Easy, Healthy, & Delicious Breakfast

OK, so I rarely make an entire meal from scratch. But I do try to make all our meals healthy. Breakfast is particularly challenging because we are usually rushing to get to school on time (typically failing in that endeavor) in the face of a four-year-old's daily protests against totally mundane and completely necessary morning tasks, i.e. putting clothes on, using the potty, eating, walking out the door, and climbing into the car.

Consequently, it is of epic importance that I keep breakfast preparation simple and quick. The following idea falls into that category very nicely.

If I have the time, I juice up enough oranges for two 8-ounce glasses - one for my son and one for me. Nothing like drinking freshly-squeezed O.J. (or, as we call it, "sunshine") first thing in the morning. Otherwise, pre-queezed organic O.J. does just fine.

Before firing up our little Krups "sunshine" maker, I pop a couple frozen blueberry waffles into the toaster oven and warm frozen organic blueberries and raspberries with a touch of organic maple syrup on the stove top. 

Then I slice the crisp and warm waffles with my indispensable kitchen shears (best cooking tool ever), dress with plain organic yogurt, and top with berry compote. Tasty, quick, nutritious. Done and done! Bon appetit!

Hankering for a Pear Galette

So I did a little searching online. Part of my goal, too, was to use puff pastry from Trader Joe's idling in the freezer for the past month. Never baked with it before. Truthfully, was equally intimidated and intrigued and enticed by it. Odd, I know.

Anyhoo, I also longed to make something interesting with a bag of organic pears and assortment of other compatible ingredients.

My guys are both asleep, it's daylight savings evening . . . I gained an extra hour and I'm a night owl any way . . . therefore it only makes sense that I should savor that windfall of time with a little fall baking.

The recipe I chose to use as my base guide is from Woman with a Wisk blog. I admired her simple, unfussy approach to something that I've always wanted to try but never thought I'd be any good at.

That slight fear didn't deter me from kicking up the stakes a notch - inspired by a recipe for Pear-Ginger-Raisin Muffins in one of my all-time favorite cookbooks (really a bakebook), Once Upon a Tart.

I actually love (even crave) lots of ingredients in one thing (i.e. cakes, pies, sandwiches, pasta, etc.). I know many folks eschew that concept and prefer less to more. But, for my lusted-after galette, I was aiming to make an earthy, fall-like, rustic pastry that almost eats like a meal.

On I proceeded. Additional ingredients included in my creation are:

A light dusting of ground coriander; at least a teaspoon (probably 2 or more) of cinnamon; pinch of powdered giner; handful of organic raisins; and a smattering of tiny crumbled crystallized dried ginger bits mixed into the sliced organic pears.


I also sprinkled cinnamon along the folded edge of the galette (after I brushed with egg mixture), as, I am of the mind that, the more cinnamon the better.

Aside from above variations, I followed the Woman with a Wisk recipe exactly, making two galettes, since I had so many pears and two frozen puff pastry sheets.

One before baking:

And after:

Not bad for a first try*. And was relatively easy! The kid and hubby are going to love it! (In fact, would be a fun project to take on with my 4-year-old.) I'm enjoying a small sample tonight, complemented by a cup of 2-bag chai tea steeped with lots of cinnamon sticks: fall flavor explosion!

*Practical baking tip: my galettes turned out to be overly juicy/runny. To lessen that, I slit a little hole into the side of each one and carefully tipped it on its side over the sink to drain. I will be serving these in the morning and didn't want them to be soggy by then.

A Play Date BORDERing on Perfect

Credit for this play date idea goes to my mama friend, L. She is expert on all things downtown, as far as I'm concerned. And she is the one who introduced me to this fun eating/playing combo at The Border Grill and Bonaventure Hotel - both on Figueroa, connected by a fun little bridge that our kids love to race across to see who wins.

Usually first up is a meal at Border Grill. Happy Hour is pretty hard to beat - excellent options for grown-ups and kids alike, wait staff and management are delightful, and parking is validated (or, if you're feeling really adventurous, take the Metro - up the cool factor with the kids). Can't go wrong with kids bean and cheese tacos, poblano quesadillas & chopped salad for parents, and creative cocktails (with or w/o alcohol) like minty lime cooler or pomegranate lemonade.

Once our little ones have filled their tummies, run around and charmed the employees, gotten multiple tours of the kitchen, and used bathrooms where "you don't have to press the button for the soap, it just comes out automatically," we say our goodbyes, zip up a quick escalator (or elevator) and over the bridge that spans Figueroa, and land on the grassy area at the base of Bonaventure Hotel.

There the kids run their fannies off, plop down on their backs to take in impressive glass pneumatic-tube-like elevators that glide up and down (verrry Blade Runner-esque) the hotel's shiny exterior, and chat with the guys washing sidewalks with their super cool, ginormous water machines until they're almost too out of breath to talk.

Last but not least, we and our tuckered tikes mosey into the hotel and hop onto the elevators, which could be a ride at Disneyland for all they care. We go up and down a few times - as much as my motion sick stomach can take - and it is utterly thrilling. Honestly, the views are pretty awesome. On a clear day, you could definitely see the ocean.

Give this a whirl some day. You won't be disappointed!

Learning to LOVE Brussels Sprouts

Those mini green heads of cabbage never appealed to me growing up. They ranked as low as lima beans in my opinion back then. Now, however, I feel like their number one fan. So imagine how surprised and thrilled I was to discover that my kid gobbles up Brussels sprouts like they're going out of style. I attribute that to the way I cook them - sliced in half and roasted with a light coating of olive oil (you can also try olive oil infused with herbs, especially rosemary), a sprinkling of salt, a pinch of pepper, and a liberal amount of chopped fresh garlic in a 350-degree oven for about 30 minutes. Then, voila, out comes an irresistible caramelized, crispy concoction you can eat like popcorn or get fancy-ish and incorporate into dishes like pasta, frittatas, pizza, and more.

Recently I served the fam roasted Brussels with spaghetti and lentils, which provide a nice source of protein. The combo turned out to be a huge hit. It was even good the second day cold, right out of the fridge.

When I cook, I like to build big flavor and to that end I tend to use ingredients like garlic, herbs, vinegar, dressings, etc. For this Brussels sprouts dish, I used chopped onions during the roasting process and that added a whole other dimension of flavor - very tasty! I warmed up pre-cooked, packaged lentils from Trader Joe's on the stovetop and mixed in about 2 tablespoons of pre-made pesto from Whole Foods. I also splashed on a little red wine vinegar and olive oil dressing from Joe's. Before tossing everything together, I coated the cooked spaghetti (note about making pasta: always add a tablespoon of olive oil to the boiling water to prevent the pasta from sticking to itself after it's drained - my sis taught me that trick) with more dressing. I then threw everything into a big bowl, stirred it up, sprinkled on some grated parm and the masterpiece was complete. Easy, healthy, simple ingredients.

Here are some pics . . .

Super Sunday Morning, Part 1 - Malo es Bueno

Sundays for us tend to be slow and easy. Sometimes we venture over to the Hollywood Farmers' Market, but only if we get up early enough and it's not too hot out.

Otherwise, we'll hang at home and make breakfast or head out to a local restaurant. That's what we opted for today, and Malo in Silver Lake was our destination. We've found over the past year that Malo is kind of a secret in the busy, chaotic world of weekend brunching. It's never crowded - today we arrived at 9:15, stayed until almost 11 and had the place to ourselves. The food is good, service decent, we sit outside, and kids can make a ruckus with little or no backlash. Plus, they offer a reasonably-priced kids menu with more variety than most restaurants.

A glimpse of the patio, which is covered so you're not blasted by the sun.

Kids menu.

"Echo Park" fruit salad (seasoned with chili powder, lime juice and sea salt). Not as exciting and flavorful as it used to be. Sadly, a little short on melon choices, and I'm not a fan of jicama.

Children's French toast - Mexican style. Sabroso!

One of the breakfast burritos, modified with no grief. But did forget to add cheese. Oops. Still was yummy.

Last but not least, my personal favorite: potato eggplant taco.

Question: What's For Dinner? Answer: Veggie Lasagna!

ingredients

A friend suggested that I share on this blog my meal ideas. Not wanting to disappoint, and also thinking it might be helpful to parents, I decided to oblige.

The first thing I want to write about is a delectable vegetarian lasagna recipe that I whipped up this evening with rice noodles I found at Whole Foods this afternoon. They were on the shelf, practically jumping up and begging, no, challenging me, to make my veggie lasagna with them. I couldn't resist.

So, here goes. I tend to improvise when I cook, so I don't have exact measurements. Shouldn't be too hard to follow, though, and successfully replicate.

Main ingredients are shown in the photo above. I didn't necessarily use everything but you can see all that goes into producing the final product:

1 tub of ricotta cheese

1 box of no-boil rice lasagna noodles

1 package of small-medium-sized organic zucchini

1 small organic yellow onion

1 package of organic mushrooms

1 package of shredded mozzarella cheese

2.5 jars of organic tomato basil pasta sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit then prep ingredients. First, chop a few cloves of garlic, the small onion, and saute in a frying pan over medium-low heat with some olive oil, Then, slice each zucchini in half, length-wise and chop into half-moon shapes. Add zucchini to garlic-onion mixture once that is translucent. Note: I sauteed the mushrooms separately in a pan with olive oil and salt because I knew someone I was going to feed didn't like mushrooms, so I only put them in half of the lasagna. But they can go right in with the zucchini and garlic-onion mixture.

Once the stove-top ingredients are cooked to perfection (slightly firm, not mushy), start laying the sauce and noodles into a rectangular pan. Sauce goes in first, then a layer of noodles. On top of that, put another layer of sauce, veggies, crumbled ricotta, light layer of salt and pepper, few shavings of mozzarella, and more noodles to top it off. Repeat last step and cover with the rest of the mozzarella. Pop into oven on middle rack for 30 minutes uncovered, then take out, cover with aluminum foil, and put back in for another 30 minutes.

And here you have the end result. Super tasty! Served with a salad, it's the perfect meal for a family. Enjoy!

final product plated with simple salad

perfect accompaniment 

Just-Discovered Event in Agoura Hills

For all you San Fernando Valley dwellers, this sounds pretty cool:
Reyes Adobe Days
Saturday, 10/1 & Sunday, 10/2

Eating on the go - Los Feliz TONIGHT

Never been to this before but have been wanting to try it. Apparently, every Monday night in the parking lot of Our Mother of Good Counsel Catholic church (2060 N. Vermont Avenue) in Los Feliz, there is a gourmet food truck event from 5:30 to 9 pm. It's called DinDinAGoGo. Check out their Twitter feed for more info.

L & C's Favorite Thursday Afternoon Outing with the Kids

Pretty much every Thursday afternoon/early evening, we take our kids on the gold line (exit at Mission) to the South Pasadena Farmers' Market for play, people-watching, and mouth-watering morsels. Adding the train ride to the market enhances the experience in a few ways. 1): It eliminates the hassle of finding parking in South Pasadena. 2): The kids totally dig it. 3): It's kind of a green thing to do, and that's always positive.

For info on the market, go here: South Pas Farmers' Market.

For LA Metro Gold Line, click here.

And now for some taste-bud-tempting photos of our dinner and dessert . . .

~ C

veggie & cheese pupusa (plus all the
delectable toppings)

caramel corn - INsane!

peanut butter cookie (the best ever!) -
from Homeboy bakery booth

lavender creme brulee - from Nicole's Gourmet,
around the corner from South Pas Farmers' Market