Mango Salsa Avocado'n Egg on Toast

 

I had this for breakfast a couple times....so yummy. With gestational diabetes I have to strictly monitor my carb and sugar intake. Bagels are pure sugar...and cereals...you may as well just be eating straight from the sugar jar. Needless to say I've been craving a bowl of Frosted Flakes for a while....I miss sugar. Anyways...for breakfast, I'm allowed one slice of toast. I use sprouted grain bread because it's much lower in glycemic index than regular fluffy bread. 

Bread

Avocado (1/2)

Pan fried egg

Mango Salsa (from Costco)

Really really tasty. 

Also really tasty is just avocado with mango salsa on toast. (I also discovered that eating corn products keeps my blood sugar levels too high for too long. So no corn chips for me.)

Green Chives & Eggs

A super easy dish to make when lacking ingredients and/or inspiration. And it tastes good.

Eggs
Green Chives
Tomatos
Ketchup squirt
S&p to taste

Yam Latkes and Egg with Tomato Salad

Sorry the lighting wasn't very good on this one. I saw something about sweet potato latkes in a magazine somewhere so I thought I'd give it a try. SUPER DELICIOUS...especially with a fried egg on top and when the yolk oozes over the crispy yam latke!!

Latke:
Shredded yellow yam
Eggs
Flour
Cumin
Paprika
Curry powder

Tomato Salad:
Regular tomatoes on the vine
Some kind of darker heirloom tomatoes
Yellow bell pepper
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Dried herbs
S&P to taste

Cold Noodle Salad

This is perfect for a summer meal. And it can cover nearly all the food groups at once.

Zucchini cut into thin strands
Boiled eggs
Tomatoes
Cooked, cooled Asian noodles
Turkey bacon
Chopped green onion
Dash of chili flakes
Goddess Dressing (from Trader Joes)

Crustless Quiche

I was too lazy to make a crust...so I made one of my regular quiches in a cast iron pan, then put the whole thing in the oven to bake. Lovely.

Kale
Mushrooms
Onion
Cheese
Eggs
Almond Milk (remember it's 3 eggs to 1 cup milk)
Cumin
Paprika
Salt/Pepper



One of the best parts was that I did the whole thing in the same pan from start to finish. A couple less dishes to wash. =)

Banana French Toast

French Toast....you can't really go wrong. Having a few extra minutes in the morning....ok maybe an extra 30 minutes...I decided to make some French Toast for my husband. Weekend treat. =) I remembered how my Dad used to make it with filling in the middle....so I made a peanut butter and sliced banana sandwich, dipped the outter sides into egg and fried it. It smells SO GOOD.

My husband tried it with maple syrup....verdict is that maple doesn't really go with banana. Or maybe it's the peanut butter.

But it's plenty good by itself or if you drizzle condensed milk over it....super yums! Enjoy.

Bean Patties

Yup still going strong on the vegetarian kick. I still really love a good marbled piece of rib eye steak, med rare with a nice sear...but a much smaller piece now. Less is more! Anyways, as summer is swinging in, visions of bbq's and grills and burgers and wings start to float in. I realize the picture is of patties in a frying pan, but that's really only because we hadn't filled up our propane tank for the bbq yet.

So, patties...I've tried veggie burgers and I really don't like the ones that imitate beef patties. If I wanted beef patties, I'll eat beef patties. In this case, I wanted to try making bean patties....see if it can taste good. And also because that huge tub of nine-bean mix I bought at Costco isn't being used up fast enough.



I kinda followed this recipe for a Black Bean Veggie burger. I used a nine bean mix instead of just black beans. Sriracha instead of chili powder. Added paprika to the mix. And used flour instead of bread crumbs...because I didn't have any and didn't want to waste my bread to make some.

Everything was mashed/mixed by hand because we don't have a food processor. And maybe it could'e used more flour (or bread crumbs) because it wasn't holding together very well. The cooked result was quite crumbly too so it's a good thing I didn't put it on the grill. BUT, it was very tasty indeed. Yay!

Saucy Veggie Omlette...not really

I don't know what this is called....when you crack eggs into sautéed veggies. It's not a fritata, it's not a Spanish omlette, it's not really an omlette either....meh. It was tasty! And an easy way to use up various veggies in the fridge. I served it with some garlic naan to soak up some of the sauce.



I sautéed everything until it was nearly done, made four "wells" that I cracked the eggs into. Covered it for a few minutes then served it.

Button mushrooms
Yellow Pepper
Broccoli
Onion
Eggs
Cumin
Paprika
Sugar
Basil flakes
Garlic
S&P
 

Ricotta Scramble

I've become a Chatelaine reader...I always thought that was for older women until I realized, I've become that. And by older I mean in your thirties. Because I don't care which celeb is hooking up with whom or who's in or out of rehab. And because I can't afford the beautiful clothes and accessories found in InStyle, nor do I ever aspire to own Jimmy Choo's...though I still check the online magazine for fashion inspiration. Ya, so I read Chatelaine because it has home decor tips, which I like and can execute, and it has recipes and food ideas, which I also really enjoy. Anyways, they have this awesome section covering what to do with the leftover bits of food and sauces that are in too small a quantity to make a proper meal with. I hate waste, so there's lots of great ideas.

One such idea was what to do with ricotta when you only have a spoon or two left. You put it in scrambled eggs!

Ricotta
Eggs



It makes the scramble really fluffy and fragrant. Yum!
I might do this on purpose instead of waiting until I just have leftover ricotta. =)

Toast Two Ways

Sorry for being MIA for a bit....I was on vacay in Sonoma valley...enjoying 30C weather and drinking lovely wines. =)

But here is what breakfast can often look like for me. One or the other....or BOTH.

There's avocado on toast, with sugar sprinkled over top.
And/or an egg fried over easy with ketchup.

It's quick and yummy. And semi-healthy. ;)

Mushroom Onion Quiche

Meatless Monday was upon me and I decided a quiche was in order...it's been a while. Well there wasn't a whole lot in the fridge to work with so a simple quiche it is.

Mushrooms
Onion
Paprika
Basil
Oregano
Eggs
Almond milk

Remember, it's three eggs to one cup of milk for the filling. And the easiest pie crust recipe is this: 1 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 cup ice cold water, 1/4 cup olive oil. The trick is to beat the cold water and olive oil together until it thickens, then mix it into the flour/salt.

My only regret, I didn't have any cheese in the house. But the quiche was delicious anyways. =)

Three Color Stir Fry

After the pork rib and beans dish, I was reminded about all the stir fries I used to cook though my university years. Meat and veggies into the frying pan or wok, make some kind of sauce and voila...your one-dish dinner is ready to go. There was always enough to pack for lunch the next day as well. After, oh, seven years of various stir fry combos, despite all the different meat/veggie/sauce combos you can get out of it, I got tired of it. I stuck to separate meat and veggie meals for a while.

So on a day I forgot to defrost meat, but had eggs, and had some remaining beans now on the brink of decay, I decided to give the stir fry another go.

Green beans
Tomatoes
Eggs (fry ahead of time and add it back in when you add the sauce)

For the sauce:
Cornstarch
Sugar
Soy sauce
==============> The above three ingedients look familiar? Not only are they the base meat marinade, they're also the base to any Asian sauce. Make a slurry with cornstarch and water, add the sugar and soy sauce, then you can either just use that or add additional condiments for different flavor combos. I added:

Ketchup
Fermented Chili Bean paste



I think my husband misses the heartier meat and veggie meals, but the stir fry with rice was tasty. =)

1000 Year Egg Congee

And this is for the Asian taste buds (which can be developed if you don't already have them)....it's one of my favorite congees as a kid and still is as a comfort food or whenever I'm sick or if I feel I've eaten out too often and need a mild GI cleanse. Congee is basically a rice porridge. In Cantonese you'd pronounce it "jook".

The 1000 year egg, also called the century egg, really isn't that old. It has a nice mild flavor when cooked in the congee. I don't know how to describe it other than "yum".

The best is when the congee is prepared with some pork bones in the broth for a rich sweet flavor...further enhanced by the egg. I didn't have any pork bone handy so I added some chicken broth for flavor. I also topped it with a small spoon of preserved shredded olive. It's saltiness brings the congee flavors up an extra notch.

Leftover rice
Water
Chicken broth
Century Egg
Preserved shredded olives

One bowl of cooked rice (or a quarter cup uncooked rice) and half a pot of water is about the ratio I go with. You can add more water to change the consistency to what you like from there. The rice breaks down and expands greatly so do not start with more rice lest you find yourself transfering everything into a bigger pot along the way. Trust me. I personally like my congee more broken down than what's pictured...but I was impatient to eat so didn't simmer it as long. Oh yeah, do not use high heat or the rice will burn to the bottom of your pot. Enjoy!
 

Mushroom Onion Kale Omelet

It was Meatless Monday and I was thinking about making a quiche again, but my only pie dish held a very yummy bake-less cheesecake in the fridge. So I opted to make a crustless quiche, but in the frying pan. So I guess I'll call this an omelet.

Kale - thinly chopped
Onion
Mushrooms
Eggs
Almond Milk
Salt & Pepper
Paprika
Cumin
Frulani cheese

I think I mentioned it previously, but the magic egg/milk ratio is three eggs to one cup of milk. It's a light, fluffy and fragrant mix every time! Enjoy!

Salmon Onion Quiche & Spaghetti Squash Salad

Meatless Monday! Well, we do have salmon in it, but that still counts as vegetarian right? Kind of? I was trying to use up leftovers and quiches are great to put them in.

Quiche:
Salmon
Onion
Leftover yellow zucchini
Eggs
Almond Milk

Crust:
Flour
Water
Olive Oil

Salad:
Spaghetti Squash
Tomatoes
Leftover yellow zucchini
Basil
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Zucchini Tomato Soup

It was Meatless Monday...and it was cold. I had a flat of tomatoes where some were starting to show spots, as well as two green zucchini's at the bottom of the veggie drawer that needed eating. So I decided to do a zucchini tomato soup.

Tomatoes

Zucchini

Onion

Garlic

Couscous

Tomato paste

Cumin

Basil flakes

Chili flakes

Oregano flakes

Carrot juice

Sugar

Water

Dash of white wine

While grating the zucchinis, I found I had way too much, so as a last minute idea, I made some zucchini patties to eat with the soup:

Zucchini

Spelt flour

Frulani cheese

Egg

S&P

It was perfect for a cold day. The chili flakes added extra heat and kick to the soup. The zucchini patties were flavorful with the cheese and absorbed some of the heat from the soup when eaten together. The couscous in the soup added heartiness without it getting too heavy. Will be made again I'm sure.

Veggie Quiche & Broccoli Salad

The Salmon & Swiss Chard quiche turned out so well I wanted to try again. This time with tomatoes replacing the salmon. A true Meatless Monday meal. Oh wait....I have eggs...

Quiche filling:
Onion
Swiss Chard
Tomatoes
Marble Cheese
Eggs
Almond Milk
S&P

I think I failed to mention last time that the eggs:milk ratio is 3 eggs: 1 cup of milk. I think the almond milk gives it an extra layer of depth in flavor....the magic for aromatic, fluffy goodness!

Broccoli salad:
Broccoli
Raisins
Pumpkin Seeds
Flax Seeds
Cilantro

Dressing:
Mayo
Mustard
Vinegar
Sugar

Salmon & Swiss Chard Quiche

Yep...I was so hungry I dug into the dish before taking a photo of it. Pardon the gaping hole in the quiche! I bought some Swiss Chard in my goal to eat more cruciferous vegetables...which are full of super food qualities...but also inhibits thyroid function if large quantities are consummed. (Eat lots if you're hyperthyroid; eat lots of iodine-rich foods in addition to these healthy veggies if you're hypothyroid.)

While browsing for Swiss Chard cooking inspiration I came across this quiche recipe. I had some minor modifications....but it was delicious! I ate 1/3 of the quiche.

Salmon (canned)

Swiss Chard

Almond Milk

Onion

Egg

Marble Cheese (I would've wanted feta instead)

S&P

I also found this fantastic quiche crust recipe:

Flour

Salt

Water

Olive Oil

I didn't have a pie dish so I used a casserole dish...which took 20 minutes longer to bake because it was thicker. But the end result...surprisingly yummy. Quiche is also easier to make than I thought! I now have a new place for leftovers to go for a meal transformation.

Pineapple Salsa

There's a bit much going on in the photo...but this post is really about the pineapple salsa. There were a few pieces left over from the pineapple we cut up so I decided to use it as a salsa over pork chops. It's got a very summery, sweet and fresh taste...brings out the flavor of the pork really nicely.

Salsa:
Pineapple
Tomato
Cilantro
Shallot
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Honey



But why stop there...I had a bit of salsa left over so the next morning, it went over eggs on toast for breakfast. Yum!

Barley & Lentil Salad

It was Meatless Monday in the house and I realized I forgot to buy some heartier vegetarian produce. So what could I make? Rummaging through my cupboard I came across some pot barley and lentils. It was a bit hot outside to be eating stew, but I could turn it into a salad! So here it is:

Pot barley
Lentils
Tomato
Egg (this is allowed for vegetarian meals right?)
Shallot
Dried figs
Dried Basil and Oregano
Cumin
S&P to taste

It was scopped onto a bed of baby romaine and dressed with the lime vinegrette I've been making a lot of. Turned out....not bad. The figs added bursts of sweetness that went with the citrusy dressing really well. The barley really soaked up the dressing so I'll need to add more to get some taste into it. But it was filling...with lots of good fibre. Until next Monday!