Breakfast

Breakfasts are a big deal around here. We never have cereal, well, occasionally a warm bowl of oatmeal, or muesli or granola over yogurt. But normally it's eggs (organic and free range, and preferably pastured) every which way and sometimes pancakes or muffins and normally a smoothie and yes, a salad.

This morning it was a plain ricotta & sour cream frittata. I usually use the frittata as a conduit to adding veggies, left overs and fresh, but today we did the salad on the side. The sour cream added a creaminess and ricotta just lightens up a frittata beautifully so I try to keep some grass-fed ricotta stashed in the fridge.

• 8 eggs
• 1 package ricotta
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

that was it - simple, easy and really tasty. Mix it all together. Heat butter slowly on medium stove. Pour into a pan warmed on the stove once the butter bubbles a bit. Transfer to a preheated oven at 375F for about 30 minutes until it's puffy and golden.

It will fall so make sure to present right out of the oven so you get the ooohs and aaahhhs.

We served it with some greens and a salad of tomatoes, avocados, parsley, sea salt, and a squeeze of lemon.

We usually nosh on the frittata throughout the morning since it can be eaten warm or at room temp.

I had lots of yogurt I needed to use so I made a quick easy smoothie:

• 1/2 bag of frozen strawberries
• 32oz container plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons chia seeds
• 2 tablespoons of honey or agave
• 1 ripe banana

Blend, serve, enjoy.

I add chia seeds to morning smoothies. Chia seeds are high in omega 3s and fiber, very important for good health. I add them every morning to the kid's smoothies. They come whole or ground. I use the ground in the smoothies because the kids don't like the texture of the whole in a drink. They get jelly-like when combined with liquid so you can actually store it in the fridge in water (9 cups water to 1 cup chia seeds) and use that slurry for baking and smoothies. You can easily add chia seeds or the gelatanous liquid mixed with chias to smoothies, yogurt, baked goods, and cereal or granola.

Since I had a lot of yogurt on hand and since the kids asked for muffins, I decided to try some banana yogurt muffins.

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups plain yogurt
• 1/3 cup succanat
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  
• 2 ripe bananas, cut into chunks

Mix wet ingredients. Add dry ingredients on top and mix. Add chopped bananas and mix gently. Spoon into well buttered tins (the bananas will get sticky!) and cook for 30 minutes until they are done in the center.

The bananas get ooey gooey and fall to the middle and bottom so I served them upside down. I bet it would have been prettier with some powdered sugar on top. Everyone loved them.

All in all our breakfast doesn't take that long to make but we do sit around the table together and gab and take our time enjoying it. It's a whole lot better than something out of a cardboard box and I know they are full of stuff that will keep them going strong all morning. A good breakfast is the best start to a productive day.

Irish Soda Bread

Yesterday morning I open my refrigerator to sour milk and one egg to feed my family breakfast. This is just depressing. Plus I hate the idea of throwing out (what was once good) organic milk. So I searched for something to make that would satisfy four hungry kids and found a wonderful plain Irish Soda Bread.

It was easy, fast, and actually delish. The crunchy crust was a real favorite and we all enjoyed the texture of the bread. And what a way to use up sour milk!

Preheat oven to 425F.

In a mixer with a bread hook mix:
3 cups flour (I used a mix of some whole wheat and all purpose white)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Then add 1 1/2 cups sour milk (I'm not talking about curdled milk) and mix with the dough hook until it pulls from the sides. If too wet, you may need to add more flour, up to another cup. If too dry add more milk, up to another 1/4 cup.

Cut the top in an X to allow it to grow and bake in bread pan or free form in a circle. Bake 30 minutes until the crust forms and tapping it sounds hollow - you can cheat and peak if you're not sure.

We enjoyed with almond butter, jam, and cheese.

I have decided to get a good quality vita-mix and start milling my own flours fresh. There is a lot of discussion on pre-milled flours losing nutrients and not being good for us. I'm also going to start researching sprouting my own wheat berries and making sprouted breads. So stay tuned for that information - I can't wait to learn about it. If you have been doing this or know how, share the love!

Carrot Orange Morning Muffins

I try not to use flour or sugar too much in our lives but we make the exception for birthdays and for a breakfast treat once in a while. Today the little one requested muffins but I have been trying to add veggies to our morning routine so after reviewing several recipes I put together a breakfast muffin that was super moist, full of veggies, and very tasty.

You can see how moist these are above and how colorful with the green pumpkin seeds, orange carrot bits and brown juicy raisins. Since they are low in sugar, they'll be a good snack for the kid's lunch box too.

When I was preparing them I tried to keep the carrots a secret (they all say they hate carrots!) but they kept asking about what kind (I told them cinnamon was in them, that wasn't a good enough answer) so I fessed up. Of course they balked when they heard carrots. I got the puke face and delightful noises that go with that, lots of whining and well, I don't need to tell you. They smelled really good so we all agreed, ok maybe I forced them with all the patience in the world - we'll sit here all day, to taste it and surprisingly (to them and to my delight), they all loved them!

preheat oven to 350 F

Mix:
2 large organic Eggs
2/3 cup melted organic Coconut Oil
2 teaspoons Vanilla (I use organic Nielsen Massey)
3/4 cup Sucanat (that's a natural sugar with more flavor - Sugar Cane Natural = SuCaNat)
2 teaspoons Zest from one organic orange or tangerine

Add:
3 cups grated organic Carrots (about 3/4 lb of carrots)
1 cup organic Raisins
1/2 cup organic Pumpkin Seeds
1/2 cup organic Coconut (not the sweetened coconut, just grated natural coconut)
1 shredded organic Apple

After that's all blended together add the dry to the mix:
2 cups whole wheat or wheat pastry organic flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon (a good quality cinnamon makes all the diff)
1/2 teaspoon salt

It will be a thick batter. Scoop with an ice cream scooper so the muffin tins are 3/4 full. Bake 25 (one batch took 23, another 25 - I made 24 muffins) minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

I was tempted to use applesauce in the recipe but didn't have any handy. Next time I may cut the oil but 1/3 and add 1/3 cup applesauce to it instead but these came out so moist and perfect, I may not change it at all.

We sprinkled a little powdered sugar over them and enjoyed them with breakfast.