Hungry Bear and I recently discovered chocolate oatmeal courtesy of Jeff, one of my closest friends and Penn State buddy. He came out to visit us a few weeks ago to rest, relax, cook, eat and ride (road biking). Jeff actually prepared a few meals for us while he was here. You've gotta love a house guest who will cook for you!

One morning after running the Lyon Street Steps, Hungry Bear made some steel cut oats and Jeff turned it into chocolate oatmeal by adding a little Scharffen Berger sweetened cocoa powder. It was delicious! And I can't believe that we didn't think about this combination ourselves. We typically have our oatmeal with some sliced bananas and brown sugar, which is good, but not as brilliant as chocolate oatmeal!

So the next time you want a healthy breakfast, reach for the steel cut oats and a little cocoa powder. Thanks Jeff!

"Streusel topping, streusel topping!" exclaimed Hungry Bear as I closed the oven door, "we forgot to add the streusel topping!" Well, considering I had specifically requested the topping for the blueberry muffins, it was a big omission on our part. Luckily we remembered in time or we'd still be kicking ourselves.

We recently bought four pounds of blueberries. Almost half of them went into a blueberry kuchen that Hungry Bear can't get enough of. I made the kuchen and we devoured it in two days. With the remaining berries, she made these amazing muffins with a streusel topping.

I'm a big fan of peanut butter and honey sandwiches (PB&H). Forget about the jelly, it's better with honey. With peanut butter, I prefer the simple sweetness of honey over fruity jams and jellies.

One of my favorite breakfast items is an open-faced peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich, a PBB&H if you will. It's open-faced because I use a thick cinnamon swirl bread from Trader Joe's. It's a hearty wheat bread with a great cinnamon flavor. For breakfast, I usually toast a piece of bread, spread it with creamy peanut butter, slice a banana and drizzle a little bit of honey on top. Two open-face PBB&H sandwiches are very filling and keep me fueled up during long bike rides.

The funny thing is, I refused to eat peanut butter for almost fifteen years. My disdain for peanut butter started during nursery school. My family and I just immigrated to the States and I was literally fresh off the boat. Well, we took a boat from Saigon to Hong Kong, and flew the rest of the way to a small Pennsylvania town, New Cumberland.

Each day after nursery school let out, I would go to a classmate's home, whose mother baby-sat us until my mom finished work. This is were I was first introduced to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I recall it wasn't too bad initially, but I was used to savory banh mi, pho and rice plates.

Do you love French toast? Looking for a different twist on this breakfast classic? Then give this baked French toast casserole recipe a try. It's a great brunch dish that you prepare the night before and bake in the morning.

The baked French toast dish has three distinct layers. The top layer is a crunchy, caramely praline topping. The middle layer tastes like traditional French toast and the bottom layer reminds me of bread pudding. All together, it's a fantastic and decadent dish for breakfast or brunch.

We made the casserole last Friday while visiting our NYC friends, Jeff and Aimee. It was Aimee's turn to bring breakfast in for her co-workers. Typically, her co-workers bring in bagels or donuts, but Jeff raised the bar and made delicious fritattas the last time it was Aimee's turn. To keep the bar high, I suggested making a baked French toast casserole. Jeff, Hungry Bear and I made three casseroles — a large one for Aimee's co-workers and two smaller ones for us to enjoy.

The French toast casserole recipe is by Paula Deen, so of course, there's a lot of butter, half-and-half and sugar. The praline topping is made with two sticks of butter and a cup of brown sugar. I would recommend not using the entire amount of praline topping, or the casserole may be too sweet and buttery. We used the topping quantity in the recipe across three casseroles. The sweetness was perfect and didn't require any maple syrup. One last tip is to allow the butter to soften before making the praline topping.

The baked French toast casserole was a big hit with Aimee's co-workers. It's a great dish that's easy to make. Serve it with some fresh fruit and your friends and family will be raving about it for a long time.

I'm a big fan of breakfast sandwiches. My favorite breakfast sammy only takes five minutes to make. The sandwich consists of whole wheat bread, scrambled eggs, pepper jack cheese and avocado.

Last week at the Serramonte Farmers' Market, we picked up a hearty whole wheat bread with sunflower, sesame and poppy seeds. It's called Dakota bread and is made by the Great Harvest Bread Co. franchise in Oakland. The Dakota bread has a great texture from all the seeds and makes a great base for sandwiches. Any type of bread will do, but fresh bread from a local baker makes the breakfast sammy even better.

It doesn't get any better than toasted bread, melted pepper jack cheese, scrambled eggs and a ripe avocado... simply scrumptious. A little sprinkle of kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper over the avocado enhances its flavor even more. There's also a great contrast of textures between the crunchy bread, melted cheese, fluffy eggs and creamy avocado. Since I love spicy food, I top my eggs with a few shakes of a good hot sauce. One of my favorite hot sauces is Crystal Extra Hot hot sauce. 

I love this breakfast sandwich because it's super easy to make and a delicious way to start any day.