Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

This peanut butter banana smoothie is one of my favorite breakfasts. It's easy, filling, and tasty, a perfect way to start your day! It is also works well as a post workout smoothie, since it provides you with protein, fiber, and potassium.

I add ground flaxseed to this smoothie, which you could leave out if you don't have any on hand, but I recommend buying some. Flaxseed has great health benefits (click here to see more specifics) and is very versatile. You can throw a tablespoon into hot or cold cereal, mix it in some mustard before putting it on your sandwich, use it when baking, or add it to your smoothie like I did here.

The smoothie tastes better with bananas that are a little brown and ripe and you should definitely adjust the quantities to suit your tastes and preference on how thick you like your smoothie.

Ingredients
1 frozen banana (doesn't have to be frozen, but I prefer it that way)
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed (can use flaxseed oil if you like a thinner consistency)
Ice (optional)

Directions
Place all of the ingredients up until ice in a blender and combine. If you would like a thicker consistency add a few ice cubes, if you are looking for a thinner consistency add a little more milk or water.

Spinach, Mushroom, & Onion Frittata

Happy Friday! I thought I would leave you with something you could whip up for brunch this weekend. As I mentioned in this veggie egg scramble post, I think breakfast is a great way to fit vegetables into your diet as well as use up some extra veggies you have on hand. That is what I did with this frittata that I made at the lake this past week. I used spinach, mushroom, onion, and pepper jack cheese to give it a little kick. I used a dozen eggs since I was feeding 8 people, it was enough for everyone with a couple leftover slices. You can easily scale this down to 3-4 eggs (which is what I normally do). Just like any omelette or egg scramble you can use any variety of vegetables and/or meat that sound good to you.  The recipe is below and have a nice weekend!

Veggie Breakfast Scramble

Egg scrambles or omelette's are a great way to load up on veggies and get your day off to a healthy start. It's also a good use for any vegetables you want to use up before they spoil, which is what I was doing the morning I made this for breakfast. This egg scramble was packed with good stuff; avocado, tomato, onion, corn off the cob, and mushrooms. You can really throw whatever vegetables and/or meat you want into the egg scramble. To make it healthier you can use only egg whites, but I like to use a combination of whole eggs and egg whites. You can also always throw the egg scramble inside a warmed tortilla to make a breakfast burrito, yum! Keep reading to find out how to cook up this easy and nutrient filled breakfast this weekend.

Soft Baked Fig Crumbles

My friend recently introduced me to Eat Live Run's blog and I'm hooked. There are so many recipes on her blog I want to try, and the added bonus is that she also blogs about travel and wine country, 2 things close to my heart.

I decided to make the soft baked fig cereal bars, as they looked like a healthy option for breakfast or for an afternoon snack. Also, because I love figs.  You're probably starting to notice that I love a lot of food. I didn't have the patience to put the love into rolling out the crumbly dough, so mine turned out more like soft baked fig crumbles, which worked just as well for me. I 'rolled' out the bottom rectangle straight onto the cookie sheet, covered it with the fig paste, and then pieced together the other half of the dough on top as crumbles. I also baked it as one big giant bar and then cut it into squares after it was cooked. Needless to say I had one for breakfast this morning, and I was sad I didn't bring an extra for an afternoon snack.

An added bonus is that I had a lot of left over fig paste and I can't wait to use that up with some other recipes. I'll keep you posted on what I end up using it for.

Strawberry Green Tea Smoothie

Smoothie's are such a refreshing summer breakfast, drink or snack. Almost as refreshing as an ice cold beer on a nice summer day, and definitely healthier. Smoothies are a great way to use up fruit that is on the verge of going bad, which is exactly what I did here.  I'll be adding this strawberry green tea to my smoothie rotation, changing up the fruit depending on what I have on hand.  One of my other favorites is my peanut butter banana, yes it's as good as it sounds and I'll be posting about it here at some point.

I also completed the Philadelphia Triathlon, ate a Pat's Cheesesteak, and had a lot of fun with friends this weekend, which is my excuse for taking the easy way out and posting an easy baked sweet potato and smoothie recipe in a row.  Don't get me wrong they are both delicious, but I'll be honest, it's my filler for not cooking in the past 5 days.  Keep reading for the smoothie recipe, and keep in mind that you can substitute any fruit you have on hand for the strawberries and peach.

Poached Eggs

I love poached eggs, but I've always been a bit intimidated to try to make them on my own.  The Easter Bunny was nice enough to give me these egg poachers from Crate and Barrel in my Easter basket, so I figured I should give it a whirl.  Below you can see how to poach an egg, or at least how I did it.

1. Bring salted water to its almost boiling point.
2. While water is heating up, crack egg into a bowl or ramekin
3. Hang the egg poacher on the side of a pot.
4. When water is almost at it's boiling point, place egg in the egg poacher
5. Keep water just below its boiling point, and cook for about 4 minutes (longer if you do not want a runny yolk).

I cooked some spinach leaves with a little pepper and pecorino romano cheese, placed it on toast, and then put the poached egg on top.  It was a good way to start the day!

How To Make An Omelette

We have more leftover steak than we can dream of so I decided to throw some in an Omelette this morning.  I also added some scallions that I had on hand, and parmesan cheese.  I like to use parmesan because it's strong so you don't have to use a lot to get good flavor.  I really wanted to add tomatoes, but I was sad to see mine had gone bad.

How I Make An Omelette
1.  Chop up any vegetables or ingredients that you want to add to your omelette.
2.  Saute any meat or vegetables that you want cooked in the omelette.  In this case I sauteed the steak a little; other things I tend to saute for an omelette are onions, mushrooms, and spinach.
3.  Combine 2 eggs, a dollop of milk, a dash of salt, and a dash of pepper and beat
4.  Mist your pan with oil and preheat (I love my Oil Mister from Williams-Sonoma) on medium low heat.
5.  When the pan is hot enough (a drop of water would sizzle) pour your eggs into the pan and let them sit for a minute.
6.  With a spatula, gently push one edge of the egg into the center of the pan while tilting the pan; allowing the still liquid egg to flow underneath.  Do this again on the opposite side.
7.  When the egg looks pretty much cooked add your ingredients to one half.  Usually I throw in whatever my refrigerator has to offer; this time I added sauteed steak, uncooked scallions, and a little parmesan.
8.  Use a spatula to lift one half (the half without the ingredients) and fold it over the half with the ingredients.
9.  I usually let it cook for a little under a minute and then slide it onto a plate.

I'm also in love with our grind and brew coffee maker.  Today's beans were a Viennese Blend from Oren's Daily Roast in NYC; it's a blend of Columbia and French Roasted Columbia.