Breakfast – Page 2

Green Matcha Latte

March 22, 2016 by The Sunny Side Up Recipes Leave a Comment

I gave up coffee for Lent (one week left!) and since then have been drinking green tea almost nonstop. To mix it up a little, I started making these matcha green tea lattes, which I usually order at Starbucks for a treat but often find them to be too sweet. I decided to try making my own recipe at home and I love them so much that I think I might just stick with them instead of coffee from now on even after Lent is over.

Matcha lattes still have that same warm, comforting feel of a cup of coffee or a regular latte and offer a slight caffeine boost to increase focus and energy. Better yet, matcha is packed with antioxidants. amino acids, and chlorophyll, which is where it gets its light green color. Unlike traditional green tea, matcha preparation involves covering the tea plants with shade cloths before they’re harvested to increase chlorophyll production, at which point the matcha tea leaves are ground into a fine powder (“matcha” literally means powdered tea). As a result, the powder is much more potent than drinking tea water and its nutrients can be more readily processed by the body. I make mine in the morning with almond milk and a touch of honey and it’s a wonderful way to start the day!

Green Matcha Latte

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Prep time

4 mins

Cook time

2 mins

Total time

6 mins

Serves: 1

Ingredients

¼ cup hot water
¾ cup vanilla almond milk
2 teaspoons matcha tea powder
1 tablespoon honey (or as much as desired)

Instructions

In a mug or a medium bowl, add the matcha tea powder and honey to a small amount of hot water and whisk until fully dissolved.
Heat almond milk add in matcha solution, and pour into a mug. Serve hot and enjoy!

Easy Breakfasts for Busy People

March 16, 2016 by The Sunny Side Up Recipes Leave a Comment

If you’re like me, you grew up hearing time and time again that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

But wait, it really is. Eating breakfast helps with weight control, alertness, concentration, and energy levels, and helps to keep blood sugar levels steady throughout the day. Here are my favorite breakfasts for those busy on-the-go mornings when you need something quick and easy:

Irish Oatmeal

Avocado Toast with Poached Eggs and Herb Roasted Tomatoes

Acai Smoothie Bowl

Balance Bowl

Spring Green Smoothie

Morning Popovers

January 6, 2016 by The Sunny Side Up Recipes Leave a Comment

I’m so thrilled to be sharing one of our family favorites, popovers! For those of you who haven’t heard of popovers before, popovers are a delicious breakfast bread similar to brioche. We love to make these popovers from Barefoot Contessa for the holidays and serve with jam for an easy but always crowd-pleasing recipe. Enjoy!

Popovers

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Ingredients

1½ tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus softened butter for greasing pans
1½ cups flour
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1½ cups milk, at room temperature

Instructions

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/popovers-recipe.html?oc=linkback

Balance Bowl

July 15, 2015 by The Sunny Side Up Recipes Leave a Comment

Having a balanced breakfast is such an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Specifically, having a grounding breakfast that’s high in protein, grains, and healthy fats and low in sugar can really change your day around. Here’s a super simple breakfast I love to make during the week to make you feel light but balanced throughout the day. Make a small batch of hard-boiled eggs at the beginning of the week, serve over a bed of greens like arugula or spinach, and enjoy!

This recipe is so simple. Quite literally all I do is slice avocado into diced cubes (sprinkle with a hint of lemon juice to prevent browning from oxidation) and toss with a few hard-boiled egg whites, one tablespoon of high-quality olive oil or flaxseed oil, and one to two tablespoons of fresh dill. For a more filling option, serve with smoked salmon and Ezekiel toast or fruit.

Acai Smoothie Bowl

June 27, 2015 by The Sunny Side Up Recipes Leave a Comment

When it starts getting so hot out, one of my absolute favorite summer treats to make is an acai bowl! For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of trying these delicious treats before, acai bowls are essentially smoothie bowls blended with acai berries–a high antioxidant superfood from Brazil– and are topped with granola, fruit, or any other goodies that your heart desires. *Translation: It looks like ice cream, it tastes like ice cream, and you get to have it for breakfast, totally guilt-free. Sound good? Sounds like a total win-win situation to me.

Acai bowls are commonly found in smoothie or juice spots in major cities or in more tropical destinations, but have no fear–they’re also easy and very cheap to make yourself! Here’s my step-by-step guide to making the perfect acai bowl.

First, for the smoothie base, I love to use these acai berry superfruit packs made by Sambazon. I buy mine from the freezer section at Whole Foods, and I love that they’re already portioned out into ingle serving sizes and come unsweetened. Typically, I’ll blend mine with 1/4 – 1/2 cup almond or soy milk for a smoothie bowl, or a full cup for a smoothie drink.

You can really use any type of vanilla-flavored protein powder here, but my favorite comes from a little superfood store in LA called Live Breaming, which also sells individual packs. For those of you in LA, their vanilla bean and cinnamon protein blend is great! Not only does it have 12 grams of plant protein per serving, but it’s also low glycemic and is soy, dairy, and gluten free and is packed with condensed superfoods like spirulina, maca, coconut sugar, chlorella, and hemp and pea proteins.

*Translation for all of you non-foodies out there: it tastes great and is really, really good for you, especially in terms of boosting energy and muscle recovery after a workout.

Back to the recipe! Blend together your acai pack, protein, and liquid of choice together until smooth. The result should be a thick, creamy smoothie that looks something like this:

Now, for the best part–toppings! This is where we have some fun. For my base, I always start with granola. This granola also comes from Live Beaming and is a beautiful mix of oats, chia, sunflower seeds, and other whole ingredients.

For added protein and crunch, I also love to add hemp seeds. Raw hemp seeds are a complete protein and are rich in Omega 3 & 6, vitamin E (for beautiful skin and hair), and fiber. Fun fact for you vegetarians out there: hemp seeds have more digestible protein than meat, whole eggs, cow milk, or any other high protein food. Who knew? 2 tablespoons contains 11g protein, 1 g fiber, or about 20% of your daily iron value.

Next, I love to add in berries. Here I used blackberries and strawberries, but bananas, raspberries, or almost any other fruit will do.

Finally, for some good measure I love to add in sliced almonds for extra crunch. Unsweetened shredded coconut is also a favorite. Enjoy!

Nourishing Oatmeal

June 16, 2015 by The Sunny Side Up Recipes Leave a Comment

There’s nothing quite as wonderful as a beautiful breakfast to get you out of bed and ready to take on the day! I’m always tempted to skip breakfast altogether, but this delicious homemade oatmeal always hits the spot and energizes me for the day ahead. Rather than buying the store bought variety, which often has too much added sugar and will make you crash by the mid-morning, this one is made from scratch. Best of all, you’ll feel so nourished, confident, and strong as you head into your day.

Now, the first key to oatmeal is the toppings (always the best part, right?) ! I loved these berries from the Farmer’s Market in LA, but I also love to add apricot, peaches, or any other fresh or dried fruit I have in my pantry. More on that later..

The next key is the type of oat you use. While most people see oatmeal as a very healthy breakfast, they’re also usually choosing instant oats that have been so processed in the factory that by the time they make it to your pantry they’ve lost most of their nutritional value. My tip here is to use non-instant steel cut oats (my favorite brand pictured below), which are virtually untouched and keep their whole nutritional value. Steel cut oats taste a little nuttier, but they’re packed with fiber that will keep you full and your blood sugar levels even.

Here’s a close up! As you can see, the oats look different but you can tell they’re still in their whole form.

Now, once you’ve measured out your water and brought it to a boil, add your oats and let them simmer for about 5 minutes, adding additional water as needed. Gradually add in almond milk and chia seeds and stir, for about 5 more minutes. Add vanilla, cinnamon, and flax seeds.

Now, for the best part, toppings! As I mention above I always add fruit, but I also love sliced almonds, honey, walnuts, or hemp seeds. Have fun with it!

Nourishing Oatmeal

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Prep time

1 min

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

11 mins

Serves: 1

Ingredients

⅓ cup steel cut oats
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 tbs chopped walnuts or chopped almonds
1 tbs cinnamon
1 tbs vanilla
1 tsp raw local honey
1 handful of berries

Instructions

Bring water to a boil, stirring in oats. Let simmer for 5 minutes, while gently stirring. Add almond milk and chia seeds and let simmer for another 5 minutes.
Stir in honey, vanilla, and nuts if desired. Serve with fresh fruit.

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Avocado Toast with Poached Eggs and Herb Roasted Tomatoes

April 25, 2015 by The Sunny Side Up Recipes Leave a Comment

During the week, my go-to breakfast is always eggs and avocado toast on Ezekiel flaxseed bread. I don’t know about you, but I feel like being in the office always makes me feel so hungry and it’s just enough to keep you feeling full until lunch. If you haven’t heard of Ezekiel, definitely check it out–I love their sprouted grain flaxseed bread because it’s this amazing, tasty bread that also happens to be very high and fiber and uses no refined sugar or flour, only sprouted certified organic grains. How amazing is that?

But on the weekend, I think it’s time for an upgrade. Today I’m sharing one of my favorite Sunday breakfasts, avocado toast with poached eggs and slow-roasted herb tomatoes. It’s quick, simple, and delicious, and packed with fresh flavor.

A few insider tips: Poached eggs take a little bit more effort to make, but the secret ingredient that all chefs use is actually vinegar, which helps keep everything together. I also loved the idea of roasted tomatoes, because cooking them helps to enhance release of the phytochemical lcyopene that has powerful antioxidant properties to boost your health. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!

Here’s the before….

And the after.

Avocado Toast with Poached Eggs and Herb Roasted Tomatoes

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Prep time

3 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

28 mins

Author: Amy

Recipe type: Breakfast

Serves: 1 serving

Ingredients

1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs Herves de Provence
1 tbs distilled white vinegar
2 eggs
1 slice Ezekial flaxseed bread, toasted
1 tsp salt
1 generous handful of spinach

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Rinse tomatoes and toss with olive oil and herbes de provence in a lined baking dish. Roast for 25 minutes.
While the tomatoes are roasting, add salt and vinegar to a shallow pan and bring to a boil. Using a spoon, carefully stir the water in a clockwise direction to create a small current. Carefully crack egg in the center of your "whirlpool" and cook for 5 minutes or until fully poached. Remove with a slotted spoon and place onto a paper towel to remove excess water.
Lay thin slices of avocado on top of toast, followed by poached egg and tomatoes to taste. Serve on a bed of spinach or your leafy green of choice.

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Spring Green Smoothie

April 7, 2015 by The Sunny Side Up Recipes Leave a Comment

One of my favorite parts of spring is the range of produce that becomes available as the East Coast gets warmer (cue sun dresses, rooftop evenings, and beach getaways)! My roommate recently bought a new blender in an effort to up her nutrition regimen, and I couldn’t think of a better way to start out my first blog post. Bon appetit!

Green Smoothie

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

1 min

Total time

6 mins

I love green smoothies because they're fresh, light, and perfect for those on-the-go mornings when you need something quick. Bonus: You can't taste the spinach, so you're getting a third of your vegetables in for the day without even thinking about it! No brainer!

Author: Amy C.

Recipe type: Breakfast

Cuisine: Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Serves: 1 serving

Ingredients

1 banana
2 heaping handfuls of fresh spinach
¾ cup vanilla almond milk
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1 Tbsp almond butter (PB2 is a great low-fat alternative)
1 cup ice
1 dash of cinnamon
Note: You can substitute spinach for virtually any other leafy green (kale, dandelion greens, swiss chard) but make sure to remove the stems since they're a bit bitter. If you're feeling adventurous, ginger, bee pollen, and spriulina are all fun add-ins!

Instructions

Blend until creamy, and enjoy! For a creamier consistency, add extra banana and spinach. For a lighter punch, add extra almond milk. Serve immediately- it's best when fresh, but you can keep it for up to one day in the fridge!

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