Eggcelent Avocado

I am a pinterest addict. I wish I could jump in and live in my boards. I pin projects, crafts, and food all in hopes to actually make and cook them one day. And I finally did. 

I adore breakfast food. I could eat it any time of the day. I am always down for an over easy egg and some toast. I decided that my love affair would push me to make a recipe from pinterest. I would at last cross the line from a pinner to a doer! As I opened my foodie board one picture popped out... a perfectly ripe avocado cupping a baked egg. And I had both on hand. 

I couldn’t believe I had never thought to do this before. It was so simple, so delicious, and super healthy! As an avocado junkie I know this will be repeated for breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals for me. 

Baked Avocado Eggs

This recipe is super filling, easy, and quick. The meaty avocado melts into a creamy delight and the eggs texture couples with it perfectly. Be careful to let the egg overflow out of the dug out spot as it will burn in the pan. Recipe serves one to two people. I took it down solo.

Ingredients

• 1 avocado, halved and pitted
• 2 medium organic eggs
• salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.

Scoop out a small space in the middle of the avocado large enough to fit the egg. Place avocado halves in a shallow baking dish. Break an egg into the scopped out area in both halves. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs. I like mine runnier so I backed for 15 minutes. Remove and enjoy! I made them again today and enjoyed them topped with fresh salsa. Addicted. 

Simple Chick

After gorging on gingerbread and all the other gluttonous holiday fare, I am ready to embrace my new year’s resolution. I pondered more than usual this time. Last year it was to sweat every day and I enjoyed all the little aspects it brought to my life. I wanted to make sure that this year’s was up to par, and I believe I chose wisely.

Live Simply.

The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life. 
~Robert Louis Stevenson

 

I often get bogged down by daily duties and responsibilities and forget to step back and appreciate that life CAN be simple. Even with all the many expectations and roles we play. I plan to enter each day with this mindset and apply in every area possible. Eating simply, thinking simply, you get the idea.

 

That said here is a simple and healthy recipe to start your new year off right. I saw this on pinterest and have been dying to try it. You can make one serving or fill your whole muffin tin! I like to make ahead meals so the recipe below fills the whole kit and caboodle. Enjoy!

Chick in a Cup

I can’t tell you how simple and delicious this recipe is to make. It seems silly to post something so easy but it was too delightful not to share. The egg was fluffy and poached perfectly in the turkey cup. Two filled me up after a strenous work out, and one made a great afternoon snack! The following makes 9 servings.

Ingredients

·         9 organic free range eggs
·         9 slices organic deli turkey
·         PAM organic olive oil spray
·         Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Lightly spray a muffin tin with olive oil. Line the cups with one slice of deli meat. Crack one egg carefully into the turkey cup, and dust with salt and pepper. I sprinkled a little Cajun seasoning on mine because I enjoy a little kick in the morning!

Bake for 20 minutes, remove, and let cool for about 5 minutes.

Pop out and enjoy! Happy New Year!

Paleo...So Easy A Caveman Could Do It

Knock Knock.

Who's there?

Banana.

Banana who?

It was a long holiday weekend of bright sunshine, bubbly company, and boisterous surroundings. To say we were exhausted yesterday would be a gross understatement. My dear husband, sun crisped back and all, spent the day on the golf course so naturally I was responsible for the clean up/organization of our house. Typical. However, it was worth the recipe that sparked when I began to put away our leftover food stash. Loads of bananas, walnuts, and honey crowded the counter, provoking my creating juices. Apparently my body was weak but not my cooking drive. Lucky for you and for me dear readers.


I wanted to bake something simple, healthy, with clean ingredients. Obviously gluten free muffins don’t fall into any of those categories for me usually (especially simple) but that is the first thing that came to my mind. A banana base, almond flour boost, and spiced burst of flavor.

For you dedicated cross fit friends of mine, these puppies are for you too! They are “paleo” and gluten free. Maybe I need to exhaust myself in the sun and lake waters more often if this is what comes of it.

Banana Nut Muffins
Adapted from With Style & Grace
These paleo and gluten free muffins are so easy a caveman could do it! They had a great texture and melted in my mouth. I didn't even think they needed any butter or other additions. I know what my new breakfast go to is going to be now! Makes 12 muffins.

Ingredients
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1 tbs ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons whole flaxseed
• 1 tsp of nutmeg
• 1 tsp of salt
• 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1-2 tablespoons organic honey
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
• 1/3 chopped walnuts

Directions
Preheat your oven to 375 F.

Combine all dry ingredients, except walnuts, in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl mash your bananas well with a fork. Add in all wet ingredients to the bananas and mix well.

Add your wet ingredients to the dry ingredient bowl and combine well. Do not over mix!
Fold in your pecans. Spoon batter into a lined 12 cup muffin pan, about ¾ of the way full.

Bake for about 20-23 minutes. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.

ENJOY!

Blue Dome Diner

Sunday morning hunger pains with no drive to crack some eggs and toss in veggies led me to comfort in one of Tulsa’s best breakfast diners, Blue Dome Diner. A once a month must stop, this diner dishes jazzed up home cooked style meals that are big on flavor and light on your wallet.


From the outside and upon entering you would think this diner is dime size. The front room is small and quaint, housing a few booths and tables and bar top seats. Walk through and you’ll discover a gargantuan back room resembling a large open concert hall. The bar is based here and serves up lip smacking bloody marys (request Titos) that you have to try. Just try not to suck it through the straw in mere minutes, a difficult feat I assure you.

We chose to sit in the cozy front room and belly up to the bar to watch the organized chaos of the open kitchen. The cooks cling to their spatulas and spoons while the waitresses bus back and forth with plates piled high. Sunlight poured into the little room through large glass windows and chairs squeaked on the old tile floor. The only issue is the mouthwatering melt in your mouth biscuits that pop out of the oven…unfortunately they aren’t kind to the gluten intolerant.

My go to is their Vegetable Scrambler ($7.49), a kitchen sink of vegetables and scrambled eggs with home fries on the side. Crunchy snap peas, fluffy broccoli, tender asparagus, zucchini and sweet baby carrots provide a scrumptious garden medley and nestle pleasantly with the eggs. They top the whole bit off with a pile of melted cheese. You also have your choice of French toast (house made sourdough bread), pancakes, house made biscuits and gravy or toast. Since none of the above are gluten free I opt for extra home fries and fruit. Their home fries, thickly sliced and quartered new potatoes are lightly blackened on the flat top grill. They usually need a little salt lovin’, but I like them anyway. A little Louisiana does the whole dish right in my book.

Blue Dome Diner is an excellent spot for the gluten free and also caters to the vegetarian crowd. I recommend for breakfast/brunch/lunch. They are open seven days a week.

Blue Dome Diner
313 East 2nd Street  
Tulsa, OK 74120
(918) 382-7866

Morning Breakfast Memo

As a food blogger who is writing and snapping away photos on a daily basis in hopes to capture the next perfect post, I often forget to share the everyday go-to meals. The quick, unfancy shmancy meals that don’t necessarily photograph beautifully but taste dare I say close to go-to gourmet? Maybe I can toot my own horn a bit when my breakfast takes 5 minutes to prepare the night before and magically materializes into scrumptious homemade bliss during the night. I love getting home from my early work out knowing that I won’t be frantically fumbling through the cabinets to produce a filling meal. (I can be quite ravenous after a good run, you are warned!) I have enough on my plate during the mornings before the kiddo is whisked off to school as it is, so my own hunger pains most often take a back seat. And, let’s be honest, sometimes cereal just ain’t cuttin’ it.

I make overnight oats every week. Well, okay I will admit it, practically everyday. When my mind jumbles into goo after a long day and I forget to make them the night before, I throw it together quickly before I leave for work, let them soak for an hour or two, and enjoy a bowl before nine.

I usually dig in to the oats cold, delectably dipping into their dough-like texture but today it is rainy. And cold. And icky. So I popped them into the ‘wave for a minute and poof! Warm comfort before me. I can tackle the day now.

I buy oats in bulk because I use them for breakfasts, grind them into oat flour, and of course can’t resist making cookies with them! I am the crazy lady with the 3 pound plastic bagged giant in my shopping cart and proud of it! Oh and if you want to know exactly, I buy gluten free old fashioned oats.

Please excuse my to-go bowl and spoon...

As a constant snacker I can vouch that these tykes keep me satisfied until lunch! It is a low calorie breakfast that brags oodles of nutritional value. This staple of mine stabilizes my blood sugar, and gives me a substantial dose of fiber, vitamin B, fiber and protein. Studies report that oats help keep your heart healthy and boost your immune system too!

So let me make your already bopping about to solve world peace and still get out of the house with your thinking cap and knickers on morning easier by making these yummy to your gluten free tummy oats!

Staple Overnight Oats
serves one

Ingredients

• ½ cup gluten free old fashioned oats
• ½ cup almond milk (or milk of choice-I use soy milk too)
• 1 tbs chia seeds
• 1 tbs flax seeds
• 1-2 tbs ground cinnamon ( I love the stuff!)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbs agave nectar (or honey if you prefer)

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and place in the refrigerator overnight. If you forget to make them the night before (guilty) you can make them the morning of and let them seat for at least an hour. To enjoy warm, place in the microwave for 1 minute.

I top mine with almond butter usually or whatever fruit is in season.

Gluten Free Brunch, It’s a Big Dilly at Dilly Deli

I adore going to brunch on the weekend. There is something so perfect about the mid morning time, the diverse menu options, and the boisterous banter from the locals all speaking of all the exciting plans or events they look forward to. It’s a “happy meal” without the drive thru.

Dilly Deli has a great breakfast/brunch menu, with options that are kind to the waistline (if you so choose) and kind to gluten free tummies. They have always been very careful and complimentary to my special orders. I usually try to find items which are naturally gluten free, and was delighted to see some specials last Saturday.

After a long and early morning of activity, we eased our way into Dilly Deli, all ready to fuel up for the day. Our table scooted up to one of the large windows overlooking downtown. Natural light poured in as we shimmied our way into the eclectic seating. Menus were passed, and a small sheet of the daily specials was laid upon the blue and white checkered table cloth. Immediately my eyes were drawn to the Stuffed Portobello Mushroom- A very plump Portobello topped with aged white cheddar, 2 sunny side up eggs, and a heaping side of hash browns (7.95). Personally, I am a savory “bruncher” although at Dilly Deli it is hard for me to resist their steel cut oatmeal, also known as the Sophie (3.95). I am happy I ventured out with this order though, as I was very pleased with the robust texture of the mushroom coupled with the fresh run of egg yolk. The shredded hash browns were warm and crisp on the top, and I gleefully dipped them in Tabasco and ketchup. Savory and Spice gets my Saturdays rolling! My husband ordered the Breakfast Sammy, a freshly made biscuit piled high with egg and sausage, and my son had his usually order of waffles and eggs over easy.

The perfect brunch ceremony closed with a couple rounds of bocce ball. My satisfied stomach could now stomach the rest of Saturday’s rush.

Other gluten free breakfast/brunch/lunch items I have tried:

Green Eggs & Ham……$7.50 (not just a favorite childhood read!)

The Heidi Omelet……$7.50 (ask to leave out side of bread)

The Leroy Salad……$9.95 (no croutons)

Vegetable Pesto Soup……$3.95 for bowl (ask to leave out side of bread)

I have also asked for many of their sandwiches served without the bread on greens! There are other gluten free options but these are the ones that I have tried. If you enjoy something else gluten free on their menu, please share!

Dilly Deli
402 East 2nd Street
Tulsa, OK 74120
(918) 938-6382
http://www.dillydelitulsa.com/

Overnight Oatmeal Bliss

I love oatmeal. It is so versatile. But I don't have a ton of time in the morning to fix it. Between working out, getting ready, getting my son ready, making his lunch, taking care of the dog, and getting my husband and son fed...Whew! You can see I don't have time to spend 15-20 minutes on my own breakfast. On my Friday's off I truly cherish this time and sit and prepare something scrumptious and time consuming.

So back to the oatmeal. I don't like mine runny so it takes a little bit to cook down the liquid needed to achieve my Indie consistency perfection. I had seen "Vegan Overnight Oats" on the Oh She Glows blog and have been contemplating throwing these together to try. I have been good about stocking my pantry with bulk ingredients so luckily I had everything to make them last night! Cold oats? Hmmm. I did make YOU wait overnight for a recipe though so I figured making myself wait overnight to try these oats was only fair. Yes, yes the things I do for you dear readers ;)

I wanted to start with the basic oats and if I liked them, then you and I can have some fun adventures! My husband said that he wanted to try them too so I doubled the recipe. I was hoping that it wouldn't mess it up. Hoping and praying because I relied on this meal for my morning fuel! It doesn't require many ingredients and took only 5 minutes to make!

I pulled the bowl out of the fridge this morning and was very satisfied that I at least already had breakfast prepared! I divided the portions between two bowls and still had some leftover. Yipee!

I forgot to snap a picture this morning but it looked like hers!

Taste test. Oh. My. Gosh. Obsessed. I was leary of eating cold oats but these were AMAZING! Truly! Creamy and the perfect consistency. We both added a tablespoon of almond butter to ours. Maple syrup was also suggested but we didn't have any organic real syrup so we skipped it. It wasn't missed.

Here is the original recipe. Like I said, I just doubled everything but then ended up with extras (not complaining!). I can't wait to add fruit and nuts to these in the future! Besides a bowl of cereal, this is probably the least laborsome and delicious breakfast I have made. Here is the link to the original recipe and comments from Oh She Glows Easy Vegan Overnight Oats

Vegan Overnight Oats

Ingredients for PM

• 1/3 cup regular oats
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1 small ripe banana, peeled and smashed
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions
Mix together all the above ingredients in a bowl and place in the fridge overnight.

AM Directions
Scoop out your desired portion into the bowl. We added one tablespoon of natural almond butter. Enjoy!

Succotash - A Brunchette Experience in Kansas City

“Your word is succotash.” Succotash. “Can you use that in a sentence please?” Succotash. Okay, I can do that. Simple enough. No pressure. Only if I can spell this I win the spelling bee. I rock under pressure. This IS my moment. I part my lips and boldly begin, “S-U-C-C-A-T-A-S-H”. An immanent pause. The breath is caught in my chest. I can see the judge’s faces fall. “I’m sorry, that is incorrect. Please take your seat.”

I took second place in that year’s spelling bee because of that word, and to this day I will never forget the correct spelling. Why am I telling you this story? Because even though that darn word gave me a rush of humiliation in the past and has made me cringe ever since, I now have a new memory attached to it. When the word succotash is muttered, I am now overwhelmed with the smells of fresh squeezed juices and vegetables, fluffy gluten free blueberry pancakes, lightly whipped goat cheese on top of smoked salmon, eggs, and crispy spinach. Oh and let’s not forget the home fries that I couldn’t shove quickly enough into my mouth.

You may be thinking to yourself, that is most certainly NOT the way you prepare succotash, and well you’re right. It’s better. It’s quite possibly my new favorite destination brunch palace at a destination spot of 4 hours away from me, tucked into the Kansas City Arts District in an almost blink-you-eyes-and-you’ll-miss-it corner location. Try the food at Succotash, and you’ll be missing it in a whole new way.
I had an incredible getaway to KC with three girlfriends last weekend and celebrated the upcoming marriages of two. I sat perplexed at the plethora of places we could potentially dine at for every meal. I like to plan things down to a tee. I woke up Sunday morning and walked down the street from my hotel to LatteLand in the plaza. After ordering a delicious green tea chai latte I decided that no amount of browsing on urban spoon or trip advisor could lead me to a better local brunch decision than just asking the locals themselves. They gave me three restaurants to choose from, and I immediately popped each of them into my phone, diligently dissecting the menus, locations, and comments left by the previous taste testers. After driving to one restaurant (based solely on its location as I had hungry and hung over bachelorettes to attend to) we proceeded to drive 10 minutes further to a shorter wait at the Brunchette restaurant SUCCOTASH.

Nestled in a cozy corner, you immediately feel invited as soon as you set foot in the eclectically decorated space. Various crystal chandeliers hang from the pale pillowed ceiling, a large canvas painting juts from one wall, and metal sparrows adorn the area above the bar. The surrounding foreshadows exactly what they put on your plate-a funky fresh feeling of warmth and satisfaction. The menu boasts an organic arrangement of choices including gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, and kid-friendly choices. It was almost dizzying trying to choose what I wanted to order because it all looked so enticing. And you all know my issues with reading the entire menu to its fullest!

Three of us started with their freshly blended juices. My friend Francine about jumped out of her seat when she saw that they offered gluten free pancakes. We ordered a short stack for the table and let me assure you, it was nothing short of the most mouth watering pancakes I have ever tasted. The four of us finished the blueberry bursting cakes in less than three minutes flat. I am pretty sure we may have collected a few astounded/appalled glares. Fran, Sara, & Lisa, thanks for helping me taste test these to die for cakes for the blog...I know it was a lot to ask of you and a very hard task judging the After photo below!





Gluten Free
Blueberry Pancakes
Before...

I followed my meal up with the smoked salmon, spinach, two egg and goat cheese wrap. I had it “unwrapped” so it was more like a scramble. It came with perfectly prepared home fries. As I looked around the table I realized that I wasn’t the only one not making conversation as we were all devouring our dishes with such speed you would assume we hadn’t eaten for weeks. We couldn’t stop either! We constantly commented that we were trying desperately to put down our forks but the pull of the scrumptious meal kept us gravitating back to our plates.

3 measly minutes After...

We were stuffed, satisfied, and all in agreement that it was the possibly the best breakfast we had ever had. I look forward to visiting the Kansas City area very soon, and I will most definitely head straight to Succotash!