Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Grab 'N' Go Egg Muffins

Breakfast is always important to me, but I usually roll with a protein shake in the morning.  It's fast, easy and I can chug it down within an hour of me waking up which is very important for my metabolism.  But Sundays...things slow down and awful lot for me.  I sleep in and I like to have a good breakfast.  And by good breakfast, I mean something with eggs and bacon...ooooh and pancakes some days too!

Egg muffins are one of my go-to breakfasts.  It's like having 4 mini frittatas on a plate.  Super delicious and you can even freeze them for a quick breakfast in the morning for the kids and hubby!  (Just warm up in the oven or microwave or eat them cold too),  

Starting out with eggs, bacon, spinach and feta (if you like cheese)

Slice bacon raw as it will cook quicker and easier for you.  Sautee up over the stove in a pan, then remove from heat.  Forgot to take the next photo....while bacon is cooking, mix up the spinach, eggs and cheese in a small bowl or large 

Pour mixture into mini muffin tin.  I made 12 eggs for 12 muffins (if using egg whites, double this).

The final presentation for breakfast.  Served with 1 1/2 Ataúlfo Mango each.  If you don't know what these are...delicious small mangos (click on the link to learn more about them).

Print Recipe:

12 eggs
6 pieces of bacon (roughly chopped)
2 Handfuls of Baby Spinach (okay, I know this isn't precise...but it's about 1 cup for my small hands)
1/4 c Feta (optional)

How To Do:

Pre-heat oven to 375F.  Roughly chop and then fry up the bacon.  While that's cooking, chop up the spinach if you'd like (roughly).  Then mix up the the final 3 ingredients in a bowl.  Add bacon, then pour into muffin tins (use cooking spray to prevent sticky egg residue...or just use the bacon grease, you won't need much and it adds flavor).  Cook at 375F for about 15 minutes (or nice golden brown on top).  Remove and eat!

As always, let me know if you have questions or additional ideas!  

Watermelon Mint Popsicles

Sometimes I help out at my mom's fabulous store...if you don't know it, you NEED to know it!  We Olive is an awesome place to get certified EVOO, boutique wines, hand crafted items and killer gourmet foods.  Don't forget about the wine bar with tapas!!  Go check out their website for more info!

But back to the main reason I'm blogging today...they do these fabulous wine pairings to include wine makers coming out!  I like to help out with the pairing and plating during these dinners...hey, I get a full wine pairing dinner for free out of it!

The most recent one was a 5 course pairing with Don Suhr, the wine maker over at Suhr Luchtel Cellars.  We decided to do a palate cleanser on the 3rd course...little did I know I would be eating these tasty little morsels for the next month!  Even the hubby loved them! 

I don't have pictures of the process, but I do have a picture of the final product.  Don't worry...it's super easy to do.  I love my food processor, but you can easily do this project with a blender.  

Print Recipe:

1/2 Medium Seedless Watermelon
1/2 Lime
About 6 Mint Leaves
1/4 tsp Honey (optional)

Need:

30 1 oz plastic cups (or other item to create popsicles...can make bigger if you'd like)
30 "Popsicle sticks"

How:
Puree all ingredients together.  Taste them...add more of any ingredient to make the flavor to your tastebuds.  Pour into your popsicle containers...put in freezer.

When about 1/2 frozen, add your popsicle sticks to the center of your containers, then leave in freezer to finish.  You can keep your popsicles in a plastic container or baggie after fully frozen and removed from containers.

Lightbulb! I just thought of adding in some jalapeno/habanero to this watermelon popsicle.  Now, that would be interesting!

Alright all...keep on trying new things and let me know how it works out!

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Savory Healthy Cookies...Say What????

Seriously craving a dessert last night, so I stared into my pantry and refrigerator.  Yes, this is typically how I cook.  Even when I have plans to make something I will normally these days (thank you pregnancy brain...if you can call it a brain...more like mush) forget something at the market and have to improvise.

I have had bananas in my fridge waiting for me to make banana bread...but that hasn't happened yet.  However, they do act as a wonderful binder and I was out of eggs.  I have a huge quantity of dry oats and for some reason have an excess of dark chocolate from making these no bake oreo pies for a wine tasting last week.  Yes, those were delicious and yes, you can have the recipe!

So...with 4 ingredients (due to the fact that I love cinnamon on/in everything these days) I made these cookies.  And Eric liked them!  Although he said they were more savory and richer than expected, he wanted something sweeter.  But DAAAANNNNNGGGG!!!! These were good!
2 Overripe bananas, 1 cup quick oats, 1/4 cup dark chocolate morsels and some cinnamon.  I just sprinkled it in there, but it was probably about 1.5tsp.  Threw this in my food processor and pressed blend for about 2 minutes.

Heat up the oven to 350F, then I used a tablespoon to scoop out the cookies.  No, they weren't all the same perfect size...but hey, I was doing this quick status!  

This honestly made 9 cookies, but I ate one to taste test before taking a picture.  Went in the oven for about 13 minutes and they come out crispy on the bottom and pretty soft on the top.  I think I may add in some nuts and maybe coconut next time!  A little extra crunch would be nice for me.

Printer Friendly Recipe:
2 Ripe Bananas
1 c. Quick Oats
1/4 c. Dark Chocolate Morsels
Cinnamon (optional)
Other options: nuts, coconut flakes, white chocolate, peanut butter chips, anything your little heart desires!

Process/mix all ingredients together.  Bake for 13-15 minutes at 350F.  From start to finish, this should take you a whole 25 minutes to make (including clean up).  Yummy, healthy and quick!

Double Chai Bulletproof Tea

I don't drink coffee although I know most folks out there need that morning pick me up. I just am not one of them although I love the smell of fresh roasted beans put through a french press. There honestly is nothing like it. But, I prefer my tea. We all have heard about our bulletproof coffee...it's all the rage and it's all over the place. Yes, I believe there are great health benefits. Yes, I believe that it can help with metabolism. Yes, I believe it keeps me full throughout the day as well. And yes, it is delicious!

Ingredients Needed...get together while boiling your water!
So...here's my little recipe of bulletproof tea. I'm sure there are adjustments that can be made and if you have any insight...let me know!


Steep tea bags in water for about 10 minutes.  I just do it in the blender since I'm not spiffy enough to have an immersion blender yet (on my to do list though!). 

Add in remaining ingredients and blend until frothy.  It ends up looking almost creamy, latte like.




Easy to make and lovely to drink while overlooking the golf course on the patio on your lanai and watching the deer frolic about.  But that may just be my mornings :)



Printer Friendly Recipe:
2 bags of chai tea (or make your own!)
1tsp coconut oil
2 tsp of ghee or butter
½ tsp vanilla
Pinch of cinnamon
1 tsp honey
10-12oz water

Bring water to boil, then add tea bags.  Let steep for about 10 minutes (over low heat)  Add in remaining ingredients then blend for 1-2 minutes until mixture is frothy.  Pour into a mug and drink away!

Overnight Chia Pudding

One of my faves!  This is the best breakfast in the world...or you can even make it into dessert by splitting it into 4 small bowls.  I mean, who doesn't want chocolate pudding for breakfast that is not only super delicious but incredibly healthy and let's not forget that it takes absolutely NO TIME to make it!
I absolutely love my Herbalife products.  Yes, I am a distributor.  No, you do not NEED to use these products, but I can say that I love them and have seen excellent results from clients and mentors.  But it is all up to you.  Here, you see I have used 1 serving of Dutch Chocolate (9g Protein) and 1 serving of Chocolate PDM (15g Protein).  I forgot to take a picture, but I also wanted some creaminess, so I used Organics Almond Milk.  You can see I just threw it all in my food processor (blender was in the dish washer and I was feeling pregnant and lazy, LOL)

Next I added a serving each of flaxseed and chia seeds to my pudding.  This not only helps with making it congeal, almost like a tapioca, but it adds incredible health benefits!  Throw in the blender, pour into a bowl of your choice, cover it up and let it sit overnight.

Not a great photo (sorry) but this is the end result this morning.  I sliced up 3 strawberries and a half banana to put on top.  I added 1/4 cup of dry oats and cinnamon.  I was craving something sweet, so I added about 1/2 teaspoon of honey lightly drizzled on top to satisfy my "Inner Brat".  Then I sat and read my book while enjoying this wonderful breakfast!



Print Friendly Recipe:
1 Serving of Chocolate Protein Powder
1.5 cups Almond Milk (or your choice)
3 Tbsp Flaxseed
3 Tbsp Chia Seed
1/2 Banana 
3 Strawberries
1/4 c Raw Dry Oats
Honey & Cinnamon (optional)

Mix first 4 ingredients, then cover and put in fridge overnight.  Slice fruit the following morning and add the last of the ingredients.  Enjoy!!

Be creative and mix up some ingredients!  Let me know about some other recipes to try and we can all just truly enjoy this great breakfast option!