not mushy. I started doing some calorie information for what I made. And I was panicking at first with the numbers I was seeing for what I put in, but then once divided by the serving size, they weren't

that bad. They come in at 341.2 calories a piece. So 40 some odd more than the brand name bars, but they taste SO much better. And I do think I can make some tweaks in the next batch to take the calories down a bit.

Stephany's Homemade Energy Bars

Preheat oven to 325

Line 2 cookie sheets

In a big bowl, mix the following:

2 egg whites

3.5 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup water

1 packet (1.5 cups) non-fat powdered milk

1 banana mashed

1/3 cup chopped dried cherries (totally optional)

1 tsp. vanilla

3 scoops of GNC Protein Plus Protein Powder (whey) - any flavor, but I used chocolate

Use a 1/2 scoop measure to begin the forming process. Form each 1/2 cup measure in to a bar form and flatten it out a bit. Mine made 9 bars. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes.

Again, they are dense and firm and come out to be 341 calories a piece. The recipe I was basing my inspiration off of used corn syrup and juice and a full cup of dried fruit. That seemed like a lot of excess calories and things I didn't want to use, so I used the PB instead. The PB came to mind because it's sticky like corn syrup, adds more protein, great flavor and was used in another recipe I read online.

I do like the combo of the chocolate powder and peanut butter and banana, it's very dessert like without being sweet. The recipe linked above used 2 scoops of the powder, I went for 3 to add in some more chocolate flavor and protein. The powder I used is 130 calories a scoop so you have an idea of what I based mine off of.

And not all of my bars came out the same size, so some are prob. a little more in calories, some a little less.

Lessons for next time: I think I'll probably do less PB and maybe some agave with it and cut down on a coop of protein powder. I wonder how that will change the caloric information.

Overall, this coupled with a glass of skim milk is going to be a great and filling, protein filled breakfast without all of the added processed crap!

Breakfast for Dinner Really Is the Best!

I love breakfast and all of the foods associated with it - hash, eggs, omelettes, waffles, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, grits, hash browns, home fries, toast, bagels, and let us not forget the beloved bacon and sausages - I'm drooling writing this!

Anytime I can make breakfast for dinner, it's a good night for me in our house. The hubs and I both rush out of the house in the morning, and while I do make a nice breakfast of egg whites or tofu to take with me to work, the hubs noshes on yogurt and fruit most mornings of the week. So having eggs and other breakfast deliciousness is not something we reserve just for weekend breakfast but weeknight dinners regularly.

There's a lot of recipes on the web for sweet potato and chorizo hash, and I just sort of winged the whole thing. In the end I ended up with a wonderful array of smoky goodness with the most wonderful creamy eggs on top and a sprinkling of our failed paneer cheese.

Sweet Potato & Chorizo Hash

From me.

2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and diced small

1 medium white potato peeled and diced small

ground chorizo sausage, as much as you'd like - I used two snack size storage bags full that were in our freezer.

1 onion peeled and diced finely

eggs

paprika, salt and pepper to taste.

Once your potatoes and onions are diced, heat a large nonstick skillet with a little oil and start to pan fry the potatoes and onions until brown and starting to get crispy but the potatoes are done. Then add in your chorizo near the end to heat. Sprinkle with salt, if needed - ours didn't need it - pepper and some smoky paprika. Top with poached or over easy eggs and a sprinkling of cheese.

Easy, delicious, hearty and filling!

Did You Celebrate It??

National Pancake Day that is!

We sure did!

I made our puff-up pancake with berries and some breakfast links. DELICIOUS!!

If you haven't made the puff-up pancake yet -either sweet or savory - make it soon! You'll feel like you've missed out on the most awesome pancake-y goodness once you try it!!

I shall never whack a can again...

Of store bought cinnamon rolls that is.

I love cinnamon rolls - it's kind of an unhealthy obsession.

But thankfully I'm married to a man who doesn't love cinnamon rolls - he can take them or leave them.

So this saves my waistline quite a bit of cinnamon roll bulge!

So, I've never made homemade sticky, ooey gooey cinnamon rolls, because why go to all the work of proofing dough, waiting, rolling, if it's really just for me.

Until I came across this recipe on Baking Bites for Lighter Every Day Cinnamon Rolls from America's Test Kitchen.

Well I'll be damed! Talk about fantastic! Talk about easy! Talk about fast! I will make these again, and again - watch out waistline!!

Lighter Everyday Cinnamon Rolls

Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen via Baking Bites

Filling

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp salt

Next time I may add 1/8 tsp-1/4 tsp. nutmeg as well

Dough

1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 oz) all purpose flour

3/4 cup (4 1/8 oz) whole wheat flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

5 tbsp butter, melted and cooled, divided

**Next time, I will use all white flour, the wheat flour I feel made the dough a little gummier than I'd like for a cinnamon roll**

Glaze

3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 oz light cream cheese

1 tbsp buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425F. Line an 8-inch square baking dish with aluminum foil and lightly grease.

Prepare the filling. Whisk together all filling ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.

Prepare the dough: In a large bowl, or the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all purpose flour, whole what flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine. Add in buttermilk and 4 tablespoons of the melted butter and mix until dough starts to come together into a shaggy ball. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 1-2 minutes, until dough begins to look smooth and can be handled easily. This can also be done by kneading for about 1 minute with a paddle attachment or dough hook, and adding a tablespoon or two of flour to a mixer bowl.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and press or roll out into a 9×12-inch rectangle with the long side facing you. Take remaining tablespoon of melted butter and brush over dough rectangle. Sprinkle evenly with filling mixture, leaving a 1/2-inch border around each edge.

Using a bench scraper to help you (or a large, flat spatula if you don’t have one), roll the dough up into a tight spiral. Pinch seam to seal.

Use a serrated knife to cut dough into 9 even pieces. Gently flatten each of the rolls before placing them in the prepared pan, to even them out if they were misshaped when sliced.

Cover pan with aluminum foil.

Bake for 12 minutes covered, then uncover the rolls and bake for 14-18 minutes, until golden brown.

Use the foil to life the rolls out of the baking pan and place them on a wire rack. Let cool for 5 minutes.

Prepare the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk all glaze ingredients together with a hand mixer until very smooth. Drizzle over slightly cooled rolls and serve.

Store leftovers in an airtight container after they have completely cooled.

Makes 9 cinnamon rolls.

NOTE: Probably eating 2 cinnamon rolls with a bunch of bacon, negates the "lighter" side of this breakfast!!

I didn't think we'd like it....

But boy were we wrong. This by far exceeded our expectations for a delicious and hearty winter meal - and we know it will be a wonderful spring/summer meal when we can get fresh tomatoes and eggs from the farmer's market again.

I was inspired to make this Moroccan Ragout with Poached Eggs from Serious Eats - but obviously finding ingredients such as merguez sausage and ras el hanout proved to be a challenge so I had to make some substitutions with what I had on hand.

So with my alterations with what I had at home, this really turned out to be an incredible dinner and we'll surely be making this again. I served with some fresh crusty bread that I toasted in the oven.

But first, let me give you a little tip I've learned. I buy the bulk container of ground chorizo from Sam's Club regularly. We take the ground sausage and separate it out in to the snack size baggies and freeze the baggies. This way, when I have a recipe that needs a little something extra, or even calls for the chroizo - I just have to pop a bag or two out of the freezer and voila! Easy does it!

Steph's take on Moroccan Ragout with Poached Eggs

1 1/2 T olive oil

1 large onion diced finely

4 cloves of garlic minced

1/4-1/2 pound ground chorizo

1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

salt and pepper to taste

2 14 oz. cans of diced tomato

4 eggs

1/4 cup cilantro chopped

In a large skillet (that also has a lid), heat the oil and saute the onions until tender and starting to brown. Then add your ground chorizo and continue cooking this mixture until the chorizo is warmed and starts to brown. Add in your garlic, paprika and tomatoes and let simmer until the diced tomatoes start to break down. Once you have a nice, thick, meaty sauce, add in your eggs, one at a time by making a little well in the tomato mixture. Once the eggs are in, place the lid on top and let steam until the whites are done and the yolks are still runny. Top with salt, pepper and chopped cilantro.

I can't wait to make this again and make it in the summer using all of those great farm fresh ingredients! This was a great dinner but I know would make a stellar addition to a brunch as well!

Farm Fresh and Local

I can easily say that tonight's dinner was farm fresh and local to the fullest extent of the words.

Fresh tomatoes and spinach from a local grower (and by far some of the best spinach I've ever eaten!). Fresh potatoes (red, white and blue) from our favorite Asian farmers at the farmers market, and fresh organic local eggs from another of our favorite farmers. We've never had farm fresh eggs before and HOLY COW - How have we not been eating local and farm fresh eggs all along?? I will never buy grocery store eggs again!!!

Absolutely, positively the most perfect meal.

Gosh how we love the farmer's market!!!

Fresh from the orchard scones!

I loved baking as a child. My fascination began with taking a paper plate full of vanilla wafers, covering them in Hershey's syrup and sprinkling on rainbow sprinkles. Over the years I progressed to homemade cookies, cakes, brownies, bars, you name it. But over the past few years, I've really lost interest in baking, and the only time I really tend to bake anything is either for our annual cookie swap at work or to use up over-ripe fruits. In other words, we end up with a LOT of banana bread in our house.

Today though, we were fortunate to have a rainy, dreary day and I wanted to really play around and come up with a recipe that could be my own in the baking world.

My muffin tins are packed, so that was out. I make enough quick breads as it is. I don't love coffee cakes, so I was left with the one thing I do love - Scones!

I used my basic scone recipe (mind you I've never used it at all!) and I played around with consistency and texture once I tweaked it.

In the end, I needed to use up two over-ripe peaches and 4 bananas. The mashed banana and diced and peeled peaches and diced peaches yielded me about 2 cups of fruit to add to the recipe.

So I played and played and came out with something that is really INCREDIBLY delicious, light, delicate, sweet, flavorful and just a great play on summer flavors. My hubs, who doesn't even really like baked goods, has already eaten 2 since they came out of the oven! OK I won't lie - I have too!

Now the recipe as I made it, I doubled - but I'll write it here as a single recipe.

Banana Peach Scones

2 Cups flour + 1/2 - 1 cup later

3 T plus 2 teaspoons sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder + 1 tsp. later

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup cold butter cut in small cubes - 1 stick

1/2 cup milk

1 large egg separated

2 bananas mashed and 1 baseball sized peach peeled, pitted and diced

Preheat your oven to 375. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, 3 T sugar, 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder cinnamon and salt. Whisk together to combine. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly.

In a measuring cup, combine the milk, vanilla and egg yolk until blended. Make a well in the center of your flour mixture and pour in the milk and stir until just combined.

Now add in your fruit mixture. Stir until a stretchy dough forms. At this point, sprinkle in another few T of flour at a time until the dough is less sticky and able to be formed in to a ball.

Coat your counter with flour and pour out your dough. At this point sprinkle on more flour and keep folding/kneading in flour until you get a workable dough. Add another 1 teaspoon of baking powder at this time as well to ensure your mixture will rise enough later. Keep kneading until mixture doesn't stick easily to the counter and your can form the dough in to a large flat circle - about an 1/2 - 1 inch thick.

Using a pizza cutter coated in flour, cut your dough in to 8 pieces. You can also cut in to smaller squares if you want smaller scones.

Place pieces of scone on a sprayed or lined baking sheet and brush egg white on each piece - sprinkle with the remaining sugar and bake for 22-25 minutes. Let cook on rack and enjoy!!

My first homemade pancakes

I have never tried making homemade pancakes before - and I love pancakes.

So I figure once a month I should splurge and make a new pancake recipe until I find some that we really enjoy.

My first one up was from the blog Simply Recipes - which I've made many an items from her before.

These are an overnight pancake but in my eyes are worth the extra time and love for a great flavor. Now the texture is dense and chewy - not a fluffy light pancake. I loved them - the hubs, not so much - he wants something lighter and fluffier - so now I know for next time.

But these are WAY tasty - so do try them.

NOTE: when she says to oil the pan - OIL THE PAN. I lost 3 pancakes because of failure to oil the pan/griddle. I also added a bit of cinnamon to the mixture and it was so good.

2 cups oats (the regular kind - Old Fashioned or Quick, not steel-cut and not instant)
3 cups buttermilk
3 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Dash salt
1 Tbsp peanut oil -(I used canola - next time I'd omit for applesauce.)
Butter or extra vegetable oil for the griddle

Optional
A basket of strawberries - stems removed, sliced, and macerated with 2 Tbsp of sugar for an hour, then slightly mashed
Maple syrup

1 Put oats into a large bowl, add the buttermilk. Let the oats soak in the buttermilk overnight.

2 Mix in the eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, and peanut oil.

3 Then proceed as with any pancake recipe. Heat a flat iron surface - griddle or large pan - to medium high heat. Oil the pan with either a Tbsp of butter or vegetable oil. Ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle to the desired size, usually about 5 or 6 inches wide. When air bubbles start to bubble up to the surface at the center of the pancakes (about 2-3 minutes), use a flat spatula to flip them over. After a minute, peak under one for doneness. When golden or darker golden brown, they are done. Note that cooking the second side takes only about half as long as the first side. And the second side doesn't brown as evenly as the first side. Serve immediately or keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.

Serves 4-6.

Serve with butter, maple syrup, and macerated strawberries. (We served with homemade stewed apples)

It's big, it's puffy, it's delicious!

So I'm going to post a series of pictures and you need to guess what this is going to become...

Sauteed spinach, vidalia onions, mushrooms

Pancake Batter

Swiss Cheese

Any Thoughts???

The other week I found a recipe for something I've been searching for for a long time. Back in IL there was a restaurant chain - Waker Brothers - that made a puffy pancake with broccoli and cheese. It was one of my favorite things on the menu.

I finally found a recipe for Puff Up Pancake on the Your Home Based Mom Blog. I love her blog. You have to check it out. Well I emailed back and forth with her for a bit about if she'd ever made this recipe savory style. While she hadn't we both agreed it would be something good to try. So I became the guinea pig.

And let me just say this did not disappoint. I will certainly make this again savory style as well as with fresh fruit, even thinking about apples and sausge in the fall.

Puff Up Pancake

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
5 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour

(to make it more savory, I did half a tsp. of vanilla and half a tsp. of salt, but it could have still used the full tsp. of vanilla)

Melt butter in a 9x13 glass pan in an oven while preheating to 425. Mix eggs, flour and milk with wire wish. Add batter to dish and bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve with fruit, powdered sugar and lemon juice. (that's if you want it with fruit). Bake on a lower rack with nothing above it, it will really puff up and get big.

To make it savory:

Sautee a vadilia onion, a container of sliced mushrooms and then add in a bag of baby spinach leaves. seasn with garlic cloves that have been crushed, salt, pepper, and fresh basil. Press the mixture once cooked between paper towels and weight with a heavy pan. Do this until the moisture is out of the mixture.

Follow the above recipe to the baking part. When the pancake is puffy and done, remove from oven and turn oven to warm. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup swiss cheese and then gently sprinkle the veggies over the pancake. Top with about 1/2 cup swissh cheese. Return to the oven and let the cheese melt and the veggies warm up.

Slice and serve.

Absolutely a make again, so delicious.

Poaching Eggs why so hard?!?!

I've been trying to make poached eggs for the 6 years I've lived out here and have failed miserably every time. They are either too hard all together, too raw, or they just totally fall apart.

While mom was in town visiting, I got all of the accessories needed to make Eggs Benedict, my favorite breakfastof all time. She showed me how to make poached eggs, concerned she would fail too that maybe it was our water quality or something.

Nope, her's were just right. It was the best breakfast I've had in a long time - God I love Eggs Benedict - it's the perfect mixture of textures, flavors and comfort all in one dish.

So I stood over her the whole time watching her make the eggs and I tired a few as well - turns out I was dropping them into the water from too high and having the water at too hard of a boil - so no wonder my eggs over cooked or fell apart!

I'm going to give it a shot again this week if I have time- I'm making Martha Stewart's Warm Spinach Salad with Potatoes and Eggs - and instead of the over easy egg, I"m going to give it a shot with a poached egg... I'll let you all know how that adventure goes!

Breakfast, Snack, Dessert, doesn't matter!

I made this tonight to take to work on Tuesday for a meeting. I just had to sneak a taste though so I ate one of the end pieces that was a little darker than the rest.

Oh my gosh this has a great flavor and is so tasty. I can't wait to have everyone taste this on Tuesday.

Honey-Spice Cake

1 spray cooking spray
1 1/2 cups AP Flour (I used 1 cup AP and 1/2 cup wheat)
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. allspice (I didn't have any so I used nutmeg)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
2 T canola oil
1/2 cup honey, dark (I didn't want to use all of our really good honey from the local farm so I cut it with half of the Agave Nectar we had left in the pantry)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. lemon zest (I omitted this - I didn't plan on making this today so I had no lemons)
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350. Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice. Set aside.
In another bowl beat the eggs with an electirc mixer, add sugar, oil and honey. Beat until combined and pale yellow. Stir in applesauce and lemon zest.
Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the egg mixture using electric mixer. Mix until combined.
Spoon batter into pan and sprinkle with almonds. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Cook in pan for 15-20 minutes and then remove and cool on wire rack.

12 Servings.

Tastes Good and Aids in Digestion...

A while ago, Hubs went to the GI for his stomach again.. He's been doing well with it, having a regimine of his perscription and a dose of Mineral Oil at night.

In order to get him off the mineral oil, the doc. gave him this recipe for homemade grains with all sorts of good for you digestive things to help keep things moving and going. I made the first batch a while back and it lasted for quite some time and was pretyt good but could use some more flavor.

So for this 2nd batch hubs wanted a little variety.

I found a recipe for a Peanut Butter Granola... although ours turned out less granola-y and more museli - just like our first batch and how the doc. prefers hubs eat it.

This recipe is wonderful - I mean delicious! You should totally try it and it makes a TON. Great with milk for breakfast, some dried fruit for a snack, in yogurt, on top of baked fruit or ice cream.

I put my alterations in brackets.

6 T oil (I used natural sesame oil, which the doctor asked adam to eat - not the Asian kind)
1 C peanut butter (creamy)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
7 cups quick oats (I got the ones from whole foods in the bulk section - it was very cheap that way!)
raisins (we left these out - add them as we eat it.)
(I also added 7 T of raw sesame seeds and about 8 T of sunflower seeds out of the shell - again these are per what the doc. requested in the origonal recipe)

Instructions
Over low heat melt together the oil and peanut butter. Remove from heat and stir in sugar and pour over the oats and mix well.

Spread onto a large lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes and stir once or twice. cook until lightly toasted.

Let cool and set in a canister or tupperware container.

The PB flavor is not too sweet or powerful but just perfect.

I don't remember the blog I found this off of, but if it was you, please let me know.

Thank You Blake Makes!

I love the blog Blake Makes. I mean LOVE! Not only does he have great innovative recipes, he shares the glory with other cooks around the globe and their delicious recipes as well. He always features new and innovate products and foods and always gives us the chance to try and win products as well.

This was the first contest I entered on Blake's site. I don't know I've always been too nervous to enter them in the past but finally decided oh just get over it!

I was really glad I was chosen to try these new treat - You Bars. The company makes these bars with natural ingredients. And you can even go on the site and make your own bars that they'll make and ship for you.

Now part of the reason I was so interested in this give away was because I do like "bar food" as we call it in my family, but sometimes I am disappointed with the bars I try. I don't like the texture or the flavor. So I always like trying new bars to see if I can find a new one I like. I really enjoy a bar for breakfast with a glass of milk - it's filling and can hold me most of the morning along with a piece of fruit about 11 am or so.

So I tried the first You Bar out of the package and it was YUMMY. I loved it because for once it was a bar that didn't have the texture of a Power Bar - that stickiness to it and it wasn't candy coated or chocolate coated to make you think it was a candy bar. It was just wholesome and good and fruity and grainy.

I've still got a couple more to try out of the selection pack, but so far I've been a happy camper.

Thank You Blake and Thank You You Bar!

Bread I can eat!

Ever since we found out I have a severe allergy to yeast, it's been difficult finding things to substitute breads with - I'm down with the wraps and pitas and tortillas for lunches. I do miss a good hunk of sourdough or french bread - desperately miss! I don't miss basic sliced bagged sandwhich bread at all. Ok that's a lie - sometimes I miss white bread toasted with nice melty butter.

Since that is what I was missing - and I always used to eat toast with breakfast - I decided I needed to find some bread alternatives.

I found this recipe on Serious Eats - I love that site!

Very easy to make and REALLY delicious.

Do use butter and flour instead of spray - it helps the loaf stay even and keeps the sides from falling down the pan. I added nuts in to the dough recipe as well.

This is great toasted with a little butter - very tasty.

It's a dense yet light fluffy bread.

Oatmeal Breakfast Bread
Doesn't require kneading, but provides lots of opportunities for kids to mix ingredients by hand and stir the batter.
- serves 12 - Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan.

Ingredients
For the topping:
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the bread:
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup flavorless oil, such as canola or safflower
1/4 cup buttermilk or whole milk (I used 1%)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1/2 cup diced dried figs, apples, or apricots or moist, plump raisins (dark or golden) (I used dried cherries, cranberries and blueberries and diced pecans)
1 cup old-fashioned oats

Procedure

1. Center a rack in oven; preheat to 350°F. Butter 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, dust with flour, and tap out excess. Put pan on a baking sheet.

2. Make the topping: In a small bowl, use your fingers to toss together the sugar, nuts, and cinnamon until evenly mix. Set aside.

3. Make the bread: Whisk together the eggs, applesauce, oil, and buttermilk until well blended.

4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cloves. Remove 1/2 teaspoon of mix; toss it with the fruit to coat. Set aside. Stir the oats into the bowl. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry, and, using a large rubber spatula, stir just until everything is evenly moistened. Don't overdo the mixing. Scatter the dried fruit over batter and stir it to blend. Scrape batter into pan; sprinkle over topping, tamping it down lightly with fingers so it sticks.

5. Bake 55 to 65 minutes, or until the bread is browned and a thin knife inserted into center comes out clean. Transfer bread to a cooling rack for about 5 minutes. Run a knife around the sides of pan and unmold. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

Ooo La La part deux!

For breakfast this morning I use some strawberries that were in need of being eaten and the remaining 4 crepe wrappers I had left from dinner last week. What a fabulous and easy breakfast!

Stephany's Strawberry Crepes

Clean and thinly slice 1 container of strawberries.

In a skillet melt 1 T of butter on medium heat. Add the berries, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 2 T of Maple Syrup. Simmner until the berries are just tender and warm and a thin sauce starts to form.

Place one quarter of the berries in each crepe wrapper. Top with any remaining sauce or berries. Top with whipped cream.

Oo La La! Vie La France!

Tonight we took a trip to France for dinner.

Ok not really, but I made crepes for supper.

I was just trying to think of some new things for dinners this week and thought ooo crepes could be fun.

Easy, Tasty, Fun dinner!




Mushroom, Spinach and Ham Crepes with Bechamel Swissh Cheese Sauce

(I made the recipe for the crepe filling up)

1 package pre-made crepes, warmed to be softened

1 package Morel ham steaks, 2 steaks, diced

1 small container of mushroom slices

1/2 large onion sliced thin

1 package baby spinach

2 T butter

Pepper to taste

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. dijon mustard

1 package finely shredded swiss cheese


In a large sautee pan heat butter and saute onions and mushrooms until tender.

Add diced ham and cook until browned and warmed. Add 1 tsp. mustard and other seasoning sand stir in. Add spinach and let wilt.

In each crepe, add a T of swiss cheese and top with about a quarter cup of filling. Roll gently seam side down. Top with sauce and serve

Bechamel Swissh Cheese Sauce (from Good Housekeeping)

In a sauce pan melt 2 T butter and then add 2 T four and wisk together.

Slowly add in 1 cup warm milk. Stir for about 5 minutes until thick. Stir in 1/2 cup swiss cheese and season with 1/2 - 1 tsp. nutmeg.

Tasty goodness without the cost of an airplane ticket.

This recipe also qualifies for my friend Robin's Recipe Remix challenge!

Beloved Salmon Quiche

Adam brought a few recipes to our family when we got married. One of which is our beloved salmon quiche. He made this for me early on in our dating years and I think that's why I married him - just so I could have this recipe!

We opted for this last night for dinner since we had most of the ingredients in the house (having bought them piece by piece as they were on sale) and what a nice spring dinner for Easter (especially since we couldn't find a ham for under 18 bucks - so NOT buying that for the two of us!)

Do make sure you bake the pie shells first on this recipe. Last night we used shallot instead of green onion (because I forgot them!) and it was really nice actually - I will have to have Adam do this again.

I served the quiche with a nice spring salad of mixed greens with pear and goat cheese tossed with olive oil and lemon juice and fresh steamed brussel sprouts that I pan tossed in butter, salt, pepper and Penzy's Fox Pointe Seasoning. Delicious Meal!

Salmon Quiche
15 1/2 Ounce(s) can of salmon, reserving the liquid
3 beaten egg
1 Cup(s) sour cream
1/4 Cup(s) mayonnaise
3 Drop(s) hot pepper sauce
3/4 Cup(s) shredded cheddar cheese
1 Tablespoon(s) chopped green onion (scallions)
1/4 Teaspoon(s) dill weed
2 frozen pie crust
Sherry

Pre-bake pie crusts according to package directions.

Remove from oven and let cool.

Preheat oven to 325.

Remove salmon from can, reserving liquid.
Remove any bones or skin.
Add enough sherry to the salmon liquid to make 1/2 cup.
Pour in large bowl. Stir in eggs, sour cream, mayo, hot peper sauce and salmon.
Add cheese, onion and dill.
Divide between the 2 pie crusts.
Place the pie pans on a cookie sheet and place in the oven. Bake until set - about 45 - 55 minutes.

The Benedicts of All Benedicts

I saw Ellie make this on the FN the other weekend and fell in love. So we tried it this week for dinner and wow! It was an incredible combination of flavors (as stated by my husband!) and so filling and good.

I ended making all of the mushroom caps and we each had two instead of the one the serving calls for - but again it was dinner. I served with some homefries. This is certainly going on our make again list.

It's healthy, light, filling, and delicious!


Grilled Portobello "Benedict"
Ellie Krieger
Recipe from Food Network Website
Changes I made in ()

Ingredients
Cooking spray
4 portobello mushroom caps, about 4 ounces
each 1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
4 pieces Canadian bacon
8 eggs
2 tablespoons water
Freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons store-bought basil pesto
8 fresh basil leaves, cut into ribbons
4 teaspoons freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat grill or grill pan and spray with cooking spray. (I brushed oil on - I can't use spray on my grill pan)

With a spoon, gently scrape out the dark inside of the mushrooms caps, being careful not to break the cap. (never done this before but wow it was great, we're going to do this from now on when we grill mushroom caps - they get so much more tender and sweeter)

Brush both sides of the mushroom caps with oil (I used canola instead of olive) and sprinkle with salt.

Grill the mushrooms over a medium-high heat for about 7 minutes per side, until they are tender and their juices begin to release.

Transfer to a plate, top side down.

On the same grill or grill pan, cook the Canadian bacon over medium-high heat for 30 seconds on each side, until they are warm and grill marks have formed. Place 1 piece of the bacon into each of the mushroom caps. (I put a 1/4 tsp. of the pesto on top of each piece of canadian bacon and spread it around)

Separate the whites of 4 of the eggs into a medium sized bowl, and discard the yolks.
Add the remaining 4 whole eggs to the bowl with the whites, add the water and whisk until combined. (I used 2 full eggs and two whites and some leftover egg beaters in the fridge)

Cook the eggs in a medium-sized nonstick skillet over a medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the eggs are done, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon 1/4 of the scrambled eggs on top of the Canadian bacon in each the mushroom caps.

Drizzle 1 teaspoon of pesto over each (again I did this on the canadian bacon layer instead) and top with some basil ribbons (we used parsley) and 1 teaspoon of Parmesan (go for the good fresh stuff it was worth the flavor).

Fabulous - 4 thumbs up!

Cranberry Orange Bread

I decided to use some of my frozen cranberries this weekend to make some bread.

Now I adore cranberries, and I knew my problem with making this would be that Adam wouldn't eat any - leaving me a whole loaf. Which I thought would be wonderful - until I put the recipe in my WW recipe builder and IKES it's 5 points a slice. Needless to say after my two slices the rest of the loaf is going into the office kitchen tomorrow.

The bread itself was delicious. A little tart, a little tangy, a little sweet and very dense and filling.

Do add the nuts to the recipe, it really makes the recipe - I added whole walnuts, it was so good.

This is the recipe from the back of the cranberry bag.

2 Cups flour

1 Cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 cup OJ

2 T shortening

1 T grated orange peel

1 egg well beaten

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen chopped cranberries

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350. Grease loaf pan. Mix together dry ingredients. Stir in orange juice, shortening, oragne peel and egg. mix until blended. Stir in cranberries and nuts. Spread in loaf pan and bake for minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack.

NOTE: Mine had to cook for over an hour to be done in the center.

But oooo was it worth it and it is such a pretty shade of pinky red.