quick & easy breakfast | Gotta Eat, Can't Cook

Posts Tagged ‘quick & easy breakfast’

July 27th, 2024

Blog, Breakfast, Cycling Food, Eggs, Fitness Food, Hiking Food, One Bowl Meals, Running Food

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Microwave Cooked Scrambled Eggs Picture Book Recipe

Last post showed how to make stove cooked scrambled eggs all very easily and with 2 quick tips:

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 and…

…equipment.

Click any picture on this page for a complete, freshly revised step-by-step picture recipe.

Microwave Oven Cooked Scrambled Eggs Recipe First Page

July 24th, 2024

Blog, Breakfast, Eggs

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Stove Cooked Scrambled Eggs Picture Book Recipe

When I was about 7 years old, the first meal I tried to cook was scrambled eggs. I’d seen my mom cook them many times. How hard could it be?

I felt fully confident putting a pan on the stove, firing up a burner, putting butter in the pan, giving an egg a good crack – and then, horrifically, watching the egg white and yolk splat next to me feet while I reflexively tossed the broken egg shells in the hot pan. Stove off, clean up the mess before anyone saw me. That cured me of cooking for the next 10 years.

If you’ve had similar experiences, I get it, and that’s what this site is all about: helping you empower yourself with the kitchen skills you need to make easy fully flavorful meals on your own.

As I mentioned at the end of the last post, Freeing Eggs From a Bad Rap, which came on the heels of a piece about how dietary fat does not cause heart disease, this post is about how to make scrambled eggs, which is the most popular way to cook and eat eggs. Before downloading that picture book recipe, which you can do by clicking any picture on this page or this link, here are two easy tips, included in the recipe, to ensure your scrambled eggs turn out fluffy and tender, not fork-bouncing tough and rubbery.

Tip one: adding just a light dash of salt, as shown below, to the eggs before cooking them,…

…adds a little flavor but, more importantly, helps break down some of the proteins in the eggs so that they turn out soft and tender, as shown in the contrasting pictures below.

Tip two: make sure to heat the pan you’re using to the proper cooking temperature. To check the temperature, wet your fingers with tap water, and flick the water onto the hot pan surface. The pan is properly heated when the water sizzles and evaporates on the pan surface – but not so hot that it immediately turns to steam.

Here are the ingredients and…

…pieces of equipment needed to make stove cooked scrambled eggs.

Again, click any picture on this page or this link for easy to follow, step-by-step picture book directions, and have fun making your own scrambled eggs with full-on empowered confidence!

August 30th, 2023

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Breakfast, Cycling, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Fruit, Hiking Food, Nutrition, Running, Running Food, Sports Nutrition

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Rocket Fuel Breakfast, Part 4: Fruit, Yogurt & More

Fruit, yogurt and more? Sure, always more! With full-on flavor – that’s half the fun of it. What you see above is what I put together to rocket-fuel up or an excellent hop on the bike with good buds this morning (below) – and with no need to refuel on the way.

You can get the base recipe I used, Summer Multi-Fruit Salad, by clicking either this link or any picture on this page.

To mix it up a bit, here’s what I used for ingredients and…

…how I put it all together – fruit first; then nut butter, cookie butter spread, jam; Greek yogurt & ground flaxseed with nutritional yeast…

…raisins & dried cranberries; and peach kefir. Killer and went great with the slice of cherry peach pancake and iced chocolate, coconut water coffee shown at the top of this page.

Enjoy!

August 1st, 2023

Blog, Breakfast, Cycling, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Hiking Food, Running, Running Food

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Ice Chocolate Coconut Coffee Picture Book Directions

Last post, Rocket Fuel to Power Your Body in Motion, showed very much the same breakfast I had this morning before popping out for a bike ride with good Hickory buds shown below.

This post focuses on the liquid part of that breakfast, iced chocolate coconut coffee.

A couple quick comments:

Most importantly, this cold drink tastes great! At the same time, it’s moderately caffeinated and provides a good shot of potassium, through coconut water, which boosts metabolism and pays off big time for any endurance physical activity: cycling, running, hiking, walking, full-on yard work – and more. (I usually drink 2 tumblers (about 20 ounces X 2) full of that drink before a ride and then supplement with water on the fly – and never come home dehydrated.)
For optimal results, I highly recommend brewing the coffee and making the chocolate mix in the evening so that it can cool in the fridge overnight for an ice cold drink in the morning.

Here’s what you need to make iced chocolate coconut coffee.

Click any link or picture on this page for iced chocolate coconut coffee picture book directions.

July 11th, 2023

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Breakfast, Cycling, Cycling Food, Drinks (no alcohol), Fitness Food, Food & Health, Fruit, Fruit Pancakes, Hiking Food, Nutrition, Pancakes, Running Food, Sports Nutrition

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Rocket Fuel Breakfast to Power Your Body in Motion

Rockets, power, motion! Please tell me you find that “let’s go!” motivating! When it comes to fuel to power endurance exercise/any physical activity to keep your body in motion, the key is making sure to take in fats, protein, some carbohydrates and fluids – and having them all with full-on flavor.

Here’s what I had recently for the hop on the bike shown above with terrific good friends.

The fats, from whole milk Greek yogurt, whole milk kefir, almond-peanut butter and freshly made whipped cream, combined with protein from egg and whole grain flour in the fruit pancake, Greek yogurt and kefir gave me slow-burning sustained energy. The carbohydrates: a little sugar in my iced coffee/chocolate/coconut water drink, cookie spread on my pancake slice and fruit, dried fruit and jam in my fruit and yogurt mix, gave me instant energy to start my ride. And front-loading fluids with 30-40 ounces of iced coffee/chocolate/coconut water got me going well hydrated so that I just needed to top off with water while I rode, and the potassium in coconut water helped both prevent cramps and improve energy metabolism.

Of course, everybody’s body and fuel requirements are different, and only YOU know YOU. That means it’s most important to pay attention to what YOU eat and drink and how that affects YOUR physical performance, no matter what kind of physical activity YOU do. Still, though the fine details differ person to person, the base components are the same: carbohydrates for quick burning energy, a good shot of fat and protein for long-burning, sustained energy and plenty of fluids to start off well hydrated.

The next few posts, starting with iced coffee/chocolate/coconut water (killer good!), will show how to make each of the 3 pieces shown above that I have regularly – and always with a little improvised variety for flavor fun, before hopping out on the bike.

More soon!

September 26th, 2022

Blog, Breakfast, Crepes, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Hiking Food, How To & Tips, Running Food

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Fresh Crepes with Nut Butter, Jam, Yogurt & Whipped Cream

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

May 7th, 2022

Blog, Breakfast, Cereal, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Grains, Hiking Food, One Bowl Meals

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Whole Grain Cereal with Fresh Fruit & Kefir Picture Book Recipe

Last post showed how to use Chocolate, Grain & Nut Butter Cereal to put together a fully flavorful energy igniting/energy sustaining breakfast bowl. In that post I mentioned that recipes are just suggested guides that can be altered to meet your specific taste and dietary needs.

And, even though that post featured Chocolate, Grain & Nut Butter Cereal as the main ingredient, you certainly can make that recipe – or something very much like it – using any cereal you like. True to that word, here’s what I’ll call a “twist on a twist” based on a breakfast I had in Germany years ago, “Bircher Muesli mit Obst und Yoghurt” (Muesli with fruit and yogurt), that usually comes in two separate bowls, as shown here.

It is certainly easy to see from the ingredients I use below to make what I call Whole Grain Cereal with Fresh Fruit & Kefir that my interpretation of the recipe is quite a bit different than what I had in Germany.

And, that’s exactly where the fun comes in – and all it takes is a little imagination and, sure, some risk taking, to make the most of that fun.

Click this link or any picture on this page for the Whole Grain Cereal with Fresh Fruit & Kefir Picture Book Recipe that you can use as is or vary however you like.

Next post: what exactly is kefir and why do I feature it so much?

February 12th, 2021

Blog

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Frigid Weather Remedy: Instant Cereal from Simple to Exciting!

The weather guess for Valentine’s weekend and into next week is hardly heart warming.

Though we can’t change the cold outside, we sure can make the most of what we eat to keep us warm inside and do it quickly, easily – and flavorfully.

Last post showed how to make instant hot cereal from your favorite cold cereal.

For added flavor, just click this link or the picture below for picture book directions that show how to ramp up the flavor and take that instant hot cereal from simple to exciting.

Of course, the ingredients you see in the above recipe are only suggestions. As always, make any substitutions to suit your taste.

Happy Valentine’s Day weekend!

February 7th, 2021

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Turning Your Favorite Cold Cereal into Instant Hot Cereal

Yep! Winter’s still full-on.

After the snow. Hickory, NC, Feb. 7, 7:30 AM

Want some “get it done now” inspiration to pry yourself out of a warm bed? Here’s a very quick & easy way to turn your favorite cold cereal into what might become your new favorite hot cereal.

All you need is your favorite cold cereal, milk (or milk alternative) and a microwave oven (the banana, Greek yogurt and jam are some of my favorite add-ons – flavor rules!).

Just click this link or any picture on this page for step-by-step picture book directions.

Next post: How to Take Instant Hot Cereal From Simple to Exciting!

May 14th, 2018

Blog, Breakfast, Cereal, Cycling Food, Fitness Food

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Supercharged Oatmeal – Great Training Fuel!

Here’s how to vary the flavor and supercharge oatmeal by adding protein and some fat to keep you fueled and satisfied for any kind of endurance athletic or physically demanding activity. First, though, a couple quick notes:

1. Flavor and taste – most important – are exceptionally personal. The ingredients you see below work great together – for me – but my taste is not your taste. For example, you’ll see in the picture below that I use plain nonfat Greek yogurt, which I love for its flavor, thick texture, and high protein content. You, however, might not like Greek yogurt – or any yogurt at all for that matter – and that’s ok. Skip it, replace it with something else – and do the same for any other ingredient you see below to make your simple to exciting oatmeal all yours. Read more »