breakfast | What's Annie Making?

Toasted Pecan & Cranberry Steel Cut Oats and a giveaway!

25 February, 2013 1 Comment

Breakfast and I have a unique relationship. I always have to have it, but I don’t always have time for it.

I’ve talked [too] many times in the past on here about quick breakfasts, muffins, bars… I’ve also given you extravagant options like quiche… Smoothies also have a way of making it into the breakfast rotation… And now here I go with oats.

Call me breakfast indecisive?

I just like all breakfast foods (except sausage – yuck!) And I can’t stand to eat the same thing too many days in a row.

Or maybe it’s just that muffins are easier to grab on the way out the door on days when I need to spend ages blow drying my hair. And I have time for oats on days when I use dry shampoo. Yes, yes that’s it for sure. The joys of a morning commute. It’s a miracle my pants are on right side out some days.

Anyhow, last week before I got sick, I made these oats. I’ve been using the “whipped oats” technique for a few years now after seeing it everywhere on the blogosphere. If you’re new to whipped oats, you basically just whip thin slices of banana and chia seeds into oats just before they’re done cooking. The result is a really creamy bowl of oatey goodness. If you don’t have chia seeds, that’s fine. But they do help to create the texture, as well as add healthy fats to your bowl.

I also prefer to use irish or steel cut oats. Also a texture thing. I like my oats to have a little chew/bite to them. If you prefer rolled oats, that’s great too! Just don’t use instant oats. I’m not positive, but you’d likely end up with a big pile of oatey mush. Nobody liked mush.

So oats for breakfast it is.

Oh yeah, and they’re more fun to eat from a mug. Just sayin’.

Also, just to pump up your Monday morning – my friend Alyssa over at Gluten Free Muse is hosting a giveaway right now. She will be giving away a free magazine subscription for a year of your choice to NINE!!!!! lucky readers. Bonus, if you use an e-reader they have options for that too. Hop on over to Alyssa’s site to sign up. Ihopeiwin.Ihopeiwin.Ihopeiwin.

Toasted Pecan and Cranberry Steel Cut Oats

by Annie S

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients (2 servings)

1 t coconut oil (or other neutral tasting oil)
1/2 c raw pecans, roughly chopped
1 1/3 c steel cut or irish oats
1 1/3 c water
1 c milk (I used vanilla almond milk)
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t cloves
1 banana, sliced thin
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 T chia seeds (optional, but recommended)
1 1/2 T brown sugar
1/4 c dried cranberries

Instructions

Heat coconut oil in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat

Add chopped pecans, toast the nuts 2-3 minutes until golden brown and fragrant

Add oats, water and milk, reduce heat to medium

Cook 4-5 minutes until water and milk are reduced and the oats are bubbling

Stir in spices, banana, vanilla and chia seeds

Whip mixture until the banana is “melted” and the oats are thick

Stir in brown sugar and cranberries

Serve immediately

Filed Under: breakfast, oats

Brussels Sprouts Bleu Cheese Quiche

20 February, 2013 3 Comments

Fact – as of 3 hours ago I had over dozen eggs in my fridge.

Fact #2 – I now have just over 1 dozen eggs in my fridge.

Fact #3 – I need to start making a list of what I need before Costco shopping trips.

We’ve been doing most of our grocery shopping at Costco these days. I pretty much have the necessities of what I cook with on a regular basis down to things that I can buy there. I also am usually pretty good about not buying something in bulk that I know we won’t eat before it goes bad. I’ve learned my lessons about buying 3 giant hothouse cucumbers. I buy bananas and wait for them to go “bad” so that I can bake with them. And those peanut butter filled pretzels don’t stand a chance here.

But last week I had an egg fail. I usually buy the 18 pack of organic free range brown eggs because it’s a good deal and I end up baking and cooking with them so much. For some reason I thought I was out, turns out I was not. Not even close…

So when I looked in the fridge wondering what I could put together for dinner tonight, all I could see were the eggs! Now I’m not above eating breakfast for dinner. It’s pretty fantastic actually. But I wasn’t really feeling plain scrambled eggs this time. Then I remembered I had a pre-made frozen pie crust from Trader Joe’s. And this little quiche baby was born.

I know that it looks like a lot of steps, but this dish is super simple. We enjoyed it with a side salad with balsamic for a full meal.

This would also make a perfect breakfast (quiche reheats great!), brunch, or lunch. I can’t think of too many meals (besides a peanut butter sandwich) that can say that.

And it’s just different and elegant enough to make a weeknight dinner feel special.

As a side note – Trader Joe’s pie crust is amazing and so easy to use, but if you are feeling adventurous and want to make your own, the crust from this pie is great!

Question of the day -

Do you buy food in bulk?

What’s your favorite “brinner” recipe? (aka – breakfast for dinner)

Brussels Sprouts Bleu Cheese Quiche

by Annie S

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients (1 12 inch quiche)

1 prepared pie crust
3 green onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 lb cleaned and trimmed brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
8 eggs
1/2 c low fat milk
1/3 c plain, non fat greek yogurt
1/3 c bleu cheese crumbles
1/3 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 t sea salt
1/4 t cayenne pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Meanwhile, heat a small skillet on the stove, spray with olive oil

Saute green onions and garlic over medium heat 1-2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant

Add brussels sprouts, saute 4-5 minutes until sprouts are softened

Remove skillet from heat

Gently roll pie crust into a 12 inch pie plate, use a sharp knife to remove rough edges

Crimp edges with the tines of a fork, poke holes into the center of the crust

Bake crust for 5 minutes, remove from oven and spread the brussels sprouts mixture into the prepared crust

Combine eggs, milk, yogurt, salt and cayenne pepper in a large mixing bowl, whisk well

Stir in cheeses

Pour egg mixture over the brussels sprouts

Carefully move into the oven

Bake for 35-40 minutes until the eggs are completely set

Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes before slicing and serving

Enjoy!

Filed Under: breakfast, dinner, lunch, vegetarian

Double Berry White Chocolate Whole Grain Muffins

14 February, 2013 3 Comments

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! I hope you all have a special someone (spouse, significant other, friend, family, dog, cat, hamster…) to celebrate with. I’ve never really made Valentine’s Day into a huge deal, but I love doing a few little things to let people know that I care about them.

Josh and I are actually planning on celebrating this weekend so we have more time to enjoy each other without homework looming in the background. I want to be able to prepare a nice meal and not be rushed. I’m not 100% sure what it’s going to include yet. I made salmon last year so I want to do something a little different. I do know that I’m going to attempt creme brûlée. Josh had it for the first time on our honeymoon and fell in love. We had to go back and get it a few more nights when we were in Mexico.

Anyhow, I still want to celebrate a little bit today. Starting with some tasty muffins.

Not just any muffins, but double berry white chocolate whole grain muffins. Side note: I’m super tired of typing that whole title already. Why do the muffins have to be called something so long?!?!?

Yes, muffins. The long title is very deserved. These little babies are made with whole wheat and spelt flour, tons of berries and greek yogurt. And the best part, they are just as good as their refined sugar, white flour, butter laden cousins. There is a time and a place for those things, but not for breakfast in a month that celebrates hearts.

The mashed strawberries in these turn the muffins a pretty pink color and the fresh chopped berries burst in your mouth. The yogurt and spelt flour also amp up the protein!

I think I have a new favorite muffin recipe.

So what about you? What are your Valentine’s Day plans? Any recipes I should think about for the weekend?

Double Berry White Chocolate Whole Grain Muffins

by Annie S

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients (12 muffins)

1 c whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 c spelt flour
1 t baking powder
3/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 c pure cane sugar
1/8 c honey
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1 egg
2 1/2 t canola oil
1/2 c mashed strawberries
1/4 c nonfat plain greek yogurt
1/4 c chopped strawberries (about 4 large strawberries)
1/3 c chopped raspberries (about 6-8 raspberries)
1/4 c white chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl

Mix sugar, honey, mashed strawberries, egg, canola oil, vanilla and yogurt in a bowl

Add wet to dry, stirring until just combined

Stir in berries and white chocolate chips

Scoop into muffin pan that’s been sprayed with cooking spray, or lined with muffin tins (I used an ice cream scoop to do this)

Sprinkle with sanding sugar if desired

Bake 20 minutes, until top is golden brown

Enjoy!!!

Filed Under: baking, breakfast, muffins, quick

Coffee Greek Yogurt with Dark Chocolate Chips

5 February, 2013 2 Comments

Happy Tuesday!!!! Sorry for ditching you all yesterday, my weekend was extra busy and extra fun because my parents came down and stayed with us. We did lots of shopping, eating, puppy playing, and football watching. That left little time for blog writing, but I assure you I was thinking about you all the whole time.

Today’s recipe is something that I’ve been wanting to share with you since the idea popped into my head weeks ago, but I wanted to perfect it first.

It all started on a trip to Target (like most good ideas do). I was perusing the grocery section and saw these little gems with a “new” sticker by them. I’m a sucker for anything new. Gotta try it at least once. Too bad I had just bought 2 family size containers of plain 0% Fage. And too bad it was close to $4 for 3 tiny cups. Now I LOVE greek yogurt, but that’s a little ridiculous even for me. So I passed up the newness, thinking I would buy them some time they went on sale and I didn’t have a boat-load of other yogurt already in the fridge.

Then as I was driving home it hit me. I could make my own fancy schmancy yogurt bites. Normally I add vanilla stevia drops and fruit to it (which is delicious). But how hard could it be to make coffee flavored yogurt?

Turns out, not hard at all. Granted I haven’t tried the Chobani real version yet, but I think this stuff is pretty darn tasty. I just added my normal vanilla stevia drops to the yogurt, stirred it up. Then added some Starbucks Via powder and stirred that until it dissolved. And topped it with a few dark chocolate chips.

Via powder is basically really finely ground coffee that dissolves in water (or yogurt). You could also substitute espresso powder or any other instant coffee if you have that. I had some leftover Via from baking at Christmas and it worked perfect. It added the coffee flavor I was looking for, without watering the yogurt down. The best part is that you can control the sweetness by adjusting the amount of Stevia, and the level of coffee flavor by adding more or less of that.

I’m sure the Chobani is great, but I think I’d rather make my own, save a bit of money and be able to make it extra coffee-ee if I want

Coffee Greek Yogurt with Dark Chocolate Chips

by Annie S

Prep Time: 1 minute

Keywords: breakfast dessert snack high protein greek yogurt

Ingredients (1/2 cup)

1/2 c plain 0% greek yogurt
1/2 t vanilla stevia drops (or sugar to taste and a dash of vanilla extract)
1 t. instant coffee powder
a few dark chocolate chips

Instructions

Add stevia drops to yogurt

Mix well with a spoon

Add coffee, stir until dissolved

Top with chocolate chips

Filed Under: breakfast, quick

Toasted Pecan & Cranberry Steel Cut Oats and a giveaway!

Brussels Sprouts Bleu Cheese Quiche

Double Berry White Chocolate Whole Grain Muffins

Coffee Greek Yogurt with Dark Chocolate Chips

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