An Ode to Breakfast

Remember back in halls when I absolutely hated the food, hated anything they made me eat and wanted to gag at the smell of the tuna pasta bake?  The one meal that was ok (besides lunch, ha!  They didn't even serve that to us) was breakfast.  How can you go wrong with cereal, yogurt, "toast" and a cooked breakfast?  You kinda can't.  That doesn't mean that it didn't get painfully boring after a while, because it totally did.  I found easy ways that I could merge my tastes with the ones of the hall.  Of course, now I get to eat whatever I want for breakfast!  Yay, celebration time.  So here is my ode to good breakfasts I've been enjoying this summer.

Blueberry Coconut Milk Yogurt with Chocolate O's

Almondine Croissant (the pain au raisin was my mom's) and Cappuccino

Siggi's Passionfruit and Pomegranate Yogurt with Kashi Go Lean and a Cliff z bar

Cookie Dough cereal from fitnessista

A Strawberry Smoothie made with greek yogurt

What is your favorite breakfast food for summer?

Un Bacione,

Emilia

Kinda-Sorta Totally Awesome Scones

That's pronounced "scaw-ns" people.  Though I'd avoid doing that while in England, too pretentious, everyone will realize you have an american accent, you can get away with saying things differently.  Like yogurt and aluminum.  Though I still haven't worked out if it is silly or not to say football.  I think that one is a lose/lose situation.

Though making these scones is a win/win situation; however you choose to pronounce it!

Almond Butter Scones
makes about 12  mini scones/adapted from here and here


1/2 cup oats
1 cup flour (I used 2/3 cup whole-wheat pastry and the rest white, because I ran out)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp Almond Butter
2/3 cup Almond Milk

Preheat over to 475 F.

Milk together all dry ingredients.  Stir.  Add in almond butter and mix with hands.  Add in milk and mix slowly.  You should get quite a runny mixture.

Spoon the mixture into cupcake liners.  I used about a tablespoon and a half for each liner.  Put in the oven and bake for about 13 minutes, or until a toothpick in the centre comes out clean.

They definitely aren't sweet scones, but they are still fantastic!  I was surprised at how insanely rich they tasted, they definitely have a similar texture to a buttermilk scone.  Now, I wonder if there is any way to make healthy clotted cream with these...

Enjoy!

Un Bacione,

Emilia

The Frozen Cookie

Yup.  I ate a frozen cookie for breakfast and it was fantastic, the perfect treat for a summer breakfast when you want oatmeal, but don't want something hot.  It's so simple, I could have easily made it in halls.  Except that someone might have stolen it.

Frozen Oatmeal Cookie
makes one big cookie


1/4 cup yogurt (I used emmi coffee)
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp Oats
1 tsp nut butter
optional: any add ins/ons you want!

Take a bowl and mix the yogurt and the oats together.  You want to make sure that the yogurt is quite saturated with oats, throw in a couple more spoon-fulls until it looks creamy, but thoroughly oated.  Then, add in the nut butter and any other add ins you feel like.

Dump the mixture out on a medium sized plate and use a spoon to push it into the plate so it resembles a cookie.  I added a small spoon of almond butter on top afterwards.

Put in the freezer.  I froze overnight, but I'm sure a couple of hours would work just as good.

When getting ready to eat you can either take it out about five minutes before you plan to eat it, or you can just start digging in.  It takes a bit of elbow grease to pry it off the plate at first, but it's so worth it!  There are endless combinations you can do with this too.  Next time I'll probably use greek yogurt, some raisins, cinnamon and maybe a dollop of peanut butter.  Yum!

Enjoy!

Un Bacione,

Emilia

A Very Father's Day Recipe

In honor of Father's Day I have a recipe full of stuff my father loves.  No it's not fried calamari, anything with olives or pizza.  And it is definitely not meatloaf (which my dad hates!).

What could it be?

It's peanut butter cups!!

Originally they were intended to taste like hobnobs/mcvities digestives/cadbury caramel biscuits, something of that variety.  My dad loves them and always asks me to brink them back when I come home.  Well, let's just say nothing more was going in my suitcase and I wasn't able to bring them back this time.  I did, however, have the brilliant idea to try and make a HEALTHY version.  What?  Yes, I did.  I was interested in making a vegan version.  These aren't exactly healthy and they definitely taste more like peanut butter cups than digestives, but they are still pretty good and perfect for any peanut butter lovin' dad!

Emilia's Vegan Peanut Butter Cup "Biscuits"
makes 6 medium-sized in a muffin tin


Ingredients:

for the "biscuit"
~2 graham crackers
1/2 cup of peanut butter
handful of oats

for the top
1/2 chocolate (I used Guittard extra dark)
2-3 tablespoons peanut butter
1/2 table spoon jam (optional)

Crush/crumble the graham crackers until they are in very fine pieces.  You want them to look almost like a flour.  Put them in a bowl and then add the peanut butter.  Using a spatula mix the two together until all the crumbs are distributed throughout the peanut butter.  Throw in some oats and mix.

Spoon the "dough" into a lined muffin tin.  Start out with about a tablespoon per muffin cup.  Flatten the peanut butter until they are in little disks and sit more/less evenly.  Put in the freezer for ten minutes.

After ten minutes, you can take the muffin tin out of the freezer and add some jam on top of the "biscuit" layer.  I chose to do this and used marmalade for two, blueberry jam for two and left the other two plain. Put back in the freezer to set while doing the next step.

While the "dough" is chilling melt the chocolate using the double boiled method.  When the chocolate is mostly melted add in the peanut butter.  Start out with less and taste it as you go, you want to make sure the chocolate is the dominate flavor!

Once the chocolate/peanut butter mixture has finished melting, take a spoon and spoon about a tablespoon over each "biscuit".  Use a knife to spread.  If using jam, this works best after the jam has set a bit so the two layers stay separate and don't "blend".

Put back in the freezer to set the chocolate.  Once set, you can put them in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat.  Enjoy!

☀✍☀

So there you go!  I hope you try and enjoy.  Have a happy Father's Day everyone!!

Here's a drink to you Dad!

Un Bacione,

Emilia