21

Jun

A Perfect Breakfast


It’s 1:23 in the p.m., and I just had the most amazing breakfast. Yes, I’ve been up for many hours (okay, several because I worked late last night)–reading for class, working out, cleaning up a bowl I broke–which was also full of boiling hot oatmeal–and reading some more.

So my most perfect breakfast did not involve a single drop of syrup, not a mile-high stack of Breakfast Klub pancakes and no applewood smoked bacon…a shocker to all of my family and friends! I had homemade oatmeal sprinkled with slightly sweet raspberry granola, topped with perfectly ripe raspberries for the finish. It was simple, healthy and filling. It’s nice to know that someone like me, with a HUGE sweetooth, can enjoy this not-so-sugary treat.

MOVING ON>>>


Dinner 2 nights ago…big salad, lots of veggies…
when you regularly buy produce (& intentionally
spend more than 2 minutes in the produce section
at the grocery store, not just in and out with bananas
and a couple of baking potatoes!), you tend to
incorporate it into whatever you’re doing.
Now I didn’t PLAN to make a salad that night…I just
asked Matt to pick up some lettuce when he got the pork
tenderloin and -voila!- I had all of the other “salad stuff”
in our fridge…cucumber, radishes, carrots, tomatoes,
black olives, feta cheese, a homemade balsamic
vinagrette. I was fixing a healthy salad/meal and using
stuff I already had (being thrifty, always good). Try it!


Matt’s delicioso pork tenderloin, some mashed
potatoes with kick, and the salad was my
main course. Soo tasty!!

THE NIGHT BEFORE>>>

I had to be at work at 5p, so I made this sauce
beforehand. Matt always makes our pasta sauces,
but it was my turn this time. Of course, since I’m
more of a veggie lover than a carnivore (and my
stomach reminds me through pain when that
triple cheeseburger is in sight), tons of veggies
were chopped in…

Green bell peppers, onions, zucchini, carrots,
edamame…(everything but the kitchen sink and
–once again–using whatever produce I have
lying around in the crisper).

Then came the simmering sauces with ground turkey,
canned and fresh tomatoes and LOTS of spices.

Simmering for almost 2 hours…

and, by that point, I was impatient and just topped
the sauce on a piece of whole wheat toast. Who knew that I wouldn’t even miss the pasta? So that’s all for now. Once I get pics back, I’ll post my parents’ 30th Anniversary Dinner. It was so much fun! Adios!

~Laurel~

16 years ago Short URL

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11

Apr

Pizza and Scones

Tonight involved a couple of fun recipes. Matt & I made a homemade pizza (how have I never made a crust from scratch before?)…the crust wasn’t super pretty, but the pizza was DELICIOUS! I give Matt the credit. We made it up as we went (including the crust), and it turned out well. Who needs a cookbook, anyway? (Haha, I DO!!!! And I inherited the love of cookbooks from my mom and grandmother, so it only comes naturally, right?)

Here are the ingredients:

Mattycake, mattycake, baker’s man…whole wheat crust,

Gigantor pepperoni, shredded mozz/asiago/parm, and Red/Green/Yellow bell peppers…Ole!,

Black olives,

FRESH rosemary,

Some garlic,

A little more mozz,

and BAM! Pizza! (425 in the oven for 15 min.)

If we left off that second layer of cheese, this would’ve been low fat. But with the whole wheat crust (made only with water, yeast, salt and olive oil–no butter), the fresh veggies and herbs, it turned out to be a pretty healthy meal.
(Of course, I forgot to make the salad…maybe tomorrow night.)

NOW ON TO THE SCONES…

I am a self-proclaimed lover of all things baked and sweet. I can’t help it, my sweet tooth has progressed to my head, limbs, and is quickly reaching my pinky toes. I try to contain it, but sometimes the only way to express my love for buttery, sugary confections is to bake it out.

These One-Eyed Blackberry Scones were based on Tyler Florence’s Orange Glazed Blueberry Scones, but I completely changed it up! So, while I give Tyler thanks for the inspiration, I received a grade of an “F” for following his recipe and an “A” for creativity and making my own up. (Ha, well, I tried at least.)

1 1/2 cups of wheat flour
1/2 cup of all-purpose white flour
1/2 t. salt
1 T baking powder
1/3 c sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 t almond extract
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 c unsalted butter (1 stick, cut with pastry blender)
3/4 cup half and half (or coffee creamer)
1 egg
1 carton blackberries

Combine dry ingredients and extract in bowl, while combining butter and egg in 2nd bowl. Combine wet ingredients into dry ingredients, but not overmixing the dough.
Roll the blackberries in additional 2 T of flour; this keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the scone when baking. Roll into 2 T-increments and bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees.
Enjoy!



~Laurel~

16 years ago Short URL

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