Oatmeal!

Its oatmeal! Oatmeal is really delicious and healthy. (as long as you get a canister of  plain oats and not the packed sugar filled kind.) 

Oatmeal is a complete grain. It has tons of fiber so its good for the digestive track, it slows down the break down of starches, which evens out blood sugar levels, and oatmeal lowers cholesterol! Plus its packed with nutrients and minerals. A great food to start the day.

But why the heck am I posting a recipe for oatmeal? Its a seemingly simple dish, but I make mine a bit differntly than the average person.

1/4 cup rolled oats
Hot water
Yogurt or soy cream
Sliced fruit
Some sweetener, like sugar, agave nectar or maple surup

1.) Put some oats in a bowl
2.) Add a little hot water
3.) Mix the oats til they  become oatmeal like.
4.) Add some yogurt to it! It makes the oatmeal creamy and good.
5.) Add slices of fruit and cinnamon or other spices if you like.
6.) Add a little sweetener if you need it and then eat!

Another great thing about rolled oats...you can also make granola out of them and add then to breads that you bake or even stick them in pancakes!

Tomato Basil Omelette

Omelette's are wonderful, you can add an infinite combination of ingredients to them. This one happens to be my favorite...but you can replace the tomato with any veggies you like. :)

For a vegan Omelette recipe check out this.

2 eggs
1 large tomato
Garlic
Basil
pepper
Cheese

1.) Seed the tomato and cut it into pieces. Chop the garlic if you are using fresh.
2.) Put a skillet on the stove with a little oil. Heat the oil until its hot.
3.) Add the tomato and garlic and pepper to the oil. Cook them until the tomato is a darker red.
4.) Crack the 2 eggs in a bowl, scramble them, and then pour the eggs into the skillet.
5.) Let the eggs sit for a little while, until the bottom part seems pretty solid.
6.) Use a spatula to push in a little of the egg and then tilt the pan so that the remain liquid egg flows into the gap.
7.) Continue to do this until most of the egg is cooked.
8.) Put cheese in the center of the egg, swiss or mozzarella work well, and then fold the omelette over so the cheese is in the middle.
9.) When the cheese is melted, put the omelette onto a plate. Then eat.

Dutch Pancakes

The first time I saw a photo of these crazy things, I knew I had to make one. The presentation is fantastic, and it tastes wonderful too. It was also a lot easier than I thought it would be to make.

3 eggs (Sorry but there is no vegan alternative, this is primarily an egg food and substitutes won't work.)
1/2 cup milk / Soy milk
1/2 cup Flour (bread flour works the best)
Dash of Salt
1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
7 teaspoons butter or earth balance


Toppings:
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Powdered or confectioners sugar
Maple Syrup
Ricotta Cheese, Gjetost cheese, or another desert cheese.
Fruit
Ham, Sausage or vegetables (leave out the sugar and vanilla if you make the savory version)

1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place an iron skillet or oven safe frying pan or 10 inch cake pan in the oven.
2.) In a bowl beat the eggs until they are thick and frothy.
3.) Fold in the milk, vanilla, salt, and flour. (if you like you could also add chocolate chips, cinnamon, dried fruits or nuts)
4.) The batter will be thin but creamy looking. Once the Oven is heated, Drop the butter into the pan and spread it around with a fork.
5.) Pour the batter into the Pan and close the oven.
6.) Bake for 20-25 minutes. The pancake will puff up as it cooks and its done when it starts to brown a bit.
7.) Take the dutch pancake out of the oven and cut into wedges and place on plates. Add toppings and eat.

Dutch pancakes taste like a cross between crepes and mergenue. I thought it was pretty quick and easy to do. The whole process takes about 30 minutes and this recipe will feed 2-4 people. (though I admit to eatting the whole thing myself...)

Basic Crepes

This is a basic crepe recipe that can be modified to your taste and the situation. I make them often in college since there are few ingredients and it takes a small amount of time and effort.

1 cup flour
1/2 cup water
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar, This is optional, for dessert crepes.
2 eggs / 2 tablespoons maple syrup or 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup milk

1. Combine all of the ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Once every thing is mixed bang the bowl on the cabinet to get the air bubbles out. You can also let the batter sit in the fridge for an hour.
3. Heat a small non-stick skillet and grease with butter, oil, or non-stick spray.
4. Pour about a tablespoon of batter into the center of the pan and swirl it around so the batter covers the entire surface.
5. Cook for 30 seconds and then flip the crepe, being careful not to fold it.
6. Cook the crepe for 20 more seconds and then put it on a flat plate or cutting board to cool.
7. Continue making crepe this way until all the batter is gone.
8. Once the crepes are cool you can stack them and they won't stick together.
9. Put anything you like into your crepes, meat, fruit, cheese and then eat!

Tropical Waffles

Fruit: I used strawberries, papaya and mango
Whipped cream
Maple Syrup
Shredded Coconut

Waffles (ego waffles, pancake batter mix, or homemade:
1 and 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup milk
2 large eggs / 2 Tbsp ground flax seeds + water
4 Tablespoons melted shortening
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shredded coconut

To make waffles:

1.) Mix flour, sugar, salt and baking soda and coconut
2.) Separate Eggs into 2 bowls
3.) in Yolks mix milk and shortening/butter
4.) Add yolk mix to dry mix
5.) Beat the egg whites so they are fluffy
6.) Fold egg whites into waffle mix
7.) Pour mix into waffle maker and cook til done.

Top the waffles off with Fruit, shredded coconut, maple syrup or honey and whipped cream. Then eat.

Eggs....Latin Style

If you want to try something different or are just getting bored with making eggs the traditional western way, try out some of these recipes. I didn't put any measurements because these are pretty much made by taste. I guarantee they are good.

Huevos Habaneros (Cuban Style Eggs)

Sofrito
(you can find this in most Hispanic sections of the grocery store, you can also make your own or substitute salsa, but that's not quite the same.)
Egg(s) (or tofu for the vegans)
Shredded cheese
Butter/oil

1.) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2.) Pour the Sofrito into a pie pan or ramekin. It should be about a centimeter thick.
3.) Break the eggs over the sofrito, try not to bust the yolks (or put tofu steaks on top and spice them)
4.) Put dabs of butter or oil on the eggs.
5.) Bake the eggs for 8 minutes or until the whites are cooked but the yolks are still a little soft.
6.) Sprinkle shredded cheese over the eggs. Mexican cheese, Cheddar cheese or Mozzarella are all good. Bake a half minute more until the cheese is melted.
7.) Condiments: You can put some Tabasco sauce on top or Fresh Cilantro.


Huevos Motuleno (Mexican Eggs)

Corn Tortilla(s)
Egg(s) (or tofu)
Oil
Black Beans
Cilantro
Salsa
Cheese (white mexcian cheese, swiss, cheddar, etc)
Optional: Ham, Plantains, Peas, other left over vegetables.

1.) Fry the tortilla(s) until they are warm and browned on the edges. Lay on plates.
2.) With a little oil in the pan heat the black beans and cilantro
3.) Put a layer of black beans on the tortilla(s)
4.) Fry some eggs over easy or sunny side up. (you can scramble if you like neither...) (fry tofu if you're vegan)
5.) Put eggs on top of tortilla(s) and black beans
6.) Put salsa on top of eggs
7.) Sprinkle cheese on top of salsa
8.) Other common toppings are ham, peas, and plantains, and I'm sure it would be good with any other leftover vegetables like carrots or yuka. Cook the other toppings after frying the eggs and place on top, then add the salsa and cheese.
9.) Eat!

Huevos Rancheros

Huevos Rancheros is very similar to Huevos Motuleno, (by now you've probably guessed that huevos means eggs in spanish) Most American Mexican restaurants don't make Huevos Rancheros correctly, and turn the dish into a type of taco salad. The real recipe is simple and delicious.

Corn Tortilla(s)
Egg(s) (or tofu)
Can of diced tomatoes
Onions
Chile Powder
Chile Peppers (Poblano, Serrano, Habanero, Jalapeño, Chipotle, Tabasco)
Fresh Garlic or Garlic powder
Oil
Shredded Cheese

1.) Fry the tortilla(s) until they are warm and browned on the edges. Lay on Plates.
2.) Cut the chilli's, onions, and garlic (if you are using fresh)
3.) In a large frying pan cook the tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic and a dash of chili powder.
4.) While the sauce cooks, fry the eggs in another frying pan (or fry the tofu)
5.) Put a half cooked fried egg on each tortilla
6.) Once the sauce has cooked for about 10 min. Pour it on top of the eggs. The hot sauce will finish cooking the eggs.
7.) Sprinkle shredded cheese on top.
8.) Eat.

This last dish is great to have with re-fried beans. The whole purpose of those bland Mexican beans is to cool the mouth between spicy main course bites. :)