Pancakes and Eggs with a little flair

Sometimes we get in a rut and end up staying with the basics. With a little modification, you can turn a basic breakfast into something unique, and some may even call a little gourmet.

Pancakes and Eggs Recipe (with a little flair) - makes 1 serving

Enough of your favorite pancake mix + liquid to make one serving

1 tbsp. wheat germ

2 tbsp. rolled oats (also called old fashioned oats)

4 fresh figs

1 tsp. white sugar

cooking spray

1 tbsp. raspberry preserves (or jam / preserves of your choice)

2 eggs

1 tsp. herbs de provence

1 heaping tsp. white flour

pinch of salt

1 tbsp. milk (or soy milk)

1. Turn on your broiler to high. Put a griddle or a large saute pan on the stove and turn the heat to medium. Let it stand, dry, over the heat to pre-heat the pan.

2. Mix up the pancake mix as usual. Add the wheat germ and rolled oats and add a little more liquid, as needed to make a thick batter. Let stand for about 5 minutes.

3. Cut off the stem of each fig, and then cut an X in the top of each one. Do not cut all the way through. Place the figs, X side up, on a cookie sheet or other baking dish. Spray lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle a little bit of sugar atop each one. Put in the broiler and keep a watch on it. As the figs cook, they will open up like a flower. Make sure the sugar doesn't burn. It should be about 7 minutes.

4. Now start making your pancakes. Your pan should be hot and the batter should be a little bit thicker. Pour pancake batter onto your hot surface (pan or griddle), and once bubbles appear on the top, flip the pancakes. I like mine to be a little darker than traditional. If you like that too, then don't flip the pancakes until a minute or so after the bubbles appear. Continue cooking until you have used all of your pancake batter. If you are making a large batch and want to keep the pancakes warm, put them in some aluminum foil and put them on the bottom rack of your oven.

5. Next, in a small bowl, mix 2 eggs, herbs, milk, flour and salt and whisk until smooth. Using a medium non-stick saute pan (I use the same pan I did the pancakes in), take the pan off the heat, holding the pan in one hand and using the other hand gently pour about half of the mixture into the pan. It is extremely important to use a non-stick pan. Swirl the pan around to form a thin coat around the entire bottom of the pan and set back on the heat. Let the egg mixture cook for a minute until it is easily removed from the bottom of the pan and then flip it. Let it cook on the other side. Then remove from the pan and roll up. Do the same with the other half of the mixture.

6. By this time, I hope you took the figs out of the oven, otherwise they will be charred. Arrange the pancakes on a plate, put the rolled up eggs/crepes next to them, top the pancakes with the figs and raspberry preserves.

Serve hot and enjoy.

A few things to note about this recipe -

- I was lucky enough to find a high-protein, low calorie pancake mix in the Whole Foods. If you can locate something like that, you'll be better off in terms of a healthy choice. I added the wheat germ and rolled oats to add some more fiber to this dish. You could also sub oat bran, or other higher fiber grains and put a little bit in the pancake mix.

- Limit the white sugar, and rasperry preserves. Just use a bit to carmelize the top of the figs.

- If you use a non-stick pan, there's no need for any butter or oil. Another way to keep this healthier.

- Use fresh ingredients, substitute egg beaters if you like, you can also use soy milk in place of milk, etc. Feel free to substitute similar ingredients in order to suit your needs. Have fun with it!

*healthy foodie*

zucchini bread I

Zucchini bread is one of my all time favorite cake breads. I have a number of recipes and I constantly try new ones and tweak those to suit. This one is adapted from a Paula Deen recipe (I love Paula, but damn if she doesn't make the most caloric dishes there could be). I'll call this one Zucchini Bread I because I suspect that I'll be posting some other recipes.

Zucchini Bread I Recipe
3 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 c. brown sugar
1 c granulated sugar
1/2 c. apple sauce
1/2 c. vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 c. water
2 c. grated zucchini
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 c. toasted pine nuts (because that is what I had, use walnuts or pecans)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, apple sauce, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes.

Using some apple sauce in place of the oil helps to reduce the fat. I don't recommend a complete substitution for the fat though because then the muffins will be dry. Also, the original recipe called for 3 cups of granulated sugar. So if you like it a little sweeter, you can add in the extra sugar. I was trying to go light on the sugar though.

*healthy foodie*

the mysterious souffle

I saw an Alton Brown show recently that focused on souffles. I usually only make eggs on weekends, and having just saw this show, I thought it would be appropriate to try my hand at the mysterious dish. After creating a whirlwind through the kitchen, this is what I ended up with.

Bruschetta Souffle Recipe

a basic souffle recipe

1/2 cup havarti habenaro cheese

leftover brushetta, drained

To the roux, I added cheese and brushetta. Fold the roux into the egg whiles and bake according to the basic recipe.

I had some trouble with the folding technique. It seems easy enough, and I've done it before with cake mix, muffins, etc. For some reason it felt like the egg whites were much much lighter than the roux and I was having a hard time getting them to combine. Well, this came out pretty good but I definitely need some practice.

*k*

I am a tartlette

Well, it's true. I do goofy stuff all the time and when I get into something, I really get into it. I'm pretty psyched about this recipe today and I hope you are too. It's definitely something to do on a Sunday morning though, because who has time to do this on any other day.
You can make the pastry dough ahead of time, bake it until it's almost done and then chill or freeze it until you are ready to use. I made the crusts yesterday, when I had some time, and then did the rest this morning.

Tart Crust Recipe (makes enough for 4 tarts)
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
pinch of sea salt
1 tbsp. plain fat free yogurt
1 tbsp. crumbled goat cheese
1 tbsp. olive oil
about 3 tbsp. ice water

Preheat oven to 375.

The easiest way that I have found to do this is in a food processor. Put everything in the food processor except for the ice water. Pulse it until it starts to form pea sized balls. Then slowly add the water one tablespoon at a time through the food processor feed tube. You probably won't need all of the water. Keep pulsing the food processor until a soft ball forms. Then the dough is done.

Roll the dough into a lag between your hand and cut it into four equal pieces. Shape it into a disc and lay it on a floured work surface. Roll each of the discs out into a circular round that is about 1 inch bigger than the diameter of the tart pan.

Place the crust into the tart pan. Take the excess dough and fold it down along the edge of the crust around rim of the tart pan (but not over the rim, otherwise you won't be able to get the tart out of the pan). Basically, you want to make the edges of the crust a little thicker than the bottom so that it will hold nicely when you take it out.

Fill each tart with either pie baking beads, or rice (I use rice since I don't have the beads). This will keep the crust from rising. Bake for about 10 minutes.

Tomato, Onion and Goat Cheese Tart Recipe
Basic Tart Crust (above)
4 eggs
1/4 c. skim milk
4 thinly sliced rounds of vidalia onion
1/4 c. diced onion
1 tsp. herbs de Provence
4 tsp. crumbled goat cheese
4 thinly sliced rounds of tomato
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375.

In a medium bowl, crack the 4 eggs and add the milk and chopped onion. Whisk until blended. Season with salt, pepper and herbs de Provence.

Remove the seeds from the tomato, and dry the tomato between a few paper towels. If you don't do this step, the tomato will be too wet for the tart.

Put the thinly sliced onion round in the bottom of each tart pan. Then fill with the egg mixture (careful not to over fill - you'll probably have some left over egg mixture, depending on how deep your tart pans are).

Then place one tomato on each tart and sprinkle with goat cheese.

Place the tart pans on a cookie sheet, to avoid any overflow from making a mess in your oven. Bake at 375 for about 30-35 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes and then remove the tarts from the tart pans.

Enjoy!

date nut pumpkin muffins

I was praying that this recipe was going to come out ok when I put it in the oven. But rest assured, the recipe worked. It's a good thing Rob wasn't here, because he doesn't like when I experiment with the recipe before trying it first ;) I limited the amount of sugar in this recipe, because with the dates and applesauce, there is enough sweetness. If you would like the muffin part of it to be sweeter, you can add about a 1/4 cup more sugar.

Date Nut Pumpkin Muffin Recipe (6 muffins)
1 scoop vanilla whey powder
2 tbsp wheat germ
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch ginger
pinch salt
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp applesauce
2 tbsp chopped walnuts
1/4 cup chopped dried dates
1/4 cup hulled pumpkin seeds (reserve 1 tbsp)

Preheat oven to 375. Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Do not over mix, you only need to make sure the ingredients are combined - no need to break out the electric mixer. Divide into 6 muffins in a muffin pan. Sprinkle the remaining pumpkin seeds on top of the muffins. Bake for 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Here is some nutritional content information
Healthy Foodie Pumpkin Muffins: 200 calories, 9 g. protein, 7 g. fat, 22 g. carbs, 4 g. fiber
Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins: 470 calories, 6 g. protein, 24 g. fat, 60 g. carbs, 1 g. fiber

Panera Pumpkin Muffins: 590 calories, 7 g. protein, 13 g. fat, 93 g. carbs, 1 g. fiber

Which one will you choose?

*k*

a stick to your bones, last until lunch breakfast

I don't have a photo of this one, because it's oatmeal. While it tastes good, it's like me - doesn't photograph well. Lots of times, I think people think that they don't have time to make breakfast and so they grab a bagel or a muffin. They taste good, but they are loaded with simple carbs, calories and in the case of muffins, sugar, and fat. Who wants to start their day like that. Try this quick way to have a healthy, whole food, delicious breakfast. Start your day off with a stick to your bones, last until lunch breakfast.

Tropical Oatmeal Recipe
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 banana
1/4 c. sweetened coconut
3/4 c. water
1/4 c. skim milk (or soy milk)

In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Watch the microwave so that it doesn't boil over. Let stand 3 minutes. Add more liquid if too thick. Eat immediately.

Modification: Old fashioned (also called rolled oats) are less processed and I usually prefer to use them. However, they need to cook a little bit longer. If you use rolled oats, microwave on 50% for 4 minutes. Use a bigger bowl so that the oats have room to expand.

*k*

fast baked eggs

how many times have you tried to make baked eggs, only to realize you have to keep them in the oven at least 30 minutes. Well try this one on for size...

Fast Baked Eggs Recipe
(this recipe is for 1 serving in a ramekin, make as many ramekins as you like)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp herbs de provence
2 slices of smoked salmon
2 tbsp grated cheese of your choice (I used cheddar because that was what was in the fridge)

- put the eggs into a ramekin sprayed with non-stick spray and whisk the eggs for about a minute.
- mix the rest of the ingredients in the ramekin.
- turn the broiler on high
- put the ramekin in the microwave for 30-seconds at a time, for a total of 3 times (1:30), until cooked through.
- once the eggs are cooked through, put the ramekin in the broiler for 3-5 minutes until the top is browned.

*enjoy*

back on track

My Monday mantra - "back on track." Usually after a weekend of haphazard eating habits and little vigorous exercise, I hear my body silently screaming to detoxify. So I start my day by filling several bottles with New Jersey's finest tap water, vowing to drink the minimum RDA of 8-8 oz. glasses of water and munching on a nice breakfast of Kashi vanilla oatmeal and strawberries.

Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal Recipe
One packet Kashi vanilla oatmeal
3/4 cup vanilla soy milk
1 tablespoon wheat germ
5 large diced strawberries

put oatmeal, wheat germ and milk in a bowl and heat in microwave on high for 1 minute.
meanwhile, dice the strawberries. Once oatmeal is cooked, add in strawberries and microwave on high for 30 more seconds.

Eat while hot!

Some tips...

- take a big gulp of water before each phone call, new email or getting up from your desk. At first, a gallon of water a day seems daunting. But those gulps add up and before you know it, you will be wanting even more.

- Always eat breakfast! It gives you energy, gets your metabolism going and wards off late day hunger (when you might go on eating something less healthy).

*gulp*