Meyer Lemon-Vanilla Sourdough French Toast

Good Morning Readers!

As you know, lately I've been quite interested in egg recipes, since my weekly eggs from Happy Tortoise Farm began gracing my kitchen. These fresh little light green and brown eggs have endeared themselves into my heart and my belly. Sometimes I get them so fresh from the farm that the dirt and straw still cling to their delicate colorful shells. I eagerly anticipate cracking open each egg and never cease to be surprised and amazed at how solid and orange the yolks are.

Today I choose to make a delicious french toast with some of my eggs. I indulged in some sourdough bread, which is a gluten-free no-no for me. Life is too short for shame people, so I say honor your indulgences and jump in with both feet! Oh taboo-full-of-gluten sourdough bread, how I've missed you. Typically, I favor a fresh local Challah bread for french toast. I had sourdough loaf in my pantry because yesterday I was really craving toasted sourdough with my curry egg salad recipe.

Today's french toast recipe is sans maple syrup for good reason. I once had a lover who cooked me breakfast in bed and arrived with delicious smelling french toast. I asked her where was the maple syrup and she handed me a halved lemon and a spoonful of powdered sugar. I thought she was crazy. I followed her lead and squeezed the lemon on the steaming hot french toast and then the powdered sugar. Maybe it was the morning-after-glow, but that combination of sugar sweet and tangy sour lemon was heavenly. It's the only way I've eaten french toast ever since.

In this recipe I call for meyer lemons, which in my book are the absolute royalty of lemons. The flavor is unequaled in the world of lemons. They are literally bursting with flavor onto your french toast. The tang of the sourdough bread and lemon, is a perfect compliment for the sweetness of the vanilla and powdered sugar. They meld together in lovely harmony for your taste buds.

The smell of this recipe cooking is delightful and intoxicating. I recommend you make it as breakfast in bed for someone you love and create your own french toast memory. Enjoy!

In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann

Meyer Lemon-Vanilla Sourdough French Toast
Makes 4 pieces of french toast

butter
3 eggs
1/4 cup unsweetened plain soymilk or cow milk
1 tbsp pure alcohol-free vanilla extract
4 meyer lemons
1 tsp lemon zest
4 slices sourdough bread
nutmeg
powdered sugar

1. Warm about 1tbsp butter in a skillet over medium-low heat.
2. While the pan is warming up, in a wide shallow bowl combine the eggs, soymilk, vanilla, lemon zest and juice of one lemon. Beat with a whisk until just combined.
3. Dip each slice of bread in the egg mixture, one at a time. Let each slice absorb egg mixture, but not linger in the bowl too long. Add slices to the awaiting warm butter skillet.
4. Cook bread slices over medium-low heat. Cook each side a few minutes until they are browned and egg is cooked. Flip after cooking first side. Sprinkle with a dash of nutmeg. Not a lot. Just a sprinkle per slice on one side.
5. When bread is browned on both sides remove from the pan. Halve the 3 meyer lemons. Squeeze one half lemon on each slice of french toast. Sprinkle with as much powdered sugar as you desire. I use about 1 tbsp per slice. Garnish french toast with lemon slices. Serve hot.

Blueberry & Dark Cocoa Pancakes

Good Morning Readers!

It's my day off and it's been a really busy couple of weeks at work for me. After sleeping in this morning I wanted a more substantial breakfast than my usual fruit smoothie. It's true. Every morning at 6:30am I make a fruit smoothie & green tea for breakfast. I usually follow this up with some steel cut oats around 9:30am. I am a total creature of habit. I've had this breakfast every morning for easily the past 8 years. Prior to that my breakfast was a strong cup of coffee and a couple of cigarettes. So, I'd say my current breakfast routine is a huge improvement. Little did you know Miss Jolie wasn't always such a healthy eater :)

I am not creative when it comes to breakfast. I found what works for me. But, on my days off I'm a little more adventurous. And this morning when I looked outside at the bleak rainy cold morning I was craving pancakes. Since I kicked the gluten last Autumn I've found success with the Trader Joe's brand gluten-free pancake and waffle mix. I also like this mix is sugar-free, as I try to eat a limited amount of sugar in my daily diet. I try to reserve sugar for special occasions. For this recipe you could substitute any gluten-free pancake mix. For the add-in's I used frozen blueberries because we are months away from fresh blueberry season. The frozen organic wild blueberries from Trader Joe's are the perfect tiny size. I was craving chocolate and had on hand unsweetened cocoa powder and dark chocolate. So these got thrown in the batter. I love the taste of pancakes on their own so much that I rarely add syrup. If you use syrup, please people, invest in some pure maple syrup. That "syrup" junk most folks eat is just brown dyed corn syrup without a trace of real maple. Kick the corn syrup to the curb where it belongs. You'll be better off. I hope pancake joy brightens your day today!

In Health & Happiness,
Miss Jolie Ann

Blueberry Dark Cocoa Pancakes
Improvise with Me....

1. Gluten-free pancake mix (follow directions for the quantity you crave)
2. 1 tbsp unsweetned dark cocoa powder--mix this in with the dry ingredients
3. Prepare the pancake mix according to directions. Once wet & dry ingredients are mixed then add in a handful of defrosted frozen blueberries (the amount will depend on how many pancakes you are making).
4. Add in a few shavings of dark chocolate. mmm.
5. Cook pancakes with according to package directions.
6. Optional toppings: butter, powdered sugar, more dark chocolate shavings, maple syrup, blueberry syrup.
7. Drool and/or eat pancakes now.

Blueberry-Lavender Cornbread Muffins with Maple Butter

Original Recipe by Miss Jolie Ann

Blueberry season in the northwest is quickly approaching, so I thought I'd provide some inspiration with this downright scrumptious muffin recipe...

In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann

Author's Note 7/14/08: Um, Mary (bff) LOVES these muffins & I think that I've created a "muffin monster" because she keeps asking for them all the time!

BLUEBERRY-LAVENDER CORNBREAD MUFFINS

WITH MAPLE BUTTER

Makes about 7 muffins

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly grease a muffin tin.

1 cup organic whole wheat flour

1 cup organic cornmeal

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried lavender (crush blossoms, whole ones can be overpowering!)

2. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl until combined.

5 tbsp organic butter (or canola oil)

2 tbsp organic honey

2 organic large brown eggs

1 tsp organic non-alcohol pure vanilla extract

1 tsp fresh organic lemon zest

3. Mix all wet ingredients in a smaller bowl until combined.

4. Combine the wet mixture with the dry. Stir until just combined, do not over-stir.

1 cup fresh organic blueberries

5. Stir in the blueberries until just mixed.

6. Pour muffin batter evenly between 7 muffin spots. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from the pan.

MAPLE BUTTER:

1 Stick Organic Butter

3 tbsp organic pure maple syrup

7. With an electric hand mixer, beat butter and maple syrup until light and fluffy. Yum.

Orange-Pecan Skillet Millet

Orange-Pecan Skillet Millet
Recipe from Mollie Katzen Online

Hi folks, this month I experimented a couple of times with cooking millet. I had some leftover from a cauliflower-millet casserole (that turned out disgusting by the way) so I was excited to try this new millet recipe. I found this orange-pecan skillet millet recipe at www.molliekatzen.com. It looks like it was adapted from a recipe originally in Sunlight Cafe by Mollie Katzen. While this recipe was cooking, boy did my kitchen smell DELICIOUS! The combination of vanilla and orange was absolutely heavenly. Once prepared I added a little unsweetened plain soymilk and a banana. I ate the leftovers for breakfast about 4 mornings. You should definitely try this recipe for a new breakfast/brunch treat!
In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann

Orange-Pecan Skillet Millet

4-6 servings

1 cup millet

1 tbsp butter

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract (I used alcohol-free pure vanilla)

2 cups orange juice

1/2 cup minced pecans, lightly toasted

1. Place the millet in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse well under running water. Set aside to drain.

2. Place a 10 inch skillet over medium heat and wait about 1 minute. Add the butter and, as it melts, swirl to coat the pan.

3. Sprinkle in the drained millet and the salt, and turn the heat to medium-high. Saute the millet for 5 minutes, or until it begins to brown slightly and gives off a toasty aroma.

4. Add the vanilla to the orange juice, then slowly pour this mixture into the hot pan, about 1/2 cup at a time, waiting after each addition for the liquid to begin bubbling.

5. Cover the pan, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook undisturbed for 15 minutes, then remove the lid and stir the millet from the bottom of the pan, so the grains get redistributed. Replace the lid, and cook for another 15 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed and the millet is tender. Remove the pan from the heat, and fluff the millet with a fork. If the millet is too crunchy for your taste, add about 3 tbsp of water, cover the pan, and let it cook for another 5 to 10 minutes over very low heat. (MJA's note: I would do this extra cooking next time to make the millet less crunchy!)

6. Stir in the pecans, and serve hot or warm-plain or with a little honey and/or milk drizzled on top.

The Best Breakfast Oatmeal

Steel cut oats are the best. You might be more familiar with rolled oats for your hot breakfast cereal. Steel cut oats are the unprocessed whole grain oat and are very nutritious and delicious. Once a week I cook a big pot of steel cut oats and reheat a small portion each morning for breakfast. It's a great start to your day. My version of steel cut oats is a real "breakfast of champions" packed with whole grain, fiber, and protein. Here's the basic recipe then all of my add-in's:

1 cup steel cut oats
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp alcohol-free pure vanilla
4 cups water

Place the oats, cinnamon, and vanilla in a medium-large pot and add the water. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling turn down the heat to the lowest simmer. Cook covered for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally and check to make sure oats aren't sticking. Add additional water as needed. This will yield enough oats for me to eat for about 6 mornings. I don't sweeten my cereal beyond the cinnamon and vanilla, because I really don't need the sugar. Consider rethinking sweetening your morning cereal.

Each morning I reheat a small portion of the oats (About 1/2 cup) with these add-ins:

1/2 cup organic unsweetened soymilk
1 organic banana-sliced
1 tbsp organic raisins
1 tbsp organic sliced almonds
1 tbsp organic chopped walnuts
1 tsp organic unsweetened raw shredded coconut

A note about cinnamon...I love cinnamon for it's delicious taste and also for it's magical/folklore uses. I need as much good energy and positive vibrations I can gather every morning to start my day! In "The Goddess in the Office" by Z. Budapest she says there are a number of magical herbs and spices associated with wealth. And you guessed it-cinnamon is one of them! She recommends baking cinnamon in cookies, rolls and bread. So, here's what I'm saying-I'm going to add cinnamon to my food every morning to symbolize my readiness for financial prosperity and growth. How about you give it a try too and let me know how it works!

In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann