Mother's Day Breakfast (Fruity Breakfast Muffins)

Two posts in one day. . on a roll! Here is once again a recipe so old that these muffins were another part to my mother's muffin basket for mother's day. This is also one of the many dozen recipes that I have stored away in my blog drafts because ironically it is the safest place to hide them far from the trash can or from being put into lost hands. However, it is just now being posted to the public because of my four month strike from Blogger. (In which I am deeply sorry to any readers out there who have missed reading up on my recent culinary creations.)

These fruity breakfast muffins are a top favorite amongst me, my friends, and my family. They are fresh with fruit, vibrant with lemons, and have the classic crunch from walnuts that balance off the moist flavorings from the banana. Of all the muffins in the muffin basket, the breakfast muffins were the first to go because they are that good and definitely hands down a crowd pleaser!
Ingredients:
1 cup strawberries, chopped
1 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 ripe banana, mashed
2 large eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
1 lemon, zested
1/2 pint blueberries
1 cup chopped walnuts
LETS COOK!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, mix together strawberries and 2 tablespoons sugar. Let sit 15 minutes until strawberries give off juices. In a small bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, eggs, oil, 1 cup sugar, strawberries, and lemon zest. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Do not over mix. Fold in blueberries and walnuts. Scoop batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out with a few crumbs but not wet, about 30 minutes. Cool on a rack to room temperature and enjoy!

Sticking With The Classics (Blueberry Muffins)

Okay so it has been what? Nearly four months since I have yet to post anything in this silly blog. Sounds like an insanely long time, but to me those four months have flown by as I denied the length in time and yes, sadly I will admit, have even at times denied my blog. It has just infuriated me to extremes such like denial of the entire process. Why? For one I have and forever will remain irritated at the fact that Google has ripped any earnings that I potentially had and could have made with their stupid Google Ads. And two, a virus has been roaming my posts which sends visitors to virus staked sites waiting to scam one of money. However I have grudgingly put all that aside because my sister's wonderful Bama friends have easily persuaded me that they have missed reading my blog, therefore here I am four months later and still blogging away.

With that said, I am finally, FINALLY sharing my mother's day recipes to the world wide web of bloggers and starting with my all time favorite muffin recipe; classic blueberry muffins. They are soft and moist on the inside, but have an outer, crunchy coating of sugar toasting on top. The classic muffins have yet to disappoint as they have been given as part of a mother's day muffin basket and shared amongst many of my closest friends. 

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh
coarse white sparkling sugar for garnish

LETS COOK! 

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with papers, and grease the papers. in a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand-held or stand mixer, until light, fluffy, and almost white in color. Start the mixer at low speed until the ingredients are incorporated, then gradually increase speed to medium-high until the desired color and texture are reached. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand-held or stand mixer, until light, fluffy, and almost white in color. Scrape down the bowl to make sure all the butter is incorporated, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until the batter is smooth. It will be thick. Fold in the berries by hand. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups, using a heaping 1/4-cup for each. Bake the muffins for 18 to 24 minutes. Remove them from the oven and while still warm dip the tops into melted butter and then into sugar. Allow to cool and enjoy! 

MS150 Breakfast (Whole Wheat Blueberry Pecan Pancakes)

Last weekend was the annual BPMS150 which my dad and I participated in. It was my first time to ever ride such a distance from Houston to Austin and my dad's third time to fulfill the two day trip. However, I managed to beat his "thirty years older" legs by a near hour leaving him in the dust after the lunch break. (funny how it is called the "lunch" stop when I got there around nine in the morning!) I crossed the finish line, turning into the heart of downtown ATX at approximately noon, fifteen minutes before my mother (who had driven up that day) even arrived! And almost an hour before my dad crossed the same line. So bittersweet I felt when no one was there to greet me at the finish line, yet giddiness when I realized I finished so early that I beat my own mother's car! (Which I guess isn't saying much when she drives SO SO SO SLOW. . . ha! I still love you mom!)

But anyways back to the Whole Wheat Blueberry Pecan Pancakes, because a post will soon follow with in depth details on the BPMS150 Houston-Austin ride. So these pancakes were made the night before the big day, because I knew that there was no way I was going to get up at five in the morning to cook a gourmet breakfast that I would be craving. So plan B: make the pancakes ahead of time and freeze them! (Which I still have a few frozen that are waiting to be eaten. . . thus saying, they freeze quite well for weeks.) These pancakes are healthy with the whole wheat flower, juicy with the flavorful blueberries, and have a slight crunch affect with the finely chopped pecans. All of these which add to the whole affect of an absolutely amazing grand breakfast pancake.
Ingredients:
one cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
3/4 cups milk (PLUS MORE)
1 tablespoon melted and cooled butter
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
LETS COOK!
In a bowl mix dry ingredients and in separate bowl beat egg, milk, and butter together. Gently stir mixture into dry ingredients and then add in blueberries and pecans. If thick, add some more milk (which you will most likely be adding LOTS MORE!). Lightly spray skillet and heat over medium-high. Ladle batter onto skillet to make pancakes. Adjust heat and flip pancakes after bubbles rise to surface and bottoms are brown and golden. Cook until the second side is slightly browned and serve warm. Enjoy!

For My Parents (Classic Blueberry Pancakes)

And tomorrow we are off! The day that my dad and I have been waiting for has finally arrived, and in less that nine hours we will be well on our way to Austin, Texas for the annual BPMS150 bike ride raising money for multiple sclerosis. Excitingly I have raised a near 900 while my has raised a whopping 1400, and added up together our team Gardere raised a total of 140,000 dollars! We will begin the race at my back door and will ride to La Grange by Saturday evening ending at the University of Texas in Austin mid-evening Sunday. So with this 180 mile bike ride, I thought it only necessary to have a good and healthy start. That is why the night before I decided to make pancakes for that morning!

 Now I originally had made whole wheat pancakes filled with fresh blueberries and chopped pecans, but sadly my parents (well my mom more than my dad) were a bit iffy on the fact that the flour was whole wheat making the pancakes no longer traditional. Honestly, I think they are just scared to try something fresh and different (as well as something that so easily qualifies under the Food Revolution Movement that has recently sparked up across the world.) Therefore, the nice daughter that I am, I made a new batch with white flour which calls for a bit of a different recipe. They still make for a great before-a-long-two-day-bike-ride-breakfast, but are just not quite as healthy as my whole wheat ones (which will be posted within a few days). This pancake recipe originated from the New York times, but was fixed up by me to make the flavors more fulfilling and tasty.
Ingredients:
one cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
3/4 cups milk
1 tablespoon melted and cooled butter
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
LETS COOK!
 In a bowl mix dry ingredients and in separate bowl beat egg, milk, and butter together. Gently stir mixture into dry ingredients and then add in blueberries. If thick, add some more milk. Lightly spray skillet and heat over medium-high. Ladle batter onto skillet to make pancakes. Adjust heat and flip pancakes after bubbles rise to surface and bottoms are brown and golden. Cook until the second side is slightly browned and serve warm. Enjoy!

Be Happy! (Fresh Orange Juice)

I have discovered that we have an orange squeezing machine! It was a brilliant find considering Spring has sprung and citrus fruits are all the fab right now. So with my happy and sunshine attitude, I grabbed my bowl of oranges and got to squeezing. Now let me mind you, this machine has been around as long as my parent's marriage so it wasn't the fastest of squeezing but it still worked quite well regardless of all the racquet it created. (Not saying anything about your age mom and dad! ha!) Anyways, The first orange I cut up was just simply gorgeous and smelled so sweet and pure that I knew within minutes I would have a fresh jar of orange juice to savor. Hmm. . . I sure was wrong. Not about the part of how sweet and delicious it smelled, but of the whole jar savoring thing, because well, one giant orange is equivalent to about a small cup size of juice. (And when I mean cup, I am referring to the size of that little rooster cup in the picture below.)

So there I was ten minutes later with almost a cup full of orange juice to share among me and my three family members. But hey, I didn't have much to do the rest of the day so why not squeeze the rest of my oranges then? Well, because the rest ended up being pink Cara Cara oranges which are not really oranges rather than some sort of citrus fruit that simply does not squeeze juice out the same way a regular orange can. Therefore I was done, and with all my hard work had created a small cup where about each person in my family could savor one orangey, pulpy, all natural sip. And that sip I let linger in my mouth as long as possible savoring and enjoying every last bit. And it sure was worth it.

Fresh squeezed orange juice definitely, and by far beats the carton juice. When orange juice is fresh squeezed it tastes fresher smells stronger, and has way, way, way, more pulp! Which I absolutely love the taste of almost having to chew your orange juice because the pulp is so overpowering. Pulp gives orange juice a real and authentic taste resembling a true and real bite out of an orange. That is why I absolutely adore pulp in my orange juice, and I absolutely adore fresh squeezed, home-made orange juice. And for those who wish to pursue (or attempt) to make home-made orange juice, well the only ingredients necessary are oranges! and lots of them! And it is as simple (or complex) as that; squeeze a few oranges and. . . wahlah! (or not so wahlah as is , give it thirty minutes and then possibly wahlah!) So enjoy life, enjoy juice, and savor every bit of the two.

The Love Of Breakfast (Egg-In-A-Hole)

Blake and I spent the weekend away at Lake Conroe, and when breakfast came, supplies were limited to eggs and bread. So then of course we had to make an egg-in-a-hole! Now that is what I have grown up calling this delicious comfort food consisting of pure eggs and bread. I mean the name only makes since considering it is literally an egg in a hole. But Blake debated saying the name was too literal and not nearly as fun as what he grew up calling it; cock a doodle doo? or something like doodly doo. . . or well, I don't really remember because to me it made absolutely no sense! (Sorry Blake!) Therefore we compromise, calling it by my name but making it his way. (I usually make it more "runny" and not so dispersed. . . I think my way would of made for a better picture but that is okay! Just looks like I will have to write another blog about version two.)

Egg-in-a-holes or doodly doos or what-ever-you-call-thems are so fun to make as well as a wonderful way to start the day off! It is practically like eating toast with an egg spread versus butter or jelly. Therefore, I am concluding that Egg-in-a-holes are much better with protein and less saturated fats that it will give off more energy  to get the day started. The center is pure egg in which can become a sunny side up egg or fried and then the yolk spreads across the entire bread giving each bite a wheaty crunch yet a smooth run. I absolutely love bread and eggs for breakfast and it can only be said that it is a family fave. (And for those jelly lovers, well to create an egg-in-a-hole, one must cut out a small circle in the center thus there is a remaining little piece of toast which is still good to eat with jelly. Very cute and very chic.)
Ingredients: (to make one)
pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper
one egg
on slice of toast
butter
LETS COOK!
with a frying pan over medium high, spread butter onto pan. With a small round cup (or anything to cut out a SMALL hole) cut the center of the bread. Place both pieces onto the frying pan and crack an egg into the center. With a fork kind of "pop" the yolk and spread it among all of the bread. Let cook almost all through and then flip the bread letting it cook until as runny or as hard as you would like the egg to be. Take both pieces off and apply jelly or what not to the small round toast. Sprinkle salt and pepper or the egg-in-a-hole, serve and enjoy!

Get Well Soon (Berry Banana Smoothie)

So Blake has unfortunately come down with mono. . . and that is all I will say. So before going with him to get his haircut I thought it would be a nice gesture to make a smoothie for the sick throat. This was my very first smoothie that I can recall from ever making from scratch out of the blue... I didn't really have a recipe nor know exactly what to put in a smoothie. But of course I knew fruit was needed and a little bit of ice. I took whatever I could find already in my refrigerator and made a berry banana smoothie! I loved it just as much as Blake and my mom did, so I'm thinking I can now call myself a successful smoothie maker who will definitely be making more in the future. . .

Ingredients:
1.5 bananas
10 raspberries
1/2 cup blackberry yogurt
10-20 pieces ice (depending on how thick you would like)
2 tablespoons orange juice
LETS COOK!
Chop up bananas and add to a blender. Add raspberries, ice, yogurt, and orange juice. Blend together until smooth and a smoothie is made. Serve, and enjoy!!! (WOW! how simple?! I mean it probably took me five or less minutes to make!)

Happy Mornings With Scrambled Tomato Eggs :)

I love Weekends. Especially this one and not only because my mother was up early in the kitchen arousing the house full of sweet, sweet smells, but because it was simply a  beautiful and sunny day. I can not recall a morning in the past four months where I have woken up and not needed to bundle up in scarves and mittens just to walk down stairs. (Which might I add, is totally and completely not normal for a Texan! Also, this comes to show that even in cold weather...my mother continues to keep the heat OFF! But I still love you mom!) Therefor this morning was perfect; the sun was finally shining below my house and everyone was just so happy. The mornings are also so critical for making the entire day a happy one. I believe one's attitude when they wake up will reflect on their perspective of life through out the rest of the day. Therefore, what better way than to start the day off with sunny scrambled eggs with tomatoes and fresh cheddar cheese?
Ingredients:
two handfuls of grated cheddar cheese
four eggs
one tomato diced
2 tablespoons milk
pinch of salt and pepper
LETS COOK!
Crack all four eggs into a small bowl and beat together. Add milk salt and pepper and continue to beat until all mixed together. Turn on medium sized skillet to medium-high heat, and spray with a butter. When warm pour eggs over skillet and move around until 80% cooked through to make the scrambled eggs. Add the tomatoes and then the cheese. When scrambled eggs are soft and not over cooked, and are perfectly done, take immedietly off heat. Serve, and enjoy!