I just realized I've never posted my method for museli! Probably because it's not very hard and I really don't give it much thought as it's something I do nearly every morning. It's not a super quick breakfast, but it is super delicious and it's worth the effort. In addition, it's one of those things you could start at night to cut out most of the time involved in preparation.
Quality ingredients are key here. If you're going to put some foul, sugary yogurt on top, don't tell me about it. If you're topping it with strawberries in January (and you don't live in the southern hemisphere), I really don't want to hear about it. However, if you can get your hands on full fat, raw milk yogurt from a trusted source, this just might become one of your favorite morning meals.
Morning museli
Serves 1
2 heaping tablespoons of raw oats (the 'quick' stuff from the bulk bin or Quaker are fine)
2 tablespoons milk (skim, 1%, whole...anything works here)
3-4 huge plops yogurt (I use a soup spoon and overfill it shamelessly)
sliced fresh fruit
1 tbsp honey
Optional ingredients: (though I use all of them)
cinnamon, to taste (I use lots as it's meant to be a very beneficial spice)
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tbsp slivered almonds
1 tbsp wheat germ
Place raw oats in a bowl. Add milk. These need to soak for 15 minutes (alternatively, you can do this the night before and whack it in the fridge overnight and resume fixing first thing in the morning). You can continue to add ingredients on top, but make sure you soak for 15 minutes or so before eating. My husband thinks I'm absurd and that it's fine without soaking, but I prefer the slightly soggier texture of the oats after soaking. Add yogurt, cinnamon, nuts, seeds and wheat germ. Top with sliced fruit and drizzle with (local!) honey. Voila! Healthy breakfast that will keep you going all morning.
Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts
Breakfast in my belly! (oatmeal, skigirl style)
I learned to love oatmeal after my first cholesterol test as an adult. I didn't want to take drugs to combat elevated LDL (though the rest of my numbers were just fine and nearly brilliant, thank you very much), so I decided to take oatmeal and beans and cinnamon and whatever other food might positively impact my LDL reading.
It started with packet oatmeal. I look back on it now and even the Kashi in envelopes is really not very good at all compared with taking 5 minutes to make some in a little pot on the stove. I graduated to cylinders of Irish or Scottish oats in the oatmeal section. Eventually, I just bought big bags of rolled oats in the bulk bin.
Whether bought in bulk or in a carton, the rolled oats really do only take a few minutes of effort. Boil some water, add the oats, simmer for 5 minutes and viola!, you're done. You can top with fruit, honey, nuts or whatever strikes your fancy.
If you're willing to spend a little more time, I would highly recommend steel cut oats. They look like little pellets (like tiny pet food or something) and take rather longer to cook but are well worth the effort. I swear some days it takes 15 minutes and some days it takes 25, but it probably has more to do with what texture I'm looking for that day. As with anything, taste as you go, and it's done when you think it's ready.
Really healthy (and yummy!) breakfast for two
1/2 c steel cut oats
1 c water
scant dash of salt
Optional:
chopped nuts
yogurt*
honey**
sliced fruit (banana is probably my favorite here)
cinnamon
Bring water to boil in a 2.5 - 3 quart saucepan. Add salt. Slowly stir in oats. Reduce heat to a less vigorous boil and stir oats fairly constantly for about 5 minutes, or until you notice them thicken (whichever comes first). Do pay attention; you are at risk for the oats to boil over if you walk away to get something out of the refrigerator.
Reduce heat to medium low or until you have a slow simmer. Let the oats simmer, stirring occasionally for 10-20 minutes. If the water gets low and you think the oats are still too chewy for your taste, add a little hot water and cook longer. If you think they're spot on but they have too much liquid, serve with a slotted spoon. This really is a matter of taste. I like mine sort of al dente, with some chewy texture left.
Serve in two bowls topped with whatever you'd like. I like to stir in cinnamon, then top with a big dollop of full fat yogurt, sliced banana and then drizzle it with wildflower honey. YUM.
*We are lucky enough to have a source for locally made full fat, raw milk yogurt. A good substitute for this would be (full fat - come on, give it a try) Greek yogurt. Or if you just can't cope with the thought of full fat dairy you could use reduced fat Greek yogurt. But I promise you, it won't be as tasty!
**Heat kills the good bacteria in honey (I assume (but have not researched) that is true for yogurt as well). Honey is a living food. I would advise drizzling it on top of the yogurt if you're using it, not directly on the oatmeal. If you do put it directly in the hot oatmeal, enjoy it anyway...just realize that you're not getting the full benefit of the magic of honey.
It started with packet oatmeal. I look back on it now and even the Kashi in envelopes is really not very good at all compared with taking 5 minutes to make some in a little pot on the stove. I graduated to cylinders of Irish or Scottish oats in the oatmeal section. Eventually, I just bought big bags of rolled oats in the bulk bin.
Whether bought in bulk or in a carton, the rolled oats really do only take a few minutes of effort. Boil some water, add the oats, simmer for 5 minutes and viola!, you're done. You can top with fruit, honey, nuts or whatever strikes your fancy.
If you're willing to spend a little more time, I would highly recommend steel cut oats. They look like little pellets (like tiny pet food or something) and take rather longer to cook but are well worth the effort. I swear some days it takes 15 minutes and some days it takes 25, but it probably has more to do with what texture I'm looking for that day. As with anything, taste as you go, and it's done when you think it's ready.
Really healthy (and yummy!) breakfast for two
1/2 c steel cut oats
1 c water
scant dash of salt
Optional:
chopped nuts
yogurt*
honey**
sliced fruit (banana is probably my favorite here)
cinnamon
Bring water to boil in a 2.5 - 3 quart saucepan. Add salt. Slowly stir in oats. Reduce heat to a less vigorous boil and stir oats fairly constantly for about 5 minutes, or until you notice them thicken (whichever comes first). Do pay attention; you are at risk for the oats to boil over if you walk away to get something out of the refrigerator.
Reduce heat to medium low or until you have a slow simmer. Let the oats simmer, stirring occasionally for 10-20 minutes. If the water gets low and you think the oats are still too chewy for your taste, add a little hot water and cook longer. If you think they're spot on but they have too much liquid, serve with a slotted spoon. This really is a matter of taste. I like mine sort of al dente, with some chewy texture left.
Serve in two bowls topped with whatever you'd like. I like to stir in cinnamon, then top with a big dollop of full fat yogurt, sliced banana and then drizzle it with wildflower honey. YUM.
*We are lucky enough to have a source for locally made full fat, raw milk yogurt. A good substitute for this would be (full fat - come on, give it a try) Greek yogurt. Or if you just can't cope with the thought of full fat dairy you could use reduced fat Greek yogurt. But I promise you, it won't be as tasty!
**Heat kills the good bacteria in honey (I assume (but have not researched) that is true for yogurt as well). Honey is a living food. I would advise drizzling it on top of the yogurt if you're using it, not directly on the oatmeal. If you do put it directly in the hot oatmeal, enjoy it anyway...just realize that you're not getting the full benefit of the magic of honey.
Mother's Day Brunch Casserole
Yesterday was Mother's Day, and like so many holidays in my family, we center activities on special days around food. My brother had the ingenious idea of bringing brunch/brinner *to* Mom. I volunteered to do the main dish, and also made some (partially whole grain) banana bread to accompany.
I wouldn't ordinarily think of serving eggs in the middle of the afternoon, but I had brunch stuck in my head, so that's just what happened. I have several good breakfast cookbooks (though some would be a little to 'earthy' for some folks' taste!). I turn to them for recipes or just inspiration when I'm responsible for part of meal. Two books came into play when I was browsing for ideas.
Gale Gand's Brunch was recommended on someones food blog recently (can't remember whose!), and I've been pouring over its interesting, innovative and elegant recipes in recent weeks. While I didn't use it for yesterday's meal, I would highly recommend taking a look at it, especially if you're having a more intimate gathering where you do not have to cook for a large number of people.
I did however use a recipe from the Big Book of Breakfast (a wonderful gift from my sister in law, Kathy) to jump off into my own creation. Here's what I ended up with:
Mother's Day Brunch Casserole
12 large eggs (preferably cage free, humanely raised)
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp dry mustard
1 1/4 c milk (skim is fine)
1.5 c cheddar cheese
1.5 c jack or blend
12 oz bulk Italian sausage (you may use pork or chicken; I used pork here. Again, preferably humanely raised)
8 oz sliced mushrooms (button or cremini)
14 oz asparagus (please leave this out if it's not in season! Use something else that *is* in season.)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray a 9 x 13 baking pan. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and begin to brown the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon. After about 5 minutes, add the mushroom and saute for a further 5 minutes. If using asparagus, add and saute for a final 3-4 minutes. Sausage should no longer be pink. (If using another vegetable, add earlier or later depending on how long it needs to cook to become somewhat tender). Pour the sausage mixture into the prepared baking dish.
In a large bowl, whisk your 12 eggs. In a measuring cup, add a splash of the milk (about 1/4 cup) and your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and mustard powder), and whisk to remove lumps as best possible. Add the remainder of the milk to the measuring cup, then add the contents of the measuring cup to the eggs and whisk vigorously to blend. Add 1/2 of the cheeses to the egg mixture and whisk to mix. Pour the egg mixture over the sausage mixture in the baking pan and sprinkle with the remaining cheese*. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
Serve with a green salad and some fresh fruit.
Serves 8 hungry people.
*You may reduce the cheese a bit if you would like. It won't suffer terribly if you leave out 1/2 -3/4 cup to save a few calories.
I left our Mother's Day celebration without any leftovers. There were 8 of us. My favorite thing is to leave empty handed!
I wouldn't ordinarily think of serving eggs in the middle of the afternoon, but I had brunch stuck in my head, so that's just what happened. I have several good breakfast cookbooks (though some would be a little to 'earthy' for some folks' taste!). I turn to them for recipes or just inspiration when I'm responsible for part of meal. Two books came into play when I was browsing for ideas.
Gale Gand's Brunch was recommended on someones food blog recently (can't remember whose!), and I've been pouring over its interesting, innovative and elegant recipes in recent weeks. While I didn't use it for yesterday's meal, I would highly recommend taking a look at it, especially if you're having a more intimate gathering where you do not have to cook for a large number of people.
I did however use a recipe from the Big Book of Breakfast (a wonderful gift from my sister in law, Kathy) to jump off into my own creation. Here's what I ended up with:
Mother's Day Brunch Casserole
12 large eggs (preferably cage free, humanely raised)
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp dry mustard
1 1/4 c milk (skim is fine)
1.5 c cheddar cheese
1.5 c jack or blend
12 oz bulk Italian sausage (you may use pork or chicken; I used pork here. Again, preferably humanely raised)
8 oz sliced mushrooms (button or cremini)
14 oz asparagus (please leave this out if it's not in season! Use something else that *is* in season.)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray a 9 x 13 baking pan. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and begin to brown the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon. After about 5 minutes, add the mushroom and saute for a further 5 minutes. If using asparagus, add and saute for a final 3-4 minutes. Sausage should no longer be pink. (If using another vegetable, add earlier or later depending on how long it needs to cook to become somewhat tender). Pour the sausage mixture into the prepared baking dish.
In a large bowl, whisk your 12 eggs. In a measuring cup, add a splash of the milk (about 1/4 cup) and your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and mustard powder), and whisk to remove lumps as best possible. Add the remainder of the milk to the measuring cup, then add the contents of the measuring cup to the eggs and whisk vigorously to blend. Add 1/2 of the cheeses to the egg mixture and whisk to mix. Pour the egg mixture over the sausage mixture in the baking pan and sprinkle with the remaining cheese*. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
Serve with a green salad and some fresh fruit.
Serves 8 hungry people.
*You may reduce the cheese a bit if you would like. It won't suffer terribly if you leave out 1/2 -3/4 cup to save a few calories.
I left our Mother's Day celebration without any leftovers. There were 8 of us. My favorite thing is to leave empty handed!
Duffywich city
Rather unusually I've eaten out another three times since last week. I remember hearing a statistic that Americans eat something like 1 of every 3 meals 'out' (whatever that means) and I thought 'what the hell?! Doesn't anybody cook?', then have found myself eating out a TON in the last week.
In the last week, we twice went to Duffeyrolls. They now have a new location right near the Louisana Pearl lightrail stop. It's cozy and has free wireless and when I went in Thursday morning for a breakfast sandwich, I was pleasantly please to see how bustling it was. We ordered egg sandwiches and sat to wait. Very quickly later, we were brought our sandwiches and each came with a mini Duffeyroll (I always try to remember to ask that they not give me one as it always seems a bit over the top, but it conveniently slips my mind almost every time).
I had an egg sandwich that they let me customize without so much as a blink. Scrambled eggs, fresh tomato, sprouts and cheddar cheese on lightly toasted focciaca bread. I'm not a person that often eats a 'breakfast sandwich' unless you count some greasy concontion at the Breakfast King (or worse yet, a morning patty melt which is very telling of the previous night's activities), but I was pleasantly surprised by this particular breakfast. It was light, yet filling. The vegetables were very fresh and the service was efficient and friendly. My companions had sandwiches with eggs, ham and cheese and reported the same enjoyment. Breakfast disappeared pretty fast.
Oh, and those mini Duffeyrolls? They were gone. Perfect size. Well, maybe the giant ones are the perfect size, but I feel better about myself eating the small one.
I won't go in to details on the next visit, except to embarassingly admit that it was only about 56 hours later (what?? Don't I cook??) and we had a bit of lunch...well sort of had lunch. My husband had the same breakfast sandwich he had two days before, which is a testament to its goodness, as he's someone who finds something he loves then settles in on it never to budge. I had a veggie sandwich on multigrain bread (WHY can't people serve WHOLE WHEAT bread...ok, another day, another post) and it was delicious. Same good service, same good food. Though I'd rather have a side of chips than another mini Duffeyroll. And you have to pay extra for chips.
Extremely minor complaints aside, I think Duffeyrolls is great. I've only been to the LP lightrail location, so I can't speak to Happy Canyon, but I'm guessing it must be just as good!
In the last week, we twice went to Duffeyrolls. They now have a new location right near the Louisana Pearl lightrail stop. It's cozy and has free wireless and when I went in Thursday morning for a breakfast sandwich, I was pleasantly please to see how bustling it was. We ordered egg sandwiches and sat to wait. Very quickly later, we were brought our sandwiches and each came with a mini Duffeyroll (I always try to remember to ask that they not give me one as it always seems a bit over the top, but it conveniently slips my mind almost every time).
I had an egg sandwich that they let me customize without so much as a blink. Scrambled eggs, fresh tomato, sprouts and cheddar cheese on lightly toasted focciaca bread. I'm not a person that often eats a 'breakfast sandwich' unless you count some greasy concontion at the Breakfast King (or worse yet, a morning patty melt which is very telling of the previous night's activities), but I was pleasantly surprised by this particular breakfast. It was light, yet filling. The vegetables were very fresh and the service was efficient and friendly. My companions had sandwiches with eggs, ham and cheese and reported the same enjoyment. Breakfast disappeared pretty fast.
Oh, and those mini Duffeyrolls? They were gone. Perfect size. Well, maybe the giant ones are the perfect size, but I feel better about myself eating the small one.
I won't go in to details on the next visit, except to embarassingly admit that it was only about 56 hours later (what?? Don't I cook??) and we had a bit of lunch...well sort of had lunch. My husband had the same breakfast sandwich he had two days before, which is a testament to its goodness, as he's someone who finds something he loves then settles in on it never to budge. I had a veggie sandwich on multigrain bread (WHY can't people serve WHOLE WHEAT bread...ok, another day, another post) and it was delicious. Same good service, same good food. Though I'd rather have a side of chips than another mini Duffeyroll. And you have to pay extra for chips.
Extremely minor complaints aside, I think Duffeyrolls is great. I've only been to the LP lightrail location, so I can't speak to Happy Canyon, but I'm guessing it must be just as good!
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