Something For The Weekend: A Full English Breakfast

Vegetarians, look away now.  It's a meat feast.

A full English typically contains: bacon, sausage, fried egg, black pudding, mushrooms, tomatoes, and beans.  Served with tea and toast it really is true to it's name; if you're not full afterwards, you've got problems.

 
Making this at home can be quite a challenge for the first timer.  Save it for the weekend - it takes some time.  Planning is key.  You need to have enough pans, know what your going to cook in each and where and get the timing right.  The microwave can come in handy for beans and tomatoes (if using plum from a tin).  I think I got it right last weekend when I cooked the bacon, sausage, black pudding and tomatoes together in my grill pan, beans in one saucepan and mushrooms in another.  I also threw a few hashbrowns in the oven, which is not exactly British tradition but it's sometimes included in cafe breakfast which makes the Irish in me very happy.  The husband thinks potatoes for breakfast are a no-no.

This breakfast has taken me a few years to get right - and it's by no means perfect.  But everything is ready nearly on time and most importantly tastes great - yes, even the black pudding (admittedly I can't eat the whole thing - it tastes great but then I begin to think about what I'm eating and I'm easily put off).  Now if I could just figure out a way to minimise clean up...

Oh yeah - go to the cafe! 

Peanut Butter Blueberry Smoothie

I remember the first smoothie I ever had.  My mom used to make them for us as a quick breakfast before school.  She would put milk, vanilla, banana and a raw egg.  They were delicious.  Today I would substitute the raw egg for vanilla protein powder but I don't think there's anything wrong with raw egg - though why we weren't allowed eat the raw cookie dough still evades me.

A quick and easy breakfast that can get all four food groups involved, I practically live off them.  I keep frozen fruit on hand and stick bananas that are starting to brown in the freezer (though sometimes I use those for banana bread) and I always have yogurt and milk in the fridge.  A combination of anything will do - just blend and drink!

After a night out on the town last year, a friend made me a smoothie that she dubbed a hangover cure.  It wasn't magic, let's face it, but it helped.  Though I was dubious about one of the ingredients - peanut butter.  I love the stuff but I wasn't sure how it would work in a smoothie.  Let's just say - it works.  It really works.

Inspired - I made this one for myself.  I had some blueberries in the fridge, a tablespoon or so of peanut butter, a cup of milk (you could use plain or vanilla yogurt) and a frozen banana and blend, blend, blend - I use a hand blender.  It's thick, creamy and because of the frozen banana, just the right amount of cold.  Get ready to start your day off right!

Something For The Long Weekend

French toast, or as it's known here, eggy bread is one of my favourite weekend breakfasts.  Not so much for the other half.  So when he's not around, I take full opportunity to make it.  And, depending on my sugar needs, I'll top them with brown sugar and maple syrup or jam or icing sugar, just depends on my mood.  While I was in Canada, I whipped myself up this delicious treat:

I was about to dig in when my cousin sort of screeched, "Aren't you going to take a picture of it??!"  So here is my very selfish and indulgent morning breakfast.  And I only felt a little bad that I hadn't made any for anyone else, but as they say "you snooze, you lose".  I was on British time and the rest of the house was on normal sleep in Canadian time. Oh well.

Have a Happy Easter and enjoy your weekend!

Peanut Butter Banana French Toast for 1

1 egg
a splash of milk
sprinkle of cinnamon
3 slices of bread
peanut butter
1 banana
maple syrup
butter or oil for frying

Whisk the egg, milk and cinnamon together in a bowl large enough to lay 1 slice of bread into.  Dip either side of the bread in the egg mixture making sure all of the bread has been coated.  Fry for a few minutes on either side until golden brown.  

Spread peanut butter on one side of each of the French toast slices, top with banana slices and layer each piece of bread.  Pour over desired amount of maple syrup - for me, that means a lot!