Crispy coconut rice with scrambled eggs

You might have noticed that I have been on a bit of an egg obsession lately.

This is just because I haven't made a trip to the store in days and the handiest protein I have in the house is a dozen of eggs.

This morning I put a skillet on medium heat and added in some coconut butter and stirred in some left over brown rice with a drizzle of soy sauce.

I let that cook until the coconut butter started to brown. Then I whisked in 1 whole egg and three egg whites and turned the heat to low.

I loved the toasted coconut flavor to these eggs.

And since this dish included healthy carbs, it made a nice pre-workout meal.

I did the YogaX workout from the P90x program. It was filled with sun salutations so you work up quite a sweat.

Happy Saturday everyone!

Cheesy grits with fluffy scrambled eggs

In case you missed it - I put up an About page. It is a work in progress (read: endless editing to occur for the foreseeable future) but I took everyone's advice and stopped thinking so much about it (ha ha!) and just put something up there.

The ensemble for this morning's breakfast:

Eggs, quick cooking grits and nutritional yeast.

You may be wondering why nutritional yeast is making an appearance so often lately. Well, the reason is that I finally found some Red Star nutritional yeast which (if online reviews are to be believed) has the best flavor.

So, I have been trying it out in different recipes. And this morning it was going into the grits.

I cooked 1 serving of grits according to the package directions - I don't like my grits thick so I added in a bit more water.

When the grits finished cooking I stirred in 2 Tbsp. of nutritional yeast for a cheesy finish.

They are a bit hard to see but there are cheesy grits under there.

Then I whisked 1 whole egg and 1 egg white in a bowl with dried parsley, dried basil and salt and pepper. The eggs cooked on low and pulled off the heat while they were still a bit undercooked. 

At this point I get out chopsticks (for some reason a fork just doesn't work as well) and scramble/fluff the eggs while they finish cooking from the residual heat in the pan. 

The meal was rounded out with a bowl of blueberries and some tea with soy milk.

What do I think of the Red Star nutritional yeast? I can see why people prefer it - It definitely has a stronger cheddar flavor and if you are using nutritional yeast to replace cheese? The extra cheddar flavor is a big plus.

I am planning on making a homemade version of my favorite take out dish tonight - Time to go shopping for the ingredients!

Seaside Brunch

Everyone else was content to hang out and chat this morning so we didn't end up heading out to brunch until 11am.

We decided to go to Toasties in downtown Pacific Grove.

More coffee!

My niece chose scrambled eggs with potatoes and toast.

I was in the mood for eggs over easy and potatoes.

My other niece enjoyed bacon and banana chocolate chip pancakes.

MMM, bacon...

Banana chocolate pancake.

Then fueled by copious amounts of caffeine and sugar (is there any better combination) we did the next logical thing.


Manicures!


My niece went from this:

Pre-manicure.

To this:

Post-manicure.

My hands were transformed from this naked state:

Pre-manicure.

To this:

Post-manicure.

Now it is time to shop!

Guilt-free day

I woke up today thinking about the huge list of things I needed to do today. And I was suffused with guilt over things I should have done yesterday.

Keep in mind that these to-do lists are never realistic. I would need a 30hr day and no sleep in order to finish all of them. 

And for some reason, this morning, it occurred to me what a ludicrous and useless emotion guilt is. I suppose it has its place in a wider social sense. But when guilt is turned inwards?? It is a very bad thing.

So, today is going to be a guilt-free day. 

I don't have many feeling of guilt towards food and this probably why (ironically) I had a breakfast very few people would feel guilty about.

Oatmeal, coffee and scrambled eggs.

The eggs turned out to be more of a chopped crepe since I left the pan unattended when I should have been stirring them gently.

I added a scoop of peanut butter and a drizzle of maple syrup to the oatmeal.

And because I might need to feel energized on my guilt-free day:

A large mug of very strong coffee - 

It will be interesting to see where the day will take me :-)

Green eggs on toast

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

And no, I am not wearing green.


I did have a green breakfast.

It started with toast with a slathering of basil pesto.

 Then I scrambled one whole egg and one egg white with a handful of spinach.

Topped with a dusting of Parmesan.

Strong tea.

On the docket for today? Laundry, laundry and more laundry.


I am contemplating starting a new workout routine that would include hitting the gym everyday.

I love making new routines - whether I will actually stick to them is a whole other story...

A good trend

Today started tinged in blue.

Blueberry Chobani yogurt with extra blueberries.

 

I am trying to make sure I get plenty of protein to start the day so I also had this:

I mixed one whole egg with the just the egg whites from a second egg - added in a tsp. of greek yogurt, a pinch of basil and a pinch of salt.

Kona coffee, an orange, yogurt and scrambled egg.

The good trend of the day? I did a short shuffle/jog this morning - which marks the beginning of my journey back to running!!

And I am starting a closet project today - which means laundry and culling out clothes I don't wear.

A bit of an intimidating project for a Monday...

Keeping focused on a goal

How is everyone else doing with their New Year's resolutions?

This is about the time when even the people that were most dedicated through the months of January and February have started to falter.

I am definitely one of those. One of my resolutions this year was to closely resemble my dogs in svelte-ness.

It is a bit hard to tell in that photo - but Abby is a very slim girl. I am also hoping to glow like Abby :-) - Well, no, not really since that would mean most of my body would be super white...


I have been doing great on the healthy eating part. Even if I cook a heavier dish I have been careful with portion sizes.


Where I am falling off the wagon is with exercise.


This is what I had for breakfast:

One whole egg and two egg whites with spinach and a dollop of pesto with half and apple with greek yogurt and green tea.

See? I am doing fine on the food front. I just need to be more consistent with exercise. When I say exercise, I mean exercise other than walking the dogs.


I am off to see a Chiropractor with my sister this afternoon - hopefully he can help fix my feet.


Anyone else need to recommit to their New Year's resolutions?





 

I have a dream and a french pastry

I have a dream of having a pristine kitchen. 

I wish I was one of those types of cooks that cleans as I go and at the end of the day everything is put away and the counter tops are sparkling.

Alas, I am not one of those people.

Oh, yeah, and I have a french pastry.

A morning croissant.

I let it cook a little longer than I normally would because I had a special purpose in mind for this flaky gem.

Fluffy scrambled eggs with a dusting of parsley.

I whisked 1 egg with 1 Tbsp. of milk for about 1 minute.

Then into a fry pan on low and stir until they are  still moist but cooked through.

Cut a pocket into the croissant and spoon in the scrambled eggs. 

Someone was very interested in this morning's breakfast.

Mmm, the smell of croissant in the morning!

Can you spot Connor lurking in the upper left of the photo? 

This is why I don't have a shot with the croissant and coffee together. That boy was ready to pounce.

Coffee always tastes better in this cup.

My plans for today? Put on rubber gloves and tackle my kitchen. Will you see photos of sparkling counter tops later today?

Who knows...

Breakfast tostada

I had a couple of corn tortillas left in my fridge and I wanted to use them up before they got stale.

This is what I had for breakfast:

scrambled eggs, broccoli, red pepper and onion on top of a corn tortilla with a dusting of Parmesan.

They enjoyed this:

Check out the adorable mother whale with baby! This is the cutest child's rice bowl.

This morning is super cold and still rainy. The dogs did the speediest walk in history this morning. We were practically running back to the apartment after they finished their 'business' :-)

I had a mocha to warm up.

Here is the recipe for the tostada if you want to try it out:

Breakfast Tostada

Serves 1 human and a snack for 2 - 40lb dogs.

2 eggs
1/2 a red pepper chopped
3 florets of broccoli chopped
1/4 of a yellow onion chopped
1 tsp. of soy sauce
2 tsp. of milk
1/2 cup of shredded parmesean
1 corn tortilla
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of black pepper
1/4 of a pat of butter

Place corn tortilla in a well seasoned skillet (no need for oil if you are using non stick - but in a non-seasoned pan you might need a drop of oil). Lightly brown on both sides and then place on a plate.

Add a couple of drops of olive oil and add in the onions and let them cook on low heat until translucent. Then add in the chopped broccoli and red pepper along with the soy sauce and cover and cook for 5 -7 minutes. Set aside the cooked veggies.


Whisk 2 eggs with the milk, salt, pepper and 1/2 of the Parmesan. Add into the pan and continue to stir the eggs as they cook. When the eggs are still a bit wet - pull them off the heat and set aside 1/3 of the scrambled eggs for the dogs. 


Add in the veggie mixture to the eggs and fold together to combine. Place egg and veggie mixture on top of the corn tortilla and top with the rest of the Parmesan.