Classic Dad Breakfast

Good Morning! Last night I set my alarm way later than usual knowing that I would probably wake up before it. The night before I was waking myself up, stressing that I had slept through my alarm which, as you may know, does not amount to much restful sleep. My self-tricking plan worked! I still woke up before 8 but it was natural and much less stressful. yessss!

Breakfast

This morning I made what I think of as a Dad Breakfast- savory, healthy, and ridiculously delicious (and always with a side of quality Java). Obviously I'm missing home and with the thought of spring break being so close yet so far away all I can do is close my eyes and pretend my daddy made this for me and that all my papers and auditions are behind me! Ahh, if only! However, I think I came pretty close with this breakfast. The only thing missing was the morning news!

The ingredients included

• Pam cooking spray
• sliced mushrooms
• red bell peppers
• 2 vegan breakfast sausages
• huge handful spinach
• cilantro pesto
• 1 slice whole wheat bread
• Tahini
• salt and pepper

I started by heating the pan on medium heat. When it was warm I sprayed with a little Pam and added the mushrooms, bell peppers, and breakfast sausages. When everything started to sizzle I gave a quick stir to make sure nothing burned.

After about 2:30 min. I flipped the sausages and added a huge handful of spinach right on top. Before the spinach began to wilt I also added what was probably about a teaspoon of cilantro pesto that I saved from the other night.

At this point I pressed down my slice of whole wheat bread that was patiently waiting in the toaster. One very important thing that I learned from my dad (that I am still working on mastering) is that good cooking is really all about timing. You can learn to cook risotto or lemon meringue pie but if your entree gets cold and there's no time left to fix the runny pie...that's just bad timing. Knowing how long everything is going to take and planning accordingly is easier said than done, let me tell you! My Dad sure makes it look easy :)

Once all the spinach wilted, and my toast popped out in perfect timing, I killed the heat.

I arranged everything nicely on my plate and spread tahini on my toast: voila!
Classic Dad Breakfast: Pesto Spinach Veggie Blend with vegan breakfast sausage, whole wheat toast with tahini spread, vanilla soy Java, and a Women's Once a Day vitamin.
Usually at home the coffee is hazelnut (which I looooove) and Dad is always coming up with fancy ways to cook up something for his crazy vegan daughter. I love my daddy :) My whole family are meat eaters except for me and being the chef in residence, my dad has never shied away from a "chef's challenge" as we call it. I guess you can begin to see where my love of food and cooking was born! My Dad and I had a conversation a while back about how amazing it is to be able to appreciate flavors and foods for their simplicity. Food doesn't have to be complicated to be amazing but the more creativity the better. A shared favorite of ours is a hefty scoop of chunky marmalade on some hearty toast. So simple yet soooo delicious! Baaaahh, I can't wait for spring break! Get ready for some good eats y'all! The Daddy Daughter Duo is a force to be reckoned with in the kitchen!

Ok enough fantasizing about food, back to reality and pending papers. At least my morning is off to a good start and I hope yours is too. (If it's not, try enjoying something for its simplicity and turn it around!)

Wow, I think my switch back to coffee this morning is making me way too optimistic lol!

See ya at lunch time!

I'm running out of food!

This is a "I'm running out of food" inspired lunch meal. I ran out of hummus so I whipped up a sauce using tahini. It was just

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. Tahini
• bunch of white pepper
• crushed black pepper
• salt
• paprika
• splash of water

simple as that!

I used the rest of the raspberry yogurt from my purple oats to make a little smoothie taster. It was

• 1/2 cup frozen berries
• last of the raspberry yogurt approx. 1/4 cup
• approx 1/2 cup soy milk
• squirt honey (I'm not that kind of vegan if you were wondering!)

Yummmm!

Salad and Satisfaction!

When I came home after choral conducting (which was awesome today!) I decided to go all out on a salad. In total I used:

• about a cup of spinach
• about a half cup of brussel sprouts cut in half
• 1 tsp. vegan butter
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves roasted garlic
• 1 tsp. tahini
• 1 tsp. hummus
• 2 tsp. salsa
• ground salt and pepper
• squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• drizzle of balsamic vinegar

I microwaved the brussel sprouts with a little water for 2:30 to soften them up.

In the mean time I heated a pan and melted the butter.
Then I added the garlic and onions till and sautéed them a little.
Next I popped in the brussel sprouts
Tahini is awesome in salad dressings and has sort of a peanuty taste. It's made of sesame seeds.
Here I added the tahini and a little salt and pepper.
Next some fresh lemon juice and not pictured, hummus and salsa.
I served my salad with eight sun dried tomato basil wheat thins and green tea with fresh mint leaves! Delicious!
I ate around 4:30 which always puts the rest of my eating at weird times. But I was hungry when I came home!

I have some very good news: I FINISHED MY PAPER! I'm off to relax a little with my roomie bootch besty Savannah!