Lemon Soufflé Pancakes - tasty!

I admit it - I'm a Pinterest addict.  Almost every time I'm sitting in the recliner with my laptop, I'm checking out the food & beverage section of Pinterest.  I've found so many things to pin; and a vast majority of them are desserts.  Occasionally I'll find something great to try for breakfast - and this morning I tried the Lemon Soufflé Pancakes I pinned Friday night.

These are from the blog atKokken.com. Shirley had these light, fluffy pancakes posted on her old blog (Kokken69) and since I love all things lemon, I just had to try them.

Lemon Soufflé Pancakes
from Shirley @Kokken.com

¾ cup buttermilk
2 egg yolks
3 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter (melted)
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
A pinch salt
2 egg whites

To serve
Strawberries, halved
1 tablespoon honey
powdered sugar for dusting

1. Mix egg yolks, milk, vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon zest together in a bowl. Add melted butter and mix well.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, powdered sugar and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in (1) gradually and mix flour with milk mixture until the dry ingredients are moistened. Be careful not to overmix.
3.  Place egg white in a clean bowl and beat until soft peaks are formed. Fold in egg white into (2).
4.  Melt a small portion of butter in a heated non-stick frying pan. Place 2 tbsp of the batter from (3) into the pan.  [Note: I just used nonstick cooking spray] Cook until the cake turns golden brown on the underside and looking dry on the edges. Flip over and continue to cook the other side. transfer to a plate and keep warm while cooking remaining batter.
5. Toss fresh strawberries with honey and a light dusting of icing sugar. Dust pancakes with powdered sugar and serve immediately.   [I just served them with a few raspberries and dusted with powdered sugar.]

These made 18 4-inch pancakes - and since they're very, very light, it's enough for 3 people.

Verdict:  OUTSTANDING!  Don and I both devoured these, while at the same time, trying to savor every bite. The lemon is subtle, in spite of the amount of zest and juice used - but it is definitely lemon. I liked the light texture as well.  I think Don and I will be fighting each other over the leftovers.

This weeks' muffins: Zucchini Gingerbread

As we're enjoying a spring Sunday here in the mountains, as well as a Kings playoff hockey game, I decided to make a batch of muffins for the coming week. As I mentioned before, Don used to eat the ones from Costco - the ones with zero fiber and lots of sugar.  He needs fiber.  So I've been tweaking some of my recipes to add it and still make some decent muffins.

I used two different pans this time - I just got my brownie pan from Pampered Chef, and used it along with the jumbo muffin tin I got at JoAnn (I used a 40% off coupon). The recipe is for two loaf pans, so that's just the right amount of batter for the two pans.

Zucchini Gingerbread Muffins

1 3/4 c whole wheat flour
1/4 c wheat bran
2 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c brown sugar
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 c ground flaxseed
3 c grated zucchini (3-4 small)
3 eggs
3/4 c molasses
1/2 c applesauce
1/2 c oil
1 c raisins

Preheat oven to 350˚. Prepare two loaf pans (or two jumbo muffin tins) by spraying with nonstick cooking spray. (If you're using one of the Pampered Chef brownie tins, it needs no spray.) Combine dry ingredients (except for flax and raisins) in a large bowl. Combine flax and wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, and stir until just combined. Stir in the raisins. Pour into loaf pans or muffin tins. Bake loaf pans 45 minutes/muffins 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Whole Wheat & Oat Baking Mix

For many years, I've been buying the Whole Grain Baking & Pancake Mix from Trader Joe's.

Recently I saw a story on the news about labels on "whole wheat" products, and one of the things I remembered was that if the product is truly "whole wheat," then the first item on the ingredients list is "whole wheat flour" - not "wheat flour." I started checking the labels of a lot of the products I buy, and noticed that they all have "wheat flour" as the first ingredient.

I went in search of a recipe to make my own baking mix, and found one to adapt on the King Arthur Flour website.  I borrowed theirs, but added wheat and oat bran to it. In addition, since I wanted one that would have a longer shelf life, I substituted shortening for the oil. If you use the oil, which some people would find healthier, then the mix must be stored in the refrigerator or freezer.

Whole Wheat & Oat Baking Mix
adapted from King Arthur Flour

3 cups old fashioned or rolled oats
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 cup wheat bran
3 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 cup shortening

1) To make the mix: Grind the oats and oat bran in a food processor until it's all chopped fine, but not a powder.

2) Put the flour, oats, and all other dry ingredients into a mixer with a paddle. (I used the bread hooks, since I didn't have a paddle, and it mixed it all beautifully.) Cut the shortening into chunks (if you're using the stick shortening) or drop by spoonfuls into the dry ingredients. With the mixer on low, mix until the shortening has been broken up into small bits and all is well-combined.

3) Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks at room temperature, or indefinitely in the refrigerator or freezer.

To make pancakes: Whisk together 1 cup of mix, 1 cup of buttermilk (or a combination of half plain yogurt and half milk; or 3/4 cup liquid whey), and 1 large egg. Don't worry if it seems thin at first: the oats will soak up the milk, and the mix will thicken a bit as it stands.

Let the batter stand for at least 20 minutes before cooking. Yield: a batch using 1 cup of the mix will make about 5 to 8 pancakes, depending on size. Use mix as you would use Bisquick.

Whole Wheat Banana-Blueberry Jumbo Muffins

I've gotten away from healthy cooking for a while. I'd been doing water aerobics and laps, and everything was just fine. But then I injured myself (it's a long story, but after a month of steroids, muscle relaxants and vicodin all is healed and I"m pain-free), and have to stop the swimming and water aerobics for a while. Following his colonoscopy last week,  Don was ordered by his doctor to start eating more fiber. He has diverticulosis, and we don't want it to turn in to diverticulitis.  So the first thing I did was get some whole wheat flour, oat bran, wheat bran, and flax.  I can make all kinds of things and add fiber to them.  We had oatmeal for breakfast two days ago - I used steel cut oats and added some diced pears and spices.  It was similar to apple pie oatmeal.  This morning I made some waffles with Trader Joe's Multigrain Baking and Pancake Mix - and added a quarter cup of wheat bran to the batter for some added fiber.  They also had some mixed berries in them, so we used less syrup than we usually do.

Speaking of syrup - I've been using sugar-free syrup for a couple of years, but have gotten tired of the taste.  Regular pancake syrup has too many carbs, so I mix the two together and just use less on my pancakes and waffles. 

Don likes to eat carbs for breakfast - but he's been loading up on empty carbs and I need to change that. One thing I'm doing is making muffins to replace the ones he ate from Costco.  The Costco ones are made with white flour and lots of fat and sugar.  I found a recipe for banana bread that I'm going to adapt for different flavors - it uses whole wheat flour, and I can mix in things like ground flax, oat bran or wheat bran, almond flour, and other things that add fiber or protein.

Today's muffins are banana-blueberry.  I'm going to Costco tomorrow, and decided to finish up a bag of blueberries that's been in the freezer forever - and buy a new one tomorrow. I also had two bananas in the freezer - I just throw them in there in their skins, and they're fine for breads once they're thawed. (Did you notice I just used there, their, and they're in the same sentence?)

Whole Wheat Banana-Blueberry Jumbo Muffins

1 stick butter, softened
1 c brown sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c oat bran (adds fiber and nutty texture)
1/4 c flax seeds, ground
1 c blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease and flour 6 jumbo muffin tins. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Add the bananas and eggs, beating until smooth. Add the flour, oat bran, and flax seeds, stirring until smooth. Fold in the blueberries. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling almost to the top. Let rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Makes 6 jumbo muffins. 

Migas - my way

I've "discovered" - or maybe "created" a new breakfast for Don and me. In one of the novels I was reading last week, a character made some migas, and the dish sounded like something I wanted to try. The basic concept of migas is that it's made with tortilla strips, chorizo, and eggs, and some recipes add other ingredients such as cheese, salsa, green chilies, bell peppers, and onions.  I like Jimmy Dean pork sausage, and have used it (with some chili powder added) as a tasty chorizo substitute.

I was given some thick, homemade corn tortillas by a friend a couple of weeks ago, and decided to use some of them in this recipe. (I keep them in the freezer, and take them out as needed.) The steps I used when Don and I had this for breakfast this morning had me blending everything together at the end, and that caused the tortilla strips to lose their crispiness.  We both decided we wanted them crispy, so my solution is to cook them separately, plate them, and then put everything else on top of the tortilla strips.

Migas

2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

2 corn tortillas, cut in 1-2" thin strips
4 oz. bulk breakfast sausage (I use Jimmy Dean)
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1-2 tablespoons chili powder (I used 1 this morning, and decided it wasn't enough.)
4 eggs
grated cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

Heat oil in a medium skillet.  Add the tortilla strips. Cook, stirring, until strips are crispy. Divide the strips between two plates.  In the same skillet, brown sausage with the onions, breaking up the sausage as it cooks. When it's nearly done, sprinkle with chili powder and finish browning the sausage. Add the eggs - just break them right into the sausage mixture. Cook, stirring, until eggs are done. Divide between the two plates, putting eggs over tortilla chips. Sprinkle with grated cheese.  Enjoy!

Variations:  add bell peppers or green chilies to the sausage-onion mixture

Apple Turnovers

I guess you could call these semi-homemade. I had a package of puff pastry in my freezer, and needed to do something with it.  I have a great application on my ipad called "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bitman.  It is probably the best cooking application I have, and I have 9 of them. I searched for any recipe with "puff pastry," and one of the ones that came up was apple turnovers.

Bitman's recipe uses homemade puff pastry - "1/2 recipe" of it - and would make twelve 6" squares once it was rolled out.  I used one half of the box - one piece - and it made six 6" squares after I rolled it out.  Therefore I used half of the apples and other ingredients.

Once the pastry was rolled out on the counter, I cut six 6" squares that fit nicely on the lightly greased cookie sheet.

I used two Granny Smith apples, and added some raisins since I like raisins in my apple turnovers.

The recipe said to bake these for 40 minutes, but they were well-done at 35. If I'd waited until 40 they would have been burned. What DID happen, which isn't mentioned in the original recipe, is that a lot of juice came out of the turnovers and burned on the bottom of the cookie sheet. Luckily it didn't cause the turnovers to burn.





Apple Turnovers
adapted from Mark Bitman's How to Cook Everything

2 tart apples, peeled and cored
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon minced or grated lemon zest, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or more to taste
1/4 cup sugar, or more to taste, plus more for the work surface and for sprinkling
1/2 of a package of puff pastry (1 sheet), thawed

Grate the apples in a food processor or on the coarse side of a box grater. Immediately toss them with the lemon juice. Add the cornstarch, lemon zest, cinnamon, and sugar. Taste and add more lemon zest or cinnamon if you like.

Use sugar to coat a work surface. Roll out the pastry sheet, sprinkling with sugar as you work, until the dough is less than 1/4" thick and measures approximately 15" x 10". Cut 5" squares of pastry. Sprinkle lightly with sugar. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Divide the filling evenly among the six squares; fold over the edges to form a triangle.  Juices will be escaping - use them to help seal the edges. I had to even blot up a lot of juice with paper towels. Slash the top of the turnover with a sharp knife once or twice so steam can escape.  Chill while you heat the oven or for up to several hours

Heat the oven to 350˚. Brush the tops of the turnovers with a little water and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until the turnovers are golden brown, about 33 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 6.

Using up the Eggos - Overnight French Toast

As we get closer to our big trip to Canada and Alaska, I'm trying to use up the things in the big freezer so we can turn it off for the summer. We had a big box of Eggos from Costco. Don has been eating them, but got tired of them and was going to throw them away. I decided to make a breakfast treat from them and looked through my recipes for overnight French toast.  Here's what I came up with:

Overnight French Toast from Eggos


12-14 Eggo waffles, thawed
8 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup half & half
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 - 3/4 cups chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Layer the eggos in a greased 13' x 9' baking dish. Whisk together the eggs, milk, half & half, maple syrup and cinnamon and pour over eggos.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, turn oven on the 350˚.  Melt together the butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Sprinkle the Eggos with the nuts, then pour the brown sugar mixture evenly over all. Bake 40 minutes.  Enjoy while it's hot.

Applause for Gina!

One of the blogs I regularly follow is Gina's Skinny Recipes.  I love the things Gina cooks!  Recently she posted this recipe, which I adapted very slightly for us for this morning's breakfast. I think I could eat the whole pan!

Crème Brûlée French Toast
adapted from a recipe from Gina's Skinny Recipes

1 cup unpacked brown sugar
¼ cup Karo syrup
2 tablespoons butter
cooking spray
10 ounces Challah bread, sliced 1 inch thick (I used a Country Loaf from Panera)
6 eggs
1-½ cups 1% milk
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon, divided

In a small heavy saucepan melt brown sugar, syrup, and butter over moderate-low heat, stirring, until smooth and melted, about 1 minute, then pour into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Arrange bread slices in one layer in baking dish, squeezing them slightly to fit.
In a large bowl whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and salt until combined well and pour evenly over bread. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350° F. and bring bread to room temperature.
Bake uncovered, in middle of oven until puffed and edges are pale golden, 40 to 50 minutes.
Top with cinnamon and powdered sugar.

Fun Cooking Weekend (and back to work tomorrow!)

My Saturday morning started with picking up my organic produce share, along with 5 pounds of raw unpasteurized almonds. Our share this week, and what I have used it or will use it for:
fennel - roasted fennel
blueberries - flash frozen and will go in pancakes or waffles
collard greens - sautéed and served with pinto beans and cornbread
spinach - in spinach-artichoke bread soufflés (below)
celery - will be sliced and frozen
broccoli - we like this steamed and buttered
mushrooms - had these sautéed and served with some chicken last night
cucumbers - cucumber salad and chopped in romaine salad
granny smith apples - out of hand, in the breakfast bundt cake (below), in pancakes
bananas - out of hand
onions - in various recipes
leaf lettuce - salad
oranges - out of hand
parsley - in some spaghetti sauce, maybe
carrots - in the breakfast bundt cake (below)

I had gone to Costco earlier in the month, and got 20 pounds of Eagle Mills Ultragrain All-Purpose Flour. It's made with white wheat instead of red, and has twice as much fiber per serving as regular all-purpose flour. What I really like about it is that it can be used cup-for-cup in place of regular apf. The first thing I did was make a loaf of bread with it in the bread machine. Since I was using up a couple cups of whole wheat flour, I used the whole wheat flour recipe that came with the machine. When that was finished and cooled, I used a couple of slices to throw together some little soufflés - though they're not technically soufflés. They're like the little egg pastries you get at Panera Bread - and I made mine with spinach and artichokes.

Spinach Artichoke Bread Soufflés


3 large slices or 4 regular slices whole grain bread, cut in small cubes
2 cups (about 2 large handfuls) spinach leaves (about 1/2 a small bag, if you buy it at the store), finely chopped
1 14-oz can artichoke hearts (not the marinated ones), drained, chopped
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
6 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt

Spray the insides of six 6-ounce ramekins with nonstick cooking spray. Divide the cubed bread evenly among the ramekins. Divide the spinach and artichoke hearts evenly among the ramekins, placing on top of the bread. Sprinkle each ramekin with cheese. In a small bowl, mix together the egg, milk, dry mustard, and salt. Pour evenly over each ramekin. Cover ramekins and refrigerate overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake at 350˚ for 25 minutes. Makes 6



In preparation for returning to work, I made Breakfast Bundt Bread, based on a recipe I saw on Being Cheap Never Tasted So Good. Moni had made hers with spelt flour, agave, carrots, and raisins. I made mine with the ultragrain flour, brown sugar and apple juice, carrots, dates, and apples. Since I used so much more fruit than Moni did, I increased the batter by half - resulting in a larger cake than hers. Don and I will have this for breakfast a few mornings this week.

Breakfast Bundt Bread
adapted from Being Cheap Never Tasted So Good

3 cups flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup apple juice
2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped dates
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (I used both)
1 medium apple, cored and chopped (no need to peel it)

Preheat oven to 350˚. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray (for best results, use the kind mixed with flour). In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, oil, and apple juice. Fold in the dry ingredients. If the batter is dry, add a little more apple juice. Fold in the carrots, dates, nuts, and apple, and spread in bunt pan. Bake approximately 40 minutes. Cake is ready when the top springs back lightly when touched and toothpick tester comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan; cool another half hour before trying to slice it.




This next recipe is something I've had for years and never tried - and now I'm kicking myself for it since it's wonderful. You can use pecans or walnuts, too - they're all good for you.

Sugar and Spice Almonds

⅓ cup brown sugar
⅔ cup white sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pound almonds
1 egg white, room temperature
1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 300˚. In a medium bowl, mix together sugars, salt, cayenne, and cinnamon. Reserve. In a large bowl, beat egg white until frothy but not stiff; add water and stir until combined. Add almonds and stir to coat evenly. Sprinkle nuts with sugar mixture and stir until evenly coated. Spread sugared nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet fitted with a Silpat nonstick liner or parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally as needed. Remove from the oven and separate nuts as they cool. Let cool for at least an hour before serving.

Apple Blintz Pancakes

I love pancakes. I love all kinds of pancakes, and when I saw this recipe in Real Simple magazine, I knew Don and I would like it. The cottage cheese adds some protein and cuts the carbs a bit, and since the only sugar is the little bit added to the apples, it's not as sweet as if we'd had syrup on our pancakes. The original recipe in Real Simple called for applesauce; I wanted to use some of the apples we got in our organic produce distributions. The filling is simple: dice up a couple apples (don't worry about the peel - I never peel apples in any recipes), and sauté them in a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of brown sugar (I used Splenda Brown Sugar Blend) until they're softened but not mushy.

Next, make the pancakes:

1 cup pancake mix (I used Trader Joe's multigrain baking mix, but any pancake mix will do)
* 1 egg
* 1/4 cup cottage cheese
* 1 cup whole milk
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 3/4 cup sour cream

Place the pancake mix in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, cottage cheese, milk, oil, and ¼ cup of the sour cream. Stir the wet ingredients into the pancake mix and whisk just to combine. Let the batter rest according to the pancake-mix label directions (or for 5 minutes if you make your own mix). Place a nonstick griddle or skillet coated with oil, butter, or cooking spray over medium-high heat. Spoon or pour about 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake onto the griddle. Turn when bubbles rise to the surface and the edges look cooked. Repeat with the remaining batter. Before serving, spoon some of the apples onto one half of each pancake; fold in half and top with some of the remaining sour cream.

More Take-Alongs: Breakfast in a Muffin

Remember my Grab 'n Go Pumpkin Waffles and Take-Along Breakfast Pockets? Here's another great take-along breakfast. I've done some tinkering with a recipe I found on recipezaar (I think) and added fiber, lowered the sugar, and raised the protein. These were great warm, and are also fine eaten cold while I drive to work.

Breakfast in a Muffin
makes 22-24

6 eggs
¼ cup applesauce
1 cup flour
⅓ cup rolled oats
½ cup sugar
½ cup Splenda
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
2 Tablespoons bacon bits

Preheat oven to 350˚. Evenly coat 12 (3-inch) muffin cups with cooking spray. In a large bowl, beat together eggs and applesauce until well blended. Add flour, rolled oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pepper. Beat until well combined. Stir in cheese, parsley, and bacon bits. Divide batter evenly among the 12 cups.
Bake until lightly browned, and toothpick comes out clean when inserted, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Tinkering with Recipes: Applesauce Puffs

Sometimes we get tired of eggs or pancakes for breakfast, so this morning I was looking for some muffins. I found this recipe in my files, and decided to tinker with it a little to make it a little healthier.

Here's the original recipe:

Applesauce Puffs

2 c. Bisquick
½ c. sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ c. applesauce
¼ c. milk
1 egg


Mix dry ingredients together. Stir in applesauce, milk and egg. Drop into well greased muffin tins. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. While still warm dip into melted butter and dip in a mixture of 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Makes 24 muffins.

Now, while I have Bisquick, I hardly ever use it. I prefer using Trader Joe's Multigrain Baking Mix - and I've learned you can use it for any recipe that calls for Bisquick.



Here are the changes I made:

1. Substituted Trader Joe's Multigrain Baking Mix for the Bisquick.
2. Used Cranberry-Raspberry Applesauce + Fiber instead of regular applesauce
3. Used Splenda Granular instead of sugar
4. Added 1/2 cup chopped pecans

So here's my revised recipe:

Applesauce Puffs

2 cups Trader Joe's Multigrain Baking Mix
½ c. Splenda Granular
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ c. Cranberry-Raspberry Applesauce+Fiber
1/2 c. milk
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Mix dry ingredients together. Stir in applesauce, milk and egg. Drop into well greased muffin tins. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. While still warm dip into melted butter and dip in a mixture of 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Makes 24 muffins.

Take-Along Breakfasts for Work Days

I used to be such a morning person - I'd get up at 5 for coffee and a light (carb-filled) breakfast before I'd go to my classroom. I'd also go to bed before 9 almost every night, so I have little knowledge of popular television shows during the 1990s and early 2000s. Now that I'm president, my day lasts longer, and I enjoy evening sports and television shows. So I stay up later and get up at 6 or 6:30. I don't make time to cook breakfast, so I like to find breakfast that I can either eat in the car during the drive down the mountain, or eat when I first get to the office.

These waffles are made to be eaten cold and without syrup. They're whole grain, high protein and high fiber, and are 160 calories apiece (with 21 g of carbs). I've packaged them in little bags of 2, so I can have a nice meal to eat while I drive to work.

Grab & Go Pumpkin Waffles

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend (or 1/2 cup brown sugar)

2 eggs
1/4 cup flax seeds, ground
2 1/2 cups buttermilk or sour milk
1 15-oz. can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup oat bran
1 cup raisins

In a large bowl, combine flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and Splenda or brown sugar. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, flax seeds, buttermilk, pumpkin, oil, and syrup. Mix well. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until blended. Add pecans, sunflower seeds, oat bran, and raisins. Heat a waffle iron, and spray with nonstick cooking spray before adding batter. Grill waffles until browned and cooked through. Makes 24 4-inch waffles.



Our actual breakfast this morning was a pizza inspired by Jeff of Culinary in the Country. A couple of weeks ago he posted a recipe for Egg and Bacon Bread that looked really enticing. I told him I was going to give a try, using Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough, but when I started to gather everything together this morning, I realized I didn't have the hard-boiled eggs or the time to make them - we were hungry! So I took most of the ingredients from Joe's recipe, substituted Jimmy Dean sausage for the bacon, and made a pizza.

Breakfast Pizza

adapted from a recipe by Joe of Culinary in the Country


1 package Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough
5-6 oz. Jimmy Dean hot breakfast sausage (I use 1/3 of a 1-lb. package)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons diced onion
1 Tablespoon olive oil
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
5 eggs
2 teaspoons mustard
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup shredded mozzarella
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375˚. Spray a rectangular pizza stone with nonstick cooking spray. Remove dough from package and place on stone for 20 minutes. While dough is resting, prepare the toppings. In a medium skillet, cook the sausage, garlic, and onion, crumbling the meat with a spoon or spatula as it cooks. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Add olive oil and mushrooms to pan and cook until mushrooms are tender but not overcooked, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms to sausage mixture. Add eggs to skillet, and scramble until eggs are cooked. Turn off heat. Spread the pizza dough in the pan from edge to edge. Spread with mustard and sprinkle evenly with cayenne pepper. Distribute sausage and mushrooms over dough, then top with the cheeses. Bake 12-15 minutes until dough is done. You might have to check after about 8 minutes and top loosely with some foil to prevent the cheese from overbrowning. If you cut it into 8 slices, each slice has 385 calories, 25 g of carbs, and 2 g of fiber.

Anaheim Scramble

I like eggs, fixed almost every way you can imagine. Last fall, I had breakfast at a Corner Bakery in Orange County, and they had this dish on their menu. I fell in love with it, and have made it several times here at home. This time I had avocados and tomatoes still left from the produce distribution two weeks ago. Two weeks, and they're still good.

I'm sure you could make this a little healthier by using turkey bacon, but I prefer the regular pork bacon.

Anaheim Scramble

3-4 pieces of bacon
5 eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tablespoons grated cheddar cheese
1/2 of a large tomato, diced
1 avocado, peeled and diced

Cook the bacon in a nonstick skillet until crispy; drain on paper towels. Chop coarsely. Drain the bacon grease from the skillet, and return to heat. Add eggs and cheese, and scramble until nearly done. Fold in chopped bacon, avocado, and tomatoes, and stir lightly to heat through.

Serves 2

Kale and Egg Breakfast "Muffins"

If anyone who reads my blog is NOT familiar with Kalyn's Kitchen, you need to visit her blog for a while. Not only is she a fabulous cook, and the queen of South Beach Diet recipes, SHE'S A TEACHER! And for a while, she was president of her local, just like I am. Any time I need inspiration for healthy recipes, and to use the produce I get from the IEOPBC, I go visit Kalyn's site.

I had some kale again from the last distribution, and have had the urge to make some portable breakfast "muffins." Kalyn's recipe called for red kale, since that's what she had in her garden, but she said you could use regular kale. I also changed the cheese to add some zing - I added blue cheese crumbles and used cheddar instead of the Italian mix she used.

Kale and Egg Breakfast "Muffins"

adapted from a recipe by Kalyn Denny

1 bunch kale
½ red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced (1/2 tsp. teaspoon minced garlic)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 cup grated cheese (I used a mixture of cheddar and blue cheese crumbles)
6 eggs, beaten well
½ teaspoon Spike Seasoning (I finally found some!)

Preheat oven to 350˚. Cut off kale stems and discard, then wash kale leaves and dry well. (I used a salad spinner.) Pile kale leaves up on top of each other and chop, turning them sideways to get smaller pieces.
Heat olive oil in large heavy frying pan, then add onions and sauté 3 minutes. Add garlic and saute about 2 more minutes, then add kale, turning over as it wilts and sautéing about 5 minutes, or until kale is significantly wilted.

Put kale and onion into large bowl and add soy sauce, cheese, beaten eggs, and Spike seasoning. Stir gently until ingredients are well distributed. Spray 12 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray (I use silicone ones) and fill with egg mixture. Bake 20-25 minutes until eggs are well set and the top is lightly browned. Serve hot.

Kalyn suggests eating these with salsa or sour cream - so that's how I'll try them in the morning when I reheat a couple for breakfast. Tonight I just wanted to try one and ate it plain. Yum!