good for you breakfast loaf

Raise your hand if you enjoy a warm slice chunk of quick bread in the morning or as a snack? Maybe it’s banana nut bread, blueberry bread, cinnamon swirl bread or pumpkin chocolate chip bread. My sweet tooth is growing just typing this. Here’s the buzz-kill….quick breads are notorious for being unhealthy…full of fat and sugar. Yipes!

Guess what…Not this quick bread! I actually like to call it a breakfast loaf because it’s so good toasted for breakfast with my favorite coffee.

This loaf contains only 1 tablespoon of oil AND zero butter and eggs. It has low fat milk, oatmeal and whole wheat all-purpose flour. Oatmeal helps maintain blood sugar levels. It also lowers your cholesterol and helps your heart! Why not enjoy that 2nd slice?

Good for you Breakfast Loaf
Inspired by this recipe

Print Recipe

– 1 cup rolled oats
– 1 cup whole wheat all-purpose flour
– 2 tsp baking powder
– 1/2 tsp sea salt
– 1^1/2 Tbls honey, maple syrup or agave syrup
– 1 Tbls canola oil
– 1 cup 1% or nonfat milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Grind oatmeal in a food processor or blender. In a large bowl, combine oatmeal, flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, dissolve honey in canola oil then stir in the milk. Combine both mixtures and stir until a soft dough is formed. Pour the dough into a loaf pan. Sprinkle some oats on top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Slice and enjoy with a nice warm beverage!

Read Full Post »

blood orange breakfast loaf

Do you ever find that certain foods, objects or scents remind you of people in your life? These types of reminders warm me with memories and feelings of gratitude for the people in my life. I’d like to share a couple.

I have a mug that I use at work and it reminds me of my twin sister. She bought it for me randomly one day (a few years back) and I was so touched. The quote on the mug states “I am a drift without you” and it pictures a snowman with his top-hat blowing away. I love this mug so much I’ll even use this mug in summer, who cares that there is a snowman on it, right?!

The taste and smell of feta cheese reminds me of my grandmother. When she would babysit me and my sister, she would stuff pita bread with feta cheese and toast it for us. It was absolute bliss! To this day, eating this simple meal warms my heart and I cannot resist reflecting on times spent with her. Thankfully, she’s still with us and I love her dearly.

The catalyst to this Blood Orange Breakfast Loaf was actually the blood orange itself and the fact that blood oranges remind me of one my best friends, Jen. We lived together senior year in college and a few years post-college, hosted numerous themed-parties and galavanted all over LA. She loves all things blood orange. I can see why! They’re deliiiish! Another thing about blood oranges…they taste like candy but are the antithesis of candy. They’re very good for you!

Nutritional perks –

Blood orange – An excellent source of Vitamin C, a good source of dietary fiber, folic acid, and Vitamin A and B1. The red pigment, called anthocyanin, is actually an antioxidant which helps reduce the risk of heart disease.

Blood Orange Breakfast Loaf
Inspired from The Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook: Limited Edition’s recipe for Lemon Bread

Print Recipe

– 1 ^3/4 cups all-purpose wheat flour. The original recipe uses regular all-purpose flour.
– 3/4 cup organic agave nectar. The original recipe uses regular refined sugar.
– 2 tsp baking powder
– 1/4 tsp sea salt
– 1 beaten egg
– 1 cup 1% milk
– 1/4 cup canola oil or melted unsalted butter
– 1 Tbls blood orange juice
– 2 tsp grated blood orange peel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8x4x2-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.

In a separate medium bowl, add the beaten egg, milk, canola oil (or melted butter), blood orange peel and blood orange juice. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture. Stir well. Be careful not to over-stir the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes.

Remove from oven, cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 30 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan and continue to cool on the wire rack.

When the loaf is cool, please slice and enjoy! It’s sweet and fresh!

Read Full Post »

orange buttermilk loaf

Oranges are so uplifting, don’t ya think? Just holding one in your palm invites you to the aroma of citrus and it’s impeccable round orange body, which is filled with juicy gold! I can count on more than five hands (and I only have two) the amount of times I’ve peeled a perfectly round and juicy orange, split it right down the middle and shared it with someone I care about. Oranges can be meant for sharing, why else would there be segments to pull apart? One for you…one for me… Although, I will admit that if I am eating a beyond juicy orange I may not want to share. ruh roh.

It gets better…oranges are good for you! Not only do they taste like Earth’s candy but they provide nutritional benefits, such as Vitamin C and fiber. The average orange is about 60 calories. Dang! These statistics are good!

Some nutritional perks from oranges –

1. lowers high blood pressure and cholesterol
2. One orange provides over 116% of the daily value for Vitamin C and over 12% of the daily value for fiber
3. strong antioxidant effects
4. protects respiratory health

You can find more info at The World’s Healthiest Foods website.

To celebrate my new blog and the yummy oranges I had in my fridge, I decided to make an Orange Buttermilk Loaf and I added chocolate chips. I was inspired by chocolate covered orange rind I saw in a specialty store. Orange AND chocolate? Damn straight!

Side note, please excuse the pics. I am working on getting a new camera! yay!

I adapted this recipe from member okieqt from The Tasty Kitchen, the original recipe is called “Sunrise Tangerine Bread.” I didn’t have tangerines, so I used oranges. I also made other modifications and added chocolate chips. MmmMm!

Orange Buttermilk Loaf
Servings 8

1/2 cup butter (room temp)
3/4 cup sugar (and 2 Tbs to use in glaze)
2 eggs (room temp)
1 1/4 cup flour – I used white whole wheat flour because I like the nutritional value added
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk – the original recipe suggested regular milk
1 orange: you’ll need 1 Tbs grated orange zest and 3 Tbs fresh squeezed juice – the original recipe used 1 tangerine
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a loaf pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs separately and beat until fluffy. Add orange zest and 1 Tbs of fresh squeezed orange juice.

In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder and salt with a whisk or fork. Blend the dry mixture into the creamed mixture and alternate with the buttermilk. I used a wooden spoon to mix this rather than a stand or hand mixer because I did not want to over-mix the batter.

Toss the chocolate chips in flour and gently fold into the batter.

Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes.

Remove from oven. Mix 2 Tbs of fresh squeezed orange juice with 2 Tbs of sugar and microwave until sugar is dissolved. Pour the glaze over the loaf. The glaze makes the loaf so moist!

Let the loaf cool. Remove from pan and place on wire rack.

Enjoy!

Read Full Post »