Breakfast on-the-go!

We  had a great two day at our graduation! Honestly, both days were kind of tiring. However, we felt special and felt like we had accomplished something great! Here is a picture from our graduation!

Now, I am sure many of you like me have days when you wake up in the morning with no idea what to make for breakfast or you are so late for school or work that you don't have time to cook but you don't want to skip breakfast, the most important meal of the day :-). So, I have two quick breakfast recipes that you can make in batches and save them in your fridge or freezer for a quick grab.

Egg muffins

There are many recipes online for egg muffins. The way I made mine is that I sauteed one onion and lots of vegetables like mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, zucchini, and broccoli. After they were tender, I placed them at the bottom of the muffin paper cups. On the other side, I beat some eggs with some cheese and spices and poured them on top of the vegetables. Make sure it's not all the way up to the top. Bake them until they are firm and bubbly.

Oatmeal muffins

I wanted to get a recipe with as little sugar as possible. Again, there are many recipes for oatmeal muffins but this is the one I used when I made these.

1 c rolled oats

1 c unsweetened applesauce

1/2 c milk (I used skim)

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp coconut oil or butter melted

1/3 c sugar

3/4 c whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

I added 1/2 c raisins

Preheat oven to 375

In a medium bowl mic: oatmeal, applesauce, milk, egg, vanilla, butter, and sugar. Set aside.

In large bowl whisk: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, raisins.

Combine both bowls together. Do not use a blender, and don't over mix.

Put in muffin pan and bake for 15-20min.

The recipe makes about 12.

I hope you enjoy these recipes and hopefully they will help you to not skip breakfast when you have a busy morning.

Warmly,

Juliana

Vegetarian for a week!

Last week, I wanted to cook vegetarian. I don't know if that was because we were short in meat :) or because vegetarian recipes always sounded so delicious to me! So, I decided to try some meatless recipes. One of the food items that I never figured out a way to cook and to make more tasteful, is tofu. Finally I found two recipes that tasted absolutely worth eating tofu. I hope you enjoy them! Please follow the next post to check out the rest of the recipes from our meatless week!!

Sweet and Sour Tofu

INGREDIENTS

• 1 20-ounce can pineapple chunks or tidbits, packed in juice
• 3 tablespoons rice-wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 14-ounce package extra-firm water-packed tofu, drained, rinsed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-by-2-inch strips
• 1 large green bell pepper, cut into 1/2-by-2-inch strips

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pREPARATION

1. Drain and set aside pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup of the juice. Whisk the reserved pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce and sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Place tofu in a large bowl; toss with 3 tablespoons of the sauce. Let marinate for at least 5 minutes and up to 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, add cornstarch to the remaining sauce and whisk until smooth.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Transfer the tofu to the pan using a slotted spoon; whisk any remaining marinade into the bowl of reserved sauce. Cook the tofu, stirring every 1 to 2 minutes, until golden brown, 7 to 9 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.
4. Add the remaining oil to the pan and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add red and green peppers and cook, stirring often, until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the reserved sauce and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 30 seconds. Add the tofu and pineapple and cook, stirring gently, until heated through, about 2 minutes more.

Tofu Kale with Spaghetti

INGREDIENTS

1 container of firm tofu

kale, as little or as much as you want, rough chopped. i usually use the entire bunch of kale

2 cloves of garlic, minced finely

2 shallots or a small onion, diced

very generous sprinkling of salt/pepper for taste

red pepper flakes

handful bread or panko crumbs

olive oil to quick fry the balls and cook up the vegetables

PREPARATION

1. Prepare the spaghetti according to package instructions

2. For the Tofu, squeeze as much water out of it as possible. I wrapped the block in a kitchen towel and press heavy pan on it for about an hour or so.

3. Meanwhile, in a pan, heat up some olive oil. When hot add in the onions/shallots and garlic. saute until fragrant and translucent, anywhere from 3-8 minutes. Add in kale (or whatever greens) and ensure the oily mixture coats the bunch thoroughly. Season generously. Set aside to cool.

4. In a mixing bowl crumble the tofu. add in the sauteed veggies, mix well. If it cool enough, use your hands. At your discretion add in the crumbs, a little at a time until you're able to shape the mixture into balls. Fry them up in a bit of oil until you get a nice browning on the edges.

5. In the same saute pan toss the pasta in warmed olive oil + minced garlic. when you plate the pasta, add in the tofu balls.

ENJOY THE RECIPES!

Warmly,

Juliana Kostandini

Sunday dinner

Yesterday and today we had Stake Conference in our Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We got a new Stake Presidency! I enjoyed the talks a lot, or at least as much as I could hear with our baby not staying still for a second. Elder Gay of the Seventy spoke both days. Something that he said that stood out to me was "Go home and ask your husband/wife what you can do better, and then go do it without being protective". I feel like sometimes when my husband tells me that he didn't like something that I did, I become protective of my actions and refuse to do what he would like me to. So, I personally need to work on this. I need to hear without being overprotective. I want to do what he would like me to, not because he asks me, but because I love him and I want to make him happy.

Enough said with the spiritual thought, now I would like to share with you our Sunday dinner recipes. I like to experiment on Sundays, but usually on Sundays we invite someone for dinner, so I am always nervous about the food I am serving. But today I was pleased with how everything turned out.

For main dish we had Easiest-Ever One-Dish Chicken Tamales. Doesn't it sound delicious??? Well, it was!

Easiest-Ever One-Dish Chicken Tamales

Ingredients

• 1 pkg (8 1/2 oz) corn muffin mix (such as Jiffy) (I made my own muffin mix at home, you can find the recipe for it here)

• 1 can (14 3/4 oz) creamstyle corn

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• 1/2 cup  milk

• 1 teaspoon  chili powder

• 1/2 teaspoon  ground cumin

• 1 pkg (8 oz) shredded taco cheese blend (such as Sargento)

• 1 can (10 oz) hot enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)

• 3 cups  shredded cooked chicken, from rotisserie chicken

• 1 cup  sour cream (optional)

• Lime wedges (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees . Coat a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, combine muffin mix, corn, eggs, milk, chili powder, cumin and 1 cup of the cheese. Spoon into prepared baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

3. Pierce casserole with a small knife in about 12 places and spread enchilada sauce over top. Scatter chicken and remaining cup of cheese over casserole; bake for 20 additional minutes.

4. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and cut into 8 squares. If desired, serve with sour cream and lime wedges.

For desert we had Banana Pecan Coconut Chocolate Chip Blondie. And yes, it really had all the ingredients listed in the name. You will find the recipe here.

Banana Pecan Coconut Chocolate Chip Blondie

Ingredients

6 tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup, agave syrup or golden syrup

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup mashed, ripe banana

1 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup shredded coconut

1/3 cup pecan halves, roughly chopped

1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 F (180 C). Place the butter into an 8-inch pie tin or brownie tin and put it into the oven for 5 minutes - just so the butter melts. Swirl the melted butter around in the tin to grease it and then pour the butter into a medium bowl.

To the bowl of melted butter, add the sugar, syrup, salt, egg, vanilla and banana. Beat the ingredients together and add the baking soda, flour, coconut and pecans. Fold in until evenly combined.

Pour the mixture into the greased tin and spread out in an even layer. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before slicing/scooping and serving!

I hope you all have an enjoyable week! Follow apearlinoyster in Instagram to see more recipes!

Warmly,

Juliana