I’m back in New York today, but I definitely fixed myself a Massachusetts-inspired breakfast this morning! I just can’t let go 😛
Mom sent me home on the bus yesterday with a bunch of her famous kitchen sink muffins (among several other food items). Most of the muffins were minis, but she also sent one jumbo:
Inspired by the cinnamon bun french toast I tasted out at breakfast on Saturday, I decided to french toast the jumbo muffin! I sliced it into thirds to soak in a batter of 1 egg, cinnamon, vanilla, and a splash of unsweetened soymilk. I had one of the slices for breakfast topped with a schmear of Artisana cacao bliss.
Yummmmmmmmmmmmm.
On the side, I had the rest of the chia pudding I made last week (and left in my freezer while I was gone) topped with sauteed cinnamon and cardamom apples:
The perfect warm and cozy breakfast (at 1:00!) for such a dreary day.
Pre-breakfast, I hit the gym for some vigorous and intense cardio, as I want to make sure that my heart can handle 13 miles on Saturday even if my legs can’t! (I also went to the Y gym with mom yesterday morning in MA for more cardio and lots of leg muscle machines, and I’ve got more leg strength planned for tomorrow. Between that and the steady-stream-of-ibuprofen regimen I started yesterday, I am keeping my fingers crossed for the Brooklyn Half!)
I’m not really going to get into yesterday’s food because yesterday is all done now, but Alison did ask me for my mom’s recipe for the pumpkin-grapenut pudding that we made for my dad and stepmom … some of which I conveniently did snack on yesterday, heated and topped with warm chopped apples, cinnamon, and cardamom:
Unfortunately, my mom doesn’t ever really follow a recipe. The general idea for the grapenut pudding is a custard base (eggs, milk, sweetener, vanilla, spices … and, in this case, pumpkin) that gets sprinkled liberally with grapenuts pre-baking so that they absorb the moisture and spread their flavor as they sink to the bottom during the cooking to form a “crust.” Comfort food at its best 🙂 More info about my mom’s grapenut pudding can be found in this post.
(Also, some of you asked if I was serious about my mom’s body-building days, and it’s true! She did used to be a competitive bodybuilder (a side hobby to her full-time psychotherapizing) when I was really young. Maybe someday she will let me post some of her competition pics, haha!)
And because it’s too pretty, here’s breakfast yesterday morning:
Can you identify the components?
And lastly, check out what just arrived from Elisabeth at Jogger’s Life!
She sent me a beautiful care package, thanking me for showing her ways to stop wasting food (sigh, I have now achieved life satisfaction :-D). The highlight of the box? Another package of UliMana raw chocolates!
Thank you Elisabeth — this made my day!!!
If you could french toast anything (and you can!), what would you choose?
Tales of Expansion: Baby Butternut Edition 
glad you got home safely 🙂
Hmmmm….I would french toast a fresh donut from this local place here. One chocolate cake (my all time favorite) and either a toasted coconut or the maple iced. Yum.
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Lovely b’fast! and congrats on helping people minimize food waste! there’s definitely enough expansion for all 🙂
I’ve never had challah french toast or french toast made with cinnamon-raisin bread (both of which I’ve seen on menus), so I’d want to try that!! more creatively . . . hmm . . . maybe angel food cake french toast 😉
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i would probably french toast…. vanilla cake!!!!! then drizzle it with chocolate syrup… sound too gross? i think i should make that for dinner tonight!
ahhhhh the cravings are starting already!!!
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oh those salsas from TJs are so good!
i like to french toast brioche. soo delish!
nice photos 🙂
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I would french-toast eggplant! And I have. 🙂 Sounds weird I’m sure, but when you whisk an egg with some spices and dunk your eggplant slices in before pan-cooking on each side, I don’t think it’s so far from the bread/breakfast variety! I did this ALL the time in China – I couldn’t read the labels on the stuff at the grocery store, so other than imported stuff, I relied on whole foods like the eggyplant dish to get me through in between the glorious and cheap restaurant meals.
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I would french toast the pancakes from Clinton Street Baking Co. Is that a conflict of breakfast?
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Yes, french toasting a donut. OMG, that would be heaven. And I would feel so super guilty and so freakin giddy at the same time.
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Lovin the eats, as usual! Especially the pumpkin grapenut pudding! Mmmm pumpkin. Geez I have such an obsession 😉
Good luck on the half!
That package looks great, especially the chocolates. Yum!
I would french toast… a holey donut. Or pumpkin. lol!
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Good to know you’re back in Brooklyn safely 🙂
And wowza! Running the half on Saturday?! Crazziieees
I would love to turn oatmeal into french toast…perhaps a breakfast cookie? Hmmmmm….
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A French toast s’more, probably not possible but it would be totally delish! French toast carrot cake would be good too.
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holy moly – that is one awesome looking breakfast !
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omg that french toast sounds awesome. and that raw chocolate? goodness!
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ahhh jealous of those kitchen sink muffins and OH GAWDDD those treats!! Now…you’ll have to educate me on what a raw chocolate is because i must be under the wrong impression that….all chocolates are raw??? haahhah ok spank me now.
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Thanks for the grapenut pudding recipe of sorts! I’ve heard of that pudding before and it’s always intrigued me. I’d also like to try Indian pudding.
Love the french toast muffins. I bet french toasted pumpkin chocolate chip bread would be really good too. Like you said…you can do anything.
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