Thursday, June 30, 2011

Locksley and Baghel! You can't miss!

I am currently typing this from the bf's fancy shmany computer tv, which is not as easy as I would like, but I do get to see my blog on the big screen...which kind of rocks. Three delish days of breakfast for your readimg foodie pleasure.

Tuesday
Lox and bagels anyone? Still actively tryimg to be consciencious of what I'm eating, I had one of those bagel thins by Thomas. It was the everything bagel, and didn't taste too shabby once toasted and topped with stuff. The "stuff" being a thin layer of cream cheese, thinly sliced tomatoes, fresh salmon, and thinly sliced red onion. The only thing that may have improved it would be some capers...mmmm capers... *drool* Hopefully, I made my bagel eating girlfriends proud.

Wednesday
Ate fresh again with Subway...I wanted to try the breakfast sub...I think the jury is still out on this one...I did appreciate the egg white...but the cheese isn't completely adequate for the size of the sandwich...there's too much bread, and not enough bacon...I'm just saying...I'll stick with the flatbread one for now.The five little hashbrowns were tasty though!

Thursday
This morning I made a cheesy omelet with Irish Dubliner cheese and swiss cheese. Let me just say this: I truly believe that part of the quality in one's food comes from the quality of the equipment. I have never made such a perfect omelet. I'd like to thank the bf and his roommate for use of heaven...AKA their kitchen. My omelet was served with sliced tomatoes and this amazing tropical juice made from veggies. :)


In other news< due to a shot in my right arm, I feel like I got beat up with a baseball bat. one that happened to have a needle right on the hardest impact spot.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Italian Skillet

So, all this week, I start work at 10 AM, so I should be able to post more frequently with less running out the door...but there are several things that tend to occupy my time, and make me forget to write.... Word Bubbles, Words With Friends (my screen name is Jelliebean530 if you want to start a game with me.), reading Game of Thrones, and Angry Birds. What can I say? I'm easily amused.  The vertigo is still bad, but dramamine helps. We'll see how it goes.

Yesterday, the bf and I met up with T out in Aurora at Blueberry Hill.  The food was great, and the prices were reasonable. For less than $7, I had 2 poached eggs, 2 pieces of turkey sausage, and a biscuit and gravy. They poached the eggs pretty perfectly, which is often hard to find at a restaurant. The turkey sausage was the patty style, which is the best in my opinion. The biscuit was awesome, and the gravy was really good too! You can get a coupon from the website, as well, which I always appreciate.

This morning, after watching the bf eat his Irish skillet yesterday, I wanted to make a "skillet" of my own. I concocted an Italian skillet, with basil hash browns (cooked in olive oil), topped with the 4 Italian cheese blend, two over-medium eggs, a dollop of marinara and a chiffonade of basil. Sounds yum, right? I thought so too.







My Italian skillet

Saturday, June 25, 2011

I Almost Skipped Breakfast Twice This Week!

So after a trip to the doctor, I realize that I paid for a doctor to tell me I have vertigo. Seriously...like I didn't already know that. Anyways, I suppose it makes sense: my frequency of migraines, my inability to watch a 3D movie, and my dislike for the really really spinny rides at Six Flags (although the roller coasters are totally fair game).  Looks like I gotta suck it up and consume dramamine for long car trips...

Anyways...without further ado: a week of breakfasting highlights!

Monday
Monday morning, I made a quick  breakfast as I was racing out the door-you know how I roll--toss an over hard egg with some cheese into a corn tortilla with hot sauce and jet out the door...Always fast, easy, and delightful!

Tuesday
I ended up staying at the bfs on Monday night after a random decision to head there after work. In my morning rush, I figured I would stop at Starbucks or Caribou and grab a breakfast sandwich...alas...I drank my breakfast on Tuesday morning with a fat free vanilla cappuccino from Speedway...It was fast and on the way and I sort of just forgot to grab something to eat while I was there! Shocking, I know.

Wednesday
After the killer storm on Tuesday night, during which V took me to a stellar fancy shmancy meal at the Capital Grille (damn was that delicious), I had some very tasty leftovers.

Before getting into the breakfast--let me describe the aforementioned storm: V and I had just left the restaurant. The sky still had color, the wind was picking up, and we raced to the car. Within 2 minutes, the wind was raging, rain was pouring down in buckets, and the sky was black as black can be. We got to the first intersection, the power went out (including the stop lights), the emergency lights went on, and the sirens went off. At this point, I'm panicking, but flying through options in my head: gas station? too small. M's apt? No M doesn't live there anymore. R/K house? too far. Local bar? Closest place that seems safe. Done and done. 30 seconds after beginning the run through, I direct V to the nearest bar.  We waited it out (and got a little booze in my system) until the bad had passed, and headed home.

Now the breakfast. I had this kona crusted gigantic mammoth rare steak...which I sliced a few thin slices of, put into a tortilla (are we seeing a pattern here?) with an over hard egg (SORRY V, I know you didn't want it mixed with eggs, but steak and eggs ROCK) and some 18 month aged cheddar cheese, for a friggin phenomenal-nothing-can-top-this-breakfast-taco taco. Plus it appears I'm always racing out the door for work. Expect better blogging next week with several late start days...

Thursday
Another tasty use of my leftovers from Tuesday night...parnesan truffle fries. Yes. Parmesan. Truffle. Fries. Now, I don't particularly like french fries. But I love cheese. and I love truffle. and together, they make fries taste pretty darn awesome.  Now fries kind of reheat like crap, so bear with me as it wasn't so much the french fry-ness, as it was the cheesy truffly flavor...cooked in a pan for a little crisping....topped with an over medium gooey delicious eggy of joy...mmmmmm

Friday
So I tried to stop at Caribou for an apple chicken sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich on ciabatta...except that the Caribou I stopped at doesn't serve breakfast sandwiches! I wasn't about to let myself go to work 2 days in a row without breakfast, so I raced over to the McD's and got a bacon McGriddle. You've got to admire the pancake-wich. It's got the little gems of syrup built in, so you're eating pancakes, with less messiness! then add the savory goodness of the bacon, the egg, and cheese.... *sigh* Funny, it kind of reminds me of the time (when I was a kid) my dad made french toast, only to discover we had no syrup...and he put cheese on top of it. I didn't know what to do with myself...It seemed so unnatural. I've come a long way from that I think...

Saturday
This morning, I had some Dubliner cheese and crackers at the bf's place...but I was busy writing a report, so I didn't get to make breakfast yet. Perhaps the bf will awake soon and I'll have something delicious. :D I'm thinking...chilequiles...tortilla chips cooked in sauce (hot sauce or salsa) mixed with meats and veggies, and topped with eggs. :) Happiness.

Enjoy the weekend kids!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

The World Keeps Spinning

So I apologize for the lack of breakfast posts: I've been having some REALLY awful vertigo. I feel as though I am in a constant state of dizzy. Staring at a computer screen is kinda difficult. I haven't even really played Words With Friends lately...and I'm pretty darn obsessed with my fancy phone scrabble games...Dramamine is my best friend, though it doesn't help all of the dizzy...it ebbs the dizzy.

But this blog isn't about the vertigo. This blog is about breakfast...And so I bid you, enjoy:

Thursday
I spent the night at the bf's house, after dinner with his family. I love cooking breakfast in his kitchen because there's all sorts of great kitchen-y stuff! For breakfast, I cut up one of the leftover red potatoes from dinner, and mixed it with chopped ham for a skillet type base. Topped it with swiss cheese and an over medium egg (I do love those!). Easy, fast, and YUM!

 Friday
After a late night at the bar, I woke up a little too late for anything, but I managed to make time for a quick breakfast "pizza". When I was a little girl, my gram used to make me cheesy bread for breakfast--take a couple slices of white bread, top with cheese, nuke for 20-30 seconds. Voila--cheesy bread of JOY. I used the 4 Italian cheese mix and then decided I'd make it a sammich with a little fresh basil and marinara sauce. A fantastic breakfast on the run.

Saturday
So I was running around early this morning and stopped at BK for a croissanwich...but they were so AWFUL at the drive through, that I decided F-this and pulled out of the drive thru...I went about my running around business, and finally got breakfast at the Walmart Subway. I was surprisingly impressed with subway's breakfast. The hash browns (though only 4 of them) were crisp and had lots of flavor.  The sammich: flatbread with bacon, egg, and monterey/cheddar was toasted and just like regular Subway, topped with whatever the hell you want...I had yellow peppers, tomato, onion, and chipotle sauce...It was AWESOME! Much better than the English muffin sandwich I had the last time I tried Subway for breakfast. Yay.

Sunday
This morning, I was at the bf's again...I always wake up way earlier than him! Last night, we stayed in and made late night lamb fajitas (I even got him to help...sort of) for dinner (at 11!) Homemade pico de gallo, homemade guac, and then make shift fajitas, seasoned with garlic, season salt, and chipotle tabasco (I didn't have much to work with, but that shit made some STELLAR flippin' fajitas...) 

Why am I talking about dinner, you ask? Oh right, because it  made an awesome breakfast this morning! I am of the belief that by adding an egg to anything makes it "breakfast." So I cooked an over hard egg, cut it in half, popped half in each of the corn tortillas with the fajita stuffs, and called it breakfast (with some home made red hash brown potatoes) I highly recommend the breakfast fajitas.


 I'll keep y'all posted on the vertigo, but until it's resolved, posts will be longer, but more spaced. <3

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Hot Sauce: I Put That Shit on Everything.

Well, since Monday left me exhausted, and yesterday wasn't much better...I passed out at 10:30 last night and woke up before 5 (yes BEFORE 5) am this morning. The storm wasn't really helpful either. So I tried to fall back asleep...for over an hour, before I finally got up to make breakfast. This provided me plenty of time to actually write about breakfast at breakfast time! I'll tell you about yesterday first because I was pretty impressed with another quick play meal to run out the door with.

I'm not sure if I told you, but we don't have a toaster. Why? I couldn't tell you...but we don't. So toast and other toasted products are heated in the oven. After the broiler fire fiasco, of course, we can't use the broiler anymore...so I had to bake my toast...which gave me time to run around and get dressed, etc. etc. I nuked some bacon (not optimum, but bacon is bacon no matter how you cook it, right?), and pan-fried an egg white. I put a piece of American cheese on top of the egg and covered the pan until the cheese was melty. Combined all ingredients for a fast and easy breakfast sammy of joy!

So this morning, with the early wake up, I thought I would make something super delightful...but then I got lazy and made this:


More breakfast tacos.

1. I have a thing for corn tortillas.
2. I'm on a Mexican kick.
3. I don't know if you've noticed but I make things different every time, even if they have the same name....

These tacos were no different (and by that I mean they were a slight variation on whatever I've made before--which, without reading past blogs...I'm not even sure I remember them...)

I put some Tastefully Simple Corn and Black Bean Salsa (my favorite!) in a small egg pan and let it simmer. Then I cracked two egg whites over it, and let them slowly scramble together for a super mixed consistency thing. Wrapped the mix in corn tortillas and topped it with a tiny bit of aged cheddar cheese. Then some Texas Pete's Hot Sauce from.... (wait for it)...North Carolina (I know, right? You were thinking Texas).  This was a gift from the Region IV JCI Senate booth at their States party on Monday night. I was honored to be a judge in the competition and had a great time with some very inspirational Jaycees. Plus I got some AWESOME hot sauce. Thanks, H for asking me!

Both breakfasts delightfully edible. Both successes.  See you tomorrow!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Just Another Manic Monday!

Wow what a weekend!

Saturday 

I started with Saturday's amazing breakfast--I just whipped up a strata for the boyfriend and the parentals bright and early...I managed to sleep until 9:30 (which is impressively late for me, though I suspect it has something to do with the inner ear/vertigo thing I've been dealing with lately.

Tasty strata of joy was inspired by the fact that there was a half loaf of french bread becoming a giant crouton on my kitchen counter. A good Polack doesn't waste that shit...so I decided I'd turn it into breakfast (I promise it didn't taste state and hard once it was soaked in my egg casserole.  Inside the strata was eggs(half without egg yolks) a small amount of milk, a little bit of cablanca cheese, marinated portabellos, orange bell peppers, red onion, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and of course, the bread.

Happiness. Healthy Happiness.

Sunday

Sunday I woke up in Peoria (Mama S-a good friend from college had her bachelorette party.) Now, if you're ever in Peoria, I highly recommend visiting One World Cafe for its eclectic and delicious combination of tasty treats. I had an awesome breakfast "bungle" AKA bagel sammich with egg, 3 cheese mix, and crumbled bacon....with a side of rectangle-y hashbrowns. mmmmm....My not-so-hangover couldn't have been happier! I only wish TC were there. He hearts One World more than I do!

Monday

Another fast paced-shit-I'm-going-to-be-late kind of morning, I raced out the door a little after 7am to pick up J on the way into the first day of working with the kiddos. Before I left, I took 6 minutes to whip up some Italian-esque corn tacos....I know, sounds gross right? 2 corn tortillas, 1 egg cooked to medium in homemade giardinaira, then scrambled lightly, with a little 4 cheese Italian blend. Tossed a little hot sauce on there for good measure (why the hell not?) and rolled 'em up into lil taco wraps... :)

Friday, June 10, 2011

Breakfast in the City


Preface: I wrote this a few hours ago…Enjoy.

The train ride to Oak Park was so fun, I though I would do it twice! I got on the wrong train this morning. This is apparently what happens when one gets a little intoxicated, leaves her car at a hotel, and has her mother drive her to the train station early in the morning. She gets on the first train that stops, even though she isn’t 100% sure that it’s the RIGHT train.

Oops.

So here I sit at Ogilvie Transportation Center. Waiting for the next train to Oak Park…which is in 20 minutes. I’m going to just barely make it to work on time. Wait, strike that…I’m going to be late…Shit. Well, there’s at least time to brag about my city-style breakfast.

Allow me to gloat about Burrito Beach for a moment. I LOVE this place.
1. They always have tasty tacos at night/lunchtime when you want a snack at the train station.
2. They give out a foursquare special of free chips and guac! Sa-weeeet!
3. They made my breakfast this morning. Winning for them.

For breakfast I got the low carb scramble—a conglomerate Mexican bowl of egg whites, guacamole, salsa, bacon, cheese, tomatoes, and jalapeƱos…with the free chips/guac! I’ll have some of that for lunch, but I used the chips to scoop the breakfast treat like breakfast nachos! Almost as good as chilequilles!  

A happy tummy…a late employee…a tired Chrissy…this is going to be a fun day…last day of training though! :D

Have a GREAT weekend, kids! See you Monday J

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Did Someone Say Fire?

Good morning early risers! I'm at work a little early today, so I figured what better time to elaborate on my amazing breakfast from the last two days! Yesterday I had an awesome omelet with ham, rosemary, havarti cheese, and egg whites. Only 5 points on the weight watchers plan and super filling! A little watermelon to compliment it and wow. I love seedless watermelon. So yum. This morning was a bit more of an adventure in breakfasting. Let me preface this by saying that we don't have a toaster. We toast bread under the broiler. Our broiler died several months ago, but magically revived itself recently. Well, this morning, I went to toast my bread for the ham, overhard egg, and american cheese sammich (7 points)...as I opened the oven to peer inside, it seemed a whole lot brighter than usual. And there was a funny sound in the back of the oven...and I looked a little closer...and there was a fire in my oven! Lucky for us its electric, so all I had to do was turn the broiler off. But its been an exciting morning! In addition, its raining buckets and storming like crazy. My lunch bag broke on the train because it was so wet...I got to work soaked to the bone and almost had a panic attack when thunder cracked so loud my ear drums hurt! Well, I'm safely at work, cold, and wet with soaked pants. Awesome.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Breakfast Tacos!

So, this morning, I started Weight Watchers. It was a decision that I've made several times before. It has always worked for me when I follow it, so summer seemed like a good time to start.

Well, last night I did some grocery shopping and got lots of tasty and healthy options. For a healthy breakfast, my meal wasn't lacking.

2 corn tortillas with 1 egg/1 egg white scrambled, 2/3 oz of cheese, and 2 pieces of reduced sodium bacon. 8 points. And worth it. (My lunch was all salady and good for me, so I didn't need to have fruity veggie breakfast.) Just watch...tasty breakfast WITH weight loss. It'll happen.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Better Late Than Never!

So this was quite the busy weekend. I worked my 8-5 and my retail job on Friday for a total of 12 hours. Then, on Saturday, another twelve hour day between the retail job and the catering side job. What can I say? I like to be busy…

Saturday

Breakfast on Saturday was awesome. A great start to the day after a long week.  I had some baked red potatoes that I cut up and browned in a pan. After they were nice and crispy, I cooked some baby spinach and added that amazing cablanca cheese for some cheesy spinach, which I put on top of the potatoes. I finished it with two over-medium eggs, for a healthy and filling breakfast to last me the day.

Sunday

Twizzlers.

Yes, I had black licorice Twizzlers for breakfast. Then I went grocery shopping before the Sox Game (WHOO HOO!) and the wonderful (although unfortunately, a Detroit Tigers fan) Cheese Show demonstrator, Amy, fed me a real breakfast of….

CHEESE!

I love the Dominick’s Cheese Show. Love. Heart. Every Saturday and Sunday at Dominick’s, they display all sorts of tasty cheese concoctions. Here, I learned that adding a little mayo to grated cheese with jam or a Tastefully Simple seasoning makes a cheese dip that is typically a hit with parties.

Monday

Today was a run out the door, no time for breakfast kind of day. (I have those a lot lately, I guess!) I stopped at Starbucks with my work buddy, J, and discovered that this particular Starbucks does not make breakfast sandwiches! FAIL. Epic freaking fail. So, thankfully Mom cut up some watermelon for me to put in my lunch, which made for a decent and healthy breakfast (added to my caramel Americano.) Heart.

Stay Cheesy!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Who Loves Tamales? I Do I Do!

So last night, for another tasty birthday dinner (Hey, I got A LOT of coupons for free meals, ok), we went to Chevy's for some Mexican fare. My meal was free and I got a sombrero! Everyone should go to Chevys for their birthday, complete with dinner and a party hat! It shall be useful for cinco de drinko next year. We all got the 3 course dinner (soup/salad, entree, and dessert!) and mojitos. YUM. After 2 bowls of chips and tortilla soup, there was no way I could finish my tamales and have room for fried ice cream, so I thought to myself, "perfect breakfast option!"

I love tamales. Love. Heart. Yum. I spent a great deal of time searching for the perfect tamale. My love of tamales came about 2 years ago, when I was visiting my aunt in North Carolina, and we ate a TON of homemade tamales. They were phenom, and that's when I put eggs on them for breakfast. I was pleased, and decided that tamales were the way to go. So I started checking out the local taco joints for the best tamale. Some were too dry. Some were too spicy. Some weren't bad, and some weren't good. I came across the winning tamale about a year ago, when a friend opened his own restaurant. Rancho Viejo has the best tamales. The owner, Angel, makes them fresh and tops them with cheese and sauce. Happiness. :)


Chevy's didn't do too bad with their tamales. The meat was tender and not dry. The masa was flavorful. The sauce was pretty good. I knew that topped with eggs, shredded cheddar cheese, and salsa, I would have a winning breakfast. Which I certainly did. I love it when everything surrounding my eggs is so flavorful that I don't need to add salt. I hate adding salt. I did NOT have to add salt. :D

Off to work kids! Have a great day.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Cheese is Always Good for You

You know, this breakfast thing when working an early-ass job is a learning experience for me. I wake up around 6 in the morning. Sometimes, it isn't easy to make breakfast that early, especially when one has a train to catch! I'm working on it, kids. I promise. In the meantime, I'd like to thank J and Starbucks for the Venti Caramel Americano and cheese/apple/almonds set for breakfast. This was a surprisingly sufficient meal to get me through the morning at work. A small piece of brie, gouda, and cheddar cheeses, a half an apple, sesame cracker, almonds, and craisins=success!

I really want to figure this system out where I'm not buying fancy coffee and on-the-go breakfasts from Starbucks, Caribou, or the likes though. Without having to wake up ridiculously early! This will be fun! Otherwise, sorry about the miniscule post :) Gotta get back to work, you know!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

I Dined in the Sunshine Today :)

So this morning, I woke up with plenty of time. I had an extra 20 minutes before this train ride, so there was time to putz around, do nothing, AND make breakfast before jetting out of the house and making the mad dash to the train...(yeah, thought I left the cell phone at home, turned around, and realized it was in my bag the whole time...FAIL. The lady at the Lombard train cashier station gets a big fat BOO! from me. She's ridiculously slow, makes people late for the train, and over charged me for my ticket to Oak Park.

Today, I had the aforementioned solid breakfast that I was discussing yesterday. Egg white scramble with baby spinach, homemade giardinara (Mom makes the best--green olives, carrots, jalepenos, celery, oil, and Italian seasonings), and cablanca cheese. Cablanca has replaced Australian cheddar as one of the
favorite staple cheeses in my fridge drawer (living with the parents, I get a drawer to hide my super special food stuffs as I spend way too much money on cheese). Mostly, this is because my liquor store no longer carries the cheddar. Sad.

*SHAMELESS PLUG* I promise not to have too many of these...

With the delightful scramble, I enjoyed some toasted beer bread (A la Tastefully Simple--which you can purchase from yours truly here.) I love the beer bread...It's SO flippin' easy and delish...and makes great breakfast stuffs.

Funny story-typically I drink water and coffee...sometimes a little juice...and once in a great while (when its there) I drink pop (not soda, not sodie, not coke, pop). So this morning I had a little Diet 7 Up. To this day,  I still can't drink that without tasting the vodka from my college days. Thanks Mama S! She taught me that we always drink our vodka with diet pop(yes pop) because we don't need those extra calories!

See ya tomorrow!