Trying something new

Potatoes, carrots, broccoli rabe, onion, red pepper and mushrooms in a soy glaze.

Pretty much all I have been wanting lately is vegetables. This, in an of itself, is not a bad thing. But when you are trying to make sure you get enough protein everyday? 

The constant craving for tons of veggies is not really supporting my protein plan.

My breakfast was delicious. I set the potatoes, carrots and broccoli rabe into the steamer.  While they steamed I put a little olive oil and butter on low heat and tossed in some chopped onions to caramelize.

When the onions were just starting to caramelize I tossed in some chopped red pepper and some chopped mushrooms.

I let that simmer for a few minutes then I added the rest of the veggies from the steamer and splashed everything with some soy sauce and gave it a stir.

A very yummy (if lacking in protein) breakfast.

I will have to try and eat this a little later:

Here is a shot of Connor, the sweetie who is still recuperating, showing avid interest in my protein bar.

Why is he lusting after my protein bar?

You just can't keep that guy away from anything remotely related to peanut butter.

 I will have to make him a peanut butter treat later.

Oh, and the new thing I am trying today? Bodyrock.tv

I have seen people mentioning the workouts on their blogs and while I was not that impressed at first (the site is heavily geared towards being eye candy for guys IMO) when I stopped to actually check out the workouts I was fairly impressed.

And I like the idea of doing a short, intense workout as opposed to hours in the weight room.

Has anyone else tried the Bodyrock.tv workouts?

Breakfast of champions - if champions ate quinoa

I did pick up some new bedding during my shopping trip to Ikea.

And it is doggie approved :-)

Abby testing out the new sheets. Connor is there too but you can only see his butt.

As I was perusing the pantry this morning I spotted my jar of nutritional yeast.

So this morning's breakfast was comprised of the following ingredients:

1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
1/4 cup of quinoa cooked in vegetable broth
4 florets of broccoli, chopped fine
a handful of spinach leaves torn into small pieces
1 button mushroom, chopped
1/4 of an onion
1 clove of garlic
2 egg whites

This turned out really delicious. And since I threw in the broccoli and spinach into the pot with the quinoa and let it all cook together it was super simple.

I did cook the garlic and onions in a skillet over low heat while the quinoa simmered. When the onions just started to caramelize, I tossed in the mushrooms, covered the pan and let it cook another 5 minutes.


I pulled the onions, garlic and mushrooms out of the pan and then added in the 2 egg whites. I let them cook on low until just set.

Oh, yes, and I stirred in 1 Tbsp. of nutritional yeast into the quinoa when it was done cooking. The nutritional yeast added a nice cheesy flavor that paired really well with the slightly sweet taste of the onions.

I thought this was a great breakfast that was packed with protein from both the quinoa and the egg whites. And I got a nice dose of greens as well. It was definitely a breakfast of champions :-)

I enjoyed my bowl of quinoa with a plump peach and a big mug of tea with soymilk.

I can't believe it is Monday already. Where did the weekend go?

Savory pancakes

Oh, my! - what a way to start the day...

Savory pancakes.

As per usual, I woke up and stared into my refrigerator to figure out what to have for breakfast.

And because I don't keep a big stock of groceries I had this to work with:

- Steamed broccoli left over from last night's dinner.
- Some AP flour.
- 1 egg.
- The package of cherry tomatoes I am trying to work through.


My first thought? I need coffee. My second thought? Savory pancakes!

So, I walked down the street and got the needed supplies:

Coffee and milk.

I needed time for the caffeine to kick in so I started with caremelizing some onions.

The onions went into a pan on low heat until they were soft and slightly brown.

Then I mixed some flour, baking powder, a pinch of salt, 1 egg, milk, the chopped steamed broccoli and the tomatoes (for specific amounts see recipe below).

You will need to adjust the amount of milk depending on how liquid you like your batter - I kept mine fairly thick and added in 3 Tbsp. of milk.

An adorable tomato peeking out.

 
Spoon batter into a saute pan on medium to medium high heat (just use the setting you use to cook regular pancakes).

When the first side shows just a hint of brown on the edges, flip the pancake.

A crumble of blue cheese on top.

These turned out halfway between a crepe and a pancake. The caramelized onions added a hint of sweetness without any added sugar. The broccoli added nice texture and occasionally getting a burst of tomato flavor? Amazing!

I also ate the orange you see in the background.

Hot sauce would also work as a good condiment for these babies.

Savory pancakes

Serves 1 (makes 4 -6 small sized pancakes)

Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup of AP flour

1/8 teaspoon of baking powder


 3 Tbsp. of whole milk

1 pinch of salt

1/4 onion, chopped

Cracked black pepper to taste

1/2 cup of steamed broccoli, chopped

1/4 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved

Crumbled blue cheese for garnish

1 teaspoon of olive oil (for sauteing) 

Directions:

Chop the onion and add into a saute pan on low heat with 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil (use more if your pan is not well seasoned). Let the onions cook until they are very soft and beginning to brown. Take them off the heat and set aside.

Combine the egg, flour, baking powder, salt, milk and black pepper. Stir in the cooked onions, chopped broccoli and halved cherry tomatoes.

Put the batter in the fridge for about 20 minutes to let the batter set up (feel free to omit this step).

Heat a saute pan on med to med high heat with 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil. Drop batter into pan and flip when the edges of the pancake start to turn brown. The pancake is ready to plate when both sides are brown.

Garnish with blue cheese or hot sauce.

Enjoy!