Breakfast Toast

I need something fast & easy in the mornings so I started making this breakfast toast recently & I love it.

Ingredients:

1 slice whole wheat bread
1 veggie patty
1 slice pepper jack cheese
Sliced tomato to taste

I bake the veggie patty for about 10 min in my toaster oven. Enough time for me to walk away & continue my morning routine. Once the patty is done I start toasting the bread in the toaster oven. A minute later I add the sliced tomatoes. About a minute before the timer ends I add the sausage patty on top of the tomatoes and top it with the cheese slice.  No toaster oven?  Toast your bread first, then nuke it in your microwave with all the ingredients above for about 15 seconds, or to taste.

You end up with a crunchy & savory breakfast toast. Wash it down with a glass of OJ or almond / coconut milk. This gives me a great start to my day!

Xoxo…

Huevos Rancheros

 

This isn't my first, and will not be my last, blog post about huevos rancheros.  I LOVE them so much!  For me this breakfast dish takes me back to my childhood days. On Sundays mom would always make fried eggs, place them over a warm tortilla, and add freshly grilled salsa over them.  It was our Sunday thing and we loved it. 

 

When I first moved out on my own I bought a small cheap pan at my local latino store.  To my delight there was a recipe for huevos rancheros that came with the pan.  Hooray!  This was my first attempt ever at cooking from scratch.  It came out so good it became my favorite breakfast item.  It's slightly different than how mom made them (egg & tortilla are fried together) but as yummy as ever!

 

The recipe feeds four very hungry people. I usually follow the salsa instructions and save the extra salsa for another day.  I'm not sure if I posted the recipe before but just in case here it goes:

 

 

Ingredients -

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1/2 green pepper, finely chopped (I change it up and often use different peppers like poblano)

1/2 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (I change it up here too with serrano)

1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained (you can also use fresh tomatoes)

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

8 large eggs

4 corn tortillas

 

Make salsa by softening onions, green peppers, and jalapeno peppers in a medium saucepan on medium heat for about 3 - 4 minutes.  Add drained tomatoes, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper and allow to simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes.  Set aside.

 

Spray some non-stick spray on both sides of a tortilla and place it in another small pan on medium-low heat.  Cook the first side of the tortilla for about 3 minutes, flip, and carefully add two eggs on top of the tortilla.  Place two heaping tablespoons of salsa between the two eggs, cover, and bring heat to low.  Allow eggs to cook between 3-4 minutes, remove from heat and serve. 

 

Enjoy!

 

xoxo....

Greek Harvest Grain Salad

Here's my copy of the yummy farro salad I had! I cooked the chicken seperately and added it at the very end. This salad is yummy on its own without chicken but I added it for guests who need to have some meat with their salad. This salad would also be a great side to fish like salmon or tilapia. :)

- trader joe’s harvest grain blend (whole package cooked according to package instructions) *I used chicken broth instead of water
- 4 oz sun dried tomatoes
- 6 oz sliced kalamata olives
- 1/2 medium red onion, chopped
- cucumber to taste, finely chopped
- 3 oz crumbled feta cheese (use less or more, to your taste)
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste

Instructions: cook grains and chop onions, cucumber. Allow grains to cool and toss with the rest of the ingredients. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (overnight is better) to allow flavors to intensify

Cooking Challenge

Last week I had lunch with a great friend and ordered a very tasty salad that I must recreate. I copied the text below from their online menu so I'm saving it on here so I can reference back to it. I will not be using Farro (which I learned today is a grain mix from Italy) but instead will use TJ's Harvest Grains Blend. I've been wanting to use the grain blend for a while now and now I have an idea of how to use it. I'm crossing my fingers that it works out! :)

FARRO scottish salmon / cucumber greek feta / red onion kalamata olives

Day 3 of Staycation Vacation

 

Today I watched the US Women's soccer team beat Canada in the Olympic Semi-finals.  It was such an exciting game!  It was a nail biter but fortunately I did no nail biting because afterwards I went to get my manicure. :)  Loving my summer nail color!

 

Tomorrow I'm head to Palm Springs with my friend.  Looking forward to the 116 degree weather. :)

 

xoxo...

Day 2 of my Staycation Vacation

Day 2 started out with two good friends and brunch plans. The three of us try to make brunch plans at least once a month but we hadn't done it since May. We decided on King's Hawaiian Restaurant because it was kind of in the direction of one my friend's new home and because I've never been there. The food was good but their bread was even better! Their bakery is awesome and I'm thankful it's far away enough where I won't visit often. One of my friends is notorious for ordering tons of food. I usually joke that he orders the whole right or left side of the menu but on this day I don't think it was a joke. There was seven plates for three people on our table. I barely got halfway through my macadamia crusted mahi mahi. I had a couple of bites of their famous french toast and was in food coma status soon after. After brunch my friend wanted to visit Marukai Market, a Japanese Super Market. We went and were blown away by all the awesome Japanese products. I bought four tea cups (pictured above), tea, and other small stuff. I'm definitely going back. After King's Hawaiian & Marukai I went back home but only to picked up by my other friend and her daughter. We took a trip to my favorite fresh yogurt place in Los Angeles, Yogi's Yogurt. Once both excursions were done I was back home to watch the Olympic Games. Misty May and Kerry Walsh kicked Italian butt in Women's Beach Volleyball! The pretty much sums up my wonderful Sunday. :) xoxo...

Day 1 of Staycation Vacation

Today my only plan was my friend Cesar's wedding. I am so happy for my friend. He deserves the best this world has to offer and deserves the biggest & best love out there. Still can't believe he's married!! We were just in high school… yesterday! Lol, how time flies. After the wedding I got a craving for fruit but not a specific fruit. I wanted fruit from el Frutero, which is mixed fruit, chili powder, and lime juice. Yumm! I drove from South L.A. to Culver City and could not find a frutero so I decided to buy my own fruit and make my own frutero fruit salad. The results are in the pic above. Now my fridge is filled to the max with fruit. :) It was a good day one. Xoxo...