FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Homemade Granola

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Homemade Granola in Mason Jar

I’ve been a recipe brainstorming machine lately, trying to come up with the perfect mango recipe for the National Mango Board‘s newest mango cookbook.  I thought of the perfect cocktail.  I consulted with my favorite bartender.  And then…

Homemade Granola Ingredients

I found out they were eliminating the cocktail section of the book.  I was with a brand new bottle of gin and I was bummed.  Things could have been worse. But I quickly morphed my mango green tea cocktail into a dessert.

I whipped up some mango mousse, added green tea simple syrup {which tasted divine}, and took a bite of the most disappointing dessert ever.  I put my creation in the fridge and went about my day.

Homemade Granola

When I returned home I went straight to the fridge {as I often do} and was hungry enough to take a bite of the mousse.  I had a lightbulb moment.  This wasn’t a good dessert because it wasn’t sweet enough, strong enough.  But it had the potential to be an awesome breakfast.

Mango Mousse with Homemade Granola 2

I whipped up some mousse sans green tea syrup.  I whipped up some homemade granola.  I came to the realization homemade granola knocks the socks off of store bought granola.  And I successfully combined the granola with the mousse to make a super yum mango mousse breakfast parfait!

Array

A Good Morning Habit

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Breakfast Green Smoothie

For the past four-ish months or so, I’ve been a weekday smoothie breakfast drinker.  I’ve got the quickness down to a science, so I never have an excuse not to devote the six required minutes it takes to start my day off right.

Chia Seeds in Smoothie

It starts with a freezer stocked with various frozen fruits and veggies.  I usually have an assortment of spinach, kale, strawberries, cherries, blueberries, mangos, and pineapple.  And then some chia seeds (or flax or hemp seeds).

Blendtec Smoothie

I fill a Blendtec with 10 ounces of warm water (yep warm!), 1/2 cup of frozen greens, 1-1/2 cups of frozen fruit, 1 tablespoon of chia seeds, and let the blender do its thing.  The warm water keeps the juice from turning into sorbet.  Some of my fav combos are spinach-strawberries-mangos-chia and kale-blackberries-cherries-pineapple-chia.

Transition Breakfast

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Poached Eggs and Bacon

Wow, guys!  Yesterday was the last day at my traditional construction job.  And today I get to dabble in the feeling of zero professional obligation.  Though I’m quickly realizing there isn’t a switch – it will take some time to mentally distance myself from projects I’ve been so deeply vested in.  There is a sense of calm that comes with letting go.  Today marks the beginning of transition.

Fresh Plus Austin

And being someone who fully believes in starting things off “right”, the first breakfast of my transition period needed to be perfectly me.  I threw on some cozy sweats, embraced the arrival of Austin chill, and leisurely walked through my neighborhood to grab a cup of coffee and some bacon.

Upon my return, I slowly cooked the bacon over medium-low heat and used Alton Brown’s instructions for poached eggs.  This transition breakfast was delightful.

Perfectly Cooked Bacon

So what’s the plan?  In a little over a week, I will begin my new professional journey as the construction and facilities manager for a local real estate company that owns and operates properties and restaurants (like Uchi!).  This is an opportunity that combines my professional and personal passions and one that I never even thought to dream of, let alone land.

In the meantime, I’ll be decompressing, music festing, traveling, and just plain ol’ doing!

Brussels Spout & Leek Baked Eggs

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Brussels Sprout & Leek Baked Eggs

On the second Saturday of ACL, I headed to the new Trader Joe’s with hopes that it would be a ghost town.  It ended up being the opposite of that, but thankfully I scored the last shopping cart as I headed into the madness.  I was reminded of the phrase “You’re not in traffic, you are traffic” as I excused my way about.

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts and Leeks

I scooped up lots of pre-cut veggies with no recipe in mind.  Sliced brussels sprouts from the prepared foods section and sliced leeks from the frozen foods section – I had no intention of using them together.  And then I woke up the next morning wanting to experiment with baked eggs and I couldn’t think of a more perfect veggie combo.

Veggies for Baked Eggs

I used Food 52’s “How to Make Any Baked Eggs” as my guide and got to sautéing the leeks and brussels sprouts with a bit of garlic in coconut oil.  I layered an oven-safe dish with the veggies, topped with two eggs, and baked in a 400 degree oven for the suggested 12 minutes.  At 12 minutes, my eggs were still super raw, so I baked them longer, keeping a not-close-enough eye on the whites.

At 20 minutes, I failed to find the perfect balance of done whites/runny yolks.  But runny whites completely gross me out, so I was fine with the over-doneness of the yolks.  Had the yolks been perfectly runny and the whites been perfectly cooked, the leek/brussels sprout/baked egg combo would have been A++.  Now onto perfecting the whole baked egg thing!