Brocolli & Potato Frittata

I finally got apples and cider!  From Beccari's Farm Market.  I will definitely be going back!  They have the best Apple Cider ever!  They actually call it liquid apple because there is no added sugar (it doesn't need it), no water, and no preservatives.  We finished 1 gallon in less than a week...of course we did have more guests than usual so it wasn't just us drinking it. I plan on making some apple desserts within the next couple of days...so I will probably be posting them on here.  Fall is delicious!

I also bought myself a bag of Chex Mix when I was at the grocery store last Sunday...a moment of weakness.  I thought John and I would share it...but he wasn't as interested in it as me, or maybe I just didn't give him a chance to eat it...who knows.  The bag lasted about 5 days so that's not to bad is it?  So with my Chex Mix in one hand and my hot apple cider in the other, I was a happy girl.

But Chex Mix and Apple Cider weren't the only things I ate last week, of course.  I found this frittata in the November 2011 issue of EveryDay with Rachael Ray and adapted it just a little.  It was pretty delicious.  I've never thought to add potatoes to eggs before but it turned out well.  This can work for dinner, breakfast, brunch, or lunch so it's pretty versatile.

Brocolli & Potato Frittata

-Olive oil or coconut oil (I've been using this a lot recently because I got a jar while in amish country)
-2 white potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces 
-4 cloves garlic minced
-1/2 small onion
-2 cups broccoli florets
-4 whole eggs and 4 egg whites
-1 half c skim milk
-4 oz. pepperjack cheese
-salt and pepper

Heat oil in a skillet (preferably a cast iron that has been well seasoned).

Add the potatoes and onions and cook, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking until potatoes are tender.  About 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add a little more oil to pan.  Add garlic and broccoli.  Season with salt and pepper and cook until broccoli is tender.

Return the potatoes to the pan and smooth the veggies into an even layer.

Put rack in oven on the very top and preheat broiler.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, cheese, salt and pepper.  Pour over the potatoes and broccoli.  Cook until the eggs are set around the edges but still wet on top.  Then broil until just set and starting to brown a little on top-about 4 minutes.

Slice and serve.  Can be served with a variety of different side dishes depending on what meal it is for, or just alone.  It has most of the food groups in it already.

whole wheat "healthy" cinnamon buns

So I love cinnamon buns.  A lot.  And this morning, while thinking of ideas to make for breakfast, I thought to myself, I have one more packet of yeast left soooo....I searched for "healthy" cinnamon bun recipes.  I found several and kinda mixed and matched them.  The result was delicious.  And I mean come one, it's Sunday, I'll eat healthy tomorrow.  Besides, Friday we went on a mountain bike expedition in the afternoon, and in the evening we rode our bikes downtown for dinner, then Saturday went on a killer hike.  And although we had ice cream and Pizza last night, well I think we warrant this cinnamon bun breakfast.

As a side not to the above picture, I have a problem when it comes to eating...I just can't wait to eat so I forget to take a picture until I am done.  Resulting in a more than half eaten pan of cinnamon rolls....oooh well.

Whole Wheat "Healthy" Cinnamon Buns

Dough:

-1 c skim milk
-1 packet yeast
-2 c whole wheat flour plus more for kneading and rolling
-2 tsp baking powder

-1/4 c sugar or honey (I used a little sugar, a little honey)
-1/4 tsp salt
-several shakes of cinnamon
-4 tbsp applesauce

Put the skim milk in the microwave for 30 seconds to a minute, until warm.  Add yeast packet and stir (Note: Do not smell this mixture unless you want to gag.  I made the mistake....) Let sit for several minutes while you combine the other ingredients.

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cinnamon together.  Add yeast mixture, then applesauce.  Combine until formed into a ball (I used my KitchenAid stand mixer with the hook mixing fixture.)

Set on Floured surface and knead a few times, then roll it out until it is about 1/4 inch thick.

Filling:

-2 tbsp butter
-4 tbsp brown sugar or other (I used organic sugar, evaporated cane juice..that's what I use a lot as my white sugar substitute)
-2 tsps cinnamon (I hate measuring cinnamon so I just shook it a lot and made sure it was covering the dough

Melt bummer, pour over dough and spread so it evenly covers it with a spatula.  sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.  Roll into a log, and cut (about 1 inch) place in pan (I used an 8x8 but it was a little to small I had Enough to fill a small pyrex bowl with 5 small cinnamon buns,  You might want to use the next size up)

And here's the rising deal,  I didn't look up this recipe until the morning I wanted to eat them so I didn't have a lot of time or patience to let them rise.  If you make these the night before, you can cover them and put in the refrigerator overnight.  But if you make them the morning of, turn your oven to 200 for about 2 minutes, then turn it off.  Put cinnamon buns in the warm oven for 30 minutes or so, and TADA! they have risen.

Then, preheat your oven to 350 degrees (After you have taken the risen cinnamon buns out) if you refrigerated overnight bake for 20 minutes, if the cinnamon rolls are still warmish, bake for 15 minutes.  You do not want to overcook your cinnamon rolls or they will be very dry.

Icing:

-2 Tbsp butter
-1 tbsp milk
-1/4 tsp vanilla
-Enough powdered sugar to get it to the consistency you want

Mix all ingredients together.

After taking cinnamon rolls out of the over, pour mixture over top.  Let cool for a couple of minutes then enjoy!

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

When John and I first got married he was all about Pop tarts and corn syrup laden chewy granola bars (chocolate chip of course).  This made a little bit of sense because he was always eating his breakfast on the go and needed something quick to grab.  Now I have to admit, although I rarely (and I mean very very rare) eat them, I do love myself a good brown sugar cinnamon pop tart.  There's just something about them.  I need to find a recipe for a homemade poptart...I hear they make them at Vanilla Pastry Studio and they are absolutely delicious.  However, I haven't tried them myself.

But anyway,  I wanted to come up with healthy alternatives to grabbing these easy prepackaged, extremely processed breakfast foods.  So our freezer is constantly stocked with homemade Muffins, and these granola bars for John to grab on his way out the door.  It all lasts about a month, and can move them out of the freezer the night before so they are ready to eat in the morning.  Now John says he will never eat a Pop tart again...we'll see.

After looking at several recipes for chewy granola bars, I kinda added different parts of each together and added my own touches, and came up with these:

Chewy Granola Bars

-3 c rolled oats
-1/2 c oat bran
-1/4 c ground flax seed
-3 scoops chocolate protein powder (you can omit this, I just add it for John's sake)
-1/4 c butter
-3 big spoonfuls applesauce
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 tbsp canola oil
-1/4-1/2 c sunflower kernels
-1/4-1/2 c almonds
-1 c chocolate chips
-1 c raisins
-enough honey that it all sticks together and is no longer dry (about 1/2 cup)

Mix all ingredients together.  stir well.  Press into a greased 9x13 pan and bake for 10 minutes at 325 degrees.  After ten minutes take out, cover with wax paper, put two hot pads on top and press it down.

 Remove wax paper and hot pads and bake for 10 more minutes.  Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, cut into squares, and cool completely before removing granola bars.

When it comes to the nuts, raisins, and chocolate chips, you can really add whatever you want.  Omit the chocolate chips and add another dried fruit to make it healthier.  Omit the buts all together or try different kinds.  The possibilities are endless.

Crustless Quiche

 I don't make quiche very often but whenever we go to a potluck breakfast or something of the sorts it is a nice thing to bring..to get away from all of the sweet bread products that seem to be very popular.

I have made this recipe several times now and each time it is delicious:

 Crustless Broccoli and Cheese Quiche

Sometimes I add Spinach with the Broccoli, and that is also really good.  I also don't use swiss cheese.  The most recent time I made it with a Mexican cheese blend, and pepper jack and it was delicious.

Crepes

We had overnight guests from out of town, so I wanted to make a good breakfast.  This is what I found...although I forget where I found it...

1 c flour (It says all purpose, but I always use whole wheat for everything and it still tastes good)
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 c milk
4 large eggs
3 tbsp butter

Combine all ingredients in a blender.  Let sit for 10 minutes.  Then pour better into pan and flip like pancakes.


I probably made them thicker than they should be, but they still tasted delicious.

There are so many ways you can top them.

Here is what we did:

-Sour cream, strawberries, and brown sugar (sounds weird..but it's delicious.  Got this idea from 'Pamela's Diner' in Pittsburgh)

-Blueberries and maple syrup

-Nutella and banana