One breakfast: National Egg Month, National Hot Tea Month, & National Oatmeal Month

 Inspired by having one dinner that celebrated multiple food observations, I decided to try a breakfast that did the same.  The result was the meal you see here.

To celebrate National Egg Month, I opted to make what I call an omelette.  It's amazing how many variations of omelettes there are and just how vigorously some people will argue over what exactly constitutes an omelette.  Apparently, even the spelling is up for discussion!  Omelette or omelet? 

Well, as with all my omelettes, it had veggies and lots of 'em.  I always keep a bag of frozen veggies in my freezer to add to dishes and omelettes are one of those dishes.  In addition to the standard mix that comes in the bag, I added mushrooms and celery leaves.  (What?  You throw those away?  They're perfect for soups and omelettes!)  I cooked those in the frying pan with no oil until they've thawed, added two beaten eggs, and then cooked it, flipping it once.  If you want fluffy omelettes, add oil, water, or milk when beating the eggs.  You can add anything to omelettes - vegetables, cheese, meat.  In fact, that's one reasons why omelettes are great for breakfast when you have picky eaters present - you can easily customise omelettes.  Sometimes, the omelette will stick to the pan or fall apart.  If this happens, don't worry - just mix it all up and call it a breakfat scramble.  Throw the mixture into a burrito and call it a breakfast burrito.

For omelette toppings, I opted to combine catsup and some Korean sweet and spicy sauce.  Normally, it's just one or the other but today I felt like mixing it up.  Other things I'll top my omelettes with?  Soy sauce, salsa, or bruschetta topping.  I've never mixed those together.

Since it's Oatmeal Month, I decided to have a bowl of one of my favorite oatmeals.  While making your own oatmeal is easy and super cheap, I do keep on hand some "Just Add Water" oatmeal packets.  Lately, I've been loving the oatmeals from BetterOats.  They have a few lines of oatmeal, most notably a line with flax seeds added.  The BetterOats brand oatmeals are a bit different than the other "just add water" oatmeals - these specifically come with the directions to use the packet as a measuring cup for adding cold water and then to cook the oatmeal in the microwave.  I've been eating this brand of oatmeal for a little while now.  The last place I lived, the directions were perfect.  The microwave in my current place must be set high as the first couple of times I made oatmeal, it exploded all over the microwave.  I now cook the oatmeal about 30 seconds less than recommended.  I also add cinnamon to oatmeal no matter what.

It's also National Hot Tea Month and I celebrate that pretty much every day.  I just haven't remembered to talk about it.  The other day, I had someone call me a "Tea Addict."  Granted, she called me that because I was on the third 16 ounce mug of tea she had seen that day.  (She didn't know about the 16ounces I had with breakfast.)

I know some tea purists sniff their noses at anyone drinking bagged tea.  While I wish I had the time to properly prepare loose-leaf tea everytime I drink tea, it's just not something I have the time to do with as much tea as I drink.  I always have both loose-leaf and bagged tea.  Loose-leaf is great for weekends when I'm not rushed and is wonderful because I can blend my own teas.  Bagged tea is great to keep a tea bag in my purse or for when I'm rushing out the door with my travel mug because I'm late for class.

The tea with breakfast was Teavana's Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls Green Tea.  I love green tea.  Black is okay if it has overtones of floral, vanilla, or orange.  White teas aren't bad either - I just think they're almost too delicate for me and I have  yet to find a red I like.  As for tisanes (herbal teas), I'll drink the occasional chamomile at night.  When drinking green, I add nothing.  Most black tea, I'll add a little sugar, sometimes cream.  Herbal teas, I'll add honey.

Also on the note of National Hot Tea month, I have to give a shout out to Teavana's Perfect Teamaker.  That's what I used to prep my tea.  I don't always use it for tea prep, but it is very easy to use and clean.  Plus, I always have fun watching the leaves unfurl and I don't have a glass teapot yet.