Healthy & Cheap Egg McMuffins

Uhhh, yeah. Welcome to my Saturday morning. This was the kind of breakfast that I was literally drooling over as I took this picture. It was painful and embarrassing how much I was withering inside as I took this picture because it was 3 additional seconds that I couldn't eat this.

I've always deeply loved McDonald's Egg McMuffins. My favorite part? The egg. Weird, I know. I've always wondered how they got it to be so perfectly round and soft, with the yoke still semi-in tact.

Then when I got to thinking too hard about the egg perfection I had to tell myself to stop, because really, it's a fast food place, and how right can that be?

 

This morning, ladies and gentlemen, I nailed the egg. As in, I made a perfectly round, soft,scrumptious egg. In the oven. I actually made 6 of the buggers, and could have eaten every last one on the spot if I didn't know I had to put it onto a sandwich.

The recipe states that you should use a jumbo muffin tin, which I had on hand. If you don't, you can use ramekins or another round oven-proof dish. The main goal here is to get your baked egg the appropriate size so it fits on the sandwich. I could have probably made my eggs a little bit flatter, so a wider dish might work better.



What ignited this McMuffin-making endeavor was this post that I found via Iowa Girl Eats. I love this idea, because not only are they super cheap to make (I calculated it to be around 92 CENTS per 'wich), you can make them however you want to according to your taste buds. Plus, there is the added benefit that you can grab one and go on busy mornings, only taking time to microwave it.

I used whole-wheat English muffins, but Udi's gluten-free bread (or any gluten-free bread, really) would work great since the size is similar to that of a smaller muffin. For my protein, I used Morning Star Soy-Based Bacon, and then threw on some cheddar cheese. This morning was special (you know, to celebrate my baking-of-the-eggs) which meant pesto and tomatoes were added to the mix. You really can't go wrong.

I'm pumped to make more varieties, not to mention more baked eggs (!!!). I can foresee this being a long-term relationship.

DIY Egg McMuffins
Adapted from The Yummy Life
Makes 6 sandwiches

You need:
12 slices of smaller-sized bread, or 6 English muffins
6 eggs
cheddar cheese
meat of choice - I used Morning Star Bacon


How you do:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease your jumbo muffin tin or ramekins.

2. Crack an egg into each tin or ramekins and lightly break the yoke so it spreads a little. Add some ground pepper and/or garlic salt if you desire. I definitely desired.

3. When the oven has preheated, bake the eggs for about 25 minutes, until baked through and slightly browned at the edges.

4. While the eggs are baking, prepare the rest of your ingredients. Slice the cheese, prepare your protein, and toast the bread if you're into that kind of thing. I didn't add any condiments to the sandwiches that I was going to save for later, since I figure I will just do that when I am ready to eat them.

5. When the eggs are done, use a knife to gently scrap them from the muffin tin or ramekin. I assembled my sandwiches by adding the cheese first, then the facon, and lastly the egg. For those that you are freezing or refrigerating for later eats, wrap them in wax paper and then covered in a baggie.

*I have not yet tried re-heating these, but according to the original poster, you microwave thawed ones for a minute and frozen for 3 minutes.

Yes. Future presents to myself.

Dutch Baby goes Tropical (GF)

 This little baby has some eggs, this little baby has some sugar, and this little baby goes wee wee wee all the way to the tropics.

I first heard of this oddly-named pancake a couple years ago, when a close friend raaaaved about an unforgettable puffy pancake that The Oak Table specializes in. While they simply call it the "apple pancake," everyone else seems to know it as the "dutch baby."

It's essentially a souffle, but instead of going the savory route this baby is stuffed with a delectable combination of fruit and sweetener. It's then popped into the oven in a 10-inch skillet and left to rise, becoming a custard-like, fruit-stuffed pancake. Yeah...it's that good.

I've experimented with  tons of combinations - apple and lemon, pear and nutella - I bet you even could go the savory route and stick in some onions and veggies for a dinner-time side dish.

We had a ripe mango facing its final hours on our counter so that was an easy decision. Mango + coconut?

Uhhh yeah. Easiest decision all day.

Mango Coconut Dutch Baby, Gluten-Free
Makes one 10-inch round pancake

4 eggs
1/4 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1/2 t baking powder
1 T white sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 t nutmeg
1 cup milk (I used rice)
1 t vanilla extract
2 T melted coconut oil


the filling:
3 T coconut oil
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 t sinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 mango, diced

1. Beat the eggs in a medium mixing bowl. Add in the flours, baking powder, sugar salt and nutmeg and combine. Add the milk, vanilla and coconut oil and combine again. Let sit for 30 minutes, or overnight in the fridge if you are ahead of the game and preparing this on Saturday night for Sunday morning.

2. After the batter has rested, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Moving onto the filling ingredients, melt the coconut oil over medium-low heat in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, swirling it around to cover the entire pan and up the sides. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and sprinkle half in the bottom of the pan over the coconut oil. Evenly distribute the mango in the pan and cover with the remaining sugar mix. Give the batter a quick whisk and pour over the mango mixture.

3. Take the skillet off the burner and pop into the oven for 20 minutes until slightly browned on top. Prepare to be marveled.

Mac N Cheeze

Cheeze and Co.

Despite the fact that I am not currently partaking in "Vegan-O-Con," there are still times when I see a vegan recipe and think "hot dam! Can this be better than the real deal?"

When I came across Branny's vegan mac and cheese, I knew what was about to go down in le kitchen. GF noodles and some cheeze, all in the name of good, clean fun. To make things extra kosher (wait, this recipe isn't kosher. or is it? what does that entail, exactly?), I added some frozen broccoli florets to please the boy, as well as some tomatoes for all those lycopenes. Lycopenes are bomb.

We ate this mid-April, the same night it snowed 5 miles away from us. YEAH, the frozen rain business that wasn't supposed to show it's face again until next November (at the earliest. You hear me snow?). But you know, this is comfort food through and through, and was content with how it warmed me up despite the 35 degree weather.

For those of you who are like I was and scared of nutritional yeast, don't be. It's perfectly fine to eat, and no one will know you threw fungus in their food unless you tell them (Don't tell them. Maintain your untarnished reputation). I buy mine in the bulk food department at Freddies, and I'm sure you can find it at most other grocery stores. It's cheap, and healthy, and best of all...gluten-free! Go figure.

Mean mug that shadow

Vegan Mac-N-Cheeze Bake
hardly adapted from Branny Boils Over
Makes 1 8x8 Dish


*Despite being ridiculously easy, this is a multi-tasking recipe and requires using your noodle to maneuver these noodles (sorry. I had to). Put the pasta water on to boil before you begin the cheeze sauce so the whole dish comes together roughly the same time.


Cheeze Sauce
2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup oat flour
1 T olive oil
2 Tb. minced garlic
1/2 small white onion, diced
pinch dried thyme
1/4 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper
1/8 tsp turmeric
1 tsp. curry spice
3/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 tsp prepared yellow mustard

For Everything Else in the Bake:
1/2 pound small noodles
1/2 pound extra firm tofu
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 T olive oil
1 T lemon juice
1 cup frozen broccoli
1/2 cup canned tomatoes


1. (Remember: Noodle water on to high heat for boiling!) In a small bowl whisk together the broth and flour until there are no clumps; preheat oven to 350.

2. In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the garlic and onion up for a couple minutes; add theyme, salt, pepper, turmeric, and curry spiced and stir all together for a brief moment.

3. Add in the broth/flour mixture, nutritional yeast and mustard; turn up heat to medium-high and whisk constantly for a few minutes until it's thick and bubbly and the consistency of melted cheese. When it reaches this texture, take off burner.

4. By this time, your water is either boiling or your noodles are on their way to being cooked. If not, your cheeze sauce will stay warm so no big.

5. Mash the tofu, salt, oil and lemon juice together in your 8x8 dish until it resembles ricotta cheese.

6. Microwave your frozen broccoli and add to the tofu with the tomatoes; mix all together.

7. Now add in the cooked noodles and all put 1/2 cup of the cheeze sauce; combine well and spread evenly in dish.

8. Pour on the reserved 1/2 cup cheeze sauce and place uncovered in the oven for 25 minutes; cool a good 10 minutes before serving.

Polenta, Act 1

This is what I've been up to this past month of not blogging. Playing with polenta. Well corn meal, technically, which does a pretty darn good job of turning into polenta.

I've done a polenta-love post before, and this will definitely not be the last. In fact, shortly (read: hopefully less than a month) I will be posting an Act 2, because these are 2 recipes I am dying to share with you.

Corn meal is so easy I almost feel like I'm cheating when I cook with it. I don't know why, I guess I feel like I should be experimenting with gluten-free bread or making vegan pudding or some other things that seem a little too complicated the majority of the time.

Another corn meal trait that makes me want to jump and leap stars? It tastes good with anything. It's a great kitchen-sinker - throw whatever in the pot that you will be throwing away in your garbage tomorrow.

Sans wrapper.

and peel.

and maybe mold.

But anything else that hangs out with your food, yes! Throw it in! The pot wants it!

Mediterranean Polenta Casserole
Makes one 2 quart casserole

Polenta:
2 cups milk
1 3/4 cup cold tap water
2 Tb. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

Topping:
1/2 onion (any kind)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1.5 cups tomato soup
10 spears asparagus, cut into thirds
1 12oz. can tomatoes with juice
1/2 block tofu
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
dash of salt and pepper

Plus, 1/2 cup prepared pesto

1. Spray your casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Bring the milk, water, butter and salt to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.

3. Sprinkle in the cornmeal and continue stirring; reduce heat and let the mixture simmer about 35 minutes until it thickens. You will know the polenta is done when it plops off a spoon and when you scrape the bottom of the pot, the polenta doesn't immediately spill to the empty space.

4. Pour the polenta into your greased casserole dish and put into the fridge for cooling.

5. Now, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and pull out a skillet; begin to saute up the onion and garlic for a few minutes.

6. Once the onions begin to get soft, add in the tomato soup, asparagus, canned tomatoes, tofu, and seasonings; let mixture simmer over medium heat until asparagus begins to soften, about 10 minutes.

7. Once the tomato mix is warmed and done, pull the polenta out of the fridge. Spread the pesto on, and top with the warm tomato mixture.

8. Bake covered in the oven for 15 minutes; uncover and sprinkle with cheese for the last 5.

9. Devour!

Versatile Vegan Loaf

I used to consider it weird and borderline glutenous that I would contemplate dinner 5 seconds after finishing off the last bite of breakfast. "There are so many other important life things that need attending to until 6:00pm, and all you can think about it more food?"

Cafe Gratitude, San Francisco. Not tonight's dinner.

Then I quickly learned there's nothing like completing 3 Sodokus, riding a luxury yacht for 2 hours and picking my pimples out my favorite picture of James Dean that will make you really appreciate a well-planned dinner. After all that, a girl is exhausted and wants some good eats. And besides, it's no secret that food is pretty essential to the act of living for all things living. Might as well make it delicious. Bam, justified.

@ home. Tonight's dinner.

We had this for dinner tonight, something I only started thinking about, oh, last night. But it was later last night, you know like 9 pm. I need an adequate amount of time to prepare a 4-slot meal.

Right now, I'm only going to share this guy:

This kid's the good kid. We're talking straight A's. It's not thick and bold and brassy - it tends to be more simple, classy and a little naiive. This loaf won't meet you at the 18th hole for some burrs and wings; it will meet you at your aunt's garden party. It's easy to love, hard to dislike, and looks about 15 thousand times better in realty than in the picture above.

Stay tuned the next few days to get the scoop on the rest of the dish. We have one kid down, but you have yet to learn about the rest of the family.

Vegan Loaf with Quinoa, Tofu and Veggies
makes one 9x5 loaf


*Wild! -  This truly is a flexible recipe. Stick with the tofu/oats structure and then add in whatever veggies you desire. If you’re not on the vegan train, I think cheese would be an excellent addition as well. Mix it in with all the other ingredients before you pack it in the loaf pan, so it gets all gooey and cozy with the other friends in there.

½ package of extra-firm tofu

2 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ cup olive oil

1 clove garlic

½ cup quick-cooking oats (if you have Celiac disease, make sure they are gluten-free. I use Bob’s Red Mill, which is one of the few brands that is gluten-free.)

1 cup cooked quinoa (keenwah!) 
½ cup spaghetti sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup broccoli florets
small handful of dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease up your loaf pan.

1. First, if you don’t have 3 large Tupperwares of leftover quinoa in your fridge, come over and swipe some from me. Or you could take the really bumpy road and prepare yours yourself.

2. Put the tofu, lemon juice, olive oil and oats in a processor or blender and pulse until it resembles a ricotta-like texture; you might need to scrape down the sides a few times with a spatula.

You're tofu/oat mixture should look pasty, like this:

3. Using a spatula, scrape out the tofu/oat mixture and place in a large mixing bowl; add in quinoa and stir it all together so the quinoa is all covered.

4. Add in the spaghetti sauce and your desired amount of salt and pepper; stir it all again.

5. Finally, throw in the broccoli and cranberries (and any other wild veggies you choose) and mix one last time.

6. Scrape the mix in to the loaf pan and pop into the oven. Cooking time is about 40-50 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and crispy. Cool this guy for about 15 minutes if you want loaf-ish slice; dive right in if you want a more crumbly, casserole-esque experience.