Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Ginger Pear Loaf Cake

We don't buy a ton of pre-packaged snacks in our house. A large part of this is because we don't have the pantry space for excessive amounts of chips and cookies, which I've mentioned before. Granted, you will always find at least one bag of tortilla chips and a few boxes of cereal on hand, but for the most part if we're snacking, we are snacking on something homemade. I'm not claiming that baked goods are healthy, far from it most of the time, but at least I know exactly what I'm putting in whatever I'm baking and I can pronounce the entire ingredient list, which is more than I can say for a lot of the things you'll find on grocery store shelves. I don't have the time to make homemade crackers or cheez-its week in and week out, but things like this loaf cake come together in mere minutes. I bake so often that I can practically do it in my sleep, measuring out flour, sugar, and spices, whisking wet and dry ingredients, pouring into a prepared pan, and before I know it there are alluring smells wafting from the kitchen.

This snack cake is far from extravagant. I'm willing to bet you already have most of the ingredients, except maybe the candied ginger. The base recipe is slightly sweet and yields a blank canvas perfect for incorporating your favorite mix-ins. I was partial to the pear and candied ginger, being that its both seasonal and a little nontraditional, but I could also see apples and walnuts or cranberries and pistachios also working nicely. I found the cake best the first two days after it had been made, and I'm willing to bet yours won't last much longer!

One Year Ago: Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Two Years Ago: Broccoli, Red Pepper, and Cheddar Chowder and Kale and Butternut Squash Saute

Three Years Ago: Pumpkin Popovers and Turkey Tacos

Four Years Ago: Apple Walnut Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette and Kale & Bean Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce

Five Years Ago: Crockpot Salsa Chicken and Tuna Chickpea Pasta Salad with Pesto

Peanut Butter and Jelly Coffee Cake

I'm not going to belabor this point because you've heard me say it again and again, but peanut butter and jelly is, in my opinion, one of the most perfect foods out there. I prefer it with wheat bread and raspberry jam, but I'm indifferent on the crunchy vs. creamy debate. It goes without saying, then, that I fell hard for this peanut butter and jelly coffee cake! Thank you Maria for enlightening me because while I can totally get on board with a regular 'ol pb & j for breakfast, incorporating it into a coffee cake is straight up brilliant.

My friend Kacey had given me some homemade blueberry strawberry jam that I used and it was awesome, but you can definitely swap in your favorite jam or jelly. (Side note: I cannot get behind grape jelly! As in, I can't eat a pb & j if the j is grape!) Thankfully I had plans to bring this to church or else I would've demolished the entire pan; don't say I didn't warn you! My only change would be to use crunchy peanut butter (Maria did; I didn't have any on hand) or add some chopped peanuts to the streusel for a little bit of texture.

For more pb & j inspired creations, try this fruit crisp, these dessert bars, or these ice cream cheesecakes!

One Year Ago: Mexican Pot Pie
Two Years Ago: Peanut, Cabbage, and Carrot Slaw and Roasted Vegetable and Refried Bean Tostadas
Three Years Ago: Curried Chickpeas with Couscous and Pumpkin Oatmeal Scotchies
Four Years Ago: Roasted Eggplant Pasta with Goat Cheese and Pumpkin Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Apple Buttermilk Muffins

I made these a few weeks ago, when I decided it was high time to kick off my fall baking. I had a Granny Smith apple on hand and with only one apple, pie or apple crisp was out of the question, so muffins it was! After surveying the contents of my fridge, I found a bit of leftover buttermilk, and a quick Google search led me to a Martha Stewart recipe that I decided to play around with.

If I'm making "everyday" muffins that I'm not planning to share with friends or guests, I try to err on the side of healthy. For these, I reduced the sugar, used whole wheat flour, and added some flaxseed. I figured they'd be good--aren't all muffins?--but I didn't expect them to wow me. Guess what? They wowed me!

These apple muffins are light and fluffy, with just enough crunch from the apples and walnuts and spice from the cinnamon. I froze my entire batch and would throw a few into my lunchbox to enjoy, thawed the next day, at work. These might be "everyday, healthyish" muffins, but don't let that keep you from sharing these...although I totally understand if you don't want to!

One Year Ago: Tuna and Artichoke Sandwiches
Two Years Ago: Root Beer Float Cake and Bacon Turkey Burgers with Savory Apple Compote
Three Years Ago: Chocolate Chile Nuts and Black Bean and Walnut Salad
Four Years Ago: Magic Cookie Bars and Honey Wheat Sandwich Buns
Five Years Ago: Whole Grain Waffles and Homemade Granola Bars

Sweet Potato Zucchini Quick Bread

We’ve had a lot of fun introducing Brecken to solid foods. Starting at six months, we started giving her bits of food…both mashed up pieces of things for her to gnaw on and also purees that she took from (her favorite part!) a spoon. Unsurprisingly, I’ve been making her food. From the day people heard I was pregnant, they’d be commenting on how the food blogger must be so excited to start making baby food for her (then future) baby. That actually wasn’t the case! We held off on solids in part because we didn’t see a nutritional need to begin before six months, but also because the thought of adding one more thing to my plate (pun intended) left me overwhelmed. Thankfully baby food is insanely easy and can be made and frozen in large batches, so the task hasn’t been nearly as daunting as I had originally worried.

Sweet potatoes were one of the first purees I made, and a huge hit with Lady B. We have pictures of her covered in sweet potato and it’s not unheard of to find a bit of orange goop stuck in one of her neck or thigh rolls…even post-bath! Turns out as great as sweet potato puree is for chunky babies, it’s also good for moms and dads—especially in the form of this quick bread! Shredded zucchini and sweet potato puree make for an incredibly moist (sorry) bread that’s reminiscent of pumpkin bread but without the pumpkin flavor (for you—crazy!!!—pumpkin haters). Even better, it’s relatively healthy on the spectrum of baked goods. I loved all of the fall spices in this—nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon—normally I like to add chocolate chips to quick breads for a little extra pizzazz, but with all of the flavor from the spices and the crunch from the walnuts, this was perfect as is! Whether you’re baking sweet potatoes for baby food or your own food, make a few extra to puree and throw into this bread.

One Year Ago: Odds & Ends
Two Years Ago: Chicken Vegetable Black Bean Enchiladas with Avocado Cream Sauce
Three Years Ago: Artichoke Stuffed Turkey Burgers and Pineapple Ginger Granola Bars
Four Years Ago: Greek Turkey Burgers and Fruited Bulgur Salad
Five Years Ago: Eggplant Lasagna and Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

Breakfast Quesadillas [with Scrambled Eggs and Vegetables]

Breakfast Quesadillas

It's inevitable. Every time I make enchiladas, I end up with a few spare tortillas, taking up space in my cheese drawer. Sometimes I get my act together and turn them into cinnamon sugar chips to eat with fruit salsa, but more often than not they sit untouched and forgotten, until I make enchiladas, buying another pack of tortillas, and guiltily tossing the old ones. Forgotten tortillas, no more! Instead turn that handful of spares into breakfast quesadillas. We eat them for brunch or dinner, with whatever other spare ingredients we can scrounge up. The premise is simple: make a batch of scrambled eggs, with as many or as little mix-ins as you'd like, then sandwich the eggs between two tortillas with a hefty sprinkle of cheese and you have yourself breakfast quesadillas!

The combination I've made most recently, and what you'll find here today, has a bit of a Mexican flair, with bell peppers and spinach, spiced with cumin and chile powder. We prefer them with sour cream and an avocado tomato salsa, but you're free to make these your own. We've thrown in black beans, bacon, even leftover brats! The key is to add cheese on both sides of the quesadilla (under and on top of the egg mixture) to give it some sticking power when you cut into triangles! We might call them breakfast quesadillas, but they're a favorite for lunch or dinner in our house too. Don't ever let those spare tortillas get lost in the fridge again.

In other news, I have to give a shout-out to my mom today on her 50^th birthday! The first time I made these was actually with her, so it’s appropriate that they’re posted on her birthday, especially since cooking together is one of my favorite ways to spend time with her! Love you mom!

One Year Ago: Jalapeño Lime Slaw

Two Years Ago: Roast Beef, Red Pepper, Arugula, and Feta Sandwiches with Tahini Dressing

Three Years Ago: Nutella Ice Cream and Mexican Brownie Bottom Cheesecake

Four Years Ago: Chilled Mango & Cucumber Soup

Five Years Ago: Greek Salad

Breakfast for Dinner: 14 Favorites

It's Labor Day, which means I'm not laboring and hopefully you aren't either! We've spent the weekend celebrating birthdays (Ryan's and my mom's) in Chicago and are making the trek back to St. Louis today. Like I do every time I return from vacation, I'll be spending part of the time in the car planning our menu for the week. I'm keeping things simple with a few freezer meals, a few nights of planned leftovers, and one of my favorites--breakfast for dinner!

Huevos Rancheros Wraps

I think of waffles whenever I think of breakfast for dinner, I think because that's what we grew up with, but in truth, we eat eggs for dinner more than any other breakfast food. That being said, it's time to expand our breakfast for dinner repertoire, because nothing sounds more comforting than breakfast mac n cheese or a breakfast hamburger...admittedly both more on the "dinner" end of the spectrum but with breakfast-like elements nonetheless.

Sourdough Pancakes

Might I recommend you incorporate breakfast into your dinner this week somehow? I've created a slideshow of some of my favorites...some from the blog, like Pesto Quiche with Oatmeal Crust and Lemon Cornmeal Waffles with Berry Compote, and others, like the aforementioned mac n cheese and burgers that I'm eager to try! Check out my entire collection on Foodie, here.

Note--This post was created and sponsored as part of my partnership with Foodie by Mode Media.

Friday, August 29, 2014

Corn and Zucchini Salad with Feta

One of the best things about the four unique seasons is that every couple of months a new bunch of foods are suddenly in season and you get to change up your cooking. I don’t know about you, but I’m always more than ready to kiss heavy soups and stews goodbye after a long winter! When it comes to summer foods, however, I’m never quite as eager to send them on their way.

Although it’s almost time to start welcoming apples and pumpkins, cinnamon and sage into our kitchens, I’m still holding on to my summer favorites for a little while longer. This corn and zucchini salad is going to grace our table a few more times in the next few weeks. Even if you can no longer get fresh corn at its peak, pick up a bag of frozen corn and give this a try! The mix of flavors and textures makes for a unique contrast, but collectively it screams summer. Let’s hold onto those seasonal favorites just a little bit longer!

One Year Ago: Smoky Pulled Pork with Tangy BBQ Sauce and German Chocolate Sheet Cake
Two Years Ago: White Chocolate, Cranberry, Oatmeal Bars
Three Years Ago: Turkey Quinoa Meatloaf and Snickerdoodle Scones
Four Years Ago: Chicken, Mushroom, Asparagus Bread Pudding and Columbia Crest Cork & Fork Dinner Party

Quinoa Applesauce Oatmeal Bread

Pre-Brecken, I would sometimes spend an entire Saturday in the kitchen, knocking out half a dozen recipes. Sometimes it was for blog content, sometimes it was to relieve the stress of weeknight cooking, and sometimes it was simply because there was a recipe I was dying to try. Nowadays it's rare that I'll spend a big chunk of dedicated time in the kitchen, although I do try to squeeze in blocks of cooking during weekend naps! Brecken has always been a fantastic nighttime sleeper, spoiling us with 11 hours a night without a peep (KNOCK ON WOOD), but naptimes aren't nearly as predictable! Because I never know if I have 30 minutes or 90 minutes, and I want to spend her awake time focusing on her, the recipes I plan for naptime have to be relatively fast!

Quick breads are the perfect naptime recipe. The preparation time is mere minutes and then it's off to the oven! I got a little experimental with this bread, starting with a King Arthur recipe for a base and then throwing a bunch of my own stuff into it. I had some leftover quinoa that I threw in there and was excited to discover that it completely disappeared, unlike the banana quinoa muffins I'm so fond of. If there was ever a need to sneak quinoa into someone's tummy, this is a surefire way to make it happen! I loved the crunch from the walnuts and the bites of sweet craisins, but you could just as easily leave plain (I bet it'd be really good with jam spread atop!) or toss in your favorite mix-ins. I only had sweetened applesauce on hand, so I reduced the amount of added sugar to the recipe, but you could just as easily experiment, depending on how sweet or healthful you want this to be.

Even if you aren't trying to squeeze baking in and around naptimes, you won't complain about this quick quick bread!

One Year Ago: Photo an Hour-Road Trip Style
Two Years Ago: Peach, Avocado, and Arugula Panzanella
Three Years Ago: S'Mores Ice Cream and Grilled Chicken & Peaches Salad
Four Years Ago: Oreo Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Truffles and Thai Salad with Peanut Dressing

Blueberry Buckle Coffee Cake

Is it just me, or have blueberries been exceptionally good this year? I’ve been buying multiple pints at the store each week and week after week I’m impressed by how plump and juicy and sweet they are. We’re mostly enjoying them plain, or with Greek yogurt, but I recently had the urge to bake with them.

Baking with frozen berries is convenient and usually more inexpensive, but you can’t beat muffins (these are the best ever) or coffee cake made with fresh berries! This blueberry buckle coffee cake is no exception. With a full two cups of berries in the batter, every bite guarantees at least a blueberry or two! I’d argue this errs on the side of dessert with its crumbly topping, but I won’t judge you if you eat it for breakfast, like we did!

One Year Ago: Chicken Tikka Pizzas and Lentil Loaf
Two Years Ago: Frozen Peanut Butter, Chocolate, and Banana Loaf and Marinated Kale and Green Bean Salad
Three Years Ago: Cranberry, Orange, Sour Cream Muffins and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream
Four Years Ago: Sour Cream Sugar Cookies and Tuna and White Bean Salad

Quinoa Granola Bars

I have always thrived on organization and schedules, but in spite of that, I was still overwhelmed with the prospect of returning to work after maternity leave. Now that I’m a few weeks in, it feels a lot more manageable, although that’s not to say it isn’t a challenge! When I get home in the evenings, I am dedicated to enjoying those precious hours with Brecken and Ryan. I’m not interested in spending excessive amount of time cooking or cleaning or doing anything else “household” related.

In order to keep my evenings as open as possible, I’m trying to be diligent about being productive on the weekends during naptime. These quinoa bars are the perfect thing to make a batch of, package individually, and then freeze. When I’m making my lunch in the evenings, I simply grab one and throw it in my bag without giving it a second thought. (Here’s where you could argue I could just buy granola bars…)

There are quite a few granola bars that you’ll find on The Sweets Life, and almost all of them start with an oatmeal base. The quinoa used here was a refreshing change of texture while still offering plenty of nutrition. Like many granola bar recipes, many of the ingredients are interchangeable—use your favorite dried fruits and nuts to custom make something to suit your tastes!

One Year Ago: Bacon Apple Butter Flatbreads with Caramelized Onions and Gouda and Pound Cake with Strawberry Topping
Two Years Ago: Herb Roasted Chicken with Lemon and Sage and Dried Mango Coconut Muffins
Three Years Ago: Spicy Stuffed Mushrooms and Lemony Kale Pasta
Four Years Ago: Peanut Butter Brownie Cups and Grilled Fattoush

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies with Chia Seeds

Sometimes the line between breakfast and dessert gets a little blurry. Maybe it shouldn’t, but the older I get the more I realize life is one big gray area, so why wouldn’t this carry over into what we eat as well?! For some of you, these cookies are most definitely breakfast. They have oats, chia seeds, coconut oil…all reputable breakfast ingredients! For others, anything with peanut butter and chocolate must only be considered dessert. I’m here to convince you that these little nuggets can be both!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies with Chia Seeds

Whether you decide to start OR end your day with these, you can’t go wrong. If you really want a win-win, turn that OR into an AND! They’re a little bit naughty, a little bit nice, and a lot of bit satisfying! This was the first time I’d ever used chia seeds in anything and I loved the crunch they added, not to mention the nutritional boost. If you don’t have chia seeds, however, they’d be just as tasty without.

Make ‘em. Eat ‘em. All day long!

One Year Ago: White Chocolate Banana Muffins
Two Years Ago: Chicken, Rice, and Bean Freezer Burritos and Arugula Salad with Mango, Cashews, and Goat Cheese
Three Years Ago: Artichoke, Kale, and Ricotta Pie and Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Bundt Cake
Four Years Ago: Strawberry French Toast and Fresh Peach Salsa

Lemon Cornmeal Waffles with Berry Compote

We’ve been fortunate to have a pretty good sleeper on our hands. By four weeks, Brecken had already slept through the night a handful of times and even when she didn’t, I was only up with her once a night for a brief wakeup and feed. However, one Friday evening we found ourselves in a bit of a baby sleep hell. For whatever reason, our sweet baby decided she’d rather spend the night screaming and there was nothing we could do to soothe her for more than a few minutes.

Our friends Paige and Zach were in town and I had planned to make breakfast for everyone, but by morning I could do nothing more than sit on the couch in a daze, cuddle Brecken (who was suddenly calm again), and chug coffee by the mugful. Thankfully Ryan got busy in the kitchen, whipping up these lemon cornmeal waffles. I don’t know if it was the extreme sleep deprivation or the fact that I was served breakfast and didn’t have to lift a finger, but these tasted like pure sunshine to me that morning. Breakfasts are typically pretty basic in our house, so it felt like a fun luxury to have something as fancy as these, which look, sound, and taste like they belong on a restaurant menu!

Skip the maple syrup and opt for making the fruit compote to top the waffles along with Greek yogurt. I think you’ll love this Spring breakfast as much as we did!

One Year Ago: Onion Focaccia
Two Years Ago: Banana Nut Bread Waffles and Orange Sour Cream Muffins with Poppy Seed Streusel
Three Years Ago: Peanut Butter Milky Way Blondie Cups and Mango Chicken
Four Years Ago: Broccoli Mushroom Almond Chicken and Panzanella Caprese

Coffee Cake Muffins

The best part of maternity leave, besides hanging with Baby Brecks of course, has been spending so much time with family and friends. I'm fortunate enough to have a sister (two actually, but one's abroad right now!) and two sisters-in-law in St. Louis, all of whom have schedules that keep them around during the day. As a result, I've spent a ton of time with Julia, Erin, and Kate, and have cherished this chance to spend extra time with them before I go back to work.

One Thursday morning, Erin headed over with Eoin, my nephew, and Kate headed over with Huxley, her babysitting charge, and we had a playdate of sorts. Nevermind that the kids were all less than half a year old and didn't necessarily "play" together, doing more eating and sleeping than anything else. Us ladies took advantage of the chance to hang out and eat muffins! True to their name, these are basically individual portions of coffee cake. The tender muffins are sweet and cinnamon-packed and topped with a buttery, crumbly streusel, like all good coffee cakes are. They're good warm from the oven or at room temperature, and if you can't eat all of them at once, freeze them and pull them out on a day you're craving coffee cake but don't want to whip up a huge pan of it!

One Year Ago: Sour Cream Pancakes
Two Years Ago: Favorite Spring Dishes and BBQ Chicken Pizza
Three Years Ago: Raisin and Pine Nut Asparagus and Chocolate Bird's Nest Cookies
Four Years Ago: Lucky Charms Treats and Cranberry Orange Sour Cream Loaf

Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

So my Whole Wheat Cinnamon Swirl Bread was the January obsession and this is what then replaced it. I know, I know, it's not pumpkin season. It's not anywhere near pumpkin season. And yet, I'm buying cans of pumpkin at the grocery store each week because I cannot get enough of these! Truth be told, they don't have a particularly strong pumpkin flavor to them, although it does add a bit of a moistness and a tint of orange!

I actually made a batch of these the day before I headed to the hospital, and it was a godsend to come home to a few days later! One of these bars, plus a smoothie, plus coffee has become my go to breakfast ever since Brecken was born and I spend a quick fifteen minutes once every ten days or so putting a pan of these together.

They're hearty, healthy, and far better than anything you can buy in a plastic wrapper, I promise! The sugar content is low, but the raisins and chocolate chips add just enough sweetness to fool you into thinking you're eating something indulgent for breakfast. Yes--I have no shame in incorporating chocolate into my breakfast!

Don't wait until pumpkin season to make these breakfast bars!

One Year Ago: In Christ Alone
Two Years Ago: Cornmeal Cranberry Muffins and Black and White Cookies
Three Years Ago: Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies and Sweet Onion Salad with Orange Vinaigrette
Four Years Ago: Mixed Citrus Greens Salad and Black Bean Burgers with Mango Salsa

menu bar

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Ginger Pear Loaf Cake

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Peanut Butter and Jelly Coffee Cake

Friday, October 3, 2014

Apple Buttermilk Muffins

Monday, September 22, 2014

Sweet Potato Zucchini Quick Bread

Friday, September 5, 2014

Breakfast Quesadillas [with Scrambled Eggs and Vegetables]

Monday, September 1, 2014

Breakfast for Dinner: 14 Favorites

Friday, August 29, 2014

Corn and Zucchini Salad with Feta

Monday, August 18, 2014

Quinoa Applesauce Oatmeal Bread

Friday, July 25, 2014

Blueberry Buckle Coffee Cake

Friday, May 30, 2014

Quinoa Granola Bars

Monday, May 12, 2014

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies with Chia Seeds

Monday, April 21, 2014

Lemon Cornmeal Waffles with Berry Compote

Monday, April 14, 2014

Coffee Cake Muffins

Monday, March 31, 2014

Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Bars