Breakfast Sensation

I woke up this morning with two very different breakfast-related cravings.  Some may see this as a major edible dilemma, but I think this is exactly the type of problem that occurs right before great things are made.  Like peanut butter and jelly.  And fried pickles.  And spinach smoothies. And chocolate covered... anything.  The union of two unlike things are oftentimes innovations to be marveled, especially in the kitchen.

Oatmeal or Eggs?  That was the question.

I hate making decisions.  So I chose both.  I put a 1/4 cup of oats and milk in one bowl.  I cracked one egg and one egg white in another.  Together, they were unified in the frying pan.

  5 minutes, a dash of cinnamon, a teaspoon of honey, and a sliced banana later I had a delectable, healthy, and filling meal that I shall call "French Toast Eggs." Because that was was it tasted like:  French toast, minus the toast.  Plus a whole lot of nutrients.  And I wasn't even hungry before lunch.  That in itself was a miracle.

And there you have it.  My impromptu breakfast sensation that has had my mouth watering long since my second cup of coffee.  A breakfast so good, I felt inclined to share it with the public. Happy eating. 

Keeping Up with Resolutions

Simply remembering a New Year’s Resolution over a month later is a feat in itself for most people, so I’m not going to hide how impressed I am with myself that I am still resolving to learn how to cook and it's February 16th.

  

Every weekend I pick out a new recipe to try, from which I will make a grocery list with ingredients outside of my typical shopping list.  So far I’ve perfected a healthy chicken and bean chili, I have learned the proper way to tenderize chicken breasts, I have surprised myself by making a truly delectable Chicken Marsala, and most exciting to me, is that I tried my very first eggplant parmesean, and absolutely loved it. 

I researched how to choose a good eggplant from the store, how to slice it, how to salt it, and then I half followed, half created a recipe to make a delicious eggplant dish. 

Preparation is a little lengthy, but simple! I highly recommend this creative recipe for anyone that has the time (the eggplant has to sit for a half an hour before it bakes for an hour) for a simple, tasty dish. 

Also, eggplants are big.  One of these babies is going to feed my roommate and I for at least three days. College-student score!

You will need:

1 medium sized eggplant

salt

6 ounces fresh mozzarella

8 ounces tomato sauce (I took the easy way out- Prego!)

1 large red pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil, separated

3 eggs

¾ cup bread crumbs

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ tablespoon garlic salt

SO here’s what I did:

-Cut the stem off and slice the eggplant into ¼ inch slices (our knives stink over here in the apartment, so my slices were less than uniform – but it didn’t make a difference.)

-        - Put the slices in a colander and set the colander on a plate.  Sprinkle salt all over the eggplant, toss, and let sit for a half an hour

-     Crack 3 eggs into a shallow bowl, whip

-          Combine breadcrumbs, garlic salt, and pepper into a different shallow bowl

-          Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large frying pan

-      -  Dip eggplant in egg batter, and then breadcrumbs

-       - Fry each piece for 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown

-       - Place fried eggplant into a 13x9 inch baking dish (College Apartment living limited me again; I only had a square casserole dish and a small baking dish so I distributed across two dishes – still worked just fine!)

-      -  Cook pepper and onion in the same frying pan for about 5 minutes

-      -  Place peppers and onions over the eggplant, and then pour the sauce in the baking dish and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees

-       - After 25 minutes, take the dish out of the oven and place sliced mozzarella on top.

-      -  Bake another 25-30 minutes.

-       - Cut, and Enjoy!!!!

Yum-O.

I barely followed the original recipe for the eggplant parm bake that I found, so I was quite nervous with how my concoction would come out.  Much to my surprise, it was awesome. And therefore, I share.

I don’t like mushrooms, but my roommate suggested mushrooms might be really good in the bake as well.  Go wild!

Feel free to share with me any of your creative/simple recipes because as you know, I really am trying to learn how to cook! I’m hoping this resolution has me on my way to domesticity in no time ;) 

The Most Brilliant Thing I've Ever Done.

My name is Maggie Y. and I am a caffeine-aholic. 

If every day went exactly as planned I would have a large Iced Coffee in the morning, followed by a Fountain Diet Coke in the afternoon. 

I prefer Iced Coffee to Hot Coffee for reasons that are unclear even to me. Maybe it's a psychological aversion to hot liquid after one too many burnt tongues, or maybe it's a similar aversion to miserable cold weather that makes me always opt for the iced version of my favorite morning-pick-me-up. 

The only problem with iced coffee: when you don't have the time to immediately gulp it in inhuman capacities and the ice melts, resulting in watered-down joe. I've discovered that teaching a classroom of sixth graders doesn't allow time for much coffee sipping, therefore the iced coffee I (or Dunkin Donuts) typically packs becomes weak and border-line disgusting by around 8:30. No bueno. 

Therefore, I experimented with a cure to the melted iced coffee epidemic. 

Two words: Coffee Cubes. 

I know this looks absolutely horrible, and it's partially due to the lighting of a 6am photo shoot while trying to not disturb my roomies, but mostly it is pretty gross looking.  But I assure you, it is the perfect solution.

I simply poured 3/4 part coffee and 1/4 part skim milk in each cube shape of the tray and froze over night. And, Voila! Coffee Cubes for the days you just can't drink your Iced Coffee fast enough! 

My Iced Coffee lasted well into the afternoon and I was one happy, caffeinated teacher.  

Seriously, the most brilliant thing I've ever done. 

Happy Monday - Keep yourself on track with this new Monday "Recipe" ;)