Tag Archives: Breakfast

Rise and Shine Muffins

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I decided a long time ago that morning is the best time for me to workout. I can get the dreaded exercises done and over with and the rest of the day feels great.

The problem is that I can’t seem to exercise on an empty stomach – that usually results in me doing lazy reps with lighter weights while I wonder why on earth I feel so exhausted. And I’m pretty sure two cups of coffee doesn’t count as a meal. On the other hand I can’t have a meal beforehand because then I’ll just get lazy while I wait for the food to digest. Oh, sigh.  So the solution is to have a healthy snack. But to be honest, eating a banana or a granola bar just doesn’t entice me. It could be because I have yet to change my eating habits so that I actually feel like eating fruit in the morning. For now I will take baby steps toward healthier pre-workout snacks.

The bright taste of orange and the sweetness of carrot make these perfect for waking up. Tomorrow morning I will gnosh on one of these delightful muffins to give me the energy I need to pump some iron…hahaha.

Rise and Shine Muffins

Makes a dozen small muffins…remember they’re supposed to be a little snack!

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

juice of one orange…I got about 1/2 cup of juice

1/4 cup melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce

1 medium carrot, finely grated

zest of one orange

about 1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350F/176C. In a large bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, and salt. Mix together the sugar, egg, orange juice, butter, apple sauce, and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture. Stir in the carrot, orange zest, and raisins until combined. Pour into muffin pan and bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

 

 

Breakfast Pizza

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About three and a half years ago I was in Paris with Jay and it was in a very touristy area that we found a pizza place – don’t ask why we ate Italian food in France but it’s what was available. I ordered for myself a pizza with two fried eggs and fresh cream drizzled on top. Since then I’ve wanted to cook an egg on a pizza but never got the nerve to try. Until now.

Breakfast Pizza

Pizza dough, fresh, ready made or store bought, your choice

Eggs, the number you use depends on the size of the pizza, I used 5 eggs on mine

Shredded mozzarella, lots if you love cheese like I do

Sour cream

Cooked bacon bits, I know I’m all into the whole veggie thing but I gotta have my bacon!

Baby spinach

Fresh dill

Start by preheating the oven to about 375-400F (I’m sorry I can’t remember what setting I used). Spread sour cream over the prepared pizza dough, then add spinach and bacon and other toppings you might like and then crack the eggs – gently so the yolks don’t break – on top. Add the dill and lastly sprinkle cheese over everything and bake for about 30-40 minutes, depending how soft you want your yolks.

Jay showed obvious suspicion and doubt when he asked what was for breakfast but upon his first bite he literally ate his own words. I loved that this only took minutes to put together (it helped that the dough was ready to go of course). Waiting for the pizza to bake meant I could go back to bed and laze until it was ready. Delish!!

I’m back and I’m LOVING veggies!

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It’s been a couple of months since I was last here. Sadly, I miscarried in the beginning of March and for a while I lost my  taste for delicious food. Luckily, and with the help of the amazing Jay, it didn’t take long before I was craving food and absolutely needing to cook something fantastic. At first it was all carb-filled, comfort food. Lots of gooey cheese and greasy bacon…a lot of French food. Anyway, in the last month and a half I’ve been slowly changing what I eat. Especially in the last two weeks I noticed I have (unintentionally) become a vegetarian!

It all started when we had a friend over last month. I decided to go the healthy route and set up a veggie tray and a fruit tray. Our friend mentioned she was on a cleanse to figure out what was wrong with her stomach. She told us she was only eating vegetables and fruit (funny that I happened to have that for snacks) and that she felt amazing because of it. Yeah, of course I knew this already. Vegetables = good health blah blah blah. But since that night I haven’t had any meat. At all! I’m honestly amazed at how much I’m liking vegetables now. Last night, while I watched Twin Peaks on Netflix, I actually munched on celery sticks.

To kick off what I hope will be a lasting change in my food lifestyle, I present to you today’s brunch:

Eggs and Spinach Wrap

Whole wheat tortilla or pita

Eggs

Baby spinach

Goat’s milk feta cheese (obviously you can use regular feta)

And any other filling you might like. Today, on top of the items mentioned above, I added:

Dijon mustard

Onions

Alfalfa sprouts

Caramelized onion jam, leftovers from yesterday

Salsa, medium spice

It’s all up to you  how much you put in your wrap, just make sure it fits ;)

 

Pancakes

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I think I’ll make it a tradition to make pancakes for Sunday morning’s breakfast. It’s easy enough to reach for the box mix but I feel more accomplished if I make the pancake batter from scratch. Besides, this way I can add as much sugar and vanilla as I want.
The pancake recipe I used comes from Oh So Tasty (here). I’ve adapted it slightly.

Recipe, makes about 6 or 7 pancakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1/4 cup white sugar
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Beat all ingredients together and make sure there are no lumps. Heat pan or griddle and pour about less than a quarter cup of batter per pancake (or more if you like bigger pancakes). I hate burning pancakes so I tend to watch over each one and once I see tiny holes poking through the surface I know I have to flip the pancake. I really suck at flipping pancakes and I make a mess too but the end result is delicious!

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Green Chile and Corn Frittata

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On Sunday, I “borrowed” (see also: appropriate for an undisclosed length) a Weight Watchers cookbook from my mother. I love that it has tons of pictures and the recipes are very easy to follow. As I’ve mentioned before, diet food isn’t necessarily bland or tasteless.

I give today’s lunch of Green Chile and Corn Fritatta a score of 9 out of 10. It loses one point because after eating my single portion, I wanted another serving. It was so delicious and full of flavour but I guess my stomach isn’t quite ready to eat “healthy” portions. It will have to suffer though, because last night I ate about three strawberry muffins. Terrible. Jay said he also ate three muffins last night, “I couldn’t help myself. They were so chewy and moist and…Mmm.”

Frittata recipe, serves 4

6 large eggs

1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed

1 (4.5 oz) can chopped green chiles (I used about 6 pickled jalapeño peppers)

1/4 cup fat-free milk

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

2 tsp chopped fresh thyme

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

3 dashes hot pepper sauce, or to taste (I did not do this, I figured the peppers were spicy enough and I was right, they were enough.)

8 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 scallion, cut into 1-inch pieces

Whisk together the eggs, corn, chiles, milk, parsley, thyme, ground pepper, and pepper sauce (if using) in a large bowl. Spray a skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium heat. Pour in the egg mixture and top with the tomatoes, cut-side up, and the scallion. Cook, covered, until the eggs are set, about 15 minutes. Cut into 4 wedges.

Per serving (1 wedge): 145 Cal, Weight Watchers points: 3