5 Scrumptious Weekend Breakfast Recipes by Proper Foodie

5 Scrumptious Breakfast Recipes For Those Lazy Weekend Mornings

Hi! Debbie here. This is my third guest post for Katya’s Cake Hole and today I’m sharing some of my favourite weekend breakfast recipes. Most of these recipes take a little longer to pull together than your standard weekday breakfast but they make for the perfect brunch on a lazy weekend morning.

For those of us that are 9-5, Monday to Friday, the weekends are a treasured time. Making sure they are well spent, and sometimes a little over indulgent is particularly important to me. Having some great go-to weekend breakfasts/brunches always helps to start weekend days in the right way.

Some of these recipes are sweet, some are savoury. Some are healthy, others not so much. So there’s an option to suit most tastes and plenty of choice for those fabulously lazy days.

Click on each of the links below to view the recipe and with each I’ve attached a pdf version for you to print off if you choose.

Coconut and Sultana Breakfast Loaf

Dairy free coconut and sultana breakfast loaf with a crunchy seed and Rice Krispie topping

Dairy free coconut and sultana breakfast loaf with a crunchy seed and Rice Krispie topping

http://properfoodie.com/breakfast-loaf-sultana-coconut/

Pdf version: Coconut and Sultana Breakfast Loaf

Mascarpone cream and Passion fruit American Pancakes

American style pancakes with fluffy mascarpone vanilla cream, passion fruit and drizzles of treacle

http://properfoodie.com/american-pancakes-three-ways/

Pdf version: Mascarpone cream Passion fruit American Pancakes

Salmon Kedgeree with Poached or Boiled Eggs

Turmeric spiced rice with aromatic herbs, beans and flakes of bright pink salmon, finished with boiled or poached dippy eggs

http://properfoodie.com/kedgeree-with-poached-eggs/

Pdf version: Salmon Kedgeree with Poached or Boiled eggs

Breakfast bake-up with dippy egg

A rich and warming homemade tomato sauce with chunks of bacon and slices of mushroom, baked in the oven with an egg cracked in the middle and croutons placed on top. Served with grated parmesan and slices of crispy, buttered toast.

http://properfoodie.com/breakfast-bake-up/

Pdf version: Breakfast bake up with dippy egg

Match Granola and Blueberry Breakfast Pot

Homemade granola mixed with the distinctive flavour of green Matcha powder and served with yogurt and blueberries

http://properfoodie.com/matcha-granola-and-blueberry-yogurt-breakfast-pot/

Pdf version: Matcha Granola and blueberry breakfast pot

I hope you enjoy trying these breakfasts and check out more of my recipes on Properfoodie.com

 

Going Vegan Wasn’t The Piece of Piss I Expected it to be

I will set you straight right now.  I failed to complete my week of veganism.  I failed within the first half a day.  By 12.30pm on Sunday I’d taken a big bite out of a courgette cake (full of butter and eggs). I hadn’t forgotten about my challenge, I just wanted the cake.

I thought because I love A LOT of vegan food (especially curries with coconut milk in) that not eating meat, butter, milk, eggs and fish for a week would be fine. But I was instantly bored and frustrated at the prospect.  It felt like I was restricting and punishing myself, and I didn’t like it.

However, on a positive note, I did have a few delicious vegan meals and treats during my week, so I will celebrate those occasions with you:

1. Homemade vegan millionaire’s shortbread from the Foodie Teen cookbook.  The shortbread was made with ground almonds and coconut oil, the ‘caramel’ from dates and peanut butter and the top layer was 85% cocoa chocolate.  They were very delicious.  And as they were ‘sort of’ healthy I decided they were also an appropriate breakfast item!
2. Dinner out at the new Cambodian restaurant Angkor Soul in Marple. On Sundays they do a vegan only menu.  It’s a modest little venue, but the food is amazing. I ordered a noodle and tofu dish which was tasty, but not as incredible as Jamie’s ‘Cambodian kari’ – a curry made with lemongrass, sweet potatoes, peppers, peanuts, coconut milk, seitan and served with chilli fried rice.  I was so envious that Jamie agreed to swap dinners with me. He is the best boyfriend.
3. Coconut dal with spring greens from my ‘Riverford’ Spring/Summer cookbook.  The coconut milk made this dish so creamy and rich. I challenge any carnivore to crave meat after eating this for dinner.
4. Spicy spinach and chickpeas with rice.  Not as more-ish as the coconut dal, but still a really nice dinner.
5. This time I had billionaire’s shortbread at Leon’s restaurant.  They do a range of ‘healthy-ish’ snacks, but this was the only vegan one I could find. The description read a ‘date and polenta shortbread based top with date caramel and dark chocolate’.  So pretty similar to my millionaire’s one and extremely melty and chocolately and amazing.

Millionaire’s shortbread

Cambodian kari at Angkor Soul in Marple

Coconut dal and spring greens

Spicy chickpeas and spinach

Vegan billionaire’s shortbread

Despite not succeeding this week, I will continue to experiment with vegan recipes as there are some tremendously tasty and creative vegan food ideas out there.  And the added bonus of vegan food being healthy and good for the planet gives it an extra feel good factor.

This week’s environmental challenge is to ‘shop locally and ethically’ by going to the Unicorn Grocery in Chorlton.  I will also endeavour to chat to staff and find out a bit more about the shop’s values and how they operate.  I’ll be back next week to fill you in.

 

Forager’s Delight

As my fourth task of my environmental challenge I decided to take on foraging and to anyone who’s never given it a go, I’d highly recommend it.

We made elderflower cordial, nettle risotto and wild garlic pesto.  I loved the process of foraging and the outcomes were tasty too.

The wild garlic pesto we made a few weeks ago as the leaves were bountiful back then.  I picked it at Reddish Vale Country Park, gave it a good wash and whizzed up in a food processor with pine nuts, parmesan, oil and seasoning.  It was by far better than any shop bought pesto I’ve every bought.  Here’s the recipe if you’re interested.

Whizzing wild garlic pesto up in the food processor

Wild garlic pesto

On Thursday I headed back to Reddish in search of nettles and elderflower.  It was a warm day and in my great wisdom I decided to go out in a dress that left my arms and legs bare.  I’m not sure what I was thinking.  I did however arm myself with rubber gloves though, so that was something.  My friend and I had a lovely stroll around the park, hunting elderflower which was ALWAYS right next to a load of nettles.  I got more stings pulling elderflower off trees than I did picking the nettles themselves.

‘Safe’ nettle foraging trying to avoid any stings

Going for it!

The nettle risotto itself was pretty straight forward – it was a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe.  It was lovely and flavourful and earthy but I suspect that had more to do with all the extra  additions we made (mainly chill flakes and truffle oil), rather than the nettles themselves.

Nettle risotto

The elderflower cordial was more of a palava – we had to track down citric acid from the pharmacist to steep the elderflower in for 24 hours (along with sugar syrup and lemons).  However we’ve just completed the cordial today by straining the syrup through a tea towel and a colander (more faff!), but the results are impressive, I’m sitting here right now sipping some cordial with sparkling water and it’s rather delicious.  However we definitely don’t need three litres of the stuff, so we’ve palmed some off on our neighbours and some more we’ve made into ice cubes.

Elderflower – so pretty

Making the coridal was a bit of a faff

Straining the elderflower syrup through a teatowel

In honesty despite some of the hassle involved in all this foraging lark, I’ve totally loved it.  It’s brought me closer to nature and to the food chain.  And it’s wonderfully exciting and educational to go outdoors, pick your own food then work out how to cook it.  And the smugness factor when you eat your own tasty foraged dinner is huge.

Next week’s environmental challenge was meant to be vegan week. But because I’ve got a busy week involving travel I’ve decided to have a ‘mainly vegan’ week.  And we’re well and truly embracing veganism this afternoon as we’re off to Marple’s new Cambodian restaurant Angkor Soul which has a vegan only menu on sundays.

I’ll be back in a week to report back.