Sugar(free) Magnolias!

The other day I did something fun.

Mike wanted to go out to breakfast at Sugar Magnolias, but I hesitated, since I'm doing this 10-days of no sugar, I thought I'd rather go when I can have a big yummy pancake or something...plus it's a little pricy. So instead, I created "Sugar-Free Magnolias" (doubly appropriate, since we live in Magnolia!) with a menu and everything!

I filled the menu with yummy options from the original Sugar Mags menu (which I would make using recipes from spoonfulofsugarfree, such as these and these), and my own creations as well.

Mike ordered the "My Big Fat Greek Omelet" (a solid choice) which came with a side of sweet potato home fries (to make those, I roughly followed this recipe)

"My Big Fat Greek Omelet" = 2 eggs, whisked with a splash of milk, a sprinkle of sauteed red onion, feta cheese, and snipped fresh oregano

Sweet potato home fries (2 servings):

peel and dice 1 small/medium sweet potato.

Put potato in a small pot with water, and bring to a boil. Boil for 8 minutes.

mix some paprika (2-3 tsp?) and coarse salt (1/2 tsp?) in a dish.

In a skillet, saute 2 garlic cloves (minced or sliced) and diced red onion (2 T.?)

Drain the potatoes and let them air dry for a minute.

Add the potatoes to the skillet, along with the paprika & salt. 

Stir to coat.

Grind some black pepper over the top, and stir again. 

Good to the last drop! =)

It was so much fun to pretend to be a real breakfast cafe!

First Days of Summer!

Summer is here! (for us, at least...)
For me, that means (among other things):
peaceful mornings
gardening
and time to make yummy food! 

I woke up before Mike did on Saturday, so I thought I'd wake him up with a yummy summery breakfast in bed ~ yogurt with sliced strawberries and toasted oat-nut topping*.

*oat-nut topping =t 3 T oats, 2 T sliced almonds, and a sprinkle each of shredded coconut, raw sugar, and ground cinnamon toasted on medium in the toaster oven

I happened to have sweet potatoes, celery, apples, and cilantro (and our garden is bursting with radishes!) on hand all at the same time, so for lunch I decided to make one of our favorite salads from the Whole Living cleanse - the Sweet Potato, Celery, and Apple salad. Unfortunately, we didn't have fresh ginger, which really makes it tasty, and I used the food procesor rather than julienning everything, so it was a little soggy rather than crisp...but still good! Also, we added avocado. =)

Sunday morning I couldn't decide whether to use up some leftover fruit in a smoothie, or make these yummy-looking peanut butter banana oat bars that I had seen on Pinterest...so I made both.

yum! pb + banana + oats = :)

This weekend we finally started paying attention to our yard & garden again...
I got to plant some more seeds & plants (thanks to the LMK greenhouse & home depot!)

Above: marigolds from H. Depot stand guard over newly planted rows of peas & beans. At the top of the bed are tomatoes, peppers, and herbs.

Below: both beds, with Mike starting to dig a fruit tree hole!

 In this bed: tomatoes (top), beets, lettuce, spinach, radishes, carrots (not yet sprouted), and squash (same)

the trees that we'll be planting today! One Pear and one Apple :)

 

Last year, our friend & neighbor, Annie, gave us some of her mom's raspberry canes...now they are thriving! I can't wait til the get ripe!

Sunday night I finally made something I'd been wanting to make for a couple weeks:
Super Tasty Pesto Pasta Salad! (inspired by Giada's Fusili with Spicy Pesto)

10 oz. bag of spinach (or one bunch, at least 6 oz.)
4 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno pepper
2 tsp. coarse salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1-2 c. freshly shredded asiago cheese (although I used Parmesan today because that's all I had...)
1/4 c. olive oil
fresh basil to taste (I used 4 stalks? 1/2 cup?)
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 can white cannellini beans
1 lb pasta, such as fusili, rotini, or something else that will grab the pesto

In a food processor, blend the garlic, jalapeno, cheese, salt & pepper until smooth. Add in the spinach, tearing off the tough stems. Add in the basil. While processor is running, drizzle in the olive oil and lemon juice. Blend until smooth. Toss with cooked pasta. Drain & rinse the beans, and mix them into the pasta (or you could substitute chicken!). Garnish with more shredded cheese! Enjoy!

*Giada's recipe looked so good, but I didn't want to pay for arugula or walnuts, and I thought that it needed basil & lemon to brighten it up...

This is what happens when I make the pasta ahead of time and stick in a tupperware in the fridge! Haha...

 MMM!

 I sprinkled some lemon zest on top too, but you couldn't really tell...

Baked Oatmeal Breakfast Cake =)

I've been wanting to make Chocolate Covered Katie's single-serving baked oatmeal recipes, but hadn't had a good morning to try them out until today.

I had bought ramekins for this very purpose......but unfortunately I forgot to check the recipe first to see what size I would need (1 c.) and instead got 6 oz. ramekins. Oh well.

I wasn't sure what to bake the oatmeal in, since my ramekins were too small. Then, I had a genius I idea:

I could still make it, but using four ramekins instead of two. THEN, I could even layer them, like a cake!

So, I did!

Doubling the recipe (since it is for just one serving), I divided the batter equally between four greased (with coconut oil) ramekins, and it came out to just about 1/4 c. + 1 Tbsp batter per ramekin. Bake them for 20 min. at 380 degrees, then broil for 3 more min. at the end.

Note: for this batch I used CCK's Boatmeal For One recipe, using applesauce rather than pumpkin, and no extra sweetener.

The nice thing is, once you mix up the batter and put them in the oven, you can hop back in bed for another 20 minutes while they bake!

They should look like this, pulling away from the edges a bit.

Then I popped them out, put them top-down on little plates...

"frosted" them with a mixture of Greek yogurt, honey, and vanilla (which I happened to have all mixed up in the fridge from last weekend)...

And then topped them with the remaining two mini baked oatmeals, more "frosting", and cinnamon.

Yum! I love Saturday morning breakfasts....a lot.

And of course it wouldn't have been complete without some delicious coffee =)