Avocado Toast & Egg Cups

 

I'm trying to eat healthier these days which means more protein, more veggies, more fiber, more color in my diet, etc. I love this lunch because it crushes all the categories. Make the egg cups one day when you have time and then you have leftovers for days or a quick afternoon snack as you head out the door. I've been loading them up with lots of spinach, tomatoes and herbs. I've also mastered the Avocado Toast as well. So good...

Avocado Toast

 

Sourdough bread, toasted

Avocado

Radish, thinly sliced

Sprouts, any kind

Hemp seeds

Salt – I like Jennifer Fisher spicy salt

Freshly ground pepper

Drizzle of olive oil

Squeeze of lemon

High Protein Egg Bites

 

I saw someone making a version of this on instagram and now I am obsessed with them. They are so light and fluffy, almost quiche-like in texture and packed with protein. You can make them any which way you like or different for everyone in the family. I whip them up in 15 minutes for breakfast or lunch and warm up leftovers for a quick protein snack on the go. Enjoy!

 

Egg mixture:

6 eggs

1 cup cottage cheese

1/4 cup grated parm 

Salt 

Pepper

Pinch of garlic powder 

Tiny pinch of onion powder

 

Toppings:

Chives

Jalapeño

Cheddar cheese

 

Preheat oven to 350. Throw everything in a blender and run until completely combined. Pour into muffin tins (with parchment wrappers or butter/spray the tins). Mine make 11-12 depending if I use 5 or 6 eggs. Sprinkle in chives, chopped ham, peppers or anything else you want. Bake for 7-10 minutes then remove and top with jalapeno and/or grated cheddar cheese. Return to oven and bake until firm, maybe 5-7 more minutes. 

 

You could also add:

Turkey bacon

Spinach

Broccoli

Asparagus 

Feta

 

Yummmmmmmy!

Chocolate Cherry Smoothie

Chocolate and cherry is such a great combo that I gave it a whirl in a smoothie. It was delicious. These are rough estimates because I just eyeballed it so taste and adjust as necessary.

 

Chocolate Cherry Smoothie

 

2 T Chocolate flavored plant-based protein powder

2 T Siggi’s black cherry yogurt

2 T almond butter

½-1 cup frozen cherries 

½ cup almond milk

1 t chia seeds

1 t hemp seeds

3-5 ice cubes

½ cup water

Kouroulakia - Greek Easter Cookies

My friend Maria has been sharing her mom's cookies with me for years. They are so good for breakfast with coffee, or better yet, dipped in coffee. I finally made my own batch and now I bounce out of bed in the morning.

Kouroulakia - Greek Easter Cookies

Helena Christofilis

1 ½ cups butter, softened

1 ¼ cups sugar

4 eggs (separated 2 and 2)

2 T orange juice

3 t vanilla

5 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 ½ t baking powder

¾ t baking soda

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. 

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add 2 eggs and beat well. Beat in orange juice and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. Gradually add to creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle. (They said this actually wasn’t necessary.)

Roll dough into 1 ¼ inch balls. Roll each into a 6 inch rope. Fold in half and twist twice. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. (I used parchment paper.)

In a small bowl, beat the remaining 2 eggs to make an egg wash. Brush over formed cookies. Bake at 350 for 7-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove to wire racks.

Yeilds about 6 ½ dozen. (I got 4 dozen out of my batch but I made mine too big. Next time I will make them smaller.)

Kanna's Banana Pancakes

A babysitter from Seattle taught me this recipe years ago. I LOVE them. They are so sweet and light. 

Kanna's Banana Pancakes

1 medium ripe banana (or very ripe works too)
2 eggs
1/8 t baking powder 
1/8 t salt
1/4 t vanilla
sprinkle of cinnamon

Mash banana until no lumps (pudding consistency). Add other ingredients except the eggs. Whisk the eggs and pour over the banana mixture. Stir until completely combined. 

(I usually mash the banana and then throw everything in a blender.)

Heat the griddle to medium and melt butter or coconut oil. Drop batter on griddle and cook for roughly one minute or until lightly browned. Flip gently since they are delicate, and brown the other side. Serve with syrup, honey or jam. 

I eat them plain because they are so sweet. 

New Favorite Snack: Chia Pudding Yogurt Bowl

I am obsessed with this as part of my lunch or as an afternoon snack. It's just a little bit sweet and hits the spot while also being healthy and filling. Chia seeds are so good for you and are said to be higher in antioxidant activity than blueberries. A great snack that is also great for you.

Chia Pudding Yogurt Bowl

Vanilla yogurt 

Chia seeds

Almond milk (I use regular or vanilla rather than unsweetened)

Slivered almonds, toasted

To make the chia pudding, combine chia seeds and almond milk. Stir to combine, then refrigerate to set for a few minutes. Layer yogurt, chia pudding and nuts. Enjoy!

You could also add toasted coconut, berries or cinnamon. 

Egg & Ricotta Sandwich

Another great recipe from Genius Recipes: 

SHIP'S BISCUIT

Focaccia sandwich with ricotta and soft scrambled eggs

New Favorite Breakfast - Eggs with Dill & Feta

Vashon Eggs

Jen Young

Scrambled eggs (half regular, half egg whites)

Milk

Salt & pepper

Fresh dill

Feta

Scramble eggs with some milk. Season with salt & pepper. Toss in minced dill and cubed feta at the last minute. Serve with toasted baguette with butter and sliced avocado if you have it.

Currently Craving

My friend Whitney introduced me to this combination. It's so delicious. Good, fresh blueberries make all the difference.

Frozen waffle, toasted
Butter
Peanut butter
Syrup - little bit
Molasses - little bit
Fresh blueberries

Homemade Granola Bars

My friend Marion made a version of the Sprouted Kitchen granola bars from the cookbook and they were delicious. Marion found this recipe online from Sweetsonian adapted from the original. I made some today using pecans instead of cashews too.

I should have listened to Marion and skipped the protein powder. The flavor is too distinct. They are great though and an easy recipe to be creative with, adding different nuts, seeds, or dried fruit.

These are great for breakfast, lunches, after school snacks, and even dessert. 

Addiction

I get addicted to certain breakfast foods and eat them daily until I never want to have it again. It's what gets me out of bed in the morning. Currently I am obsessed with this combo: 

Eltana everything bagel

Whole Foods lemon hummus

Sliced radish

Minced chives

Pepper

I first had a bagel with hummus and radish in Portland at the Taste Bud food truck but have since perfected it (added pepper and chives). I like to eat this with coffee, yogurt, berries, and a green juice. Healthy and satisfying start to your day.

Breakfast Quinoa: Also Better Than It Sounds

I'm also trying to cook more new recipes out of GP's It's All Good cookbook so when I had extra quinoa in the fridge, I looked in her book for something to try. I ended up making her breakfast quinoa the last few days. It's so simple - cooked quinoa warmed with almond milk and topped with chopped banana and syrup. I will definitely make this again. It was so satisfying. 

Banana Muffins

One of my very first posts was about my grandma's banana muffins. I love them. Ever since my friend Shannon revised my zucchini bread recipe and made it a bit healthier, I've been thinking I should do the same with these. Not knowing how, I reached out to my friend Marion and she gave me some simple adjustments to make them healthier without sacrificing their great flavor. Just made these and they are delicious. I did 3 versions (of course)... 1/3 plain, 1/3 with chocolate chops and 1/3 with chopped walnuts. The plain ones turned are great so I imagine the others are even better. We'll eat plain or nut for breakfast and chocolate chip for dessert. My kids go crazy for this stuff.

Grandma Tess's Banana Muffins

Adapted by Marion

1/4 c butter

1/4 c coconut oil (or a little less even)
1 c sugar (or a little less even)

1/2 cup apple sauce
2 eggs beaten
1 c white flour

3/4 c whole wheat flour

1/4 almond flour/meal
1/2 t salt
1 t baking powder
3/4 t baking soda
1/4 c almond milk 

1/2 t lemon juice
1 c mashed over-ripe banana
1 t vanilla
½ c nuts, optional

½ c chocolate chips, optional

Mix in order given. Butter muffin pans or use paper muffin cups. Fill muffin pans 2/3 full (you might end up with extra batter but don’t fill tins too high). Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes.

This batter made 18 muffins for me. 

Banana Sour Cream (Chocolate Chip) Pancakes

Photo Credit: Food is Luv

This morning I made Ina Garten's Banana Sour Cream Pancakes. I couldn't resist putting chocolate chips in them and it took them from good to great. I mashed the bananas and mixed it into the batter, instead of adding diced bananas to the pan. They were so good we didn't even use syrup!

Mini Zucchini Muffins

My mom's zucchini bread is so good. I bake a ton of it when zucchinis are in season and abundant at the farmers market, cut the loaves in half and freeze them. Every few weeks I can satisfy my morning sweet tooth with a slice of zucchini bread, warmed and slathered with butter. I grew up eating and loving this "bread" which is more like cake than bread. 

My friend Shannon tried the recipe making a few adjustments and did mini muffins instead of bread pans. They are healthier than my original recipe and I love the mini muffins. Great for kids snacks and equally good with my coffee for breakfast. 

Mini Zucchini Muffins

Shannon’s Version

3 eggs, beaten
1/3 or 1/2 cup coconut oil, slightly warmed/melted 
3/4 cup agave
3/4 cup sugar

2 cups grated zucchini 

2 t vanilla

1 cup flour

1 cup almond meal

3/4 cup oat bran 
1/4 cup ground flax

1 t salt

1 t baking soda

1/4 t baking powder

1 t clove

1 t cinnamon

1 t nutmeg

1/2 t ginger

Preheat oven to 325. Mix first four ingredients together. Then add the rest and stir to combine. Put into mini muffin pans (greased or with paper cups). Cooke for 22-25 minutes. Remove and place pans on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes.

Rainbow Smoothie

I'm back on a rainbow smoothie kick. I love this smoothie because it's packed with goodness and my kids beg for more.

Rainbow Smoothie

Frozen strawberries
Frozen raspberries
Frozen peaches
Lemon juice
Banana
Cucumber
Parsley
Kale
Spinach
Frozen blueberries
Almond butter 
Protein powder 
Coconut water (I use coconut aloe water)

Lemon Yogurt Cake

Tonight my kids helped me make Ina Garten's Lemon Yogurt Cake. They love it for dessert. I love it for breakfast with coffee. Everyone is a winner!

Dinner in 15

Photo Credit: Serious Eats

My friend Marion introduced me to this simple dinner and now I make it all the time. It takes no time to make and is so satisfying. While you heat the beans and toast the bread, you fry the egg. It is so fast. I make this for me and then serve the same items side by side for the kids because they would never go for the beans sandwiched between toast and an egg. This is a new staple in my house. Thank you Marion!!!

Beans on Toast with a Fried Egg

Dave’s Killer Bread (red package)

Beans - either Heinz beans or Amy’s organic beans in tomato sauce

Fried egg (I usually make myself 2)

Parmesan

Pepper

Oatmeal Pancakes

Photo Credit: Orangette

My friend Amy made me these pancakes and changed my life. They are so amazing. I don't know what it is but they are SO good. I love the texture and I especially love the berry sauce on top. Perfect combo.

From Amy:

I use Orangette's recipe for Oatmeal Pancakes with two important revisions... I only use a 1/2 stick of melted butter (a whole stick is just too much) and I add about a tsp of ground cinnamon to the batter.

As for the berry sauce, I just cut up fresh berries, rinse (and leave damp), sprinkle with sugar and let sit covered in the frig over night.  In the morning, I stir and crush with a fork.  When we don't have fresh berries, homemade berry jam is equally as good… I also like a dollop of yogurt sometimes, too.

Blueberry Perfection

I'm on a quest. A quest for blueberry recipes. In the last week I've made baked oatmeal with blueberries and banana, blueberry crisp cookies, blueberry pancakes with blueberry syrup, and blueberry muffins.

The best blueberry recipe so far is Smitten Kitchen's Perfect Blueberry Muffins. They truly are the perfect blueberry muffin. And for a non-baker, they were really easy and fool-proof. These muffins and the blueberry syrup from yesterday are two keepers for next year's blueberry season.

Any great blueberry recipes you love to make?