Roll 'em Up!

Breakfast Rolls

A little fun breakfast treat this week - French Toast Rolls! It's okay to treat yourself once in awhile with a "kid-friendly" kinda dish. These are simple to make and you can make this gluten-free by stopping at Whisked Gluten-Free on Ellesmere and picking up their sandwich bread! It's perfect for these hand-held eats! You can also experiment with different spreads and fruit - like strawberries or try fresh local Ontario peaches that are in season right now!

French Toast Rolls

Ingredients:

1-2 Bananas, cut in half, then sliced lengthwise
8 Slices of Gluten-free Sandwich Bread, crusts off, and slightly flattened
2 Eggs
1/4 Cup Almond Milk
Chocolate Almond Spread (or you can use any nut spread...yes Nutella works!)
Butter 
Cinnamon
Maple Syrup

1. In a shallow bowl, whisk your eggs and milk together.
2. Spread each slice of bread with the chocolate spread and place 1-2 slices of banana on top. Roll the slice up tightly and dip in the egg mixture.
3. In a non-stick pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat and place the rolls in the pan and cook until golden brown on all sides.
4. Remove from pan and dust with cinnamon and serve immediately with maple syrup as dip!

Frittata Friday

Frittata, Frittata!

Eggs are so versatile, but most people tend on eating them the same way all the time. Why not try making a power packed frittata to start off your morning?! All you need is a few ingredients and a non-stick, oven-proof pan and you are good to go!

 

 



Ingredients:

10 Free-range Chicken Eggs (preferably)
2 Roma Tomatoes, cored, diced
1/2 lb Pastrami, roughly chopped
1/2 Cup Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Small Red Onion, cut in half, thinly sliced
Butter
Sea Salt and Ground Pepper

 

1. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, then add in the tomatoes, pastrami, and half of the parmesan cheese.
2. In a large, non-stick pan (one that is oven-proof as well), melt the butter over medium heat and cook out the onions until they have soften. This shouldn't take longer than 5 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper.
3. Turn the heat to medium-high and stir in the egg mixture to combine all the ingredients, stirring occasionally until the eggs have set.
4. Sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on top and transfer to the oven that is has the broiler setting on. Allow to cook for a further 3 minutes in the oven to brown the top and melt the cheese.
5. Remove from the oven and using a rubber spatula, loosen the edges and slide the frittata onto a cutting board. Cut into quarters and serve!

Sweet Breakfast Hash

Breakfast Hash!

Most important meal of the day - breakfast! Try combining these whole foods together into an awesome sweet breakfast hash. Sweet Potato, Kale and Eggs - yes! Kick your morning off with this plateful of power!

 

Ingredients:

2 Sweet Potatoes, peeled, rinsed and diced small
1 Shallot, peeled, and finely diced
2 Cups Kale, washed well, stalks removed, leaves torn into bite-size pieces
1/2 Tsp Cumin
1/2 Tsp Paprika
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
2-3 Eggs, free-range preferred (depends on how hungry you are)
Butter or Bacon Fat (any fat to cook the hash that you prefer)

1. In a large skillet, heat the butter (or other fat) over medium-high heat. Add in the potatoes, shallots, and spices.
2. Stir the mixture to help cook evenly, takes about 15 minutes for the potatoes to cook through and become soft. Add in the kale. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Season the hash with salt and pepper to your liking. Turn off and remove from heat to rest.
4. In a separate skillet, cook your eggs - sunny side up or over easy are the most common ways of preparing eggs to go with breakfast hash.
5. Place the hash on a plate then top with your eggs, grab some Sriracha and enjoy!
6. You can always kick these up a notch by adding a pinch of cayenne pepper, and even crisping some bacon and mixing it in with the hash - experiment until you find your favourite combo!

3 Ingredient Hot Wings!

Wing Season is Here!

Okay, not the official season, but hockey is back for the season and almost everyone enjoys some wings while watching the game. These are the simplest wings ever, crispy even though they are not fried, and you can control the heat for anyone you may be making them for. They are paleo-ish - Frank's Red Hot isn't exactly abiding by all the rules, but it's okay to indulge once in awhile; everything in moderation :)

 

Ingredients:

2-3lbs of Chicken Wings (or more if you want)
Frank's Red Hot Sauce, the original
Unsalted Butter

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the chicken wings on it - make sure they don't touch. Heat the oven to 375 and place in oven for approximately 20-30 minutes, until cooked through and skin is crispy.
2. While the wings are baking, in a small pot, melt equal parts hot sauce and butter for a medium heat wing. Continually stir the sauce until it is heated through, and it won't split. If you want the wings hotter, add more hot sauce than butter; and for mild wings, add less hot sauce.
3. When the wings are done, place them in a large bowl and then pour the sauce over them. Evenly coat the wings before serving.

 

COOOOOKIIIEEEES!!

COOOOOKIIIEEEES!

Easy, chewy, chocolate chip cookies. These simple to make and quick to bake ... and are even faster to disappear!

Ingredients:

3 1/4 Cups of Ground Almonds (aka Almond Flour)
1 1/2-2 Cups of Good Chocolate Chips or Cacao Nibs (depends on how much chocolate you want in them!)
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Flaked Sea Salt, crumbled
1 Tsp Pure Vanilla 
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
1/2 Cup Butter, melted
2 Eggs

1. In a bowl add in the ground almonds, baking soda, and sea salt. Give it a stir to combine. In a separate bowl, add in the eggs,butter, maple syrup, and vanilla - whisk until completely mixed.
2. Stir in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Then add in the chocolate chips and/or cacao nibs. The result should be a very wet cookie dough. Place this bowl in the fridge for approximately 15-20 minutes for the dough to become solid.
3. Preheat the oven to 375F. Line your baking trays with parchment paper and remove the dough from the fridge. Use a small 1oz ice cream scoop to shape the cookies. Make sure you leave space between each cookie scoop. If you do not have a cookie scoop, shape the cookie dough into 1" in diametre balls.
4. Place tray in oven and bake for about 8-10 minutes - be cautious that you do not over-bake the cookies!! At the 8 minute mark, take a peak to see if the bottom of the cookie is golden and the top of the cookie is golden. If it is, then remove from oven; if not, cook for another minute or two. 
5. The cookies will be soft to the touch when they first come out of the oven. Allow to cool, then eat up or store in an air tight container in the fridge...but you will more than likely not need to do that :)

Groovy Granola

GROOVY GRANOLA

This is another great snack idea to have on hand for when you get the munchies. They are, what some call "moreish" - meaning when you start eating it, you want more! The seeds and nuts can be interchanged with any of your favourite nuts or seeds - you can even switch out the cranberries for another favourite dried fruit as well. 

Ingredients
1 Cup Raw & Slivered Almonds
1 Cup Macadamia Nuts
1 Cup Chopped Pecans
1 Cup Unsalted Sunflower Seeds (hulled)
1 Cup Raw Pepitas (Pumpkin Seeds hulled)
1 Cup Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
1 Tbsp Flax Seeds
1/4 Cup Sesame Seeds
1 Cup Organic Dried Cranberries
1/4 Cup Raw Honey
1/4 Cup Butter Unsalted
1/8 Tsp Ground Cloves
1/8 Tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
Cacao Nibs (optional)

Method
In a bowl beat the eggs until they are frothy (they'll have little bubbles in them) and add in the liquid ingredients of coconut milk, vanilla and honey.

1. Pre-heat your oven to 325F. In the meantime, cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper, enough that the paper goes up the sides a bit above the lip of the baking sheet.
2. Combine all the nuts, seeds, coconut flakes, and spices in a large bowl, with the exception of the cranberries and flax seeds.
3. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt together the raw honey and butter, stirring until they are completed melted. Pour the honey-butter mixture into the bowl and stir until well incorporated. Should be sticking together in chunks, no dry bits.
4. Pour the mixture onto the parchment paper and spread it out so it is even allowing for equal baking on all areas.
5. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until slightly brown - you don't want to over bake this! At the 15 minute mark, check on it and give it a bit of a stir to ensure even browning. Add in the dried cranberries and the flax seeds evenly and continue to bake for another 5-10 minutes.
6. Remove the pan from the oven. At this point the granola is still loose enough that you could mix in some cacao nibs if you wish. Allow granola to cool thoroughly before transferring into an airtight container that can be stored at room temperature....if it makes it that far without it going straight into your belly!