Any meal, anytime…how can I use THIS up?

  
For us, today is meal-planning and market day. We mostly plan dinners, eating leftovers the following day, or a salad or soup. At the end of the week we take stock: what didn’t we make? What made too much and needs to be used up?

Last week we tried a recipe for bacon and leek risotto. Even reducing the arborio by half, it was more than a meal’s worth for the two of us. So we tucked away the leftovers in the fridge with all good intentions. Here we are, Saturday, and that little package of risotto either must be used or thrown away. Sure, it could form the basis of a creamy rice soup. Or it could get buried in some casserole, or formed into patties and browned until slightly crisp on the outside, given that it has absorbed the liquid and sort of, well, solidified. But all that seemed boring. 

What about breakfast? I sautéed an onion, four mushrooms and a stalk of celery (all sliced or diced) with any leftover fresh herbs from the fridge, chopped. Then I tipped in the risotto (about a cup, for two) and a chopped tomato that was on its last day. A quick stir, and then I cracked in two eggs. On low heat with a lid, it took just 5 more minutes for a tasty medium poached breakfast bowl to be ready for each of us.

A grind of pepper on top and we are off to a healthy, happy start to our weekend!

Smooth move!

  We had an amazing weekend, including dinner with some good friends from Montreal. Of course the weekend hi jinks take their toll, so Monday’s a great opportunity to get back on track with healthier choices. That included an early morning workout and this fabulous smoothie (for 2):
1 stalk celery

2 nectarines

1 Clementine

2 small bananas 

500 ml/2c almond milk, unsweetened

125ml/1/2c plain fat free yogurt

15ml/1T sunflower seeds, unsalted 

30ml/2T peanut butter 

Blend until smooth and enjoy!

A Breakfast Worth Celebrating

  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!

Go-for-Gold Breakfast

We’re joining the rest of Canada for a little breakfast time hockey, before we head off to church. The eggs in our golden spicy scramble are combined with a red onion, a habanero pepper, a handful of mushrooms, some diced pancetta, and sage. On the side, molasses-baked kidney beans and some grilled polenta.

If this doesn’t get us going for the day, nothing will!

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Poached Egg on…what?!?

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Eat what you have.

In our continuing quest to finish up things in the freezer or cupboard before automatically heading to the grocery store, we try to keep this in mind. This also means judicious use of leftovers. A couple of nights ago we made a delicious pizza – caramelized onions, olives and mushrooms on a wheat crust, topped with just a little shaving of cheese. With lunch appointments yesterday, the extra slices were still in the fridge, and made a perfect base for a soft-poached egg. Truly, it was a gold medal breakfast.

Does This Taste Cheesy to You?

3000 steps and 7 km on the rower before 7am, while watching the medals for our Canadians at Sochi. These cheese-and-egg breakfast sandwiches will get us on our way. Whole wheat burger buns, bought on sale and frozen for later use, get a freshening in the toaster. Slather on a little Dijon and a couple of tomato slices. For each serving, cook two sliced mushrooms and pour a beaten egg on top. Add a light grating of sharp cheddar. It’ll wake up your mouth (and the rest of you) and keep you going til lunchtime.

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What to Eat When your Plow Guy Quits and you Shovel for Three Hours

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After the apple walnut oatmeal, you go to work like nothing happened out of the ordinary. I love Canada.

Peachy Pancakes

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We’re heading down to the Valley today, to visit 99-year-old Grammy Hergett. So it seemed fitting to start the day with pancakes that remind us of the ones she used to make. We’ve updated the recipe (see our Whole Wheat Pancakes in the recipe tab) but kept all of the taste. Today we served them with Mom’s home-canned peaches and a little Greek-style yogurt.

In the Pink

20120804-084101.jpg. This morning’s breakfast: a feast of colour. Tandoori cured pickerel from Hooked, some heritage tomatoes from the farmer’s market and the first from our garden, and a scrambled egg. Watching the Olympics. What a great start to the day. Go Canada!