Healthy Country Breakfast

Being out in the country makes me want to be healthy, especially in the mornings. The commute from Mono to my work is considerable - with lots of stop and go traffic (always fun in a standard). I need to eat breakfast or i'd end up killing someone on the road, and i thought that a nice breakfast of yogurt with granola, dried fruit, nuts, honey and fresh fruit would be just the thing.

My parents place has a "snack cupboard" which i guess is pretty healthy when you think about the contents - nuts (cashews, almonds), crackers, dried fruits (apricots, dates) along with some liquorice. The problem lies in the fact that i end up eating this stuff my the handful, and it becomes not so healthy when you realize that you've devoured two cups of cashews!!!! These ingredients mind you , in proportion, are very good and became the basis of my breakfast.

I initially made a pretty intricate and larger on on the weekend. I used pitted chopped dates, chopped apricots, raw pumpkin seeds, raw sunflower seeds and whole almonds. For a little kick i added a bit of the Ace Bakery granola mix and finally topped it off with chopped banana and honey. After a little yoga, a walk with the dog and settling down with the paper and some coffee in the sun, this was an ideal breakfast.

This was so good i made a batch of the toppings (minus the fruit and honey) and kept it in the fridge so i could have a decent breakfast every morning - and something to sustain me on the drive.

Above:

Ingredients

My mom's cute horse napkins

Close up ingredients

Granola, coffee and the paper!

Saturday Morning - the Sub Zero Edition

Toronto is suffering quite a cold spell, what a better way to start off your sunny yet freezing weekend with a nice brunch, the paper and a little yoga. I had this bag of fingerling potatoes that i don't really remember buying, and was looking for another dish to use them in. I didn't grow up in a real meat and potatoes family so other than french fries i don't really crave them. But i remembered when i was a teenager that i had a boyfriend who's mother made the most amazing potato hash. I figured that would be a good base for saturday brunch.

Rummaging through my fridge i found the usual suspects; eggs, rye bread, grape tomatoes, avocados... The rest just came together pretty simply. I made a fresh salsa with the tomatoes and avocados along with some green onions i found in the crisper. I'd over done the poaching thing recently with all my new gadgets, so i thought a fried egg seemed somehow in order. I left it a little runny as i don't really like yolk when its cooked through.

The potatoes were as good as i remembered them, i just used A LOT of black pepper some red chili flakes, and rosemary. (i always use rosemary with potatoes for some reason, no matter what the recipe). I had to add some more olive oil mid-way as the potatoes were really sticking to the bottom of the pan. Next time i might do them in my non-stick, but i didn't want to have to clean it out to do the egg in between, instead the pan is soaking in the sink!

Above:

Purple potato hash ingredients
Cooking hash
Salsa in the sun
Last Bite...
Brunch