Countrytime

Let's begin today with a riddle:

What is the one best doughy morning treat that is perfect either savory or sweet?

(and I didn't even mean for that to rhyme!)

Give up??

Biscuits!

Like any normal person, this concoction came out of a late night craving for these delicious fluffy clouds. 

It also happened to be around Easter time, which increased my desire for a carb laden snack.

Backstory: Every Easter and Thanksgiving I will go down to my aunt and grandmother's house in Tennessee. And every morning, my aunt will make homemade biscuits for breakfast and I will always eat probably between 2 - 3 of them because they are just so darn tasty.

Now, you would think if my family are good biscuit makers, I would be able to whip up a batch super quickly.... WRONG! Somehow, I did not inherit the biscuit making gene.

My aunt and grandmother's biscuits had two ingredients: buttermilk and self rising flour. But no matter how many times I've tried, I cannot master that type of biscuit to save my life. So I went in a different direction:

Whole Wheat "Buttermilk" Biscuits

And to my pleasant surprise, they were not hard biscuit rocks! They were nice and fluffy and ready for dousing in butter and honey. Enjoy!

Print this recipe!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour, sifted
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• dash of salt
• 1 tablespoon butter/ vegan butter
• 1 tablespoon canola oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a bowl or cup, combine the milk with vinegar and set aside. The vinegar with help to sour the milk and make it taste more like buttermilk (You could always just use buttermilk and omit this step).

In a bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, and salt. Mix to combine.

Next, take the butter and "cut" it into the flour. Basically, take your fingers and crumble the butter up with the flour mixture, until it looks more coarse, and a bit like sand.

Pour the "buttermilk" into the flour and briefly mix until all everything is moistened.

Flour a surface of your counter top, and then dump the biscuit dough onto counter. Dust top of dough with a little more flour. Knead dough 3 - 4 times. It will look like a very soft dough and be semi-sticky.

Cut dough into rounds with a biscuit cutter and place biscuits in the center of a cake pan, having the biscuits touching. Drizzle oil on top of the biscuits, and bake for 9 - 11 minutes or until golden brown.

Bake and Serve Immediately! 

Breakfast for Warriors

As you are reading this, Staci and I will be participating in the...

 WARRIOR DASH!

Even though it is almost May and has been 80 degrees in Texas for a good long while, Mother Nature decided it wanted to throw a curve ball and have it be COLD!! Projected Forecast:

Just the normal 53 - 57 degrees outside (not cool...haha). But really, it seems like every time I place to compete in a race in this state, it decides to be cold the day of the event.

Nonetheless, I am super excited about tomorrow!! But thinking of the cold, really just makes me want to curl up in my pajamas on the couch, eating a hot, toasty bowl of healthy oats. 

But normal oats are boring... I'm talking some tasty oats that feels more like dessert than breakfast. 

Enter: Strawberry Banana Oatmeal

Trust me, it is even more delicious than it looks. At it has the added bonus of sneaking in some protein to give it an extra healthy kick that will help you to feel fuller for longer.

Recipe for success? Start with 1/4 cup of unsweetened almond milk and 1/4 cup water into a small saucepan over medium heat.

don't forget the water too!

And drop a banana in the pot...

Now chop up your banana into a million little pieces with your wooden spoon. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be in many small pieces.

Now, let that mixture come up to a simmer. It will look like this:

Nice and bubbly... and the banana magically disappeared!! It's still there... no worries.

Now, back the heat down to medium low and add in your 1/4 cup rolled oats.

 Now cook your oats on medium low for about 10 minutes or until they are nice and tender. Next comes the protein part... Egg Whites!!

The packaged kind really do work better in this situation than egg whites from a "real" egg.

To add these 1/4 cup egg whites to your hot oat mixture, you will need to take your little pot off of the hot part of the stove. Stir the oats around to get some steam (and heat) out.

VERY SLOWLY, pour your egg whites into the oatmeal mixture, and stir the oats vigorously as you go. A little coordination is required for this maneuver.

If you thought your oats were a little too wet for you, they definitely will NOT be runny after the egg white addition. The egg whites bulk up the oats a bit and add to a nice fluffy texture.

Once all the egg whites have been combined, you are ready to serve your oats for one! Garnish with strawberries, brown sugar, chopped nuts, or whatever else you might like!

Chocolate would also be a good addition... :) 

Easter Brunch!

Happy Easter!

Do YOU still get presents from the Easter bunny? 

I do!

It never gets old.

Thank you Mommy for the great Easter surprise! Since this is the first Easter that I would not be spending with my family, I wanted to make it a little special for myself. So, what better way than to make a delicious brunch! 

I was inspired by Pinterest, and decided a Stuffed French Toast was the perfect way to ring in my Easter brunch! This is a super easy meal to make and was outrageously satisfying!

Print this recipe!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Stuffed French Toast

Mix together 1 egg, 1/4 cup soy milk, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Peanut Butter

Banana

Dark Chocolate Chips

Make a sandwich 

Bathe in the egg mixture for 2 - 3 minutes

Flip and wait another 2 - 3 minutes

Melt 1.5 teaspoons butter over medium heat

Cook for 2 - 3 minutes or until golden brown

Flip and make the other side golden 

Serve with strawberries and a Birdie Friend!

Dessert for Breakfast

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. Why?

Because anything goes! If you want pancakes, have pancakes. If you want cake, eat cake. If you want a steak, because breakfast isn't your thing...well by all means go ahead.

Which brings me to my most favorite breakfast dish I have ever created...

Apple Pie Oatmeal 

Seriously, it tastes exactly like a big slice of apple pie, but for breakfast!! BONUS: it's super healthy too! (and super simple to make)

Print this recipe!

First you need an apple! 

Peel and core apple, and chop the flesh into bite sized pieces

And you'll need some oats! About 1/2 cup

 

Put the apple and oats into a small sauce pan. Add 3/4 of a cup of unsweetened almond milk + 1/2 cup of water to the pot.

In goes 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon next!

 You will also need three heaping teaspoons of brown sugar...it makes it tasty

Make sure everyone is in the pool!

 Cook in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low for 10 - 15 minutes or until apples and oats are tender.

Sprinkle with chopped walnuts and serve.

Eat and be happy you made a healthy choice for breakfast!