Breakfast

activia harvest picks

by spabettie on February 15, 2012

in Breakfast,daily smoothie,Dessert,product review,recipes,snacks,Vegan

One of the aspects of the foodie 100 that I am really excited about is the author program, where we have opportunities to work with brands and new product.

One of my favorite parts of being a nurse to my dad recently? Feeding him good food!
I have been making fresh green juice for him each morning, and he likes it!

He has been enjoying yogurt lately, too, so when Activia and Foodie offered to send me the new Harvest Picks flavors, I knew I could make some good eats for Dad.

New Activia Harvest Picks is a deliciously fruity and silky smooth yogurt.
You will enjoy a Harvest of real fruit in every silky spoonful.

Adding fresh fruit. granola, coconut and chia seeds to the Harvest Picks peach flavor made a tasty and filling parfait for Dad’s breakfast each day this week. He said the peach is his favorite flavor, describing it as fluffy, smooth and sweet. I tried to get him to draw more pictures…

Yesterday’s breakfast was a Harvest Picks Smoothie:

I juiced fresh kale, apple, ginger and spinach, then blended it with one Harvest Picks strawberry flavor. The yogurt sweetened the juice and made a filling snack to go with our standard two cups of coffee

and a muffin.

I used the Harvest Picks mixed berries flavor to make muffins – fluffy, fruity and filling. Add crumb topping gives a crunchy finish, while the yogurt makes them chewy and delicious. These muffins got rave reviews – I’ll be making them again, maybe peach?

mixed berry oatmeal muffins with crumb topping – see muffin recipe here.

If you follow me on twitter, you may have seen some #Glam tweeting going on recently. We have been having some fun chats – the chat from last Monday is still going on, if you’d like to join in:

Compensation was provided by Activia via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of spabettie and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Activia.

baileys and black tea and french toast

by spabettie on February 14, 2012

in Breakfast,cocktails,Gluten Free,recipes,Valentines Day,Vegan

I have told you about the time we were able to get almost the whole first class cabin of a flight to change their drink order to Baileys and coffee. Baileys and coffee was also a standard mid morning indulgence when we were snowed in for three weeks a few years back. We’d go on walks in the snow, come back home, start a fire and enjoy a coffee.

I have a new favorite Baileys drink!

Baileys and black tea.

Served in the ceramic version of my favorite New York deli cup. Everything tastes better in the New York deli cup.

Very easy, really. Not even a recipe.

I brewed my favorite black tea. I added a couple shots of my homemade Baileys to it.

Mmm, this is my newest obsession. I may have to wait until Saturday to enjoy this as a Valentines breakfast… and I’ll have to wait until my nursing shift is over, but we will have this with breakfast.

We will also have french toast.

You can just go ahead and make an extra cup of Baileys and tea, then use part of it for the french toast batter. Then, you know, enjoy the rest. Cheers!

baileys and black tea french toast

dairy, egg and gluten free, vegan

makes six pieces

1/2 container (6 ounces) silken tofu
2 shots Baileys Irish Cream*
1/3 cup steeped black tea
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or vanilla
6 pieces your favorite gluten free bread

*substitute Baileys (and tea) for your choice of milk – I have made this with coconut milk

Combine all ingredients in food processor. Thin with more liquid as necessary (silken tofu varies in consistency). Pour into shallow bowl, dip bread pieces into batter and cook on a griddle over medium heat, a minute or two on each side, until cooked through and golden.

Serve with coconut spread (or butter), maple syrup and fresh fruit. Earth Balance coconut spread melts just like butter, and is so tasty good.

Being mainly gluten free and vegan, I used to think french toast was just not going to be. Oh how I love french toast – and it’s one thing that reminds me of great breakfasts shared with Grandpa Z.

I can once again make french toast – this is as good as any I’ve ever had. Great for a Valentines, or the Saturday following…

Happy Valentines Day!

cooler cleanse

by spabettie on February 10, 2012

in Breakfast,daily juice,Gluten Free,product review,Vegan

I recently finished another cleanse, this one was three days, plus a week of raw eating my own meals after. This way of eating is so good for me, makes me feel good and extremely energetic.

After we celebrate Valentines and finish up all the pink treats, I am doing another one. I will be doing this one, again.

Cooler cleanse. I love the way this is designed, and I love the juice – all delicious! You choose a three day or a five day cleanse, and you are sent a variety of juices and a cooler (cute cooler, I use it all the time!). There are six juices a day, each bottle with a number on the lid, 1-6. The cleanse is planned out to be consumed by number, and these are the daily choices:

1) sweet greens

2) grapefruit & mint, pineapple ginger or watermelon lime

3) essential green

4) young coconut water or spicy lemonade

5) essential red

6) almond nut milk or brazil nut milk

The essential greens? There are three pounds of greens in every bottle.

The pineapple ginger is amazing – it’s a flavor I make often anyway, so its good to know I’m making good combinations on my own.

The sweet greens and the essential reds are great, and I looked forward to them. They are a great way to start the day and get through the afternoon.

Finishing the day with a nut milk felt soothing and relaxing. These people know what they’re doing.

The watermelon lime tastes like summer. Makes me want summer.
I cannot wait for summer.

The young coconut water is one of the best flavors I have tasted in a while, of anything. It was amazing, and as weird as this will sound, tasted like cereal. I want to buy coolers full of this one flavor, if they let me. A delicious flavor that was definitely a favorite of the week. The most accurate way I can describe it is a tasty comfort cereal flavor.

SO good.

I have never tasted anything like it. I’m not excited to drink other coconut juice now…

Many of my readers already know I love to juice and cleanse. If you want to know my reasoning and experiences (and see a fun pineapple pepper!), please read this.

For a detailed FAQ / ‘your questions answered’, please read this. If you have any questions, please ask.

I love my juicer, I got a new one a couple months ago (details on that soon!). With as much juicing as I do, I have gotten into quite a groove with it all – from prepping the produce to juicing to cleaning the juicer, I can get it all done within 20 minutes at the most. I know a common complaint is cleaning the juicer, heck, for some it is “dragging it in from the garage”. A cleanse like this is a great alternative to doing it yourself and saving time.

I realize the price is out of range of many daily food budgets, and I already know this will be something I splurge on, plan and save for. There are times in life (like mine, right now) where having everything planned and done and ready for you is a really good thing. With my days being non stop and completely packed from 6am to 9pm these days, I welcome this. It is quick, convenient, portable (cooler! keeps it cool!), and completely nutritious.

I can’t wait to do it again!

POST SPONSORED BY COOLER CLEANSE. MY POSITIVE VIEWS OF JUICING AND THIS CLEANSE IS UNBIASED.

saffron doughnuts with rosewater icing

February 8, 2012

Here I am with another pink and yellow dessert. I have had the flavors of this doughnut in my head for a while. I couldn’t wait to taste it, and I have to say, they are as good as I imagined they would be. These will be a unique and decadent Valentines breakfast or dessert [...]

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tahini almond date bites

January 27, 2012

I have a new addiction. It’s Yelp. I’m checking in everywhere. All the time. To see my daily ranking go up, to collect badges and Dukedoms. Yes, I am a Duchess now. Do Duchii wear crowns? Because I’d like to wear a crown. There are some actual benefits to Yelping – I’ve been invited to [...]

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cuban breakfast scramble

January 4, 2012

I ate some plantains on vacation. A lot of plantains. Now that we are back home, I am recreating some of the flavors I enjoyed last month. I have some fun recipe ideas I cannot wait to share. I’ve never really been a fan of scrambled eggs. Honestly, I’ve not been a big fan of [...]

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peanut butter banana fruit roll

November 11, 2011

Two of Basil’s favorite foods. While I was making these, he was walking through the kitchen, his nose pointed up like Snoopy, sniffing sniffing sniffing… I let him lick the spatula and he was SO happy: So, this isn’t really a recipe – two ingredients, two appliances, more than two hours… I made a small [...]

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blueberry pumpkin hemp muffins

September 28, 2011

I’m glad most of you liked the birds – those guys were fun to photograph. I still look at the photos and laugh – the bold guy in front is just so cute. Yesterday I was up early as usual, and had a craving for a muffin for my birthday breakfast. I have been doing [...]

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fennel & beet blend

September 14, 2011

Did you know fennel root is heart shaped? I juiced this licorice flavored vegetable with our juice this morning – continuing with the unique flavors we are enjoying lately. I juiced the four stalks and part of the bulb, giving the juice a fresh spicy flavor. It produces a fair amount of liquid, similar to [...]

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vida vegan deliciousness

September 6, 2011

it has been a while since I’ve participated in What I Ate Wednesday! this week it will be a vegan, gluten free and raw theme, sharing all the amazing food from the Vida Vegan Conference weekend. the Vida Vegan conference was about so much more than food, and I cannot adequately find words to describe [...]

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