Waffles

A jean jacket.

My mahogany wood side tables.

A lace wedding dress.

Black high heels.

Quick...what do all of these things have in common? This should be easy. They're all classics. They never get old. They're timeless. And you never ever get sick of them. In some weird, culinary way, I think that waffles fit into this category. The beautiful thing about this breakfast (or lunch, or dinner) recipe is that it can be kid-friendly, a perfect comfort food, or a dressed-up "fancy pants" meal fit for a queen. Or your mother-in-law.

Waffles are a really fun idea for a party, especially a brunch. Set out all the optional toppings on a table and let everyone choose their own. Here are some great ideas of add-ins for the batter:

• Cocoa powder
• When stirred into the batter, it will make the whole waffle dark and chocolately
• Fresh fruits
• Chocolate chips
• Pecans
• Bacon
• Believe it. This is actually a popular one.

And here are some topping options once the waffle is finished cooking:

• Powdered sugar
• Syrup
• Jam
• Nuts
• Whipped cream
• Chocolate sauce
• Ice cream
• Fresh fruit

Okay, I'll stop telling you how to live your life. I'm just here to offer suggestions. Here's a delicious recipe for a basic, buttery waffle. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups warm milk
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

• In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar; set aside. Preheat waffle iron to desired temperature.
• In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in the milk, butter and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture; beat until blended.
• Ladle the batter into a preheated waffle iron. Cook the waffles until golden and crisp. Serve immediately.

Love and waffles,

Two-Step Eggs

Guys, you have no idea how sick I've been.

So sick. Oh, so sick.

I wasn't sick when I made these. Just for the record. I am a 100% ster-ile cooker. Egg-preparer. Rule-bender. I know this is breaking the rules, and that's not something I'm used to doing. I follow the rules; actually, I create many of them.

But tomorrow's Monday, which means scrambled eggs and fried potatoes are on the menu for breakfast. And after five days of battling a 105 degree temperature and the stomach flu, I'm just not into the other way of making these.

My mom taught me how to make these back in the day. Big surprise, right? She's got so many tricks up her sleeve, it's awe-inspiring. And honestly, Tim's a "mental" kinda' guy. The first time he actually saw how I made these, he insisted it was disgusting. Worst eggs ever. Tossed 'em in the trash. Not interested. Big baby stuff.

My big mistake? Making them when he was awake. God love him, I've been making these two-step eggs without his knowledge for probably a month now. No complaints. Just raving reviews on how I make the best eggs.

These are the best. They really are. This is also a test to see if he reads my blogs. Which he doesn't.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1/8 cup milk
• Salt/pepper
• Fresh seasonings (I'm thinking basil). Totally optional.

Directions:

Grab your eggs. 

Crack them and pour both the yolk and whites into a mug (NOT a normal glass cup). Add the milk, salt and pepper, optional seasonings, and stir well with a fork.

Microwave for 90 seconds. Here's a general time table for how long to microwave eggs:

• 1 egg-30 to 45 seconds
• 2 eggs-1 to 1 1/2 minutes
• 4 eggs-2 1/2 to 3 minutes
• 6 eggs-3 1/2 to 4 1/2 minutes
• 8 eggs-4 1/2 to 5 1/2 minutes

Place eggs on desired plate and using fork, gently break up eggs.

Sprinkle with additional salt and pepper. Serve with breakfast potatoes and bacon.

Feel free to make your normal eggs. Get your pans dirty and waste some time when you could be shaving your legs or packing lunches. Or just don't. Because Mondays are hard enough.

Love and ease,
Rachael

Turkey, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Quesadilla

So Tim and I have this thing that we do. And by "we," I mean "I." Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, Tim asks for scrambled eggs and my breakfast potatoes. Now, these are all depressing days for me: Monday is, well, Monday. Wednesday is the middle of the week, which is depressing in-and-of itself. And Friday, well, all I can think about is, "One more day until I get to sleep." Plus I go to the gym at 5 am on those mornings. At least Tuesdays are Taco Tuesdays and Thursdays have Grey's Anatomy.

I'm rambling.

A few mornings ago, Tim woke me up with his signature line: "Eggs and potatoes, cheeks?" Cheeks is a new nickname we're trying out. It's still a toss-up. Anyway, he wants these eggs and potatoes, and I'm just not into it. It's the end of the month, I'm out of grocery money, and unbeknownst to him, I've been out of red potatoes for 9 days. So I go to the kitchen and think this up after throwing together the 5 things I had in my fridge.

"And it was good."

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 tortilla
• 2 slices provolone or American cheese
• 2 slices turkey, ham or favorite sandwich meat
• Salt, pepper

Directions:

• Crack eggs and put yolk/whites in bowl. Add about 1/8 cup water and whisk.
• Pour eggs into small pan and turn heat on medium low. Let cook in that position without stirring. If the eggs start to get overcooked on the sides, turn the heat down, which will help the eggs cook more evenly.
• Using a spatula, lift cooked egg from the pan and place flat on an open tortilla. 
• Top with slices of cheese, sandwich meat. Add salt and pepper.
• Fold tortilla in half and place back in pan. Turn heat on medium high.
• Let the tortilla cook for about 5 minutes before flipping. Tortilla should be golden brown.
• After cooking both sides, remove from heat and cut in half.
• Serve warm as a quick, easy breakfast!

Love and the-most-important-meal-of-the-day,

Rachael

Breakfast potatoes...the kind that build character

This morning, I woke up at 6am, because I am determined to become a morning person again. Back in the old days (as in 2 years ago), I would get up at 5:30am, be at the gym by 6am, skip out of there around 7am, and get ready for my two jobs and full academic load.

My mornings were actually pretty serene. After the initial misery of getting up early, I worked out, came home, made breakfast (I promise I'm getting to that), watched the Bachelor Pad, went tanning, and watched a chick flick while I got ready for work. For those of you who are wondering why I am in no hurry for a dog or a child, read that sentence five times and get back to me. I am free.

So for breakfast, I knew I wanted to revisit the typical eggs, bacon/sausage and potatoes. But I wanted to try something new, so I took a gamble. I've played with this a few times, and like I've said before, this is it. These are no fuss breakfast potatoes, but whoever you make them for will think you're some culinary genius who cares about their well-being much more than you actually do.

Bottom line: they're 10x easier than they look. Zero prep and no hassle. So let's get to it.

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 3 potatoes (red or white)
• Salt/pepper
• Lawry's seasoning salt
• Olive oil
• 1/4 onion (or onion powder)

Directions: 

• Boil the potatoes (skin and all) until you can easily insert a fork into them
• For me, this is about 20-25 minutes OR just microwave them for 6-7 minutes. That's what I do.
• Drain the potatoes
• Chop them up into bite-sized pieces
• Dice up the onion into very small pieces
• If you don't want to use onion, use onion powder.
• Generously pour olive oil into a large skillet and turn on medium heat
• Add the onion, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes
• Add the potato chunks
• Add salt, pepper and seasoning salt
• Keep everything on medium heat, moving the potatoes around for about 10 minutes
• Don't be intimidated by the loud sizzling and the steam. I made these one time with a girlfriend, and she was convinced I was either a) going to burn the potatoes, or b) burn the house down. They're supposed to do that.
• The potatoes will eventually brown, signaling that they're ready to be devoured by you.

It's that easy! Serve this for your husband with scrambled eggs and either bacon or sausage, and you might come home to an unloaded dishwasher.

I sure did.

Love and getting-what-you-want/need,
Rachael