What's for breakfast? Saturday November 14

[ginnyinWI]

We had an interesting one today. I made a smoothie in the blender with: a small banana, cut up and frozen, a half cup of plain homemade yogurt, and 8 oz. of chocolate soy milk. Made two smallish servings and was it ever good! And with that an English muffin with peanut butter and low sugar peach preserves. (total carb count for me: 3 carb servings.)
And lots of good coffee: my husband roasts his own using a popcorn popper and we grind it and brew it fresh. He's been doing this for six years; we get good coffee at a low price.
:donut:

[hippywife]

1. I haven't had any yet.

Just fixed a couple of eggs OE with seven grain toast for Bill, since he is going into work this morning. I'll probably just have a little PB on toast and some fruit. Got lots of housework to do today so nothing heavy for me.

:hi:

[Warpy]

2. My grandmother

used to say "Come on in, I'll fry you a cuppa coffee."

She meant it.

She used to roast ground coffee in a dry skillet and then brew it, sort of an ersatz French roast out of A&P supermarket generic coffee.

I haven't maintained the tradition, I hate coffee.

However, I was always impressed with her as one of the first coffee fanatics who just wasn't satisfied with the McCoffee at the market.

[ginnyinWI]

3. yeah you can roast the beans in an iron skillet.

I've never tried it--seems to me it would be easy to burn and hard to roast evenly. Plus it will set the smoke detector off probably! My husband roasts his coffee out in the garage and knows it's done by listening for the second "crack". It makes smoke and there is some chaff from the beans that will make a bit of a mess if in the house. He belongs to a co-op which orders green coffee beans wholesale. So we are paying something like 3-4 dollars a pound, roasted weight. You need a Poppery II popcorn popper, or one that has the heat coming in from the sides rather than from directly under where the beans will sit. Takes about 5-6 minutes for French Roast. He also makes Espresso Roast from the same beans.

[Warpy]

4. She roasted the ground coffee

stirring it constantly. She gauged the doneness by smell.

She was a great cook, one in a million. She really could do stuff like that and have it turn out right.

[hippywife]

5. I never used to enjoy coffee at all, really.

It wasn't something I craved except when I was "too young to be drinking it" and only then because I wasn't supposed to have it. LOL

Now we order the beans, imported by a local roaster in our co-op and freshly roasted to order (however you enjoy it roasted.) It's all single origin, organic so the growers make a fair profit and can live on it. We pay $9/lb for the whole beans. The Sumatran and the Sulawesi have won me over. At first it was the incredible smell when Bill would grind it. I loved being nearby, and you don't have to even be that close, to smell it waft through the air. There was a deep satisfaction in just the incredible aroma. Then he decided he would stop brewing it as strongly as he used to brew stuff like Folgers (which I couldn't tolerate the smell of at all, to my nose it smelled like cat urine when it was brewing.)

He still likes it dark roasted and a little stronger than I enjoy it so I do add a little whole milk and about 1/2 t. sugar. Now I can get up in the morning and enjoy a really delicious cup of coffee.

[ginnyinWI]

6. coffee used to be absolutely crappy in the USA.

I think the green beans we order are also fair trade.

Back in the 50s and 60s the only thing you could get was canned ground coffee (Folgers, Maxwell House, Hills Brothers) made from Robusta beans--a terrible tasting bean grown in the lowlands of Brazil! (In Brazil they drink their coffee with a lot of sugar, and no wonder!) Then Peets and some others introduced better coffees and the thing took off. Columbian mountain-grown got it rolling, and now there are beans from regions around the world, each with its own distinctive qualities. My husband orders stuff from all over--Ethiopian, Guatamalan, Mexican. I like Sumatran best. If you buy beans at the grocery, always be sure they are 100% Arabica beans--because everything else is Robusta!

Almost everyone starts out drinking coffee with cream and/or sugar. Then some of us go on to the straight black brew. It's a process. ;)

[hippywife]

7. I didn't really enjoy the flavor

of the Ethiopian we tried. A little too much for me. When I went through a short period of drinking a little when we would be at a coffeeshop for some event or another, poetry reading, music, peace group meetings, I was able to drink it with just milk. I've been thinking that it won't be long to getting back to that. Not sure because Bill still does like it stronger than I do, so I only use the scant amount of sugar in it. I have never enjoyed any coffee black, but I'm not totally ruling it out with this Sumatran or Sulawesi.

[beac]

8. lately, I've been making HUGE batches of oatmeal/flax/protein pancakes and freezing most of them

to eat for breakfast throughout the week. A few minutes in the toaster and they crisp up nicely.

I use MLO Vegetable Protein, one of the few protein powders I've found that doesn't have a sweet taste and/or flavoring added. It's really tasteless and can be added to almost anything to up the protein w/out changing the flavor.


http://www.genisoy.com/HostedStore.LassoApp?-ResponseLassoApp=detail.lasso&ID=12685cac067edaa5

[hippywife]

9. What is the source of the protein in it?

I only ask, because if it's soy, unless it's organic, it's likely to be GMO. That's why we've cut way back on the MSF stuff.

[beac]

10. Oy. Soy. Must call Monday and see if it's GMO.

Bummer if it is, b/c this stuff is so much easier to work with than some of the other ones I've tried.

I've been looking into Now Foods Pea Protein (def non-GMO) for mr beac's almond milk shakes, so maybe that will have to be my new protein source too.

[hippywife]

12. I really hope that it is non-GMO.

It's disheartening to find a product you really like, only to find it doesn't like you. :hug:

[beac]

13. Here's hoping. Up side it, I am almost at the end of the box, so if I have to switch to the Pea

Protein, it's good timing at least.

[hippywife]

14. I really like a person

who can always find a positive in situations. :hug:

[beac]

16. I wish I could say I WAS that person, but I do TRY to practice healthy emotions along with healthy

eating. Sometimes the two are mutually exclusive... like tonight when we are planning to drown the stress of the last week in bushels of chips and salsa and veggie quesadillas at our local Mexican restaurant. I like to pretend that margaritas have medicinal qualities b/c one feels so magically better after drinking one. ;)

[hippywife]

21. Hey, sometimes a little comfort is called for.

Sounds really good to me. Long time since I've had one, tho.

[beac]

22. You find the funniest smilies, hw.

I'll be toasting you with my first sip! We're leaving for the restaurant as soon as I can tear mr beac away from his laptop & football scores. ;)

[hippywife]

24. Have a good time and a lovely dinner.

Just drive carefully back home if you are acting too silly.

[grasswire]

15. what about whey protein powder?

Is that a good thing, or not?

I had some last year that I sprinkled into plain yogurt, added frozen blueberries and a bit of sweetener, and it was as good as cheesecake.

[beac]

17. When I was researching protein powders, I found it hard to find a whey-based one that didn't

have a lot of other stuff I didn't want, like glucosamine/sugar/flavoring/etc, in it and still tasted good.

Bob's Red Mill makes an all-natural one, but I've read really mixed things about its taste. And it's "whey" expensive. ;)

[grasswire]

19. bob's red mill is what I used.

I thought it was yummy in yogurt with fruit, but that's the only application I tried. Bob's Red Mill is just a couple of miles away from me -- it's a Very Cool place.

[hippywife]

20. I buy their semolina flour

for bread baking. :)

[beac]

23. Jealous of your proximity. I love their products, but can't always spring for them.

Nice to have a review of their whey from someone I "know." :)

[beac]

18. mr beac just reminded me that another reason we nixed whey was the possibility that

it wasn't good for kidney/liver function.

Googled up a page on whey. Info about side effects near the bottom: http://vegetarian.lovetoknow.com/Whey_Protein_Side_Effects

I'm guessing side effects would only come into play if you were consuming body-builder levels of protein shakes, but we decided that a non-whey based powder would be a better choice. Now, I have to find out if I skipped whey and ended up with Monsanto kibble instead. Yikes.


I'm off to buy pea protein tomorrow and will let you all know how it works. :)

[cleveramerican]

11. Portuguese sweet bread french toast

I have been experimenting with all sorts of different types of bakery bread as french toast.
I even tried english muffins, which were okay but not great.

[Mr. McD]

25. Saturday morning I had Sirloin steak with

Grilled tomatoes and grilled pineapple.