Add just a little salt before cooking the eggs to help break down proteins in the eggs so that they turn out soft & fluffy, not fork-bouncing hard and rubbery. You should do the same thing here when cooking scrambled eggs in the microwave oven.
Make sure the pan is warmed to the right cooking temperature before starting to cook the eggs. No need to do that when cooking with a microwave oven.
I will say that the first time I heard of microwave cooked scrambled eggs, I laughed, “No way!”
But then just for humor’s sake, I tried ’em – nose close to the microwave as shown here – and couldn’t believe my eyes.
Even better, I couldn’t believe how flavorfully they turned out, how easy it was to put them together, and how little there was to cleanup as I could mix, cook, and eat the eggs from the same bowl. Great!
Here’s all you need for ingredients.
Click any picture on this page for a complete, freshly revised step-by-step picture recipe.
Last post was about a crepe I made with nut butter, cookie spread and raisins, as my dear ol’ mom used to say, “JIC”. And that “JIC” was “just in case” I needed it to refuel on a 60 mile North Carolina ride. And though I didn’t need to refuel on the ride, that full-on flavorful crepe sure didn’t go to waste. No way!
Crepe with nut butter, cookie spread; fruit with yogurt, jam & dried fruit; and coffee
Last weekend I used half of that leftover crepe for breakfast, as shown above, along with fruit, yogurt, jam and dried fruit and a vat of coffee – and, you bet, both the crepe and coffee got a good shot of whipped cream. Again, that breakfast – and a good meal the night before (equally as important) –
…sustained me just fine for another 60 mile less hilly ride, as shown above, with no need to chomp on the nuts, raisins and dried coconut I bagged and shoved in my pocket, again, “JIC”. Ha, Mom!
My dear ol’ Mom “live life ‘bright eyed & bushy tailed’ and with compassion” role model had quite a few family famous lines. One was “Take it with you, JIC”, aka “Just in Case”, which she almost always qualified with a blunt “It’s better to have it and not need it than not have it and need it”. Yes, ma’am.
This past Saturday I sure heard her voice between my ears while prepping for a crunch on the bike with my good Hickory brothers. I’d actually started that prep the night before by making fresh crepes – all easy (click this link for picture book directions). I then laid on a good spread of both nut butter and cookie spread and topped that with raisins (click this link for step-by-step picture directions – and skip adding yogurt & whipped cream if you’re packing that crepe as shown below).
Crepe with nut butter, cookie spread & raisins packed in a zip bag for a bike ride
In the background of the 2-shot picture above, you can see what I had for breakfast before the morning ride: fruit with yogurt, jam and dried fruit along with 1/4th of a toasted waffle with nut butter, cookie spread and raisins that I topped later with a shot of yogurt and whipped cream – and very little coffee. I thought I had time. I didn’t.
As I’ve mentioned before, a breakfast like the one above almost always keeps me completely fueled for my rides. Same thing here. We stopped for coffee halfway out. I had an extra large with milk but didn’t eat anything – I wasn’t even slightly hungry – and was just fine for the whole ride as mapped out above.
If my dear ol’ mom could’ve seen me, she would’ve smiled, “Well, at least you had it, sonny. JIC!” Ma’, you bet – and thanks! (Wow, that last line makes my eyes swim – for good reason!)
Last post – I know, quite a while ago – showed how to make fresh crepes, which are just as easy to make as flapjack pancakes but are way more versatile, as shown with just a few examples above.
Whether you use your own crepes or pre-made store bought crepes, the top middle version, filled with nut butter and jam and topped with yogurt and whipped cream is very easy to make, killer flavorful and great power fuel for any kind of strenuous activity because of its combination of simple “get up and go!” sugars from the jam and cookie spread (optional), complex carbs from the flour in the crepe, protein from the egg in the crepe, Greek yogurt and nut butter, and fats from nut butter, yogurt (if you use whole milk yogurt) and whipped cream.
Here’s what I use to put together a crepe like this: homemade crepe (which can be substituted with a prepared, store bought crepe), then from left to right: whole milk Greek yogurt, almond butter, cookie spread (optional – I love both added flavor and light crunch!), jam, raisins and whipped cream.
Crepe with nut butter, jam, yogurt and whipped cream ingredients
Start by spreading nut butter, cookie spread (optional) and jam down the middle of the crepe.
Spreading nut butter, cookie spread and jam down the middle of a crepe
I fold over one of the crepe thirds and add a dab of nut butter to the middle of that third and then fold over the opposing third, as shown below, to keep the crepe folded in place when I warm it in the microwave oven.
Using nut butter to keep the folded crepe thirds together when warmed in the microwave oven
Warm the filled crepe in the microwave oven for 20 seconds.
Warming the filled crepe for 20 seconds in the microwave oven
Finish buy topping the warmed crepe with yogurt and whipped cream.
Finishing with a good shot of yogurt and whipped cream
This crepe just by itself is great. Here’s how I have it before a good crunch on the bike that keeps me satisfied completely with no need to refuel on the fly for distances of 30-50+ miles with plenty of North Carolina hills along the way.
Pre-ride crepe with nut butter, cookie spread, jam, yogurt and whipped cream
If you’ve seen the new, fantastically fun Top Gun Maverick movie, you know the “Mav” is all about improvising on the fly and living to fight another day.
If you’re a regular here, you also know I consider improvisation the spice of life, and that spice of life is all about fun.
Here’s an example. Last post showed how to make this very simple but fully flavorful fresh spinach and berries salad – great summertime stuff!
Now, here are some ingredients you can use to take that same salad from simple to exciting (S2E) all very easily.
Sure, these ingredients look like a lot. But don’t let that bother you. They just represent a range of choices you can pick from or substitute with anything you like to make your salad all your own regarding flavor and dietary needs.
Click this link or the picture below for picture book directions and,…
…back to Top Gun – and fun. The “Mav” might have the bad guys – and the Navy – but he’s got nothing on us roadies. Ha!
Here’s one very easy, fully flavorful way I use the Chocolate, Grain & Nut Butter Cereal featured in the last post to put together a “fire me up and keep me going!” pre-ride sustained energy breakfast bowl made with…
…these ingredients.
I say “pre-ride” because cycling is what I do most, but this breakfast bowl works just as well to prepare for any physical activity: run, hike, gym, anything that requires sustained energy.
Regarding the recipe itself, as mentioned in the picture book directions you can get by clicking this link or any picture on this page,…
…what you see for ingredients here are only suggestions intended to inspire your imagination to make your own breakfast bowl all your own.
Last post was about how to repurpose a failed recipe. The Chocolate, Grain & Nut Butter Power Bars I tried to make didn’t work out as intended as solid bars that would stay together in bar form if taken along on a bike ride, run or hike. But the crumbling result, packed with fully flavorful ingredients, sure worked fine as a robust cereal rich with both “get up and go” fast fuel complex carbohydrates and energy sustaining protein and healthy fats – and tastes great!
The recipe for Chocolate, Grain & Nut Butter Power Cereal uses these ingredients…
…and is actually two recipes in one as it shows first how to cook quinoa if you want to use quinoa and don’t already have it cooked when you start putting the power cereal together.
Click this link or any picture on this page for a complete picture book recipe.
Next post will show how I use this cereal to power up before a good bike ride.
Mistakes? Ha! That’s just part of learning no matter how skilled you are in any field. And, no way to sugar coat it, the Chocolate, Grain & Nut Butter Power Bars I made recently, and intended to add to the recipe lineup here, just didn’t work out as planned – not even with the terrifically flavorful ingredients shown here.
The first signs regarding intended purpose as power bars: crumbling dough when I formed it a baking sheet. Then, cracks in the finished loaf (see the red arrows below), which was a clear sign the bars would fall apart easily, especially if tucked in a pocket for a hop on the bike or run.
The worst part: the flavor wasn’t as full on as I’d expected – and that happens.
But no way were all those terrific ingredients getting tossed in the trash. Instead, I did what the bars wanted to do anyway and crumbled them into a container to be “repurposed” as a chocolate-granola cereal and then…
…made this much more full-on flavorful chocolate, grain and nut butter cereal breakfast bowl.
I’ll get that picture book recipe out right after I first put together a purposely made picture book Chocolate, Grain & Nut Butter Power Cereal recipe.
Before getting to the very easy, fully flavorful improvisation, I want to finish the story from the last post about how to speed up pineapple ripening that I’ll lay out in this equation.
My unripe pineapple in a paper bag for 2 days = ripe pineapple
All right! With that freshly ripened pineapple good to go, I could then put together and shoot Pineapple, Berries, Nut Butter, Yogurt, Jam & Dried Fruit, which looks as shown below and is a quick and easy twist on the base Pineapple, Yogurt, Jam & Dried Fruit recipe.
Here’s all you need to make Pineapple, Berries, Nut Butter, Yogurt, Jam & Dried Fruit. And just as I mention in the picture book recipe, all the ingredients you see below work great together, but they’re only suggestions. Imagination is always your only limit to alternative or added ingredients you can use to make this richly flavorful dish all your own.
Click this link or any picture on this page for complete picture book directions.
Last post earlier this week discussed what’s really in an ingredient and what that means to you, especially if you have dietary restrictions. Then, entirely coincidentally, this week I got a text from a good cycling bud asking whether to use sweetened or unsweetened coconut flakes and what type of chocolate chips to use to make Banana Nut Butter Power Bars. He couched his question with a note that his skills are pretty much limited to toasting Pop Tarts. Excellent on all fronts!
I loved the question! Right away, I tore down the old recipe to revise it with this more descriptive list of ingredients and…
…these new directions that you can get by clicking this link or any picture on this page.
Always glad to make changes – that’s “learning and adapting” life in action. And what I like best is hearing what works and doesn’t work for people actually using any recipe I put on this site so that I can help make your work – and mine – in the kitchen as easily fully flavorful as possible. That’s life enriched!
February 3rd, 2023 
Even better, I couldn’t believe how flavorfully they turned out, how easy it was to put them together, and how little there was to cleanup as I could mix, cook, and eat the eggs from the same bowl. Great!
Click any picture on this page for a complete, freshly revised step-by-step picture recipe.
