Breakfast

Sausage, broccoli, egg bake with sweet potato crust

cmgift 2 Comments

On these hot summer days, the last thing I want to do is spend hours in the kitchen. This is another very easy weeknight dinner in a pinch. You can use up whatever veggies you have on hand, add fresh herbs and it is packed full of nutrients! I got the basic recipe from another one of my favorite cookbooks, “Against all Grain” by Danielle Walker and added my spin to it.  I added broccoli, but spinach, swiss chard or arugula would work great or add tomatoes, peppers or mushrooms, the variations are endless! Keep this recipe in your back pocket when you don’t know what to make for dinner or for a tasty breakfast.

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Ingredients

1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced very thin

1/2 lb cooked sausage

1 cup chopped broccoli

1 tsp of fresh herbs (I used rosemary and thyme)

8-10 eggs

3 tablespoons milk of choice (I used almond milk)

1/4 cup shredded cheese (optional)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the sliced sweet potato in the bottom of a greased pie plate or small oven safe skillet so they cover the bottom of the pan. Spread the cooked sausage, broccoli or other toppings. Sprinkle in the fresh herbs. Whisk the eggs, milk and salt and pepper and pour into the dish. Add shredded cheese if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 min.

 

 

Maple mocha iced coffee with homemade almond milk

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I love coffee! And every year when it’s starts to get warm, it seems like there is a switch that makes me crave iced coffee over warm coffee. There is nothing more refreshing then a good iced coffee on a warm day.  But watered down iced coffee is no good. This coffee is concentrated and keeps it’s taste when ice is added. You can make a big batch and keep it in the fridge for days.

Iced Coffee

Ingredients

1/2 lb of your favorite coffee, ground

1 gallon of water

Mix the coffee and water in a large container and let it sit on the counter overnight or at least 8 hours. Using a fine mesh sieve and cheese cloth (or I have used a coffee filter on the sieve) strain coffee grounds from the mixture. What’s left is a lovely coffee concentrate. Chill the coffee then enjoy over ice and your favorite add in.  I added homemade almond milk and a tsp of cocoa and a 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp maple syrup. Here’s how I make the almond milk. There’s different variations of the basic process to make almond milk, but I use the recipe from the cookbook “Against all Grain” by Danielle Walker.

Almond Milk

Ingredients

1 cup raw almonds

8 cups of water

Sea salt

1 small date

imageimageSoak the almonds and a pinch of sea salt in water overnight. Drain the nuts and rinse. Place almonds and date in blender with 4 cups of water.  Purée until smooth. Strain the milk through a fine mesh sieve and cheese cloth. Squeeze to remove all the liquid. Store in refrigerator for up to 5 days.  Save the pulp and use in your baking. I’ll be posting a berry cobbler recipe soon where I used the almond pulp. image

Beet green smoothie

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So, if you have run into me in the past week or so I was probably raving about using beet greens in my smoothies.  I seriously can’t stop talking about it- like I invented using beet greens in a smoothie or something.  Clearly, that’s not the case but it’s not something I thought about doing with the wonderful beet greens that come with the beets.  I was always too focused on using the beets, that the greens were an afterthought. Beet greens are great in smoothies because they have a mild flavor like spinach and they are packed with nutrients.  And in season, they are plentiful and cheap!

I have been loving smoothies for breakfast. When the kids wake up and I say “who wants a smoothie?” I get the inevitable “meeeee” from my 2 year old.  The other two have wised up to my use of kale, spinach, beet greens- whatever I can throw in there to add nutrients.   They will happily drink one that has more fruit than greens and is not “green”, so I just do what I can.  Even if they get a little of that good stuff in there, I’m good.  For me, the key to a good smoothie is the frozen banana.  I always have frozen bananas on hand for smoothies and banana “whips” as my friend calls them.  Just whip up a frozen banana and fruit or peanut butter and Nutella to the consistency of ice cream and it’s an instant dessert!  So yummy!  But back to the smoothie.  I rarely measure the ingredients when I make a smoothie, but I tried to give an idea what I put in mine.  You can adjust to your own taste.  The fruit options are endless.  I used strawberry here, but any berry or fruit will do. I had a raspberry one this week that was delicious.  We are at the end of strawberry season here, but raspberries, black berries and blueberries are in season.  And since my 2 year old will not eat much for breakfast other than a smoothie, I started putting oats in it to make it more substantial.  I put protein powder in mine if I’m making one for after a run or workout.  I am not an expert on protein powder, but I use a plant based protein and it’s been working well for recovery.

I also think it’s great to get the kids involved in making and growing healthy foods, and while I know this, I still have a hard time taking the time to get them involved rather than rushing through it myself and onto the next task. I have to be mindful of this and it’s something I’m working on.   This day, my 2 year old happily helped me in the kitchen and we sat and drank them together.

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Ingredients

1/3 cup rolled oats, pulsed in blender into a fine powder

1-1 1/2 frozen banana

2 cups beet greens, tough ribs and stems removed

2 cups capped strawberries or any berry or fruit you have on hand

1 cup almond milk, or milk of choice

*If you need more sweetness, add a little honey

Pulse the oats first and then add the rest of the ingredients to a blender and enjoy-preferably in a pretty glass or jar!  It makes the smoothie taste better in my opinion!

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Basic Overnight Oatmeal

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On days when I need to be at work early, I love to grab one of these cute little jars out of the fridge for a healthy  breakfast on the go.  This is just a basic recipe that you can really mix up to your taste and according to what you have on hand.  The add-ins are the key to making it your own!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup Rolled Oats

1/3 cup Almond milk  (or milk of choice)

1/2 banana sliced

1 heaping tsp Almond butter

Drizzle of honey to your desired sweetness

Mix all ingredients in a jar and place in the refrigerator overnight.  I find these keep 2-3 days, so mix up several at a time.

Today I added blueberries and hemp seeds in the morning.  You can add any fresh fruit, chia seeds, nuts, dried fruit, etc.