For the love of breakfast #7

Short digest of breakfast photos this month.

For the love of breakfast #6

It’s been a while since we’ve seen some breakfasts around this blog. Most mornings I’m too rushed or can’t be bothered to take a photo. For a while I thought I’d stop taking photos of breakfast entirely, but recently I’ve had a bit of inspiration from my recent cravings for sweets. Devonshire clotted cream and Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves OWN ME. Especially on home made soda bread. Om to the nom!

I was also inspired to make two of my favorites together, eggs and kale!

Deliciousness!

My faux Bialetti percolator has been seeing lots of action lately. The weather is getting warmer, so that means more coffee, which I usually cool a bit with some soy creamer.

Happy New year

I have to admit, 2011 has been quite good to me. I got a job, went on a fantastic vacation to Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks, finally chopped my hair off like I’d been wanting to for a while, have a new found love for reading from getting a Kindle for my birthday, have been able to afford nice things for myself, Zach, and others, and I stopped being a vegetarian. Things I have to look forward to: training myself to be a better runner, our next vacation we’ve already booked for Yosemite National Park (at the end of May), testing my patience and perseverance as I save for a new camera, be more creative with cooking now I’ve got two awesome cookbooks, and maybe Zach and I moving into a bigger place.

I hope all my friends and family have a safe and happy New Year’s. Here are the last breakfast photos for 2011.

Tea time

My family knows how much I love good tea. Over the years they’ve helped me amass quite a collection of teapots, tea cups, saucers, strainers, teas, and everything else in between. The last time my sister and her Scotch hubby hopped the pond to visit his family they came back with some tea gifts, and so for Christmas I was given a lovely new glass teapot, a box of lovely flowering teas, and some delicious heather honey made in a town on the northern border of the UK and Scotland.

I don’t have too much time to make and enjoy big pots of tea often these days, so the times I do break out the pretty flowering teas I received will be relished. The tea is green with jasmine and despite leaving the leaves and flowers in the pot, the flavor doesn’t get too strong. The honey is so incredibly smooth and wonderfully light in flavor.

My brother-in-law made mince pies for the holiday, which is a family tradition with him.

Jar of heather honey on top of my new Cook’s Illustrated cookbook.

The tea I had this time was Lily of the Valley.

Green is yummy

For the past week I’ve been drinking at least one green smoothie a day. I may up that to two by making a double batch (half for taking to work and half after exercising at night or with dinner). When I decided to eat meat again, I looked at what else I needed to change in my diet and realized getting more vegetables was necessary. I’m not a huge vegetable eater although I do like most of them. But with our wee, ridiculous fridge that hardly has room for the basics, keeping veggies is a bit difficult. It’s also difficult since Zach is not a vegetable eater. He dislikes most of them. I love kale, but don’t like how easily it goes bad in our wee fridge, so I looked up alternatives and came across the word “smoothie”. Perfect! I’ve bought frozen spinach, kale, banana, mangos and peaches. Our poor super wee freezer is now packed to the gills (we seriously have tiny appliances and it’s very annoying) with smoothie supplies.

I’ve read so many variations of recipes I decided to make up my own, but keeping in mind I needed to keep the ingredients simple and complimentary to each other. My usual ranges from a mix of spinach/kale (handful each), a couple banana chunks (I’m so not a fan of banana, but it makes the smoothie more smoothie-ish), handful of mango chunks or peach slices, and 2 cups of unsweetened soy milk. I know I can add powders and about a million other things to make them SUPER GREEN SMOOTHIES, but I like to keep mine simple. Plus, I’m not into all the powder stuffs. The only powder I have I might add is matcha (powdered green tea) for when I take my smoothies to work and need a bit of caffeine to help me out for the day.

Happy Days

For many months I’ve been craving granola, but due to the craters left in my mouth from having my wisdom teeth removed, I refrained from eating any. But now they are finally closed up and having my yummy crunchy favorite food is back on the menu.

Recipe

3 Cups rolled oats
3/4 Cup shredded coconut
3/4 Cup raw cashew pieces
1/2 Cup raw filberts, chopped
1/2 Cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 Cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 Heaping tablespoon brown flax seeds
1/4 Cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 Cup oil
1/4 + 2 Tablespoons maple syrup (the darker the better)
1/2 Teaspoon salt

Mix all the dry ingredients and the brown sugar together until thoroughly incorporated, then add the liquids. If more liquid is needed then drizzle on more oil. The oil, nut, and seed choices are all your own to change. Spread mixture onto two large cookie sheets (with a lip) lined with parchment paper. Bake in 350F oven for 15 minutes. Take out the sheets and mix up the granola and put back in oven for another 10-15 minutes, depending on how brown the granola looks. It should be golden brown, but not too dark. The final time may need to be adjusted depending upon your oven. For some light creamy flavor, add a teaspoon of vanilla to the oil before pouring over the mix.

Let cool and then put in airtight container. Should last for several weeks.