Waking up hungry and NaNoWriMo

It is almost NaNoWriMo time!!!!

What is NaNoWriMo? It is a crazy event people commit to every November. Everyone that enters tries to write 50,000 words by the end of the month. 

50,000 words = about 200 written pages.

Yes, it is a pretty insane endeavor - but it is also really fun. 

I have been doing it each November for the last 3 years. If you have the time and inclination I encourage you to try it.

But back to the important thing - my breakfast:

Breakfast coleslaw with hard boiled eggs, jasmine tea and half of an orange.

Some mornings I am not that hungry but this morning I woke up ravenous. I don't know about the rest of you but when I get that hungry I know I need a big volume meal.

My easiest big volume breakfast I make is coleslaw with chopped up hard boiled eggs. 

All I need to do is measure out 2 cups of pre-made bagged coleslaw, toss it with some yogurt, mayo, vinegar and sugar. I almost always have some hard boiled eggs sitting in the fridge so I just chop up one whole egg and a couple of egg whites.

Easy protein slaw

Serves 1

Ingredients:

2 cups of pre-made coleslaw mix
1 whole egg and 2 eggwhites, chopped
1/3 cup of chopped apple
1/2 tsp of rice vinegar
1 tsp of Greek yogurt
2 tsp of Vegenaise
1/8 tsp of sugar
1/8 tsp of dijon mustard

Instructions:

Mix all the ingredients together and enjoy. This slaw is also wonderful made the night before and eaten in the morning because the flavors get a chance to really meld together. 

Paris cafe

Bistro salad.

I was so excited when I woke up this morning and discovered my post Ranch Salad Dressing - A Continuing Obsession was selected for the Foodbuzz Top 9!!!

Elation would be too mild a word to describe how I am feeling right now:-)

Thanks to everyone who has ever buzzed me, taken a look at my posts or was kind enough to leave a comment!


I was watching Forget Paris this morning and it made me wish I was sitting in a Paris cafe and enjoying a simple salad.


The salad I decided I would order would have to include crispy steamed asparagus, hard boiled eggs and tender red potatoes.

Since the making of most of the ingredients is simple - steam up some asparagus tips and one red potato, boil an egg and wash and dry some butter lettuce - I won't go into detail about that.


But I will give you the recipe for the mustard vinaigrette that I drizzled on top. This dressing made the salad. I even broke out a couple of pieces of the baguette I made yesterday just so I could sop up every last drop of the dressing.

 

I had been debating about making a salad nicoise but I decided against it - but I had already opened a can of tuna so I decided to make the dogs a snack.

Tuna with Udo's oil and plain yogurt.

I wrapped the tuna fish in butter lettuce and ta da! Doggie Lettuce Cups!

And before I give you the vinaigrette recipe here are a couple more beauty shots of my salad.

Dijon mustard vinaigrette
Serves 3


Ingredients:

1 Tbsp of Champagne vinegar

2 Tbsp of olive oil

1 Tbsp of Udo's oil

1 tsp of Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp of sugar

salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions:

Combine all the ingredients and whisk until combined. Drizzle over your favorite salad.

Enjoy!

Namaste yoga and the perfect egg

My split pea soup turned out great. I was going to post the recipe this morning but I got distracted with making the perfect hard boiled egg.

Not a sign of that icky green ring!

I found this great picture illustrating the progression of the icky green ring as you continue to overcook an egg.

[source]

My trusted method for cooking perfect hard boiled eggs? 

Start with a pan of cold water. Carefully place the eggs in the pan of cold water and put the pan on a burner set to high.

When the water just starts to boil (and before it starts a roiling boil) pull the pan off the heat and cover the pan. 

Set a timer for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, drain off the water and run cold water into the pan for a few moments and let the eggs sit in the cold water until they cool.

I chopped up two of the egg whites along with a bit of yolk.

The dogs got to enjoy one 1/2 of a yolk each.

Egg yolk with a drizzle of olive oil for the dogs.

I enjoyed the chopped egg with a small bowl of my split pea soup.

I will include the recipe for this soup in my next post.

This was my entire breakfast:

Split pea soup topped with chopped egg, one scoop of Amazing Grass with water and a small cup of coffee.

I am currently fairly obsessed with doing the 30 minute Namaste yoga segments that used to air on the Discover Fit&Health channel.

Thank goodness for DVR's otherwise I would have been out of luck when the Fit&Health channel decided to cancel the show.

Have I ever mentioned that I am also obsessed with collecting demitasse spoons??