Breakfast

Not being much of a breakfast food person I typically stick to cereal (hot or cold).  The trouble here is that breakfast foods are my husband’s absolute favorite.  It is not that I’m overtly trying to avoid his favorite foods.  I just don’t typically think about sausage and eggs, pancakes etc.  So, for two glorious days I cooked a nice big breakfast.  Day 1 we had these wonderful little whole wheat pancakes.  I was sure they were going to be dense, but to my dismay they were light and fluffy.  Day 2 we served up some left over St. Patrick’s Day favorites in the form of corned beef hash. 

Today I’ll be sharing my recipe for these wonderful little whole wheat pancakes from scratch that are surprisingly good, if not great!  I loved them!  And I was pleasantly surprised how long it took for me to become hungry.   I typically find myself crashing and burning with these sorts of breakfast treats (maybe it only tastes like a treat).  Looking for more breakfast ideas?  Look no further click here!

FLAX BERRY POWER PANCAKES - WHOLE WHEAT PANCAKES (SERVES 2)

DRY

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon raw sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon flax seed – ground (grinding it means that your body will receive the nutrients)

WET

• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup frozen berries + more to mix with syrup

Mix all of your dry ingredients together and set aside.  In a separate bowl mix all of your wet ingredients accept the frozen berries (they will come into play in a minute).  Start to add the dry mixture to the wet until they are well combined.  Add the frozen berries by gently folding them into the mixture, crushing them will turn you batter blue and pink. 

On a well oiled hot skillet add the batter in ¼ cup scoops.  When the pancake bubbles and is done on the edges it is time to flip them.  Allow them to cook for an additional 2-3 minutes or until they are golden brown.

While the whole wheat pancakes are cooking I like to heat syrup with some berries in a small sauce pan.  This will allow you to cut down on how much syrup you use and will give you some more berry goodness.    

Enjoy piping hot with some coffee and a good book.

In Illinois our fresh produce season is long awaited.  When the time finally arrives for fresh fruit I find myself gorging on the stuff.  Like a wild beast plucking fish from a river, I too have been a little indulgent in my consumption.

That being said we have had the most wonderful nectarines recently.  Like little pieces of pie wrapped around a pit….mmm….  Enjoy the best of the season any way you like but I prefer to have it 3+ times a day.  Starting with a bit helping of oatmeal, yes please!

Breakfast person eh?!  You might also like to check out:

Banana Bread Oatmeal

Chorizo Charged Breakfast

Chilled Oatmeal

For a link to all my recipes click here.

NECTARINE AND BLUEBERRY SMOOTHIE OATMEAL (SERVES 2)

• 2 ripe nectarines – coarsely chopped, reserve a few for garnish
• ¼ cup blueberries – reserve a few for garnish
• ¼ cup whole milk plain yogurt
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar – to taste, optional
• 1/2 cup organic steel cut oats

DIRECTIONS

Cook oats according to package directions.  They typically take about 30 minutes so you will have plenty of time to make your smoothie.

For the smoothie portion blend nectarines, blueberries, yogurt, cinnamon, and brown sugar in a small food processor.  Be sure not to over mix, chunks are fine. 

When the oatmeal has about 2 minutes left to cook add smoothie mixture, and serve once heated through.  Add your lovely little garnishes and serve immediately. 

English muffins are one of my favorite things.  I hunted around tastespotting.com and foodgawker.com to find fellow bloggers that have already tried out some recipes.  I settled on this post from Julie at My Cooking Adventure.  They turned out well, and used things I had on hand.  These were the simplest English muffins I could find to make, and I would make them again.  However, they weren't filled with the nooks and crannies that I soooo love. 

I would make the English muffins up the night before you want to serve them.  Otherwise you are getting up at o'dark hundred to get them around if you want to have breakfast before mid afternoon.  Then you can have a late night snack as a reward for your hard work.  What?  You HAVE to test your stuff before you serve it!   

BREAKFAST PIZZA SLIDERS

There are no specifics because this is as much or as little as you want kind of a recipe.  For each serving you want, use one egg.  So if you want 4 sliders, use 4 eggs.  Then throw in some spinach, about a handful for every 4 servings, and a little onion.  Don't limit yourself.  If you have mushroom, peppers, throw them in!  The more the merrier.

egg muffins

• eggs
• spinach - chopped
• onion - finely chopped
• sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350° degrees.  In mixing bowl add eggs, and a small amount of water (makes eggs moist), whisk for a minute or so.  Then stir in onion and spinach.  Pour mixture into greased muffin tins, until about ¾ full.  Cook in preheated oven for about 30 minutes.  Use a fork to loosen egg muffins.

Toast the English muffins, serve with sharp cheddar and top with egg muffins. 

NOTE: I did have a bit of trouble keeping the muffins from sticking to the sides and bottom of the muffin tin.  I would recommend greasing generously before baking.  You might want to wrap a piece of bacon around the outside of ungreased muffin cups, and fill with egg mixture (kind of like this Egg Cup recipe).  Just a thought.  Yum.... 

Surely, there is a bit of corned beef and perhaps a few potatoes that survived your St. Patrick's dinner.  If so, may I suggest making an easy hash with every delicious morsel that was left behind (if no leftovers go make another!). 

I'm not sure what the canned hash is made of but I assure you there isn't anything like the real thing baby. 

CORNED BEEF HASH (SERVES 2)

• corned beef - cooked, chopped finely
• 2 potatoes - cooked, diced
• 1 carrot - cooked, sliced (optional)
• ½ bunch spinach
• 1 green onion - sliced
• 4 pastured eggs
• parsley

In a large skillet heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat.  Once hot, add corned beef, potatoes, and carrots.  Allow the potatoes to brown a bit then stir in spinach.  When the spinach is mostly wilted stir in green onion.  Create four wells in the vegetables, add a bit of extra-virgin olive oil to the well, and pour an egg into each well.  Cover pan and allow eggs to cook to desired doneness. 

We cooked a 4 pound pork loin in the crock pot yesterday with ¼ cup of water and slathered the pork with crushed garlic and mixed herb seasoning.  When the pork was falling apart and tender, about 6 hours, we served it to our guests as wonderful pork carnitas tacos with all the trimmings.  Needless to say there was a significant amount of leftovers.  Breakfast burritos seemed like a wonderful use for the glorious slow cooked pork.  Accompany the burritos with a side of black beans if you can handle them for breakfast.  This could be a fabulous dinner too.  Don't underestimate the power of eggs for dinner! 

CARNITAS BREAKFAST BURRITO (SERVES 2)

• 4 eggs - lightly beaten
• carnitas (shredded pork) - leftover, cooked
• 1 small can green chilies
• 4 corn tortillas

Garnishes (optional)

• green onion - sliced
• cilantro leaves

Over medium heat, in a large skillet add eggs.  Stir almost constantly, when they begin to firm up, add carnitas and green chilies.  Continue to cook until desired consistency is reached.  Warm corn tortillas, flipping once, in another skillet. 

Divide egg mixture between the 4 corn tortillas, garnish at will!

Based on my recent posts it seems as though I may be a member of the National Pork Producers Council or something.  I am not.  Admittedly, I love the stuff.  Any way I can get it.  Salads, pizza, breakfast, lunch and dinner.  So, when I saw Dine and Dish's recipe for Bacon & Egg Cups it went on my short list.  To see the original recipe click here.

My mind is already filled with mini frittatas all piled up at an upcoming brunch.  I think I might have a brunch just to serve these little cups!  Gorgeous, and incredibly easy. 

EGG CUPS (SERVES 2)

• 4 pastured eggs
• 4 strips pastured bacon

Preheat oven to 350°.  Line muffin tin holes with one strip of bacon, securing it to the sides.  Do not line the bottom.  Break egg over hole and add one egg to each bacon ring.

Bake for about 25+ minutes depending on how well done you like your bacon.

The simplicity of muesli lends itself to all sorts of customization, and experimentation.  Note that there isn't any dried fruit in this recipe.  You could certainly add dried fruit after the mix has cooled.  Or, add fresh fruit to the top as shown here, or both!  Spoon Nut n' Honey Muesli over yogurt, or add milk to serve.  An extra drizzle of honey never hurt anyone either.

Nut n' Honey Muesli (MAKES 6 CUPS)

• ½ cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups organic old-fashioned rolled oats
• ½ cup pumpkin seeds
• ½ cup almonds - sliced
• ¼ cup flax seeds
• ¼ cup wheat bran

Preheat oven to 275°.  In a small sauce pan heat honey and vanilla extract over low heat.  In a large mixing bowl combine; rolled oats, pumpkin seeds, almonds, flax seeds, and wheat bran.  When honey has heated through add to oats.  Mix thoroughly.    

Poor mixture evenly into a lipped baking sheet.  Bake at 275° for 50-55 minutes, stirring about every 15 minutes. 

Allow to cool, then transfer to airtight container. 

VEGGIE HASH (SERVES 2)

This satisfying dish was incredibly easy - about 30 minutes start to finish - and offered great flavor, and a variety of colors.  This is a great way to get your vegetable servings in!  Your mother would be so proud.  

• 2 medium sized Yukon gold potatoes - cleaned, eyes removed, and diced in ½" pieces
• 1 carrot - peeled, diced into ½" pieces
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) + extra to fry eggs
• 1 tablespoon pastured butter
• ¼ cup onion - sliced lengthwise
• 1 celery stalk - sliced in ½" increments
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon oregano
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes - optional
• 1 roma tomato - diced
• 1 clove garlic - diced
• 2 pastured eggs
• Cilantro - garnish

Add potatoes, carrot, and salt to large skillet, at least 2" deep and not Teflon coated.  Teflon should not be heated over medium heat.  Cover vegetables with enough water to cover them and heat over high heat until water is boiling.  Boil them for 4 minutes, then strain them and set aside. 

In the same pan, reduce heat to medium and add EVOO, and butter.  Allow butter to melt.  Then add potatoes, carrots, onions, celery and spices.  Stir to combine and then stir occasionally while you cook and brown the potatoes for about 12 minutes.

Once the potatoes are browned, add the tomato and garlic.  Stir to combine and cook for about 2 minutes.  Move back the veggies to make a 3" diameter well in which to house the eggs.  Drizzle a small amount of olive oil and allow to get hot, about 1 minute.  Crack the eggs, one at a time, into a small ramekin, remove any shell, and pour each egg into wells.  Cover pan and cook for 4 minutes for slightly runny eggs, or longer if desired.  Divide into two portions, and garnish with cilantro.

SPINACH & FRIED EGG BREAKFAST PIZZA (SERVES 2)

Believe it or not this is week 5 in the 52 week pizza challenge, and the first of 2009.  To usher in the New Year this week's selection should be easy to digest.  Just in case some one out there still has a...ahem..."sensitive stomach" left over from all the celebrating.  This would be a welcome addition to any brunch.  Happy New Year!

CRUST

Use one third of pizza dough (enough for one medium pizza)

SAUCE

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 garlic clove - minced
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 ½- 2 bunches fresh spinach - washed and coarsely chopped
• ½ of a 15 ounce can diced tomatoes - including juice
• ¼ cup red onion - chopped

TOPPINGS

• 4 strips bacon
• 1 cup cheddar cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 pastured eggs

Preheat oven to 500°.  Shape your dough into the desired shape, adding as little flour as possible.  Poke several small holes in the crust with a fork to prevent bubbling.  Transfer pizza dough to whatever, pan, stone, etc you will be using for cooking, set aside until oven is preheated.  Fry bacon over medium heat in a large skillet, cooking until desired crispness.  In a separate medium sized skillet add EVOO, once hot add garlic.  Stir until fragrant, add spinach, and pepper flakes.  Sauté spinach until it is wilted.  The oven should be preheated now, brush crust with olive oil, and cook for 5 minutes. 

Once spinach is wilted, remove from heat and strain off any excess water.  To spinach pan, add spinach back, tomatoes and red onion.  Stir to combine; this will be the "sauce". 

Once pizza has cooked for first 5 minutes add the spinach sauce mixture layer first, followed by cheddar and mozzarella cheese.  Place pizza back in oven for 10 minutes more, or until edges are browned. 

At this point the bacon should be cooked.  Remove bacon from heat and roll up in a paper towel to remove excess grease, set aside.  Now fry the eggs.  Heat medium sized skillet over medium-low heat.  Once hot, add butter, when butter is melted crack 3 eggs, one at a time over saucer, removing any shells, and slide eggs from saucer into buttered skillet. Cook on one side, covered, about 5 minutes. 

Remove pizza from oven and top with bacon and fried eggs.  If you are not spelling something, it would be appetizing to crumble bacon on top and serve eggs on the side. 

If you would like to view the other weeks in this series click here.

EGG NOG OATMEAL - SANS RUM (SERVES 2)

Considering that the official temperature outside right now is -5° (-30° if you factor in the wind chill) I could think of nothing more festive, or comforting than egg nog oatmeal.  This was an experiment but I guessed that the creamy, rich flavor of egg nog would be a perfect accompaniment for oatmeal.  I was right!  Yum!  I made the egg nog last night and stored it in an air tight container until I was ready to use it this morning.  If you don't want to make it ahead you could just start cooking the oatmeal once the nog was completed.  If you are heading out the door to do some last minute shopping, this should warm you up! 

• 2 pastured egg yolks
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 cup organic whole milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (use the beans if you have them)
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 cup organic steel cut oats

For egg nog, in a small bowl add yolks and beat with a fork or electric mixer if you have one.  Once beaten thoroughly mix in sugar and blend until sugar dissolves. 

Add egg mixture and milk to a medium sauce pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until temperature reaches 160°, or coats the back of a spoon.  Now stir in vanilla, cinnamon, and cloves.  Either place in egg nog in an airtight container for use the next morning or proceed to the next step if you are ready to prepare the oatmeal. 

Bring egg nog to a boil, add oats and continue to cook until they begin to thicken, about 5 minutes.  Reduce to low heat, simmer for approximately 25-30 minutes, and stir occasionally. 

It has been brought to my attention that some of my guy friends would be interested in some quick, simple recipes.  Who am I kidding?  We all want quick, simple recipes.  Therefore, I am introducing recipes for the "one pan man", or OPM for short.  Whenever you see this in the title you know it is especially easy and requires minimal effort, still resulting in fabulous results.

If you would like to be notified of the OPM recipes only please shoot me an email at: Emily@justeatfood.com with "opm" in the subject line.  I would be happy to let you know when there is a new recipe to check out.  Don't worry, my husband (not me) is the one that is ensuring that these are indeed one pan man easy. 

OPM: BLACKBERRY FRENCH TOAST (ENOUGH FOR 6 SLICES) 

French toast is one of the quickest breakfasts, and always looks so great.  This is a sure fire way to impress your girl.  So gentlemen...fire up that skillet!  You don't have any excuses now!

Ok, so this is a 2 pan recipe.  Close enough.  It is still pretty simple. 

• ¾ cup maple syrup
• 6-8 frozen blackberries - any berries would work fine, or skip them all together
• 3 pastured eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 3 teaspoons butter
• cinnamon
• 6 slices whole-wheat bread

In a small saucepan over low heat add syrup and berries.  These should be hot by the time the toast is all done. 

In a 9-in. pie pan (or just use a bowl) whisk the eggs and milk together.  Sprinkle a light layer of cinnamon across the egg mixture.  Do NOT go too heavy on the cinnamon.  Set the egg mixture aside until the skillet is hot.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Once it is hot add ½ tsp. butter to each spot that a slice of bread will fit.  While the butter is melting, take a slice of bread, lay it down in the egg mixture, then flip to coat the other side.  Then place in the hot skillet and repeat until the skillet is full.  Once the toast is golden brown on one side flip it to cook the other side.  Repeat this process until all toast is cooked.

Serve toast with syrup, and powder sugar if you have it.  Then sit back, relax, and wait for the praise. 

BANANA BREAD OATMEAL (SERVES 2)

This is a great creamy treat that is sure to get even the deepest sleepers out of bed.  Steel cut oats have a different texture than rolled oats because they use the whole oat kernel.  They may take a little longer to make, but they are well worth the time. 

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup organic steel cut oats ½ Tsp. Cinnamon
• pinch cloves
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 banana - cut in ¼ lengthwise, then cubed

Bring water and milk to a boil, add oats and reduce to low heat, simmer for approximately 25-30 minutes, stir occasionally.  Add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and serve!  Mmmm....

CHORIZO CHARGED BREAKFAST (SERVES 4)

This is a filling dish that keeps you that way until lunch...at least.  You could sub in less spicy sausage if you like, but you won't find that at my house!

• 4 ounces chorizo - I used a smoked chicken chorizo
• ¼ cup green onion - chopped
• 1 small tomato - seeded, and chopped
• 6 pastured eggs
• 1 teaspoon water
• ½ cup cheddar cheese - divided in two
• ¼ teaspoon cumin

Preheat oven to 350°.  Place chorizo, green onion, and tomato in the bottom of a 9" pie pan.  In a small mixing bowl whisk eggs, and water together.  Add ¼ C of the cheese, and cumin to the eggs, and pour over pie pan.  Add the remaining cheese to the top and place in 350° for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.

CHILLED OATMEAL (SERVES 2)

This is an interesting variation of the classic.  Packed with all the same cholesterol busting benefits of the original. 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 C Water
• 1 C Organic old fashioned rolled oats
• ½ C Yogurt (I love Stonyfield Farm® Plain Whole Milk)
• ½ Tsp Cinnamon
• ½ C berries (mashed a bit) 
• 2 Tbs Sugar (I like turbinado-raw)

DIRECTIONS

Bring water to a boil.  Add oats.  Turn down to medium-low heat and let cook until done, about 15-20 minutes.  Stir in sugar, and cinnamon while oats are still warm.  Let cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.  Stir in yogurt, and gently fold in berries, let chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. 

NOTES

If you use frozen fruit, there will be more juice which will turn the oatmeal pink.  The berries I used for this were blackberry and raspberry.  Want some more fun?  Add almonds, banana, whatever you like!  Oatmeal is like a pizza crust.  It can handle whatever you throw at it.