JR isn't much of a breakfast eater, but once and awhile on the weekends he'll request pancakes. I, on the other hand, wake up hungry. Who's with me here?! 

A few weeks ago JR mentioned pancakes and I suggested waffles since I just pulled the waffle iron out of the abyss (a.k.a. the hallway closet). He happily agreed and this batch was gone within 24 hours. JR ate his with syrup, and then later as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I topped mine with Cranberry Orange Sauce, yum!

If you're new to waffles, this is a great, no fuss recipe to test out your waffle iron. These also freeze beautifully, and can go from freezer to toaster to your belly in minutes. Enjoy!

Here is what you'll need:

• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups milk (I used fat free)
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4-1/2 tsp vanilla 

Preheat waffle iron. Spray waffle iron with non-stick spray, or carefully rub vegetable oil over waffle iron.

Whisk together eggs and milk. Add remaining ingredients and whisk until well combined.


Pour 1 cup of batter into preheated waffle iron and cook according to your appliances directions. For crisper waffles, I toast mine in the toaster oven for a few minutes. Makes 4 waffles.

Source: Adapted from Rosemary Brown's Big Kitchen Instruction Book

After a week of heavy meals and overindulgent sweets, it always feels good to switch back to "normal" eating. Yesterday flipped that switch for me. The leftovers were gone and I didn't want anything resembling a holiday meal, and I'm craving crisp vegetables like crazy. This morning was no different. Actually, last night I felt the need to make a good oatmeal this morning since I've been terrible about eating breakfast this past week.

I guess some might say that Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal has an overindulgent holiday feel to it, but pumpkin is a year round flavor in my house. Plus, pumpkin is really good for you, so it's a win all around. Go ahead and start your New Year off right with a big steaming bowl of oatmeal!

Here is what you'll need:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup milk or unsweetened almond milk (almond milk is super yummy here!)
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/16 tsp ground cloves
• 1/16 tsp ground nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup rolls oats

Combine water, milk, pumpkin, brown sugar and spices in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Add oatmeal. Combine well and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serves 1.

Source: An Adventures in My Kitchen Original

I was initially looking for a meat-free dinner option, and almost made this Eggplant Zucchini Bolognese (minus the meat), but I just couldn't get into the mood for making it this week. I was really craving breakfast type foods, but JR isn't a believer in breakfast for dinner. When I came across this Potato Crust Quiche, I was pretty sure we could have breakfast for dinner without complaints. I was right! He ate it for dinner, and lunch the next day!

While there is nothing like the buttery crust of a quiche, this was a nice alternative and definitely satisfied my breakfast cravings. I went ahead and subbed ham and spinach, where Nicole used bacon and broccoli. This is one of the reasons I love quiche so much, you can make so many variations.

I mentioned early in this post that it has been a while since I participated in the swaps and in that time a few improvements were made. At the bottom of this post you will find a linkup of the recipes made during this swap.

I hope you'll give this quiche a try. This would be perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner this upcoming weekend.

Here is what you'll need:

For the Crust:

• 3 cups coarsely shredded uncooked potatoes (I used frozen ones, defrosted)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a 10-inch cheesecake pan or pie plate and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine crust ingredients. Press into prepared cheesecake pan or pie plate. Bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven. Reduce heat to 350F.

For the Filling:

• 3 oz cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 4 oz. ham, diced (or other meat of your choice)
• 1 box frozen spinach, defrosted and strained (or other vegetable or your choice)
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup fat-free half-and-half
• 1/2 tsp salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• dash ground nutmeg

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Serves 6 for a breakfast or with side (we had 4 dinner servings with no sides).

Source: Adapted from Prevention RD

I'll be honest, I was pretty stumped with what to make. Does that mean I don't have a happy place? Can't be so. I think the issue is narrowing down to 1 pick. I decided on these Harvest Muffins.  I'd say one of my most happy places is being outdoors during the harvest season. Whether it's strolling through a country fair, picking apples, taking a drive to see the colorful leaves or sipping something warm by a bonfire, being outdoors during harvest season always makes me happy.

These muffins were fantastic! If you're looking for something fairly healthy and just slightly sweet, here's your match! Additionally, they have little flecks of color and crunchiness, and a warm spicy smell and flavor. These are going to be a great grab-and-go breakfast for this week!

Be sure to check out Newlywed and Newly Cooking for this month's What's Baking round-up.
Here is what you'll need:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• pinch of ground cloves
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1 shredded carrot
• 1 shredded apple
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
• 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1/4 cup flax seeds
• 1/8 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Spray 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.

Combine flours, baking soda, baking powder and spices in a large mxing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine shredded zucchini, carrot and apple.

In a small bowl, combine, eggs, brown sugar and milk. Whisk until well combined. Add egg mixture to shredded vegetables and fruit. Stir until well combined.

Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir until almost combined (mostly wet, but a few dry spots). Add flax seeds and cranberries, and fold until combined being careful not to overmix.

Evenly distribute among pre-greased muffin cups (~1/4 cup batter in each cup). Bake for 12-14 minutes until browned and toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serves 12.

Source: Adapted from Shrinking Kitchen

Once in a while JR will request breakfast, and since he is not normally a breakfast eater I jump at the chance to fulfill his request. Last weekend he asked if we had peanut butter chips; he wanted peanut butter pancakes. Just so happens, I picked up a big bag a week or so prior.

I wanted to kick up the peanut butter flavor a bit, so I used peanut butter in place of butter in the batter. Topped with a dollop of freshly whipped cream and a drizzle of real maple syrup, you basically have dessert for breakfast! And I don't think that's a bad thing (occasionally)!

I had every intention of getting these on the blog last week, but they were gone before I could get a photo. JR loved these so much he asked for them again Friday, so I snagged a photo quickly before heading out to work. Coming from a non-breakfast guy, 2 requests in one week speaks to just how good these are!

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 3 Tbsp peanut butter, melted
• 9 tsp peanut butter chips
• Stick butter for greasing griddle

Preheat griddle to 325-350F degrees.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

Beat eggs, milk and melted peanut butter in a small mixing bowl. Add to dry ingredients and whisk until well combined.

Rub one end of the stick of butter over the griddle to grease it.

Drop 1/4 cup scoops of batter onto hot griddle.  Sprinkle 1 tsp of peanut butter chips over each pancake.

Cook first side of pancake for about 3 minutes until bottom is browned and tiny bubbles rise to the top and pop. Flip and cook second side about 2 minutes until browned on the bottom.

Makes 9 pancakes.

Source: Adapted from Rosemary Brown's Big Kitchen Instruction Book

It's What's Baking time and this month the host is Lindsay of Peace, Love and French Fries. I'll be honest, when I first saw this month's theme I audibly declared "NO!" It was the feared ingredient of many, and if you haven't guessed yet, the theme was "Baking with Yeast."

"Baking with yeast" is not a response you'd hear from me if you were to ask me what I was doing in the kitchen on any given day. Nope. However, I have used it a few times in the past, notably for pizza dough (which reminds me that I need to get that recipe posted soon).

I suppose there was no better time to stretch myself past pizza dough than this month. Without further adieu, I bring you Wheat English Muffins which I can say I had fun making!

First Rise

Kneaded, Ready to Roll

Cut to Size

Second Rise

First Side on the Griddle

We have English Muffins!

I'm the English Muffin lover in this house, it's my bread of choice for breakfast sandwiches. JR will only eat them if there is no other bread to choose from, and if they say "wheat" he'll opt out of breakfast sandwiches all together. When I asked him if he was going to try these he said of course, and after finishing the first one asked for another with peanut butter and jelly. I guess it's safe to say these are good and there was no need for him to know they were of the wheat variety!

Be sure to check out Peace, Love and French Fries for the round-up, and be sure to check back here next month for another round of What's Baking hosted by ME!

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 1/4 cups milk 
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 warm water
• 1 package of dry yeast
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 Tbsp shortening, melted
• corn meal for dusting

Scald (click here to learn how) milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Add salt and stir to dissolve. Remove from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm.

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk mixture to water mixture. Add 1/2 the flour, sifted, 1 cup at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon after each addition. Add melted shortening and mix well. Add remaining flour, sifted, 1 cup at at time, mixing well.

Lightly grease a second large mixing bowl. Place dough in greased mixing bowl. Lightly brush with water. Cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise 2 hours in a warm place until doubled in size.

Remove dough from bowl and place on lightly floured surface. Knead a few times to form a dough ball. Roll dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Using a biscuit cutter or glass about 3-4 inches in diameter, cut out English muffin rounds.

Sprinkle corn meal on a baking sheet. Place English muffin rounds on baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise 45 minutes.

Lightly grease and preheat griddle to 300F. Place English muffin rounds on griddle (corn meal side down) and cook for 10 minutes. Flip and cook second side 10 minutes. Move to wire rack to cool completely.

After they are completely cooled, they can be frozen in ziplock bags. Makes 15+ (depending on diameter).

Source: Adapted from Weekend Cook

It's recipe swap time! This time the theme is Secret Recipe Club Style, meaning we are given a blog and can choose any recipe from it to make. I was given Lishie's blog, DeLish. It was really early, think 4:45 AM Sunday morning, when I started searching for what I would make. After searching for a while I got hungry and settled on something I could make for breakfast.

As I mentioned last week, strawberries are at a great price right now and I'm still looking for ways to use them up. I settled on these Strawberry Pancakes with Strawberry Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Compound Butter. This was my first experience with compound butter, I added the maple not sure how it would work out. I'm happy to have discovered how easy these are to make. I can see experiments with different flavor combinations in my future.

Here is what you'll need:

For the Pancakes:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 sliced strawberries
• butter (for the pan)
  

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt in a mixing bowl. Add egg and milk, and whisk together until smooth. Add strawberries and gently stir until combined.

Melt 1/2 Tbsp butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. Pour ~1/2 cup batter into pan and allow to cook about 3-4 minutes, or until the bottom is golden brown and the top is covered in bubbles. Flip the pancake over and cook the second for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Repeat with remaining batter.

To serve, plate and top with a small dollop of compound butter (recipe below) and maple syrup. Makes 5 pancakes.

For the Butter:

• 4 Tbsp butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped strawberries
• 2 tsp maple syrup

Combine ingredients in a small food processor. Pulse 15-20 seconds to combine. Transfer to a small bowl and refrigerate to set-up.

Source: Slightly adapted from Delish

Every year around this time I, along with millions of other people, wait for the arrival of a famous minty green shake. Every year after I consume the famous minty green shake, I feel regret. Why? Because normally it's in addition to a meal from the same establishment, meaning the shake was not the meal, and based on the number of calories it has, it's more than enough for a meal!

You see a small size minty green shake has 540 calories, 16 grams of fat, 74 grams of sugar and 10 g of protein. Are you stunned? Don't fret, you can make my Minty Green Smoothie and feel better about it because it has 382 calories, 7 grams of fat, 17 grams of sugar and 33 grams of protein. The best part is that you can even enjoy this for breakfast, and it will keep you full!

I'm so happy I no longer have to feel regret and I can have this any time I want, all year round!

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 cup 1% milk
• 2 scoops of vanilla whey protein powder (I use Pure Protein Vanilla Cream)
• 8-10 ice cubes
• 3/4 tsp peppermint extract
• 3 drops green food coloring (optional)

Place all ingredients in a blender. Using the ice crush setting, blend for 30 seconds. Switch to the blend setting, and blend for 10-15 seconds.

Serves 1 (~2 cups).

Source: Adventures in My Kitchen original

Have you heard of Wheatena? I hadn't either until last year during one of my Weight Watcher meetings when a fellow member was talking about a different option for breakfast. The following week I looked for it and now I'd like to recommend it to you as a different option for breakfast. I love the nutty flavor, and just like oatmeal, you can mix in whatever you'd like; dried fruit, diced fresh fruit, nuts...

Or you could make muffins, these muffins. While I may have erased some of the benefits of eating this cereal, I still feel better eating these for breakfast rather than these Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (this doesn't mean I still won't eat one for breakfast every now and then!).

This recipe originally called for orange flavors, but I have a lot of grapefruit that I'm looking to use up and I thought the tartness of grapefruit would balance the honey and brown sugar. It sure did. While the grapefruit flavor is just barely present, I wasn't disappointed because the nuttiness released from baking won me over!

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 cup Wheatena
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp grated grapefruit peel (from ~1 grapefruit)
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 dark honey
• 1/2 cup grapefruit juice (from ~1/2 grapefruit)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg

Preheat oven to 400F. Place cupcake papers in a 12-cup muffin pan and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just moistened.

Evenly divide batter into muffin pan using a 1/4 cup measuring cup (it's actually just a little less than 1/4 cup each muffin).

Bake 15 minutes or until browned on top. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove and serve warm. Makes 12 muffins.

Source: Adapted from Wheatena

Can you believe Thanksgiving is this week?!  I say this every year, but this year really has flown by!  I'm sure you already have your Thanksgiving menu finalized and are knee-deep in prep for the feast.  However, just in case you are still looking for one last side dish, or forgot to pick up the canned cousin, I wanted to share this Cranberry Sauce I made for our Thanksgiving dinner.

When I first started making Cranberry Sauce, I used a ton of sugar as indicated in most recipes.  After a few years I started using Splenda to save calories, and this year I challenged myself to make it all natural with agave nectar.  I did a quick search and came upon this recipe from Amy Andrews and decided to give it a try.  Not only did it use agave nectar, I was intrigued by it's use of spices.  Speaking of spices, I had no cheesecloth, so I opted to try my tea ball.  It worked.

This resulted in a less sweet, a little spicy and mighty tasty version of a classic Cranberry Sauce.  Since I'm the only one who eats it, I'm excited to dig into the leftovers mixed in my yogurt and spread on bagels with cream cheese!  If you have ideas for other ways to use up the leftovers, please leave me a comment with your suggestions.

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 12 ounce bag fresh, whole cranberries
• 2/3 cup agave nectar
• grated peel of 2 clementines
• 1/3 cup clementine juice
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 6 black peppercorns
• 4 whole cloves
• 3 whole allspice

Place cranberries, agave nectar, grated peel, juice and cinnamon stick in a medium nonreactive saucepan.  Stir to combine.

Place remaining spices in cheesecloth (or a tea ball!), tie the cheesecloth and place in saucepan.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Stir, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer 15 minutes, or until cranberries pop and sauce becomes syrupy.

Remove from heat and remove tea ball.  Allow to cool, then remove cinnamon stick.  Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes 2 cups.

Source: Amy Andrews: Your Guide to the Food Room

Elly from Elly Says Opa! is hosting a blog event called Eat to the Beat for her 5-year blog anniversary.  I was intrigued when I heard about this event and decided to jump in and join.

I've had Train on repeat for a while now, I'm obsessed, so it what pretty much a no-brainer when I heard "Breakfast in Bed" come on the day following her announcement.  I always eat breakfast, but JR does not.  However, every once in a while we'll have a weekend breakfast and this weekend makes the second one in a row (it has nothing to do with the fact that I pretty much forced this on him)!

I was browsing through this Brunch cookbook when I came across Waffles with Caramelized Bananas.  Not only did they look delicious, use ingredients I always have on hand and they make for a special treat, just like a Breakfast in Bed should be!

Head on over to the round-up and wish Elly a Happy 5 years!  

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp superfine sugar
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 cup milk
• 3 Tbsp butter, melted

• 3 Tbsp butter
• 3 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 3 large ripe bananas, peeled and sliced

Preheat waffle maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the egg yolks, milk and butter.  Whisk until smooth.

Using a mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold egg whites into batter.

Fill your waffle maker according to manufacturer's instructions.  Cook until browned to your liking (mine has a light that goes off when it's done, but then I let it go a little longer to brown more).

Meanwhile, in a sauce pan over medium heat, heat butter, maple syrup and pecans until butter is melted and mixture begins to turn golden brown.  Remove pan from heat and add bananas.  Stir to coat bananas well.

Spoon banana pecan syrup over waffles and enjoy!

This made 4 6-inch round waffles (16 quarters), serves 4-6.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, however, it seems that Summer is starting to wind down (at least in my area).  I know that there is still time for it to come back strong, but while it's cooler I'm taking advantage of this opportunity to bake.  I miss baking.  Call me a wimp, but I just cannot handle baking in the heat of Summer.  I hope to make up for it now.  This is the third baked good I made in the past 2 weeks.  Unfortunately my first two won't be posted here, at least not until I can figure out what went wrong.

These muffins came about because I started straying from eating a good breakfast.  This is a problem; I need good fuel for brain power throughout the morning.  So early one morning I searched for a muffin recipe.  After realizing all the recipes I was finding called for milk, which I was out of, I almost lost hope.  However, I thought I must have a can of coconut milk in the pantry.  That would work, right?  The reviews of this basic oatmeal muffin recipe lead me to believe that indeed it should adapt well.

Now I had to think about how to flavor them.  What compliments coconut?  I had fresh strawberries and peaches, frozen blueberries, black raspberries and bananas, but none of these sounded right.  I wanted something a bit more tropical.  Lime would work, but that didn't seem like enough, so I took a chance on adding ginger.

The aroma while these baked was heavenly!  The flavors complimented each other really well.  These were a great breakfast option for me, full of good-for-you ingredients.  I will caution you that these are not sweet, but I hope that doesn't stop you from giving them a try.

I made several changes to the recipe which are included here:

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup agave
• zest of 1 lime
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup dried shredded coconut 
• 1 tsp ginger

Preheat oven to 425F degrees.

In a large measuring cup, measure coconut milk.  Add oatmeal and allow to soak 15 minutes.

In a small mixing bowl, combine egg, oil, agave and lime zest.  Add oatmeal mixture and combine.

In a large mixing bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt.  Add coconut and ginger.  Add wet mixture and stir until just combined.  Do not overmix.

Divide batter evenly among a 12 cup muffin tin.

Bake 20-25 minutes (mine came out at 20 minutes) until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Makes 12 muffins.

Our niece stayed with us recently and for Saturday morning breakfast I knew I wanted to make a quiche.  Quiche is one of those great breakfast treats that you can make ahead and eat anytime, whether it's breakfast, lunch or even dinner.  This proved to be really useful as we had drop-in guests come by and I had something on hand to serve them.

This isn't my first quiche post, I've made this vegetable one before.  I followed that same basic recipe, but decided to change up the flavors based on what I had in the refrigerator, which happened to include two of my favorite ingredients - mushrooms and goat cheese.  I really wasn't sure how the goat cheese was going to work in this, but I'm glad I took the risk.  It provided a nice slightly tart flavor and creamy texture.

I also included a new ingredient to my kitchen, garlic scapes.  If you've never used them, you should try them.  It may be too late to get them this year, they have a short season, but you can look for them at your farmer's market next year.  They added the perfect light, garlicky flavor and slightly crunchy texture to this dish.

This was definitely a winner with only one piece left after I served it and that piece was gone quickly the next morning.  You certainly don't need to wait for guests to make this, in fact I think you should make this as a breakfast treat for yourself soon!

Here is what you'll need:

• 4 oz. pancetta, diced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 10 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• 3 garlic scapes, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup 2% cottage cheese
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 
• 1/4 cup 2% milk
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• 1 Tbsp fresh chives, chopped
• 1 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 pie crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake crust for 10 minutes.

While crust is baking, in a large saute pan on high heat, add pancetta to pan and cook until starting to brown.

Turn pan down to medium-high heat and add oil.  Add mushrooms and cook until partially browned, stirring occasionally.  Add garlic scapes, salt and pepper to taste, and cook until browned and softened, stirring occasionally.  Once done, remove from heat and set aside to cool a bit.

In a bowl combine eggs, cheeses, milk, mustard, chives and flour stir until thoroughly mixed.

Spoon mushroom mixture into bottom of pie crust, then layer egg mixture on top of mushroom.  

Place in oven and bake 45-50 minutes until knife inserted come out clean.  Allow to set for 10 minutes before cutting.  Serves 8.

As you're reading this post, I'm in Costa Rica and perhaps I have eaten this dish today.  Last weekend, I started getting really excited about our upcoming trip so I decided to make a traditional Costa Rican breakfast for us to chat over as we planned the final details of our trip.  Gallo pinto is part of the traditional Costa Rican breakfast, and in preparation of our trip I decided to try my hand at cooking it. 

As you can imagine, just like with any traditional dish, there are several variations to be found.  I settled on this one, and am really glad I did.  We eat a lot of rice and bean dishes, and this may be my favorite yet.  The big distinction in this preparation is that some of the vegetables are added close to the end of cooking which helps them retain their freshness and add so much flavor.  I can't wait to see how close this dish comes to the real thing. 

Here is what you'll need:

• 3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 cup Goya medium grain white rice
• salt to taste
• 1 small or medium onion, diced and divided
• ½ small red bell sweet pepper, diced and divided
• 3 tsp chopped fresh cilantro 
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup, 1/2 can, black beans, liquid reserved

In a large pan on medium high heat, add 2 Tbsp olive oil and saute dry rice for 2 minutes, stirring as needed.  Add salt.  Add 1/2 of the diced onion, 1/2 of the diced pepper and cilantro to the pan and saute minutes, stirring as needed.

Add chicken broth to the pot.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover.  Cook for 20 minutes, resist any urges to lift the cover, until rice is tender.

Once rice is done, push rice to the edges of the pan leaving a well in the middle.  Add 1 Tbsp of olive oil to the pan inside the well, add remaining onion, pepper and beans.  Stir and saute for 2 minutes.  Add 1/4-1/2 cup of liquid from the beans to moisten the mixture and give it color.  Serves 4.

I have a lot of cookbooks, and it seems that each one has just a few recipes that I like.  Weekend Cook was a gift to me and a lot of the recipes use cream of x soup, etc. so there aren't many recipes in it I use, however this one banana bread uses whole foods and is great!  Not only does it use minimal ingredients, it's quick to mix up and is a nice change from the average banana bread.

The first time I made this I thought there was no way the end result would be a bread.  I had everything mixed in the bowl and it seemed soupy, but I thought I followed the directions so I hoped for the best.  I was amazed at the result, a real bread!  After a few times making this I realized the recipe calls for ground rolled oats, but I've never ground them and I like the texture so I've kept them whole.

There have been times when I've only had 2 bananas, so I added a chopped apple or peach and it's worked beautifully.  I've also made this with and without pecans.  I prefer with pecans, but without works too (like today).

You'll want to keep a close eye on this toward the end of the baking time because the edges get dark very quickly.  I think this is due to the honey, however, dark edges don't stop me from enjoying it.

Here is what you'll need:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 3 bananas, chopped
• 1 cup pecans, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.  Pour mix into prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until knife inserted comes out clean.  Cool completely before slicing.  Serves 10.

Source: I was not able to find a link to this cookbook online.  It is a collection of recipes contributed by individuals and was a fundraiser in support of local home economics programs.  This recipe is credited to Kay Atkeison, Brookland H.S., Brookland, AR.

I love quiche, but it is not a very healthy meal option.  Remember when I was talking about Chicken Pot Pie, I told you how the crust was my favorite part, but I managed to do away with a traditional crust for that recipe.  Well, I just couldn't do away with a crust for this quiche so I had to figure out another way to lighten it up.  I used my trusty cookbook to help me with ratios and then I took it from there.

I figured out that I can cut out the half and half by replacing it with a combination of low fat cottage cheese and milk, use reduced fat vs. regular cheese, cut back the quantity of cheese and bulk up on vegetables.

It took me several tries to get a consistency I liked, and I was very pleased with this one.  You can definitely play around with the flavor combination here, even add meat if you'd like, but I love to stick with a simpler vegetable and cheese version.

I know there are a lot of cottage cheese haters, but this doesn't taste or feel "cottage cheesy" at all.  Plus I'll let you in on a little secret, if you've eaten my lasagna, it's in there too.  Yep, you didn't know, and you live to speak of it!

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 tsp dried minced garlic
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup chive and toasted onion cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup 1% milk
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• 1 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 pie crust
• 1 Tbsp all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place crust in oven and bake for 10 minutes.

While crust is baking, add oil to a nonstick skillet and heat to medium high.  Add mushrooms and cook until browned, stirring occasionally.  Add peppers, onions and garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and cook until softened, stirring occasionally.  Once done, remove from heat and set aside to cool a bit.

In a bowl combine eggs, cottage cheese, milk, and dried mustard and stir until thoroughly mixed.

Spoon vegetables into bottom of pie crust, layer cheese on top of vegetables, and layer egg mixture on top of the cheese.  Sprinkle flour over the top of egg mixture.

Place in oven and bake 45-50 minutes until knife inserted come out clean.  Allow to set for 10 minutes before cutting.  Serves 8.

Recently a question was discussed on an online cooking community I belong to.  Do you blog everything you make, or do you only blog foods you really like?  I definitely don't, and don't intend to, blog everything I make.  However, I began pondering this question again this morning as I was eating these Quinoa Corncakes. 

Earlier this week I saw this recipe posted by Prevention RD.  Since I've found my love for quinoa last year, and I knew I liked corncakes, I thought these were a no brainer for me and I needed to make them, soon.  So this morning I set out to make them, following the recipe she posted exactly as it is.


Well, I'm not really sure how I feel about them.  They aren't bad, I ate two as I tried to figure them out, but I can't quite figure out if I like them.  They are definitely healthy, and I will finish eating the batch for breakfasts this week, but I don't know if they are something I'd make again.  The quinoa adds a nice texture, but I think the whole wheat flour is overpowering the cornmeal.  So why am I posting this you ask?  I simply say just because I don't know how I feel about them, doesn't mean you aren't looking for a new healthy breakfast idea to try.  Plus, you may really like them!

So if you do make these, let me know what you think.  I think the next time I make my regular corncakes, I will experiment with adding quinoa to it and see how I like that.

Update: Prevention RD responded to my comment about the whole wheat flouring overpowering the cornmeal.  We think this is due to the fact that I used whole wheat flour not whole wheat pastry flour as indicated in her recipe.  So I am going to give these another try and will let you know the outcome when I do.

I knew our weekend was going to be jammed packed, so I wanted to be sure we started our days off with a good breakfast.  JR suggested we stop for breakfast on our way out of town, but I really wanted to eat at home since I knew we'd be eating lunch out.  I remembered making overnight french toast before and decided that would be a perfect start to our day!

Ellie Krieger's Peach French Toast Bake is both easy to put together the night before and healthy.  I've made this with other fruits, and it has always come out delicious! And bonus, I now have breakfast ready, with just a little warming needed, for a few work days this week!  This is one of the most filling breakfasts I've eaten in a while. I'm finding a serving of this with 1/3 cup plain greek yogurt keeps me satisfied until lunch.

I noted the changes I made to the recipe here:

• Cooking spray
• 1 large whole-wheat baguette, about 8 oz (I used 8 oz day old ciabatta)
• 4 whole eggs
• 4 egg whites (I used 3/4 cup egg whites from the carton)
• 1 cup low fat milk(I use 15)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 cups sliced peaches, fresh or frozen
• 1/2 lemon, juiced about 1 1/2 Tbsp
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar (I used 4 Tbsp)
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (I used 1/2 tsp)

Spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray. Slice the baguette into 1/2-inch slices and arrange the slices in a single layer in the baking pan.  Whisk together the eggs, egg whites, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour the egg mixture over the bread in the pan.

In a medium bowl, toss peaches with the lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of the brown sugar. Scatter the peach slices evenly on top of the bread. Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar over the top. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Uncover and bake for 40 minutes.  Serves 8.