Melon Oatmeal

I make smoothies/juices often and usually there some left. I put it in a tupperware and freeze it and then use it to "kick-start" my next smoothie. Somewhere down the line, I was hankering for some oatmeal (I use rolled oats) and thought, "hmm, instead of milk or water, why don't I use smoothie?" I did and it worked.
Yesterday morning I got up, hankering for some oatmeal. I didn't have any smoothie but what I did have was some canteloupe and watermelon. So I did it.
Prepare:
-3/4 cup of rolled oats (1 cup is a big portion)
-about 5 big bite-size pieces each of watermelon and canteloupe
Cook:
-Seed and blend the melon
-In a small pot on medium heat, mix the oats with the melon puree-Cook for about 5 minutes or until consistency you like is reached. If there's too little liquid after a couple minutes, add some milk/water/more puree

Granola

I love granola but getting the good stuff is pretty pricey. I set about trying to make it myself, to see if that could make it any cheaper. It turned out delicious but, unfortunately, not much cheaper. I got the recipe from my friend Bowen, to whom I dedicate this post (but not this granola, unfortunately, as it has nuts and would kill her). I modified it a bit so if it doesn't turn out to your liking, blame me and not her. The most arduous part of the granola is getting all the ingredients... after that, it's too easy. This makes about 10 good size bowls.
Gather:
-3 cups of oats
-1 cup each sunflower and pumpkin seeds
-1/2 cup each walnuts, pecans, almonds, and sesame seeds
-1/4 cup flaxseed (linseed)
-1/2 cup shredded coconut
-1/4 cup oil (I used olive)
-5 tbsp honey
-1 tbsp blackcurrant jam (use any dark, sweet fruit-full jam)
-2 tbsp warm water
-1/2 tsp salt
-~1 tsp each cinnamon and vanilla (more or less pending on your tastes)
Cook:
-Mix it all in a large pot and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes or less-Place on a greased baking pan and bake 275F/160C for about 50-70 minutes (it should be crunchy and tasty)-Store in an airtight container. Tips:
-You can add a bit of brown sugar if you like a sweeter cereal
-The original recipe called for maple syrup instead of honey, but as I didn't have it I didn't use it... I bet it would be delicious if you used it
-Dried fruit (raisins, currants, cranberries, dates, etc) go fantastic with granola but, I read online, should be added individually with your bowl because if it's mixed in with the granola, it causes it to moisten a bit
-Enjoy in a big bowl with some fresh fruit, your favorite milk (I think soy milk + granola = heaven), and a bit of yogurt and thank me later

Chocolate Date Muffins

I found this recipe on the back of the package of dried dates that I had been munching on. Seemed easy and tasty enough, so I scaled it down for 6 muffins, made a bit more changes, and went to town.
Prepare:
-Chop up ~1/2 cup of dates
-Ready 1/2 cup of water for boiling
-Chop 50g (a little less than half a cup) of butter or margarine
-1/4 cup castor sugar
-1 tbsp chopped almonds
-1 egg, beaten
-1/2 tsp vanilla
-1/4 tsp baking soda mixed in 1/4 cup of milk
-1 cup self-raising flour (I didn't have self raising so used this convenient substitution: 1 cup self raising = 7/8 cup regular + 1 1/2 tsp baking powder + 1/2 tsp salt) mixed with 1/4 cup cocoa
-1/2 cup or less chocolate chips
Cook:
-Preheat oven to 210C or 410F (I know, it's hot, but it worked)
-Pour boiling water over dates in a bowl, mix and crush till melted
-Slowly add butter-Wait till butter melts, then add everything else except for the chocolate chips and mix very well
-Fold in chocolate chips-Pour batter into greased muffin tray-Put try in oven, baking for about 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick test works outTips:
-These were great, I don't know if I'd change anything... maybe substitute pecans for the almonds and also use chocolate chunks instead of chocolate chips
-Eat them warm - they're great that way

Banana Bread

Yesterday while walking through the lovely West End Markets, I happened to pass a Vietnamese-bakery stand, where the lady was selling banana bread. I got an instant craving and proceeded to buy several of the ripest bananas I could find in the next stall, eager to bake. Early this morning I went biking and hiking with two friends and, as it was a bit cold and we were hungry and had earned good food, I invited them over for some banana bread. In quick need of a recipe, I searched my favorite site and quickly arrived at this. Well, when a review gets that many ratings, you don't mess around with it. The bread turned out moist and delicious.
Prepare:
-Preheat oven to 350F
-Cream 1/2cup butter with 3/4cup brown sugar in a large bowl-Beat 2 eggs and add to the bowl-Mash 2 cups-worth of ripe bananas (this is a lot more than you'd expect... I'd have anywhere from 5-8 bananas on hand) -Add banana to the liquid mix-In a separate large bowl, sift 1 tsp baking powder, 1 pinch salt, and 2 cups flour-Mix the two together -Put in greased loaf panCook:
-Place in oven and cook for 60 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out dry
-Cool for 10 minutes if you can resist putting it piping hot into your mouth!

Tips:
-I would normally add chocolate chips, since I love chocolate, but felt more like a breakfasty-banana bread than a dessert cake. Adding chocolate chips right at the end would work well
-This turned out amazing but my only complaint would be that it was a tiny bit greasy. I would maybe substitute half or 1/3 the butter for apple sauce
-Creaming the butter and sugar was kind of a pain: leave the butter out for a while before you attempt it
-If banana is too plain for you on its own, the addition of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, or vanilla (a tbsp of vanilla yogurt hand in hand) would go well

Update:
I have made this again with a few modifications and am glad to say they were only improvements! Changes:
-Used unsalted butter instead of salted
-Mixed about 1/3 cup of rolled oats with the flour
-Add dried currants and cranberries in the final mix
-Mixed in a cup 1 tbsp water, 2 1/2 tbsp brown sugar, and 1/4 cup of oats and then spread that on the top of the bread before I put it in the oven. It made it nice and crunchy and delicious on top!

과일빙수 (Kwah-Il BingSu: Fruit Ice Bowl)

During the summer in Korea, these kinds of dishes are a very popular dessert item to refresh and cool down. Sold in most coffee shops, ice cream parlors, and spas, the exact contents vary but usually accord in a few base ingredients. The most common kind is 팥빙수, Pat BingSu, which has a sweet red bean mixed in. Unfortunately, I didn't have that lying around the house. The other really Korean ingredient that is really necessary is 선식, SunSheek, a cereal powder made from tons of different grains, rice, vegetables, and other dried goodies (website in Korean but a pic with all the contents). If you don't feel like purchasing it, it could be substituted for crushed cereal crumbs/crushed granola/etc. Regardless, it's very easy and tasty and a welcome change from the typical bowl of cereal in the morning.
Prepare:
-Peel and dice the fruits that you like/have: I used kiwi, banana, orange, and dried datesCook:
-Crush several cubes of ice, pour into a large bowl-Add fruit
-Add cereal powder on top-Add 1-2 tbsp of yogurt (I used vanilla)
-Mix up and enjoyTips:
-Other fruits that go well would be strawberry (or any berry), peach, pear, nectarine, or (seeded) grapes
-You could sprinkle some cocoa powder on top for a chocolatey taste, or some crushed mint

José

In Minneapolis, there is a famous breakfast joint in the university campus. Al's Diner serves hot, tasty breakfasts to very few customers at a time, while a line of people wait. Biking there on Sunday mornings with my dad and brothers was a nice tradition growing up. One of their tastiest meals was the José: a poached egg and hashbrown medley mashed up with fresh salsa and cheddar. To get hash browns to be the quality and consistency of what's served up in a restaurant can be a complicated process. Mine isn't that hard and the results are scrumptiously decent.
Prepare:
-Boil some potatoes. Don't peel them ahead of time, just give them a nice wash and scrub. Once they're boiled, put them in the fridge or freezer until they are cold.-Grate some cheddar
-Make/prepare some salsa
-Eggs for poaching
Cook:
-Once the potatoes are cold, dice them up to the size that you like. Heat up a pan with a lot of oil (or butter... this is one of the few times I allow myself to cook with butter). Once these stop being clumpy and start being crispy, lower the heat and spread the grated cheese on top, cover
-Poach an egg or two. You can use the method I mentioned before. I happened to recently purchase silicon rubber egg poachers and they are amazing.
-Make a hole in the hashbrowns and put in some salsa. Serve on a plate with the egg on top and some toast on the side and some fresh juice. Enjoy!

Nutella Pancakes with Banana or Coconut

I love chocolate. My mind frame is thus: if I'm eating something sweet, it's pointless if it doesn't have chocolate. As I was getting to sleep last night, I was dreaming about different ways to use Nutella in cooking, to give a rich, chocolatey taste. I decided that in the morning, I would make Nutella pancakes; of course, mixing one of the fruits that was made for chocolate: banana.
Prepare:
-1 cup of flour
-1 tsp of salt
-1 cup of milk (I used soy since I like the flavor. You can also add a spritz of lemon/lime juice to give it a buttermilk-type thing)
-1 banana, sliced
-1 beaten egg
-1 heaping tbsp of Nutella
Cook:
-Sift together flour and salt
-Make a little hole and pour in the beaten egg. Mix-Slowly add the milk, beating with every pour
-Add the Nutella. Mix well, as it's clumpy in the beginning but should even out towards the end
-Cover in saran wrap and put in the fridge for 30-60min to let it thicken a bit. The consistency should be pretty runny but not full-on liquid-In a pan on medium, melt some butter (normally, I'm an olive oil guy but I figured a situation like this called for butter)
-Drop 1/4cup of batter onto the pan, put the bananas on the top-After ~1 min (you should see a bit of smoke on the edges... you can feel firmness) flip it over
Coconut:
I had leftover batter after this morning (the mix makes about 6 pancakes) and so tonight for dessert I decided to try it with coconut.
Prepare:
-Same batter as above
-2 tbsp of coconut
Cook:
-In an unoiled pan, toast the coconut for about 1 minute or 2 until it starts getting brown
-Mix it with the batter and then cook the same as mentioned above

Tips:
-The pancakes weren't that sweet. You could add 1/2cup of sugar to the mix to sweeten it up. Also, chocolate chips would work quite well.
-I am not a syrup fan, so I ate 2 of the banana pancakes with honey and 1 with kiwi on top. Both were delicious
-Make the batter, make a couple pancakes, and then save the batter for later.

Fruit Smoothie

After an early bike ride, there's nothing better than a high sugar, cool, tasty smoothie for breakfast. Smoothies are pretty easy to do: just throw in whatever you have lying around. But I think it's important to keep a balance... crisp-sweet (watermelon, pear) plus tart sweet (citrus), and some milk or yogurt for richness and consistency. Anyway:
2 mandarins, seeded
half a carrot, grated
1 kiwi
1 banana
some fresh lime
soy milk
iceThen blend well, check for taste. If it's not sweet enough for your liking, honey is a good additive. Also a bit of vanilla can accent creamier tastes like banana, if you were

Poached Egg Breakky

For the last 4 or so years of independence, come the weekend I would always reward my lazy and free mornings with a nice breakfast. This breakfast was, without fail, 2 sunny-side-up eggs, several pieces of bread, some cheese, tomato, and cucumber. That was until a month ago when, on a trip with some friends, Ben taught me about the gloriousness of poached eggs. See, I chose sunny-side-up eggs as a vehicle for the delivery of runny yolky goodness. But they could break upon landing, or get stuck to the bottom of the pan and never come out, not to mention they required oil. Well, poached eggs is an easier and healthier delivery system that I have come to integrate into my weekly meals.
Prep:
I use a small frying pan, since it is wide and short, and fill it with water and a splash of vinegar. I hate vinegar but it's not used here for the taste; rather, to help keep the eggs from being stuck together. Place it on medium heat.
Prepare a plate with some bread and veggies that you like.I like to dig a little hole in my bread, if possible, for better settling of the eggs. I also have cheese on the side to eat with the white of the egg.
Once the water is plenty hot, that is small bubble but not huge ones, I crack the egg in a little saucer.
Then, you need to carefully and slowly slide the egg into the pan. The slowness allows for it to keep together. If there are too many bubbles, it can break up the egg. So lift up the pan for a second, drop the egg in, then place it back down.
Wait as long as you like, pending on how runny you like your eggs. I wait about 45 seconds since I love them runny. Get the eggs out w/ a colander-ladle (whatever that's called) and place it on your bread. I always pray for 2 perfect eggs but sadly this doesn't happen as often as I'd like. I interpret the integrity of the eggs as a sign of the day... with two messed up eggs being especially forboding. Looks like today will be only okay.