NOLA Day

I don't know why I decided to make Sunday a complete NOLA day, but I did.  I suppose it started with the recipe for King Cake that I saw in Southern Living this past month.  I didn't have time to make it before Mardi Gras so I thought this weekend would be great.  Then my daughter thought she'd like Eggs Benedict for lunch or breakfast sometime soon.  And well fried chicken came to mind when I was planning my meals for the week.  So that's how it started and it was a delicious day of food. 

We started off with the King Cake for breakfast, and of course don't forget the coffee and fruit.  Yes we are still eating grapefruit from Tree Ripe Citrus Co.  My glaze got a bit runny, but it still tasted good. Unfortunately, there were no dark purple sprinkles to be had.  My thoughts on the cake are this: the cake itself was excellent and very easy to make. However, next time I'll make a brown sugar and cinnamon filling sprinkled on top of soft butter.  I wasn't really a fan of the cream cheese filling.  The recipe also made 2 cakes, and I just cut it in half.

Next up the Eggs Benedict and a chardonnay after church.  The recipe is super easy.  I just split English muffins and top with Canadian bacon.  I like to warm them up together in the oven at 300 degrees, while I'm poaching the eggs.  For the eggs themselves I like an egg poached for about 3:30.  If they need to sit in the oven on top of the ham for a second batch of eggs I usually poach for about 3 minutes.  And then the hollandaise sauce, this is my mother's and I always have good luck with it.

2 egg yolks

1 stick of butter -divided in 1/2

1 T lemon juice

Over a double boiler heat 1/2 stick butter the egg yolks and lemon juice until it comes together as a sauce whisking continuously.  Off heat whisk small chunks of the remaining butter into the sauce.  If you need to put the sauce pan back on top of the double boiler.  This should be enough for 3 servings. I usually double this for 5 people.

Finally we ended the day with my fried chicken; this is always a weekend project. On the menu we also had baked sweet potatoes, kale salad and corn relish that I canned last summer.  I don't think any of us had room for dessert.

What way did you escape the weather?

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

Keeping it Easy for Lunch

As I said last week I really like to be prepared for my breakfast and lunch for the school week.  I find that way I honestly don't have to think too much the night before. I just pack my lunch and stick it in the fridge, and I'm ready to go the next morning except for filling my water bottle. Oh and don't forget I love to eat breakfast.  Since its winter my favorite meal for lunch is soup.  I try to eat vegetarian for lunch. I really do love meat of all kinds, and I'm not afraid to say I serve it to my family for dinner most nights save for a vegetarian or fish meal once or twice a week.  I also have found that I have more energy with a lighter lunch. I have the advantage that I can have a snack when I come home in the afternoon, if I'm really hungry.  So what was this week's lunch? Broccoli and Cheese Soup. I usually add another helping of fruit or some nuts in my lunch too; if I'm feeling really hungry. This photo was from home today; I'm using up leftovers so I served it with the last of my sourdough bread and a wonderful creamy cheese.

Also it's rare that I snack at school however one of my colleagues made homemade fruit leather.  It was a great addition one day this week.  The red is a strawberry and blueberry purée (no sugar added and none needed) and the yellow/gold is unsweetened applesauce with a  sprinkling of cinnamon.  They were really good.  It makes me think about owning or playing around with a friend's dehydrator.

Please do think about planning a head a little bit for at least one meal this next week -its amazing how easy, less expensive and way better for you it is.  Plus if you make a lot of a soup you can even freeze some to pull out at a later day or even a dinner.

Bon Appétit, 

and as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

Breakfast Diary

So I've been seeing a lot of what I ate this week posts, a food diary per se.  I really like to read these to get ideas and just to see what other people are eating in different parts of the country and the world.  I allow myself during the weekdays about 20 minutes or so to make and eat breakfast.  So needless to say breakfast needs to be quick.  I'm thankful that I like toast, eggs, and avocados because they are all quick, filling and a healthy way to start out my day. My drink of choice is coffee.  I have a programmable coffee maker so it is ready when I am.

One of my favorites is avocado toast, topped with lemon olive oil and either a poached or fried egg.  I prefer a poached egg, but honestly it is much quicker to make a fried egg; I don't need the water to heat up.  I almost always have homemade sourdough bread around so this super easy.

Speaking of toast I still love my toast with ricotta cheese, ground flax seed and homemade jam.  I almost always have a piece of fruit with this as well.

I was in a hurry this morning so I didn't chop my left over broccoli, but the scrambled eggs and broccoli still tasted good and were quick to make.  The bread is a craisin orange bread that uses whole wheat flour and oats to cut out some of the AP flour.  Of course I can't forget my fruit and coffee.

What did you enjoy for breakfast this week?

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth