please email me your mailing addresses asap – denise@chezus.com
You may only think we eat dinner around here as I seldom write about breakfast; but, we cannot live on dinner alone. Breakfast is a big part of our day. If it was not for that first cup of steaming espresso with frothed milk and a bite to eat, we would never make it through a morning of calls, emails or that weekend bike ride (or market run in my case). Now don’t get me wrong, there is an occasional slip up, where we don’t get a bite first thing and those are the mornings where we both sit in our office, staring blankly at a computer screen and grumpy. As well it usually means we will over indulge rest of the day. Breakfast really helps make our day a better one.
Keep reading this long post … something fun at the end!
One of our goals for the new year was to make sure we had breakfast every day. Since there are times where we don’t have time before catching the train or jumping on the scooter, we decided to keep Quaker Oats at the office. It makes not missing breakfast even easier. We just bring a basket of berries or a little container of pumpkin puree or an apple to mix in with the oatmeal. When we are at home we like to have a little more fun with our oatmeal by mixing the oatmeal packet with warm milk and hot water and then tossing in fruit, nuts, pumpkin puree, or fresh berries. A drizzle of honey and an extra drizzle of warm milk is also a great addition.
Quaker recently contacted us and asked us to participate in a fun event about how we start our day. By doing so, they also introduced us to their new digital application CrEATe Your Day. You have to check it out as it really is fun. You get the choice to CrEATe a bowl of oatmeal for yourself or for a loved one. The application will walk you through a series of fun questions in order to CrEATe Your Day. At the end the site will give you a recipe idea as well as a coupon for a $1.00 off. You can then share your day with a friend or even on FaceBook. I love the site as it is easy to use, it is bright and cheery and the animated steam rolling off the bowl of oatmeal makes me hungry. To sweeten our breakfast morning Quaker sent us an oatmeal starter kit that includes Quaker Oatmeal and a place setting for our breakfast table. The best parts of this program is that Quaker will donate $1 to Share Our Strength (SOS) for each Oatmeal Creation to help fight childhood hunger. The original goal was to raise $25,000, which they exceeded, so Quaker has upped the donation to $50,000.
So how do you CrEATe Your Day with Quaker Oatmeal?
Quaker is also providing two oatmeal starter kits for us to giveaway to two randomly selected readers. They (as well as us) want to help inspire you to make your own breakfast creations in your kitchen (or your office). The kits include Quaker Oatmeal and a place setting for your breakfast table.
The CrEATe Your Day Rules:
Leave a comment on this post telling us what your favorite way to prepare oatmeal is? Do you like to add anything to it? Or eat it plain? Comment on THIS post by 11:59 pm PST March 28, 2010
2 random winners will be announced March 29, 2010
Open to US and Canada residents only.
Extra Entries: Additional entries can be earned by doing any of the following. There is no limit to how many times you can do either of the extras. Leave a separate comment on this post for each of your entries.
Go to quakeroats.com/createyourday and make a custom creation. In the comments tell us what the creation was.
Tweet about this giveaway. Include @chezus and a link to the giveaway in your tweet. Leave the link to your Twitter post in a comment on this post.
Recipe: Pick Me Up and Get Me Out the Door Oatmeal
* 1 serving
2 packets Quaker Oatmeal Maple Brown Sugar
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup warm milk
1 banana
handful fresh blackberries
handful of pecans, crushed
Use two packets for each serving. Follow the directions on the packet of oatmeal using 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup milk. Thinly slice banana over the oatmeal. Sprinkle the blackberries and pecans over the top. Drizzle a little warm milk over the top. Serve. Eat.
* Disclosure: TO PARTICIPATE IN THE QUAKER OATMEAL CREATE YOUR DAY PROGRAM, I WAS COMPENSATED FOR WRITING THIS POST REGARDING MY EXPERIENCE. I WAS NOT TOLD WHAT TYPE OF CREATIONS I SHOULD MAKE NOR DID QUAKER REQUIRE ME TO USE ANY SPECIFIC INGREDIENTS.
We are doing two fitness, eating and being healthy challenges. Instead of writing about each one separately I am going to incorporate them for the month of February.
RSBC: Run Swim Bike Cook Challenge
If you remember last weekend I announced the RSBC Challenge, an event that we are co-hosting with Christy over at Balance. This was our first week and we did pretty well. While we are not runners we did get a fair amount of fitness in. Lenny and I both hit spin class twice this week. As well he got two days of climbing in and I got a yoga and 2 pilate sessions in.
Black beans – we love black beans but never think of adding them to breakfast. We did eat a lot of beans with our breakfasts when we were in Mexico and loved it. This challenge reminded us of how As well we were able to get the cooking challenge in by adding the Superfood black beans into a breakfast. Over the weekend we made a great black bean dish with Yuzu, eggs and Basque chorizo. While we are trying to limit our meat in take for the next four weeks we could not resist adding some chorizo to our breakfast….. think of it as more protein!
Your challenge for this week is to Swim 2.4 miles. The Superfood to incorporate into your weekly menu is butternut squash in the form of a dessert. Be sure to email me (denise@chezus.com) your entries by midnight on the 13th of February – we cannot wait to see what you come up with!
Butternut squash – did you know it is technically a fruit, because it has seeds and is rich in phytonutrients and antioxidants. It is low in fat, and delivers an ample dose of dietary fiber, which makes it a heart friendly choice to add to your diet. It also provides potassium which is very important for your bones as well as B6 which is essential for your nervous and immune systems.
Ten in 10 Healthy Challenge
As mentioned we did a pretty good job at keeping within our personal goals for this challenge. I wanted to share this week a couple things that we are doing to help keep us in check.
Snacks – you know how it is, late in the afternoon, you are jonsing to put something into your mouth. I have been keeping a ziploc full of cut up celery and carrots near out desks for when we get the urge to nibble. We just need a couple pieces and that craving is usually satisfied.
Drinks – we are not soda drinkers but we do love coffee. I do have a couple cups in the morning and Lenny has been limiting coffee only to the weekends. During the day, we both keep water bottles on our desk and we reach for them often. As well I drink a lot of green tea throughout the day.
Meals – we are trying to complete a month of mostly veggie related meals. January went so well that we are going to try to make it through February as well. We are big into not “dieting” so instead we practice portion control. I normally do not make enough to last more than one dinner and maybe lunch the next day and when serving up a portion, think the size of your fist.
Following is a recap of our week – it shows our weight at week 1 and what we are at now, as well as what activities we did for the week
Lightly sweetened brioche dough is pressed into a tart pan and filled with jam and fresh plums, to make a wonderful breakfast treat.
I was so excited to finally be the hostess for the Tuesdays with Dorie challenge. I have been a big fan of Dorie Greenspan’s must have book, Baking from My Home to Yours, since the first time I made something from it. If there is not any other baking book to own, this is it, there is everything from yeast recipes to quick and dirty cookie recipes. I have been secretly hoping for the past year that no one would pick the Brioche Plum Tart recipe as I really wanted to make it; so happy when I received the email about being the hostess this week.
I love brioche. It is just one of those simple pastries that one can do so much with, from eating simply with jam to adding fruit. I was especially excited to try a tart using a yeast based dough and the addition of stone fruit made it even better. I am such a big fan of summertime stone fruits. The dough did have be made the day before as you will get better results after letting it set over night. I liked that the dough was sweeter than a traditional brioche recipe. The finished dough is filled with jam and then sliced plums. I could not find plum jam so I used a sour cherry and rhubarb jam, which gave the very sweet summer plums a nice slightly tart taste, reminded me of the candy Sweet Tarts. As well, I did not use walnuts, instead I used slightly toasted pecans. I made this tart for an early Saturday morning coffee with my sister and brother in-law and brought the remainder up to Lake Tahoe for our annual get away with our friend’s Evelyn & Will. It was a huge success with everyone, as who wouldn’t want a little dessert for breakfast!
Be sure to grab a cup of coffee and check out all the other Brioche Plum Tarts over at TWD. Next, Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy will be tickling our taste buds with a Raspberry Blanc-Manger – cannot wait!
Recipe: Brioche Plum Tart
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/3 cup whole milk, just warm to the touch
2 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
about 14 ripe plums, preferably italian prune plums
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped walnuts, almonds (I used pecans)
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup plum jam (I used sour cherry with rhubarb)
To make brioche: Put the yeast and warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl, and fit the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Working on low speed, mix for a minute or two, just to get the ingredients together. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 7 – 10 minutes, stopping a few times to scrape down the bowl and the hook, until the dough is stretchy and fairly smooth. The dough will seem fairly thin, more like a batter than a dough, and it may not be perfectly smooth – that is fine.
Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place until nearly doubled in size, 30 – 40 minutes.
Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap into the bowl. Cover the bowl again with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours. Then if you’ve got the time, leave the dough in the refrigerator overnight – it will be tastier for the wait.
To Make The Tart: This tart looks prettiest when it’s made in a fluted pan. You can use either a 9-inch metal tart pan with a removable base or a porcelain baking dish, the kind sometimes called a quiche pan. Generously butter the pan.
Press the chilled dough into the bottom of the pan and up the sides – don’t worry if it’s not even. Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
While the dough is in the refrigerator, prepare the filling. Halve and pit the plums. If you are using large plums, cut each half into 2 or 3 slices. Set aside. Toss the chopped nuts with the sugar and set aside.
Remove the tart pan from the fridge and push and press the dough up the sides of the pan. Spoon the jam onto the dough and spread it over the bottom. Arrange the plums cut side down in a concentric circles covering the jam. Scatter over the nut mixture, and cover the tart lightly with a piece of plastic wrap. Place the tart on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat and let it rest in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Uncover the tart and bake for 20 minutes. Cover it loosely with a foil tent to prevent the crust from getting too dark, and continue baking for another 10 minutes, or until the fruit juices are bubbling and the crust is firm and beautifully browned – it will sound hollow when tapped. Transfer the tart to a rack to cool for at least 45 minutes before serving.
A simple waffle recipe that anyone can master. Browning the butter before adding to the waffle batter, gives them a slightly nutty flavor, which enhances the sweetness of the pure maple syrup. Great for dinner or even brunch.
*It has been a long time since I have had time to participate in the CLICK Event. The challenge this month is stacks and I knew I had the perfect stack to share! This is a really fun photography event …if you love food and taking picture run on over and check it out!
I had intentions of making an actual “dinner” tonight; but with packing, for the weekend as well as packing the house up, I did not even have time to dial take out, let alone head to the grocery store. I had to wing it with the waffle recipe as I packed all the cookbooks; but, I have to say, they came out GREAT! Crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.
Recipe: Brown Butter Waffles
* serves 4 – 6 (depending on how hungry)
2 cups self rising flour
pinch of salt
1 3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, separated
3 tablespoons butter
Melt butter over low heat and gently brown. Beat egg whites until stiff. Mix milk with egg yolks until blended. Add milk/egg mixture to flour and salt, stir until mixed but not over mixed. Stir in butter. Gently fold in egg whites. Cook waffles according to your waffle irons instructions. Serve. Eat.
I love soft boiled eggs, cooked just right, with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper and a chunk of warm crusty baguette – it is a simple breakfast that is so satisfying. I overdosed as a kid on soft boiled eggs, when I got sick once and the doctor said to eat them and chicken soup,everyday and that it would cure me. It worked but I never really looked at a soft boiled egg the same, until my first trip to Germany. Every inn I stayed at offered perfect soft boiled eggs, bread, cheese, yogurt and ultra creamy coffee – very fond memories.
As a regular reader you know how Lenny loves EGGS – any old way. I knew when I saw this particular recipe in an issue of Donna Hay, that he would love the soft boiled egg garnished pasta dish. I knew, I would probably skip the soft boiled egg on my pasta – some things are meant to stay in my breakfast category – but that the roasted garlic and cheese would make up for it. I did change up the recipe a bit to give it a Chez Us signature … think olive oil, extra cheese and spring time fresh English peas. As Donna would say, this dish was “Simple Made Simple” and ever so delicious!
Recipe: Soft Boiled Egg
1 egg
water
Bring water to boil in a saucepan. Low heat to simmer, slowly and carefully add the egg. Let the egg gently simmer for 3 – 5 minutes, depending on how soft you like your soft cooked egg. I like it on the runny side for dipping the bread, so I cook it 4 minutes. Remove from the water, and run it under cold water, just long enough so you can hold it. Crack the egg in half. Serve in a shallow bowl. Sprinkle with salt and cracked pepper. Eat.
Recipe: Roasted Garlic Pasta with Peas and Egg
*serves 4
1/2 head garlic
1 egg
1/2 pound angel hair pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan
1/2 cup fresh english peas
sea salt
cracked black pepper
Preheat oven to 425. Wrap garlic in foil and roast for 15 – 30 minutes or until soft, tender and slightly golden. Squeeze garlic from skins and mash with a fork. Cover to keep warm and set aside.
Cook the eggs following the above directions. Drain and set aside to cool slightly before peeling.
Cook the pasta in a pan of salted boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain well and return to the pan. Add the olive oil and toss. Then add the cream, 1/2 of the parmesan, garlic, salt and peas and toss to coat. Divide between serving plates, halve the eggs and place on top to serve. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Serve. Eat.
Scrambled eggs are something that we eat often on weekends. Either plain or with an assortment of fillings: mushrooms, spinach, cheeses, tomatoes. The choices are really limitless. As well it could be a scramble or an omelet. When we opt for the dinner scrambled egg, it is usually in the form of a frittata or a torta, again, you really can add anything from the basic potatoes to chorizo, to really spice it up.
I think the key to the perfect scrambled egg is the right seasoning and being cooked to the point of not brown or golden but also not runny. We have been trying out some different techniques and finally came up with our favorite scrambled eggs or as Maggie, likes to call them “butter eggs”. Below we have included the instructions for the perfect scrambled egg and a simple torta, which will make a nice light dinner when served with a simple salad.
Recipe: Scrambled Egg
*serves 1
1 egg
1 tablespoon butter, divided in half
2 teaspoons milk or cream
kosher salt, a pinch
fresh ground pepper, a pinch
Put half of the butter in a frying pan over low heat. Melt the butter. The remainder of the butter cut into small pieces. While the butter is melting, whisk the egg with the milk, and the remainder of the butter. Whisk until the egg and milk is incorporated. The butter will be chunks. Pour into the frying pan and stir with a fork until cooked through, not browned, still moist and not runny. Season with salt and pepper.
Recipe: Torta
*serves 2
3 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoon butter, diced into small pieces
2 tablespoon olive oil
5 eggs
kosher salt, a pinch
fresh ground pepper, a pinch
Heat oven to 350. Cook the potatoes in boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside. While potatoes are cooking, cook the onions with the olive oil, in an oven proof skillet, until they are soft and slightly browned. Whisk the eggs with the salt, pepper until blended. Gently stir in the butter and potatoes. Add the egg potato mixture to the skillet, turn the heat to low, and gently cook for about 2 minutes, stirring to blend. Place the skillet into the oven and cook for 20 – 30 minutes, until puffed and golden. Remove from the heat and let set for a couple minutes before slicing. Serve. Eat
The perfect way to start the morning with us, is with a creamy cup of fresh espresso using the finest Italian roasted beans.
I normally only write about what we had for dinner. But ….. we have been working like crazy this week, which means late night, which equals no cooking time. We have some many good things planned for the weekend – can we really eat that much??!!
Anyhow, I did manage to squeeze in a little breakfast time today and it was so delightful that I wanted to share it with everyone.
I was not sure what Shrove Tuesday was except it had to do with the catholic church and pancakes. Did a bit of research and found out it is the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of the christian season of fasting and prayer, also known as Lent.
I don’t think I have ever celebrated Shrove Tuesday. In fact, I am pretty sure I never have. I did a little research to find out why this was never something that was celebrated in our homes, after all, we are both catholic. I found out the reason, it is primarily celebrated in the UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia.
Once I started seeing beautiful plates of pancakes and crepes popping up last night I decided that our dinner tonight would be just that and that we would kick off this lent season.
I decided to go with crepes as they are a bit lighter. I was going to use Barbara’s recipe over at Winos and Foodies, but it was suppose to sit for 2 hours and I did not have that much time. So I used the the Mark Bittman recipe from my new cookbook and loved it as it was incredibly easy and tasty. Barbara sprinkled sugar on her crepes and that reminded me of how my grandmother use to let us eat ours, so I lightly sprinkled some vanilla sugar over the top and then zest from a blood orange. Lenny looked at me like I have three heads when I brought dinner out but guess what he never said more then 10 words and kept eating! I knew they would be a great new change and maybe we will kick off lent properly now!
By the way be sure to check out our latest podcast. We meant to get it out there at the beginning of the week but got a bit busy. It is funny and light-hearted and gives you a peak into what is cooking over here this week!
