Guacamole + Everything Bagel

Rating: 9.5/10

Been offline awhile, but back with a vengeance now! And wouldn't think of starting the summer without some avocado in my belly. Anyway, totally my new obsession this awesome guac dip. Wholly Guacamole, indeed. It's got all of what I love about guacamole (avocado, garlic) and none of what I hate (cilantro, lime). And of course, why go for chips when you got everything bagels lying around. As much as I despise sesame seeds on anything, if they're the price I have to pay to get caraway seeds, poppy seeds, and garlic all on one bagel then so be it, everything bagel it is. So when you put perfect guacamole with near perfect bagel: voila mouth happy amounts of flavor, chew, and easy on-the-go chow. Just break, dip, bite, and smile.

Nutrition:

• Wholly Guacamole (6 spoonfuls) = 180 Calories, 6g fiber, 330mg Sodium, 540mg Potassium
• Einstein Bros. Everything Bagel = 270 Calories, 2g fiber, 620mg Sodium, 20% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 470
Decent amount of fiber and Sodium for sure. Decent breakfast material.
 

Tofu Cream Cheese + Pumpkin Butter + Multigrain Bread

Rating: 8/10

I have to say it was a bit of a turn off when I first saw the word "vegan" in reference to cream cheese. But a dear friend was raving about it, so I thought why not? It's actually pretty decent. Not great, mind you, but decent. But I love this awesome multigrain bread by Eli Zabar. Rocks my morning when toasted.

Nutrition:

• Eli Zabar Hearth Baked Bread = 130 Calories, 190mg Sodium, 120mg Potassium, 6g fiber
• Trader Joe's Vegan Cream Cheese (2 spoonfuls) = 90 Calories, 120mg Sodium
• Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter (2 spoonfuls) = 80 Calories, 18g sugar, 20% of daily Vitamin A

Total Calories = 300
Wee bit vitamins and minerals, but otherwise insignificant all around.

Cocoa Cookie Butter + Crumpet + Fried Egg

Rating: 8.5/10

Chocolate plus cookie butter in a spread! This needs to be on everything. Why not add it to a traditional English breakfast of crumpets and eggs? Kind of turns it into a chocolate chip cookie version of Eggs Benedict minus the bacon. Just spread the awesomeness on top a toasted crumpet and slap on a fried egg sunny side up seasoned with salt and pepper. Hearty and delicious for those with a sweet tooth.

Nutrition:

• Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie & Cocoa Swirl (2 spoonfuls) = 180 Calories, 12g sugar
• Trader Joe's British Style Crumpet = 110 Calories, 170mg Sodium, 2g fiber
• fried egg = 95 Calories, 15% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 385
Not much caloric value, but got in some Iron and sugar for energy.

Chocolate Truffles + Egg Scallion Pancake

Rating: 8/10

Chocolate hazelnut truffles eaten with a fried multi-layered scallion pancake. Can't go wrong with either here. Awesome contrast of taste and texture. Crispy, chewy, savory pancake with sweet, creamy truffles. And just the way the chocolate melts in the mouth as I'm biting off the pancake, rocks my mouth world.

Nutrition:

• 5 Maitre Truffout Fancy Hazelnut Flavor Truffles = 250 Calories, 14g sugar, 2g fiber, 30% of daily Iron
• whole egg scallion pancake = 850 Calories, 4g fiber, 1240mg Sodium, 60% of daily Iron, 32% of daily Vitamin A, 10% of daily Vitamin B-12

Total Calories = 1090
No one said this was gonna be a light breakfast. Couldn't find nutrition info on egg scallion pancake, so just added nutrition for regular scallion pancake plus one egg.

Crumpet + Nutella + Macadamia

Rating: 8.5/10

Toasted crumpets spread with Nutella and topped with macadamia nuts. Quick and delicious alternative to pancakes or waffles in the morning. Love the soft, spongy, crispy texture of crumpets toasted combined with the creamy, sweet, chocolatey Nutella melted on plus the crunchy, smooth macadamia on top. Takes my delight over chocolate-covered macadamia to a new level.

Nutrition:

• Trader Joe's British Style Crumpet = 110 Calories, 170mg Sodium, 2g fiber
• Ferrero Nutella (3 spoonfuls) = 300 Calories, 1.5g fiber, 32g sugar
• Savanna Orchards Gourmet Dry Roasted Macadamias (1/4 cup) = 210 Calories, 2g fiber, 115mg Sodium

Total Calories = 620
That's like a fifth of a day's fiber and just a splash of Sodium.

Pizza Crust + Babaganush + Cello Radish

Rating: 8/10

Pizza crust dipped in babaganush and eaten with fresh whole cello radishes also dipped in babaganush. I am not a crust person and generally am of the opinion that crust should always be cut off everything because it's hard, tasteless, and possibly carcinogenic. But dipping it in the babaganush has given it newfound purpose. Besides, this crust is rather fluffy and not dry or burnt. As for the cello radish, it's like my new obsession. Random but it's just so tiny and adorable and crunchy I can't help myself. Looking for any and all reasons and ways to eat it. And when in doubt, dip it in babaganush. All together, we have a great mouthful of chewy, doughy, salty pizza crust, plus the crunchy, lightly spicy radish, topped with creamy, garlicky amazing babaganush.

Nutrition:

• 2 Pizza Hut Supreme Pizza crusts = 100 Calories, 246mg Sodium, 10% of daily Vitamin A
• Golden Taste Eggplant Babaganush Dip (4 tablespoons) = 160 Calories, 280mg Sodium, 2g fiber 
• 2 cello radishes = 5 Calories

Total Calories = 265
That radish is pretty devoid of both Calories and nutrients. Eh.

Babaganush + Multigrain Flats + Cherry Tomatoes

Rating: 9/10

Oven toasted multigrain flatbread dipped in babaganush and eaten with yellow cherry tomatoes. After I ran out of naan, I went on a semi-mad search for a suitable partner for the magically delicious babaganush. Seriously like nothing can beat this dip, it goes with everything and makes them better. But the toasted outside chewy inside multigrain flats top it. So much texture in this flatbread with actual "you can feel it, taste it, and see it" grains and seeds all over. Then add in the sweet, sour, and juicy cherry tomatoes. Wham-o! Killer combo, so simple yet so complexly rich in flavor. Not to mention, quick and easy breakfast for someone on the go.

Nutrition:

• Golden Taste Eggplant Babaganush Dip (4 tablespoons) = 160 Calories, 280mg Sodium, 2g fiber
• OneBun Multigrain Folded Flats = 130 Calories, 2g fiber, 80mg Potassium, 230mg Sodium, 10% of daily Calcium, 6% of daily Riboflavin, 6% of daily Folate
• NatureSweet Sunbursts Sweet Golden Snacking Tomatoes (1/2 cup) = 45 Calories, 3g fiber, 250mg Potassium, 35% of daily Vitamin C, 15% of daily Vitamin A

Total Calories = 335
Pretty light and packed with a bunch of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Pesto + Steamed Buns

Rating: 9.5/10

Sliced Chinese steamed bun slathered with pesto and pan fried. Like garlic bread but awesomer! I'm so in love with this creation and myself for coming up with the notion of uniting this unlikely duo. It's rare when I'm this self-satisfied about food, I'm going to savor this moment. Ah... Okay so the oily, savory, fragrant punch of pesto plus the fluffy, light bun over fire and pan equals crispy, flavorful fried goodness surrounding a soft, warm, chewy core. Words don't do this thing justice.

Nutrition:

• Trader Joe's Genova Pesto (1/2 cup) = 520 Calories, 2g fiber, 270mg Sodium, 40% of daily Vitamin A, 20% of daily Calcium, 16% of daily Vitamin C
• Chinese steamed bun = 160 Calories, 5g fiber

Total Calories = 680
Basically a meal's worth but worth it.

Soft Boiled Eggs + Potato Chips

Rating: 7.5/10

Mashed soft-boiled eggs with black pepper and potato chips. Nothing beats a nice hearty egg breakfast (and I'll take soft-boiled if I can't have poached). Part of the way to start a long, sweatt day of mountain hiking. The crispy, crunchy, salty chips gave the gooey, chewy, peppery eggs some added texture and kick. Hey, just brought two otherwise unremarkable foods together into a scintillating combo. What more can you ask for? 

Nutrition:

• 2 soft boiled eggs with pepper = 140 Calories, 24% of daily Vitamin A, 14% of daily Iron, 10% of daily Calcium
• handful of Lays Classic Potato Chips = 75 Calories, 1g fiber,

Total Calories = 215

Jam + Skillet Potato

Rating: 8.5/10

Strawberry jam spread on breakfast skillet potatoes. The sweet, fruity jelliness only completes the warm, salty, herby, chewy, crispy potatoes. The jam practically melts in like butter on toast. I love combining flavor opposites. Each adds what the other lacks.

Nutrition:

• 2 spoonfuls of strawberry jam = 100 Calories, 24g sugar
• side of breakfast skillet potatoes = 260 Calories, 3g fiber, 437mg Sodium, 30% of daily Vitamin C, 16% of daily Calcium, 8% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 360
Lighter than I thought. And a lot of nutrients in those potatoes.

Lingonberry Preserve + Crueller + Arugula

Rating: 8/10

Man, I ate so many random combinations of food this morning, I can't even narrow it down to one. But I guess I'll start with all lingonberry related stuff. Cruellers dipped in lingonberry jam eaten with arugula. So much divergent flavors here my mouth was genuinely confused but in a good way, I think. The lingonberry really gave the crispy, chewy, mildly sweet crueller a hit of tarty sweetness. Then, the punch in the mouth that was arugula was like whoah where did that come from? Taste buds slightly shell shocked.

Linzer Tart + Italian Wedding Soup

Rating: 7/10

Great way to start a day in Sleepy Hollow. Italian Wedding soup eaten with a Linzer Tart in lieu of bread or crackers. I'm no fan of crackers unless it graham and bread is boring, so cookie to the rescue. Not a bad mix these two with the Tart's sweet, tarty, crunchy, powdery consistency and the soup's salty, chunky, chewy, smooth consistency.

French Toast + Udon Noodles

Rating: 8/10

French toast eaten with udon noodle bowl. So many things go well with udon it's hard to pick. But the sweet, crunchy toast offers a lovely counterbalance to the salty, slippery soft noodles and soup. Perfect example of two things that are good separately also being good together. Not always the case. So cheers to this!

Scrambled Eggs + Ice Cream

Rating: 9/10

Scrambled eggs chock-full of turkey plus basil and cumin seasoning eaten with Haagen-Dazs Blueberry Crumble ice cream. I was going for ham and eggs scrambled but ran out of ham, so turkey slices to the rescue. Probably healthier anyway. The hot, moist, savory, salty, cumin tasting eggs wonderfully compliments its opposite in the ice cream's cold, chunky, creamy, sweet and sour range. I feel good about the world after eating this. I mean, with a start like this the rest of the day can do what it wants to me. I'm set.

Cookie Butter + Pumpkin Butter + Half-baked Roll

Rating: 10/10

It's like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich but better. Cookie butter has the consistency of peanut butter and pumpkin butter the consistency of jam, except it also tastes like eating graham crackers and pumpkin pie at the same time. Yummers! And half-baked ciabatta rolls beat regular bread any day of the week. I'm no fan of crust. Aww breakfast today was all Trader Joe's. Quick and easy, ready to run! The beauty is in the simplicity.

Nutrition:

• 2 spoonfuls of Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter = 180 Calories, 10g sugar
• 2 spoonfuls of Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter = 80 Calories, 18g sugar, 20% of daily Vitamin A
• Trader Joe's Half Baked Idea French Roll = 130 Calories, 300mg Sodium, 10% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 390
Less sugar than I expected. Plus some Vitamin A and Iron. Nutrition-wise not bad, not great.

Chocolate Graham Cracker + Shanghai Risotto

Rating: 8/10

Chocolate-covered graham eaten with Shanghai-style Chinese Risotto with veggies and meat. I love all things graham cracker with its sweet, grahamy crackerness, and to cover it in chocolate, awesome (just one marshmallow and camp fire away from s'mores). Plus the soft, salty, savory deletion of Shanghai cuisine. So much delight in my mouth for this salty-sweet combo. And it's relatively healthy, too.

Asiago Cheese + Udon Noodle Bowl

Rating: 8.5/10

I am all about hearty breakfasts, can't start my day without it. And this one started out amazingly. Asiago cheese eaten with Japanese-style udon noodles in a soup of garlic, egg, tomato, and salt fried in corn oil then cooked in chicken broth. The salty and creamy from the cheese blended so nicely with the chewy noodles and egg, the tart and juicy tomato, and the salty, savory flow of the soup. Mouth happy, stomach full, mission accomplished.