I don’t know about you, but I get pretty bored with the same old breakfasts. During the week I usually hit on a theme and go with it until the idea is a burn out. For a while it was Smoothies with different fruits and a supplement called Lean that my sister distributed. It was very addictive, filling and good on the waist.
She stopped selling it so I moved on to cereal until I went to the store and a box of cereal worth about a dollar now costs five. I refused to pay it.
Next I switched to grains, grits, whole wheat cereal, quinoa etc. made every which way. In the summer that is just too warming, so I moved on to yogurt or toast and nut butters.
On the weekends I am ready for something more interesting. My sister, Shirley often stays over on Friday nights. We have “our show” on TV or a movie. In the morning, I usually come up with an idea, make our favorite blueberry crumble coffee and while she “comes alive” with her first cup, I head to the store to get what ingredients I need.
Although the daily grind gets boring, breakfast is my favorite meal to have with others. I usually go to Fresh Market, a local gourmet grocery for my ingredients, mostly because it’s quieter than the groceries so I don’t have to “look alive” when I get there. Other times, I walk to the local Publix and pick up a paper to bring back with the needed ingredients.
One week I picked up a juicy, sweet Mango and some fresh baked Tropical Coconut Bread to go with some Liberte’ yogurt. That was pretty tasty but not all that filling.
One of the easier meals that we found surprisingly good was from a recipe in the cookbook, “The Good Egg”.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know, it is an egg recipe, Eggs with Beurre Noir (ok if you don’t have a handle on the French language, that is Black butter), Capers and Parsley. Amazingly enough I had all the ingredients, no store trip required.
Another morning I decided to do the vegetarian thing and made a Tofu Egg Salad. I know, I know you non veggies may balk, but I wasn’t too excited about the idea either. I am not a big Tofu lover. It turned out to be an easy breakfast, nutritious, and tasty, a nice change from the norm.
This week, I decided to get a little decadent. I found a recipe in a book I have “Breakfast in Bed” called Divine Filled Croissants. I am on a diet restriction now from food that is acidic or spicy, so this was something I could eat (for a salty, spicy, acid loving foods girl it has been a challenge!)
It is extremely rare for me to eat a croissant. I don’t love them. I once took a class on making croissants and after seeing them incorporate what looked like 10 pounds of butter, I figured it might not look good on my heart or hips. The recipe looked interesting and the croissants seemed to be the best choice, so there you have it, croissants were on the menu.
I didn’t sleep well Friday night. Lots of things on my mind so I wasn’t the “Bright Sunshine” I normally am on the weekend. This time Shirley and I both went to Fresh Market for the ingredients, one of which was Monterey Jack Cheese. I wanted to find it in a block but they didn’t have it. Not wanting to go from store to store, I bought packaged slices.
Upon arriving home and starting to prepare the ingredients, we noted that the cheese was supposed to be grated, but I had slices. Being the genius and iron chef I am I came up with the solution. I grabbed about 4 slices and rolled them together then tried to grate them. I actually didn’t expect the outcome to be too great, expecting the cheese to crumble, but it didn’t. It was grating just fine.
I was so proud of my genius until I got about halfway through the cheese. It was at that point that I realized the reason the cheese stayed together so well. It had paper between the slices which I had so nicely grated in with the cheese! So much for my iron chef status! Lucky I had enough cheese to start over, this time throwing it into my mini food processor and crumbling it.
The breakfast was easy to make and it was a nice change. We used wild caught smoked salmon that was of very good quality. The only change I would have made (besides taking the paper out from between the cheese slices) would be to add some spinach in with the eggs next time.
Today, I spent a little extra time at the gym, hopefully working off the added calories and fat.
Here are the 3 new breakfast ideas. I hope you will try and enjoy them!
Divine Filled Croissants-Serves 4
4 large croissants 4 Tablespoons butter
8 eggs ¼ cup milk
1 Tablespoon minced fresh
(best) Dill or 1 tsp dried ½ cup finely chopped mushrooms
1/3 cup finely chopped
Smoked salmon ½ cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
Optional: Spinach cut in small pieces
Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Warm croissants in oven for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile melt butter in a medium skillet. In a bowl, beat eggs and milk together; add dill, mushrooms (spinach) and salmon. Pour into skillet and scramble until creamy.
Remove croissants from oven and slice lengthwise ¾ of the way through. Preheat broiler.
Fill the croissants with the scrambled egg mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Broil croissants open faced until cheese is melted. Serve immediately
Eggs with Beurre Noir, Capers and Parsley- Serves 2
4 tablespoons unsalted butter 4 large eggs
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 2 teaspoons finely chopped flat leaf parsley (don’t leave out!)
1 tablespoon small capers,
Rinsed and drained 2-4 slices of good quality bread, toasted and buttered.
Warm two plates in oven on the lowest setting (not that I did this!) Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium low heat. When the butter sizzles, break the eggs one at a time into a cup and slip into the skillet (or like me, just go for it and put them straight in!) Reduce the heat to low and fry until the whites begin to set (1 minute) Cover and cook until the yolks are cooked to the desired doneness, about 5 more minutes. Transfer the eggs to the warmed plates.
Add the remaining 3 tablespoons butter to the skillet and heat over medium heat until the butter browns, about 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice and swirl to blend. Pour the sauce over the eggs, sprinkle with parsley and capers and serve with the toast. Yum!
Tofu Egg Salad-Serves 1
4 ounces firm tofu
1-2 tablespoons each, chopped celery and chopped onion
Mayonnaise (light, canola or olive oil is good)
Prepared mustard, dill, curry powder to taste
Chopped or sliced, avocado (optional)
1-2 slices a good grain bread toasted.
Dice tofu as you would hard cooked eggs for salad. Add the chopped celery and onion to taste (can add chopped green pepper if you like).
Add enough mayonnaise to make mixture creamy and season with any or all of the above seasonings or others of your choosing (I used mustard and a small bit of curry as I don’t love curry plus a little salt and freshly ground pepper)
Serve on toast topped with avocado if you like or with a slice of avocado on the side.
Have a great week and ….don’t forget to exercise!
