Knead to Cook

Food & fitness obsessed girl.

Buckwheat and Hemp Encrusted French Toast.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Easter, Egg dishes, Gluten Free, Grilling, Valentine's Day, Vegetarian 1 Comment

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I’m very excited and honored to be an ambassador for the Whole Grain Council.  I partnered with them because whole grains are apart of a heart healthy diet.  They aren’t only healthy but they also taste great!  As a mom, I incorporate whole grains into my family’s diet each day from gluten free oats to quinoa, kamut and freekah.  I was not financially compensated for this ambassadorship and do it happily because I believe in the power of whole grains in a diet.  As a vegetarian, I eat many whole grains to fuel my very active life and my recovery from aggressive workouts. 

This recipe is super fun and a great way to get more healthy ingredients into your kids/family without them really paying attention to the ingredients.  This crunchy French Toast is great topped with fresh fruit or yogurt.  My kids devoured it!  Perfect weekend breakfast and leftovers store well in the fridge for quick weekday breakfast for on the go families.

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— Knead to Cook

Eggnog Smoothie.

by Filed Under: Beverages, Brunch, Desserts, Egg dishes, Fruit, Holiday, No bake/cooking required!, Smoothies, Vegetarian, Vitamix, Wheat Free, Yogurt 2 Comments

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I have so many thoughts going through my head as I’m finally sitting down to blog this week.  First, I apologize for not blogging sooner.  Monday was spent prepping for my guest teaching gig on Tuesday.  Tuesday, I was honored to guest teach at my daughter’s high school.  I taught 7 culinary classes (164 kids) and spoke about healthy eating, carbs, Thanksgiving, being a vegetarian and pretty much anything food related.  My takeaway is that teachers and aides are grossly underpaid (I already knew this but standing in their shoes confirmed this for me).  The kids ranged in age from freshman to seniors.  Encompassed all socio-economic groups.  Athletes to  non-athletes.  It was as much a learning experience for me as it was, hopefully, for them.  My last class, I was blessed to teach my favorite freshman – my daughter.  It was, without a doubt, the highlight of my day seeing her.  My heart fills with pride every time I lay eyes on this girl who is morphing into an amazing adult.  But enough on that… here is a pic from yesterday.  Sorry to my daughter who was eating/carb loading before her two hour swim practice right after class but mama want a shot to remember the day!

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— Knead to Cook

Overnight Baked Pumpkin French Toast.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Egg dishes, Holiday, Vegetarian 13 Comments

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I’m still happily on my pumpkin kick. I really can’t get enough.  The weather finally has a chill, sweaters are coming out and I’m happily creating recipes that warm you up on a chilly weekend morning.  Painted a nice picture, didn’t I?  Ha.  Actually, I whipped up this breakfast because I had an extra baguette that my husband didn’t use for pasta night (I was at a meeting) and I had leftover pumpkin in the fridge.  Viola!  Breakfast idea for Saturday morning.  So I got up early, ran my 8 mile training run, hubby went out for 15 on his bike before he actually started to freeze and we got home and put this in the oven.  It smells heavenly and I’m hoping it wakes my girls up so we can go apple picking, which I’ve been dying to do but we haven’t had an opportunity.

Great for brunch or a lazy weekend morning.  Top with powdered sugar, maple syrup or fresh berries.   Whatever you like.

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— Knead to Cook

Chimichurri.

by Filed Under: Beef, Chicken, Egg dishes, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Fish, Grilling, Grilling/Rubs/Sauces, Pasta, Pizza, Pork, Vegetarian, Vitamix 4 Comments

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Chimichurri is a South American version of pesto that is served atop or along side meat and veggies.  I’m planning on grilling up a ton of fresh veggies from the farmer’s market and I thought this would be perfection for a vegetarian dish.  I will, however, grill up some chicken for my favorite carnivores to eat with it too.  I will use fresh herbs from my garden and you can control the heat with the jalapeño according to your taste and preference. This is also perfect over tortellini pasta or on some crusty toasted bread.  Yum!  Can’t wait for dinner.

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— Knead to Cook

Pesto egg a la baguette.

by Filed Under: Breads, Breakfast, Brunch, Cheese, Easter, Egg dishes, Holiday Baking Ideas, Party Foods, Vegetarian 8 Comments

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This is such an oldie but goodie recipe and I haven’t made it in about a year.  My family loves it for dinner and then for breakfast the next morning.  I added some leftover kale pistachio pesto (from last week) into the eggs – click here for that recipe and this was over the top.  The pesto adds so much flavor to the eggs it will make them unbelievable good.  Thankfully I made enough for leftovers this morning which made the start of the day seamless (love when that happens).

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— Knead to Cook

Baked egg in an avocado.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Egg dishes, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Vegetarian 24 Comments

 

I’ve been making eggs in avocados for about two years.  Lately, I’ve been seeing a plethora of food bloggers sharing their recipes lately along with their leaky exploits of egg whites in the process.  My way, I believe, is the easiest way to execute a perfectly baked egg in an avocado that has easy clean-up making this a perfect weekday breakfast idea for your repertoire.

Recipe is simple.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Halve each avocado giving each person one or two halves.  Remove the pit.  Scoop out a bit of the avocado from the inside, to make room for all of the egg, and reserve it.  Take some tinfoil and make a bowl for the avocado.  See picture below.  Crack the egg into each carved out space in the avocado.  Top with some cayenne pepper (if you like it), salt and pepper.  Place the avocado on a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.  You can determine how cooked or undercooked you like your yolks.

While the eggs are baking, I place the extra removed avocado in a bowl with one small tomato, 1/2 of a jalapeño chopped and some cilantro.  I cut that up using two sharp knives.  I make some whole grain toast and use it to top my bread and egg/avocado mixture.  Super protein-packed breakfast.  Wonderful post run recovery  🙂

— Knead to Cook

Vegetable & turkey sausage frittata.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Egg dishes, Turkey, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

We love frittatas in my house.  Plus leftovers can be re-purposed into a great breakfast the following morning.  Another great thing about this type of dish is that you can use what veggies and meat you have on hand.  Easily adapted to a vegetarian dish by omitting the meat.  So many options!

Ingredients:

8 eggs, room temperature
1 lb of lean turkey sausage (I used hot) with the casing removed – cooked and crumbled into smaller pieces
1/4 c of grated parmesan cheese (not packed down in the measuring cup)
Fresh basil
Salt and pepper
2 small zucchinis sliced thin
1/4 of an onion, diced
1 large yellow pepper, chopped
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray your pie pan with a non stick spray. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, parm and seasonings.  Set aside.

In a skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil.  Add the peppers, onions and zucchini slices.  Cook until fork tender.  Remove and add to the egg mixture. Then add the cooked sausage crumbles.  Pour into your prepared pan.  Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the egg mixture is set and firm.  Slice into pieces and serve.

— Knead to Cook