Oatmeal Smoothies. Tiramisu French Toast. I have very important news. I bought some bread. It was not whole wheat. It was delicious. And fluffy. Soft and pillow-like too. Then I invested in some cheese. And for the shocking finale, I picked up some butter. Butter. It’s what I walked into the kitchen some 20 years ago and found my brother eating, fingerful by fingerful, perched on the kitchen table. True story. It’s what I live and breathe by. [I say that like you haven’t noticed. ] And it’s also what this French toast took a bath in last week.
Now that is a bath I’d like to have. You probably weren’t expecting such a decadent breakfast on a Monday morning. It’s just your basic build-it-yourself French toast. No excuses. Tiramisu French Toast serves 4 1 loaf challah bread 8 whole eggs 1/4 cup cream 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 cup mascarpone cheese 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder 1/2 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon honey 4 tablespoons butter maple syrup for serving sliced strawberries for serving. Sweet Potato Home Fries. You are probably checking this out, thinking about how healthy these home fries are since I made them with sweet potatoes. Right? Well, hold the phone. I may have done something bad. I may have fried them in bacon grease. And when I say ‘may,’ I really mean that I absolutely did and it was 100% fabulous. See, I have a little confession. I don’t always fry my bacon.
Let’s be honest – it’s messy, it’s time consuming, and I am not always in the mood to get burnt by flying bacon grease. So many times, especially during the week, I lay it on a wire rack and bake it, letting the drippings fall onto the baking sheet below. And then I throw them away. Somewhere in Heaven (hopefully…) Mother Lovett just had her 14th heart attack.
And somewhere 15 minutes away from me, my mother just dropped dead. In my family, throwing away the drippings is the ultimate sin. But yesterday, I decided to fry bacon. The only difference is that my drippings won’t be in there for the next 3 years. Sweet Potato Homefries. Banana Bread Pancake Recipe. Here’s what I know about pancakes. They taste good with cherries. Apples and bacon too. They make slept-in mornings with toothpaste stains eight thousand times better. They are what my dad stuffs with blueberries. They probably wouldn’t be good with things like broccoli or beans… because that’s just weird. Oh! They taste extra excellent with ice cream on top. Even better steaming hot with oozing butter… then ice cream on top. They save marriages. They aren’t the best choice for breakfast when you want to wear a string bikini.
They often slip you into a welcoming food coma that causes you to desk nap. They are darn good. They are cake. Seriously. Now hold your horses. I feel bad declining him day after day. But it’s the combination… the bananas, the brown sugar, the maple vanilla glaze… that has etched this breakfast into the rotation at our house. There is a reason this is huge. So now people can eat banana bread without stuffing an entire loaf down their face. Makes 12 pancakes 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Spiced Quinoa Apple Pie Parfait. When I found honeycrisp apples at the store yesterday, I was so excited I thought I might burst. Caramelizing them was really the only thing I had in mind. Well, that… and eating them with a pound of bacon. Don’t ask. This parfait was totally new to me. A few weeks ago Brittany made a quinoa parfait that looked so delicious that I couldn’t get it out of my head. Greek yogurt isn’t new to me, and neither is quinoa, but the combination of the two is.
Speaking of new-to-me things, Mr. Oh, and I didn’t make the parfait for him. Not only did I love the texture of this parfait, but it offered a boatload of protein in forms that I actually enjoy, some whole grains and sweet, juicy fruit! The more my everyday food tastes like dessert, the better. Spiced Quinoa Apple Pie Parfait 1 cup greek yogurt 1 apple, chopped 1/4 cup dry quinoa 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon brown sugar Preheat oven to 375.
Combine dry quinoa with remaining cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Crispy Potato and Brie Omelet. Thank you all so much for your loving support over the past few days. I am not really ready to begin blogging again, but feel it’s best to get back into a routine. Plus, I miss you all! I made this omelet last Saturday, and surprisingly didn’t add bacon. Speaking of bacon, I am thinking about giving it up for Lent.
Yes, I know Lent began last week, but that was really the last thing on my mind. I haven’t eaten bacon all week, and it will be pretty darn challenging for me to give it up. I love adding potatoes to omelets instead of having them on the side. This just made my house smell heavenly. Almost as amazing as the delectable scent of bacon. I also added some tarragon to the eggs, which was left over from Mr. An omelet isn’t an omelet to me unless it involves cheese. Well, let’s be honest – life isn’t life unless it involves cheese.
Melty, creamy brie went into this omelet. Crispy Potato and Brie Omelet Serves 1-2 I yukon gold potato, chopped into tiny pieces 1/2 shallot, chopped. Peanut Butter Granola. This peanut butter granola was my first attempt at ever making a homemade granola. I’d say it certainly was tasty since I devoured the entire tray within 3 seconds. Which is why I usually don’t make my own granola – because I will eat it all in one sitting. Someone please give me some self control. I mixed a ton of sticky ingredients together before laying them across a baking sheet. And I ate about 38 spoonfuls before it even went into the oven. This is another treat that Mr. Plus, ‘granola’ to him equals weird, hippie-like people. Oh – well, here is the main reason Mr. Peanut Butter Granola 1 1/2 cup rolled oats 1/4 cup puffed rice 1/4 cup wheat germ 1/4 cup natural peanut butter 3 tablespoons honey 2 tablespoons peanuts, chopped pinch of salt Preheat oven to 350.
Combine all ingredients together until mixed. Do you have a killer granola recipe? Some fun things: Mango Colada Parfait. I remember as a young girl thinking that fruity drinks were just so cool. I longed for the day when I could order a pina colada or strawberry daiquiri, having no idea that people didn’t drink these every single day. I dreamed of sitting on my porch while drinking one, which inevitably overlooked some large body of water. After a long day of sunbathing and reading, I would end the evening with this frozen drink so delicious and sugary that it gave me an instant headache.
Then, right before I went to bed, I’d pick a few 20′s off my money tree in the back yard so I could spend tomorrow doing the same thing. I have always been a dreamer. And pina colada is one of my all-time favorite flavors. To my dismay, I soon learned that pina coladas were not a daily occurrence for most people. And it got worse. And there still isn’t, even though I pray every night to wake up and find one. So, I had to find a reasonable, healthy, delicious, and economical replacement for my pina colada delusion. Strawberry Banana Cream Baked Oatmeal. Breakfast! Straight up from the How Sweet kitchen. Weird because… I’ve made no bones about it – I like my oatmeal one way and one way only: inside my cookies.
But recently… something weird happened. And it’s turned into a new addiction for him. And you know, I just can’t let anything be. But no! Not sure what to have for dinner tonight? So this was my attempt at reeling him out of the boring oatmeal rut. It was also my attempt at recreating one of my most favorite childhood foods: Quaker strawberries and cream instant oatmeal. Unfortunately… this isn’t that. Strawberry Banana Cream Baked Oatmeal Squares [adapted from taste of home] serves 4-6 2 cups old fashioned oats 1/3 cup loosely packed brown sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1 large egg 1 cup milk 1/4 cup half and half 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 1 medium ripe banana, mashed 3/4 cup chopped strawberries (about 4 large berries) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Caprese Baked Egg Cups. I learned five things yesterday. 1. Having a cocktail after making a freakishly giant mess in the kitchen helps calm the stress of cleaning up AND makes it go faster… or just makes you forget how long it takes? 2. Making your husband a happy hour cocktail [a manjito?!] Greatly decreases the chances of him helping you clean the freakishly giant mess in the kitchen and enormously increases the chances of him passing out on a chair in the family room while watching Hannah Montana. [<– Truth] 3. iChatting with loved ones in another state after a big cocktail (oops I know… I left out the part about how big it was in #1) is awesome.
Then pointless because, really… you don’t remember any of it. 4. 5. Geez. All hangovers and unrealistic, dreamy 2002 relationships aside, these baked eggs are where it’s at. Well, I totally thought that and I was totally wrong. Caprese Baked Egg Cups makes 4 cups [2 x 3 1/2 in ramekins] 4 or 8 eggs (depending on if you want 1 or 2) 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved.
Blackberry Cobbler Waffles. Waffles are totally underrated. They get a bad rap as pancakes’ not-quite-as-fluffy and not-quite-as-simple ugly cousin, with nooks and crannies just deep enough that the glob of butter won’t melt and a front left quarter that frequently hogs all the syrup. I mean, really. Waffle irons are kind of a pain. As if I don’t have enough pots, pants, mixers, bowls, lids, quesadilla makers, toasters, platters and other necessary items that I use twice a year, you’re telling me that I need to find a uniquely shaped space, somewhere between my cupcake-shaped cake pan and my never used must-have All Clad asparagus pot, for a 13-pound waffle maker that I might drag out on occasion? Yes. I am. If only to make these waffles. I would’ve been positively devastated if I didn’t get that asparagus pot, by the way. Pancakes were much more accessible and commonplace when I was younger, so when it came time to register for wedding gifts, I was over the moon to spy a waffle iron and add it to the list. 2 eggs.
Banana Bread French Toast. Okay listen. On the off chance that you MIGHT have some banana bread left (I know I know, I’m asking a lot), like after you make a loaf… this is what you should do. The idea came about after we saw about 5 minutes of the daylong chocolate special on Food Network the Saturday before Valentine’s Day. Sandra Lee was making some sort of chocolate cake into french toast when my husband says, “oh you have to try that with banana bread!
I bet it would be sooo good.” I concurred. I baked the banana bread simply for the purpose of turning it into french toast – any other reason and that entire thing would be devoured in about 10 minutes. To which he shakes his head, mail in hand, eyes on some NASCAR magazine and claims “no, I don’t like banana bread.” “Ummm… didn’t YOU tell me to make this banana bread french toast? “Well yeah. Shoooooooot me. WHO doesn’t like banana bread?! I hope not you. Soo… totally make this. Wait – seriously, how has banana bread been sitting on your counter for four days? Avocado Toast. You can find out how I make my favorite version of this *super complicated* snack over at A Cup of Jo. Happy Saturdaying. Eat a cookie. Apple Pie Breakfast Cake. Maybe I should just start a blog about breakfast? I seem to kindasortamaybe love it. Which is really odd, because my day to day breakfasts aren’t anything to write home about. Obviously.
Since I’m already home. But I often just throw four or five random ingredients together because all I’m thinking is “omg, I’m so hungry and just need food in my face right this very instant.” I totally love dinner too. But obviously I’m forgetting about dessert. I’m just gonna shut my piehole because I think the only point here is that food is my favorite. And this other weird thing? Turns out breakfast cakes aren’t safe when left all alone. Apple Pie Breakfast Cakes serves 2 adapted from blueberry breakfast cakes 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 egg 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour 1/4 cup all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon a pinch each of nutmeg, ground ginger, & ground cardamom Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.