Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Breakfast Tacos!

So this morning I did a thing. With my leftovers from dinner on Monday. Dinner was shredded chicken tacos with homemade guacamole and mango salsa and somehow the guacamole lasted all the way until Wednesday morning. So I decided to do something crazy and threw together some breakfast tacos. The ingredients are simple and probably something you already have in your house, condo, apartment, whatever:

Mango salsa (very easy recipe):
- 1 whole mango (2 if you love mango), cut up (diced?)
- 1 can of whole kernel corn - I used sweet corn
- 1 red pepper, chopped to sizes you like
- The juice of one lime
- Fresh cilantro, salt & pepper to taste
--- In the future, I would throw the pepper and corn on a skillet and warm before mixing, but it's all trial & error right now.

Guacamole:
- 2 avocados
- 1 small, sweet onion, diced (I used a food processor because I can't chop onions without tears)
- Several cherry tomatoes, chopped. 
- Lime juice
- Cilantro, salt & pepper to taste

The tacos:
- 2 warmed up corn tortillas (10-15 seconds in the microwave, flour is fine too)
- 3 eggs, scrambled
- Drizzle shredded cheese once eggs are almost done and let melt (to speed up the process, cover your skillet with a top)
- Spread guacamole on top of tortillas
- Add eggs
- Add mango salsa
- Throw in one (or two) sausage links (or bacon!!)

I think that when I do this again, I'll throw the salsa, sausage (bacon), & eggs into a mixing bowl before putting in the tacos so that everything is mixed together instead of in layers. 



Monday, March 10, 2014

Avocado Toast & its Variations

Avocados are a great staple food as they're high in those good-for-you fats that can keep you full for hours. Avocado toast is one of my favorite snacks but it can get old from time to time. So I've been doing some experimenting and I think I've found my favorite breakfast, that I've made, to date. Eggs and avocado toast.

First, you want to start with a good Avocado. I'm a big fan of Haas avocados because I can get them almost anywhere and they're usually 10 for $10 at my local grocery store. I pick my avocados on the cusp of being ripe and I put them in the cupboard when I get home until I'm ready to use one. Whatever part of the avocado I don't use, I wrap in tinfoil and put in the fridge until the next day.

Then, I grab two eggs from the fridge and 2 slices of my favorite bread for toasting. I like to use Cinnamon Raisin bread, cinnamon raisin English muffins or Irish Soda Bread because I think the raisins add a certain sweetness to the meal and it's something that I really enjoy. You can cook the eggs any way you want but my favorite way is to fry them up in some coconut oil for a few minutes until the yolk holds, but will become runny once you cut into it. Scrambling and poached eggs work really great, too!

After the toast has popped, cover with avocado the way you would with butter, jelly, or cream cheese. Top with the eggs and you're done! Serve with a piece of fruit, some coffee, and some water, and you've got yourself a good, small, meal. If you're looking to add some protein, you can always add thinly sliced steak in between the egg and avocado!

Today, I added garlic spinach to my toast as a way to get some extra greens in. It was a little too garlic-y for my taste, but I will definitely be adding sauteed spinach in the future.

I've also added a chickpea salad to this concoction, a recipe I got from my friend, Genna! It's so good and the chickpeas also provide protein (for those of you who don't eat meat!). The basis of this salad is a can of drained chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, avocado, lime juice, olive oil, salt & pepper to taste, and whatever else you like. Genna has made hers with sliced red onion & cucumbers and that's also SOOOO very good.