Resolutions and blueberry pancakes

Pancakes with Tofutti cream cheese and blueberries.

About that resolution I had to hit most of the flow yoga classes at the YMCA starting today? 

Well, since I slept through the alarm and woke up 15 minutes after the class had finished, the whole 'YMCA yoga' resolution did not get off to a booming start.

But, I refuse to be discouraged and I am going to be spending an hour with Rodney.

I will just have to pretend that Rodney and I are practicing yoga at the Y. I am sure Rodney teaches yoga at the Y all the time:-)


And the hour will be spent with the dogs circling my mat like low flying Cessnas. But a yoga mat covered in dog hair means you are well loved, right? 


Back to breakfast:

Pancakes with Tofutti cream cheese, blueberries and mixed fruit.

Since I had leftover pancake mix, the dogs got to enjoy little mini pancakes with smoked salmon.

I had another big mug of the new instant coffee this morning. And, yes, I had the slim hope that it would taste better this morning, but nope. Unfortunately, this is the only source of caffeine in the house at the moment, so I drank it down anyway.


Does it make me shallow that the only reason I chose this instant coffee was for the strange looking container? 

Nah, it doesn't make me shallow. Does it mean I am easily lured in by odd shapes? Possibly.


Happy Friday!

Deviled egg breakfast sandwich

I wanted to figure out a way to use this in my breakfast:

Then I whisked together 1 whole egg, 3 egg whites, a sprinkle of dried basil, a pinch of praprika, black pepper and a pinch of salt.

I cooked the eggs over low heat until they almost done. Then I pulled it off the heat and added in 1/2 teaspoon of yellow mustard and a 1/2 teaspoon of Veganaise.

An extra sprinkle of paprika and some parsley on top.

The whole breakfast - 

Cantaloupe, coffee with soymilk and deviled egg sandwich.

The cantaloupe was really ripe and juicy.

The dogs were super interested in the cantaloupe so they got a few pieces each.

Woot!! It is Saturday and no construction noise for two whole days!!

A honey of a morning

This morning I wanted honey. 

Big, overflowing tablespoons of honey.

But since ingesting a whole jar of honey, although it is very Pooh-like, is not the healthiest thing to do... so instead I made this:

Yogurt with chopped strawberries, muesli and raw raspberry honey.

On my latest shopping trip I did treat myself to a big tub of my favorite yogurt.

I put a 1/2 cup of Siggi's into a bowl and topped it with chopped strawberries.

 Then I tossed on a hearty handful of muesli.

And then the star of the show - the honey.

And the best thing about honey? It is impossible to get it out of the jar without some running all over the rim. 

Then, of course, an inordinate of time must be spent scooping every last drop of honey off of said jar with your finger :-) 

This morning demanded a big mug of coffee.

I will be making a special treat for myself and the dogs for lunch so check back later!

Four cheese souffle

I was up and about early this morning. I wanted to get a walk in with the dogs before the workmen showed up. Which ended up being a good thing since the guys arrived early AND the inspector was here today so they spent a bunch of time checking out plumbing.

On the upside it gave me an excuse to pack up the dogs and go here.

I had read reviews on yelp praising their four cheese breakfast souffle. I knew I had to try it.

Four cheese souffle.

The Panera website states that this is 'Made with white cheddar, Romano, Parmesan and Neufchatel cheeses.'

This was served up warm and steaming. The souffle was airy and light with a croissant-like shell. 

I took a quick look at the fat content - for the whole thing it would have been 29g of fat - which is way too much for my stomach to handle in one sitting.

My compromise? I didn't eat any of the croissant shell and I only ate half of the souffle.

 
 This was incredibly delicious! I can see why people rave about it. If you stomach can handle the fat content - definitely try one of these souffles.


Oh, and I had some strong coffee.

I can't believe it is Monday....

Cheesy scrambled eggs

I was very proud of my eggs this morning. They came out fluffy and flavorful.

Today I added 1/2 teaspoon of Bulgarian yogurt with 1 whole egg and 3 egg whites, a pinch of salt, 1 Tbsp. of nutritional yeast and cracked black pepper.

The Bulgarian yogurt added a hint of lemony tartness and with the cheesy nutritional yeast? It reminded me a bit of hollandaise sauce, MMMMM.

Eggs are topped with a pinch of paprika and some dried parsley. 

My coffee was bizarre this morning.

It turns out that adding almond milk to coffee is not such a great idea. 

It tasted OK - but I think I will stick with soy milk in the future. Sure, soy milk separates a bit too - but not this much.

I at my breakfast in stages today. Mostly because the eggs cooked much faster than the oatmeal and I wanted to eat them before they got cold and rubbery.

Breakfast course 2 - 

McCann's Irish oatmeal with 1/2 teaspoon of peanut butter with a little drizzle of wild raspberry honey.

I cooked 1/4 cup of oatmeal with 1 cup of water. This takes a while - about 30 minutes - until it is creamy and tender.

 Oh, and a pear.

I was re-reading the articles on nutrition and muscle building at Bodybuilding.com - they definitely seem to stress the 6 small meals a day for optimal muscle growth. 

What is your opinion about the frequency of meals and it's supposed effect on metabolism and muscle growth? 

A wonderful morning

It has been a wonderful morning. Very first thing, I took the dogs on a long walk. It has been in the '90s here lately and it is cooler today so a breezy morning walk was very welcome.

Then I came home and made this:

Smoked salmon omelet.

I don't know about you but if I open a package of smoked salmon I need to use it up within 2 - 3 days or the fish starts to be slimy and I just can't eat it then.

So, I whisked 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites together with a dash of salt, some cracked black pepper, dried basil and fresh chopped parsley.

It went into a saute pan on low with a little olive oil.

When the egg is almost set - add it pieces of smoked salmon. Carefully fold over the omelet and let cook a few seconds more and then plate.

I sprinkled some fresh chopped parsley on top and added a spoonful of Tofutti sour cream.

I also had a pear and a mug of coffee. I will need the caffeine boost when I am at the gym!

 

The Easter Bunny has arrived!

Although my nieces have gotten too old for the 'leave carrots out for the Easter Bunny' type of thing - they did wake up to find this:

Candy goodness!

I started the day with my version of a sweet treat:

Local wild raspberry honey and Siggi's drinkable yogurt.

I stirred one teaspoon of the honey into the yogurt.


 Frothy coffee:

I am eating light this morning because the rest of the day will be a non-stop feast :-)

Happy Easter everyone!

Stracciatella

Tomorrow morning I leave for my weekend away so I wanted to use up some things in my fridge.

The obvious answer? Stracciatella.

Stracciatella is essentially just an egg drop soup with some added Parmesan cheese, spices and spinach. Simple and delicious.

I whisked together one egg, 1 Tbsp. of grated Parmesan, a small pinch of nutmeg, black pepper, dried parsley and dried basil.

I put 2 cups of chicken broth into a sauce pan and let it come to a boil.


Then I streamed in the egg mixture as I whisked the broth. The egg should cook immediately and look like little shreds. Then I threw in 2 handfuls of spinach. I let it cook for 5 minutes and it was done.

I was extra hungry this morning so I also had:

Coffee with soy milk and toasted sandwich thins with a this spread of coconut butter.

I am going to post my lunch from the laptop for a trial run before the weekend *fingers crossed*


I have a gripping day planned - yeah, you guessed it - laundry.


I doubt my family would be thrilled if I arrived for the weekend sans clothes...

At first I was like...Then I was like...

This morning:

At first I was like...I want apple and plum quinoa!

This is what I had on hand:

What is missing in that picture? The plum!! Then it turned into cinnamon and apple quinoa.

The apples were already chopped and simmering away in 1 cup of water with 1/4 cup of brown sugar when I realized what I really wanted -

And then I was like...I want onion and apple quinoa!

I pulled the apples off the stove when I had this epiphany.

I drained them and set them aside while I chopped up the onion.

Cook 1/2 cup of quinoa according the the package directions (basically it is a 2:1 ratio - 1cup of quinoa in 2 cups of water).

I love how pretty quinoa looks - cooked or uncooked.

The onions went into a pan coated with olive oil spray. I cooked them on low heat for 15 min - but you probably want to cook them for 20 so they are really soft.

Then add in the chopped apples and at this point I added a pinch of sage. Cook for another 5 - 10 minutes depending on how soft you want the apples.


Plate the dish starting with the quinoa.

Then ladle on the onions and apples.

This turned out incredible! I left the apples a tiny bit crunchy and the burst of sweetness with the savory (but slightly sweet) taste of the onions and the tiny bit of sage? Delicious :-)

A dollop of greek yogurt or sour cream would be great on top.

Oh, and the drink.

Strong coffee with soy milk.

I am going to prep my laptop for blogging while I am away this weekend. 

Wish me luck in doing a wipe and reinstall of Windows 7 - Yikes!

Bed and breakfast for all

One thing I really enjoy about my dogs? They always let me sleep in.

As long as they get a walk just before bed - they won't budge until I get up.

Even when I had a regular schedule during the week, on weekends they embraced endless hours of laying in with the enthusiasm of a sleep deprived teenager.

So when I eventually decided to get up (today it was 10:15am) I decided that we should all have a special brunch.

My breakfast.

The dogs breakfast.

I cooked 1 1/4 lb of ground turkey over medium heat with 1 Tbsp. of olive oil.

I pulled out 2 cups of the cook turkey for the dogs and 1 cup for mine. 

Next, I added in two generous handfuls of fresh spinach and let it cook until wilted.


I pulled out 1/3 of the spinach and put it aside with my ground turkey. 


For the dogs meal, I put 1 chopped apple back into the pan along with the spinach and added in 1/4 cup of chicken broth and a few dashes of fish sauce. I let this cook down until soft and mixed it into the dogs cooked meat.


I seasoned my meat with a dash of soy sauce and a tiny amount of chili paste. 


Then I added one egg cooked over easy to complete my meal.

Time to get some things done before I had off later today for a family birthday party.