Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Lady Food: It's Brinner time!

Nothing beats coming home from a long day at work and diving into a pile of syrupy flapjacks, am I right ladies? Course if you're like me you might get a little hung up on the massive amounts of calories in those pancakes, then theres the bacon....and the eggs. The last thing I want is to feel like I'm missing out on my favorite brinner treats, so I have come up with some great alternatives to the traditional oil fried elements we encounter when making breakfast for dinner.

The Hash Browns: 
2-3 washed and peeled potatoes
1 onion
2 peppers, one green and one red.
a pinch of salt and pepper, and some extra virgin olive oil, or cooking spray.

I think most people only know hash browns as those ice crystal coated shreds we plop into a pan of oil and cover with ketchup. I'm about to rock your world though, cause you know what? They are actually potatoes. So get yourself out of the freezer aisle and grab some fresh potatoes (I like the red ones), an onion and some red and green peppers. It's super easy to make your own hash browns at home, and adding flavor elements like onion and pepper will cut down the amount of salt and sauce you put on them.
1. Take 2-3 peeled potatoes and a cheese grater and start shredding! It's quick work and when you're done you should have a mound of shreds which you will notice, are quite moist.
2. Using cheesecloth or some double layered thick paper towels, load your mound of potatoes shreds onto the cloth and bundle it up and give it a squeeze. You want to squeeze out as much of the starchy water as possible.
3. Using a fine grater, shred in some small bits of onion and red and green peppers. Size matters here because if the bits are too big they won't cook as evenly as the potatoes. I like to put in a quarter cup of peppers and onion for every 2 cups of potatoes.
4. Mix your potatoes shreds with your onions and pepper bits and drop them into a pan that has been lightly greased and is at a medium heat. Let your hash browns cook for about 7 minutes, then flip them and season lightly with some salt and black pepper. Let them cook on the other side for another 7 minutes. They should be golden brown when you plop them on your plate!

Let's Talk Bacon:
My husband loves thick cut, peppery slabs of bacon with his brinner. I just can't stand it. The good news is there are so many great substitutes for bacon now!! My personal favorite is turkey bacon! Sure the sodium levels aren't that much better but turkey bacon has less fat and it's just as satisfying. You can buy it thick cut, thin cut, and peppered. I prefer the flavor because it's not nearly as greasy and crisps up to perfection.
Then we have the meatless options. I'm not gonna lie, I love the Morningstar farms bacon substitutes. These strips are smokey and crunchy and tasty. They also make sausage patties and crumbles which are great for a breakfast burrito or throwing into a quiche.
If you want to take it a step further, forget the bacon and make yourself some smoked salmon or a nice piece of lean ham. Both go great with hash browns and eggs.

Meet your new best friend: The Crepe
So when it comes to the breakfast carb we have so many options. The pancake, the waffle, the biscuit and good old french toast. All tasty, but so heavy. Well I want to introduce you to one of my personal favorites that will leave you feeling full and satisfied without feeling yucky.
Crepes are airy and easy to whip up. They cook quick and you probably have these ingredients already in the pantry. I like to fill mine with fresh fruit, or a sprinkle of sugar and a squirt of lemon juice. You can also smear on some jelly or even a bit of peanut butter.
To whip up your crepes you're going to need:

1 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp. melted butter

Whip your eggs and flour together while adding in your water and milk. Finish off with the salt and melted butter. As always, resist the urge to over mix! You will want to heat your medium sized frying pan over medium heat and grease it ever so lightly.
Drop a 1/4 cup of batter into your pan and start to tilt and swirl gently so that the batter coats the surface evenly. Let it cook for 2 minutes, then flip and let the other side cook. Fill with fruit, roll them up and snack away! 




Well ladies I wish you the best on your brinner adventures! 

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Sunday Muffins, Nanner style.

The weekend is always reserved for baking in my house, especially since I hit the jackpot and started taking home the over-ripe bananas from work.

These "nanner muffins" are just about the only breakfast baked good that will make my husband forget about those stupid preservative pumped hockey pucks from Costco. This recipe will actually work as a bread, or in a mini-loaf pan. I do the muffins cause they are easy to pack up and they freeze pretty well.

You'll want to pre-heat your over to 375 and either grease you pans or line them with muffin papers.

Mix the following dry goods together in a small bowl:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking powder 
1/8 tsp nutmeg 

Meanwhile, in a large bowl you will want to blend the following:
3-5 bananas, mashed
3/4 white sugar 
1 egg, lightly beaten 
1/3 cup butter, softened or melted. 
1 tsp. vanilla 

Once you have your wet ingredients all set, you can incorporate the dry mixture in. Stir until just incorporated. No need to over blend!

I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to drop my batter into my muffin pans. Make sure you leave a little room on top for the crumb toping.

I always put a little crumb topping on my muffins. it bakes into the top and gives it a spicy sweet crunch but won't fall off all over the place when you try to eat them.

For the crumb, mix these dry ingredients together:
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp flour 
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice 
Cut 1 tbsp. cold butter in using a fork. Keep mashing until it's course and crumbly then top the muffins with it. 

Throw those babies in the oven and check'em in 18-20. The crumb should be melted and the muffin golden brown. Use the old toothpick trick if your not sure if there done yet.

Make sure you have a cold glass of milk on hand and start munching after they've cooled in the pan for a few minutes.