With Easter on the horizon I figure it is about time I make some hard boiled eggs.  Not that I’m going to dye them (for some reason I can only find brown eggs), but because I’ve been craving some egg salad. 

The warm temperatures last week put me in the mood for salads.

I found a way to bake eggs to make them hard boiled.  Excuse me?  Bake them? 

Why yes…and it couldn’t be simpler.

Pre-heat your oven to 325-350 and place as many eggs as you want in a mini muffin tin.  Cook for about 30 minutes.

That’s it.

Guess what?

The eggs taste like hard boiled eggs!

It would be great to hard boil your eggs when cooking something else in the oven – they mini muffin tin doesn’t take up a lot of space. 

Perhaps roasting some vegetables for the week?  Nothing like doing double the work in half the time!  Baking your eggs would also be great when you need a lot of them – I don’t know about you, but getting a big pot of water to boil on my stove takes forever.  This would probably take less time!

It is no secret that I love baked goods. 

When Matt and I were having our weekend debate of “what are we having for breakfast” I decided to try out a recipe I’ve been eyeing for a few weeks on Pinterest – Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffins.

They looked heavenly and to be honest, I’m a sucker for anything with chocolate chips on top.  Seriously.

I had some issues with the baking of these muffins – mine were probably in the oven for about 40 minutes until they reached the level of “minimally raw.”  That could be my oven or something else.

If I make these again, I would reduce the amount of hot water to 1/2 a cup and add water as needed.  The batter was WAY too watery.

These tasted more like a cupcake then a muffin – which didn’t upset me too much. 

I bet topped with some nut butter these would be heavenly.

The remaining muffins are now in my freezer for when I need a quick breakfast or dessert.  I bet they don’t last long.

I am a Waffle Woman but I married a Pancake Man. 

What to do when the Pancake Man is away for the weekend?  Make waffles of course!

I am always on the hunt for a new recipe to try.  For me, the ideal waffle is both a tad bit crispy but mostly mushy.  Pancake Man, when forced to eat waffles, wants ‘em crispy. 

Like I said, when pancake man is away, waffle woman will play!

I chose this recipe for 2 reasons:

1. Buttermilk – I fully believe no waffle or pancake recipe should be made without it.
2. Mixture of Whole Wheat and White Flour – some semblance of healthy right?

As you can see, these waffles were probably a tad too mushy – but I loved them anyway.

Topped with some REAL maple syrup, I savored every bite of my waffles…

While missing Pancake Man.

Its been a while since I dusted off the ole donut pan.  I haven’t done much baking lately and have missed it. 

But yet my craving for donuts has been increasing.  By the day. 

I go through donut phases where all I want is a perfectly fresh, chocolate frosted donut.  Or even a chocolate glazed donut.  I’m not picky. 

When I saw Nicole’s recipe for chocolate frosted donuts, I knew I was a gonner. 

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Whole Wheat Baked Banana Doughnuts with Chocolate Frosting adapted from PreventionRD

Doughnuts:
6 Tbsp sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup over-ripe banana, mashed (about 1 1/2 small bananas)
3 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp nonfat Greek yogurt
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour

Chocolate Ganache:
3 oz (heaping 1/3 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 Tbsp Whole Milk

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 F, and spray doughnut pan with cooking spray.

Whisk together the egg and sugar until light and pale, about 10 minutes. Stir in the banana, oil, vanilla and yogurt.

Sift in the salt, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, flour and wheat germ (or flour). Stir together until combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared doughnut pan, filling wells 1/2 way, and bake for 10-12 minutes.

While the doughnuts bake, put the cream in a microwave-safe bowl and warm for 30-45 second. Pour the cream over chocolate and let it sit for 2 minutes to melt the chocolate. Stir the mixture together. If the mixture is not smooth, microwave for about 10 seconds and mix again. Repeat, if needed.

Remove the doughnuts from the pan and let them cool. Once cool, dip them into the chocolate ganache. Store the doughnuts in an airtight container.

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Matt said these were the best healthy donuts I have made so far. 

I would have to agree.

These would be perfect for brunch or a sweet spring treat!

A definite banana flavor these were like banana muffins meet glazed donuts.  A heavenly match in my mind. 

I would actually like to try this recipe again swapping out some of the banana for applesauce…I just need to get some homework done first.

On our kitchen counter sat 5 avocados.  As that rarely happens (avocados are expensive!), Matt and I are on a mission to use them before going bad. 

He had found a recipe for Eggs baked in an Avocado a few weeks ago which would take my avocado stash down to 4.  Sounds like a great breakfast to me – doesn’t it?

Too bad it wasn’t.

The directions in the recipe were as follows:

Simple enough?

Well considering that my picture looks no where near as good as the one on the website, I must conclude that the person took more than the pit out – they must of scraped a considerable amount of avocado out in order to fit the entire egg in. 

After baking our avocado and egg for about 15 minutes we decided to smash this entire mixture onto a piece of toast only to discover the yolk was way over cooked.

If you want avocado and egg for breakfast, I would recommend smashing up the avocado and frying an egg – separately. 

I can pretty much guarantee better results – it couldn’t get much worse than this. 

Have you ever tried to bake an egg in an avocado?  Did I do something wrong?

I am always on the hunt for a new breakfast idea.  Especially one that can be prepared in advance and just needs to be heated up (or even better, eaten cold).

Putting it mildly, let’s just say, I am not a morning person.

Well I saw this recipe for Quinoa Pudding and immediately wanted to make it.  I love rice pudding and using quinoa in place of rice would be an interesting twist – plus I still have a lot of quinoa that needs to be used.

An interesting version of rice pudding.  Next time I would add the full 3 tablespoons of maple syrup (I used 2 1/2 tablespoons) – it needed just a smidge more sweetness.  Or as I tried it for a second time, I added a mashed banana – perfect amount of sweetness!

Can you see the little specs of vanilla in there?  That’s the best part.

I mixed the pudding with all the blueberries to ensure I had blueberries in every bite.  This would taste even better if the blueberries were more in season.

I have a few more breakfasts worth of quinoa pudding which makes me quite the happy camper.

Next time: a swirl of caramel sauce and some chocolate chips.  That would be a serious dessert.

I have recently climbed on board the coffee bandwagon. 

I was coffee adverse for many many years.  I made it through college and graduate school plus a few years of working before I saw the coffee light.

Now I’m addicted. 

Not to coffee but MOCHA.  Instead of adding milk or cream to my coffee, I add chocolate milk.  Gives the coffee an amazing flavor – I highly recommend trying it.  Now.

Anyway, I thought I would try my hand at making my own iced coffee as the weather in Massachusetts has been unseasonably warm. 

The secret to my iced coffee was the vanilla syrup.  Trust me. 

Make sure you start this process the night before you want your iced coffee – it needs to sit at least overnight!  I doubled the recipe so I would have lots of iced coffee.

After plunging, with my french press, I strained my coffee one more time using a coffee filter in a small strainer – I wanted to make sure all the coffee grinds were out.

Also, before going to bed, make your vanilla syrup so everything is ready to go in the morning.

That stuff is AMAZING.

Then add your desired amount of coffee and creamer/milk (or in my case chocolate milk).  I stirred in 2 teaspoons of my vanilla syrup and then added ice.

Voila!  Perfect iced coffee mocha!

I love granola.  The crunchy texture makes it so desirable to top a bowl of yogurt, a smoothie or even some oatmeal. 

Typically I buy my granola (Cascadian Farm Oat and Honey Granola) which is one of the few granolas I have found that doesn’t have ingredients I am allergic to which is pretty much everything. 

I found a great recipe for a Mix and Match Applesauce Granola that was perfect for me because I was able to make it to my liking. 

I used all maple syrup in this recipe but next time I would use half maple syrup and half honey.  The maple flavor was a little too much for me.  For the dried fruit, I used craisins and dried cherries. 

Otherwise, this is some of the best homemade granola I have ever had.  Matt thought I bought it in the store.  This is a great recipe – I highly recommend it!

For some reason, I really wanted a breakfast for dinner meal; Matt is usually not the biggest fan of them even when they involve one of his favorite ingredients: eggs.

I was walking a fine line when I decided to make this dish – I wasn’t sure myself how it would turn out.

In the end, I did just fine.  I used this recipe for my inspiration but strayed from there.

I was very pleased with the end product.

This tasted like a Stromboli – the egg and cheese was very creamy while the veggies made this dish full of flavor.  Plus the whole wheat crust gave some fiber to the meal.

I made this for dinner and served it with a salad, but this would be perfect for a brunch.  It reheats well and makes a ton – Matt and I have had it for 2 meals and there is probably another meal leftover still.

Oh the possibilities…

I love scones.  My love for scones probably has something to do with my love for all things muffins and sweet, but for some reason scones have a special place for me in my heart. 

With that love, comes a high level of Scone Requirements.  I like my scones slightly dry and crumbly with a small level of sweetness.  Chocolate chips are a definite bonus and a sprinkling of turbinado sugar on top will send me into a tizzy.

I mean how good does a scone with a cup of coffee sound on a cold winter morning (preferably enjoyed lounging around in my pjs – and not rushing to get get ready for work)?

Perfect for a lazy weekend breakfast…

These scones were slightly more muffiny then I prefer but all in all, not a bad recipe. 

The sugar sprinkled on top makes all the difference for me.

Who could resist?

Next time I may add some dried cherries – chocolate and cherries are a great scone combo in my humble opinion.

Honestly, these scones got better with age – and I liked them right out of the fridge.  Odd – I know. 

I am going to freeze the remainder of them for another lazy, weekend breakfast.

Who am I kidding – I never have a lazy weekend!