A Healthy Start

Off an on during the day yesterday, I kept poking through bread and muffin recipes, looking for one that would jump out at me as something yummy, but healthy, that I could work into my breakfast routine. I kept thinking of cranberry orange muffins.

But just as I started to pull out my ingredients and muffin pans, I got to thinking...rarely is one muffin an adequate breakfast for me. Plus, muffins are more like a treat - especially loaded with fruits, nuts and whatever sweetener I opt for. There's usually some sort of fat added, for I'm not a fan of rubbery "non-fat" muffins, and as hard as I try, I can't just eat one, or I eat just one, then make myself a second breakfast of sorts. So, as I tried to set of on the right foot for 2010, I came across this recipe on Allrecipes:

Cranberry Orange Spiced Oatmeal

I was really looking for something to use up that bag of fresh cranberries I had thawed, but alas, this holiday season I do have lots of dried cranberries in stock, so this worked for me. I also still have some frozen blueberries from our picking adventure last summer, so I put some of those to good use!

First, we tossed all the ingredients into a microwave safe bowl...

Old-fashioned oats, cranberries, blueberries, cinnamon, ground ginger, turmeric (which I halved), water and orange juice...I tossed in a few grates of orange zest as I was using a fresh orange for the juice.

Then I read the recipe...you're supposed to add the orange juice after cooking. Oh well. Good thing "Following Directions" has never made my New year's Resolution List! No worries, though, it came out fine - just needed to nuke it for 3 1/2 minutes or so, instead of two.

And here's my breakfast!

Quite good! I did need to add just a little drizzle of honey. The turmeric was not as troubling as I expected, maybe since I used half the amount in the recipe it's sort of a subtle background flavor that you can't quite put your finger on. All in all, a very good recipe, and fast! It makes one BIG serving, too. Some chopped apples would be a nice addition, and I think I might experiment with a slow-cooker steel cut oatmeal version of this.

Cranberry-Orange Spiced Oatmeal from Leah H at Allrecipes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric (optional)
• 1 pinch ground ginger (optional)
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup orange juice, or as needed

Directions

1. Place the rolled oats, cinnamon, cranberries, and blueberries in a microwave safe bowl. Add the turmeric and ginger, if desired. Pour in the water, and stir to mix ingredients. Cook on High until water is absorbed, about 2 minutes. Stir in orange juice to desired consistency.

And, enjoy a nice hot hearty healthy breakfast!

Half Empty or Half Full?

I am so easily amused!

This is how I started my day.....

Half empty?  Yeah, well, I'm not in one of those "half empty" moods, so.......

That's better!  Keep it coming....

Ah! I'm feeling better already! :)

Nothing like a good cup of coffee.... and this....

...to start your day!  Sugar and caffeine...the breakfast of champions!

Mug from Despair.com  If you're in a really bad mood, browse through the "Demotivators" for a few laughs.

Monkey Bread from....you guessed it! Allrecipes!

Disclaimer:  Should my husband ask why his lense cover smells like Dunkin Donuts Original Blend, please assure him that no lense covers were injured in the making of this blog...it only took a brief bath.

  

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back soon!

Sunday Morning Breakfast Burger

Inspiration comes from all different places.

Sometimes it comes from a song, or a line of poetry.  Some find their inspiration from religion.  Some from loved ones.  Maybe once in a while it comes from a thriving vegetable garden, or a baby bird testing its wings.  Or waves crashing on a shoreline at sunset...

Sometimes my culinary inspiration comes from Julia Child...and yes, sometimes Rachael Ray.

I'm not a huge Rachael Ray fan, but I don't hate her either.   The "garbage bowl" was an interesting idea that I use occasionally, but I'm not all that into using the term "EVOO", or "stoup", and sometimes I feel like I want to pelt her with throat lozenges or douse her with herbal tea and honey.  I don't hate her cooking, but I've also never really been inspired to make any of her recipes or buy her cookbooks.  Thirty minute meals? I'll put her out of business when I publish my "15-minute meals" book...or maybe "14-Minute", just to be safe....

One thing I like about her, though, is that she is NOT a trained chef, never went to culinary school, and yet, here she is - something of a cooking and entertaining mogul.  Hmmm...there is hope for me yet!

So on this bright and sunny Sunday morning, after a night of Valentine's Day hedonism and debauchery (I had TWO glasses of wine.....), I was craving something healthy, yet hearty for breakfast.  And in my mind, as I stumbled through my brand new "Walk Away The Pounds" DVD (which I LOVE, by the way!), my mind drifted back to an episode of 30-Minute Meals where she made chicken and apple sausage patties.  As I finished my workout, and contemplated oatmeal for breakfast (again.....) I found myself drawn to the computer, and navigated my way to this recipe on Foodnetwork.com

Apple-Maple Chicken Sausage Breakfast Sammies

"Sammies".....yeah, that's another one I don't use....EVER!

But I do tweak, and here's what I ended up doing:

Chicken Sausage Burgers with Grilled Apple Slices

1 tbsp. EV...er, I mean, olive oil

1 lb. ground chicken breast

1 Granny Smith apple, cored (I left peel on)

1/4 cup finely minced onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. Bell's Seasoning or other poultry seasoning

1 1/2 tsp fennel seed

1 tsp. dried rubbed sage

1 tsp. dried thyme

Lots of freshly cracked pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Dash of red pepper flakes

1 tbsp. pure maple syrup

Dash cinnamon

Dash nutmeg

Finely chop about half of the apple.  Reserve the remaining half (to be sliced later)

Combine the chopped apple, chicken, onion, garlic and all the seasonings in a bowl and moosh together.  (See, I can use cute, annoying words too!)

(Oh, and by the way, this morning I halved the recipe as I had a half pound of chicken to use up.  just in case you notice your's looks different....)

Shape into small patties - I got three from a half pound, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say you should have six.  You can, of course, make them bigger or smaller.  I'm not with the sausage patty police (Hello, Emeril!  Now shoo...go away)

Heat your grill pan and brush with olive oil.  Place the chicken patties on the pan.

Let them grill for a good 4 minutes, then flip over.

Ooooh...grillmarks....

Grill for another 2 minutes or so.  Meanwhile, slice the remaining half apples into 1/4" slices and place on the grill.

I kind of pressed them down a few times, and after about a minute or two, flipped them over.

You want the apples to be still firm, not mushy. Another 2 minutes ought to do it, and by then your chicken patties should also be cooked through.

Toast a nice multigrain English Muffin or your other choice of bread.  Top with a sausage patty and a couple grilled apple slices.  

I thought about cheese, but skipped it.  The chicken was savory and delicious, and the apples lent a nice sweetness to the sandwich, it just didn't need cheese and I didn't need the extra calories.

Mmmmm! Thanks for the idea , Rachael!

I wrapped the leftover sausage patties and popped them in the freezer, with intentions of reheating in the microwave for perhaps a Wednesday Morning Breakfast Burger! :)

Turning the Frown Upside-Down

It's not often I wake up in a sour mood on a weekend.

I love my weekends, and it's hard to bring me down when I wake up and realize "I can pretty much do whatever I want today". Even if there are chores to do, errands to run, I can choose when to do them.


But this morning was no ordinary Sunday morning. Last night was the first night my little girl slept in her "big girl" bed, and visions of her sleepwalking out the front door haunted my sleep. All for nothing, as she slept soundly and sweetly.



Then there were the beasts...my normally deep-sleeping dogs and purring cuddling cats were all awake, patrolling the house, getting into mischief and waking us up just about every hour, on the hour. What little sleep my husband got was light, as evident by his snoring, tossing and turning, and the occasional outburst of expletives as a startled cat pounced on his face as it bounded off the bed.


So as the distant sky began to lighten, I was awake. I could have taken a shower, I could have gotten in a workout, but instead I chose to sulk and pout. Even coffee did not tempt me. As the dogs drifted off to sleep at my feet, I got up from the couch and started poking through kitchen cabinets looking for something "good" to eat. Maybe a decent breakfast would put me in a better mood. As things stood, I didn't really feel like doing much of anything. I tried to think of something relatively healthy, relatively easy that would wake me up. Then I spied the grapefruit sitting on the counter...


At first I was going to just peel and eat it. But after that long night I really wanted a treat, so I "kicked it up a notch", so to speak....


Broiled Grapefruit Crisp (2 servings)
1 good sized grapefruit (I happened to have ruby red)
1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Dash salt
2 tsp. butter

Preheat broiler to 400*F.

Cut grapefruit in half; loosen grapefruit sections from membrane and discard any visible seeds. Place cut side up in a baking dish.




Oh, and did I mention it helps if you prepare this in a bright sunny place, and spread out your best spring linens. You should iron them, too. I didn't. I told you I was in a bad mood!
In a separate bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.


Add about 2 tsp. of butter or butter substitute.



Work in the butter either with a fork, or my favorite way, with fingers, until it's well-distributed.

Place half of the mixture on top of each grapefruit half.

Broil for about 10 minutes, or until topping is golden brown and crisp.

I know, the red pot holder clashes with my lovely spring linens. If I were my mother-in-law, I would have coordinating potholders, kitchen towels and curtains for each season, but frankly I still have a few Christmas decorations up.

Think I'm kidding? Hehehehe!

Yeah, I suppose it's time to pack away the leg lamp. Maybe after breakfast....

Which was a great success! Nothing like a burst of juicy citrus, a whiff of cinnamon and the sweet crunch of a crisp-like topping to lift your spirits and refresh your soul, and turn what was about to be a dismal, lazy day into a fun one.



Maybe I should do this again on Monday? ;)

Time for Change - Baked Oatmeal

Enough with the cookies and candy and chocolate!  I woke up this morning actually craving something healthy for breakfast, and decided on one of my favorites, Baked Oatmeal.

Like most things food-related in my life, this one is again heavily influenced by a recipe I found on Allrecipes, Baked Oatmeal II

...of course, I do tend to tweak recipes!  And this recipe is so easily tweakable, you'll find you might want to do it, too!  My changes included the following:

• Reduce brown sugar from 1 cup to 1/2 cup
  
• Add 1 tbsp, honey along with the wet ingredients (maple syrup works well, too!)
  
• Reduce butter from 1/2 cup to 2 tbsp...also, I have used canola oil in place of the butter (2 tbsp) and I'm pretty sure applesauce would work nicely if you're REALLY cutting fat..but let's not get carried away just yet!
  
• Use egg substitute instead of eggs (My EggBeaters turned out to be a carton of half and half, so I'm using real eggs today)
  
• And last but not least, double the dried fruit and use a variety.  Dried blueberries were made for this dish....but I'm out of those!
  

 Step One:  Unwrap the world's greatest Christmas gift ever, your shiny, new Wusthof knife, and chop up some dried fruit.  

I'm using dried cranberries, dried apricots and prunes.  Don't laugh - these are not your Grandpa's prunes.  Prunes are actually excellent in baked goods - they add moisture, sweetness and even a little richness without adding fat.  Pureed prunes are awesome in (are you ready for this?)...Chocolate Cake.  But let's not get sidetracked here...  

Throw all your dried ingredients into a bowl - oats (I've used quick or old fashioned, and I bet steel cut would be lovely, too), brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.  Whisk or stir them together.

Add the milk (I'm using nonfat), eggs/egg substitute, honey, melted butter and vanilla, and mix together until combined.

Stir in the dried fruit and pour into a baking dish - something along the lines of an 8"X 8", or 9"X 9" will be perfect.  

To help retain moisture, I like to cover with aluminum foil and bake (at 350 degrees) for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and continue baking for another 20 minutes.

This is what it looks like when done....

You can certainly dig in right away, but I like to let it sit for a while to help it set up.  I like to serve with some fresh fruit on the side.  The texture of the baked oatmeal will be a bit crumbly - it's not oatmeal, but it's not exactly cake either - it's something in between.  If you're more in the mood for oatmeal, crumble some up and pour a little milk over it.

Bonus tip:  This stuff freezes beautifully.  Let it chill in the refrigerator to really set up, then cut into squares, wrap each in plastic wrap and put the individually wrapped squares in a big Ziploc bag.  Reheat for a few seconds in the microwave and you've got a healthy breakfast or snack item.

Enjoy!

The Two Minute Breakfast Sandwich

Over the years, I've learned a lot about nutrition - not that I always practice what I preach, but I do know what I should be doing! One of the most important things you can do for yourself is to have a decent breakfast. But on those busy days (I call them weekdays...), "decent breakfast" and "getting to work on time" don't always add up. It's all too easy to succumb to a quick bagel or muffin, or when you're real hungry, a drive-through breakfast sandwich.


During a successful stint with Weight Watchers (I lost 16 lbs in three months!) I came upon what has become not only one of my healthier breakfast choices, but one of my favorites: The Two Minute Breakfast Sandwich. It was a result of my making a list of those 1-point foods. With the right choices, this sandwich is 4 points! 5 points, max. Here's what you'll need:

Two Minute Breakfast Sandwich:
1 veggie sausage patty
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 slice low-fat or fat-free cheese
1 "1-point" bread, English muffin, bagel, roll

These Thomas' Light Multi-Grain English Muffins are one of my favorites - about 110 calories but 8g of fiber per muffin. Other good choices are Weight Watchers breads items (usually 1 point for two slices), Country Kitchen Light breads, sandwich rolls. Around here, Stop & Shop brand light bagels are also one point. All of these bread items are high in fiber, have less than 1.5g fat, and run anywhere from 80 to 110 calories, and most importantly, they taste good!

I'm using Weight Watchers brand cheese - 1 point per slice. Some other cheeses may be two points, but in the grand scheme of things that ain't bad! Just go for low fat if you can.

I love veggie sausage patties...but not on their own. In a sandwich though, they work, adding substance, flavor and protein. If I need a change though, Oscar Mayer Canadian Bacon slices are 1 point for TWO SLICES! And you'll probably only need one.

I start out by coating a bowl or saucer with one squirt of cooking spray and rubbing it around so the egg substitute doesn't stick. Pour 1/4 cup egg substitute in the bowl and wrap a frozen sausage patty in a paper towel. Then...

...place both in the microwave. Microwave on high 1 minute, 30 seconds. The sausage will probably need another 30 seconds on it's own. Meanwhile, pop your choice of bread, bagel or English Muffin into the toaster, and it should be done before the timer goes off.


I like a little spray butter on my English Muffins - those high fiber breads can get kind of dry.

When I was on WW, spray butter substitutes were "free" if you stuck within the realm of the serving size, but just in case you're like my friend, Tracy, who pours the stuff out, 15 or 20 squirts will cost you to 1 point. Good to keep in mind when you're spraying that bowl of air-popped popcorn! ;)

On your toasted English muffin, layer the egg substitute...

...sausage patty (I like to slice mine in half)...

...and cheese.

And that's it!

If you can't eat it right away, just wrap in aluminum foil and this will stay warm - I have a half hour commute, and my sandwich is still pleasantly warm by the time I dig in!


Lots of variations make this a favorite of mine...adding a little vegetables wouldn't hurt either, so think about saving some sauteed peppers or mushrooms in the fridge, or even using some leftover broccoli to make an "omelet" type sandwich.

Enjoy your day!