Pumpkin Overnight French Toast

Brunch is perhaps the best meal of all. You can eat pretty much anything, breakfast, lunch food, dessert. Whatever you want! This bread pudding/overnight French toast is a dessert wearing a breakfast robe, and it is absolutely amazing. Serving it with caramel sauce instead of maple syrup truly takes it to the next level of deliciousness. This is a perfect addition to any holiday brunches you might have planned, or simply for a delicious and easy to throw together weekend treat. Throw it together the night before and let the goodness soak into the bread, then throw it in the oven the following morning and enjoy the deliciousness!

Pumpkin Overnight French Toast:
2 cups of half and half
1 15 oz can of pumpkin
1 cup of light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of nutmeg
1/2 tsp of ginger
1/2 tsp of cloves
1/4 tsp of salt
1/2 cup of raisins
1 1/2 large loafs of Challah bread

Caramel Sauce:
1 1/4 cups of dark brown sugar
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of heavy cream

Whisk together half and half, pumpkin, sugar, eggs, and spices. Spray a 9x13" baking dish with non-stick. Cut bread into 1 inch cubes and put in dish, and sprinkle with raisins. Pour pumpkin mixture over the bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees, bake until firm and golden on top, about 45 minutes. Make the sauce: Stir the sugar and butter in a small pot, over meduim heat until butter melts, whisk in cream and stir until sauce is smooth and combined, about 3 minutes. Serve bread pudding with sauce drizzled on, or on the side. (adapted from Epicurious)

Happy Eating.

Apple Granola Muffins

I love muffins, it's basically a free pass to eat cake for breakfast. So what's better than cake for breakfast? How about cake and granola. Yum! I would never have thought to put granola inside a muffin until I saw this pear granola muffin recipe, but granola really is a wonderful filling and topping for a muffin and makes them a little more breakfasty. You can choose any granola variety you like, but I would recommend one without raisins. I used special K granola. Enjoy!

Apple Granola Muffins:
2 large eggs
3/4 cup of dark brown sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp of plain greek yogurt
2 tbsp of milk
2 tbsp of butter, melted
1 cup of all purpose flour
3/4 cup of wheat flour
2 tsps of baking powder
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of cinnamon
2 apples (1 granny smith, 1 gala), diced
3/4 cup of granola

Topping:
1 cup of granola
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp of salt
6 tbsp of butter, chilled

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners and lightly spray with non-stick spray. In a large bowl mix together eggs, sugar, yogurt, milk, and butter until well combined slowly mix in flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon until just combined. Mix in apples and granola. Fill each muffin tin with batter approximately 3/4 full. Make topping: Mix together granola, flour, sugar and salt. Chop butter into pieces and cut into granola mixture using your hands, until clumps form. Distribute the topping over the muffins. Bake until a fork inserted comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes. Make 18. (adapted from Martha)

Happy Eating.

SRC - Monte Cristo Sandwich

I am so excited to participate in my first Secret Recipe Club! For my first month I was assigned Double Dipped Life. Double Dipped is full of so many tempting dishes that I had a really hard time choosing what I would make, but ultimately I decided on a Monte Cristo sandwich. I has never had one before and I wasn't really sure what it was (but I love the movie, so I had to check it out). Now that I have had one I can only describe it as life changing. It is a sandwich made on French toast, I don't think it gets any better than that. So check out Double Dipped Life for her monte cristo sandwich and other wonderful eats, and enjoy an amazing sandwich.

Monte Cristo Sandwich:
2 slices of sourdough bread, sliced sandwich style
1 egg
2 tbsp of milk
4 oz of ham
1/4 cup (2 slices) of mozzarella or Swiss cheese
1 tbsp of Jam

Preheat a pan, and spray with non stick. Beat the egg and milk together. Dip the bread slices in the egg, like you are making French toast. Coat both slices on both sides with egg mixture. Cook the bread on one side in the pan, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip bread and top one slice with ham and one slice with the cheese. Cook until the side is browned and the cheese has melted, about 3-4 minutes. Spread/pour jam over the ham and top with the cheese piece of bread. Cut sandwich in half and serve. Enjoy! (adapted from Double Dipped Life)

Happy Eating.

Coconut Peanut Butter Giveaway + Coconut Granola

After such a wonderful giveaway last week, my friends at Tropical Traditions, decided to host another one! Today I have a 16 oz jar of delicious coconut peanut butter to giveaway to one lucky reader. Tropical Traditions was kind enough to send me a jar of their all natural Coconut Peanut Butter to try and it is delicious. It's only got two ingredients, coconut and peanuts! I love all nut butters, but I try to stick to the all natural varieties for my snacking, and the fewer ingredients the better, so I was delighted to see only two on their label. It's amazingly smooth and creamy for a natural peanut butter and unlike most natural nut butters, you don't have to keep it in the fridge. It's very temperature sensitive, in fact when drizzled on ice cream, it forms a shell coating, like magic shell (do you remember that stuff? Yum!), it also melts beautifully. It's delicious on a PB&J plus I used it to whip up a batch of delicious Coconut Granola (I also used Tropical Tradition's Coconut Oil in this recipe too). You can order your own jar here, if you don't win the giveaway. Good Luck!

This Giveaway will be open until Wednesday, September 14th. This giveaway is open to people in the US only.

First: Like me on Facebook, follow me on twitter, or subscribe to blog (if you already do so that counts too)

Second: Follow Tropical Traditions by one of the following 3 options
Subscribe to our email Sales Newsletter here: http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/subscribe_for_special_sales.cfm
follow us on Twitter @troptraditions
“Like” Tropical Traditions on Facebook (Please no, “I was sent by…” posts or posting a link to your blog, they will be removed)

Finally: Just post a comment here letting me know that you completed steps one and two and your entered.

Good Luck! My recipe for Coconut Granola is below, plus you can check out more great ways to use the peanut butter on Tropical Tradition's Recipe Page.

Coconut Granola:
1 1/2 cups of rolled oats
1/4 cup of quinoa
1/4 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup of almonds
1 tsp of cinnamon
2 tbsps of Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter
1 tbsp of Virgin Coconut OIl
1 tbsp of honey

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium size bowl, mix together the oats, quinoa, coconut, almonds, and cinnamon. In a small bowl put peanut butter, oil, and honey, microwave for 30 seconds, then stir together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil, and spray with non stick. Spread the granola over the sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 2 1/2 cups of granola.

Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product. I was under no obligation to review it, nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review in return for the free product.

Happy Eating.

Classic Crumb Cake

Cake for breakfast. In a perfect world, this would always be acceptable. In fact, ever meal would come with a slice of cake. Somehow, I don't think this would help with the obesity problem, so we will just have to stick to special occasions and the occasional piece of this buttery treat with your morning cup of coffee (or afternoon cup, I'm not picky). This is a million times better than the boxed crumb cakes that are so often served, the cake is light and fluffy and the topping is dense, sweet, lightly spiced, and wonderfully buttery. It's truly the perfect breakfast cake.

Crumb Cake:

Cake:
2 tbsp of canola oil
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of sugar
2 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping:
1 cup of light-brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
1/2 tsp of salt
2 1/2 cups of flour
2 sticks of butter

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees, and position rack in the center of the oven. Melt butter for the topping and set aside to cool. In a medium bowl mix together the canola oil, egg, butter milk, and vanilla. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and stir until just combined. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish and spread the batter into the dish using a spatula. The batter will look too thin and this will be somewhat difficult. Take the melted butter for the topping and add to it the brown sugar, spices and flour (all of the topping ingredients). Mix until the mixture is crumb like and combined. Sprinkle the topping over the cake so that it is covered and even. Bake until a fork inserted comes out clean, about 20 minutes, rotating the cake halfway. Cut into brownie size pieces for serving. (adapted from Martha)

Happy Eating.

Oatmeal Breakfast Cake

Today is a very special day for the blog. I am the guest poster on Chef Dennis' amazing More Than A Mount Full. I am so delighted and honored to be featured on such an amazing blog! For Chef Dennis, I tried to sum up all my culinary wanderings into one thing. So I settled on a bunch of favorites: baking, health, breakfast, blueberries. And came up with a delightful Oatmeal Breakfast Cake, exploding with blueberries and with a crunchy almond topping. I can't wait for you all to try a slice, so head over to Chef Dennis' blog to check out the delicious recipe!

Happy Eating.

Banana Oat Pancakes

This short week has me in a fantastic mood! Something about starting over on Tuesday, instead of Monday, just makes the week fly by. I turn around and it's almost the weekend! For me, that means one thing, delicious, wonderful breakfasts!!! I eat breakfast absolutely everyday, it's my favorite meal, but during the week it's usually a smoothie as I'm flying out the door. On the weekends I like to slow it down, and one of my favorite new ways to do that (with out slowing me down, or fattening me up) are these absolutely delectable banana oat pancakes. They are delicious and a super healthy way to start your moving. I like to serve mine topped with fresh fruit and maybe a drizzle of maple syrup, or I will cook down some cherries or blueberries to make a little fruit sauce. Enjoy!

Banana Oat Pancakes:
1 medium banana
1 cup of quick oats
1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese
1/2 cup of liquid egg whites
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
Sliced fruit and/or maple syrup for serving

In a blendor, combine the banana, oats, cottage cheese, egg whites, vanilla, and cinnamon. Blend until a thick batter forms, it should be relatively smooth. Heat a griddle pan or a skillet over medium heat, and spray with non stick. Pour/scoop the batter out into silver dollar sized pancakes. Cook until golden brown on one side, about 3 minutes, then flip and cook until golden on the other side, about 2 minutes more. This makes about 8 to 10 silver dollar pancakes, and serves two mindful eaters.

Nutrition Info:
1 serving (half of the batter, cooked, may vary by brand of ingredients used)
264 calories, 3g of fat, 18g of protein, 45g of carbs, 6g of fiber

Happy Eating.

Brown Sugar Blueberry Muffins

Happy Monday everyone! I both love and hate Mondays. On the one hand, to me it's always felt like the begining of the week. It's a chance to start over, and have a great week, erase whatever went wrong last week. But, on the other hand, it means the lovely and relaxing weekend is over. Either way, Monday morning sure looks brighter with a deliciously cinnamony blueberry muffin, especially when it has a streusel topping. Muffins are fantastic because it is a socially acceptable way to have dessert for breakfast. Tell someone your having cookies for breakfast, they look at you like your crazy, but a muffin, totally fine. So whip up a batch for breakfast this week!

Brown Sugar Blueberry Muffins
Muffins:
6 tbsp butter, melted
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of white sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups blueberries

Topping:
3 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup of rolled oats
1/4 cup of flour
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp white sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

Pre-heat the oven to 375 with a rack postinioned in the middle. Make the topping: Mix together the oats, flour, sugars, and spices. Pour melted butter over the mixture and stir until topping is clumpy and combined, set asside. Make the muffins: In a large bowl mix together the butter and sugars until well combined and smooth. Add milks and egg and mix until just combined. Add in baking powder spices and 1/2 cup of flour and mix until just combined. Add remaining flour and repeat. Gently fold in blueberries. Line a 12 muffin pan with liners and spray with non-stick. Divide the batter evenly amonst the muffins, each should be full to about the top of the liner. Top each with the topping, dividing it evenly amonst the muffins. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. (adapted from epicurious)

Happy Eating.

Banana Mango Smoothies

When people first see my blog, they often ask how I don't weigh 300 lbs, my dad in fact asks me this once a week. Whenever I get this question I first remind them that there are loads of healthy recipes on here, and that second I don't eat like this everyday. I am not shoveling cinnamon buns in my mouth for breakfast everyday, or having cream sauce pastas for dinner followed by huge slices of cake for dessert. I generally eat very healthy, and when I do splurge, it's on something extremely worth while, whether I made it or it comes from a restaurant, I better love every bite. And remember, only the best of my best makes it here, to you. So, why I am I telling you all this? Well because I wanted to share my new favorite everyday creation with you. I have had this delicious smoothie 3 times this week and I am still dreaming of another one. As many of you know, I have a love affair with breakfast. It is absolutely my favorite meal of the day, and I never ever skip it, I don't think I am capable. When the weekend comes I enjoy my healthy stuffed French toast and egg dishes (or the occasional pancake), during the week I need something fast, healthy, and filling to help me start my day. In the winter, I am very much an oatmeal kind of gal, but during these lovely warmer months, I like to keep a stockpile of fresh and frozen fruit on hand to whip up delicious smoothies.

Banana Mango Smoothie (makes 1 large smoothie):
1/2 banana, frozen
1/2 cup of mango, chopped
1 cup of milk or unsweetened milk substitute (I like almond breeze)
1/4 cup of rolled oats, quick or regular
2 tbsp of sliced almonds
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
Ice cubes, to taste (optional)

Blend together the banana, mango and milk. Check consistency and add ice to desired thickness (I usually toss in 2 or 3 to bulk it up a bit, blend until smooth. Add oats, almonds, vanilla, and cinnamon. Blend until everything is incorporated. Pour into a tall glass and enjoy.

Well now you have seen a delicious example of how I eat on a daily basis. Leave some love below if you enjoyed this insight into my everyday food, I am thinking of adding a feature on some of my healthy, delicious, fast, and make ahead breakfasts and lunches and I'd love to hear what my lovely readers think. And as always...

Happy Eating.

Maple Cinnamon Sticky Buns

Passover ends tomorrow night, though truth be told I only kept it until Easter, it's such a multi-cultural world we live in. So I thought to myself what is the opposite of Passover baking? Well, bread, obviously, no matter how many baking "cheats" you have, there is really no way around that one. And what is the most decadant and over the top kind of bread? Delicious, gooey, messy, buttery sticky buns. Yum. Nothing is any better, unless you make them with maple syrup, which, in my opinion, makes most things better. So whether you are preparing to devour some bread for the first time is 8 days, or just need a buttery pick me up, these buns are abosutely and decadantly amazing.

Dough:
1 cup buttermilk
4 tbsp of butter
1 enevelope of active dry yeast
1/4 cup of warm water (105-120 degrees)
2 eggs
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp of salt
4 1/2 cups of flour, plus more for dusting

Filling:
1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of maple syrup
3 tbsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp of milk

Heat the buttermilk and butter together, until butter has melted. Cool in the fridge until under 120 degrees. In the mean time, in a large bowl, mix the yeast into the warm water to activate. Let stand 5-10 minutes until foamy. Add the eggs and maple syrup to the yeast-water and mix with a wooden spoon. Slowly add in the milk, stirring until incorporated. Add the salt and 1 1/2 cups of flour, and mix until flour is incorporated. Add remaining flour in 2 additions and mix until the spoon will no longer work, then begin kneading in any remaining flour with your hand. Turn dough out onto a floured surface or transfer to food processor fitted with the dough blade. Knead/mix until the a smooth, soft and sticky dough forms, about 5 minutes in the processor. Clean the large bowl, and grease lightly. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise overnight in the fridge, or in a warm location until trippled in size about 2 hours.

To make the filling, mix all of the filling ingredients together in a medium bowl until cell combined and smooth. Punch down the dough and turn out onto a floured surface. Roll dough out into a large rectangle (about the size of a sheet pan). Spread the filling evenly. Starting at a long end, roll the dough up, as tightly as you can, jelly roll style, then pinch ends. Cut the roll into 12 pieces. Grease to baking dishes. Put 6 buns in each dish, space apart and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for about an hour on the counter or overnight in the fridge.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 and position rack in the middle of the oven. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. In the meantime, make the icing by whisking the sugar and the milk until smooth. Let the buns cool slightly (just a few minutes), then invert the buns onto a plate/serving dish. Drizzle with the icing and serve warm. (Adapted from Cake Duchess)

Happy Eating.

Stuffed French Toast

A few weeks ago I was in DC having a girls weekend, when the topic of breakfast came up. After about 30 minutes later, an idea was born for a stuffed French Toast that was still healthy. I am usually a French Toast snob, meaning only Challah or Brioche will do, I felt French Toast should not be a reasonable meal, but a decadent bordering on dessert treat. However, I couldn't get this delicious idea out of my mind. So after seeing something similar in this month's Self magazine, I had had enough and I needed to try it. I was wrong about French Toast, and this is absolutely my new favorite breakfast (I ate it twice this weekend). So other French Toast snobs be warned, this is amazing enough and light enough to convert you into an everyday French toaster.

PB&J French Toast:
1 egg white
1/4 cup of milk
1 tsp of maple syrup
2 slices of wheat bread
1 tbsp of peanut butter
1/2 banana
1 tbsp of Jam
Cinnamon

Whisk together the milk, egg white, and maple syrup until combined. Soften the peanut butter slightly and spread on both slices of bread. Slice the banana and arrange slices on one side. Close the sandwich and gently pinch the crusts together to seal. Put the sandwich in the egg mixture and let sit a few minutes, then flip and let sit a few minutes more. Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat and spray with non-stick spray. Sprinkle the sandwich with cinnamon and put in the skillet cinnamon side down, sprinkle the other side with cinnamon and pour any remaining egg mixture over the sandwich. Cook until golden brown and then flip and cook the other side, about 3-4 minutes each side. Top with jam, heated if desired. This makes 1 serving, obviously you can increase it to please a crowd.

Happy Eating.

Almond Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

One of my favorite things about the weekend is breakfast. Time to cook and enjoy a delicious, healthy meal to start your day. During the week, it's all oatmeal and yogurt, but on the weekends I can expand my breakfast horizons. I am usually an eggs kind-of gal, but every once and awhile I get a crazy pancake craving and will except no substitutions. I adapted this recipe from my latest cook book obsession Whole Living's Power Foods, which is full of amazing information and wonderful recipes that I can't wait to try. Just reading it makes you want to eat your veggies. But anyway, back to the pancakes. They are absolutely delicious, the boyfriend could not tell that they were "healthy" (and I waited until he had scarfed down several pancakes to let him know), and they are served with a delectable blueberry sauce. The yogurt and almond flour pack in some delicious extra protein, and makes these much more filling than your average pancake. So whip up a delicious and guilt free batch this weekend!

UPDATE: This recipe is featured on Maple Syrup World, a really awesome site for all things Maple Syrup. Check them out on Facebook or Twitter. As an added bonus they are offering a 10% discount to the first 20 Eat, Knit, Grow readers who need to fill their maple cravings. Just use the code EATKNITGROW when you place your order.



Almond Pancakes:
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1/4 cup of whole wheat flour
1/4 cup of almond flour or almond meal
2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
2 tbsp of butter, melted
1 tbsp of maple syrup
1 egg
3/4 cup of Greek yogurt, nonfat
Any optional mix-ins you want (almonds, chocolate chips, bananas,etc)

In a large bowl mix together the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Pour in the melted butter, maple syrup, egg, and yogurt. Mix until well combined, and smooth. Stir in any mix-ins or leave plain (I choose plain). Heat a griddle pan over medium heat, and grease or Pam. Spoon batter into small circles and use the back of the spoon to smooth them down and shape them a bit (the batter is slightly thicker than regular pancake batter). Repeat until pan is full. Cook until bubbles form in the center and bottoms are golden. Flip pancakes and cook until done all the way through. I had enough batter to make 13 small pancakes. To serve all the pancakes hot (if your pan isn't that big, like mine), leave them in a 200 degree oven while you are cooking the others. To be 100% guilt free, this recipe serves 4, about 3 pancakes each. (adapted from Power Foods)



Blueberry Sauce:
2 cups of blueberries
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1 tsp of corn starch
zest of half a lemon, plus one light squeeze of juice

Heat a small sauce pan to high heat with blueberries and maple syrup. Bring to a boil, then cook covered until all the blueberries have burst, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat and whisk in corn starch, lemon juice, and starch. Stir until sauce thickens slightly. Serve warm with pancakes. (adapted from Power Foods)

Happy Eating

Breakfast Bacon Casserole

I love breakfast! An obscene amount. It is totally my favorite meal. It can be sweet or savory, healthy or sinful and it's all delicious! I tend to favor more savory breakfasts, now. I think because during the week, my breakfasts tend to be sweeter (oatmeal, yogurt and fruit, etc), so on the weekends I like to gorge myself on glorious egg dishes. For example, this delectable, savory, cheesy-bacony-eggy casserole.

*This post is entered in Denny's and/or Foodbuzz BACONALIA challenge



Breakfast Bacon Casserole:
3 eggs
3 egg whites
1 lb of potatoes
1 green pepper
2 small onions
1 tbsp of plain Greek yogurt
6 slices of thick bacon
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of pepper
1/2 tsp of cumin
3 oz of Gruyère cheese
1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a medium glass casserole dish. Grate potatoes and onions using the large wholes on a box grater or the grating blade on a food processor. Chop the green pepper. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, egg whites and yogurt until well combined and slightly fluffy, add in seasonings, and Gruyère, and stir. Add in vegetables and pour mixture into casserole dish. Chop bacon (raw) and sprinkle on top of the egg mixture, then top that with the Parmesan cheese. Bake until set, about 40 minutes. Turn on the broiler and bake an additional 2-3 minutes, until top is golden. Let stand a few minutes before serving.



Happy Eating.

The Bread Basket

What is my absolute favorite part of a Brunch buffet? The bread basket. A delicious assortment of freshed baked goodness. To be fair, bread is pretty much my favorite food, so this is kind of a no-brainer. Obviously, when I was hosting my little brunch soiree, I had to make a basket (or tray) for myself (and my guests). My "basket" consisted of blueberry muffins, pumpkin bread, biscuits, and Challah bread. The Challah was from a local bakery, but the other three I whipped up. I served my basket (well the Challah and biscuits really) with butter and the peach-blueberry jam I made this summer. The basket was a big hit, and it was definitely my favorite part of the meal.



The Biscuits were straight from Martha, I am not a bread expert, and I very rarely use yeast, but these came out perfect! I halved the recipe (which made 12) and I will definitely be making these puffy, roll-like biscuits again. I made the dough the day before and refrigerated it overnight, instead of for 2 hours.



Next we have delicious, moist, wonderful pumpkin bread



Pumpkin Bread
1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of dark brown sugar
1 15 oz can of pumpkin
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups of flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp of ginger
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of nutmeg
1/2 tsp of ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, melt butter. Mix in both sugars until combined and creamy. Add in pumpkin and eggs, beat until combined. Add in baking powder, spices, and 1/2 cup of flour, mix until just incorporated. Add an additional cup of flour, and mix until just incorporated, repeat with final cup of flour. Grease a large loaf pan and pour batter in. Bake until a fork inserted in comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, then invert pan to remove bread. Cut into slices (each slice can also be cut in half) to serve. (adapted from Martha Stewart)

Finally we have some delicious and bursting with fruity goodness, blueberry muffins



Blueberry Muffins:

1 stick of unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cups of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup of half and half
2 cups of flour
1 tsp of nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 cups of blueberries
Additional sugar and nutmeg for sprinkling

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth. Add in eggs and vanilla and mix until fluffy. Add in flour, nutmeg, salt and baking powder. Mix until just barely combined. Add in half and half and stir together gently. Mix in blueberries. Grease a muffin tin (recipe makes somewhere between 12 and 18 muffins) and distribute batter, filling the wells 3/4 full. Sprinkle each top with sugar and nutmeg. Bake until a fork inserted comes out clean and blueberries are bursting, about 25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. (adapted from Martha Stewart)

Happy Eating.

Healthy and Hearty Breakfast Casserole

At least once a weekend, I try and make a special breakfast. It's a fantastic reward for a long week. The great thing about an extraordinary breakfast, is it doesn't need to be unhealthy at all. This breakfast is a wholesome way to start a relaxing weekend day. The left overs also kept amazingly well and made excellent filling for a weekday breakfast sandwich.



Breakfast Casserole:
3 eggs
3 egg whites
1 cup of shredded potatoes
6 oz (2 links)of hot lean turkey sausage
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes with green chilies
2 slices of low fat cheddar cheese (about 1.5 oz)
1 tbsp of fat free/reduced fat sour cream
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp of hot sauce, preferably smoked
Additional cheddar cheese for topping, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease or Pam a 7 inch by 11 inch glass baking dish. In a medium bowl beat together eggs, egg whites, sour cream, Worcestershire and hot sauce, until light and fluffy. Squeeze the grated/shredded potatoes out in a towel or paper towel, to remove moisture. Stir potatoes into eggs. Remove casings from sausage and add meat to the egg mixture. Drain the tomatoes of all liquid and stir into eggs. Shred or chop cheese and stir into the mixture. Pour into baking dish and cook until set in the middle, about 45 minutes. Turn on the broiler and top casserole with additional cheese if desired. With or without cheese, broil until the top browns a little, 3-4 minutes, checking frequently to prevent burning. Serve and Enjoy.

Pre-broiler:



Post-broiler:



Happy Eating.

Pumpkin Polenta

The cool weather last week made me anxious for fall and fall flavor. Sure I'll miss those peaches and tomatoes, but I'll get pumpkin, gingersnaps, apples and ciders. Just thinking about it makes me feel warm. Anyway, I decided to get started a little early, and simultaneously bust through my weekday breakfast rut, with some delicious and healthy Pumpkin Polenta.



Pumpkin Polenta:
1/2 cup of yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 cups of water, divided
2 tbsp of maple syrup
1/2 cup of canned pumpkin
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

In a small pot boil 1 cup of water. In a bowl mix together the cornmeal, salt and 1/2 cup of water (warning: if you skip this step your polenta will be very lumpy). When the water is boiling add the wet cornmeal and the maple syrup, reduce heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally, until thick and smooth. Stir in pumpkin and spices until combined. Cook another 5 minutes. Serve and Enjoy.

Also, this can be made in advance and re-heated in a microwave. Just store in a covered container in the fridge and then microwave for about a minute when you want to enjoy it.

Happy Eating

Beer for Breakfast

I was browsing the wonderful recipes over at Brown Eyed Baker, hunting for something delicious to bake, when I came across this very intriguing recipe for Three Cheese Beer Bread, yum. Apparently beer bread is a fairly known baked item, but I had never heard of such a wonderful thing. I love cooking with beer, so I gathered the ingredients and planned on making it one lazy Sunday. Then I woke up at 5:30 in the morning and could not fall back asleep, at that point mad at my pre-dawn internal alarm clock, I decided I deserved a most decadent and delicious breakfast, enter a wonderful veggie and cheese omelet, thick sliced bacon, and cheesy beer bread.



Veggie and Cheese Omelet:
3 egg white (or whole eggs if you prefer)
1 small jalapeño, diced (from my garden, on the milder side, optional)
1 small to medium tomato (also from the garden)
1 cup swiss chard
1 tbsp of sour cream
small handful of fresh chives
1/4 cup shredded Gruyère cheese
salt, pepper

Heat a small skillet or omelet pan over medium-high heat, use butter, oil or PAM to coat the pan if not non stick. Put the chard and jalapeño in the pan and allow to cook for a few minutes. Meanwhile beat the egg whites (or eggs) with the sour cream (the secret to fluffy omelets). Add the tomatoes and chives to the pan, salt and pepper to taste. Pour the egg mixture over the veggies. Cook until it is almost set in the middle, then cover with half the cheese. Flip in half and top with the remaining cheese. Serve and Enjoy.



Cheesy Beer Bread:

3 1/4 of cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional, or to taste)
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tbsp of oregano
1 small handful of fresh chopped chives
1 cup of low fat plain yogurt
1 cups beer
1/4 cup of tomato juice
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 eggs
1 cup of Gruyère cheese, shredded (this one I had to grate myself)
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/2 cup of Pecorino Romano cheese, shredded
1 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, stir flour, baking powder, salt, mustard, pepper, red pepper flakes, and chives. Toss in 1/2 cup of the Gruyère and cheddar cheese, and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan and Pecorino cheese. Stir so all the cheese is coated with flour. Whisk together the yogurt, beer, juice, Worcestershire, and egg in a small bowl until fully combined. Add to the flour mixture and stir together until just combined. The dough should be sticky and fluffy. Pour dough into a 9 inch by 5 inch greased loaf pan. Use the back of a spoon to smooth dough. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 45-50 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool 5-10 minutes before removing from the pan. Serve hot, cool or toast (it was especially delicious the next day toasted).

(adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)

Happy Eating

A very loving breakfast.

Before I get to breakfast, let's talk cheesecake. The cheesecake came out wonderfully. It was a ton of work, but completely worth it. I sliced strawberries to put on top. Here is the recipe again, thanks Martha. Above is a picture of my beautiful creation.

Now, breakfast. So for our lovely Valentine's day breakfast I made Eggs Benedict with homemade biscuits (a twist on your classic baking powder biscuits). For the meat, I used lean Canadian Bacon, the small thin circular kind. I ended up making 5 eggs (1 for me, 4 for the boyfriend), 8 biscuits (I used 3 for breakfast), and 10 pieces of the bacon (2 for each half), plus homemade hollandaise sauce (a recipe which I halved and modified from Williams and Sonoma, original recipe here)

First, make the biscuits:

Buttermilk Biscuits:
2 cups of flour
2 tsp baking powder
1⁄2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter
2⁄3 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Cut the butter into small pieces. In a medium sized bowl, use your fingers to rub butter into the flour as quickly as possible. I actually used the bread hooks of my new hand mixer (which I am obsessed with)and finished with my fingers. The goal is to handle the dough as little as possible so that the butter stays cold (which creates flaky biscuits), you could also use a food processor. Add the baking powder, salt and baking soda and combine. Stir in the buttermilk until just absorbed. Lightly flour your hands and a small patch of counter. Gently mash the dough into a ball and push it out on the floured surface so that it is about 1/2 inch thick. Spray a cookie sheet with Pam. Use a drinking glass to cut out circles in the dough. Cut them as close as possible, those cut from the first roll out taste best. Re-roll dough and cut out additional biscuits, don't re-roll more than once. Trust me, they will not be good. You will be able to taste which biscuits came from the re-roll as it is. Bake for 12 minutes until golden on top. Yum.

While the biscuits are baking, you can make the hollandaise sauce...

Hollandaise Sauce
2 egg yolks
half a lemon
half a lime
1 stick of butter
salt, pepper

In a microwave, melt the butter. While the butter is melting, over low heat whisk the egg yolks and the lemon and lime juice (I again used my new mixer, with the whisk attachment) for about 3 minutes. Let both cool slightly, then combine in a bowl. Whisk together (you could also use a blender, high speed is key). Add salt and pepper to taste. If it looks to thick, you can thin it out with some water.

While this sauce is probably one of the most unhealthy things I have ever made, it is so good, and well you can't have Eggs Benedict without it. Next, we heat the Canadian bacon and poach some eggs. I cooked the bacon in the oven after the biscuits came out, it is pre-cooked so you just need to heat/caramelize it. To poach eggs, I like to use a big pan, with decently high sides. Fill it with water and bring that water to a consistent simmer. Crack eggs and drop in. At first I would recommend doing one at a time, but as you get better at it, you can do 2 or 3 at a time. The trick is to keep the water at a consistent simmer. The eggs will need about 4 minutes each to cook.

To assemble the whole thing. Cut a biscuit in half. Place 2 pieces of Canadian bacon on each side. Top each one with a poached egg and a few spoonfuls of hollandaise sauce. Serve and enjoy your decadent, savory, and truly delicious breakfast.

Happy Eating