French Toast Friday: Poppy Seed Cake French Toast

French Toast Friday

This is the first in a French Toast Series. This is NOT Weight Watchers Points Plus friendly, so I have not included the Points Plus values. I may make a few WW French Toast recipes...but these first few...are definitely not good for anyone's diet. But they are so amazing!

I could show you how to make basic plain ole' boring French Toast...but then I wouldn't be QUIRKY breakfast...I would be BORING breakfast. And that's just not right. So without further ado, I give you an overindulgence of French Toast JOY!

Poppy Seed Cake French Toast

So you're going to need to start with Poppy Seed Cake. There are a couple of ways that you can do this.

1. In order to ensure that you have the exact same recipe as me, you should have an aunt who bakes delicious poppy seed cake for Polish Christmas Eve.  Which I happen to have had this past Christmas, and many Christmases of my childhood. 
2. If you DON'T have an aunt who bakes you poppy seed cake, FEAR NOT! You can bake the exact same cake at home. All you need is the secret recipe. Which is printed on the back of the Solo Poppy Seed Filling Can Label... Or found on the Solo website.
3. I realize that this is a lot of work to put into breakfast...but I mean come on, it's AMAZING French Toast. But I guess if you're REALLY FREAKIN' LAZY, you can go buy a poppy seed cake from Dominick's or whatever grocery store you shop at. Lazy.

After you've got your poppy seed cake, you'll need 2 slices (about a half inch thick each), 1 egg, and 1/3 cup milk. What's that you say? Only 3 ingredients? Yep. It's easy. So stop being lazy and make the damn cake like a boss.

How to Make Poppy Seed Cake French Toast

1. First, turn the stove onto medium heat with a non-stick pan
2. Then, mix the eggs and milk together in a bowl. 

1. Next, dip the slices of poppy seed cake into the egg mixture, properly wetting both sides 

1.  Put slices on pan

Shown here with Almond Pound Cake French Toast

1. After a minute or two (when the bottom is properly browned), flip the French Toast to brown the other side.
2. This really doesn't need syrup, but if you want to add it, by all means, go for it. 
3. Enjoy. 

Also shown here with Almond Pound Cake French Toast

Isn't French Toast easy?

What types of French Toast do you make?

How to Poach a Perfect Egg in Under 3 Minutes in the Microwave

After the BF took apart our stove top and left for three days, I was dying for an egg. Yes, he took apart our stove top. Took the coils out of the stove and left them...and I couldn't figure out how to get them back in and was afraid I would electrocute myself...it happens...

In his defense, he was doing it to order new drip pans, because the ones in our apartment are nasty. But he still left them off. For days. 

And I was hungry. 

So I attempted to poach an egg in the microwave. Apparently...this works. Really freakin' well. In less than 3 minutes. 

Start with a microwavable storage container--preferably one with a steam-release lid. Fill with two cups of water.

Microwave that bad boy for 2 minutes. Then drop an egg into the hot water. I have not tested this with more than one egg...but feel free to let me know how it works out. I'm a one egg kinda girl (OK...my ever-expanding waistline is a one egg kinda girl and I have to keep her from exploding.)

Put the lid back on the container, Microwave for 55 seconds. The egg will look something like this after it comes out. If you add extra eggs, try 55 seconds to start...if you need to add more time, you can always do that.

Is that not a beautiful piece of eggy goodness? Seriously.

Add caption

This is my favorite breakfast sandwich this week. Blueberry waffles with turkey sausage, cinnamon tuscano cheese from Trader Joe's, and a poached egg.

Perfectly poached. In under 3 minutes. Gooey inside, solid outside. For the win.

8 Points Plus Breakfast: Cheesy Grits and Egg(s)

You may be asking yourself, "Chrissy, grits? Seriously? My grandmother wouldn't even eat grits."

 But these aren't your grandmother's grits. 

Grits are like ground up tortillas just waiting for you to add cheese and eggs.

I love grits. I have loved them for less than 1 year. I have loved them ever since I tried delicious delicious homemade grits from my favorite chef in the whole world, Chef Paul, who taught me how to make these amazing grits with grilled radicchio and fresh mozzarella cheese with a balsamic glaze.

This morning's grits were not that, though. They were simple. Simple grits with a little butter and cheese, topped with an egg. 

As my TMJ pain has been acting up hardcore...I need to not eat anything I have to chew a whole lot. That leaves soup, ice cream, and grits.  Grits and eggs sounded delightful, so I came up with this little recipe. I hope you enjoy it.

Chrissy's Cheesy Grits with Chives

Makes 3 servings

 

2 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup Quaker Old Fashioned Grits 

2 oz Tintern Cheese, cubed

1 Tbs salted butter

Salt to taste

Slowly add grits to boiling water. Cover. Stir occasionally. Cook until thickened (about 15 minutes). Add butter, salt and cheese. Top with an egg or egg whites. 

Note: For anyone on Weight Watchers, one serving (about 1/2 cup) of these grits is 6 points. Add egg whites, egg substitute, or whole eggs of your choice and serve with a side of arugula and balsamic vinegar, sliced tomato, or fruit. You can also omit the butter and make the grits 5 points plus per serving.

Cold Pizza: Breakfast of Champions

Damn straight.

Seriously, every time my pal V and I have dinner together, I promise to utilize bits and pieces of our meal as my breakfast of choice. Last night was no different. She stopped over with a bottle of wine expecting me to cook her a five star quality meal as I had advertised in a previous G-chat message.

When she arrived with the pinot, I told her the pork smelled funny, but I had a Groupon for pizza at Papa Saverio's and who needs a five star meal when you can have pizza? 20 inches of mushroom and cheese pizza, 3 cannoli, 2 cookies, and 1 bottle of wine later, we were stuffed and happy. Of course, I still had to make my requisite promise that some of the remaining decadence would be my breakfast...I originally thought: cookies and milk...but this morning the cold pizza was calling my name.

You see, I'm a believer in the hot pizza equals lunch or dinner. Cold pizza equals breakfast. Yes. Delicious breakfast of joy. So I took out a few pieces of the leftover pizza and a bag of Trader Joe's Rocket Salad Arugula (gotta get my veggies in). I topped the pizza with arugula and called it breakfast. Yumm-o.

8 Point Fancy Breakfast

Trader Joe's and I are BFFs. For realsies. It's part of my house-buying requirements: Is the house within a 10 minute drive to a Trader Joe's? If not, I'm going to veto it. Seriously.

So now that I'm between jobs (and when I say between jobs, I mean I have a very fantastic job waiting for me on my return from Disney World), I get time to make my delicious breakfast again! I'm also back on the WW wagon, so trying to stay in points. Of course, for someone who may or may not be slightly over 200 lbs (DON'T JUDGE), I get a lot of points in my daily diet. So an 8 point breakfast seems totally acceptable, especially if my lunches are a lot smaller.

So I buy a good portion of my breakfast products from Trader Joe's. If you don't have one, I pity you, because Whole Foods is WAY more expensive. This morning In fact, I think that other than the herb garden fresh thyme and the white truffle oil, everything is from TJ. Here's the recipe:

1 Small slice TJ Asiago Peppercorn Sourdough Bread
1 TJ Large Brown Egg
3/4 oz TJ Mushroom Brie
1 1/2 C TJ Fresh Baby Arugula
1 serving TG (Trader Giotto's) Balsamic Glaze
1 tsp truffle oil
Cooking Spray

First, I got all of my ingredients ready. I sliced up the brie (removing the rind), harvested some fresh thyme sprigs, measured out my ingredients, and started with the toast. I keep the bread in the freezer so it lasts longer, so I toasted from frozen. I really like how this works out.

Then, I "sauteed" the arugula in cooking spray. I layered the toast with brie, then arugula, letting the warmth melt the brie. I cooked my egg to my over-medium preference and placed it atop the arugula. Drizzle with truffle oil and balsamic glaze and garnish with thyme. Simple and delish.

Enjoy.

The Most Amazing 5 Point Weight Watcher Breakfast You'll Ever Eat

Yes, I said 5 Points. For breakfast. On Weight Watchers.


I'm masterful at creating low Points Plus options to consume. Take last night for example. Turkey Meatloaf (YUM) with cheesy cauliflower. Yeah, I wish I had a picture to show you. But it was a grand total of 11 points. I had a lot to spare and it was worth every bite.

So for breakfast this morning, I wanted something decadent. I also had a goal of consuming my oils today. Since I'm going out drinking tonight, I want to limit my point intake throughout the day to account for the booze and snacks to come. Weight Watchers and I have come to an understanding about drinking... I'll do it once in a while, and drink whatever and eat whatever, and then I'll pay it back to Weight Watchers in workouts. On NYE I think I consumed 68 points...

Back to breakfast: I started with one egg, which I accidentally cracked the yolk of. So I kept the egg white and tossed the broken yolk. When I want yolk, I don't want it cooked hard. I added another egg to the egg white, yolk still intact. (2 points total so far). Then I cooked 3 super small slices of deli ham from one of those packaged deli meat companies. The ham was the bottom. Then I added 1/4 oz of shredded Amish baby Swiss cheese. Then cooked the egg and topped the meaty cheesy with the egg. Added another 1/4 oz of the Swiss on top, sprinkled finely chopped fresh rosemary, and drizzled with truffle flavored olive oil. Voila. Heaven is served.

In other news, the job search is going well, by the way, if anyone's wondering. I've come across several phenomenal opportunities, and I'm just hoping that one will stick. There are a lot of prospects out there for a girl like me!

4 Points for Bacon and Brie on Weight Watchers

Yesterday, I lost my job. Which, of course, means there will be more time to write. But it also means that I have no valuable source of income. Which isn't fun. But life goes on, and I know that I will find another job that I love. My best friend told me that if anyone can pick themselves up by the bootstraps, it's me. So after a few Imperial Stouts, a pile of loaded nachos, and some cheesecake at Two Brothers Roundhouse, last night...I went to bed stuffed and happy (and maybe a little tipsy).

So this morning, I weighed in at my second Weight Watchers meeting. I lost 4.4 lbs! I lost a small percentage of my body and one daily point target point. And this is just the beginning! Of course, after weighing in, one doesn't want to eat a big breakfast. I'm always inspired to eat something really healthy and small. So I had a banana and a bowl of Rice Krispies. (Hello 4 point breakfast!)

But that's boring. So it's a good thing that I took a picture of yesterday's breakfast for you! It was also only 4 points...So maybe I should have just made this guy!I was trying to make up for my relatively "bad" week. I had eaten my fair share on New Year's Eve and Monday--oh GAWD...Monday...

Monday, we went to Mon Ami Gabi for their New Year's Brunch. An off-the-menu selection of French delicacies, I was in heaven...the BF was not so much. But he survived. And we got $50 in gift cards to come back! Yay! We started with the warm Brie cheese (can you tell I'm on a Brie kick?) served with roasted garlic, hazelnuts (ick), and drizzled with honey. Oh gawd so good! I had a Bloody Mary from the Bloody Mary Bar--mix, seasonings, hot sauces, olives, blue cheese stuffed olives, roasted red peppers, lemon, lime, celery, and cheese! :D Yes! Then for actual meal, I had a Quiche Lorraine. I'd been craving this for a while, hence the other day's Omelet Lorraine. It was decadent. I was bad. Weight Watchers would not have been proud. But I still lost this week so yay me! (I did try really hard to get my activity in to consume these extra points).

That being said, here's a healthy recipe/substitute for decadence. :D Enjoy.

Weight Watchers Bacon & Brie Omelet

• 2 egg whites
• 1 slice bacon, cooked and crumbled
• .5 oz brie
• 1 apple
• fresh ground Cinnamon

 

 I had cooked up the entire lb of bacon to save it for use throughout the week. This works for me, but some people may be tempted to eat all of the pieces in one sitting. Don't fall to temptation! Use the egg whites mixed with bacon to make your omelet, and fold it over a small slice of brie (that melts perfectly and spreads itself pretty evenly). Serve with the apple cored and sprinkled with fresh ground cinnamon.

I really enjoyed this one, and will definitely be making it again.