Cup of Happiness

Our coffee machine broke down a few months ago. Coincidentally, my Starbucks habit kicked back in right around the same time. I am loathe to admit it, but I am addicted to caffeine. Like, for reals. I tried to give it up for Lent this year and made it exactly 4 days before my headaches and general Rage Against Humanity weakened my resolve and I went back to the dark side.

I immediately felt that I had a Green Living problem to tackle. What's the best way to get my fix with minimal waste and maximum awesomeness?

Factors to consider:

• I don't want ANY waste - No filters, no pods, no pouring half your French Press pot down the drain because I can only really handle one cup at a time and the mechanics of the Press make me create at least 2 big cups worth.
• When it comes right down to it, I really want a LATTE. Not coffee. Yes, I know, I'm a snob. Whatever. When I have good, excellent-tasting espresso and steamed milk, I don't even want any sugar OR honey. At least half of the reason I go to The Bucks is because I want the steamed milk. Lovely, frothy milk.

So I didn't want to buy a new coffee maker. Coffee makers don't make lattes, and latte makers cost $$$. I did a bit of internet searching, and decided on these two little old-fangled lovelies:

To my left, a stainless steel milk frother. To my right, the iconic Bialetti Moka Pot in the one-cup size. Just enough for ONE latte in the morning! 

Yes, they are not as fast or as fancy as the Pod coffee machines or the spendy espresso machines. And yes, the Bialetti would be a more energy-efficient choice if we had gas burners, but someday I WILL have gas burners, so help me!

How do these thrifty little metal contraptions produce a foamy latte? Observe.

This round fan-looking thing is what aerates the milk. It's attached by a metal rod to the knob on the lid of the frother When you pump it, it turns this little splash of warmed-up soy milk (see left) into this voluminous cup of foamy soy milk (see right). About as close to steamed milk as you can get without a fancy espresso maker OR a lot of attention and patience at the stove top.

And what about the espresso part?

Espresso goes into this funnel-shaped filter.

Which fits into the bottom part....

that holds the water.

When you twist the two halves of the Moka pot together and put the pot on the stove, you can lift up the lid and watch the espresso percolate up into the little pitcher.

Bubbling goodness.

Now imagine this is a TV cooking show and I skip to the finished product:

Perfecto. One latte, no waste. I can use organic, fair trade beans and whatever pretentious milk I want. And if I ever get my act together, I could even put everything together at night and just turn on the heat in the morning.

So there you have it! The solution to my latte addiction for about $40 of durable equipment. No waste, and far fewer trips to The Bucks. Come on over and I'll play barista for ya.

Breakfast Plantain & Veggie Scramble

Back in the day when I happily noshed bagels or English muffins, I loved to make breakfast sandwiches and things that resembled Benedicts. I still love a good eggy/cheesy brunch, but I've had to retool my starch a bit.

There are recipes out there for grain free muffins, breads, bagel-like things, cookies, crackers, and pizza crusts readily available, but I've come to the conclusion that trying to make grain-free versions of my favorite carbs turns out to be akin to the veggified versions of meat products - expensive, time consuming, and not very much like the item you are trying to fake. I ended up preferring lentils and beans to Chik'n Nuggets or ToFurky, and I've discovered that bread cravings can almost always be quelled without Fava bean and flax meal "sandwich flats".

Here's my #1 tip for anyone trying to cut down on conventional grain-based foods: Rethink your base.

This morning I woke up craving Eggs Benedict. What did I really want? Bread, Eggs, and something saucy. No bread, no interest in making hollandaise. But it is my day off, so I had a bit more time to tool around in the kitchen, so I rummaged around and got started with a new breakfast melange.

Let's start with the new base:

Satisfying little discs of starchy goodness: Plantains

I'm sure there must be some way to roast plantains, but honestly, if you fry things hot enough and blot them quickly enough, flash frying is not a terrible way to cook things. I did these up in some grapeseed oil, because it can handle high heat and quick cooking.

Plantains do not taste anything like the bananas they resemble. They remind me more of sweet potatoes than of fruit. And they are an excellent bready substitute.

After the plantains were cooked up, I started dumping random bits of veggies from the fridge into the same quick-cleaned saute pan:

leftovers from a can of fire roasted tomatoes

some unused black beans 

handful of baby spinach

the rest of a can of black olives from an ill-fated recipe earlier this week

And then I tried to fry up an egg quickly, but the pan was so hot it ended up overcooked. No matter. I stacked up my odds and bits onto a plate and scraped some disappointingly not-quite-ripe avocado on top.

There you have it!

And it was really, really good. Filling and carbish and proteiny. You could put cheese on top, but I'm trying to go easy on the dairy these days too and this is plenty rich. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper and you are done. All the breakfast, none of the grains.