breakfast this morning

I love cooking, but I don't always feel like making breakfast. I don't have time, or I don't want to stand in front of a hot stove when it's already warm outside (we don't use A/C here in Seattle), or I get lazy. Ok, laziness may be the main reason. Here was my breakfast this morning after I decided not to cook...

Whole wheat english muffin with strawberries and nutella.

*sigh* I'm a very lucky lazy girl.

awesome things

Hi, friends. My plan for this post was to write about a recent break up. I was going to explain how I'm still grieving the loss, and follow it up with a story of how baking the hell out of things when stressed helps, until I found this particular entry on 1000 Awesome Things. Go on, read it. 

So, I am choosing to move forward. This does not mean that I will stop being sad, or that I will care less about what happened. It just means that I'm going to try to focus more on what's in store, rather than obsessing over how I feel each day, comparing good days to bad. I know that God's in control (which can be difficult for a control freak like me), but I must trust Him.

I did bake some "heartbreak muffins", but I've renamed them "blueberry and strawberry muffins":

Recipe here. My changes: omit crumb topping, sub applesauce for oil, add extra berries, and reduce the sugar to suit an Asian family's tastes. I doubled the recipe, and froze a bunch of them for busy mornings, when your only other choice is greasy McDonald's or a stale donut from 7-11. Verdict: My favorite muffin recipe so far. Good, moist, semi-healthy, and they boosted my spirits. Bueno.

Back to Breakfasts

Cheese grits and bacon bits

Do people eat grits in the Pacific NW? I don't see them often in grocery stores here. My family loves grits...It has a slightly grainy texture that can also be creamy. Depending on your preference, it can be served as a solid block (like polenta), or porridge form. 

I've noticed the grits purchased here in WA need more water and a longer cooking time than those purchased in the south. Most people cook grits with water only. I like to substitute 1/3 of the water with milk for a creamier result. Although I've heard that grits can be served sweetened, I've never seen it that way. Probably because that would be really freaking gross. Grits come with bacon and eggs in the south, not brown sugar and cinnamon. Why not just eat oatmeal if you want a sweetened porridge?

Strawberry muffins

I've been staying with a couple of friends while in Alexandria. Tonight is my last night here, so to thank them for their hospitality, I baked and made a mess of their kitchen. 

Strawberry muffins

The recipe was a really easy one from Allrecipes, but I followed the tips from other bakers in the comments section.

These muffins were light, fluffy, moist, and only slightly sweet. The greatest thing about them is that you can freeze them, and just microwave one or two at a time for breakfast each morning. Amazing.

Huh.

I was going to take time this morning to write about what I actually eat normally for breakfast (oatmeal, whole grain english muffins), and juxtapose it with some of the more exciting things I've written about (dutch babies, stuffed french toast), but I'm still sick. I was getting better for the past few days (at least, I thought I was), but this morning it was worse. I don't know if it's a new sickness, because my body was already weak from the cold, or what.

Now that I think about it though, my breakfast entry idea sounds incredibly boring. I just wanted to write about my boring breakfasts, so that you friends don't think I eat unhealthy junk every day. So now that I've just told you that, I guess there's no point to writing about it in the future. End. 

Dutch baby, I'd like you to meet...

Oatmeal with cinnamon and banana. 

Isn't the contrast so depressing?

Eggs in a basket

I received a gift in the mail last week from my friend Shelly in DC:

It's The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond!

ashslkiolkad! It was signed!

I read the desserts section first, then oohed and ahhhed my way through the rest. This morning was my first attempt at a recipe from her book--eggs in a hole, eggs in a basket, or oops I did it agains (j/k about that one). They have many names, but simply, they are:

Bread (wheat pictured) with a hole

Some butter is put into a hot pan. Bread goes in the hot pan, and then:

 You fry an egg in the hole. 

You'll want to flip it over so that the top cooks. If you're like me, you can freak out after you flip it because you're afraid that the yolk will over cook, and take it out of the pan quickly before the bread has enough time to toast. You can also throw that extra piece of bread that you cut out into the pan, and dip it in the yolk later.

Gosh. I know it seems so easy that this recipe shouldn't be written about, but the first (and last time) I had this was in Mrs. Terrell's 2nd grade class. It brought back memories of a really loving and wonderful teacher who did everything to make sure that I would be safe after she found out that my parents were going through a nasty divorce. This meal was simple, yes, but also warm and comforting. 

I like bacon. Bacon, bacon, bacon.

Banana stuffed french toast.

This recipe was so easy and delicious that I'm blogging about it as I eat it. I'm chewing as I type. This banana stuffed french toast is by far one of my favorite recipes to date. It looks fancy, but with minimal effort. OhmygoshI'msoexcited.

Once in a while, I'll find new recipes by googling the ingredients that I have. This morning, a search for baked + banana = baked banana french toast. I scurried over to allrecipes, and found Karen's Baked Banana Stuffed French Toast. After reading the comments, and making some of my own changes, this happened:

BAMF: Bad Ass Mother Fooder?

Baked And Mouth Feast?

Anyone? No?

Since I'm usually eating breakfast/brunch alone on Saturdays, I scaled everything down for one serving.

2 pcs. wheat bread

1 lg. egg (room temp)

2 tbs. warm milk

1/2 tsp. brown sugar

dash vanilla

1 med. ripe banana, sliced

maple syrup, strawberry syrup, whipped cream (whatever's healthiest)

1. Preheat oven (or my rinky dinky toaster oven) to 375 F. Put a little dab of butter into your baking sheet, and let it all warm in the oven while you work.
2. Combine egg, milk, sugar, and vanilla in a flat bowl/container. Now whisk it. Whisk it good. (Any Devo fans? No? Just me?)
3. Slice the bananas (I sliced them at an angle to get longer pieces, rather than a bunch of short "o" shapes).  Place a double layer between the 2 slices of bread.
4. Carefully dip each side of your banana sandwich into the egg mix. Just stuff any rogue banana slices back into the sandwich as they fall out.
5.  Take the hot baking sheet out, jiggle the pan so the butter spreads, and place your sandwich onto it. Bake for about 5 min, or until the bottom side is light brown and crisp, then flip to the other side for another 5 min. (This step will change according to your preference. Some people actually fry theirs in a frying pan, then bake, but I'm lazy. Also, I prefer my french toast to be a bit crispier than most people, so pay attention to it as it bakes).

The ripe banana adds plenty of sweetness, and so syrup, strawberries, and whipped cream are totally unnecessary. The truth is, I had a terrible week, and I just wanted something really decadent, warm, gooey, and perfect. And, this meal was an amazing treat. I wouldn't recommend it for a balanced breakfast, but I do recommend it for special occasions, heart ache, stress, or after a really, really good cry.


Enjoy.

I ate another baby

I loved making/eating that dutch baby yesterday. I enjoyed it so much that I made it again for brunch today (with a few changes).

 Well, hello there.

So, I halved the recipe for one serving, and cut some of these bad boys up:

This time, instead of browning the butter in a skillet on the stove, I just added a dab of margarine to my heart shaped baking pan that Lycheeyum bought me for V-day this year (what romance), and popped the thing in the preheating oven. (Before pouring the batter into the hot pan, it helps to swirl the butter/marg around.)

Once the sides rose up high, I reduced the heat from 425 to 375 so it would be a bit lighter in texture.

Take a look, decide it doesn't look right and...

Dump a whole pile of strawberries on top. Ahhhh, yes.

First bite, this song starts playing.

I liked it this time, but I missed the custard-y texture of yesterday's baby. That's my fault though, since I was trying for a lighter one. Also, I think I put too much margarine in the pan, so I'll have to try again sometime (soon) to get just the right amount. That being said, it was amazingly simple and delicious. I loved it. Can you tell???

On a related note...check this out. Lots of dutch babies.

Brown Butter Dutch Baby

Oh sweet deliciousness...I never thought I'd love eating a baby so much.

I'll have to talk about this recipe more later. Let's just say that it's delicious, and was easier (for me) to make than those boxed pancakes. Gotta go now...my sister is rushing me to hit garage sales with her...Oh, also, I found this recipe through this fellow CNU alum. She's pretty hilarious, and I wish that we had been friends in college. Now, post-college, I just stalk her blog. I'm not creepy at all.