Breakfast on the go!

 Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day.  When you eat breakfast you kick start your metabolism which helps you continue to burn calories throughout the day.  It gives you the energy you need to get work done and helps you focus at work or school.  Skipping breakfast can throw off your body's rhythm of fasting and eating.  When you wake up the blood sugar your body and brain need to work is low.  Breakfast helps replenish this and gets your body going.

I used to be a big breakfast eater.  I had gotten to the point that I was so busy getting the kids ready for school and then coming home to all of my daily chores that I was skipping breakfast.  Then around 10am I am starving and just grabbing whatever I can to get some food.  I was basically having either protein bars or trail mix 😮.

So I decided to find some make ahead recipes so that I have a quick convenient and healthy breakfast ready for me when I get hungry.  I got all the ingredients I needed to make oatmeal muffins and egg muffins.  I must admit that both of these were fairly easy to make and they are delicious.  Recipes are on the recipes page of the blog.

I highly recommend this silicone baking dish and these silicone baking cups when making these muffins.  They literally popped right out and did not make a mess at all!

I will be posting variations of the muffins because I have come up with some great ones for fall!

Please leave feedback on what you think of the muffins and share your ideas with me!

The Unicorn of Chicken Salads

I started a new health/fitness plan on Monday and I have really been trying hard to stick with it!  When you have husband who loves to eat it really makes it difficult to be healthy all of the time!  I have been trying new plan approved recipes this week and I am always nervous for him to try them.  This morning I decided to try a new chicken salad recipe.  We have a local store that is known for their delicious chicken salad.  The only problem is that once you start eating it, you can't stop!  It is full of mayo and sweet relish and also calories!!!  So I got up this morning and decided to make this recipe so it would have time to "sit" before lunch.  I started by boiling my chicken tenders.  While they were boiling I cut up my apple, grapes, and tarragon.  I bought presliced almonds to save me a step!  I also mixed up the dressing while letting the chicken cool.  I shredded the chicken and tossed it in with the fruit and then added dressing until it was a good consistency.  I put a top on it and put it in the fridge. 

We headed out to my sons ball game and on the way home son asked to go to McDonalds.  We agreed to take him since he did so well today and my husband said "well I guess I will just get the two cheeseburgers meal!"  My response was "well that's up to you but I am going home to have chicken salad."  I guess it made him think a little and he decided to eat at home with me.

When we got home I got the chicken salad out to taste test it.  I didn't give my opinion and just asked him to try it too.  His response was "man this is really good!"  So, I toasted some bread (one slice or me) and we made sandwiches.  He added a slice of romaine and tomato to his and I ate mine open face on one slice of bread.  It was delicious!!  Thank goodness this was another winner and is something that I can start keeping in the fridge on a regular basis.  It will even be good on a bed of lettuce to lower the carbs! 

So, if you are looking for a good, healthy chicken salad I highly recommend this one!  I have included some pictures and wanted to get one of his sandwich but I didn't have time to grab my phone before he was halfway done with it!!

The Unicorn of Chicken Salads

A delicious, healthy chicken salad recipe your family can enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups shredded chicken
• 1/2 cup green apple
• 1/2 cup seedless red grapes
• 1/3 cup sliced raw almonds
• 1 Tbsp chopped tarragon (optional)
• 1/4 cup Creamy Honey Mustard Dressing (recipe to follow)
• 1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt
• 3 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 3 Tbsp agave nectar or raw honey
• 3 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Combine chicken, apple, grapes, almonds, and tarragon

Make Creamy Honey Mustard Dressing:  mix Greek yogurt, Dijon mustard, agave/honey, rice vinegar and olive oil

Add dressing and mix well

Note:  The dressing can be made in a mason jar to make it easier!  Simply mix ingredients and shake!  You can also make extra to keep on hand for the next batch!  It is so good you might even want to use it on other things!  Chicken can be prepared in the crock pot by just covering chicken with water and cooking on low for 6 hours.  It will be easy to shred and perfect for chicken salad!

Egg Roll in a bowl

My husband has always been a person who wanted his dinner to be a meat and two sides.  We have made healthy choices when doing this, but I don't always have time to fix meals like that.  With two girls dancing 4 days a week and a little boy playing baseball, I am on the go a lot.  So I have been looking for simple yet healthy recipes I thought my husband would also enjoy.  I went out of the box last night with our dinner and made "Egg Roll in a Bowl".  We both love Chinese food and egg rolls, so I figured this one was worth a try.  Because he is not so much a casserole person and those are super easy to prep and fix during the week, I was a little nervous.  But to my surprise he was actually excited to try it and he loved it!  I had to make sure he left me some to have leftovers for lunch this week!  He is also ready for me to try it with different variations.  So for those of you who want the recipe, it will be listed on the recipes tab of the blog!  This can be prepped and made very quickly with a few changes to what I did. 

Egg Roll in a Bowl

All the flavor of an egg roll without the fried wrapper!  So delicious!

 

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef or pork (could also use shredded chicken or shrimp)

1 large onion diced (I cheated and got one that was already cut up at Food Lion)

1 small head of cabbage (Can get angel hair cabbage already shredded)

3 carrots (or a bag of shredded carrots)

4-5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup soy sauce (I use low sodium)

 

Directions:

Cook and crumble ground meat with onions in a very large skillet until meat is cooked through.  Do not drain.  I suggest a skillet large enough to hold all of the cabbage - if you don't have a large one divide the meat mixture into two smaller ones and make two skillets

 

While the meat and onions are cooking cut the cabbage into thin shreds and set aside.  You can also buy angel hair cabbage that has already been shredded.

 

Peel carrots with a vegetable peeler then either dice small or use the peeler to shave off think slices; set aside.  You can also buy a bag of shredded carrots to avoid this step.

 

Combine garlic, ginger, pepper, sesame oil, olive oil, and soy sauce in a small bowl and stir to combine.

 

Add cabbage and carrots to ground meat (or chicken or shrimp) and stir over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes.  Add soy sauce mixture then stir well.

 

Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking for 5-10 minutes or until cabbage is tender.

 

Makes approximately 4-6 servings.

Here are some pictures of the process and final product!