Walk Widely. Eat Wisely. Live Gratefully.
Buns? Or rolls? Growing up we called them hamburger rolls. But now that we are more selective about what we eat, our favourites are these whole wheat sun dried tomato rolls.
They’re great on their own, or filled with cheese, hummus, or a burger. This morning we filled them with home grown greens (lettuce, mustard, romaine, beet, kale) and a couple of slices of tomato. Then we added a soft cooked egg, some sharp cheddar, and a smear of Dijon. Magic!
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Not wanting to heat up the kitchen to make bread, potatoes were just the ticket for today’s breakfast. We’re keeping an eye on the Open Championship while we catch up on our reading.
To make this: 
We grated two potatoes and chopped some greens, green onions, and herbs from our garden. In a well seasoned or nonstick pan with just a touch of olive oil, we cooked them until they were getting golden. A flip (messy is okay) and we added an egg for each. Once more over easy, we served them with some avocado and tomato, and a sprinkle of smoked paprika. They were, in a word, the breakfast of Champions.
We have been travelling for more than a week now, so it was lovely to wake up and pick these beauties for breakfast. They are marvelously juicy, which reminds me just how much water, nutrients and freshness are lost in berries that are transported to the store. More than anything, that’s why local is important. Local = life.
These are the things for which we are grateful. It could only be better if our boys and girls were here to share.
Delicious. That is all.
With Canada Day just a few days away, local foods are on my mind. Also, I expect this will be the last year for this country-sized veg garden, so we are making the most of the harvest. Today’s special: Rhubarb Maple Crisp.
Fill your dish with sliced rhubarb, and drizzle lightly with maple syrup.
For the topping, mix melted butter and syrup (about 1/3c of each) with 1/3c sliced almonds and enough rolled oats (large flake) to cover your dish – around 3c.
Bake in a 375 oven for 45-50 minutes, until the rhubarb is bubbling and cooked through, and the top is golden.
We served ours with some fat free plain yogurt, delicious and creamy.
English friends, full disclosure…not chips, or what you might call crisps. Fruit crisps are a summer dessert and breakfast staple. This one started with a layer of stewed rhubarb, although simply chopping with a little maple syrup would work well. Any summer fruit (or mixture) will do.
Put the fruit in a square pan. In a large bowl mix 1/4c melted butter, 1/4c maple syrup or brown sugar, 2c large flake rolled oats, and 1/3 c each of unsweetened coconut and walnuts. Change it up with nuts and seeds as you like. Add more oats until you have a consistency that’s not too wet and sprinkle over the fruit.
Bake in a 350F oven for 30 minutes for pre-cooked fruit or up to an hour for fresh fruit, until topping is nicely browned and fruit is soft and bubbling. A glass pan lets you see what’s going on underneath.
We served ours with a tasty yogurt topping but whipped cream, ice cream or nothing at all and it would still be divine. (1/2 c fat free plain yogurt mixed w 1t maple syrup and 1/2t vanilla is plenty for two).
We’re always reading and exploring information about healthier food choices. One really interesting documentary we watched this week is Forks over Knives, which presents a case for a whole food, plant based diet. While we haven’t thrown away all our food and started fresh, we were already proponents of eating real food, prepared at home. Our first step on the journey is to return to eating far more fruits and vegetables, and to reduce the prime position animal products are taking on our table.
So why feature these breakfast eggs in today’s post? Eggs Benedict are an old favourite of ours. We’ve eaten many, and fed them to our friends. But this is definitely a healthier option.
These poached eggs are served on a whole grain buckwheat English muffin loaf, which is topped with mashed avocado. Hothouse tomatoes are on the side. What could we substitute next? Perhaps some cooked mushrooms and chickpeas? Watch this space for more healthier food choices. Meanwhile, this is as good as any Benny, and moving us in the right direction.
It’s well known amongst our friends that we love a celebration. Today’s breakfast is a salute to Cinco de Mayo. One of the great things about having a multicultural family is more excuses to get together, reconnect, and of course, eat delicious food. Our whole wheat tortilla is topped with salsa, black beans, avocado, tomato and a scrambled egg. This will get us off to a running start, for sure!
After a quick trip to the T-Dot to visit the kids and the in-laws, life is getting back to normal, food wise, at least. Yesterday I baked an updated version of English muffin loaf, with multigrain flour instead of white. It’s a fast mix, no kneading, and you can ignore it and do other chores during the rising. Here’s the recipe:
2c plus 1 T/265 ml multigrain flour (make your own or try a mix including bran, rye, oat, spelt, kamut, or cracked wheat, and flax or sesame seeds if you like)
1T/15 ml or 1 packet active dry yeast
2t/10ml brown sugar (or honey or maple syrup)
1c/250ml lukewarm 1% milk (any milk will work, including nut milk)
1/4t/2 ml baking soda
Mix dry ingredients (except soda) in a large bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon to make a thick batter, then for 15-20 seconds more until it looks stretchy.
Cover with a tea towel in a warm place and let rise for about 45 minutes til double.
Dissolve soda in 1T/15ml water and stir vigorously into batter, continuing just until it looks stretchy again.
Grease or spray an 8″ loaf pan. Scrape batter in, cover with towel and allow to rise again about 40 minutes.
Bake in a 375 oven 45-55 minutes until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from pan right away.
Tastes best when toasted.
We had ours with a pepper and mushroom omelette. The sun is finally doing its work and the snow is beginning to recede. Thankfully, we just might see spring after all.
The reward for today’s workout? Black Forest smoothie. All the flavours of the famous cake, in liquid form. Combine plain fat free yogurt, dark sweet cherries, fresh or frozen, and some milk in a blender with a heaping spoonful of hot chocolate mix. We used the sugar-free kind. Cocoa and honey would work as well. Blend until smooth and start your day with something sweet.