Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and More Scones

I have mind boggling, insanely slow and annoying internet in this new place. Hence the lack of post last Sunday and yesterday. Bah-humbug I can’t wait to get out of this place. But before that…

Las Vegas!

And San Francisco. I can’t wait to get new food ideas there. And shop. And gamble of course.

While getting some beautiful photos. Should make for a great birthday and end to a wonderful summer.

No guarantees I’ll be able to post while I’m there for two weeks but I should have lots of good stuff afterwards.

And to make up for the past little bit, I am excited to share a delicious ‘breakfast’ scone that I like to enjoy at any time. Just recently I served it with the petit fours for the Spa Night I organized at work.

(Speaking of which, my Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries made a come back at our Wrap Up BBQ by popular demand!)

What You’ll Need:

• 3/4 cup cold buttermilk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• a large egg
• 2 tsp cocoa
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup soy flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill, you can substitute this for whole wheat or another extra healthy flour)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp cold, cold butter (just not frozen)
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 large egg white
• sprinkle of sugar

What To Do: 

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Cut the cold butter into small pieces to make your future much easier. Combine the buttermilk, sugar, vanilla and egg in a medium bowl with a whisk.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa and mix well. Cut in the butter pieces with a pastry blender if you have one. If your like me, use two knives. You want this mixture to resemble coarse meal:

Once that’s done, fold in the chocolate chips. Carefully add the milk mixture and stir just until it’s moist.

Flour a hard surface. Scoop the dough out and knead lightly with floured hands so it’s less runny. On a floured baking sheet, form the dough into a circle (roughly 9 inches but I’m very bad with those things). With a good knife cut the dough into wedges, 9-12 of them, all the way through so it leaves a dent. This makes it a lot easier to cut later.

Brush the egg white on the top and sprinkle some sugar over it lightly but even. Bake until golden, around 18-20 minutes. Cut and enjoy!

Certainly not the healthiest recipe I’ve ever done, but I figured such an absence deserves some deliciousness. It’s roughly 5-6 points a serving, depending on the size of your scone.

Vegan French Toast Muffins

For the first time ever I subjected a friend to a vegan cooking experiment. When I woke up in the morning the first thought I had was to make vegan French Toast. Now, this may not be odd for some but a) I have never made any sort of French Toast in my life before, b) I hadn’t actually had French Toast in years and years, c) don’t know how to make French Toast let along vegan French Toast and d) I never have friends eat my experiments for their own safety and I had someone sleeping on my couch that night. Also, I’m typically an easy breakfast person. Rush down a bowl of cereal and I’m happy.

But anyway, this is what I came up with for my Vegan French Toast Muffins.

You’ll Need:

• 5-6 halves of English Muffins
• a large, softer banana
• 1/2 a cup of sweetened soy or almond milk
• 1/2 a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla extract
• optional 1/4 cup of tofu (probably silken but any sort will do really, soft-medium) if you use tofu, use less banana

Topping Ideas: 

• strawberries
• bananas
• light maple syrup
• shaved/chopped dark chocolate
• raspberries
• blueberries
• more cinnamon

What to Do:

Start by mashing the banana a bit in a bowl with a fork. Make sure the bowl is low enough for dipping your English Muffins in. Then add your milk, cinnamon, vanilla, and optional tofu. Mix with fork really well (mash banana more if need be) until there’s a thicker consistency and everything is mixed well. Heat up an electric griddle to a medium-high heat. Don’t forget to coat it with a light oil before hand. While that heats, prepare your toppings and other foods. Then dip your English Muffin Halves into the French Toast mix. Let sit for a little bit then dip again before placing on griddle. Ensure each side is well coated. Flip every once in a while so nothing gets burnt. Just as they start to brown, dip into French Toast mix again for added flavour. This might make your end result softer so if you like a crunchier, more toasted bread, skip this step. When finished, serve and top with your toppings of choice. Enjoy!

Tips and Tricks: 

- Don’t buy the bread that day

- Maybe leave your English Muffins out overnight to prepare

- A non-sweet tea goes really well with this breakfast

- If you’re doing Weight Watchers, use the WW English Muffins

The French Toast Mix is 1 point per serving (half an English Muffin dipped and no tofu) and the WW English Muffins are 3 points per whole muffin. My entire breakfast cost me 9 points as I had three halves topped with light maple syrup, banana, strawberries and half a serving of dark chocolate.

Great for Breakfast-on-the-Run or Mid-day Energy Snack

I am fully aware that the recipe I am about to share is nothing new. In fact, I stole most of it from Starbucks. But it wasn’t until last week that I discovered a love for this well known meal. I’m always the last to learn when it’s comes to food.

It’s the good, ol’ yoghurt parfait! As I keep running out of time for breakfast, it has become a fast meal to make and eat. When my mid afternoon slump hits, it helps perk me up. Plus it’s a great meal for vegetarians who are allowed dairy. If you use a Greek yoghurt like Oikos or Liberte’s varieties of greek yoghurt you get a good serving of protein amongst the other health benefits. And you can top it with some sliced almonds if you want some extra protein.

My favourite version to date starts with a non-fat, low sugar, plain greek yoghurt. You don’t need a lot of yoghurt in order to feel satisfied either. This is great for those of us looking to lose some weight, eat right and get in shape. Because I am a huge fan of flavour, I drizzle some honey on top. You really don’t want to add too much honey as it has a strong flavour naturally. You could probably substitute the honey with some fruit but I’m a fan of buying local, in season fruits. Almost none of my favourites are currently in season unfortunately. Top it off with some granola, mix it all up and voilà! I love Safeway’s organic Oat&Honey Granola. It has a consistent texture which is great for the picky eater inside of me. Plus it has a sweetness to aid in flavouring the plain yoghurt. And on top of all that, it’s organic. One downside to it is a higher than ideal fat and sugar content but it makes up for it (somewhat) with 2 grams of fibre and 5 grams of protein in each serving.

One thing I really want to add to my granola is sunflower seeds. I think that would be the cherry on top of a great parfait. Or some other unsalted seed. That’s one thing I really love about this meal. There are so many small changes you can make to have a whole different dish in front of you. And for someone like myself who can get super sick of having the same meal over and over again, this is a huge benefit.