Southwestern Egg Muffins

I had a bunch of stuff leftover from random recipes and needed to use it up, so I threw it all together last night and made myself a good take-to-work breakfast for a few days. I can't believe I hadn't thought of this before, although I'm sure if I looked around others have similar recipes. It's a great way to use up veggies and have a hearty breakfast without having to cook in the morning.

Southwestern Egg Muffins

serves 6 (2 muffins per serving)

8 large eggs

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 cup black beans

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper

1/2 cup corn

2/3 cup shredded Mexican-style cheese

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a muffin tin by spraying all the cups thoroughly. 

In a large bowl, combine eggs and stir until yolks are evenly mixed. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Pour into muffin cups until nearly full, then bake 20-25 minutes until the muffins are just slightly browned and firm on the top.

Let cool for a few minutes before removing from the tins gently, using a knife to loosen the sides. Serve warm and enjoy!

*For leftovers, let cool completely and keep in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars

This is basically just a recipe for chewier baked oatmeal...and I'm a fan! I've now made it twice. It's such a great on-the-go breakfast, and since this semester requires a lot more early mornings I appreciate a pre-made, healthy breakfast that isn't cereal, with around 7 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber. Pair it with a glass of milk and you're good to go!

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Squares

modified a bit from here

makes 6 servings

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

1/4 cup unpacked brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup skim milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten (or 1/4 cup Egg Beaters)

1 large mashed banana

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Mix together the quick cooking oats, baking powder, kosher salt and ground cinnamon in a large bowl.

In another bowl, combine the vanilla extract, milk, egg, brown sugar, banana, and peanut butter. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well.

Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 8 by 8 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Cut into squares and enjoy!

Breakfast Egg Tartlettes

Happy February! I'm excited to start a fresh month and can be much happier now that my life is hopefully settling down a bit. I have some yummy recipes in the arsenal coming up soon!

These little things are SO yummy! They take some time to make and are only really great fresh, but it's worth it. Just have all the ingredients ready the night before and it's a super filling, healthy and delicious breakfast - you'll feel like you've pampered yourself.

Breakfast Egg Tartlettes

serves 4 (2 per person)

8 wonton wrappers

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup chopped fresh spinach

1/4 cup chopped bell pepper

1/4 cup chopped scallions

4 slices center-cut bacon or turkey bacon, pre-cooked and crumbled

1 wedge Laughing Cow Light Swiss Cheese

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350. In a muffin tin, thoroughly spray 8 cups with cooking spray (preferably butter-flavored). Press wonton wrappers into cups and spray the insides with cooking spray. Bake in oven for about 7 minutes, until slightly golden and crispy. Don't turn the oven off or remove the wrappers when finished, just set aside.

While wrappers are baking, heat a large skillet over medium heat (pre-sprayed with cooking spray). Put the chopped bell pepper into the pan and cook for about 3 minutes, then add chopped spinach and green onions and cook for another minute until the spinach is wilted. Add beaten eggs and stir. Cook for a few minutes, scraping the pan to evenly cook the egg. With about a minute left, add the cheese wedge and crumbled bacon, making sure to distribute both evenly. Season mixture with salt and pepper as desired.

Evenly portion the egg mixture among the cooked wonton wrappers while still in the muffin tin. Put the muffin tin back in the oven for 1-2 minutes. Remove, let cool for a few minutes, and take the tartlettes out carefully using a fork. Enjoy warm!

Asparagus, Bacon and Cheese Strata

Asparagus, Bacon and Cheese Strata

Servings:  8

4-5 slices light whole wheat bread  

1/2 cup onion(s), diced  

1 cup asparagus, fresh, or frozen and thawed, cut into 1-inch pieces  

4 slices turkey bacon (I used the Jennie-O extra lean), diced  

3/4 cup fat-free skim milk  

2 tsp Dijon mustard  

4 large whole eggs

5 large egg whites

1/2 tsp table salt  

1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground  

1 cup shredded cheese (I used an Italian blend)

1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese, divided  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a round baking dish with cooking spray and arrange bread slices tightly in the bottom.

In a large bowl, toss asparagus pieces, chopped onion, and finely diced bacon pieces together. Layer evenly over bread pieces. Sprinkle with ½ tablespoon Parmesan cheese and half cup of shredded cheese of your choice.

In the same large bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites, milk, mustard, salt and pepper; pour over bread, veggies, and cheeses, allowing milk mixture to soak in for a minute. Top with remaining cheeses.

Bake for about 40 minutes until cheeses are bubbling and slightly browned and the eggs are cooked through. Slice into 8 servings and enjoy!

This is such a great way to use up leftover veggies – you could use squash, zucchini, bell peppers, mushrooms, you name it! It makes for really good leftovers, too.  I enjoyed it because it is a warm, filling breakfast, but much fewer calories (not to mention full of good stuff for you – namely fiber, lean protein, etc) than a bowl of cereal!

Baked Banana Oatmeal

Baked Banana Oatmeal

Makes 1-2 servings

1/2 cup old-fashioned or steel-cut oats

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 banana, mashed

Preheat oven to 350*F and coat a small loaf pan or individual baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, then pour batter into pan and spread evenly with a spatula.

Bake for 30 minutes or until top is lightly browned. Let sit and cool until warm, then enjoy!

Build a better breakfast...the Egg McDuffin.

To avoid any copyright infringement (as though they're really worried about it), I've dubbed my own version of a certain restaurant's breakfast sandwich the "Egg McDuffin." Because my last name is McDonald. And this is an egg on an English muffin. Get it?

I make this sandwich all the time, sometimes 3 times a week (now that I know eggs are not as bad for you as once thought) - super filling, and almost foolproof. A great breakfast for one, and easy to eat on the way to work in a paper towel if you have to (I know from experience). You can mix and match what you like, but keep it simple and you're automatically in for a tasty and MUCH healthier breakfast. It's so simple that I almost feel like I'm cheating by posting a recipe for it, but maybe you can use it as a jumping point. It's one of my favorites, along with the Oatmeal Breakfast Pancake.

You already know how I feel about breakfast - it's become my favorite meal of the day, and I can't go without it. Start your day off right!

Egg McDuffin

1 whole egg

1 egg white

1 Tbsp crumbled feta cheese, or any kind shredded cheese

2 cloves minced garlic

Sprinkle of Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes

Small handful of: 

chopped onion

chopped bell pepper

chopped fresh spinach

chopped fresh tomato

Whole-grain English muffin (I love the Thomas brand)

1 slice bacon (I use lean turkey bacon)

Heat a small nonstick skillet prepared with cooking spray over medium heat. Mix vegetables, spices, and eggs together and pour into pan. Cook on each side 2-3 minutes to desired doneness. While the omelette is cooking, toast the English muffin and cook your slice of bacon in the microwave. Using a large cup, cut out two circles from the omelette. Eat scraps straight from the pan to keep things nice and tidy. 

 Place two circles on each side of toasted muffin, break bacon in half and place on top of one side, then sandwich them together. Enjoy with a side of fruit!

This way you're getting a full serving (maybe even 2) of veggies into your breakfast, which is pretty hard to do if you don't want a side of carrots with your oatmeal and you're not in the mood to bake a broccoli frittata. Not my cup of tea first thing in the morning. To save time, a few nights a week, I chop up some veggies and keep them on hand to whip this up in the morning. It's worth the effort!

Oatmeal Breakfast Pancake

This is one of my favorite new breakfasts. I changed it up a bit from another blog recipe to make it more appetizing to me - and I had the best idea in the freaking world. Seriously, I was so impressed with myself. This is how deliciousness is born. Microwaving a bit of peanut butter with maple syrup - every time I make this now I have to lick the little bowl to make sure none of the mixture is wasted. Try it - on anything. Also added a teensy bit of brown sugar. Which never hurt anyone.

One thing to be aware of: don't expect this "pancake" to be like an actual pancake. It is very dense because of the oats. I suppose you could pulse the oats in a food processor beforehand, but then it defeats the purpose of calling it an "easy" breakfast, which I would say it is. I mix all the ingredients up the night before, stick it in the fridge, then it's ready to go when I cook it the next morning. Top it with my magic concoction and whatever fruit you like, pair it with a glass of milk, and you are GOOD TO GO! The breakfast of champions, I'm telling you...so filling.

Oatmeal Breakfast Pancake 

modified from Inspired RD

1/4 cup Egg Beaters, or 1 large egg

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp unpacked light brown sugar

1/2 Tbsp peanut butter or almond butter

1/2 Tbsp maple syrup

Heat a small non-stick griddle over medium high heat. Beat the egg, oats, vanilla, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Pour into pan, spread out into a pancake shape and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side. Meanwhile, in a small microwave-safe ramekin, nuke the peanut butter and syrup together (about 20 seconds), mix well and spread over top of pancake. Enjoy!

Look at that wonderful gooey peanutty-syrup topping. The nectar of the gods, if there ever was one...

Also, do you like that we are still using Christmas plates? We try to run our dishwasher only once a week, so give us a break, ok? It's for the environment.

Banana Bread Muffins

If there is one thing that makes my heart break, it is to throw away fruit that has gone bad. So when I have a few bananas that are just too ripe to eat, I go for my collection of muffin recipes.

Banana Bread Muffins

Cooking spray

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

2/3 cup unpacked brown sugar

3 large ripe bananas, mashed

2 tsp lemon zest

1 large egg

1 large egg white

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp table salt

1/3 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat muffin tins with cooking spray. Blend together oil and brown sugar. Beat in bananas, lemon zest, egg and egg white.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Gently stir half the flour mixture into banana mixture; stir in buttermilk and the remaining flour mixture.

Divide batter among muffin tins. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 15-16 minutes. Let cool in pans and enjoy!

Yoga Muffins

Ok, guys, be prepared. After making/eating these muffins, you will wonder why you ever made any other kind of muffin.

Although we live in a world of giant chocolate Costco muffins which have (don't look if you want to keep eating these without fear of imminent death) about 690 calories, a whopping 38 grams of fat, and 48 grams of sugar, we deserve better. Talk about diabetes-inducing food. Terrible. And delicious. Terribly delicious.

Luckily I found this version of muffins - perhaps not as dessert-y, but much more appropriate for a breakfast and much more filling. I actually thought they were sweet enough that I could eat them for dessert!

I'm telling you, these are amazing. And healthy. And super easy. Can't get much better than that!

 

Yoga Muffins
modified from Tasty Kitchen
makes 12 regular-size muffins, or 6 jumbo muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 heaping tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
3/4 tsp table salt
1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar
1 large egg OR 1/4 cup egg beaters
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup mashed ripe banana, about 2 small
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 12 or 6 cup muffin tin with cooking spray. 

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. In a separate large bowl, mix together brown sugar, egg, applesauce, and mashed banana.

Add flour mixture to creamed mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in blueberries.

Fill each muffin cup completely with big spoonfuls of batter. Bake for about 30 minutes. Do some yoga in the meantime, then eat one warm from the oven and smile. :)

Enjoy!

*Notes: On the Tasty Kitchen version, she suggests adding chopped apples and walnuts to the recipe, but I don't love either so I just used the blueberries. It's a pretty flexible recipe, so you can use different kinds of flours or fruit.

These also freeze really well - I usually make a dozen, then freeze half the batch and take them out one by one at night for breakfast the next morning. Delightful!

Berry Buttermilk Cake

The cake is very light and airy, and the use of berries (I would have liked fresh berries, but they weren't on sale) gives it a tangy sweetness that somehow makes things...sunny.

Berry Buttermilk Cake

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar, plus 1 Tbsp sugar, divided

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 large egg

1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
6 oz. frozen or fresh berries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in the middle. Butter and flour (or spray with Pam) a 9-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in vanilla. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.

Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter berries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm. Invert onto a plate and serve!

*tip: if you don't have buttermilk (which I never do), you can substitute it with regular milk and lemon juice, mixed in a ratio of 1 Tbsp to 1 cup of milk. Let it sit for about 5 minutes before using in recipe.

South African Pumpkin Fritters

Are they very pretty? Maybe not. Are they incredibly delicious? Yes. 

Really, what other criteria matters? Beauty has diminishing returns, anyway. I measured out the ingredients the night before so all I had to do was mix them together and cook in the morning - very fast and convenient, but more home-y than a pancake mix.

South African Pumpkin Fritters

modified from a Weight Watchers recipe

serves 3, two fritters per serving

1/4 cup all-purpose flour  

1 tsp baking powder  

1/4 tsp table salt, or to taste  

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon  

7.5 oz canned pumpkin  

1 large egg    

1 tsp olive oil, divided

2 tsp unpacked brown sugar  

In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

In a larger mixing bowl, combine pumpkin with egg and sugar; mix until well-combined.

In batches, add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, stirring after each addition.

Coat a large skillet with cooking spray; set over medium-low heat. Add half teaspoon oil; heat until oil shimmers and swirl around pan to coat. Drop large spoonfuls of batter (it's very thick) onto skillet to form three 3-inch fritters; cook until bubbles start to form along sides, about 2-3 minutes – it will take longer to cook through than you might think. Flip fritters and cook until lightly browned, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes more; remove fritters to a serving plate and cover to keep warm. Repeat with remaining half teaspoon oil and batter. Top with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and/or maple syrup and enjoy!

This was one of the best breakfasts I've had in a long time - usually I require at least one warm item to really make it seem like a filling meal, and a plate full of steaming pumpkin fritters certainly did the trick for me!

And used up some of that huge tupperware of canned pumpkin waiting for me in the fridge.