Favorite Whole30 Breakfast (Recipe)

Over a month since completing our first round of Whole30, we have carried forward a lot of the concepts. One is eating a good, protein-rich breakfast.

During the work week, I typically eat a couple hard boiled eggs and a piece of fruit. I prep a big batch of hard boiled eggs on Sunday, which gets me through the week. On the weekends, I sometimes "splurge" and cook up a sausage and egg dish. The great part is, it takes all of 10 minutes to make. Tops. Especially easy and tasty after a long run.

The ingredients and directions below are for one person. Just scale it up if you're cooking for more than one.


Favorite Whole30 Breakfast: Sausage, Fried Eggs, & Fresh Tomato

Serves: 1

Ingredients: 

• 1 Trader Joe's garlic and herb chicken sausage, sliced (or other compliant sausage)
• 1-2 eggs, cracked into a small bowl
• 1 teaspoon ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 small tomato or piece of fruit of your choice, sliced
• Salt and black pepper
• French's yellow mustard (or other compliant mustard of your choice)
• Cholula hot sauce (or other compliant hot sauce of your choice)

Directions: 

1. Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown, a few minutes. 
2. Drop heat to medium-low and push the sausage to one side of the pan. Add ghee to the now empty side. Carefully pour in the egg(s), tilting the pan slightly for a few seconds to keep it away from the sausage. Season egg with black pepper. Let egg cook over the heat for a minute, until bottom is set. 
3. Remove the pan from the heat and cover. Let sit for 2-3 minutes, until the whites are set and the yellow is still runny. (Let it sit longer, if you like your yellows more firm.) 
4. Carefully slide the sausage and eggs to a plate and add the tomato/fruit. Sprinkle tomato with salt and top sausage and eggs with mustard and hot sauce, if desired. 
5. Enjoy! 

Recipes: Oven Baked Eggs & Egg White Salad on Toast

Sooooo that blog once a week goal? Not going quite as planned. I start grad school (yay!) at the end of this month, which I anticipate will be fantastic but will add another priority to my life. A priority that will definitely come before my blog.

In the meantime, I will try to post more over the next few weeks. Up now...two ideas for super easy and healthy breakfasts.

I have three words for you:

Oven.
Baked.
Eggs.

I know it may sound strange but coming across this way of preparing eggs was seriously life changing. I make up a huge batch and have hard boiled eggs for a week. A hard boiled egg or two plus some fresh fruit is my favorite workday breakfast.

Now, I realize that making hard boiled eggs the traditional, stove-top way isn't particularly difficult but these are so super duper easy and are mostly hands off, freeing you up to do other food prep. Also, they are always cooked perfectly and nine times out of ten the shell just comes right off.

Below are the instructions for oven baked eggs, as well as a specific (delicious) use for two of them.

Oven Baked Eggs

What you'll need: 

• An oven, preheated to 325º
• A muffin tin
• However many eggs you'd like to make (preferably a few days old as they seem to peel easier)
• A big bowl filled with ice water

Directions: 

1. Place however many eggs you'd like to make in the muffin tin -- one egg per section. 
2. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.*
3. Remove from oven and immediately place eggs in the bowl of ice water to cool.

*30 minutes is perfect for our oven. You may want to test a few smaller batches to figure out what works best for you.

Egg White Salad on Toast
Serves: 1

Ingredients: 

• 1 slice wheat sourdough
• 2 hard boiled eggs, whites only, chopped
• 2 teaspoons nonfat plain greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
• salt & pepper
• A few dashes hot sauce, optional
• Sliced avocado, optional

Directions: 

1. Place the bread in a toaster or toaster oven.
2. While the toast is toasting, combine the chopped egg whites, greek yogurt and mustard in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and add a few dashes hot sauce if using. 
3. Once the toast is ready, top with the egg salad and slices of avocado, if using.
   
   

Recipe: BLT Egg Muffins

I like making things in muffin tins. (Exhibit A) I also like easy/healthy/filling breakfasts that I can eat on the go (Exhibit B). So when a friend posted a drool-inducing Facebook post about bacon and egg muffins, I quickly decided that I wanted to create a bacon, lettuce and tomato (BLT) version.

These are good on their own but I think these would be even better topped with fresh avocado slices and a few drops of your favorite hot sauce. I think that avocado and hot sauce make most things better.

Oh, and while you could use regular bacon, I opted for turkey bacon and still found them to be delicious. According to my calculations, each egg muffin, without toppings, is approximately 115 calories. Two of these are a perfect, substantial workday breakfast for me.

Makes: 8 muffins

Ingredients:
8 slices turkey or regular* bacon
8 whole eggs or egg whites
A handful of arugula, chopped
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
Garlic powder
Avocado and hot sauce for topping (optional)

Nonstick spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray muffin tin with nonstick spray. 
3. Wrap a piece of bacon around the inside of each cup of the muffin tin. Divide the chopped arugula and diced tomatoes between the cups. 
4. Crack an egg into each cup (or pour in egg whites) and top with a pinch of garlic powder. 
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until eggs are set. Let cool slightly and then pop out muffins to eat immediately or pack up and refrigerate for a future grab-and-go meal. 

* If you use regular bacon, you will probably want to transfer the cooked muffins to paper towels to soak up some of the grease.

Project 365: 104 | Oatmeal | 10.01.12

Project 365: 104 | Oatmeal | 10.01.12

I recently tried an overnight oatmeal recipe and was pleasantly surprised that it works and it is really tasty. Perfect for during the work week. This was the simplest version -- 1/4 cup quick oats, 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk, and 1 teaspoon chia seeds. Shake all that up in a jar and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, take out, microwave and add toppings.

Camera: iPhone

Recipe: Broccoli & Cheddar Cheese Egg Muffins

Broccoli & Cheddar Egg Muffins

Freezable!

My work hours are generally 7:00 am - 4:30 pm and there is NO WAY I can wait until lunch-time to eat AND I don't have a good history of eating breakfast. I quickly learned that grab-and-go food options are key. What this means is that my breakfast usually consists of something such as a hard-boiled egg, string cheese, and/or fresh fruit. 

When I came across this egg muffins recipe at Kalyn's Kitchen, I knew it would be perfect for my work-day breakfast needs. One egg muffin and some fresh fruit is the perfect breakfast for me and one that I can eat at my desk...or in the car...or while walking through the door of the meeting I am attending. 

The two best things about this recipe are that it is completely customizable AND freezer-friendly. The veggie, meat (or no meat), cheese, and seasoning combinations are as endless as your imagination. Since my honey doesn't like eggs, I got to keep all of these to myself and so I froze half for the following week. I think these taste just fine cold or room temperature but you can also pop them into the microwave for 30-seconds or so, if warmed up is your preference.

Lesson learned: Be sure to use either a silicone pan or a regular muffin tin with liners. I thought I could get away with a regular muffin tin and nonstick spray. I was wrong. My honey (you know, the one who doesn't like eggs?) was nice to enough to spend for-ev-er cleaning the pan. I was ready to just throw it out and buy a new one. 

Eggs + chives + seasoning.

Choppin' brocco-lee...choppin' brocco-lie...

Topped with cheese.

I highly recommend using a silicone pan or using liners. Lesson learned.

Broccoli & Cheddar Egg Muffins

Makes: 12

Calories: 137/muffin (this will obviously change based on your ingredients)

Ingredients

12 eggs

1 tsp garlic powder

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 cup finely chopped chives (or green onions)

1 cup steamed broccoli (or meat/veggie combo of your choice)

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or cheese of your choice)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375º F. 
2. If using a regular muffin tin, line with muffin liners. If using a silicone pan, spray with nonstick spray. 
3. Beat all of the eggs in a large bowl. Add garlic powder, salt, pepper, and chives and whisk to combine.
4. Evenly distribute the broccoli (or other meat/veggies) into each cup of the muffin tin. Top with cheese. Pour the egg mixture into each cup, filling approximately 3/4 of the way full. 
5. Put muffin tin in preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until the muffins are set and slightly browned. 
6. Let cool for 5 minutes and then remove egg muffins. Store in the refrigerator or let cool completely and freeze. 

Recipe: Egg Bake

I spent this past weekend with a group of fabulous ladies.  For breakfast on Saturday morning I made an egg bake that I have made for a number of get togethers and it is always very popular.

This is a perfect make ahead recipe because it needs to chill overnight in the fridge.   It is best served warm from the oven but is also good at room temperature.  I have only made it according to the recipe below but have plans to throw in some spinach the next time. 

I have to give a shout out to my wonderful honey because, even though he hates eggs, he got this recipe for me from his coworker after it was scarfed down at a work potluck.

Egg Bake

Egg Bake
Servings: 8 - 10
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Rest time: Overnight
Cook time: 30 minutes


Ingredients:

• 9 slices white bread, crusts removed and cut into large chunks
• 1.5 cups shredded swiss cheese
• 6 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 8-ounce package sliced mushrooms
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced
• 8 eggs
• 1.5 cups milk
• Salt and pepper
• Cooking spray

Directions: 

1. Place the bread in the bottom of a large greased baking pan.
2. Top bread with shredded cheese.
3. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and cook bacon until brown and crispy.  Drain on paper towels and set aside.  
4. Carefully wipe out bacon grease from the skillet and add the olive oil.  Add green onions and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are browned. 
5. Layer the cooked veggies and bacon on top of the bread and cheese.
6. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour egg mixture into the baking dish and cover with saran wrap.  Place in the refrigerate and chill overnight. 
7. After the dish has rested overnight, bake in a 350º F oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until the top starts to brown.  (The eggs may still be a little wiggly but will firm up when cooling.)
8. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.