Category — Breakfast

Strawberries are a delicious way to add more antioxidants and fiber to your diet.  According to the California Strawberry Commission, a serving of strawberries, just 8 berries, contains more vitamin C than an orange, and 2 grams of fiber!  What’s even better, is that a cup of strawberries contains just 50 calories.

I’ve found that the best and fastest way to get my daily intake of fruits and veggies is to make a power-packed morning smoothie. Here’s a strawberry smoothie recipe to get you started.  It also contains blueberries–another superfood!

Strawberry & Blueberry Smoothie

• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 banana, peeled
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 1 individual size container of yogurt

Combine all ingredients in a blender, or smoothie maker, and blend until mixture reaches desired consistency.  To add a little zip, replace some of the milk with orange juice.  Yogurt can be any flavor, depending on what you like.  I’ve also added a handful of uncooked quick oats to this recipe for increasing my whole grain intake.

I’ve just added this great new toaster to my most wanted kitchen gadgets list.   The Back to Basics Egg ‘N Muffin Toaster will toast a muffin, and poach an egg…at the same time.  I see 3 big benefits here.  First, there’s no skillet or egg poacher to wash.  Second, I think older kids could do this themselves. Third, it’s faster than doing things separately.

The Back to Basics egg and muffin toaster makes a muffin (and egg) in 4 minutes.  There are switches to turn off the toaster or the poacher if you just want to use one feature.   The toaster will also hard boil up to 4 eggs at one time, and it shuts off automatically.  I found the egg and muffin toaster combo at In Cooking.

If you’re trying to turn back the hands of time, you may want to give blueberries a try.  These plump and royal-hued berries should be considered little gems when it comes to maintaining a youthful appearance and good nutrition.

Here are just a few of the health benefits of eating blueberries:

• Blueberries contain more antioxidants than any other fruit.   Eating blueberries wards off cancers and heart disease because of their high concentration of anthocyanin.
• Blueberries slow the aging process, preserve eyesight, and help us stay mentally alert.
• Blueberries prevent urinary tract infections.

Here’s a recipe that will help you add blueberries to your diet!

Banana Blueberry Bran Muffins

• 4 ripe bananas, pureed in blender or food processor
• 1 package frozen blueberries
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 eggs
• 3 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups oat bran
• 1 quart of buttermilk (see below for substitute info)
• 4 cups Kellogg’s All Bran cereal
• 2 1/2 cups flour

In a large mixing bowl, combine bananas, blueberries, walnuts, eggs, baking soda, sugar, vanilla, and oat bran until coarsely blended.  Then, add buttermilk, cereal, and flour.  Stir until thoroughly mixed.  Fill muffin pans 2/3 full and bake at 375 degrees F for approximately 30 minutes.

No buttermilk?  You can make your own buttermilk substitute in 5 minutes.  To make 1 cup of buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a measuring cup.  Then fill to the one cup line with regular milk.  Gently stir, then set aside for 5 minutes before using.  The muffin recipe above requires 1 quart (4 cups) of buttermilk, so you’ll need to do this four times, or quadruple the recipe.

Here are many more blueberry recipes.

Sunday morning breakfast is a big tradition in our family, so I’m always looking for weekend breakfast recipes that are delicious and convenient.  This breakfast casserole recipe has to be my all-time favorite because you prepare it the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.  It feeds a crowd, too.  Plan on leftovers, or you can cut the recipe in half.

• 12 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 lb of sausage, bacon, or ham (fully-cooked and drained)
• 9 rectangular hash brown patties, frozen
• 1 cup of milk
• 2 cups of grated cheese (I like cheddar)
• Chopped onions, mushrooms, or spinach to taste (optional)

Use a wire whisk to gently blend the milk and beaten eggs in a large mixing bowl.  Spray a 13X9 baking dish, or stoneware baking crock with non-stick spray. Line the bottom of the dish with frozen hash brown patties.  Place cooked and drained meat over hash brown patties.  Place vegetables over meat.  Gently add egg and milk mixture to the casserole dish, taking care not to mess up the layers.  Sprinkle cheese over the top.  Cover with foil, and place in fridge overnight.

To bake:  Remove foil, and bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes, or until center is set.

Just a thought- this one doesn’t have to be just for breakfast.  I’ve been known to whip this up in the morning, and cook it for dinner.

Don’t forget about breakfast when it comes to finding Halloween recipes.  Nothing tastes better than warm pancakes in the fall, and there are plenty of creative twists for turning pancakes into real Halloween treats. The pancakes above were made using these Halloween pancake molds by Williams-Sonoma.

Here are some ideas for a fun Halloween breakfast:

Add some color:  Some natural orange food coloring would turn any pancake into a jolly Halloween pumpkin. If you don’t have pancake molds, you could add some eyes, a nose and a mouth using apple or orange slices.

Add more shapes:  Open-top Halloween cookie cutters (metal only) would work for making pancake bats, ghosts, or any other shape.  Spray them with non-stick spray before placing on your griddle or skillet, and remove just before flipping.

Here’s a recipe for apple pecan pancake batter to give your pancakes real autumn flavor:

Boo Berry, Count Chocula and Franken Berry cereals always seem to be more present on store shelves around Halloween, but perhaps the scariest thing about these cereals is their ridiculously high sugar and preservative content.  Still, I really loved those cereals growing up and I always get nostalgic when I see the boxes in stores around this time of year.  In honor of my affection for the super sugary Halloween treats of Boo Berry, Count Chocula and Franken Berry cereals, here is a classic commercial:

Out of these three breakfast sweets, which is your favorite? Pancakes, waffles, or French toast?

For me that depends on who makes it. When I’m at a restaurant I think the best bet is pancakes - the least likely to be screwed up. Waffles is a good choice when eating out as well if you can see they have a waffle machine and are making them fresh. But I’ve learned never to order French toast at a restaurant. Why? Because it’s just not like I make it at home.

I’ve been disappointed so many times at restaurants when I’ve ordered French toast. Either it’s soggy, or eggy, or not cooked thoroughly or the bread is lame. When making French toast the first thing you need to think about is the bread. For me, marrying a Jew sealed my selection. It was tradition in his family to buy Challah for Friday night shabot and use the left overs for French toast on Saturday morning. Since I discovered what amazingly superior French toast Challah makes, I buy the loaf on Friday, skip the sadar, and use the whole thing for Saturday morning delight.

Take it from me, you don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy this recipe, but you might get addicted to the tradition once you try it. You will need:

• one loaf Challah (pronounced “holla”) Most grocery stores that have bakeries bake this bread on Friday
• three eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• butter
• maple syrup
• berries (optional)

Cut the Challah into 3/4 inch slices. Beat the eggs and milk together. Heat a tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Dip a slice of bread into the egg mixture, thoroughly covering one side, then the other. Caution: do not leave the bread soaking. If it gets too soggy it’s to hard to cook all the way through. Put the slice of bread on the skillet. Cook one side until golden, add more butter and cook the other side. Eat immediately or keep warm in the oven. Serve with berries and real maple syrup.

The most typical excess in any summer garden is zucchini. At this time of year, you should be able to get your hands on some fresh, home grown zucchini for very little or even for free if you have nice neighbors. Here’s a recipe for how to use up that extra goodness in a delicious, unusual way. You can make this as a cake in a 9 x 13 inch pan if you prefer. You will need:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups grated zucchini - takes about three medium-sized zucchinis
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup currants

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease and flour muffin tins or cake pan. Wash the zucchini, cut off the stems and grate in a food processor.

In a medium size bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar and salt. Mix thoroughly.

In another bowl beat eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla together. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix well. Stir in the shredded zucchini, walnuts and currants. Pour into the prepared pans.

Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. If fork comes out clean when poked in the center, take out to cool. If not, keep baking. Could take up to an hour to bake thoroughly if made in a 9 x 13 pan.

Feel free to experiment with this recipe. You could add coconut, cranberries or raisins or even try it with fresh fruit like blueberries. You also may try a topping like coffee cake crumble or icing. I tried it with a lightly sweetened cream cheese frosting which was good but my husband prefered it without saying it was “like taking a beautiful country road and putting a McDonald’s on it.” Simple sometimes is better and I plan to have my next muffin with a cup of Earl Grey and maybe the slightest bit of butter.