Healthy Fruity Smoothie

Smoothies are so delicious and so easy to make. I always say I'm going to make them before work so that I start the day off right, but it never happens. Let's face it, I'm lucky if I show up before 9 with dry hair- breakfast is beyond hope!

Frozen dairy drinks are stuck as a special treat on the weekends. I wish I had weekend time everyday though, because this was so delicious. And it is so healthy! Calcium, antioxidants, vitamins, low sugar & fat! And it's such a pretty color on top of all that- what's not to love?


Banana Blueberry Smoothie

• 1 1/2- 2 C. Skim Milk
  
• 1 Banana, in pieces
  
• 1 8 oz. Container Fat Free Banana Yogurt
  
• 1/2- 1 C. Frozen Blueberries
  
• 1 Tbsp. Honey
  
• 3-4 Ice Cubes

1. Place all ingredients in a blender according to the manufacturer's instructions. I believe usually you put in liquid, then solids, then frozens- in that order.
   
2. Blend, pour, and enjoy!

Cinnamon Rolls

We had guests a few weekends ago- one vegetarian and one non-seafood eater- which made for some extra planning for most of my meals. Which meant that when it came to breakfast, I didn't want to have to worry about it, but of course I wanted it to be delicious!

I decided everyone was likely to enjoy cinnamon rolls- warm, sweet, and filling. And the best is that you can make most of the recipe ahead of time! I borrowed a recipe from a member of my online cooking board, Amber, as I have never made them before.

I made the dough, let it rise the first time, & rolled them up on Thursday night and put them in the fridge. On Saturday morning we pulled them out and let them warm up and rise again for a couple of hours. Unfortunately they just never got very fluffy. I don't know if it is the kind of yeast I used or what, but the end result was a very tasty, but too dense bread. I'm used to using yeast dissolved in liquid, not just putting in dry.

I also did not use the lemon zest and only made half of the glaze, which was MORE than enough!


The all important final results though- they were gone by Monday morning when our guests left! I would try these again with some modificiations. Thanks Amber!

To find the recipe, please visit Amber's blog!

Homegrown Gourmet 6 - Frittata

It's Homegrown Gourmet time boys and girls!



They say that BREAKFAST is the most important meal of the day. I, um, generally don't get around to eating breakfast. Mornings are not my thing, and by the time I'm hungry at the office, it's around 10:30 or 11 AM- almost lunch. So this round of Homegrown Gourmet was a challenge.

Homegrown Gourmet challenges participants to make a dish that fits the chosen theme and incorporates local ingredients, recipes, or inspiration. Our host this round is Michelle at Culinography. When she announced we'd be working under the constraint of the first meal of the day, I was a little stumped.

I'm up here in New England, USA and honestly, breakfast 'round these parts is pretty utilitarian. We eat oatmeal, or toast, or yogurt, or cold cereal, or something equally dull. I mean, when you think of the Pilgrims, you aren't just waiting to get into the kitchen to cook up their gourmet meals. So interesting local recipes were out. So I moved on to ingredients... I've already used blueberries and lobster an didn't want to reuse them again so quickly. What to do, what to do...

Then it popped into my head, a little jingle that was prevalent in New England in the 80's from the local egg board... "Brown eggs are local eggs, and local eggs are fresh!" The color of an egg's shell is determined by the type of chicken that lays it- I've heard it's related to the color of the chicken, but I don't know if that's true. Either way, the chickens that are hearty enough to survive and produce eggs up north here create lovely brown eggs. I'll admit it, I always buy brown eggs because of that commercial, and New England is the only place in the States where brown eggs regularly out-sell white ones.



So what to do with eggs besides just scrambling them. I wanted something special, something worthy of a great blogging event. I rattled my brain, and came up with a frittata using local brown eggs and Maine potatoes, spiced up with smoked Gouda and bacon. It was quite tasty, and could be modified to add any type of delicious meat or veggie. I will say though, I think I found the recipe for glue- it's shredded Maine potatoes and chopped onion. Dang, that was sticky stuff! I could not for the life of me get the taters crisp, which is a shame, because it would have enhanced the meal. Maybe next time I'll use baked potato shreds rather than raw potatoes. To top the whole thing off, I decorated my plate with Cape Cod dried cranberries for presentation!


Maine Brown Egg Frittata

• 4 Slices Cooked Bacon
  
• 2-3 Maine Potatoes, shred (I recommend cooking whole, then shredding.)
  
• 1 Small Onion, chopped
  
• 6 Eggs
  
• 1/2 C. Sliced Fresh Mushrooms
  
• 1 tsp. Fresh Thyme Leaves
  
• 1 C. Smoked Gouda, shred
  
• Black Pepper to taste

1. Pre heat oven to 400 degrees.
   
2. In a skillet, cook the potato and onion in a little bit of oil, or you can use the same pain you cooked the bacon in. This is what I did, although I poured out most of the grease, so just a thin layer was left.
   
3. Cook the potatoes and onions until the potatoes are crisp. Hopefully you won't end up with a ball of glue like I did!
   
4. Spread potato mixture over the bottom of a pie plate and set aside.
   
5. In a medium bowl, crack all the eggs and scramble. Stir in the mushrooms, thyme, Gouda, and pepper. Crumble in the bacon to the eggs, and stir in. Pour egg mixture over the potatoes in the pie plate.
   
6. Bake in the hot oven for about 20 minutes or until the eggs in the center is solid and set up.

Homegrown Gourmet 5- Maple Blueberry Quick Bread

Yippee for Homegrown Gourmet!

Canela Y Cameno, a great blog from Peru, is hosting round 5 with the theme Quick Breads, and I'm getting in just under the wire. In fact, I've only got one hour to spare as I start typing this! (Note to self- type faster!!!)

As soon as Gretchen Noelle announced Quick Breads as the recipe of choice, I knew exactly what to make- Maple Blueberry Bread. But I was lacking the time to actually do the baking. What can I say, I work well under pressure, and waited til the last day to bake.

I used my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook as the base for this bread, using the Zucchini Bread to get the measurements right. From there, I made this into a Maine recipe. So here in Maine, we have lots of wild blueberries. Did you know blueberries are one of only 4 fruit crops native to North America? And boy are they delicious! Good for you too with tons of antioxidants. My husband and I went blueberry picking this past summer and ended up with a ton of them. I froze a few cups and it was such a delight pulling them out to bake with today after we got 5" of fresh snow!

So I had blueberries. That would have been enough, but I wanted to make this something special. Why not add in another very northen New England food- maple syrup! I love maple- maple syrup, maple butter, maple fudge, maple candy... good stuff. With some local Maine maple syrup laying around not being used, I thought it would be a fantastic touch for my quick bread.

The local ingredients were picked, the recipe chosen, and I was off to the races. This recipe came out really moist and delicious in the loaf I made. Perfect crisp crust, tender moist insides with a nice hint of maple and berries bursting through. The batch was enough for 2 loafs, but I could only find one loaf pan. I used the rest of the batter to make mini muffins. Although these are also tasty, they kind of ended up as mostly crust. I miss the sweet soft interior. But gosh are they fun to pop in your mouth. And it's fun to say- Mini Muffin!

And so I submit my entry for this round. Thanks for hosting Gretchen!



Maple Blueberry Bread
Inspired by Betty Crocker

• 1 C. White Sugar
  
• 2/3 C. Brown Sugar
  
• 4 Eggs
  
• 1/2 C. Vegetable Oil
  
• 1/2 C. Dark Maple Syrup (I let the 1/2 cup overflow quite a bit!)
  
• 3 C. Flour
  
• 2 tsp. Baking Soda
  
• 3/4 tsp. Salt
  
• 1 C. Fresh Blueberries
  
• Syrup to glaze, about 1-2 Tbsp.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom only of 2 loaf pans, or as I did, 1 loaf pan and 1 24 count mini muffin pan.
   
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the sugars, eggs, oil, and maple syrup and blend until smooth.
   
3. Stir in the dry ingredients just until it is evenly moist. You do not want to over beat the batter.
   
4. Gently stir in the berries.
   
5. Pour the batter into your baking pans.
   
6. Bake until the tops are browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. My mini muffins only took about 15 minutes, and I probably could have taken them out at 12. The loaf took just about an hour, maybe a few minutes more. I put foil on the top with 10 minutes to go as it was looking very brown, but the inside was very soggy. 10 minutes later it had set up beautifully and was ready to come out.
   
7. About halfway to 3/4 of the way through cooking, remove the breads from the oven and gently brush the tops with the remaining maple syrup. You can also do this at the end while they are hot, but it does not set up as well, and you get sticky surfaces. Return to oven to finish baking.
   
8. Remove pans from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.
   
9. Gently loosen the bread from the sides of the pan and remove to the wire rack. Allow to cool before trying to slice; too hot and it will crumble apart.

Cherries and Cream Scones

I wrote below about my in-laws family tradition of eating well on Christmas Eve. They are such a great family that they like to carry that sentiment in to Christmas Day too and have a brunch to beat all brunches. Eggs Benedict, mimosas, blood grapefruits, and scones were all on the menu. They had this luxury as they never went anywhere that day and usually stayed in pajamas from dawn til dusk.

Things are not like that in my family. We get up, do presents, throw something down and drive to whomever's house we're visiting or start cleaning up for guests. It's far more frantic. So with marriage blending two lives, the holiday traditions have to meld too.

I don't have the time to do such a nice meal all before I have to be in the shower by 10:30 to be on the road by 11:30 to be to Mom's by 1:30. Eggs Benedict is out. However, I was able to make scones for this year thanks to my lovely boss! She has a fantastic recipe that I think will stick around for many a Christmas morning to come. It is versatile and the cherries can be swapped for currents, raisins, orange zest or any other tasty treat you want to blend in. It is moist and very easy and makes plenty to keep you fed for the week!


Cherries & Cream Scones
From my boss, Leslie

• 2 C. Flour
  
• 1/3 C. Sugar
  
• 1 Tbsp. Baking Powder
  
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
  
• 6 Tbsp. Butter, cut into small pieces
  
• 2/3 C. Dried, Pitted Cherries
  
• 1 C. Heavy Cream
  
• 2 Tbsp. Flour (for rolling out and coating at end)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
   
2. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
   
3. Using a pastry cutter (or maybe a fork?) work in the butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
   
4. Mix in the cherries and cream using a fork to blend. Let the dough stand for 2 minutes.
   
5. Transfer the dough to a board floured with half of the 2 Tbsp. Flour. Press the dough down gently, working it into a flat, 1/2" thick sheet. Dust the remaining flour on the top.
   
6. Cut the scones into triangles or any other shape. Please on a baking sheet, leaving at least 1/2" between each scone.
   
7. Bake for 15 minutes until just golden brown. Remove to a baking rack to cool. Serve plain or with butter and jelly.

Autumn in Paris

Well, it's autumn in Portland and I made myself French toast for breakfast on Sunday! (And before you hear if from my husband all distorted, no, I didn't make any for him. He got up first and I found him eating leftover Thai seafood noodles for breakfast. That was his choice. I couldn't offer my better option in time.)

Anyway, the French toast was nothing out of the ordinary. It's special because I rarely have something as tasty as homemade French toast for breakfast. I wanted to kick it up though, make it something exciting. I have a bunch of apples that I bought with intentions of eating as healthy snacks and are getting ready to go bad.

I opted to make a tasty apple pie inspired, true autumn treat topping. It was really good. I would have even shared!


French Toast with Apple Pie Topping

• 1 Egg
  
• 1/2 C. Milk
  
• Cinnamon
  
• 2 Slices of Bread
  
• 1 Apple
  
• 1 Tbsp. Butter
  
• 1-2 tsp. Cinnamon
  
• 1 tsp. Ground Ginger
  
• 1/4 tsp. Ground Cloves

1. Core, slice, and chop apples into small bite sized pieces.
   
2. In a small saucepan, melt butter on low heat. Add in apples and measured spices.
   
3. Stir apples occasionally and cook on low for about 15 minutes until apples soften and start to break down.
   
4. While apples cook, whisk egg and milk together.
   
5. Heat a small to medium saute pan over medium heat. Dip one slice of bread in the egg mixture, lightly soaking the slice on either side.
   
6. Place slice in hot pan and sprinkle generously with cinnamon. Cook on one side for 3-5 minutes so the egg will set. Flip and cook the other side in the same manner. Repeat with other slice of bread.
   
7. Serve warm with maple syrup (if desired- and who doesn't desire it on french toast?) and warm apple topping piled on top.

3-Day Weekend Breakfast

It's a gray day here in Maine. Not like the lovely brisk Sunday we had yesterday at all! It's kind of chilly and we haven't seen the sun. But it's all ok because it's a 3 day weekend for me and hubby so we have nowhere to go and no obligations! Wa-hoo!

We slept in 'til 8 and once hubby's feet hit the floor, he started talking about making hash browns. I dismissed him with a bunch "Oh yeah, ok, here I go right into the kitchen to do your bidding" and "whatever, go away" retorts. But when I got down into the kitchen, I decided I had nothing better to do for breakfast and it wasn't really hard. So I indulged him- gosh he loves me!

Throwing one potato through the box shredder and frying it up really isn't any effort. And with Adam in charge of scrambled eggs, toast, and the coffee only he drinks, it took no time for a nice meal to come together.

These aren't anything special, but they sure were tasty!


Hash Browns

• 1 Potato, scrubbed & shred
  
• 1/2 Tbsp. Onion Powder
  
• 1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
  
• 1/4 tsp. Chili Powder
  
• Olive Oil
  
• 1 Tbsp. Butter
  
• Salt & Pepper to taste

1. In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
   
2. Add in potato shreds and seasoning. Mix together and then flatten into a pancake type shape to cook.
   
3. As the potatoes cook, slice the butter pat into small pieces/ slivers. Place butter on top of potatoes in the pan. The butter will melt and seep through the crevices.
   
4. When bottom is golden brown, gently slice the hash browns into 4 quarters. Flip to cook top side.
   
5. Be careful not to let the potato cook too much or you will end up with slightly burnt and very crispy hash browns! Serve warm with eggs and toast and with Tabasco available to spice them up!

Blueberry Muffins

4 Pounds of BLUEBERRIES!!! Hubby and I took a lovely drive through scenic Maine to pick blueberries today. Oh, what a beautiful day and the berries were fantastic. But now I've got a plethora of fruit to do something with! First on the list- special breakfast treat of blueberry muffins. Betty Crocker hooked me up with a recipe... we'll see if it's any good tomorrow morning. They sure LOOK and smelled tasty!

*UPDATE* So I ate two muffins this morning (Monday) and they were only mediocre. Disappointing- they really are pretty, and I don't know why they aren't yummier. They are too dense and my husband described them as a little too chewy. They aren't particularly sweet, nor rich- but the berries are delicious! Hubby thinks this is a conspiracy from the Betty Crocker people to make you want to buy their box mixes. The cake recipes haven't been great either... maybe he's on to something...


Blueberry Muffins
Betty Crocker Recipe

• 1/4 C. Vegetable Oil
  
• 1 C. Milk
  
• 1 Egg
  
• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  
• 2 C. Flour
  
• 3 Tsp. Baking Powder
  
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
  
• 1/3 C. Sugar
  
• 1 C. Blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
   
2. In a large bowl, beat together all the wet ingredients; I used the wonderful Kitchen Aid!
   
3. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until everything is just wet. The batter will be lumpy.
   
4. Fold in the blueberries.
   
5. In a muffin tin with paper liners, fill each muffin spot about 2/3 of the way full. (I made 16 muffins with this batch, although they could have been bigger.)
   
6. Cook about 20 minutes until tops are browned. Remove immediately and cool on rack.

Blueberry Banana Crepes with Blueberry Sauce

Sunday mornings are the perfect for over indulging breakfasts- sweet, rich, and complicated! This morning I tried my hand at crepes. They were both delicious and surprisingly simple! I made the blueberry sauce last night based on the No Bake BLueberry Pie filling goo and then whipped everything else up this morning. It was wonderfully decadent!


Blueberry Banana Crepes

Crepes (from AllRecipes.com)

• 2 Eggs
  
• 1/2 C. Milk
  
• 1/2 C. Water
  
• 1 C. Flour
  
• 1/4 Tsp. Salt
  
• 2 Tbsp. Butter, melted

Filling

• 1 Banana, sliced thinly
  
• 1/2 to 1 C. Fresh Blueberries, washed

Blueberry Sauce

• No Bake Blueberry Pie filling goo, Cut in half or less

Whipped Cream

• 1 C. Heavy Cream
  
• 2 Tsp. Confectioners Sugar
  

1. Prepare whipped cream by combining cream and sugar in a bowl. Wisk briskly until cream takes on a solid consistancy, approximately until your wrist falls off. Chill in fridge until ready to serve.
   
2. Prepared crepes. In a medium bowl, wisk together milk, water, and eggs.
   
3. Gently mix in flour and salt. Wisk until batter is smooth.
   
4. Stir in melted butter until well blended.
   
5. On the stovetop, heat a small saute pan over low to medium heat. If using a non-stick pan, no additional preparation is necessary. If using a regular pan, lightly oil the pan to prevent crepes from sticking.
   
6. Using a 1/4 C. measuring spoon, pour a cup full of batter into the heated pan. As pouring, or as soon as batter is poured, swirl the batter around to spread it thin and evenly onto the entire surface of the pan.
   
7. Let crepe cook, browning on one side, about 4 minutes. Be sure the pan is not too hot so as to burn the crepe. When crepe is browned, carefully flip and cook the other side until browned as well.
   
8. While hot, fill crepe down the center with a smattering of sliced bananas and whole blueberries and fold sides around the filling. Drizzle with sauce and top with a dollop whipped cream.