I made muffins.

Two things. Only two, because it is early and I am tired. Also, Mister Man is asleep in the swing next to me, so my time is not only precious, it is fleeting.

One.

Fiber One muffin mix is legit. The blueberries are pretty fake, but I only really like blueberries when they're fresh and not baked, so that's fine with me. Plus, it's 5g fiber per muffin. I want to eat two, but am afraid. 10g fiber in one go (um, no pun intended) is a potentially scary thing.

Which brings me to two. I am not cleaning out the catbox today, and I am not telling Hubby why.

I swear, I can't leave this cat alone with human food for 30 seconds. 

It's only right to labor for Labor Day.

Wasn't I just talking about dishes? It's only 10:45 in the morning, and I have already done dishes three times. Which can only mean that we're about to do some eating today. (Well, and that we didn't finish them from dinner last night-but that was only the first round.)

Luckily, Ramona was there to help.

That's where she has to be when dishes are being done. It's really convenient and helpful, as you can imagine.

But while she wasn't underfoot, I chopped and stirred and cooked and boiled. And with quite the results, I'm hoping.

Hubby asked for muffins, which means I need to stop baking...it's giving him ideas.

But add in some scrambled eggs (with red onion, tomato and jack cheese), and you've got quite a Sunday morning breakfast.

I also have a BBQ this afternoon, so I offered to bring potato salad-I'm supposed to avoid mayo-based salads that aren't 100% refrigerated (blah, blah salmonella), so I made my mayo-free version (just added a bit of dried thyme this time, which was a good call).

Plus, I love the rainbow of veggies in this one. A lot of chopping, yes, but so pretty and so good.

And with that, I'm getting out of the kitchen and into the pool.

Happy long weekend! Eat well!

The great bagel debate

Does a whole wheat bagel still qualify as a bagel?


Apparently this is debatable...

I say: Well obviously. I mean, hello. It's a bagel. It may not be shiny, but it's chewy, you toast it, you schmear it, you eat it. Bagel.

Hubby says: No. Just because it is round and has a hole in the middle, it doesn't make it a bagel. (He was, however, unable to expand on this argument, so I am sure he would appreciate any support you guys want to throw his way.)

Even though he's wrong. And I think was mostly irritated I only bought fat-free cream cheese. For my whole wheat bagels. (I had to promise to buy him plain shiny ones and chive cream cheese next time.)

Thoughts? Arguments? I want to hear from you New Yorkers. You guys know bagels.

Leaving it to the Pros.

I don't have much experience with the whole meat-less lifestyle. I went a few years attempting to be a quasi-meat eater, only eating chicken and fish, but even then I would cheat every six months or so and go to town on an In-N-Out Burger. I guess I'm fine with my omnivore lifestyle because I'm a fan of the food chain, and like to pretend it's ok that the animals I eat were raised for that purpose (which kind of negates the point of the food chain, but whatever). I'm not insensitive, I'm an animal lover, we know this. I won't eat foie gras, because I have seen in person how those geese/ducks are force fed (plus it tastes like fat). And to my knowledge, I have never even tasted veal. And don't plan to.

That said, I have a lot of respect for vegetarians (at least the kind that let you eat next to them without a grimace on their face while citing evil facts and such). It's a difficult choice to make, and I admire their conviction—and depending on their reasons behind it, it's an understandable decision.

I know I claim to make a lot of 'veggie' meals, but I've never tried a true vegan dish. So when I saw a pic of my one true vegan buddy's breakfast the other day, I figured she could do a much better job in this department than I can. And so, I turn it over to fellow Central Cali-an and blogger Jessica. Like me, she's a big fan of big taste and small effort...Thanks so much for sharing your recipe and writing this all up! It looks absolutely delish...and from your hubby's ravings, sounds like it tasted just as good! It's on my 'to-try asap' list.

She was also kind/smart enough to include a little glossary for us meat-eaters at the end of the recipe. Enjoy!


Vegan Sausage and Spinach Frittata
 
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ yellow onion, chopped
½ package vegan sausage (I used Lightlife Gimme Lean)*
1 block extra firm tofu
1 ½ cups cooked chopped spinach
Vegetable broth
Unsweetened almond milk
Ener-G egg replacer* (or cornstarch could would work)
2 TB Nutritional yeast*
S&P
Parsley
Chives
8 spears of asparagus, quickly steamed
 
Preheat oven to 400.
 
In a large sauté pan, sweat onion and garlic in olive oil.  When translucent, crumble sausage into pan and brown.  In a bowl, mash cold tofu with fork until crumbled.  Add tofu and spinach to sauté pan and add a splash of vegetable broth to deglaze the pan.   Add in pepper and salt, to taste.  Warm throughout and then add in about a cup of your milk substitute of choice.  You want the mixture wet, but not thin.  Sprinkle about a teaspoon or two of egg replacer (or cornstarch) over the top along with nutritional yeast and fresh or dried parsley and chives.  Mix well and pour into baking dish.  Press asparagus spears into the mixture.  You can quickly steam them, or if you’re lazy like me, buy a package of already cooked frozen spears from Trader Joe’s and just use those.
 
Place dish into oven until bubbling and browned.  Depending on how deep your dish is, you could bake this from 25 to 45 min.  You’ll know when it’s ready when you shake the dish and the frittata doesn’t jiggle.  Let cool for 5 minutes before devouring.
 
Served with some ketchup, this thing is a brunch dish from heaven.  When your omnivore husband goes back thrice**, it’s a winner. Big thanks to Pam for inviting me to be a guest on her fabulously delicious blog!

*Glossary:
If you’re not vegan/vegetarian, some of these items may sound unfamiliar or even frightening. I’ll elaborate a little on each to better acquaint readers

Vegan sausage; Comes in all shapes and textures. The tube of Gimme Lean is nice because you can slice it into patties or crumble it into dishes. I often crumble it into breakfast potatoes and peppers for a brunch potluck dish and the omnivores are none the wiser.

Ener-G egg replacer: This yellow and orange box is easily found in health food stores. It’s a mixture of tapioca and potato starch. An excellent stand-in for eggs in baking, but it is also useful in dishes like these, which are normally entirely egg-based. The tofu replicates the eggs, but the Ener-G gives it a little puff-up and hold. Cornstarch would work just as well here.

Nutritional Yeast: An excellent source of protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Lends a cheesy/nutty flavor and creamy texture to dishes. Mix it into soups, stews and casseroles or sprinkle it atop veggies for a B12-filled cheesy boost.

**You’re welcome, Conan.

Too bad I don't even like breakfast.

I hope he's hungry.

And more so I can remember next time I'm in a giving mood...since I hardly ever get breakfast right...I present Fat Kid Breakfast. Serve and be loved. No, I didn't eat any. Even if I could...I'm good, thanks. I'm not running a farm, so I'm not really needing that sort of ridiculousness. Besides, that's what leftover Posole is for. (Fabulous the next day, btw. Received a "pretty damn good" from the hubby.)

Fat Kid Breakfast
Couple slices bacon
2 Eggs over Medium
Big scoop Hash Browns
Couple scoops Country Gravy (below) over Bisquick biscuits (use recipe on box)

What to do:
Preheat oven to 450. Make biscuits, prepare them for the oven.

Make bacon. As you pan fry it, save the grease between each batch in a glass cup. Place the bacon between pieces of paper towel and cover to keep warm. When the bacon is done, pour just a bit of grease in the pans you'll use for the eggs and hash browns.

Start the hash browns. Put biscuits in oven for 8-9 minutes. Follow the directions on the bag for the potatoes, but if you use less oil than it calls for, you have to cook it quite a bit longer than it says. Cover when done to keep warm. When biscuits are done, let sit on a baking rack til you need them.

While the potatoes and biscuits cook, make gravy (Thanks to Paula Deen and my Father-in-Law for help with this one): return the rest of the grease (mine was a little less than 1/4 cup) to the pan over medium heat. Whisk in about 3 tbsp Bisquick mix(or flour). Whisk for about a minute as it gets bubbly. Slowly whisk in 1.5 cups milk. Keep mixing as it comes back to a boil, reduce heat to low, and keep whisking til the thickness you like (about 5 min or so). Add 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper or to taste. Cover to keep warm as you make eggs. He's a fried egg guy, so I went that route. Serve. Eat if desired. He says it was good...I believe him.

Oh, Pumpkin Spice...how I miss you nine months of the year.

I know I usually only talk about dinner, but let's discuss other meals today. Starting with breakfast, of course.

The most important meal of the day? Eh. I'm not a big fan. Maybe cause this is my average breakfast...at my desk, in front of the computer at 8:30am with a cup of coffee. Although I do have to show some love to the Van's gourmet wheat-free waffles. They are FANtastic. So. good. Throw some cottage cheese on top with some fresh raspberries and it's like eating cake. Sort of. Anyway, it's fab.

However. Fall is my favorite time of year. Why? It's not the trees changing colors...or the air getting brisk...hello, I live in Cali. We don't really have the whole season thing going for us. It's the beginning of October and I'm wearing a mini-skirt cause it's supposed to be 82 today.

Really, Fall is my fave cause Starbucks brings the Pumpkin Spice latte out of hiding and I can have that for breakfast. And it also means that the Gingerbread latte is right around the corner. Yay!!

Oh course, nothing is ponies and rainbows with me, so I do have one beef with these drinks...they have no skinny version. My normal drink, the grande skinny Cinnamon Dolce, is 130 cals. Pumpkin Spice...not so much. Without the sugar-free syrup option, the non-fat, no-whip grande is still 260 calories. Which is more than my waffle/yogurt or cottage cheese combo combined (205 cals). Not cool, Starbucks. Not cool.

I act like I'm not still gonna drink one once a week til they vanish. I don't really need to eat. Now if lunch would just hurry up and get here, already...