Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts

Saturday, January 26, 2013

asparagus romano fritata

from drop 5 pounds
fritata

zucchini frittata

from extra virgin
fritata even uses zuke blossoms! cool!

Sunday, January 6, 2013

vanilla dutch baby (puffed pancake)

from ten dollar dinners
dutch baby

fritatta with scallions

from extra virgin
I wonder if this technique would work with other fritatta recipes...so far I've had no luck!
fritatta

Saturday, January 5, 2013

healthy french toast

from drop 5 pounds
french toast

Monday, April 2, 2012

Our favorite Granola...so far...

tweaked from a food.com recipe:
4 cups old fashioned oats (sometimes I use a little more

1.5 cup total sliced almonds and pecans and sunflower seeds (or whatever you have on hand)
1/2 cup golden brown sugar , packed
1 cup sweetened coconut
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 small bottle  cracker barrel syrup (I have a ton in my fridge...you can add maple syrup, honey, agave, maybe even molasses or pancake syrup instead)
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups dried fruit of your choice

Directions:
1.Position rack to middle of oven and preheat to 300*.
2.Lightly spray large baking sheet with nonstick spray.
3.Mix next 6 ingredients in large bowl.
4.combine oil, honey and sugar, and syrup in small saucepan; bring to simmer over medium heat.
5.Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
6.Pour hot liquid over oat mixture; stir well.
7.Using hands, toss mixture until thoroughly mixed.
8.Spread granola on prepared baking sheet.
9.Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes (stirring every 10 minutes).
10.Transfer sheet to rack and give it one last stir; cool granola completely.
11 .Add dried fruit.
12. (Can be made two weeks ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)
Makes about 8 cups.

Homemade Yogurt in the slowcooker

I've researched several recipes for homemade yogurt, experimented a tiny bit, and developed a recipe that I like:
you will need
1 crockpot (mine are around 2 1/2-3 quart)
1/2 gallon milk
1/2 cup yogurt with active cultures
1/4 cup powdered milk (to aid in thickening)

pour milk  and powdered milk into crockpot and turn it on low. Set timer for 2 1/2 hours.
When the timer beeps, unplug the crockpot, set timer for 3 hours.
when the timer beeps, scoop approx. 2 cups of the warm milk into a large bowl and mix in 1/2 cup yogurt. I use a wisk to make sure it is mixed well. Then return the milk mixture to crockpot. At this point the recipes suggested wrapping the crockpot in a towel to insulate....I've had awesome luck putting the crockpot in my oven with JUST the light on. Set the timer for 8 hours. When the timer beeps (usually around bedtime around here) I put the crockpot into the fridge to chill. The yogurt is still a bit thin, perfect to use in smoothies, but We like our yogurt pretty thick so the next morning I start straining the yogurt using a colander lined with 2 paper towels. I usually let it strain until dinner time or so. We love this thick yogurt mixed with homemade granola with a healthy squirt of honey.
yields alittle more than 1 quart yogurt,  a little less than 1 quart whey

Helpful hints:
*in order for the yogurt to be done by bedtime (10pm around here) it needs to be started by 8:30 am. However, this means that I can't use my oven in the evening which can be an inconvenience.
*In order for the yogurt to be ready to "culture" overnight, it has to be started by 4:30pm, then put into the lighted  but cool oven at 10 pm and taken out to be chilled around 6am (it can be left in a little longer, it will just be more tangy!)
*obviously, you have to plan ahead and know that you wont be using your oven for dinner if you use it to insulate, so if the oven will be occupied, you can use beach towel insulation method, but when I did that, the yogurt was much looser, and when strained it yielded much less yogurt and much more whey. I think the warmer it is insulated, the more actual yogurt is able to culture.
*there are many websites suggesting what to do with whey (just google it)....I've been diluting it and using it in my garden on acid loving veggies like potatoes and radishes., I've also heard it is awesome to put on blueberries...I'm also trying to get my mom to use it on her hydrangeas for more brilliant color. It is also said it can be used in baking and to wash face and hair too!
*Yogurtcan also be used very nicely as a substitute for sour cream...as long as it isnt cooked....I've tried it as a sub for sour cream in a cheesecake and in beef stroganoff with less than stellar results...but as a sub in dips, or as a condiment, YUM!


Saturday, March 31, 2012

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Saturday, February 11, 2012

semi homemade doughnuts

from cookeville mops blog
doughnuts

Friday, February 10, 2012

uses for whey

I've made 2 batches of homemade yogurt in my slow cooker with pretty good success! I learned to add about a 1/2 cup of powdered milk in order to thicken it up a little bit, and the consistency was great for smoothies, but still too runny for straight up eating for me....so I tried straining it...and was left with some nice thick looking yogurt, and a LOT of whey. I've been researching ways to use whey:
whey cool
livestrong.com's advice
I think it's pretty cool that I could try to make ricotta cheese from it....hm.....might try that. :)

the great granola experiment

I have been experimenting with granola recipes, and found one that I LOVE....but it calls for maple syrup which is EXPENSIVE, and while I am not scared of mixing and matching nuts and dried fruits in a granola recipe, I dont want to mess too much with the sweet/sticky factor....so I am on a search again. here are some of the highest rated recipes I am hoping to try from food.com
crunchy granola
vanilla scented granola
granola
Alton Brown's granola (calls for maple syrup, but just a little, I figure I can sub honey or agave for that small amount)
honey granola

Monday, January 30, 2012

Sunday, January 22, 2012

granola bars

from drop 5 pounds
granola bars