The Kitchen Whisperer

Archive for the ‘Breakfast’ Category

Use up those leftovers in the most delicious way by transforming them into a Seriously Delicious frittata!  Customize it to your liking with just a few basic ingredients straight from the fridge! Make one and have breakfast for the week or brunch for the family!

So for as long as I can remember Sunday mornings meant sleeping in, lounging around a little bit longer in your pajamas, blueberry buttermilk pancakes for Mr. Fantabulous and a frittata for me. I love eggs in pretty much any fashion where dippy eggs are my most favorite however my 2nd favorite way is in a frittata.  Frittatas mean it’s a meal for me that last days. It’s great cold or straight out of the oven. You can slice it, cube it or even put it on toast to make an awesome breakfast sandwich (fyi… a slice of a frittata on an English Muffin with cheese and  dash of hot sauce.. EPIC!!!)

What I will do is make a big one on a Sunday morning then for the rest of the week I take a slice in with me to work.  This way I’m eating healthy and getting more protein. And it more importantly means I don’t have to grab something in the cafeteria – lord knows this child does NOT do drive-thru… ever! But yeah, frittatas are kinda like the most delicious way to clean out your fridge and re-purpose those leftovers.

So what’s a frittata you ask? So Frittata loosely translates from Italian to ‘fried’. Originally they started out in a hot skillet and were cooked low and slow – much slower than an omelet. It would contain at least one additional item and is never ever folded over like an omelet.  So then what’s the difference between that and an omelet?  Both are started out in a pan though frittatas are most often made in a well seasoned cast iron pan or an oven-safe pan. Omelets are cooked on top of the stove with the ingredients oven laid on top of the egg mixture then gently folded in half or rolled prior to serving.
Let’s use up those leftovers in the most delicious of ways!

These Butterscotch Sweet Potato Raisin Muffins should be called Dessert Breakfast Muffins as they are perfect for breakfast but also perfect for dessert.  They are seriously delicious, ridiculously moist and one of the best muffins you’ll ever eat!

So I have this girlfriend that I mean a hundred years ago that was so teeny in stature but had the most insane sweet tooth.  She introduced me to many things when it came to food and eating.  Her daily foods were broken up as such: Breakfast, Breakfast Dessert, Lunch Junior, Lunch, Mid-Day snack, Dinner Junior, Dinner and dessert.  And through out the day were rogue pieces of candies.  And she was teeny and kinda sorta exercised but she didn’t have to as she had the most insane metabolism.  Now I mention her as while I was coming up with this recipe I wasn’t sure how the taste would be – would it be savory, sweet – could it be muffin enough?

I mean let’s look at the ingredients – roasted sweet potatoes.  Up to a few years ago I wouldn’t be caught dead eating one of these things.  They were just ‘weird’. They weren’t the type of taters I grew up on however Mr. Fantabulous loves them so I had to buy them. When I finally gave in and tried one it was like love at first bite!  Now I’m obsessed with them and easily go through a 5lb bag a week. Next in this recipe we have raisins because I wanted to go with some texture and color other than well, burnt orange.  You could omit it and go with chocolate if you wanted or even dried cherries. We then add in the basic staples – flour, brown sugar, leavening, salt, eggs.  When I mixed it all together it was good but was just missing something. So the batter sat on the counter for a few while I opened up the fridge to grab a soda.  As I was closing the door I spied a jar of opened butterscotch topping.  I closed the door, stopped, re-opened it and pulled it out. “Hmmmm… would it work?” So like any good cook I took some batter on a spoon, poured on some butterscotch and tasted it.  OH YEAH… it works!  So into the bowl went the butterscotch.

If you recall, a few years ago I shared with you the Bakery Secret to getting Sky-High muffins like you see here. By baking them this way you’ll get sky high muffins every time.  *disclaimer: this is assuming your leavening agents aren’t outdated or you overmixed the batter and caused the gluten to activate in your flour.
Say Hello to Breakfast Dessert!

“Donuts – An excuse to eat cake for breakfast!”  For those days when you need something so sinful that you *almost* feel guilty about eating it…. ALMOST.  These Chocolate Chunk Donuts with Fudgy Ganache Glaze should be illegal they are so good!

So did you ever get this idea in your head about something you want that no matter what you make, if it’s not that vision of what you have in your head, you’re not satisfied?  Being a food blogger/chef, that happens to me often. I get this image in my head of “Hey this combination would ROCK” and I don’t stop until I make it and get it right. I’ve actually woken up from a sound sleep from a dream about food and either have grabbed my notepad that I keep next to my bed to write down the “recipe” from my dream or I’ll go out to the kitchen and make it.  Yes, in the middle of the night…in my pajamas…with witchypooh medusa hair.  LOL

I’ve actually had several recipes that I’ve posted that are results of dreams I had. It’s a curse and a blessing to be honest.  My mind never stops to be honest.  I dream every single night, in color and they are very vivid.  Most are good but deep – very intricate, some scary and some odd. Most of the time it’s about every-day stuff (I take my work to bed with me) and there is always food in my dreams. The food may be in the background of the dream but it always sticks in my brain when I wake up.  Well this donut was part of a dream.

The dream was around my doing some book tour for my cookbook (though in my dream I never actually saw the book or the contents but yet it was my book and I was doing food demos for it – wishful thinking!).  Well in my dream I was in some diner in Georgia that was in even a more rural town than then one I live in.  I was driving with my one girlfriend (Mr. Fantabulous was meeting us there) and some how we got lost.  And since we were in the country, we didn’t get GPS/cell signal.  It started to get late and we decided to find some place to stay.
Sweet dreams are made of these…donuts that is!

This deliciously simple and healthy post is being sponsored by Daisey Fresh featuring their incredible 100% Natural & Organic fridge filters.  All opinions of these ABSOLUTELY AMAZING filters are mine.

So if you recall from my Strawberry Compote with Grilled Angel Food Cake Cubes I introduced you to a revolutionary new product created by Daisey Fresh. What they’ve created are these little filters (with holding cartridge) that suction cup to your produce and veggie drawers.  You place these biodegradable filters that are 100% organic and natural (which means no chemicals or foreign stuff getting into your foods) into your fridge and through some sort of genius magic they keep your fruits and veggies fresher up to 2-3 times longer than if you just placed them into the drawers themselves!  I know, right!  That’s awesome!

This recipe is one that I make quite often especially in the summer months. Living in Pittsburgh we have 2 temperatures in the summer – 90F and 875% humidity or 85F with 875% humidity.  Even with ac it’s just too hot to cook and dare I say…eat. I know.. who am I?  I love to eat, we all do – that’s why you’re here.  Well okay unless your family then you’re obligated by blood. *wink*

Whether it’s for breakfast, post workout or because it’s too hot to cook, you will LOVE this smoothie!

It’s funny as this recipe if you will though I don’t really consider it a ‘true’ recipe as you’re just putting stuff in a bowl and eating it. There’s no cooking involved and let’s be honest, you really don’t have to be exact with your measurements but hey, it’s all good. I mean this is pretty awesome and a “recipe’ ANYONE can follow. It’s just yogurt, protein powder, fresh fruits, granola and flaxseed – not to hard but OMG it’s so delicious!

Sorry, I butterflied on you – I never did finish my first thought. LOL So as I was saying, it’s funny how this recipe and other ‘bowls’ like this have become the latest ‘thing’ on Pinterest and 99% of the other blogs out there. Sorry but fruit, yogurt and granola in a bowl isn’t a new thing. I’ve been eating this ever since I was little and I’m old… LIKE REAL OLD. LOL Okay fine the new thing – flaxseed. Adding flaxseed all of a sudden took a 1970 dish and made it relevant and ‘new and improved’ (as she says in her best infomercial voice). LOL

Flaxseed – what it anyway? To me it’s tasteless, looks pretty much like sesame seeds and if you spill it, it’s a PITA to clean up (trust me, I know!) But this itsy bitsy little thing packs some pretty awesome health benefits! So when I decided to make this Healthy Power Yogurt Bowls with Fruit, Crunchy Granola I had to add flaxseed to the mix. Not only is it visually awesome in the pic but it’s great health benefits to the dish!
Take your boring cup of yogurt and make it beautiful & delicious!