Tag Archives: French toast

April 13, 2013 · 10:27 am

One Seriously Tasty Weekend

Happy Weekend!

It is for HCJ & Co! My super cute, amazing dad is having a birthday and that means I’m going all out…in the kitchen.

As requested, Birthday Brunch will be a repeat of what I did for my Mom’s big day.

I was buying my Petit Pain Pascals at Trader Joe’s today and I bought so many that the checkout guy asked if I’d be using them for soup bowls.

My eyes went wide and I said, “No! French Toast! They are amazing as french toast! I make a french toast casserole that’s incredible!”

Like my dad, I’ll eat the Pascals any which way – plain, toasted with ghee, with avocado, or as french toast. This weekend, these little loaves have one fate only: they’re getting cubed up and into my 11×15 pan. It’s going to be legendary.

But last night I got the opportunity to do something I’ve been planning for quite some time. I made a seafood feast with seafood from I Love Blue Sea, a company out of San Francisco that sources the best sustainable seafood from small fishing operations around the country.

The Result?

Amazingly fresh, delicious seafood because it’s flash frozen immediately after it’s caught.

My selections included Wild Sockeye Salmon fresh from Alaska and lobster tails from Maine.

No fishy taste at all. Doing right by the taste buds, the body, and the environment. That’s an HCJ trifecta.

Now, the pièce de résistance was the lobster pasta. Dad LOVES pasta. And lobster.

And I love Dad.

lobster_1_1000_1_Screen shot 2013-04-13 at 9.55.50 AM

So here’s the informal recipe…

I boiled the lobster tails – takes about 5 minutes.

I cooked up DeBoles Organic Fettucine (not whole grain but this was a special occasion 😉 and Dad LOVED this pasta) for 7 minutes, rinsed and added:

*chopped organic cherry tomatoes (which are ridic right now, btw)

*2 tsp of ghee

*a few shakes of organic dried basil

*and about 1/2 cup of low sodium organic chicken broth.

I let that all cook for about 2-3 minutes, until tomatoes looked slightly cooked.

Then I added chopped up meat from two lobster tails and topped it all with a whole lot of organic spinach. Cook until spinach is wilted – it’s just a couple of minutes.

(I was careful not to overcook because the pasta was done.)

I poured it all into a bowl and added some olive oil and mixed it up. You can add (organic) parmesan straight in but I did a little dish on the side.

HUGE hit.

Hey, Dad. I know you’re reading this. The good news is that there are still two lobster tails in the freezer so we can do this all again soon. And the other good news is that french toast is happening tomorrow. Happy, happy, happiest of birthdays to you. You’re the best dad in the history of the world (no offense, other dads) and I love you so much.

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March 8, 2013 · 11:22 am

Deliciousness = Full and Happy Bellies

In my last post I mentioned it was my mom’s birthday. Well, being the health coach that I am, I had to make sure we ate healthy on her special day, so I cooked up an organic brunch complete with Barefoot Coffee. Now, you know healthy doesn’t mean it can’t be delicious. Because it was. And we all agreed that I should write a post about it.

Now, I’m tooting my own horn here because I really knocked it out of the park this time, you guys.

And just for letting me toot the horn, I’m sharing these two insanely good recipes with you.

Super simple. Super delicious. Super healthy.

The first was an egg casserole, loaded with veggies. The second was a baked french toast that was dairy-free and had only low-glycemic coconut sugar. Both recipes are completely organic, with the exception of the salt, as salt is not organic. Instead of topping the french toast with syrup, we had fresh fruit, and it was the perfect compliment.

As usual, there were no GMOs here and everything was prepared with safe cookware. See my post on what I like to use to avoid BPA and chemicals from non-stick cookware.

I really should have a picture of this feast, but there was no time for pictures. I couldn’t wait to dive in. Forgive me.

And without further ado…

EGG CASSEROLE
Ingredients:
8 eggs (I used 4 whole, 4 whites)
1 1/2 bags of spinach
1 box of mushrooms
1 tbsp of ghee
1 tsp of turmeric
Seasoning: pink salt and/or pepper and/or Italian Seasoning to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Chop up mushrooms and any other veggies you love.
Tip #1: always let veggies sit for 5 minutes after cutting and before cooking to let the freshly broken enzymes do their thing.

3. Scramble eggs in a bowl with turmeric, a pinch of salt, and seasoning (I used a bit of Italian Seasoning). Use whatever combination of whole eggs/egg whites you prefer.

4. Heat the ghee in a pan.

5. Sautee mushrooms in ghee with a splash or two of water – you want just enough for a juice so they don’t stick and burn, but not too much that it’s really saucy. Once cooked (give it about 4 minutes), add spinach. and cook until wilted, not longer.

6. Line a 9×9 casserole dish (stoneware or glass) with unbleached parchment paper and spread the mushroom/spinach mixture evenly along the bottom. Pour the egg mix over the veggies.

7. Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes (until egg sets).

8. Tip #2: always sprinkle pepper (any kind will do) on your eggs to break down the glairy mucus from the whites.

Enjoy!

RIDICULOUS BAKED FRENCH TOAST

Yup. Ridiculous.

Ingredients:
1 lb of organic whole wheat bread (I used 1 1/2 loaves of Petit Pain Pascal from Trader Joe’s – it’s in their day bread section and it’s fantastic)
1/2 cup of ghee, melted
4 large eggs
3/4 cup almond milk
1/3 cup coconut sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (non-alcohol) + 1/4 tsp of ground vanilla
1.5 tablespoon cinnamon (use 1 1/4 in the mixture, 1/4 sprinkled on top)
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon pink salt
Fixins on the side: 1/2 cup each of blueberries and banana slices

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Line an 11×15 inch pan with unbleached parchment paper. Melt the ghee on the stove on low and allow it to cool so you don’t curdle the milk or cook the eggs.

3. Cut the bread into 1 inch pieces and place on the parchment paper, making sure it all fits along the bottom without too much stacking.

4. Mix ghee, eggs, almond milk, coconut sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and pour over the bread. Make sure to wet every piece gets wet. Pour a little extra milk if necessary (you may even need to make additional batter if there’s not enough for sufficient soakage), sprinkle with a little sugar and cinnamon on top. Put a few pieces of unmelted ghee across the top. Cover with foil and let soak for 4 hours in the refrigerator.

5. Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes. It will brown but don’t overbake because you want it moist. Some pieces should be a little toasted but there will still be some liquid in the center.

5. Serve yourself a big honkin’ piece and top with blueberries and banana, or any other fruit you like. This does not need syrup or additional sugar.

6. Tip #3: go back for seconds because sometimes we just need to enjoy ourselves.

You’re welcome. 🙂

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Filed under BPA, Fruit, GMO-free, Health, Low-glycemic, One Pot Dish, Organic, Recipe, Tips and Tricks, Vegetables

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