Recipe #51: Healthier BLTs

Since I had opened the bacon last night for our breakfast, I decided it would be a great time to make some BLTs! I love going to sandwich places and getting a BLT, it is so classic. Plus BLTs were a treat for us in Japan because bacon is hard to come by, and when we did have it, it was rationed very carefully! Of course when you add up the mayo, white bread, bacon, etc, it is not the healthiest sandwich to eat, but here is a twist that will hopefully cut the calories a little bit.

For one sandwich

You need:

2 pieces whole wheat bread

3 pieces turkey bacon

tomato

lettuce

honey mustard

• Start frying up that bacon first!
• pop your bread into the toaster.
• Cut up some tomato and lettuce. Also, cheese is a nice addition
• Put it all together!

Some fun variations:

instead of regular sandwich bread use sandwich thins, wraps, pita bread

give it a southwestern flavor by adding some guacamole or salsa instead of mayo or mustard

any other ideas?

Recipe #49 & #50: French Toast and Fried Eggs

We love breakfast for dinner. Will actually prefers eating all the variety of breakfast food for dinner because he is a regular cereal eater, anyways...

French toast for two

You need:
6 pieces of bread
2 eggs
1 cup of milk (I think)
1/4 tsp vanilla

• Mix the egg milk and vanilla together. Tupperware containers work great because the bread fits in perfectly!
• dip each piece of bread in the mixture, then add to the fry pan
• cook until brown, then flip and do it again.

Since your pan is warm might as well make an egg to go with it!

• crack an egg onto the hot surface. 
• sprinkle on some paprika for a nice taste.
• after about 3 minutes (maybe?!) turn over....I am not much for yolky eggs, Will dislikes it even more so I actually break the yolk and it kind of become a runny mess...

We also made some turkey bacon for an extra side! 

Top your french toast with butter, cinnamon and sugar, or syrup! I can't decide which I like more!

Recipe #48: The Perfect bowl of cereal

When I make a bowl of cereal, it has almost all of the food groups...

grain

protein

dairy

fruit

Our household LOVES cheerios (grains). I start with that, add some peanut butter (protein) on the side. Top it with some fruit (I like blueberries or bananas) Add the milk (dairy) and there you have it. A bowl of cereal that actually keeps you filled up! :)

Recipe #47: pico de gallo

Ok, I am way behind...I have been on vacation! But now I am home for just three days with a ton of leftovers from the vacation. I don't think I am going to get much cooking in while I am home, so I will probably be even more behind! Oh dear...

anyways, we all took turns with meals this past week and Will and I did hamburgers...of course! but I did add in a new recipe of pico de gallo, that we ate with our chips. of course there was guacamole too!

You need:
5 roma tomatoes
1/2 a red onion
1 lime
1/2 jalapeno pepper
some cilantro
garlic powder, salt, pepper
(We had some left over corn on the cob so I cut off 1/2 an ear and added that too!)

• Dice tomatoes and onion. 
• Seed and destem jalapeno and then dice into small pieces.
• roughly chop up cilantro.
• add corn if you have some.
• mix all together in a bowl.
• Squeeze lime juice in. 
• Add salt, pepper, and a little bit of garlic powder.
• Mix again and enjoy with your favorite tortilla chips!

Sorry, I forgot to take a photo....

Recipe #46: Mini Cakes

Today for our family reunion pot luck I decided to make a fun twist on your average cake!

You need:
one chocolate cake mix (and ingredients for it)
marshmallows
blueberries
walnuts
kisses

• Make the cake according to package directions
• Use a mini muffin pan to make the muffins. 
• Before baking, add a treat to each one.

• Then bake it for about 10-15 minutes. check with a toothpick

Then add a dollup of whipped cream and you have a fun dessert! They were the perfect size, so you could eat one or two and not feel guiltly! 

Recipe #45: The perfect sandwich...

Will and I could live on sandwiches...only with the right bread, cheeses and meats though! We often get rolls at Sams. I stick them in the freezer and when we want a sandwich, I stick it in the oven, turn it on and by the time it has preheated, the roll is defrosted and has nicely warmed.

But I made some cibatta bread so we used that instead.

We filled it with turkey, ham or salami, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes. 

On fabulous sandwiches do not put mayo, mustard, or butter... Olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper are perfect!

Enjoy!

Cibatta bread

Well, this is a variation on the extra dough I had from the peasant bread I made earlier, which I realized later when I was reading more of the book, that I actually made what they called light whole wheat bread because I used just the whole wheat flour and not the rye. Anyways... we wanted to use some of the bread for sandwiches, so I used the dough to make cibatta loaves instead.

For the actual recipe and needs look here.
Then follow these directions:

• Preheat the oven to 450 with the stone inside.
• Take out a small ball of the dough. About the size of a baseball maybe.
• Form it into a ball with your hands. 
• Lay it on the flour covered pizza peel and spread the dough into a thin (but more than 3/4th of an inch) rectangle or oval. Let it rest on peel for about 20 minutes.
• Transfer to the stone (you may need to use a spatula to help nudge it off) 
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until crust is dark.