Makin Banana Pancakes :)

I love pancakes, it's a bit of a weakness actually. Generally in the morning though, I have a little more willpower than the rest of the day so I eat somewhat healthy, and if I have time to make breakfast, I try and stay away from gluten (since my poor tummy doesn't do well with it). So, long story short, I found red mill's gluten free mix, tried it, and loved it! So here you go..

Gluten free Banana Pancakes



How I make these wonderful things...
Follow the instructions for the pancakes on the package. Have ready (for one batch, which serves about 4, so 8 large pancakes)

2 bananas sliced in 1/4 inch ish rounds,
brown sugar, and
chopped pecans or walnuts if you are the nut type :) and also,
you can add ground flax meal to the top (not necessary, but we didn't have nuts, and I love flax)

On a skillet, griddle, pan, whatever you use to do pancakes normally, over medium heat, butter your pan and pour on 4 good size pancakes. Let cook for about a minute and then work quickly. Place between 5-7 banana slices on the top of each pancake and push in just slightly. I usually put one in the middle and do a circle around that, just for aesthetics. Sprinkle brown sugar with your fingers or spoon on top of the pancakes. Sprinkle, nuts, and or flax as well. Once you feel the bottom portion of the pancake is done.. flip! You will want to make sure your pan isn't too hot, burnt pancakes are just the worst. The sugar side can burn easily if it's too hot. Cook for a minute or two until you feel the pancake portion is done, not doughy, and that's it! If you can make pancakes, you can make banana pancakes. But if you tend to suck at pancakes, I don't really know what to tell you :) Good luck!
Also, you can use any pancake mix or recipe. I have a from scratch recipe I used to use before the gluten issues came up, and I can't find it, so I couldn't put it in the post.. but I'll find it one of these days.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar, drizzle with syrup, top with butter, go nuts! Add more fruit, whipped cream, however you love your pancakes.



Happy weekend breakfast everyone!


Here's the mix, in case you want to look into it. Red mill is an amazing brand for gluten free and just healthy products in general by the way. Most health food stores carry their line of products (stores like safeway only have a few things). We use red mill's pancake mix, quinoa, quinoa flour, oat flour, flax meal, etc. Locally, I know raley's has a large selection of their products, actually all of them.
Again, happy weekend!
with love,
kristin ann :)

I love me some eggs :)

Yes, it's a fact, I love breakfast. And, I love to cook breakfast! It's by far the easiest meal to make, and therefore, the most satisfying. For me its even better than making a quick sandwich, because it's a hot meal, which I also love. So my thought for today is to encourage you to make breakfasts. If you get in the habit of it, and just have breakfast foods around, its a great thing. I know cold cereal is tempting, and trust me, I love cereal (I usually have cereal for dessert or a midnight snack) but you should consider your options in the morning, especially if you're feeding little ones. Eggs are a wonderful thing. They are full of protein, vitamin A (and several others), and although they have cholesterol, studies have shown that the dietary cholesterol in eggs does not effect your blood cholesterol the same that other saturated fats do. If you didn't know already, your brain is made of primarily fats, so foods like eggs, that have dietary cholesterol are considered brain foods. When your brain is developing, so in your very young years (especially before the age of 5) it is important to have certain fats in your diet. When I have been at my absolute healthiest eggs are usually a staple in my diet.

Ok, enough of that...

My breakfast for two (of course)

1 leftover sausage sliced at a diagonal (thank you mary)

4 eggs beaten

2 pieces of bread toasted

a slice of cheese diced (or shredded)

salt and pepper

green onions, chopped

Saute the sausage for just a minute, add the eggs, keep the heat on med/low. Make sure to keep the eggs moving around, I very much dislike overcooked or burnt scrambled eggs. Feel free to salt and pepper at any step. When the eggs are just about done, so they still have a little bit of moisture, add the cheese. Serve on top of toast, or to the side. Garnish with green onions or chives.

breakfast crazy

The fact of the matter is, I lOVE breakfast. I really do, just outright love everything about breakfast. I love eggs, I love ALL breakfast meats, I love pancakes and waffles in every flavor (even though I should stay away from gluten, they're still worth it to me), I love muffins, and doughnuts (oh how I LOVE doughnuts!), I love orange juice, and grapefruits, and cereal (I had cereal for lunch today), and fruit, and smoothies, and everything else that you could possibly incorporate with breakfast. I used to not like french toast, but I found a restaurant a few years ago that made it so divine (Maglebee's in Utah) that now I know a way that I even like french toast.
Well here was my breakfast today. I actually made just about the same thing yesterday, but better, but no camera, and no Martin. So today, because I didn't have school, and my amazing husband did. I got out of bed a little bit before he did, and I whipped this up. A breakfast burrito. I used to not love the idea of putting all my favorite things in a flour tortillas and having it for breakfast with salsa, but I got over that right quick (again, while living in Utah, thanks to the 24 hour Beto's). All these memories of Utah make me miss my sister. When I lived there for that short year, we ate together ALL the time. It was our favorite thing to do. Anyways, love you Jana.
So, here's how it went down.

• first, microwave a medium potato (after washing and piercing) for about 5 minutes, unless you have a leftover baked potato from the night before, which work the best!
• Next, cook your meat. I used a few strips of bacon and deli turkey. Cook the bacon first until almost crispy and set aside.
• Then, get the eggs ready. For 2 burritos, I would use 4 eggs; crack and scramble in a separate bowl. Feel free to add salt and pepper as you go along, set aside.
• In the same pan you cooked the bacon, or sausage, or steak, or whatever, saute the potato (after dicing in 1/2 inch cubes, with skin still on). This only takes a few minutes, if they look dry, add a drizzle of olive oil.
• Add the meat (diced turkey, and crumbled bacon) and some hot sauce. I prefer tapatio. Once all is hot and incorporated, set aside.
• In the same pan, cook your scrambled eggs. When the eggs are almost done (so still slightly runny) add a handful of cheese (small cubes, slices, shredded, whatever works) and once the cheese starts to melt, add the potato meat mixture.
• And you're done!
• You can heat up or cook the tortillas ahead of time if you would like.
• Serve with cilantro, avocado, hot sauce, tomato slices, whatever you see fit.

my breakfast.. a deliciously gourmet breakfast quesadilla

It's about 1 in the afternoon and I haven't had breakfast yet; this isn't weird for us because we wake up at 11.. yes, isn't our life amazing :) I'm in the kitchen and thinking to myself, eggs sound really good. We have eggs, cheese, lots of tomatoes, and some flour tortillas I recently purchased for a taco night. I then thought, well these tortillas are too small for a burrito, I'll figure something out. Martin was just on his way home from playing tennis so I knew he would be hungry, and I just started whipping things up. I prefer fried eggs, or sunny side up to scrambled, so I made 2 fried eggs, sliced up a golden tomato from the garden, found half of an avocado in the fridge from yesterday, and realized I had cilantro left from taco night as well. Long story short.. this is what I made. And it was delicious, and took just as long as any normal breakfast would take.

breakfast quesadilla:

2 fried eggs

1 medium size tortilla

1 sliced tomato

half an avocado

2 slices of cheddar cheese

sliced ham (or turkey lunchmeat)

cilantro

tapatio

salt and pepper

Have a wonderful weekend everyone :)

my breakfast.. a protein berry smoothie

This is an attempt to be healthy. I'm trying atleast :) Because my family is full of athletes and very weight conscious people I have developed a few habits that help me to be a little healthier. We eat at home a lot, which trust me, if you're trying to be healthier, is crucial, and we eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. The easiest and quickest meal I have, is a smoothie or shake. I like a milk base (it tastes so much better, and I believe in dairy, it's not for everyone though) to start out my smoothie. So in the blender I put about 3/4 cup of milk. Fruit is something I try to always keep on hand, but unfortunately most fruit doesn't last long. So, I freeze fruit that isn't used quickly, but usually only berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, cranberries) because they freeze well. To the milk I add 1 1/2 cups of frozen/fresh berries, and a scoop of a chocolate protein mix. Unfortunately I don't have the brand or any information because I stole a bag from my parents, who bought in bulk (shhh). Most grocery stores now carry protein mixes, or a store like GNC. Blend until completely smooth; you may have to add a little more milk (or water) to the mix.
If you don't like the milk/protein style shake, do the same thing but use a juice base (apple is my favorite) and don't add the protein. I made on like this the other day and it was fabulous. Just like Jamba Juice (our favorite) but it's practically free, and no garbage, so you're helping your pocket and the environment, and yourself because it's so healthy!

In the last few months I have been trying to eat more "raw" foods. A lot of my health issues can be easily cured just by making some adjustments in my diet, and this has been not that easy. But this is an easy way to get a 100 % raw meal (if you do just the bare fruit juice smoothie), and it feels substantial. Anyways, food for thought.

Enjoy your day!

with love,

kristin ann :)

my breakfast, arugula and feta omelette

Lately I've been trying to think of recipes that incorporate the produce I've got growing right in my backyard. This morning I went out and picked a handful of arugula, cherry tomatoes, a pablono pepper, a zucchini the size of my arm (no joke) and a handful of green beans. Well this is what I decided to go with.

ingredients:

4 eggs

3 T. milk

salt and pepper

2 T. butter (or olive oil)

5 large arugula leaves

a handful of cherry tomatoes or diced tomatoes

crumbled feta (however much you would like)



Whisk the eggs, milk, dash of salt and pepper in a bowl till slightly fluffy. Place 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium saute pan on medium heat. Once butter has melted and you have covered the bottom of the pan add the egg mixture. Keep on heat for 3-5 minutes. If the bottom begins to brown too much, turn down heat. When the eggs are close to cooked I like to flip it over (if you can keep it in tact) so that it is cooked all the way through. After a minute take omelet of pan and place on serving place brown side down. Sprinkle feta on half of the omelet. In the same saute pan add the last tablespoon of butter and add tomatoes. Cook for about 2 minutes and add arugula. You can lightly salt and pepper the vegetables. After a minute (you don't want the arugula to completely loose shape) take off heat and add to the half of the omelet with the feta and fold the top half over. A 4 egg omelet is usually shared between martin and I; if you're making it for 1, use a smaller pan and cut back to 3 eggs. Enjoy!