The BEST Banana Bread (Dairy Free)

I was in the mood for banana bread, and couldn't find a recipe that matched what I was looking for.
I took some parts of different recipes and created my own - oh my gosh it is so delicious!

I think this would work well with any kind of add-ins. I used 1/2 cup dairy free chocolate chips, 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut, and 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts. Feel free to make it your own!

I used some toasted granulated sugar, but you can use whatever kind of sugar you like baking with.

When it first comes out of the oven it has a bit of a golden crust. After wrapping it up, the crust softens completely and the entire bread is incredibly moist.

Ingredients:
6 T coconut oil
½ cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 medium bananas, very ripe
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
1-1 ½ cups add-ins (see above)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. 

Lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan with coconut oil or canola oil. Line the long side with a piece of parchment paper so you have a “sling” to lift out the finished bread. 

In a large heat-safe bowl, microwave the coconut oil in 15 second bursts until just barely melted. 

Stir in the sugar, followed by the eggs and vanilla, mixing until smooth. 

Mash the bananas really well (I use a fork and do it on a plate), and then stir into the sugar mixture. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. 

Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and fold in gently until mostly combined. 

Add mix-ins and fold in. 

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top. 

Bake for 45¬-50 minutes, or until the top and edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs. 

Dark Chocolate, Coconut and Chia Granola

It took me a few tries to perfect this recipe! I was hoping for something with a lot of chocolate flavor, some nice granola clumps, and good nutritional value.

It all started with my favorite granola - Bakery on Main's Bunches of Crunches. I had it for the first time after a race I ran in CT last year. Bakery on Main is a local CT company and there are usually samples of their products at the CT races. We picked up a few samples of their granola and I was just blown away by the flavor. It was also the first time I had seen chia seeds used in a granola recipe.

For a while I was buying bags of the coconut version on Amazon (although the dark chocolate sea salt was my favorite). At $4.50 - $5 for an 11 oz bag, it wasn't cheap, but I made the bag last as long as I could and considered it one of my few indulgences. However, lately it has been $8 for a bag and that's an expense I can't really justify. I decided instead I would try to make my own!

I read through a lot of recipes for chocolate coconut chia granola, and found that they all started with coconut oil. After that, there was a huge variation in the amount (and type of) of cocoa powder/chocolate, oats, sweetener, and chia.

My first version was okay - it smelled fantastic, but the chocolate flavor was pretty weak, and the coconut oil dominated too much. The chia seeds didn't stick to the granola itself, which was annoying.

In my second version I added an egg white (like Deb does from Smitten Kitchen) as well as adding additional cocoa powder, and that helped, but I still had chia seed fallout.

In my third version I think I got it right! I needed a second egg white to hold those chia seeds to the oats, and I added even more cocoa powder to really boost the chocolate flavor. This is a very lightly sweet granola - I eat mine with greek yogurt that has neen sweetened slightly with some protein powder, as well as ripe sweet berries. If you prefer a sweeter granola feel free to add more maple syrup or sugar. This recipe can also be doubled if you want more servings! I made it in small batches when I was recipe testing so I wouldn't waste too many ingredients if it didn't turn out well.

Recipe: Dark Chocolate, Coconut and Chia Granola
Yield: ~3 cups (12 1/4-cup servings)
Prep time: 10 minutes, Bake time: 30-34 minutes, Total time: 40-45 minutes

Ingredients:
2 tbsp coconut oil (28 grams)
1/4 cup cocoa powder (21 grams)
2 tbsp brown sugar (add more if you want a sweeter granola)
1 tbsp maple syrup or honey (add more if you want a sweeter granola)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp chia seeds (25 grams)
2 egg whites (~65 grams)
1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup crispy rice cereal (rice krispies)
1/4 cup chopped almonds (28 grams)
1/4 cup shredded coconut (I use sweetened)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 F and line a small baking sheet with foil, then lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large heat-safe bowl, microwave the coconut oil in 5-10 second bursts until it is melted but not hot. Stir in cocoa powder, brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, salt and chia seeds until it forms a thick paste. Add the egg whites and mix well until smooth.

Pour in the oats, rice cereal, almonds and coconut, and stir well until everything is evenly coated.

Dump onto the foil-lined sheet and press down so it is all in one even layer. If your baking sheet is large, try to keep it all on one side of the pan - if it is spread out too much, some might burn.

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 325 F, stirring every 10 minutes, until dried out and crispy.
If you like big clusters, then try to flip over portions at a time rather than stirring - it will keep the clusters intact.
If you prefer a loose granola, then stir well each time.
Let cool completely and then store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Pre-Baking

Post-Baking - nice big clumps

Greek yogurt with 1/2 scoop protein powder, 1 tsp chia seeds,
topped with chopped strawberries, fresh figs, and 1 serving of granola

Notes:
1. Like I mentioned above, if you would prefer a sweeter granola, feel free to add additional brown sugar or maple syrup/honey. It will change the nutritional information below.
2. I like using a cocoa powder that is a blend of unsweetened and Dutch processed, like Hershey's special dark or Saco. However, it will turn out great with whatever kind of cocoa powder you have on hand.
3. While I have not tried this recipe with liquid egg whites (in a carton), I don't see why it wouldn't work. Your mixture might be slightly more wet, since liquid egg whites tend to be loose and less "gel"-like than fresh egg whites.
4. I use sweetened shredded coconut, but feel free to use unsweetened if that is what you prefer, or flaked coconut to add additional texture.
5. I use almonds because they are pretty healthy when it comes to nuts (and inexpensive), but feel free to add your favorite! Pecans, cashews, hazelnuts and peanuts would all work really well.
6. I use coconut oil because I wanted to boost the coconut flavor, and I have a giant jar of coconut oil that I had never used before. Feel free to use melted butter or oil instead.

Nutritional Information (based on 12 servings, sweetened coconut, and the listed amounts of sweetener):
116 calories
6 grams fat
15.5 grams carbohydrates
3 grams fiber
3.8 grams sugar
3.4 grams protein

Morning Glory Muffins

I started making Morning Glory Muffins so I would have a healthy snack on hand to get me through the day. I wanted something that tasted good but also had nutritional value. These muffins taste great, and really help get you through that afternoon slump without feeling like you just ruined your next meal.

There are a LOT of ingredients in these muffins! But don't let that scare you away. Once you have everything shredded and chopped, it'll be ready in less than 30 minutes. Pro tip - a food processor will make really quick work of the shredding. Just use your shredding attachment for the carrots and apple.

Don't feel limited by the specific ingredients I used. Don't like raisins? Use your favorite dried fruit instead! Don't have pecans and sunflower seeds? Replace them with 3/4-1 cup of your favorite nuts and seeds. The coconut can be omitted if that's not your thing. Make this recipe your own!

If you don't have two muffin tins, the last 3 muffins can be put into your favorite mini pan. I always put 3 oz by volume (or 6 tablespoons) of batter into each muffin cup - this fills the cup most of the way and gives a nicely domed muffin. Then I will either put the remaining 9 oz (18 tablespoons) of batter into a mini loaf pan, or put 4.5 oz (9 tablespoons) into two smaller cake pans. They will probably take a few extra minutes to cook. You could also go the opposite direction and make mini muffins with the remaining batter - they will take much less time to cook so keep an eye on them. I get 3 oz by using a a large ice cream scoop and a medium cookie scoop. If you don't have those tools, just fill up the muffin cup most of the way!

The muffins, regardless of shape or size, will be ready when they are lightly golden brown and spring back when pressed lightly.

* Note: Fun fact – the sunflower seeds may turn green in these muffins. This is just due to the chlorophyll in the seeds reacting with the baking soda in the recipe. It is perfectly safe to eat, just a little unsightly!

Ingredients:

½ cup raisins

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 ½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp salt

2 cups shredded carrots

1 medium apple, peeled and shredded

½ cup sweetened shredded coconut

½ cup chopped toasted pecans

1/3 cup sunflower seeds (shelled)

3 eggs

½ cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

8 oz can of crushed pineapple in juice, NOT drained

Directions:

Cover raisins with hot water, let them soak while you are preparing everything else.

Preheat oven to 350 F and lightly grease muffin tins.

Mix sugars, flours, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt in a large bowl.

Stir together carrots, apple, coconut, pecans and sunflower seeds in a medium bowl.

Beat together eggs, oil, vanilla and pineapple in a medium bowl (easiest in a large liquid measuring cup with a spout). 

 

Add oil mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Drain the raisins well.

Fold in carrot mixture and raisins.

Evenly divide between 15 muffin cups (or 12 muffin cups and 1 mini loaf pan).

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until lightly browned and toothpick comes out clean.

Remove muffins, and let cool completely on a wire rack. 

Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats with Fruit Compote

I love breakfast. On the weekend, I’ll sleep in and then enjoy pancakes, poached eggs over homemade bread, or omelets stuffed with veggies and cheese. But during the week I need something that can be prepped in advance, and something that will keep me full until lunch.

Lately I’ve been loving steel cut oats. They feel more substantial than regular rolled oats, have a nice chew and a nutty flavor, and have some added nutritional benefits. I cook up a big batch on the weekends and portion it into containers so I can have an easy breakfast every day of the week. I top the oats with some homemade fruit compote, fresh berries, and stir in some greek yogurt.

You can make steel cut oats on the stove or in an Instant Pot. Since we got our Instant Pot as a wedding gift, we have been using it for everything! It makes perfect steel cut oats and brown rice. We have even made homemade greek yogurt using the yogurt setting! However, if you don’t have an Instant Pot, no problem! I made steel cut oats on the stove for years. I am including modified ingredients and instructions for the stove-top version at the bottom.

I am also including a very simple recipe for fruit compote. You can put ANY kind of fruit you like! The best part is that you can use fresh or frozen fruit – it will just take a little longer to cook if it is frozen. I usually use ½ cup of chopped strawberries and ½ cup of frozen mixed berries. The strawberries are typically from what is about to go bad from our fresh berries. The cartons never last the whole week! If I don’t need to make compote right away, I’ll just wash and chop the strawberries and throw them in the freezer in ½ cup portions. I like getting frozen berries in bulk. We get a 3 lb bag at Sam’s Club. The latest kind they had was under $8 and included raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. My favorite version included strawberries and sweet cherries as well, but it isn’t currently in stock. 

Steel Cut Oats Ingredients (Instant Pot version)

1.5 tablespoons butter (unsalted or salted is fine)
1.5 cups steel cut oats (not quick cook)
Zest of one orange
Pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)
4 cups water
1 ¼ cup milk (I always use unsweetened almond milk)
Juice of ½ orange (about ¼ cup of juice)

 Steel Cut Oats Instructions (Instant Pot version)

Plug in your Instant Pot. Press Saute and make sure it lights up below “Normal.” Press the plus or minus keys if you need to change the setting.

Add the butter to the pot and let it melt.

Add the oats and orange zest and stir well. Sauté for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until slightly golden and the oats smell toasty.

Press Keep Warm/Cancel to stop sautéing.

Pour in the water and milk and stir well.

Put the lid on your pot, make sure to lock it properly, and set the lid to “Sealing.”

Press Manual and then hit the plus or minus buttons until the display reads “3.”

It will take ~5-10 minutes to come up to pressure, depending on how cold your ingredients are. Then it will count down the 3 minutes to cook. The machine will beep once the 3 minutes are up. Do not open the lid right away! You need to let the pressure come back down first. I always wait 10-20 minutes to let it mostly naturally release. Then, protecting my hand with an oven mitt or towel, I quickly flip the valve from “sealing” to “venting” and move my hand out of the way. Unless the pressure has already naturally released, quite a bit of steam will come out of the valve.

Once you have the lid off, use oven mitts to pull out the inner pot. Give everything a good stir (it will look too liquidy at first, but it all mixes in). Add in the orange juice and stir again.

Let cool and portion into containers, or serve immediately with greek yogurt, fruit compote, and fresh berries.

To reheat:

Spoon some compote on top of the oats. Microwave for 1 minute 15 seconds (adjust as necessary depending on the power of your microwave). Stir in cut up fresh berries* and greek yogurt or milk to achieve desired consistency.

* I like putting the berries on top before microwaving so they get cooked down a little. 

Fruit Compote Ingredients:

1 heaping cup of chopped fruit (fresh or frozen)
¼ cup fresh orange juice (from ~1/2 orange)
2 tablespoons white sugar
1.5 teaspoons cornstarch

Fruit Compote Instructions:

Add all ingredients to a small pot, stir well. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it starts to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until berries pop and juices have thickened. 

Steel Cut Oats Ingredients (Stove-top version)

Adapted slightly from Cookie and Kate

4 ½ cups water
1 ½ cups milk (I always use unsweetened almond milk)
1.5 tablespoons butter (unsalted or salted is fine)
1.5 cups steel cut oats (not quick cook)
Zest of one orange
Pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)
Juice of ½ orange (about ¼ cup of juice)

Steel Cut Oats Instructions (Stove-top version)

Heat milk and water in a large pot over medium heat.

Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add oats and orange zest and cook 2-3 minutes or until golden and they smell nutty, stirring occasionally.

Stir the oats into the milk and water (carefully, to avoid splashes). Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 20 minutes. The mixture should have thickened slightly.

Stir in salt and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until very thick. Stir in the orange juice.

Let cool and portion into containers, or serve immediately with greek yogurt, fruit compote, and fresh berries. 

Awesome Pancakes (with or without blueberries)

Joey had frisbee practice Saturday morning, and I asked what I could make for him once he got back. He declared that he wanted pancakes. I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to test out our new trick for substituting greek yogurt for buttermilk. I knew I wanted blueberries in my pancakes, but he preferred to have them plain. They turned out so so well, and I will make these again and again. I love the amount of pancake batter this recipe gave us - it was the perfect amount for me to have 2 medium pancakes, and for Joey to have 2 large pancakes. If you want more than that, just double or triple the recipe!


Note: we were completely out of almond milk, otherwise I would have used 1/2 cup milk to mix with the 1/2 cup greek yogurt. If you have milk on hand, feel free to use that. Otherwise, I really liked the flavored creamer cut with water. We had hazelnut creamer, but any flavor would work well (or just plain half and half).

Recipe: Awesomely Fluffy Pancakes
From: Working Out and Eating In Original
Yield: 4-5 pancakes

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 tbsp flavored creamer, brought up to 1/2 cup with water (or 1/2 cup milk)
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 egg
nonstick cooking spray
blueberries (optional)
pancake syrup or maple syrup for serving

Directions:
Whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a liquid measuring cup with a spout, whisk together the greek yogurt, creamer and water (or milk) until smooth. Add in the melted (and cooled) butter, mix to combine. Add in the egg, and mix well so the egg is beaten. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture, and gently mix until no flour streaks remain.
Spray a nonstick medium pan with nonstick cooking spray, and heat over medium-high heat. Once pan is hot, spoon about 1/3-1/2 cup of pancake batter onto the pan into a circular shape. Add a handful of blueberries, pressing them in to the batter so they are level with the top, if desired. Once bubbles have formed on the pancake surface, and the bottom is golden brown, flip over. It should take 2-3 minutes per side.
Continue with the rest of the batter, re-spraying the pan between pancakes. Keep the pancakes warm in a 200 F oven, or covered with foil.
Serve with extra blueberries on top and syrup.

Joey made me some scrambled eggs to go with my pancakes :)

Seriously, such a delicious breakfast

I made these again, about 2 months later, without blueberries. This meant I could put lots of strawberries on top :)

Pancake "Burritos" with Sweetened Greek Yogurt, Granola, and Blueberry Compote

As annoying as Guy Fieri is, Joey and I enjoy watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Sometimes, Joey even gets inspired to re-create one of the dishes we see on tv.

He actually made these a long time ago, so I don't have recipe specifics, but maybe it will inspire one of you to make your own version!

He basically made a blueberry compote, by cooking some blueberries on the stove with a bit of sugar. Some of the compote was mixed into greek yogurt, and some was added to buttermilk pancakes while they were cooking.

Once the pancakes were cooked (make them really big, so you can fit a lot inside), fill them with the blueberry sweetened greek yogurt, granola (we use homemade), and fresh fruit. Top everything with more yogurt, granola, and the compote.

Inspired by "Pancake Rolls"

Buttery, Flaky Biscuits Made with Greek Yogurt

We hosted a friend for brunch yesterday morning. This was a very last minute decision, and required some creative cooking since we didn't have that much food on hand! Thankfully our brunch guest brought eggs, queso fresco and spinach to help out with omelet ingredients.

When we were running through our ideas, we realized that we didn't have anything for toast. We were out of sandwich bread, and the idea of frozen english muffins didn't sound very appealing. Running to the store seemed like unnecessary effort, especially since we would have to go back later that day for real grocery shopping. Joey had a flash of genius, and asked me how hard it would be to make biscuits. I checked, and we had almost all of the ingredients we needed. The only thing we were missing was buttermilk, and as before, it seemed silly to go to the store for just the one thing. I looked online, and found a buttermilk substitute using greek yogurt and milk - perfect! I know you can also make it with milk and lemon juice, but since we only had almond milk, I wasn't sure if that would work very well.

The greek yogurt + milk combination was perfect. It got to the exact consistency of buttermilk, and kept the tangy flavor. We always have greek yogurt and almond milk on hand, but rarely have buttermilk. I'm definitely using this substitution again! If you want to make something extra rich, you could use full fat yogurt and/or half and half for part of the liquid. You could also make it less rich, by using fat-free yogurt and water instead of the milk.

I slightly adapted a recipe I've made before, Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits. Like I said, I used greek yogurt and almond milk instead of the buttermilk, and then I omitted the cheddar since Joey wanted a plain biscuit. They were absolute perfection - they got really tall, with flaky layers of buttery goodness. Since we didn't use cheese, we could top them with anything.

Recipe: Greek Yogurt Biscuits
Adapted from Shutterbean
Yield: 10-12 biscuits

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour + extra for rolling
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt (1 tsp if you are using table salt)
12 tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), diced and kept cold
1/4 cup greek yogurt
1/4 cup almond milk
1 egg
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the butter, and cut in with a pastry blender or your fingers until the butter pieces are no larger than a pea.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix together the yogurt and milk until smooth. Beat in the egg. Add to the flour/butter mixture, and gently fold everything together. Once it is mostly combined, dump out onto a lightly floured surface. Turn over a few times to incorporate the flour, and then pat it into a rough rectangle. Cut in half (long way) and then in 5-6 rows (short way), for a total of 10 or 12 pieces. The end pieces might not be perfect rectangles.

Carefully transfer to your lined pan. Lightly brush the tops with the egg wash. Bake for 20-25 minutes (mine always take exactly 22 minutes). Enjoy while hot! They are delicious with butter or jam. If you make them larger, you can even use them for mini egg sandwiches.

Birthday Celebrations

Here is a late, but long recap of everything I did on my birthday! I have all of the recipes included at the bottom.

I turned 28 on March 5th, and basically had an entire week of birthday celebrations! It started with the Saturday before - we went out to 9 1/2 lounge with some friends. I had never been there before, and it was a lot of fun. It's modeled as a "speakeasy" and you have to give a password just to get in! Of course the password is written right on the door, but somehow that manages to prevent the people who drink too much at the restaurant below from stumbling upstairs and getting in. The drinks were really yummy (my favorite was Cary Nation).

On Wednesday, my actual birthday, Joey and I cooked a birthday feast :) The menu was gruyere popovers, creamy mushroom pasta, garlic shrimp, and a skillet cookie. Everything was just fantastic. The popovers were still a little undercooked inside, but had great flavor. They probably didn't work perfectly with the rest of the meal, but whatever, I wanted them, and they tasted great! The pasta was just so so good. It wasn't too heavy, which is surprising with a creamy pasta dish. I've made the garlic shrimp before, and it's a nice variation on the typical roasted shrimp I make. It really doesn't take any longer than roasted, it just requires paying a bit more attention, since it's a lot easier to overcook them. Finally, the skillet cookie was just ridiculous. The recipe was from Jess (How Sweet It Is), so obviously it was over the top. As you can see in the picture below, it was bigger than my head! We had the cookie every night for more than a week. Once it was gone, Joey asked for more cookies, so obviously we didn't get sick of it in that time.

Joey gave me most of my presents on or before my birthday (a cast iron skillet cookbook, a hanging planter for flowers, a set of stacking silicone bowls for cooking, new jeans, and kettlebell!). The day after my birthday, he surprised me with a homemade planter! It's vertical, so we can fit a lot more plants in one space. I'm so excited to fill it with herbs and veggies. Once the weather is reliably warm, we're going to fill it up.

That night (Thursday), we went out with another group of friends to the C&O to get birthday drinks, part 2. I really like the atmosphere there - it's in the basement below the (super pricy) restaurant, and it feels really cozy. Plus they make homemade ginger beer for their dark and stormy :)

The weekend after my birthday, Joey took me to Richmond for some shopping! He made me a pre-shopping breakfast, after I finished run #1 of the weekend. And then was a serious trooper as we spent several hours shopping. I got some new bras (so pretty), and some shirts at Express and Limited that would work well for dressier occasions, or for presentations/interviews.

Sunday, we made a true birthday breakfast after I did run #2 of the weekend. We made a vanilla bean dutch baby with caramelized vanilla pears. While that was cooking, Joey made me an egg on toast to hold me over (I was starving after running 11 miles!) The dutch baby was so so yummy, and I loved the pears. I was nervous about them, since had only bought the pears the day before, and of course it's impossible to find ripe pears when you need them. They worked out perfectly - cooking them softened them and brought out their flavor.

Gruyere Popovers:
Yield: 7 popovers
From: Completely Delicious
Notes: I halved the recipe, since I didn't need a ton of popovers. The original recipe called for 12, and I have that listed below

Ingredients:
5 oz cheese (I used gruyere and it was amazing)
4 tsp kosher salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups milk (I used almond milk)
4 large eggs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Place muffin tin in the oven while oven is preheating.
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt.
Heat the milk until steaming, but not boiling. This can be done on the stove or in the microwave. Slowly add the milk to the eggs, mixing constantly. Gently stir in the flour mixture, being careful not to overmix.
When oven is preheated, moving quickly, pull out muffin tin and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the muffin pan, filling each cup all the way. Sprinkle with a handful of cheese.
Bake until puffed and golden, about 45-50 minutes. Try not to peek on them while baking - air can prevent the popovers from rising.
Cool in the pan for a few minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack. Serve immediately.

Nutrition:
124 calories
5 g fat
13 g carbs
0.7 g fiber
6.7 g protein

Baked Mushroom Linguine:
From Baked Ezra
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:
4 oz dried mushrooms (such as porcini)
4 cups boiling water
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme, plus 2 tsp finely chopped
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk (I used almond milk)
1/4 cup goat cheese
1 onion, diced
1 lb button mushrooms, chopped
1 lb cremini mushrooms, chopped
2 1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 lb linguine
1/2 cup grated or shaved pecorino romano cheese

Directions:
Place dried mushrooms in a bowl, and pour boiling water over them. Let them sit for 30 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, lift out the mushrooms and place them in another bowl. Press mushrooms to release any extra liquid, and pour liquid back into bowl. Set mushrooms aside. Strain mushroom liquid through a fine-mesh sieve.

Wrap the rosemary and thyme sprigs in cheesecloth and tie with kitchen twine. Set aside.

Place a large saucepan over medium heat, and melt butter. When the butter starts bubbling, add the flour. Cook, stirring, until the mixture begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Still stirring, slowly pour in the mushroom stock. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the mixture bubbles and thickens.

Stir in the milk, goat cheese, and bouquet garni. Reduce the sauce to a gentle simmer, and cook 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until it begins to soften. Add button and cremini mushrooms and cook until they begin to release their juices. Add the rehydrated mushrooms and chopped thyme, and cook until all are tender.

Add cream sauce to mushroom mixture, stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper, set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 F and butter a 9x13 inch pan.

Boil water and cook pasta according to manufacturer's instructions, but reduce cooking time by 2-3 minutes. Transfer noodles to a colander, and rinse with cold water to stop cooking.

Stir the noodles into the sauce mixture, and transfer to prepared baking pan. Top with cheese, and bake until bubbling and golden brown on top, about 30 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition:
366 calories
11.4 g fat
103.3 g carbs
11.8 g fiber
22.2 g protein

Simplest and Best Shrimp Dish:
Yield: 4 servings
From: Mark Bittman

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
10-12 large cloves garlic, slivered or minced finely
1 1/2 lbs shrimp, peeled, rinsed and dried
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Directions:
Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over low heat. Spread the olive oil over the bottom of the pan, make sure it covers the bottom. Add garlic and cook just until it turns light golden, be really careful because it can burn in an instant.

Raise the heat to medium-high and add the shrimp and spices. Stir to blend and continue to cook, shaking the pan once or twice and turning the shrimp once or twice, until they are pink all over and the mixture is bubbly, about 5-7 minutes. Serve immediately.

Nutrition:
315 calories
16.6 g fat
4.8 g carbs
0.4 g fiber
35.2 g protein

Dark Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie:
Yield: 1 GIANT cookie (I seriously don't know how many servings, I would guess at least 16)
From: Tasty Kitchen a la How Sweet It Is
Note: The following ingredients are for a 12-inch cast-iron skillet, and made a very tall cookie

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups dark chocolate chunks (either cut up some chocolate bars, or buy it pre-chunked)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Melt butter in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Stir in sugars and remove from heat. Let rest until warm but no longer very hot, about 5-10 minutes.

Whisk in the vanilla and eggs, working quickly so the eggs won't cook before mixed in. Stir in the dry ingredients. It will take a few minutes for it to come together (I promise it will mix in!)

Fold in the chocolate, again working quickly, so it doesn't melt too much.

Bake for 30-45 minutes, until the top is light golden, the edges are a darker golden and beginning to pull away, and the center still jiggles slightly. Serve warm (with ice cream).

Nutrition (if split into 16 servings):
392 calories
18 g fat
62.5 g carbs
2.3 g fiber
4.7 g protein

bigger than my head!

Planter:

Pre-shopping breakfast:

Birthday Breakfast:
Pre-breakfast: Fried egg on toast with gouda

Vanilla Bean and Caramelized Pear Dutch Baby:
Yield: 4
From: Turntable Kitchen

Ingredients:
3 eggs at room temperature
3/4 cup milk, at room temperature
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar or splenda
1 vanilla bean
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 tbsp unsalted butter
pinch of salt
1 large pear, cored and cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 tbsp unsalted butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 F. Place a 12-inch castiron skillet in the oven while preheating.

Combine the eggs, milk, flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a blender. Scrape out the seeds of the vanilla bean and add to the blender, saving the empty pod. Blend until smooth.

Remove the skillet from the oven, and add the 2 tbsp of butter, swirling to melt and mix. Pour the batter into the pan, and bake for 18-25 minutes, until puffed and golden.

While the pancake is baking, melt the 1 tbsp butter and vanilla bean in a large pan over medium heat. Add the pear slices and cook for a few minutes, without moving. Flip the slices over, to let them caramelize on the other side. If necessary, do the pears in batches, adding butter with each batch. You want the pears to be soft, but not mushy, and golden brown on each side.

Serve the pancake warm, with the pear slices, and syrup if desired.

Nutrition:
284 calories
12.8 g fat
36.1 g carbs
2.3 g fiber
7.4 g protein

Joey's plate with steak and eggs:

My breakfast, part 2: