Not Fried Chilaquiles

May 15, 2016May 15, 20162 Comments

As a hispanic person in America, I often have to explain to people that I’m not Mexican. People just assume we’re all Mexican and that all our food is the same. It’s not. That’s cool.

Growing up I didn’t really eat Mexican food. Now that I’m marrying a Mexican, I’ve eaten my fair share of Mexican food (and I’m not talking about burritos and carne asada fries). So this brings me to chilaquiles.

Last year, Jesse and I went to Guadalajara to hang out with his family for a few days. That’s where I first tried chilaquiles (you’re probably wondering how I grew up in Southern California and never ate chilaquiles, right? I have no idea).

I had them in a market in Guanajuato for breakfast and roughly 3 hours later, I threw them up at a gas station. All sorts of cute, right?

Needless to say, chilaquiles did not leave a good impression on me. I think those ones were just super greasy and I was sick. It was not a good combination, and I sort of decided I didn’t need to eat chilaquiles again.

But recently, Jesse has been talking about chilaquiles (side note: this is what Jesse does. He gets really excited about making certain dishes until he finally does). He swore to make the most delicious chilaquiles without all the oil (because usually the tortillas are fried). So I said why not?

They were delicious and best of all, I didn’t puke them up. (I’m really selling chilaquiles over here). I liked them so much that he made them again so I could blog about them.

So if you’re looking for a fun, lightened up weekend brunch that is pretty simple (and natural! no canned things!), here’s your go to:

Not Fried Chilaquiles

6-8 corn tortilla
3 Tomatoes
1 Serrano Pepper
3 Chiles de Arbol
2 Cloves of Garlic
Salt to Taste
1 1/2 tablespoons corn/vegetable oil
2 Eggs
Queso Fresco
Diced Onion
Chopped Cilantro
Sour Cream

Preheat oven to 300F. Slice tortillas into strips.

Place on a rack on top of a baking sheet and bake about 20 minutes or until crispy

In the meantime, make your chilaquiles sauce. Boil 3 tomatoes with 1 serrano pepper and 3 chiles de arbol in enough water to cover tomatoes.

Boil until soft (about 15 minutes). Next blend together tomatoes, serrano pepper, chiles and garlic until smooth with 1/2 cup of boiling liquid (discard rest of liquid). In the sauce pan that you used to boil the ingredients, heat one tablespoon of oil. Once hot, carefully pour in the sauce. Let it cook a bit longer until ready to use. At this point, add salt to taste.

Now you can start to assemble. In a pan, heat 1/2 tablespoon of oil. Add crispy tortillas and toss them. Then crack in two eggs and scramble them around the tortillas.

Once the egg is cooked, pour the sauce on top of the tortillas and serve.

Top with fresh chopped onion and cilantro, queso fresco and a dollop of sour cream. Serve with beans if you’d like.

This is enough to feed 2 people a good amount.

A note about spiciness: I like spicy, but not too much. To accommodate my tastes, Jesse only used half the serrano pepper. You can also discard the seeds from the serrano pepper and chile de arbol to make it less spicy. For more heat, add a few more chiles de arbol.

Make chilaquiles! You’ll like them!

What’s your favorite Mexican breakfast dish? I’m a big fan of eggs and beans. This is probably why I had never tried chilaquiles.

Fancy Deconstructed Breakfast Burrito

February 7, 2015February 7, 20155 Comments

It’s been years since I’ve watched cooking competitions like Top Chef, but back in the day, I was an avid watcher. I remember that chefs took a common dish and made it fancy by calling it “deconstructed.”

You know… Deconstructed Peanut Butter and Jelly would be something to the effect of pan fried bread with peanut butter mousse and roasted berries.

Fancy, right?

Deconstructed was all the rage about 10 years ago. Is that trend still happening? I’m not hip enough to keep up with trends, so I’m still doing things “deconstructed.” Hence this deconstructed breakfast burrito.

We all know and love Breakfast Burritos. But I decided to make a healthier (and fancier? That’s open to interpretation) version for your average weekend morning. Jump on the deconstructed train and make this deconstructed breakfast burrito.

It has everything you need: eggs, beans, tortillas and… kale. I know, kale has no business being in a breakfast burrito, but we’re being fancy remember! So here it goes….

Fancy Deconstructed Breakfast Burrito

1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup kale, washed and finely chopped
1 small tomato, diced
1/2 lemon, juice only
salt and pepper to taste
4 eggs
1/4 cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded
1 cup refried beans of choice
2 flour tortillas (I used whole wheat)

Heat olive in a pan on medium heat. Add onions and cook a few minutes until translucent. Add kale and cook a few more minutes (about 2-3). Add tomatoes and cook another minute or so. Season with salt and pepper, then mix in lemon juice. You want it to be a little salty since you’re not adding anything to the eggs.

In the meantime, beat together eggs. Add eggs to pan. Scramble it all together. Set aside.

Heat tortillas (either on a pan or in the microwave a few seconds). Place tortilla on a plate, spread with refried beans, top with scrambled eggs, sprinkle with cheese (about 2 tbsp per tortilla, or more if you want) and serve! You can try to wrap it up or eat it with a fork and knife, if you’re looking to be fancy. Ok let’s be honest. I always thought the deconstructed this was a bunch of crock. But that said, this dish is awesome.

Call it what you want: Burrito? Kale Egg Scramble? A Hot Mess on a Plate?

Whatever you call it, it’s all sorts of tasty and definitely breakfast-worthy!

What’s your favorite fancy breakfast? I love eggs benedict (is that even fancy?)

Healthier Pancake Toppings and Options

August 1, 2014August 2, 20142 Comments

With my series of overindulgent posts as of recent, I feel the need to balance out the calories and cholesterol with something a little bit healthier: Pancakes.

That’s not a joke. I totally think pancakes can be healthy. You just have to know how to do them. As a kid, I hated pancakes. I always thought they tasted funny. Then something magical happened, I tried IHOP’s pancakes and I loved them. That’s when I realized what I hated was Bisquick pancakes. That’s all my mom ever made. Sorry mom, but bisquick is just gross. When I discovered my love of pancakes, I wanted to eat them all the time. While we all know pancakes aren’t always the healthiest breakfast, there are ways to lighted up your pancakes and especially the toppings so they’re still fun and delicious but won’t undo your workout. Here are a few ways to keep your pancakes a little on the healthier side so you can enjoy them guilt-free.

Choose a Better Pancake Base

Pancakes can basically be a carb fest (nothing wrong with that), but if you’re looking to balance your meal, adding protein powder is a great start. I’m a big fan of protein pancakes because the extra protein helps keep you full.

Some of my favorites are:

Vanilla Coconut Protein Pancakes

Pumpkin Protein Pancakes

Banana Protein Pancakes

The fun part of protein pancakes is you can play with different flours and protein powders and find a mix that you love.

If making your own pancakes from scratch isn’t your thing or you’re really not looking to add some extra protein, there are some pancake mixes that are pretty natural and overall healthy. I love Kodiak Cakes, because they’re super easy to make (just add water) and the ingredients are all natural.

You could also go the Paleo Pancake route. It’s not exactly a pancake but still pretty darn tasty.

Lighten Up Your Toppings

When I was younger, I ate the regular old pancake syrup you get at the grocery store. Nowadays, I try to stick with toppings that don’t have any chemicals or artificial sweeteners. Straight up maple syrup is a little too intense for me, so generally I like to mix it up to create different types of syrups and sauces and toppings.

My latest obsession is fruit purees mixed with maple syrup.

I like to puree some fresh peaches and mixed it with maple syrup… about 2 tbsp peach puree + 1 tbsp of maple syrup for one person. You can also just puree the fruit and skip the maple syrup. I tried that with banana (simmered them in water first, but raw works) and it was awesome:

My other favorite combo is plain greek yogurt with maple syrup.

But in general, fruit is a great topping. It helps bulk up the volume without adding as many calories as eating extra pancakes. Berries are always a great addition…

But you can also get creative, like topping your pancakes with persimmon!

Portion Control

I love a big stack of pancakes. Mostly because it looks pretty, but also because it’s fun to eat. But eating 4 or 5 full sized pancakes is a lot. So what I do is I made them smaller! That way I feel like I’m eating a lot but really I’m not.

I generally use a tbsp measurer to prepare my pancakes. Each pancake is composed of 2 tbsp of batter, instead of about 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) which is normal.

In the photo above, the banana slices show how the pancakes are actually pretty small. Despite the fact that the portion size is smaller, I still feel like I’m getting a good amount of pancakes.

I’m all for eating a full stack of pancakes with butter and maple syrup every once a while. But on a normal day basis, I like to keep it a bit lighter. Pancakes can still be enjoyed if you’re trying to stay healthy. It’s just about making sure you make the right choices.

What’s your favorite way to slim down your pancakes?

Breakfast Sliders

July 22, 2014July 22, 20148 Comments

One of my favorite things to do is recreate things I tried in restaurants. A few weeks ago, I met up with a friend for brunch in Long Beach. We shared an appetizer and an entree and sipped bellinis. For our appetizers, we shared some breakfast sliders.

After one bite, I was in love. I mean… biscuits, eggs, bacon, sausage gravy.

Everything you want in breakfast in one delicious bite. I knew I had to recreate them, and so I did.

Breakfast Sliders

1 Recipe for Crazy Good Biscuits
1/2 lb breakfast sausage
1/3 cup flour 3 cups milk (I used low fat)
garlic salt
12 slices of bacon
8 eggs (I used Eggland’s Best)

First make your sausage gravy. Crumble and cook your breakfast sausage in a large skillet or pot. Make sure you buy the kind in the tube, not the links. Once the sausage is almost cooked through, add flour and toss. Cook a few minutes. Stream in milk, slowly, stirring constantly to break up lumps. Add garlic salt to taste. Remember the breakfast sausage is pretty salty on its own so you won’t need too much. Set aside, leave on simmer to keep warm.

Next make your biscuits and cook your bacon until crispy and set aside.

The last step is to cook the egg. Scramble the eggs in a bowl. Pour eggs into a greased, heated skillet. Cover and allow to cook a few minutes until almost cooked through. You’re basically making a big egg pancake that you can slice and fold. Once the eggs have almost set, flip over and cook another few seconds. Remove from heat and slice in half, then slice each half into 1 1/2 – 2 inch thick strips. You should have 10-12 pieces.

Now assemble your sliders. Slice the biscuits in half. On the bottom half, lay some sausage gravy, then take an egg strip and fold in half and place on top of sausage gravy, lay on some bacon and top off with top of biscuit. Repeat until all your sliders are ready. This recipe will make about 10-12 sliders.

These coincided with the fact that Eggland’s Best send me some egg coupons to throw a Brinner Party. These were the perfect appetizer.

So if you’re having a Brinner party or if you just want to have an awesome breakfast-inspired treat, this is it.

ALSO, this is my entry for the Eggland’s Best “Your Best Recipe” contest. Cross your fingers for me, then submit your own recipe!

Here are the contest details:

2014 Eggland’s Best “Your Best Recipe” Recipe Contest:

Visit the Eggland’s Best website to learn about their 2014 Eggland’s Best “Your Best Recipe” Contest
Eggland’s Best will be accepting original recipes through their website until July 31^st
One Grand Prize Winner will receive a $10,000 cash prize and a year supply of EB eggs
Category winners will receive a cash prize of $1,000 and a six-month supply of EB eggs

Pretty awesome, right? Who doesn’t want to win eggs and money?

Speaking of which, one more day to enter the Eggland’s Best giveaway to win some Eggland’s Best Eggs and a $25 Visa gift card! Click here to enter!

What’s your favorite brunch/brinner appetizer??

Banana Protein Pancakes with Persimmon Topping

November 11, 2013February 21, 20149 Comments

I was totally going to start this post apologetically, but then I remembered this article in Huffington Post about the 23 things women should to stop doing. #sorrynotsorry

So instead I’m going to talk about how much I love pancakes, because all of a sudden I’m obsessed. Ok not really, I made them twice. Once pumpkin style and now these guys…

Really what I like about this is how full it keeps me. For someone who often thinks about eating lunch at 11am, these pancakes made me not even think about food until 1pm. Crazy, right? I’m totally pleased.

You should make these. Just saying…

Banana Protein Pancakes with Persimmon Topping

For Pancakes:
2 tbsp buckwheat flour
2 tbsp almond meal
3 tbsp protein powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of ginger
pinch of cinnamon1/2 banana, mashed (about 3 tbsp)
1 egg
4 tbsp milk (or almond milk)*

For Topping:
1 tsp butter
1 persimmon, diced
2 tbsp rum
pinch of ginger
pinch of cinnamon

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add wet ingredients and stir to combine. Heat a greased skillet over medium heat. Spoon 2 tbsp of batter to form each pancakes. Once the top starts to bubble, flip over and cook an additional minute. Plate and set aside.

Melt 1 tsp butter in a small skillet. Add persimmon and spices cook a few minutes, tossing occasionally. Add rum and stir. The liquid will steam and sizzle. Once it’s mostly evaporated, turn off and pour on top of pancakes. Serve with maple syrup (optional). This recipe makes 4-5 pancakes for 1 person.

*Note: the amount of milk necessary might vary depending on what type of protein powder you use. I used Spiru-tein which has a thickener in it. If you use a different protein powder, you might need less liquid.

Just to throw it out there, this persimmon topping would be totally awesome on the Pumpkin Protein Pancakes I made last week. Just saying… get your antioxidant on with pumpkins and persimmons.

Ok so enough about pancakes…

I go to Peru in two days and I’m totally not ready. So much work has to be done. I haven’t packed. I’m not feeling ready.

This always happens to me. I have mini anxiety attacks anytime I go anywhere. Weird right?

How do you prep for a trip? Also, what’s your favorite pancake combo because I’m always looking for new tasty ways to switch up breakfast!

Pumpkin Protein Pancakes

November 6, 201310 Comments

Let me just tell you… these pancakes made my day magical.

I started the day by running with Ms. Allison from Sweet Potato Bites. That lady is faster than me (check out her running page!), so it’s awesome to keep up with her!

After the run, I wanted a good breakfast. For the past few months, I’ve had a smoothie for breakfast pretty much everyday, but today I wanted something warm and Fall-like. And we all know… Fall = Pumpkin.

All season, I’ve been avoiding pumpkin flavored foods, because honestly most of it just tastes fake. I’m probably the only person in the world that doesn’t love the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks.

So this morning, in my quest for a warm Fall breakfast, I had a bright idea. Pumpkin pancakes with REAL pumpkin inside and on top.

Pumpkinpalooza in a pancake.

So I started with an amazing stack of pancakes and then topped them with a mixture of pumpkin puree, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon and mace (with some water to thin it out). Seriously delicious. Please try it. But first to make the pancakes…

Pumpkin Protein Pancakes

2 tbsp buckwheat flour (spelt or all purpose works too)
2 tbsp almond meal
3 tbsp protein powder (I used Spiru-tein Vanilla Protein)
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of ginger
pinch of mace
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 egg
4 tbsp pumpkin puree (plus extra for topping)
2-3 tbsp almond milk**

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl, stir to combine. Add dry ingredients and mix together.

Heat a large skillet and grease (with butter or non-stick spray). Scoop 2 tbsp of batter to form each pancake. Cook until it starts to bubble, then flip and cook an additional minute.

Serve with a mixture of pumpkin, maple syrup and spices or your favorite pancake topping. This recipe makes 4 pancakes.

**The amount of almond milk might vary. Spiru-tein protein powder has some sort of thickening agent in it that makes it thicken up, so if you use a different protein powder you might need less liquid. Try adding a tbsp of liquid first and if you need more to thin out the batter, add more. If your batter is too thin/runny, you’ll get flat pancakes so you want the batter to be a little thick.

I seriously loved these pancakes. The topping reminded me of Trader Joe’s Pumpkin butter. Amazing. But what I really love is that you get all the awesome health benefits of pumpkin, that you definitely don’t get from a Pumpkin Spice Latte (p.s. totally not trying to hate on the PSL! It’s just not for me).

I’m seriously considering making a few batches of these and having them the next few mornings, reheated. If they taste great reheated, I’ll let you know.

So tell me, what’s your favorite way to eat pumpkin this season?

Aside from this healthy version, I love love love this Creamy Pumpkin Pie, but also Pumpkin Pecan Bundt Cake and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. One day I won’t want to eat sugary things every.single.day…

P.S. 1 week til Peru!!!!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

July 2, 20135 Comments

What’s your go-to blog for recipes? We all have them, because these days… it’s so much easier to Google than to search through an array of cookbooks.

Me and half of America have Smitten Kitchen as our go-to blog for recipes. I haven’t made too many things, because most of the time I like inventing things but I’ve made a few and every one is great.

This past week I was dogsitting…

and had a massive zucchini from the garden to use. First I made an zucchini mozzarella bake, which I will tell you about soon, but there I still had about 1/3 of the zucchini left. I’m telling you this thing was the size of a small animal (probably roughly the size of the two pugs above). I wish I had taken a picture of it.

So with 1/3 of an enormous zucchini sitting on the counter as two pugs stared at me, naturally, I turned to Smitten Kitchen for direction. Now, I have to tell you… I’m a terrible person. I never actually read her blog posts. I only ever look at the pictures and recipes. Does anyone else do that?

We all have different motivations for following blogs, right? For me, Smitten Kitchen is all about pictures and recipes.

So back to Zucchini. I made zucchini bread, because I was feeling traditional.

I usually never do this, but I actually followed this recipe pretty much to the T (but omited the nuts and added chocolate chips). I chose to add chocolate chips because for some reason chocolate and zucchini sounds like a natural combination.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

from Smitten Kitchen

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini*
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips

*Note: I didn’t measure the zucchini so I actually think I added more like 3 cups

Line two loaf pans with parchment paper. Pre-heat oven to 350F.

In a bowl, beat together eggs, oil and sugar. Once combined, add zucchini and vanilla extract. Stir to combine. Add dry ingredients and chocolate chips. Stir until just combined. Pour batter into two loaf pans.

Bake about an hour (mine took about an hour and 10 minutes, remember all ovens are different).

Allow to cool completely. Then remove from pan (parchment paper makes it super easy to pull out of the pan). Slice and serve.

I took these two loaves to work and they were gone in a day. That’s probably because I ate half of it on my own. It was pretty delicious. The loaves are sort of dense, but super moist, which is always appreciated.

Normally I hate chocolate chips in quick breads, but this was fantastic. If you ever put chocolate chips in my banana bread or pancakes, we won’t be friends anymore, but in zucchini bread… bring it on!

So there you have it. Sometimes you need a go-to blog for a recipe.

What’s your go-to blog for recipes? Are there any blogs you read solely for pictures and recipes?

How to Have a Fried Chicken and Waffles Party

June 11, 2013June 11, 201318 Comments

Chicken and waffles are one of those food combinations that have a cult following. In Los Angeles, Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles is an institution, and I’m pretty sure Lay’s makes a Chicken and Waffles flavored chips.

I remember having Roscoe’s once in high school, but I don’t remember if I tried the chicken and the waffles together. I’m pretty sure I ate them separately. That’s clearly not the “right” way to eat them.

Like most things I find intriguing, I wanted to try making my own chicken and waffles. But let’s be honest, frying chicken is not something I’m going to take lightly. I wasn’t going to just make 2 pieces of chicken, 2 waffles and call it a day. No no. This was my first time frying chicken. It was going to be an event. And thus the Chicken and Waffles party was born.

The first thing you need for an event is guests, so I recruited this crew to be my chicken and waffles testers.

So if you’re like me, and you feel the need to make chicken and waffles an event, here’s a how.

What You’ll Need:

Chicken: I used drumsticks and thighs
Peanut Oil for frying
Buttermilk for the chicken (and the waffles)
Flour, paprika, salt and pepper for dredging the chicken
Yeast, Milk, Eggs, Flour, Sugar, Salt and Butter for the Waffles
Maple Syrup or just pancake syrup
Plate, forks, knives, napkins
Beer. Lots of beer. And ice to keep it cold.

First things first. You have to convince people that you are an awesome cook and that your chicken and waffles will be amazing. I suggest creating invites to get people excited (don’t see how they wouldn’t be, also don’t tell them you’ve never tried frying chicken before). I used Evite, because I’m a nerd. But you can also e-mail, text or call your friends to invite them. Make sure they RSVP so you know how much to make.

I estimated 3 pieces of chicken per person and at least 3 waffles per person. My worst fear is someone leaving my house hungry.

A day or two before your event buy all the things you need (see list above).

The night before the event, start your waffles.

I used Smitten Kitchen’s Essential Raised Overnight Waffles.

They were amazing. I absolutely recommend them!

But because I’m a fiend for feeding people, I figured one waffle recipe for 8 people wasn’t enough (I was right). So instead of doubling the recipe, I used a recipe a friend shared with me (made day of). It was oh so buttery and tasty.

Day of…

Set up your table. Dress it up, dress it down. Always include fresh flowers.

Start making the chicken. Let me preface this by saying this was my first time making fried chicken. I did A LOT of research. After reading the million ways to make the “perfect” fried chicken, I decided to keep it simple. I pretty much used this recipe from AllRecipes but didn’t use their method. My method was to make sure the oil wasn’t too hot and I kept turning it for even golden-goodness all around.

Frying the chicken is the most time consuming part, so start early (depending on the size of your skillet and how much chicken you make it’ll determine how long it will take).

First drown your chicken in buttermilk and let it sit there for a few minutes. Then put about 3 cups of flour in a bag with 1 tbsp each of paprika, salt and pepper (more salt if you’d like, mine wasn’t salty).

Transfer a piece of buttermilk soaked chicken into the flour bag, toss around. Place chicken on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Repeat until all the pieces of chicken are covered in the flour/buttermilk mixture. Note: the amount of chicken you make will determine how much flour you need. If you need to make more, just remember the ratios above (1 cup flour = 1 tsp spice, feel free to increase the spice).

Let the chicken sit and the coating get paste-like as you heat the oil. Fill a large (I used 12″) cast iron skillet about half way full of oil. Turn on heat to medium and let the oil get hot.

I didn’t use a thermometer. I used the flour trick. What’s the flour trick? Sprinkle some flour into the oil. If it starts to bubble your ready to fry. Keep the flame at about medium. Once the oil is hot, add a few pieces of chicken to the skillet. You don’t want to crowd the pan but you should be able to fit about 4-5 pieces in there. Fry chicken, turning every 3 minutes about 14 minutes for drumsticks and 18 minutes for large thighs.

Cut through one to make sure it’s cooked through so you know your estimated cooking time from now on. Place chicken on a paper towel lined baking sheet and put in a 200 degree oven to keep warm and crisp.

Repeat until you’re done making your chicken.

Next make your waffles. If you’re using Smitten Kitchen’s recipe, now is the time to mix in the 2 eggs and baking soda. Or mix together your waffle recipe of choice! Cook your waffles in your waffle iron.

I borrowed my sister’s waffle iron so that I had two going at the same time. It made the process faster. If you’re making waffles for a crowd, keep them warm and crisp in the 200 Degree oven by putting them on a baking sheet IN A SINGLE LAYER (I didn’t do that and totally got soggy waffles. Sad face.).

Now that your chicken and waffles are made. You’re ready to eat. Pile a platter high of chicken

and another of waffles, and don’t forget the syrup!

And your table will be ready for a crowd to dig in!

(Obviously they all had to wait while you took pictures of the table setting)

Now sit around, pass the waffles

and the chicken

And eat them how you like best, don’t be scared to use your fingers or smother everything in maple syrup.

If you have left overs, don’t worry. Reheat it all in the oven in a single layer and it’ll taste delicious the next day too!

Thanks to David, Talia, Rachel, Marco, Allison, Joe and Jesse (especially Jesse for being my co-chef) for having chicken and waffles with me! You guys are the best! Thanks for testing out my food and being all around pleasant company!

Ok so have I convinced you? When are you throwing a chicken and waffles party?

I would totally do it again!

Strawberry Basil Gin & Tonic and The Weekend

April 28, 201321 Comments

After a long week, sometimes you need a drink. This week was pretty rough. On Thursday, I pulled a muscle in my lower back while working out. Someone suggested I have a drink to relax the muscles. Worth a try.

I’m not a big drinker, but I love a good gin and tonic. And you know me, I love to spice things up. So I decided to give give it a few little tweeks and this is what I came up with:

Strawberry Basil Gin and Tonic

2 oz gin
2 strawberries, sliced1-2 basil leaves, chopped
4-6 oz tonic water
twist of lime

Muddle together the strawberries and basil. Add the gin and mix together. Pour over ice. Squeeze in some lime juice, top with tonic water and serve.

Serving it in a mason jar is totally ok. This is about relaxing. Mason jars are laid back. They’re also for hipsters or people who are too cheap to buy real glasses. Glasses are also allowed. They’re fancier.

Either way, get your sip on.

So that was Friday.

Saturday, I met up with Allie from Sweet Potato Bites. We realized we live like 2 miles away from each other and thought we should probably meet up for a doughnut.

Because that’s what foodies do. So we headed to Sidecar Doughnuts and I had a tasty yeast doughnut with chocolate and salt.

Sooo good. Allie was awesome! I’m excited to have made friends with a cool blogger. After our 2 hour chat session, I headed to a thrift shop where I bought exciting things for my upcoming Chicken and Waffle party.

You heard that right. Chicken and Waffles party. It’s going to be epic. I’ll tell you more about it when it rolls around.

Sunday, was also awesome. Well that’s today. Jesse and I are celebrating our 1.5 versary, because we’re cool like that. So we had brunch at Public Kitchen in The Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood.

I bought a Travel Zoo deal for brunch for two. While it was nice scenery, and the bathrooms were awesome…

Brunch was meh. It ended up costing $55 for a glorified continental breakfast. It probably doesn’t help that I don’t really like buffets. I’d much rather just get a plate of food. Jesse and I both don’t eat enough to feel like buffets are worth it. Nothing was omg-amazing-must-have. But oh well. It was still a nice time.

After brunch, we headed back to OC. Jesse needed to work and I did arts and crafts…

Now we’re enjoying cucumber-basil water and trying to figure out what to have for dinner (or am, while Jesse works).

Overall, it’s been a great weekend. Can’t complain, not even about the fact that my back hurts. Maybe I need another drink? What do you think?

What was the highlight of your weekend?

The EBA: Egg Bacon Avocado Breakfast Sandwich

February 9, 20139 Comments

I love breakfast. It’s seriously the best meal out there. If I could have brunch out every day, I’d be totally happy. But sometimes you need to save money and calories. Tomorrow, I’m having Sunday Brunch out with friends. So making something special at home that hits the spot was the right way to go.

This says it all.

According to Facebook, you all love runny yolks as much as I do. So tomorrow morning… or really right now… save yourself a few bucks and make this delightful breakfast creation.

EBA: Egg Bacon Avocado Breakfast Sandwich

1 slice of bacon
1 egg
1/4 avocado, sliced
2 pieces of bread

Fry the bacon in a small skillet over medium flame until desired level of crispiness. In the meantime, toast your bread and slice your avocado. Remove bacon from pan and place on a paper towel, once cooled, break in half so you have two pieces.

Wipe off some of the bacon grease from the skillet. Turn flame on med/low and crack egg into pan. Once the white part has set enough for you to flip it, flip the egg and cook an additional minute (or more if you’re blasphemous and don’t like runny yolks). Transfer egg onto 1 slice of bread. On the other side, lay slices of avocado then bacon.

Put together and enjoy!

I swear the runny yolk is what makes this so amazing. Or maybe it’s the bacon. Or the avocado…

You’d think that based on the number of desserts I made I would be all about sweet breakfast items, but no. I generally prefer savory breakfast foods.

What about you? Do you prefer savory or sweet breakfast? What’s your favorite breakfast/brunch menu item?

Foodologie

A Blog about Balancing Health with a Constant Desire to Eat Cake

Tag: Brunch

Not Fried Chilaquiles

Not Fried Chilaquiles

Fancy Deconstructed Breakfast Burrito

Fancy Deconstructed Breakfast Burrito

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Lighten Up Your Toppings

Portion Control

Breakfast Sliders

Breakfast Sliders

Banana Protein Pancakes with Persimmon Topping

Banana Protein Pancakes with Persimmon Topping

Pumpkin Protein Pancakes

Pumpkin Protein Pancakes

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Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

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Day of…

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Strawberry Basil Gin and Tonic

The EBA: Egg Bacon Avocado Breakfast Sandwich

EBA: Egg Bacon Avocado Breakfast Sandwich