Newsletter Display - Mr Breakfast

Note To Subscribers & Those Wishing To Subscribe:

We are currently updating our newsletter-sending software. Unfortunately, this means mailing of the Breakfast Report will not resume until September. Apologies to current subscribers. Very soon, new subscribers will be able to sign up again via this page. In the meantime, please enjoy the newsletter we would have sent out had we been able. Thanks!

Summer 2009 Theme: Summer Breakfast Lovin'

Happy Summer Breakfast Lover,

We've got some great things cooking at MrBreakfast.com. We're happy to announce the launch of our new, improved website and the unveiling of The Cereal Project. Tell all your friends... and even people you don't know. Regular newsletters are set to resume this fall. Talk to you then. Have a fantastic summer.

Your pal,
Mr Breakfast

Recipe Of The Month: Easy Banana Bread

This issue's featured recipe is a simple, basic banana bread that's received super high marks from the great breakfast lovers who have left comments on MrBreakfast.com. I hope you like it as much as we do.

Easy Banana Bread

1 and 1/4 cups flour
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 bananas
8 Tablespoons margarine
1/3 cup walnuts (optional)

This recipe makes 6 servings.

Cream sugar and margarine, mash the bananas and add to the mixture.

Beat and add the eggs. Slowly add the flour, salt, and baking soda. Pour into a loaf pan.

Bake at 350 F for 30-45 minutes.

That's all there is too it. Let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment on this recipe's page on MrBreakfast.com.

More Featured Breakfast Recipes For Summer

Let us know what you thought of the recipes by posting a note on MrBreakfast.com.

Grapefruit Crunch

This is a simple way to add spark to a healthy breakfast of grapefruit. You'll really like this.

Green Eggs And Ham

Also try recipes for Green Egg Scramble and Green Egg Casserole.

Red Flannel Hash

Top with poached eggs to make the meal complete.

Mashed Potato Pancakes

I like these with butter and maple syrup. But since they're more savory than sweet, they are also terrific with a fried egg and grated cheese on top. Delicious!

Flax Seed And Nut Granola (Low-Carb)

For more low-carb recipes try Mr Breakfast's Low-Carb Breakfast Index.

Better Blueberry Waffles

A good reliable blueberry batter. These waffles are great with a thin spread of butter topped with a few fresh berries and a dollop of whipped cream. Great with maple syrup too.

To Find Your Perfect Breakfast:

MrBreakfast.com now has 2345 breakfast recipes. (And don't forget the 17919 restaurant reviews.)

There's Over 325 Ways To Make Toast

Over the last three years, MrBreakfast.com visitors have submitted their recipes for toast. Check it out: 326 Ways To Enjoy Toast.

10 Tips To Make Perfect Waffles

Respect Your Waffle Maker. Be sure to read the instruction manual for your unit thoroughly. Different waffle makers are designed to cook waffles differently. Some people may tell you to coat your waffle maker with cooking spray. There's a good chance your manual will have different advice. If you bought your waffle maker in the last 5 years, chances are you should not use cooking spray.
"Non-Stick" Is In The Batter. The amount of oil or butter in your batter will determine whether or not your waffles will stick to your waffle maker. If you are consistently making waffles that stick, try increasing the oil or butter.
Separate The Egg Whites From The Yolks. If a light and fluffy waffle interior is important to you, separate your eggs. Add the beaten yolks to the wet ingredients of your batter. Then, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the eggs whites gently into the final batter using a spatula.
Avoid Violent-Mixing. Waffle batter is a tricky character. It should be smooth enough to flow freely through the dimples of the waffle plate, but it should never be over-mixed (over-mixing turns the flour into gluten which produces a chewier, less-fluffy texture). The solution is gentle patience. Using a rubber spatula (or a spoon if you don have one), mix the wet ingredients of your batter into the dry ingredients as if the batter had tiny, breakable items in it that you don't want to break. Using a gentle motion and a couple extra minutes, mix the batter until smooth.
No Buttermilk / No Problem. A lot of the more interesting waffle recipes you'll find ask for buttermilk. The problem is most people don't keep buttermilk around. Regular milk can always be used in place of buttermilk. The difference in the texture of the completed waffle is negligible. If your dying for that extra bit of tanginess that buttermilk adds, you can make an easy buttermilk substitute by adding a Tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk. The acidic ingredient will cause the milk to curdle. Let it stand 15 minutes and there you go. Some people will probably even prefer the kiss of freshness that lemon juice can add.
Don't Lift The Lid Too Early. As a general rule you should always wait until your waffle maker says it's okay, by way of its indicator light or beeping mechanism. If you have a waffle that's sticking to the plates (see tip #2 to avoid), lifting the lid too soon could cause your waffle to rip, leaving one poor half of a waffle stuck to the top and the other half sadly adhered to the bottom.
Steam: A Waffle's Natural Kitchen Timer. If your waffle maker doesn't have a doneness indicator, watch the steam coming out of the unit as you cook. When the steam stops, lift the lid. The waffle should be done. Chances are that it will be well-done. On our test waffle maker, complete steamlessness matched a setting of 8 out of 10 on the doneness dial.
Everybody Dig In (At The Same Time). If you're cooking for more than one person, you'll probably want everyone to eat at the same time. But your waffle maker only makes one waffle at a time. Is all lost? Is all hope gone? No way. Set your oven to 250 degrees at the same time that you pre-heat your waffle maker. As you pull completed waffles from the maker, transfer them to the oven. A short time in the oven can actually improve the crispness of a waffle. Think of it as giving your waffles a light toasting right after you make them.
Don't Waste Waffles. Only wild, wacky women with weird ways and wide wallets waste wonderful waffles. If you make too many waffles, just place them in a freezer bag after they've cooled. Place wax paper between multiple waffles and squeeze as much air from the bag as possible. When you're ready to eat them, set out the preferred number of waffles and let them defrost for about 10 minutes. Then, heat the waffles in your oven at 300 degrees for about 5 minutes. If the waffles fit comfortably in your toaster, go for it. Just defrost them and toast at a medium-low setting. Note: If you're purposely making waffles for later use, cook them at a setting slightly lower than you'd ordinarily use. Then, they'll be just the way you like them when they're hit with more heat.
No Mess / No Regrets. If you clean your waffle maker shortly after it's cooled, you'll guarantee your machine's future waffle success and it will be much easier to clean than if you waited. For a list of tips on cleaning waffle makers, click here.

BONUS TIPS:

Always have softened butter or margarine and warmed (at least room temperature) syrup ready for your waffles. There's nothing worse than sitting in front of a perfect waffle and trying to spread cold butter on it. Your picture perfect waffle will rip and tear like nobody's business.
Use a plastic or rubber utensil to remove your waffles from the waffle maker. A fork or knife may be more handy, but over the long haul those seemingly harmless stabs at the waffle plates will cause havoc on your waffle maker.

NEW PRODUCT REVIEWS

Jose Ole Breakfast Quesadillas
From Windsor Foods

And the award for the Most Deceptive Packaging of a Breakfast Product for 2009 goes to... Jose Ole Breakfast Quesadillas.

The box is enticing. Delicately scrambled eggs, colorful peppers and perfectly browned bacon pieces are joined together by the smooth flow of three distinct cheeses. The fillings are so abundant they seem to burst from the tortilla.

In reality, the filling is a block of homogeneous ingredients whose texture resembles mashed potatoes or Pennsylvania scrapple more than any quesadilla I've ever encountered. They don't burst from the tortilla. They are hidden within... shrouded by the tortilla.

That being said, Jose Ole Breakfast Quesadillas taste alright. If you crave a Mexican-style breakfast, this product has the ability to satisfy... the same way a $.49 cent frozen burrito can satisfy, but not necessarily please, your senses. They're mildly spicy and, while your taste buds might not be able to identify the individual ingredients, they will conclude that it's a Mexican-style food product.

I gave this product every chance in the world to succeed. Here's my notes:

Microwave Cooking Method:
- Tortilla is chewy and tough on edges
- Filling tasty, pleasantly spicy - consistency of mashed potatoes

Oven Cooking Method:
- 20 minutes is a long time
- Parts of the tortilla that were chewy in microwave are now overly crispy
- Tortilla tastes more bready; No change to filling texture and taste

Pan Fry Cooking Method:
- Best results for tortilla... nicely browned; even texture
- Filling is still cold after 14 minute recommended frying time
- Takes 18 minutes for filling to be warm enough to eat
- Tortilla crisp and warm; Filling barely over room temperature

Conclusion: Microwave is best method despite chewy tortilla

On the plus side, this product is an easy way to get 43% of your daily requirement of cholesterol and 20% of your saturated fat needs. That's a joke. I didn't like this product and I don't recommend it.

The price we paid: $2.99

(2 out of 7 Golden Eggs)

Cedarlane Egg White Omelettes
From Cedarlane Natural Foods

The best microwavable breakfast product of the year!

These omelettes don't taste like they came from the microwave. They taste like they came from the kitchen of a really good restaurant. The eggs are fluffy and the fillings are plentiful and loaded with flavor. If other companies follow Cedarlane's lead, this could be the dawning of a new day for microwave breakfasts!

I tried two varieties of Cedarlane Egg White Omelettes: a spinach and mushroom variety and an uncured turkey bacon, vegetable & cheese variety. The spinach omelette was the better of the two.

You know those commercials where a grocery store product is placed next to a homemade dish in a blind taste test? I never believed them. "Oh sure... no way that canned soup is as good as that guy's mom's soup... I don't believe it." This spinach omelette has wiped away my skepticism.

Seriously, if this omelette was placed in blind taste test next to 80% of the spinach and mushroom omelettes I've had at restaurants across the U.S., this microwavable product would win a significant number of times.

The spinach tastes remarkably fresh and there's just enough cheese to make the healthy ingredients taste fairly indulgent.

As for the turkey bacon variety... while it's a good product, it does seem more like a microwavable product. The bacon doesn't taste particularly like bacon. It's more of a somewhat pleasing general breakfast meat flavor. The vegetables in the omelette taste fresh and it's cheesy enough to be called "cheesy". My biggest complaint would be the slight pool of liquid that remains at the bottom of the container after the cooking process. That did not happen with the spinach variety.

The instruction for both omelettes are simple... microwave for three and half minutes. That's it.

While both omelettes are marketed as "gluten free" and "low cholesterol", you should be aware that saturated fat content of these products is somewhat higher than their homemade equivalent. The spinach omelette has 6 grams of saturated fat and the turkey variety sports 7 grams.

Both omelettes offer over 45% of your recommended daily amount of protein.

Right now, these omelettes are a little over priced... about $4.00 each where I bought them. If you can get the spinach variety for under $4.00, I highly recommend giving it a try.

The price we paid: $4.29

(7 out of 7 Golden Eggs)

Read the complete reviews for these products and more at the
Mr Breakfast Product Review Home Page.

Researchers at the University of Nottingham, UK found that skipping breakfast can raise cholesterol levels and diminish the body's sensitivity to insulin (the hormone that regulates blood sugar) in healthy, lean women.

Quick Breakfast For Busy Mornings

So you don't have time for breakfast? That's crazy talk. Check out this article for some great time-saving breakfast tips.

Check it out.

Oatmeal Saves The Day

Does this harsh economy have you tightening your breakfast budget? What a great excuse to find out more about the inexpensive wonder food called oatmeal.

Check it out.

The Spring 2009 Mr Breakfast Clothing Line

Research shows that 99.99999% percent of your friends don't own any of this stuff. What perfect gifts!

Sausage T-Shirt

$18.99

Vote4Breakfast Underpants

$8.99

Eat Oatmeal T-Shirt

$9.99

Click here to see the entire Mr Breakfast Collection.