Going Healthy For Brekkie

#12 Fruity, tarty, sweet, and yummy

Pancakes and cereal are happy childhood breakfast memories in my case. In fastfood breakfast, pancakes and sausage are a favorite kiddie treat. Thankfully, with a bit of research, I found healthy alternatives made from scratch rather than store bought and fast food or instant mixes.  Hence, my breakfast for today which is leaving me so full and happy to start the day:

Today, I made pancakes and sausage and did this yogurt dessert made from sliced apples, greek yogurt, and granola. The "sausage" patties are vegan by the way, and are the tofu patties from Echostore, which I have used in sandwiches and pasta.  I just fried them in virgin coconut oil so they're toasty and nice but canola oil or olive oil would do. I'm happy to tell you that the pancakes are made from scratch (no pancake mixes). My makeup artist and health buff friend Jinky introduced me to coconut flour, which can be used to make desserts and easy and healthy pancake recipes. There's an awesome pancake recipe that can be found here using ingredients that could be easily found in our own kitchen cupboard. Where to get coconut flour? There are some in Healthy Options or in Echostore. I used coconut oil to fry the pancakes and added cinnamon, coconut sugar, and nutmeg to flavor it and topped it with a little nutella and sugar-free pancake syrup. The pancakes have a somewhat similar texture to macaroons.

 For this one, I sliced up some apples and put a dollop of low fat Greek yogurt on the center of a tiny plate and sprinkled some cinnamon to it. I placed the sliced apples around and topped the yogurt with homemade granola (yep homemade! Will show you how to make granola soon) and then drizzled it with some local honey. The Greek yogurt is kinda too rich in texture so I added some sweet flavor and crunch with apples and granola. It's like cereal and actually more filling. :) I love the nutty, crunchy granola too. This combo is actually great with smoothie, fresh juice, or just a cup of coffee.

Berry Banana Smoothie

#9: Berry Banana Ahhh

I was at the grocery last Wednesday to buy some cheese and then lo and behold I saw the fruit section and I just totally like went like a kitty on Red Bull at the yummy selections and my imagination just went wild. I put the usual suspects in my cart - bananas, apples, and mangoes, and since they're pretty much cheaper and in season, some yummy strawberries. I saw a box of blueberries and thought to myself, why not?  They were kinda expensive at Php330 for a box, but hey, it's good for the body too!

Having my fruit raw means it's all rich in all the nutrients and enzymes you need but if you're like me who isn't a fan of eating them as it is, I just blended them up in a smoothie, over here. I love blueberries but I like them in pie and muffins, which are cooked, so here's an awesome way to incorporate these lovelies raw - I made a smoothie! Its yummy, tarty-sweet, a bit creamy, and purple pretty!

Photo looks familiar? You must be following me on Instagram. Not yet following me? I'm  bambikitty.

Berry Banana Smoothie for One

Ingredients

• a ripe and sweet banana - a pole dancer's staple. it's not too heavy and it gives you energy. plus it's rich in potassium to avoid those cramps
• a few blueberries, 10 pcs would do. Get the really mushy ones at the bottom. 
• a couple of ripe strawberries.
• half a cup of really cold soy milk, to get things goingto taste: honey, cinnamon, and speculoos cookie butter (the cookie butter is optional. If you're still on the waitlist, your smoothie would live).

Procedure.

• Dunk all the fruits and milk in your blender. Blend.
• Taste. if it's fine, then pour in your glass and serve. if not, there's honey, cinnamon, and cookie butter to adjust your smoothie to your desired taste. Blend to get it all nice and pretty. Your smoothie's gonna look purple.

I might have to tell you though, my smoothie recipes are quite thick. For me personally, I really wanna enjoy the fruit all its pure goodness. The liquid, in this case, which is my soymilk is added just to get things better moving. I once made a smoothie without liquid and the result was just like fruity muck. The milk helps it move better. I use half a cup, but if you want your smoothie thinner, you may use more. It's up to you. Again, I'm not using ice here, as I don't want to dilute the awesome flavor. I just use chilly berries and milk to get it all cold and refreshing.

These smoothies are really fresh and best consumed right up after they're made. I like smoothies for breakfast or lunch or some lunch in place of ice cream.

Going Rich For Brekkie

#8 Never Say Sorry to Sinful Breakfast.

Breakfast indeed is the most important part of the day, and I see no reason to scrimp on it. No diet, light, or anything except meat-free for this kitty. I mean, I need all the energy I need - so bring on the carbs and protein. Today, it was carbs and a bit of protein because I had eggs and some (nut-based) milk.

My grandma was the first person who taught me how to make French toast. It's a great way to recycle day-old bread to turn it into something really pretty and yummy. It was all phail for me though before in creating my version of French toast compared to those served in hotels or whenever I eat out. I dunno why she made it so perfectly though, maybe it's skill. It was then in a trip to Bohol where I chatted with the chef at the buffet table who made pancakes and French toast. He told me to cook the toast steadily in low flame and butter (in my case, margarine, although I am allowed butter. I'm just too cheap to purchase butter, so I used margarine, or what I call 'fake butter').

A bit of tweaking too was to include fruits but I fried them a bit first in butter before setting them aside and putting the French toast in. I used strawberries for today but you can use mangoes, bananas, peaches, or pineapple. I might try blueberries sometime and a bit of mango, since mangoes are gonna be in season soon as it's summer!!!!!

I think my breakfast today is a pretty little picture of awesomeness. there's four slices of toast (technically, that's two slices of bread, crusts removed, sliced diagonally) with some fried strawberry slices. Those who find strawberries too tart might like its new flavor fried. The heat brings out the natural sweetness and the butter's nutty saltiness mellows it down. Oh, and what I used to smother the toasties with? no powdered sugar here though. I used Trader Joe's Cookie Butter. I finally got myself a jar after hearing all the reviews about it. I found it, actually quite good. Not really like the one that gives multiple orgasms upon first bite but it   had a nice cinnamony taste that went well with sweet-tarty strawberries and rich buttery toast coated in milk and eggs. For a refreshing drink that says hello world, I had my Hazelnut Banana Smoothie but instead of honey, I added a heaping spoonful of Nutella to sweeten it. Weeeeee!!!!!!! I don't add ice to my smoothie, if you noticed. I think ice just dilutes the awesomeness, which defeats the purpose of me taking in smoothies in the first place.

Yea, I kinda missed writing here. I'll be cooking more vego stuff quite more often now as summer's coming and it's too humid to go outside. I'm also doing more barbecue research for vego barbecues and guess what? I've finally mastered how to perfectly cook shrimp for pasta.

Hazelnut Banana Smoothie

#6: Quick Recipe for A Banana Smoothie

As promised, I'm sharing my recipe for the hazelnut banana smoothie I made earlier for lunch. It's pretty good, it's yummy, and creamy! It can be vegan too, if you skip the honey or use coconut sugar instead.

HAZELNUT BANANA SMOOTHIE

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas, sliced (slice them, and your blender will not be put to stress)
• 1/2 cup cold hazelnut milk, chocolate flavor  (I used Pacific brand, purchased at Healthy Options. You can use plain if you wish, or almond. I've taken a photo of my nut milks below, so you know how they look like the next time you go shopping

• honey or coco sugar, if you're strict vegan
• dash of cinnamon
• dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

Procedure:
Blend everything in a blender and serve. Serves 1-2.

The measurements really vary, I didn't use measuring cups here and just dunked the blended and pressed puree then whip. The cinnamon is an added flavor, I just want a bit of warmth and spice to it. The cayenne pepper I got from an idea from another smoothie recipe I got. It gives a nice kick to the smoothie so there's a bit of spice. I've heard it's also got health benefits aside from that zing to things and life. Anyway, the spice in cayenne pepper kinda sneaks up to you, so use this sparingly, especially if you're making the smoothie. It's optional anyway, so those who are traditional and want the sweet, mellow taste of the smoothie without the kick, then go ahead and stop at cinnamon. Ice can be added if you want it really cold, but it kinda dilutes the milk and the flavor so I prefer having my smoothies pure or with just water/fruit juice/vego-milks just served cold.

Tomorrow, I'll be dealing with mangoes. :)