Morning Smoothie

Spinach Basil and Orange Smoothie!

two handfuls of spinach
one cup of orange juice (freshly squeezed if possible)
8 to 10 leaves of basil

Blend for about a minute, until smooth green color is bright!

Enjoy!

Easy Chocolate Croissants

These are totally kid friendly! 

Take a package of cresent dough and a few handfuls of dark chocolate. 

Roll 'em out, sprinkle the chocolate, roll 'em up and bake.

Enjoy!

Danish Coffee Cake with Peaches

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

2/3 cup greek yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 (or smaller rectangle pan).

In a bowl, mix eggs. oil, yogurt and sugar. Just a spoon...the dough will get too thick for a whisk

Add the vanilla and flour and baking powder and combine.

Press into prepared pan.

 8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 peaches, sliced

Using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until creamy.
Add vanilla and egg.
Spoon this cheese mixture into the center and spread, leaving a one inch border of just cake.
Top with slices of peaches.
Bake fr about 55 - 60 minutes. Cool in a pan.

Pumpkin Scones in time for Fall!

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup cold, cubed butter
1 egg
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 milk (or soy milk)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Mix all of the dry ingredients together. Cut in butter until crumbly.
Mix in wet ingredients until dry are moistened.
Roll onto a cutting/bread board and knead 10 times.
Form into a 10 inch round and cut into wedges.
Lay on cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
Top with powder sugar or icing.
Enjoy!

Bacon Jam

Yep...it is as awesome as it sounds!
This recipe is crazy easy and make the house smell great.
Get out your crockpot but leave the lid in the cabinet.

Start with a pound of bacon, sliced into inch pieces. Brown them all and save about a tbsp of fat to saute the onions. Dice up two red onions and saute in the fat. Add 1/2 cup cider vinegar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup maple syrup and 3/4 cup brewed coffee and bring to a simmer. Add the bacon back in, stir and transfer to the crockpot. I like the crockpot better than a pot on the stove because I am a champ at scorching stuff!

Let it all cook down in the crock pot for 4 hours, uncovered. Put the mixture in the food processor and pulse  until just chunky enough but spreadable. Put in airtight containers and store in the fridge up to 4 weeks...if it lasts that long!

Baked Egg Avocado

Preheat the oven to 375 and follow the pics below.

Bake to the egg dippiness you like :)

Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls

This is such an easy recipe, especially if you have some blueberries that you need to use up. I took the cresent roll dough in a sheet, spread out some brown sugar and white sugar, blueberries and some butter. Roll it all up tightly and slice. Bake based on the instructions on the package. Drizzle some icing (1 cup of powdered sugar and 1 tsp water) on top and enjoy!

Blueberry Croissant French Toast Casserole

 I wanted to make french toast but all I could dream about was bread pudding...yes, dream about! I love bread pudding with caramel sauce :) I bought some croissants and used eggs, almond milk and blueberries that I already had.

I tore up all of the croissants and placed half in a PAM sprayed casserole. The blueberries were sprinkled in, then more croissants, then more blueberries. I whisked 3 eggs together with two cups of vanilla almond milk and poured it all over the croissants. Press down hard to allow all of the ingredients to be coated/soak up the liquid.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the center is firm.

Semi Homemade: Pear Coffee Cake

I wanted to make something different for breakfast. Donuts were too sweet. Pancakes were too messy. I searched the cupboard and found a box of yellow cake mix. I found a few overripe pears in the fridge. Pear Coffee Cake it is!

Slice the pears, skin and all. I prepared the cake mix according to the directions and poured the batter into a 13 x 9 inch glass dish. Top the batter with sliced pears. Sprinkle the pears with cinnamon and brown sugar.

 Bake the cake according to the package instructions based on the pan size. Let it cool and eat it for breakfast or a dessert!

Successful Curd

One of my favorite things to put on scones is lemon curd. I am not quite sure if it's the texture or the tart that I like the best...but I like it! I came across this recipe for a Grapefruit Curd and thought it might be interesting. Having never actually made curd...a challenge!

Squeezey, Squeezey 4 grapefruits!

Careful not to scramble those eggs when you add the hot liquid!

Buttery goodness!

Grapefruit Curd with Thyme

by Rebecca Kraynek

Prep Time: 15 minutes

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Ingredients (jelly jar full)

• 1 cup freshly squeezed grapefruits
• twig of thyme (I used one "branch" or 4 sprigs)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 5 TBSP unsalted butter

Instructions

Place the squeezed grapefruit juice and the thyme sprigs in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until this has reduced by half. Discard the thyme twigs.

Add the honey and sugar to the juice over low heat until dissolved.

In a separate bowl, beat eggs together. Slowly pour half of the juice mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly then whisk the egg mixture into the pot.

Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Remove from the heat and stir in one TBSP of butter at a time until melted. Cool to room temp then store, covered, in the frig.

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Semi Homemade Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Semi homemade is my version of "I'm a slacker and don't feel like cooking from scratch but want something that doesn't taste the it was made 6 months ago by a huge manufacturing company". Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

by Rebecca Kraynek

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

6023790

Ingredients (1 loaf)

• Chocolate Chip Bread Mix
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup shredded zucchini

Instructions

Mix it all together

Place in a Pam sprayed loaf pan (or make as muffins)

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes

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Portion Distortion: IHOP

The kids love IHOP! I'm really not sure why IHOP is greater than any other breakfast joint out there, but it seems to light up their faces. I always like to look at restaurant menus and compare the nutritional values to either what I would cook at home or to an actual portion size. The differences in the calories alone explain a lot about why our country is overweight...I don't think that anyone realizes how much they are shoveling in their bodies.

 Above is an order of Strawberry Banana Pancakes with 2 slices of bacon from IHOP: 1050 calories

Here is a kids breakfast of Baby Cakes (the one strip of bacon has already been devoured!): 210 calories

I have preached before - the kids meals are correct portion sizes! Whether you are at Wendy's or Bob Evan's, go for the kids meal because it usually contains the correct amount of calories, carbs and fat for an average person for a meal. And if you think that you are going to eat a big breakfast to fill you up for most of the day, check this out: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/health/research/01diet.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss

Berry Banana Oat Squares

Ingredients

2 cups old fashioned oats

1/3 cup loosely packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 egg

1 cup almond milk (or regular milk)

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 medium mashed banana

1 cup sliced strawberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 8x8 baking dish with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl combine oats, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon, mixing until combined.

Measure out a cup of milk, then whisk in the egg and vanilla extract. Stir into dry oats.

Stir in mashed banana and melted butter, then the sliced strawberries.

Pour mixture into the baking dish. Bake for 35 minutes or until the edges are brown.

 ENJOY!

Overnight Cooked Oats

These are so creamy and wonderful after being cooked all night in my new little crock pot :) I use 1 cup of oats and 3 cups of water (4 cups of water if I add golden raisins). Put in all in the crock pot, give it a stir and let it cook. In the morning, just before eating it, put a dash of milk or cream in your bowl with some brown sugar...Lovely!

Granola of the Chocolate Variety

When I buy the granola with the M&Ms in it, I just end up eating all the M&Ms! I needed something filling WITH chocolate. Here is my recipe for chocolate granola...and stay tuned for Peanut Butter Granola :)

Ingredients
3 cups regular oats
1 cup Rice Krispies cereal
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup pecan pieces
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Non-stick spray a cooking sheet.
Stir together the oats, cereal, brown sugar, pecans, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.

Over medium, heat the honey and oil in a small saucepan. Cook for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add the chocolate and vanilla, stir until smooth.
Pour the chocolate over the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
Dump onto sprayed cooking sheet and spread into a thin layer.

Bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely on the pan and then break up into a ziploc bag for storage. Eat it straight from the bag as a snack or pour milk over it as a cereal. Enjoy!

Lower Fat Scones

I am a big fan of scones. Although I love them, I am also very picky about them: flavor, texture, and icing. If it isn't flaky and filled with fruit and topped with crunchy, sweet icing then it isn't a good scone. My favorite place to buy scones is Tyler's Bakery (used to be know as Bread Basket) but I wondered if I could make them a tad lower in fat. Here is my Lower in Fat Scone Recipe!

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp cold butter, unsalted
1 tsp lemon zest
1 cup strawberries, diced
1/4 cup strawberry preserves
1 cup fat free cream (if you want the full fat recipe, use 1 cup heavy cream)
Icing
1 tbsp water
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Measure all of your dry ingredients together: flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter, cut in your butter until it looks mealy. Zest in your lemon.

Toss in your strawberries and mix them around to coat them. Pour in your cream and mix until all the ingredients are moist. Don't worrying about it looking like batter. It will still look flaky and dry.

Turn out the dough onto a cutting board and pack it into a ball. Knead it to bind the ingredients so that no pieces fall off. Separate the dough into "lumps" and shape them into two rounds. Place the strawberry preserves on top of one of them. You will place the other round on top and cut into 8 wedges.

Bake them on a sheet tray for 15 minutes at 425 degrees. You can use any kind of flavor combinations with this dough: Peaches and Blueberries, Chocolate Chips, Cinnamon Chips, Mixed Berries, or even Apples and Cinnamon. The same goes for the icing! If you want a sweeter icing, use apple juice with the powdered sugar. If you want a tart icing, use lemon juice with the powdered sugar. The possibilities are endless!