Green Eggs In a Pan

My mom gave me this idea via pinterest - eggs cooked INSIDE avocados! 

I love eggs cooked in holes, like when you cut a circle in toast and cook it.  It is an almost-fool proof way to cook eggs while guaranteeing you won't overcook the yolk.  I absolutely hate when I overcook my yolks, so cooking with holes is my insurance policy.  However, I think bread is a horrible breakfast, so I don't eat bread very often in the morning.

To cook in an avocado hole, your best bet is to grab the very middle of the avocado.  This is the biggest slice, hence the best.  However, if you are making multiple eggs-in-holes, then you can cut smaller slices.  So what I did was essentially cut my avocado into thirds - the middle slice (about an inch thick) and then the bigger two end pieces.

I removed the seed and cut a slice in the peel, so I could peel it.  If you leave the peel on, you won't be able to see it under the egg and run the risk of eating the peel.  Not good!

Toss the avocado slice down on a frying pan sprayed with cooking spray.  Crack your egg so the yolk goes right into the hole.  Don't worry about the white.  It will pretty much cover the whole avocado and that is okay.

Cook for awhile on this side.  I waited until my white was pretty much set, and then I flipped it.  The avocado even made it easier to flip - bonus!  Make sure you cook long enough when you flip it, as the avocado can make it a bit harder to see how well the white is cooking.  Rejoice in the fact that even if you cook the egg for longer than normal, the hole will help protect your yolk.

Then, admire your handiwork and enjoy!

Peaches for Breakfast

I am really not much of a breakfast-food eater.  Yes, I do eat breakfast, but you are more likely to find me eating a salad, soup, or some other dinner item in the morning hours.  If I do go for breakfast food, it is normally just a few fried eggs with salt and turmeric.

However, on the weekends, I love to have a quick and easy brunch composed of peaches, spices, yogurt and preserves.  It is so easy to make, and very tasty.

Chop one peach up into bite-size pieces.  It doesn't need to be tiny pieces - an inch or so will do.  I even use slightly unripe peaches when they aren't in season - the other ingredients make it taste good anyway.

To the peaches, add two teaspoons of water and two tablespoons of raspberry (or your flavor of choice) preserves.  I use low sugar raspberry (also with no artificial sweetners).  Then add  a pinch of apple pie spice (it comes in a little spice container in the spice aisle).  I add more cinnamon to get as much of the super-spice as I can, and I sprinkle the whole thing with Truvia, to taste.

Truvia is a sugar substitute with way less calories and a taste I think tastes "brighter" than sugar.  It is hard to explain if you haven't had it, but I would highly recommend trying it.  It doesn't have the chemical taste other sweetners have.  If you don't have Truvia, just use normal sugar.

Stir everything together and then add plain non-fat Greek yogurt.  I add about a half cup, but you can add as much as you prefer.  Stir it up once more and you have a simple, tasty, delicious breakfast.

It is also really filling - I sometimes struggle to eat the entire bowl in one sitting.  Also, the calorie content is low if you use Truvia and low sugar jam.  Truvia calories are minimal (probably less than 10), the jam has 25 calories/tbsp, and the yogurt has 60 calories in a half cup. With a peach having approximately 60 calories, you are looking at a filling breakfast with approximately 175 calories.  YUM!

Weekend Menu

Just got back from Moscow last night and today is my birthday, so the last few days have been a bit of a whirlwind.  I am going to get my budget on lockdown after today, so I should have a few days to rest and relax.  Been spending quite a bit of money and want to save it for some stuff that counts!

In the meantime, here is the menu from my weekend.

Friday (upon arrival in Moscow):
Thai Peanut Chicken Fettucine
Cinnamon Sangria with Mixed Berries and Citrus

Saturday:
Breakfast - Tuna Melt with Fried Egg (breakfast in bed!)
Dinner - Spaghetti Marinara with Garlic Bread
Drinks - Spiced Apple Mojitos and Pina Coladas

Sunday:
Sweet and Spicy Bacon
Baked Eggs

It was a delicious weekend and most of the meals were courtesy of my boyfriend, so many thanks to him.  I was responsible for breakfast on Sunday and the Apply Mojitos, but the rest I just got to sit back and enjoy.  It was phenomenal and so much fun to make it ourselves.

Now my friend is en route as we plot what to make for my birthday dinner tonight.

Also, at work, I was treated to Blueberry Vanilla Cupcakes with Berry Frosting, and Banana Cream Pie.

MY OH MY I AM A LUCKY GIRL!!!!!

Thank you everyone for being so sweet to me :)

#003 Best Place to Brunch

Well the people have spoken! Goldy's won the vote, so it was there we went for breakfast.  Make sure to vote on this week's poll for where I should adventure next.

Today's adventure was to #003 Goldy's Breakfast Bistro for the "Best Place to Brunch."  It was pretty cool this morning -- I was the last to wake up and David asked if I wanted to get breakfast and said he had a place in mind.  I was a little sad because I thought that meant we wouldn't be able to go to Goldy's and I had been plotting to get them to go there.  Turns out we were thinking about the same place! Side note -- all the pictures kinda suck today because the lighting everywhere was horrible!

Living Social raves about the blueberry pancakes, sweet potato hashbrowns, and cheesy grits.  Have any of you eaten there?

I decided to see if yelp concurred or had some other favorites. Goldy's has 4.5 stars, and yelpers say it has the best eggs benedict, special potatoes, and delicious coffee while you wait (which I will not be trying, but it does remind me of Moscow favorite, The Breakfast Club).

After that, it was to Goldy's website to see what they had to say.  They say their claim to fame is their hollandaise sauce, Spinach Frittata, Andalusia Eggs, and made-from-scratch pancakes.  They have been around since 1999, so I bet some of those dishes are nearing perfection.

We found some free two hour parking, so that was awesome.  We walked into the entrance and the first thing I noticed was no wait -- SWEET as most places on the internet say the wait is at least one hour.  Second thing I noticed?  You walk in and there is this weird curtain you have to go through.  Kind of odd.

I decided to order the Spicy Chicken Benny (eggs benedict).  I have never, ever ordered eggs benedict at a restaurant, so I decided to go for it.  David got biscuits and gravy and chicken sausage (which was mango/jalapeno).  The sausage was pretty good but we both agreed we would have preferred pork.  Jehs got scrambled eggs and this "red flannel hash" which was kind of odd -- beets, potatoes, and bacon.

Mine was big.  I should have gotten a half order, but I was dreaming of leftovers and didn't realize eggs benedict doesn't make the best leftovers.  I really liked the sauce, until the end where I started to get sick of it and it was tasting a little mayonaise-y.  I really wanted to try the oatmeal (love restaurant oatmeal) so I do wish I had tried that!  But, overall, I was glad I gave this a shot.  At the end, I ended up going for the english muffin bits and picking over the eggs.  I didn't really like the texture of the eggs in the sauce...too runny/gummy for me.  However, I still managed to eat most of it.

My eggs benedict was $10.75, which I think was pretty spendy for breakfast.  To be honest, we were all a little surprised this is the"best place to brunch" in Boise.  It was expensive and none of our food was "AMAZING!"  Maybe we are spoiled up in Moscow, where a few delicious places include The Breakfast Club and Old European (and my personal favorite, The Pantry).  Also, maybe food "in the big city" just happens to be more expensive?

After that, we decided to explore downtown a bit. We went to Rediscovered Books, Ward P. Hooper's Art Store, The Vandal Store, The Egyptian Theater and a consignment clothing shop. I think the general consensus was that the art store was incredible. He had some really cool pictures, and I loved his style. You can see for yourself at his website but I really don't think the website captures the art that we loved very well. The Vandal stuff was awesome and I wish he had more of that. I ended up buying five postcards, 5 for $5. They will be fun to randomly send out.

The bookstore was really cute.  It had a nice little reading room.  Check out this book I saw -- probably one of the weirdest book covers ever (and it is Winnie from The Wonder Years!). 

Some key headlines on the book: "Boy Crazy Confessionals!" "Five Minutes to a Better Mood" "Are you Bold or Shy, take the quiz!" And it is all about "HOT X: Algebra Exposed."

After that, we checked out the Vandal Store.  It is awesome to see some Vandal Pride, and we found out all the employees are Vandal fans in some form or another.  I do wish they had more selection, but space is certainly limited.

The Egyptian Theater was also REALLY cool. I was amazed how well-kept it looked.  We talked to someone and he said it was built in 1928.  Jehs also said she watched a show on the History Channel, and it is supposedly really haunted.  The guy working there said he had never seen anything, but did agree it is really creepy.  Recently they just made it into an event center, rather than just a theater, so it will be fun to go there.

After that, we all went home and had a nice siesta.  I have a stuffed up nose, so I think my body is just really tired.  I need to make an effort to drink more tea and up my spice intake today and tomorrow!  We met David's family for dinner at Tucano's, a Brazilian restaurant.

It was a really interesting idea.  The main stuff is a buffet.  I made a delicious salad, and there were soups, pasta, breads, fried bananas, and tons of vegetables and random things. Then, you have a little traffic light-type thing on your table.  Green means you are still hungry, yellow means maybe, and red means you need a break.  Servers walk around with various types of meat, grilled vegetables, and grilled pineapple.  They come up to you, explain the meat, and you decide if you want to try it.  While we were there, we were probably offered at least ten different kinds of meat (including filet mignon!).  I liked the parmesan veggies and the grilled pineapple the most. 

I wanted to like the meat, so I kept saying yes to everything until I realized, oh yeah, I don't really like meat that much.  We also got a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake for dessert and it was amazing.  To drink, I had a Brazilian caipirinha which was pretty good (but not my favorite).  For the meal, not including drinks and dessert, it is $21 for dinner and $14 for lunch.  Also, we signed up to get a free coupon on our birthdays.

At the end of the dinner, they have an electronic survey-taker they hand you, to get feedback.  I thought this was a pretty cool idea and they probably have a much higher survey-completion-rate than most restaurants. 

We also made a pit stop at the mall.  This sign reminded me of my boyfriend and made me laugh.

And, I splurged on a new nail polish, Skull and Glossbones.