Almost every morning, I try to have breakfast. For me, not only does it set the nutritional tone of the day, but it also has an impact on the day’s flow. I don’t know exactly why, or if it’s just unique to me, but I find that if I’m rushed and frazzled through my breakfast routine, falling back on a few go-to items that I’m too hurried to enjoy, then I tend toward a more erratic day, almost as though a ripple effect is taking place. That’s not to say that I can’t overcome it, I can. It’s more of an observation, really.
After an entire day of laying hardwood floors in Elizabeth’s bedroom, I was pretty wiped out but still hungry for something different for our date night. Laying on the couch to rest my sore back (if you’ve ever laid hardwoods, you know what I’m talking about!), I flipped through the July issue of Bon Appétit for some inspiration, hoping an idea for something quick and easy but still “knock-your-socks-off” delicious would hit me.
Making the transition from recipe to creation is both liberating and a bit intimidating. I’ve always considered myself a “creative cook,” but what that practically means is that I like to fuse together different recipes and tweak the ingredients if something else sounds better or if the ingredients are so obscure or expensive that it’s jut not worth going to the trouble.
Continuing with my recent obsession with bruschetta and bistro dinner experiences, our Date Night Dinner this weekend was a couple appetizer recipes that are standby faithfuls and that together comprised a meal. I was feeling a little under the weather and didn’t want anything too complicated to make and Laree wanted lighter fare so we decided to go with a Sun Dried Tomato, Basil and Feta bruschetta, and another with Shrimp, Tarragon and Arugula. Then, because I wanted something sweet to compliment the flavors and because peaches are in season in Alabama, we tagged onRoasted Peaches with a Balsamic Vinegar Reduction.
For Laree & my Date Night Dinner this week, we basically combined a series of appetizers into a meal. I got inspired for this by a couple of things. First of all, how often have you fixed a killer appetizer that was so good you weren’t hungry for the main course after eating it all up? Happens to us all the time. And with all the spring time fruits and vegetables hitting their peak, I wanted a smorgasbord of fresh and healthy flavors that would satisfy and celebrate the beginning of summer and kind of balance each other out and create a full meal.
The Finished Product with Greek Yogurt and local Honey
One of my favorite breakfasts is pancakes, especially after an early long run on Saturday morning. Even then though, I’m not fired up about all the processed and refined flour, so I’ve been experimenting with other options for my pancake fix. Here’s my latest creation using spelt flour (made to server me and 3 hungry children, you can decrease or increase proportionately).
Seems that I’ve tumbled across more articles lately about how bad sugar is for you. I’m not sure if it’s just what I happen to be reading or if there’s a sudden surge of publicity about the negative effects of sugar, but it’s gotten me to really think about how much sugar, particularly refined sugar, I’m ingesting every day.
I love a good café latte, but I’ve been going broke paying $3 and $4 a pop every time I go to the local coffee shop, and that’s just for a tall! So I decided to try and figure out how to make the perfect café latte at home. I’ve tried in the past to make my own (since I’m a die hard do-it-yourselfer), but I could never seem to get the system down to make a really smooth latte at home. They were ok, but tended to be a little bitter and just didn’t have the same verve as the ones from the local coffee shop. There had to be more to it than money!
The less than desireable results of my brown rice flour pancakes.
One of my Brown Rice Flour waffles. My fruit sort of clumped up in one area, but they ended up being really good and a different twist on traditional waffles
One of my favorite post run meals is pancakes. There’s just nothing like coming in from a long run after getting up at an insanely early hour (on a weekend of all days!) and whipping up a big stack of pancakes with blueberries, raspberries or whatever fresh berries we happen to have on hand.
So in my continual quest to improve my nutrition, I thought it might be a good idea to make my pancakes out of something other than Bisquick. So after perusing Whole Foods for different flour options, I decided to give it a go with organic brown rice flour with interesting results!
First lesson in this project is that brown rice flour is not all purpose flour. I tried to make pancake mix similar to what I’d do with wheat flour:
2 Cups flour
1 Tablespoons of Baking Powder
1 Teaspoons of Salt
1/3 Cup Butter (unsalted)
1 Cup Milk
2 Eggs
about a cup of Frozen Mixed Berries
The less than desireable results of my brown rice flour pancakes.
The results were less than spectacular. The brown rice flour had a grainier texture and totally stuck to the (well greased) pan. The consistency was notably more runny than my regular flour recipe and that’s probably because of the lack of gluten, but I need to figure that one out.
So I opted for plan B, waffles. Again working from the recipe that I know (off the back of the Bisquick box), I added some Canola Oil (2 Tbs) and an extra egg, thinking that might help the consistency a little more when cooking.
The mixture was still pretty soupy, but did cook up pretty well in the waffle iron. After topping my waffles with some Greek Yogurt and local honey, I have to say that they were really good. I’ll probably try and refine this recipe a bit, but it’s one that I’m definitely going to try again!
I’ve started complimenting my morning smoothie with a couple of eggs, particularly as my marathon training has intensified and I’ve been trying to intake more protein.
But eggs by themselves can be rather bland in both taste and appearance, and so I like to kick my eggs up a notch with some sea salt, crushed red pepper, cracked black pepper, parsley flakes and (if I have any on hand, some percorino romano cheese) so that I can feel like I’m in a quaint bed & breakfast somewhere cool rather than in a hurry to get out the door to work.
for some inspiration, hoping an idea for something quick and easy but still “knock-your-socks-off” delicious would hit me. 
