Homemade Verses Store Bought Plain Waffles

There are a multitude of small kitchen appliances available, many of which can save you a substantial amount of money over their lifetime.  Some are a more frugal choice than others and as always it depends on your needs.  For example, if you are buying store bought frozen waffles to have on hand for quick hot breakfasts, then consider a waffle maker.  They start at under $20 on sale ranging into the high end of about $150.  Consider too that waffles aren't just for breakfast any more.  You can make some rather tasty desserts using waffles and savory waffles can be used in the place of biscuits for dinner. The payback period on a waffle maker is about 6 months to a year depending on how you use it.

One of our kids very generously gifted us with a Cuisinart 4-Slice Belgian Waffle Maker (WAF-100C).  This maker produces waffles with deep pockets to hold more toppings.  There are five settings for browning control as well as ready-to-bake and ready-to-eat lights with audible signals.  The plates are non-stick so only need washing then a light oiling before use.

Another of our kids who has had a waffle maker for a few years showed me how to use the waffle maker while giving me a few tips.  The grandkids and adults enjoyed fresh made waffles for breakfast that morning.

The following week I decided to do a test run myself.  I had two goals in mind.  The first goal was learning how to use the waffle maker and find the sweet spot for perfect browning.  The second goal was to do a comparison of the price of store bought frozen waffles, to those made with a store bought mix, then finally to waffles made with homemade batter.

I had just enough Krusteaz pancake and waffle mix to make four waffles.  This is a mix that only requires the addition of water that the guys like for hunt camp.  I mixed up the batter then poured into the heated waffle maker.

According to the manual, it takes a bit of experimenting to determine the right amount of batter needed.  They suggest two cups of batter poured evenly over the bottom then quickly spread with a heat resistant spatula before closing the lid.  Obviously, I have to work on my technique a bit but as my first attempt, I was rather pleased.

The next batch of waffles was made with the basic waffle recipe that came in the Cuisinart manual.  I did a test batch by halving the recipe to make 8 waffles.  What really impressed me was the higher rise using the homemade batter (right).  Clearly, the homemade batter gave nicer results but the true test was the taste.

The waffles made with the store bought mix were good.  They were fluffy with a nice flavour.  The waffles made with the homemade mix were fluffier with a cleaner flavour (aka no chemical overtones).

Basic Waffles
modified from: Cuisinart Instruction Booklet, WAF-100, Pp. 7

3 c unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tbsp organic granulated sugar
1½ tbsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda

¾ tsp sea salt
2½ c milk
½ c plus 1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 large eggs, slightly beaten

Combine the ingredients in the order listed in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Blend until smooth.  Let the batter rest 5 minutes before using.  Pre-heat the waffle maker then pour about 2 c of the batter onto the centre of the lower grid.  Spread evenly with a heatproof spatula.  Close the lid and cook until the tone sounds.  Open lid and carefully remove the waffles.

Overall, I was very impressed at the ease and cost of using a homemade waffle mix.  The results in terms of rise and flavour was superior to using a store bought mix.  Store bought frozen waffles cost about $4 for 12 or 43¢ each.  Homemade waffles using a store bought mix cost about 8¢ each and those using a scratch batter cost about 6¢ each.  Now there isn't a huge difference in cost between store bot mix and scratch batter but with scratch you aren't getting all the additives.  You are getting 8 ingredients rather than a whole list of chemicals.  Another thing you aren't getting with home-made is all that extra packaging.  Homemade waffles are about 20% larger than the store bought frozen version so that's something to consider as well.

The cooled, stacked waffles were ready for packaging for the freezer.  Home-made waffles reheat in the toaster just like store bought so you still have the convenience of a quick, hot breakfast.  I packaged 4 waffles per freezer bag each separated by a piece of parchment paper and pressing the air out of the bags.  I didn't vacuum seal them as they are meant for short term storage in the freezer.

This is just a really easy way to put healthy, hot breakfasts on the table with a minimal of effort while saving a considerable amount of money.  The two batches took me under 15 minutes so I can't complain at being able to stock the freezer with waffles ready to pop into the toaster being time consuming at all.  An easy way to do this would be to make a double batch of batter, then freeze what isn't used that day.  On the other hand, if you are making waffles for a family and need a larger amount, in a half hour you can easily make 64 waffles by making a triple batch of the basic (recall I halved so double then triple).  The cooking time is very minimal so you can really make a lot of these in a very short period of time.

The Olympian Breakfast

The 2012 Summer Olympics opened on Friday, July 27 in London, England.  As I write this post I am very proud to announce that Canada has won a total of four medals.  Way to go!  The Olympics are special so I have been making a few dishes to celebrate them.   Right now I am in full home canning mode which means little time for cooking but also means lots of great produce on hand.  I was slicing up red peppers the other day and came up with a breakfast idea supporting our Canadian athletes.

Athletes really need a high protein diet to aid in good muscle development.  Since breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I came up with The Olympian Breakfast.  The red and white signify Canada and the rings a tribute to the Olympics.

This is a very easy breakfast to make.  I place two red pepper rings in a ceramic coated fry pan on medium heat.  Then I cracked an egg into each ring.  Once the egg white started to cook, I placed  a lid on the pan and let the eggs cook until just set.  I garnished with a little Spanish paprika for flavour.  This protein rich breakfast was served with side bacon, whole grain toast, homemade yogurt topped with crumbled General Mills Whole Grain Oatmeal Crisp Triple Berry Cereal and blueberries (not pictured), and extra pulp orange juice.

Aside of being a high protein breakfast, I tried to work in healthy fiber.  The cereal is one of three cereals in General Mills new Green Banner Campaign.  The other two cereals are our all time favourites, Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios.  These boxes now sport a green banner to let you know that oat fibre helps lower cholesterol.  It's all part of healthy eating.  Cheers to our Canadian athletes! 

Ham Melts (Breakfast Sandwich)

I volunteer at a local school in the Catholic School Board each Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning for the Breakfast Club (Lend a Hand).  I am also volunteering at a local school in the Public School Board on Tuesday and Thursday morning for the month of February to cover for a couple of volunteers who are vacationing in the sunny south.  Both school breakfast programs are part of the Ontario Student Nutrition Program (OSNP).  While this program is funded through the Ontario government, it is managed by volunteers.  Donations are gladly accepted providing the food meets the nutritional standards of the program.

Both schools have very limited cooking equipment which restricts what you can cook.  The Catholic school has a microwave oven, two toasters, an electric tea kettle and a blender.  We are not allowed to cook anything in the school other than in the toaster or microwave because there was a complaint  regarding cooking odours EVEN though there is a day care attached where cooking is allowed with cooking odours wafting their way through the school halls.  There is a fridge and freezer but no dishwasher so all the plates, bowls and cups are disposable.  The public school has two electric griddles, two toasters, and microwave oven.  There dishwasher, fridge and stove so we use regular plates and bowls but disposable cups and cutlery there.

The typical breakfast offerings at both schools depending on the day are: dry cereal, oatmeal (packet style), ham melts, English muffin with margarine (both schools) or cream cheese (public school), a variety of fruits and vegetables, yogurt tubes, fruit cups, orange juice, chocolate and white milk, pancakes, waffles and French toast.  Left over pancakes and French toast from the secondary school breakfast program are brought over for the Catholic school when they are available.  One of the local doughnut shops donates muffins occasionally as well.

Ham melts are a huge hit with kids at both schools!  They are quick and easy to make.  We use a toaster at both schools to toast the English muffin then slather with margarine, top with two slices of cooked ham and either a processed cheese slice (Catholic school) or freshly sliced cheese (public school).  We also add scrambled egg on the sandwich at the public school if a child asks for it.   Once assembled the ham melt is warmed through in the microwave.

I made two ham melts for my husband's breakfast a couple of days ago.  My version differs from what we make at the schools because we do not use margarine (ever!) and very rarely use any kind of processed cheese.  I didn't use butter on the English muffins after toasting, just simply topped with ham and a blend of mozzarella and Asiago cheese.  Then I warmed the sandwiches in the microwave.  He liked them.

Breakfast sandwiches are very quick and easy to make even at home.  You can make them healthier by using whole wheat or multigrain English muffins, sliced or grated cheese and eliminate butter or margarine.  Add scrambled eggs for an extra protein boost.  Homemade breakfast sandwiches are a fraction of the cost than those from the fast food restaurants and doughnut shops.  Make it easy by keeping all the ingredients in storage containers stacked in your fridge to just grab and assemble.  Surprisingly you can even keep scrambled eggs in a container as well.  They reheat nicely on breakfast sandwiches.

Loaded Omelet

My normal hot meal when traveling is eggs sunny side up, whole wheat toast, hash browns and choice of meat.  During our Las Vegas leg of our vacation I only had this hot breakfast twice.  Instead I chose fresh made omelets from the egg station.  It's not that I couldn't have had sunny side up eggs as the chef cooks your eggs to your specification, it was more that the omelet fillings looked so good.

I chose a loaded omelet then topped it with salsa with sides of bacon, a chicken taquito and Portuguese sausage.  The omelet was stuffed with green pepper, mushroom, onion, hot peppers, and cheese.  The salsa topping is a new use for salsa for me.  I know in some areas it is sacrilegious to not use hot sauce or salsa on eggs but I prefer mine lightly seasoned with salt and pepper.  I must say the salsa was a tasty edition meaning I will have to can up a few more jars this year to meet the extra requirements. 

Omelets are an extremely frugal dish that can easily incorporate leftovers.  They can easily be adjusted for personal tastes.  Served with a side of bacon, ham or sausage and optional hash browns, omelet make for a complete meal.

Spinach and Cheese Omelet

My husband and I are creatures of habit when traveling.  We love indulging in a hot breakfast usually egg based.

We had a two for coupon for the breakfast buffet at Main Street on Main Street one block east of Fremont Street.  Total cost was $10.20 for two which is not bad for a full breakfast buffet with an egg station.  I do not like the scrambled eggs on a breakfast buffet.  They are generally something like 'egg beaters' and don't taste like real eggs to me.  The only time I will get eggs on a breakfast buffet is when there is an egg station where the chef cooks fresh eggs to your specification.  I ordered an omelet with spinach and cheese.  I also got a bagel with cream cheese, smoked salmon and capers along with sausage, hame and hash browns.  Coffee and orange juice rounded out my meal.

Watching the chef cook eggs in the egg station was quite fascinating.  We chit chatted as he cooked and that is one of the things I enjoy the most because I learn through the dialogue.  He did not use an egg flipper until plating and then only to help fold the omelet.   This would be  a very easy omelet to duplicate at home using steamed spinach.  While this omelet only had spinach and cheese I think adding mushrooms and onions would be very good as well.  Oh and smoked salmon on a bagel with cream cheese and capers is just absolutely delightful!  It would be very easy to make at home as well.

Biscuits and Gravy

Regional dishes are always a treat to discover.  My husband discovered biscuits and gravy years ago on one of our adventures.  This dish is regional to the southern United States.  He loves them! Unfortunately he doesn't get them very often as I only make them a couple times a year.  It's not that they are difficult to make, it's more that they aren't exactly the healthiest breakfast. 

My husband ordered biscuits and gravy with his breakfast at Carson Street Café.  The biscuits were light and fluffy, the gravy rich and creamy.  This is  very easy dish to make at home.  Use homemade biscuit mix or Bisquick Heart Smart™ baking mix for the biscuits .  Top the hot biscuits with white gravy.

White gravy is basically a thicker bechémal sauce made with the drippings from sausage, bacon or ground beef.  Brown the meat then remove from fry pan.  Drain the grease reserving about 1 tbsp of fat.  Heat then add about 2 tbsp of flour stirring constantly to form a roux.  While stirring, slowly pour in about 2 c of milk.  Continue stirring while cooking until the gravy is thickened.  Pour the gravy over hot biscuits.  Garnish with crumbled meat.  An alternative is to stir some of the crumbled meat into the gravy.

Hawaiian French Toast

There is no end to the selection of eateries under the canopy on Fremont Street in Las Vegas.  Most of the Fremont Street casinos offer deli style, buffet and restaurant dining.    Mermaid's is a small, slots only casino that offers such culinary delicacies as foot long hotdogs and deep fried Twinkies.  Fitzgerald's has a good size McDonald's and a Krispy Creme in addition to their buffet and restaurant.   The Four Queens has a Subway, Burger King, and Chicago Brewing Company for those wanting pizza in addition to their café (Magnolia's Veranda) and higher end Hugo's Cellar .  Some like the Golden Nugget offers a café, six specialty restaurants (steakhouse, seafood, asian, sushi, etc), the buffet, The Chocolate Box (gourmet chocolates) and a Starbucks.

We ate breakfast at Carson Street Café  located in the Golden Nugget.  It is a wonderful restaurant with sides open café style, a railing separating diners from passersby.  The wait-staff are some of the friendliest there are.  The food is wonderful!

My husband and ordered our standard egg breakfast with a side of biscuits and gravy.  One of our friends ordered the Hawaiian French Toast.  My gosh, it looked so good!  The French toast was made using Hawaiian sweet bread then topped with maple syrup, fresh strawberries, banana and chopped walnuts.

Hawaiian French toast would be very easy to make at home.  The limiting factor would be finding Hawaiian sweet bread in areas where it is not popular.  The alternative is to use homemade Hawaiian sweet bread.  There are several recipes for this bread available online.  I will be posting the recipe I decide using here when I make the bread.

Breakfast at Du-Pars Restaurant and Bakery

My husband and I very seldom eat a full, hot breakfast at home.  It's not that we can't but rather that we enjoy lounging sipping hot coffee on weekend mornings.  Breakfast usually consists of a piece of fruit and yogurt unless the kids are home then we make a full, hot breakfast.  The funny thing is when we were doing a lot of camping bacon and eggs for breakfast was the normal camp breakfast.  When we are traveling we usually enjoy a full breakfast and yet at our vacation home unless we have company we are back to fruit and yogurt.  During our recent vacation in Las Vegas we ate a hot breakfast each morning.

Our first breakfast was at Du-Pars Restaurant and Bakery located in the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino.  This is a must stop at restaurant ever since we have been going to Las Vegas.  Their food is scrumptious and service always very friendly.  Their prices are in the average range with breakfast dishes around the $7 mark.

My husband ordered poached eggs with country fried steak.  Country fried steak is a thin cut of steak that is coated in a bread coating then fried.  It is usually served with a white gravy made from the pan drippings.  The breakfast came with choice of toast and coffee.  Coffee at Du-Pars is a nice full blend that compliments the breakfast nicely.  Refills are free.

I ordered sunny side up eggs for dipping toast into.  This is my favourite way to enjoy breakfast eggs.  Unfortunately, dipped eggs have been discouraged due to a possible salmonella threat from under cooked eggs.  I've eaten a lot of eggs this way and have never been sick although I have had a bout of sickness due to salmonella that was not food borne.  It wasn't pleasant but I survived and learned a valuable lesson in the process.

My meal was more than substantial, nicely cooked just the way I like my eggs.  The bacon was quite lovely too, cooked to crispy unlike many times when it comes a bit undercooked for my liking.  All in all it was a great breakfast to start our vacation with!

Frugal Kitchens 101 - Breakfast Isn't Just For Breakfast

In today's busy world many home cooks overlook the possibility of serving breakfast dishes for dinner.  However, breakfast offerings are perfectly acceptable dishes for dinner.  They are often quick and easy to prepare.  They tend to be relatively inexpensive as well.  Today's Frugal Kitchens 101 focuses on a few breakfast dishes that do double duty as dinner dishes.

• eggs - The simple bacon, eggs and hash browns is a meal that is offered at most truck stops twenty four hours a day.  This meal is equally good as a dinner at home.  Omelets are an excellent dinner dish as are a variety of the egg based breakfast casseroles.
• bacon - The dinner meat does not always have to be a meat that takes longer preparation.  We often have peameal bacon as the dinner meat.  It cooks fast and tastes great.   Even regular bacon can be used for the dinner meat.  It is wonderful cut into pieces then stirred into vegetables like cooked cabbage or mashed potatoes. 
• sausage - Breakfast sausage links are quick to cook and work quite nicely as a dinner meat.
• pancakes - Pancakes are a nice change of pace from other meat based dinner meals.  Kids really like the idea of having pancakes for dinner too.
• waffles - Waffles can be served plain much the same as pancakes or they can be dressed up as the dinner meal or even turned into a dessert.  The possibilities are endless and they are sure to please.
• hash browns - Hash browns are a nice change from the regular potato offerings.  They are quick and easy to prepare as well.

Canadian Made - Red River Cereal

I can remember many a morning starting the day with a steaming bowl of Red River Cereal.  This unique Canadian cereal is made from cracked wheat, cracked rye, whole and cracked flax.  It is 100% natural with not additives making it one of our hot cereals of choice even now.    I prefer it over oatmeal or cream of wheat Red River Cereal is named after the Red River Valley in Manitoba.  This wonderful Canadian cereal is not available outside of Canada although thanks to the wonders of the internet and global shopping that is changing.

The Red River Cereal company was established in Manitoba in 1924.  In 2004 is was bought by International Multifoods Corporation.  The Red River brand name is currently owned by Robin Hood Multifoods, Inc. of Markham, Ontario, a division of Smucker Foods of Canada Co.  The cereal continues to be 100% all natural.  Of interest if you notice on the box the COR 66 in a circle.  The COR number is somewhat like a factory number, a way of identifying where that product came from. 

In Canada, growers have various contracts.  For example, here some growers grow tomatoes for Heinz while others grow for Alymer.  In any given county there will be a division of the growers and who they are growing for.  A COR number is assigned  to the growers in a particular area by some companies.  Which means they can later identify the location where the produce was grown if there is ever a problem.  In this case the grains in the cereal came from the COR growers group 66.

The Rising Cost of Food - An Analysis of Pre-made Hashbrowns

Last week, George Weston Ltd. owner of Weston Foods (bakery) and Loblaw (retail) announced that they will be increasing prices by 5% effective April 1, 2011 to offset the rising commodity prices.  Weston Foods provides a substantial amount of baked goods (eg. breads, buns, etc.) while Loblaw Companies Limited is the parent company to several grocery store chains (eg. No Frills, Real Canadian Super Store, Loblaws, and several others across Canada).  We all have heard rumours of increasing food costs so this announcement comes as no surprise.  Ralph Robinson, president of Weston Foods Canada indicated in the announcement that this is only the beginning of rising food costs.  What many fail to realize though is inflation will hit the convenience and packaged foods the hardest.  While raw and whole foods will seen price increases the greatest price increases will be seen in foods like mixes, canned foods, freezer meals, cookies, dry cereals, boxed foods and those types of things.

Many people rely on pre-made, convenience foods for part of a meal or even a whole meal.  So let's do a cost analysis of one common pre-made convenience food that makes it's way onto the table.  The fast food restaurants introduced convenient hashbrown patties as part of their breakfast meals.  Similar style hashbrown patties can now be purchased in the freezer section of most grocery stores.  Pictured are three such patties.  They come in a 10 pk (650 g) for about $1.79.  In comparison to the fast food restaurants that sell them for 99¢, the freezer patties are considerably less expensive at 18¢ each.  Is this a good deal?  My answer is no and I will explain why.

A 10 lb (25 kg or 25000 g) bag of potatoes averages $3.99 during the winter months for a cost of 0.00015¢ per gram.  The ready made hash browns come in at 0.003¢ per gram so right away it is easy to see they are more expensive than raw potatoes.  The ingredient in raw potatoes is potato.  The ingredients in the pre-made hash browns are potatoes, vegetable oil, salt, corn starch, dextrose (a sugar) and sodium phosphate (a preservation and another source of salt).  Nutritionally, the pre-made hash browns are a nightmare and even worse if you sprinkle with salt the way the fast food restaurants do.  In terms of convenience, raw potatoes need to be shredded then pan fried.  From start to finish homemade hash browns will take about 15 minutes.  The pre-made hash brown patties can be oven baked, heated in the microwave or deep fried.  In my taste test experiment with this product, I got the best results deep frying but how many people want to set up their deep fryer for breakfast?  In terms of taste the best hash browns were homemade from scratch.  Clearly the winner in this experiment was the homemade hash browns made with raw potatoes.

If you really want to save money on your food dollars and minimize the impact of the rising costs of food, you have to think along these lines.  Each and every time you eliminate a convenience food or replace it with a homemade version, so will not only be saving money but you will be getting a nutritionally superior food.  The homemade version will be free of excess salt, sugar and preservatives.  More importantly it is less expensive.  You will find this to be true for the majority of store bought convenience foods as well.

Bacon Mushroom Omelet

Like many home cooks I always find myself with leftover bits and pieces of various foods.  Quite of there may be only a couple of ounces and at best a half of cup but these tid bits down get tossed.  I freeze some of these leftovers if possible for later use.  Others sit in the fridge so I can work them into a soup, stew or other dish within a day or two.

Sunday morning I found myself wanting a hot breakfast.  It was too cold to get dressed to go out for breakfast and besides both of us were tired from entertaining the night before.  At the same time I wanted with a bit less muss and fuss of making bacon, eggs, hash-browns and toast.  Looking in the fridge I spotted a half of onion, 4 fresh whole mushrooms and the eggs.  I took about 3 tbsp of pre-cooked bacon pieces from the freezer.  I cook these ahead of time so always have some in the freezer.   With that I had the makings of an omelet.

My omelets always start with briskly whisked eggs poured into a medium hot pan.  I cook undisturbed until the top starts to set.  Then I add whatever fillings I want.  In this case I added sautéed mushroom slices, onion and bacon pieces.  I cover for 2 minutes to set then carefully pull one half of the omelet up and over to form a wedge shape.  I cover and let cook another 2 to 3 minutes until the centre is fully set.  This omelet was topped with shredded Monterey  Jack and cheddar cheese added after the centre was set.  I removed the pan from the heat and covered to allow the cheese to melt.

Toads-in-the-Hole

Happy Mother's Day

Years ago when I was knee high to a grasshopper my Mom made hot breakfasts on Sundays something we continued with our kids.  We very seldom eat a hot breakfast at home unless it is on a Sunday morning although we do indulge on hot breakfasts when on vacation.  Mom's hot breakfasts were porridge, cream of wheat, Red River cereal, pancakes or toads-in-the-hole.  Toads-in the-hole was my favourite!  Our kids were introduced to toads-in-the-hole pretty much as soon as they were able to sit in a highchair.   This is not the British Toad-in-the-hole which is a sausage in a Yorkshire pudding batter, usually served with vegetables and onion gravy which is surprising as my Mom (not biological) was born in England.  Rather this is a egg dish likely creatively named by Mom to get us kids to eat eggs.

I have no idea where my Mom learned to make toads-in-hole and she never said.  For all I know she just came up with this idea on her own.  She had a lot of neat kid friendly foods that she would make.  Toads-in-a-hole really is just a novel way to cook dipped eggs and toast.  The presentation is cute and kids love them!

My Mom simply used a round water glass to cut out the middle of the bread then buttered the the bread slice and the piece cut out on both sided.  The bread was toasted on one side then flipped and an egg cracked into the opening.  She placed a lid over to help the egg cook.  The cut-outs were toasted in the fry pan at the same time.  Pictured is a bit of a dressed up version using a flower shaped cookie cutter for the hole with a little chocolate raspberry sauce in the centre of the flower cut-outs.  Toads-in-the-hole are still one of my favourite breakfast meals.  Thanks Mom for this wonderful breakfast memory!

Kitchen Quick Tips - Smooth Pancake Batter

For easy lump-free pancakes mix all of the ingredients together in a blender then pour the batter from the blender pitcher in desired size onto prepared hot griddle.

Sunny Side Up with Pea Meal Bacon

My husband and I have a couple of irons in the fires so to speak at the moment so needless to say things are rather hectic. A couple of days ago we had an earlier morning meeting so decided to stop on the way for breakfast. I talk a lot about pea meal bacon on this blog because not only do I make cure it from the pork loin but it is a low fat, fast cooking alternative to regular bacon. It's perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner making pea meal bacon a very versatile meat as well.

Breakfast

In most of southern Ontario if you order breakfast you have a choice of meat usually sausage, ham or bacon with pea meal bacon being an extra charge. The average price for 2 eggs with pea meal bacon, home fries, toast and coffee is $6. Pictured is the breakfast I had during our recent stop which is typical of any breakfast featuring pea meal bacon, even homemade. It is a substantial meal well worth the money. The best places to looks for this value meal are truck stops, homestyle cooking restaurants and small mom & pop breakfast only cafes. The breakfast only cafes offer excellent breakfast deals usually opening about 6 AM then closing by 11 AM. Despite their limited hours they are well worth stopping at.

Arlene's Truck Stop, Battle Creek, Michigan (with recipes)

I've mentioned before that when we are on road trips we often stop at truck stops for meals. The reason being truck stops tend to have good coffee and excellent home style cooking. Now you can't stop at just any truck stop. The quality of the coffee and food is directly related to how busy the parking lot is. The busier the parking lot the better the truck stop! My husband is very good at finding the excellent truck stops. We've yet to eat at one that hasn't had good food thanks to his well tuned sixth sense.

Arlene's Truck Stop

Arlene's Truck Stop is located at 4647 Columbia Ave. in Battle Creek, Michigan just off of I-94 on exit 92 to the right about a quarter of a mile up the road. The truck stop is quite busy but not fancy. There is a rather small tuck shop with the basics, mainly snack type foods. Fuel is available and there is ample parking for larger rigs. The restaurant is small and quite non-descript but the food is excellent. The home style food portions are large but low priced. A bottomless cup of coffee was $1.50 each. The service was fast and friendly, well above average. You definitely will not be leaving this truck stop hungry!

Country Fried Steak

My husband ordered the country fried steak ($7.59) with American fries, 2 poached eggs and white toast. Country fried steak is easily made at home. It is simply a thin cut of tenderized cube steak or round steak coated in fried chicken coating (eg. Homemade Shake & Bake Coating Mix) or seasoned flour then pan fried. It is usually topped with country gravy. Country (white) gravy is extremely easy to make and quite versatile. It is basically a thicker, seasoned white sauce. You can kick it up a notch by turning white gravy into sausage or bacon gravy. Here's how I make sausage gravy. You can substitute a good quality bacon cut across the slices to form bacon pieces for the sausage.

Sausage Gravy

4 breakfast sausage links or small pattie slices
2 c whole milk
2 tbsp unbleached flour
salt and pepper to taste

Fry the sausage links until cooked through, breaking them up as they fry. When the sausage is nicely browned and resembles the texture of crumbled ground beef remove from the heat. Drain the sausage reserving 2 tbsp of fat. Mix about ¼ c of the milk into the flour in a separate bowl to form a smooth slurry. Return the frypan to a medium heat. Pour in the rest of the milk. Heat while stirring constantly until milk comes to the scald stage (just starting to boil). While stirring pour the flour slurry into the milk and continue stirring and cooking until the mixture thickens to desired consistency. Remove from heat. Stir in the crumbled sausage. Season as desired with salt and pepper if desired.

Eggs Sunny Side Up

I ordered the ultimate breakfast ($5.79) with ham, 2 eggs sunny side up, hash browns and whole wheat toast. I think every restaurant serves some type of potatoes with their egg breakfast however what is a bit confusing is the terminology used to describe the potatoes. The term American fries was used to describe those included in my husband's meal. However, these are often called home fries or even country cuts. I had hash browns with mine but quite often if you order hash browns you end up with something almost like a semi-mashed home fries or actual home fries or something that looks like strands of French fries cut across to form little cubes of potatoes. These hash browns were the shredded variety and they are quite easy to duplicate at home. Do not be tempted to stir these hash browns while cooking as they will get gluey. Here's my method.

Hash Browns (shredded)

1 - 2 large baking potatoes (eg. Yukon Gold, Russet)

Shred the potatoes. Rinse to remove extra starch. Place the shredded potatoes in a tea towel and press out as much moisture as possible. Pour enough cooking oil to cover the bottom of your frypan. Heat a frypan on medium high. Pour the shredded potatoes into the pan in a shallow layer, about ½- inch thick. Let them cook without disruption for 3 minutes or until just golden brown. Carefully flip and repeat. Remove from pan and serve seasoning with salt and pepper if desired.

Breakfast on the Road

Sometimes it is worth revisiting a restaurant especially if you liked their dinner menu to see how the restaurant performs for breakfast and lunch. We first stopped at the Old Country Restaurant in New Hamburg during one of our road trips. We decided to revisit them to see how their breakfast menu and service compared.

Old Country Restaurant

The Old Country Restaurant is located at 105 Peel Street in New Hamburg, Ontario. The location is clean and unpretentious. Unlike a lot of the buildings in downtown section of New Hamburg, this building really has been stripped of any architectural appeal which really is a shame. During the summer months roll-out awnings add a bit of character but nothing that really says this building is old. Despite the non-descript exterior the interior conveys a warmth mixed with a homey feeling, comforting decor. The service is fast and friendly and the prices are quite reasonable!

Hot Breakfast

When we are on the road a hot breakfast is always in order. I'm not sure why as we very seldom eat a hot breakfast at home. A hot breakfast is usually reserved for holidays and weekends even though there is no reason why we couldn't have a hot breakfast during the week. The last time we were in the New Hamburg area we stopped in at the Old Country Restaurant for breakfast where we settled in at a cosy table by the window where we could watch the comings and goings of main street while sipping on hot coffee.

My husband ordered the Old Restaurant breakfast specially consisting of 3 eggs, homefries, bacon, ham, sausage and toast. He ordered his easy over as they don't poach eggs. I ordered the 2 egg (sunny side up) Canadian breakfast with back bacon (peameal bacon), home fries and whole wheat toast. Both meals were very much home style cooking coming in at $16.67 total. This was slightly higher than the price elsewhere for 2 hot breakfasts but given the area with proximity to both the Stratford Chefs School and the GTA it wasn't over priced.

Cheese and Bacon Muffins

Several years ago many of the doughnut shops started offering muffins and they continue to do so. The muffins are huge to say the least. The problem with these muffins aside of price is the number of calories. Some of the muffin bad boys can pack as much as 2,000 calories! Muffins fall under the category of quick breads. They are about the easiest thing to learn to bake. The only real trick is to not mix the batter too much. The batter for any muffin should be lumpy with the dry ingredients just folded into the wet ingredients.

Cheese & Bacon Muffins

Muffins can be sweet or savory. The best sweet muffins are sweetened with honey, maple syrup or molasses with perhaps a bit of brown sugar added. Quite often dried fruits or citrus peel is stirred in but other things like caramel chunks or chocolate chips can also be stirred in to the batter. Savory muffins have things like meats, cheeses and herbs added to them.

I made a savory muffin a couple of days ago for breakfast. These are really nice muffins that can be used for breakfast on the run. The great thing about these muffins is the bacon can be substituted with sausage or any other left-over meat pieces, you can basically use whatever cheese you want, you can add in dry herbs, you can substitute cream of mushroom or any other creamed soup for the mil, and you can even add in cooked broccoli or mushrooms. So this is an extremely versatile recipe.

Cheese and Bacon Muffins
modified from: Jean Paré, Company's Coming Muffins & More, 1983. Pp. 20.

2 c unbleached flour
2 tbsp organic sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
¼ tsp sea salt
¾ c cheese of your choice
½ c cooked bacon pieces
1 egg slightly beaten
1 c milk (or buttermilk or other substitute)
¼ c cooking oil

Preheat oven to 204ºC/400ºF. Place the dry ingredients except for cheese and bacon in stand mixer bowl. Mix briefly. In separate bowl combine egg, milk and oil. Stir then with mixer on low slowly mix in to dry ingredients briefly. Remove from mixer. Fold in bacon and cheese. Spoon into prepared muffin tins. Bake 20-25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes then remove from pan.
Yield: 12 muffins

French Toast

Hot breakfasts are a treat for use usually reserved for weekends, when we are vacationing or holidays. During the Christmas holidays hot breakfasts are pretty much a must and why not? Lounging around in pajamas sipping on a hot espresso or latté while the smell of a hot breakfast cooking is just delectable! It really becomes a true family bonding times.

French Toast

A hot breakfast doesn't have to be complicated or fancy. In fact a hot breakfast can easily use up left-overs like bread. One of our family favourites is French toast. It is easy to make yet always is a hit. Served simply with pan fried breakfast sausage links topped with real maple syrup and a little butter garnished with icing sugar, well life doesn't get much better!

French Toast
source: Garden Gnome's Hubby

Method: Crack 4 - 6 eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk. Stir in just a little milk. Dip bread into the egg mixture then fry in a medium-hot pan until golden brown on both sides. Remove from pan and plate. Top with 100% pure maple syrup and a pat of butter. Sprinkle a little icing sugar on top. Serve with breakfast sausage links.

Hubby's Weekend Cooking

I have often mentioned on this blog my husband's wonderful cooking skills. He makes one of the best burgers you will ever taste but his real signature dish is his breaded pork chops! This past weekend he decided to take over the kitchen! Here's what he came up with.

Rib Roast

Thursday morning I was rummaging through one of the chest freezers holding our new supply of organic, hormone free beef. I wanted ground beef but as I was looking for that I spotted a rib roast that somehow had two corners torn. This does happen with bulk meat purchases from time to time with the transporting from the abattoir to home freezer. It was hot and humid not really nice roast weather day so I put the roast into the refrigerator to thaw.

Saturday my husband wrapped the roast tightly and cooked it on the grill. At the same time he cooked potatoes seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper then wrapped in foil on the grill. The side vegetables were cauliflower with a little butter and nutmeg, sliced tomatoes and cucumber quarters. It was a lovely meal that kept most of the prep heat out of the house.

Breakfast

Yes I know breakfast is the most important meal of the day but I have to admit that during the week we very seldom eat breakfast especially a cooked one. I'm quite happy with a bit of homemade yogurt with my coffee or latte while my husband occasionally enjoys a toasted bagel. When we are on vacation or on the weekends we make up for it by having a hot breakfast.

There were left over potatoes from Saturday's roast dinner and half a ream of frozen bacon left from the omelet made the weekend before. In true frugal fashion he fried the bacon on the indoor griddle then set it aside to warm the potatoes. When the potatoes were warmed though he put the eggs on while I made the toast. Once plated we sat eating and chit chatting while watching the beauty of the water.

Barbeque Rib Roast Pizza

The rib roast dinner on Saturday had been an unplanned meal. It was a larger roast as well so there were left overs. Saturday night as we watched a bit of television a commercial for a steak pizza came on. That became the inspiration for a different way to use up some of the rib roast.

I put in a batch of pizza dough just after 3 PM. With the heat and humidity the proofing went a bit quicker than expected. My husband took it from there. Instead of a tomato pizza sauce he used Diana Sauce® for the sauce. After spreading a even layer of Diana Sauce® he layered on thin slices of the roast beef and chopped onions then topped with mozzarella cheese. This mouthwatering pizza tasted every bit as good as it looked! What a wonderful and unique way to use up roast beef!