Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches

I made sandwiches from the following blog:  http://www.macheesmo.com/2010/03/breakfast-sandwiches/

They are only 240 calories each and will be my breakfast for the next week.  I added some ham too.  So tasty :)

Rainy Sunday...

It is a crazy, rainy day in Chicago today.  I woke up, went to WW, and caught a bus just before the downpour began!  After WW, I went to church which was nice with the rain and thunder in the background.  Walk home... not so nice!  My dress was soaked!

After I got home I made lunch, a "breakfast" quesadilla.  So easy and yummy!

All I did was make up the Mexican Egg Scramble without adding the cheese.  Then I plopped the egg scramble into a tortilla, covered it with 1/4 cup of cheese, folded it in half and put some EVOO on top of it.  Finally, I put it under the broiler for 3 minutes on each side.  MMM!

9 Points+

If you live in Chicago, have an amazing day of book reading, Wii playing, and Netflix watching :)

IMPORTANT!

I feel the need to announce two things.........
1) Today is the PERFECT day for a run.
2) High Fiber Oatmeal with 1 T. of White Chocolate Wonderful PB is the most amazing breakfast in the WORLD!  LOVE IT!  7 Points+

Mixin' Things Up!

I had a fun WW meeting on Wednesday!  We were so chatty that we never even got to the topic of the week.  One guy said something that I thought was interesting.  He said that when he started WW he would pack for the week.  He would make the same lunch x 5 and store it in the fridge or freezer.  After awhile he started to mix things up and he tried never to repeat things.  This made eating fun for him and he also said he would like to think that he was constantly tricking his body.  One day he would have more points than he was supposed to, the next day less, etc.  Some days he would eat a lot in the morning and other days he ate his biggest meal at lunch.

I thought this week I would try to switch things up a bit too and get out of my routine.  Today I had my lunch for breakfast, my breakfast for lunch, ate two snacks (normally I don't snack), and made a super yummy egg scramble for dinner.

One amazing thing I discovered today that I now LOVE are bagel thins.  Take 1 bagel thin, top the halves with 1 wedge of Laughing Cow (any flavor), and top each half with one sliced tomato.  That's two veggie servings and amazing goodness!  The whole bagel prepared this way is 4 points+.

For dinner I prepared one amazing bagel thin and a Mexican Egg Scramble.  The recipe is below:

On the stove heat up some sliced orange, green, red, and yellow peppers along with 2 spoonfuls of Trader Joe's Hot Salsa (in tubs near the hummus).  After the veggies have cooked a bit, mix in 2 eggs and 3 T. of egg whites.  Scramble as always and towards the end add in 1/4 cup of TJ's light Mexican cheese.  6 points+ and SUPER filling!!!

10 Points+ for the whole meal :)

Apple and Banana Breakfast Bowl!

I got this idea from Une Vie Saine and mixed it up a bit!  First I microwaved an apple on high for 90 seconds (next time I would peel it first though), then I poured myself a bowl of Banana Nut Cherrios.  I topped the Cherrios with the apple slices and a sliced banana.  Then I poured in 1/2 cup of almond milk and sprinkled cinnamon on top.  MMM!

If you're doing WW it's 7 points with 2 servings of cereal and 4 points with only one.  I made 2 but then didn't finish my bowl!

Have a wonderful Saturday :)

Backwards Day!

I'm having breakfast for dinner tonight using only 8 points plus :)

Egg White Sandwich
Morning Star Bacon
Clementine
V8

Have a great night everyone!  Anyone waking up super early to watch the royal wedding?!

My Sunday Thus Far :)

I started Weight Watchers for real this time!  I think it will help to have a group of people to help me AND to get weighed in every week and to know that's coming.  So far I've made better choices and I plan to continue!

Breakfast: Waffle with 1/2 cup Cottage Cheese and Fresh Strawberries :)  This is so good and only 4 points!

Lunch: Salad with Buffalo Chicken Bites and Lite Ranch Dressing- 10 points.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Sunday Morning Breakfast!

I'm on spring break this week!!!  Ten days off to relax, spend time with friends and family, catch up on movies and reading.... SO excited!!!  My friend and I have also started P90X.  I'm doing the workouts but am not following the meal plan.  I'm also starting a running plan so P90X might have to be on my non running days or something once running gets more intense.  Right now I can easily do both.

Here is an easy and yummy breakfast I made today. 

Take 1/2 cup of Fiber One pancake mix and mix it with 1/3 cup plus a little extra.  Then pour it into a skillet on the stove.  Cook it as usual and plate it.  Then in the same skillet, add 1/2 cup of frozen mixed berries and 1/8 cup of syurp.  Heat until berries are no longer frozen and pour on top of pancakes :)  Enjoy!

In the past I've also topped them with slivered almonds but I didn't have any on hand today!  Another similiar recipe is to take a Kashi waffle and top it with cottage cheese and the berry mixture :)

Happy Sunday!

Today is off to a great start!  Why?  Because it's weigh in day!!!  Last Saturday I met with a wellness consultant who helped me develop some strategies for healthier eating and meal planning.  All week I felt better and had more energy however today was the day to get quantitative data to show if her plan was working.  The result- I lost 1.8 pounds which is more that I lost the whole month of February let alone in one week.  I know many people loose much more than 1.8 pounds but for me anything more than .2 is something to celebrate :)

Last night was fun!  I had friends over for a wine night.  We had lots of amazing, healthy, organic food along with some pizza rolls that someone brought!  They were yummy too though!  I'm so not a food snob!

Photo by Sarah Kim

This morning I slept in, surfed the internet while I drank my daily lemon water and now I'm finally getting around to breakfast- at nearly 11am!  Today's breakfast is a Peanut Butter and Banana Chia Breakfast Bowl which is AMAZING despite how it looks in the picture.

Peanut Butter and Banana Chia Breakfast Bowl
2 tablespoons of chia seeds
1 tablespoon hemp seeds
1 tablespoon goi berries
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
1 banana
1 glob of peanut butter (I like Peanut Butter and Co White Chocolate Wonderful)
drizzle of honey

1. Place chia seeds, hemp seeds, and goji berries in a tiny cup.  Add water, stir, and let sit for 5 minutes. 
2. While you're waiting, grab a cereal bowl slice 1 banana and add a glob (technical term) of peanut butter on top.
3. After 5 minutes, scoop out the seeds and put them on top of your banana.  Also add the pumpkin seeds.  Mix, drizzle with honey, and serve.

This is SO yummy and super healthy!  Have a great Sunday!!!

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas!

Well today is the day- the day to get back on track.  I got really frusterated when I made awesome choices  and didn't see the change on the scale.  Yesterday afternoon, I met with a wellness coach and she reminded me that if it took all of college to get to a place where I was unhappy with my weight, it will take a bit of time to loose it too!  She thought now was a great time to get the ball rolling with weight loss and it will speed up in the summer when people typically eat lighter and are more active.  So armed with her words of encouragement, I start off again today with new goals:

1. Start my day with a glass of lemon water.
2. Eat.  (I often go all day without eating and then eat too much for dinner).
3. Include protein in each meal but especially at breakfast!

Here is yet another picture of mush in a bowl.  I feel like most of what I like to eat is just a concoction of a ton of things mixed together- but it's so yummy!  It tastes SO MUCH better than it looks!

I started out last night by soaking 1/2 cup of steel cut oats in the fridge with some water.  Then this morning I drained the water, put the oats into a saucepan and added 1 1/2 cups of water.  Then I brought it to a boil.  After it was boiling I reduced it to a simmer and stired from time to time.  It takes about 25 minutes however during the last 5 minutes I added in my fruit (1 chopped apple and 1 banana), spice (1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon), and protein (2T of peanut butter).  I though this recipe would be amazing with Peanut Butter Co's Mighty Maple or The Bees Knees but I happened to have Dark Chocolate Dreams on hand and that was also pretty great!  If you do WW then it's 6 points plus per serving :)

I'm off to file taxes (maybe... I didn't get the car donation info yet!), get some work done, and workout later tonight... Happy Sunday everyone!

Saturday Morning Breakfast!

I love Saturdays!  Today I slept in (till 7) and made an amazing breakfast bowl.  In a bit, I'm off to tutor and then meet with a family looking for a babysitter.  The day will end, and most Saturdays do, with a fun night out with my friends :)  Saturday is by far the best day of the week!

Here was my breakfast concoction this morning...
1 cup Strawberries
1/2 cup Fage 0% Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup Cinnamon Burst Cherrios
1 tablespoon of honey (since I'm not used to Greek yogurt)

It was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!  It's 4 Points Plus if you're doing WW.  Enjoy your Saturday!!!

The World's Most Amazing Green Smoothie EVER!!!

I have heard about all the amazing health benefits of green smoothies and have been wanting to read Green Smoothie Revolution by Victoria Boutenko to learn more and get some good recipes.  Luckily, a good recipe came my way in one of Amanda Skrip's classes.  It is honestly the best smoothie I've ever had!  I followed the recipe as is, but you could also add some hemp powder for additional protein, vitamins, etc.

Ingredients:

1 cup of almond milk

1 cup frozen mango

½ frozen banana slices

Juice from 1 lime

1 large handful of baby spinach

Squirt of honey if desired

Mix in a blender and serve! :)  It makes about 1 tall glass with maybe a bit of a refill!

So everyone try this amazing green smoothie!  It makes a great breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack... anytime meal!

AND- if anyone is wondering, yes that is my Christmas tree in the background... it is nearly March- it NEEDS to go back in the closet till next year and soon!

Super Bowl Sunday and A High Energy Breakfast!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!!!  It's going to be a busy day for me and I knew I needed to start off with a good breakfast!  One of my favorite breakfasts that I always have on hand is my Yoplait Hemp Smoothie. Below is what you'll need to make it:

In a blender I mix 1 cup of almond milk with 1 serving of hemp protein powder.  Then I dump in the bag of Yoplait smoothie mix and turn the blender up to it's highest speed for a minute or so. 

It's 6 Points Plus for the whole blender full and it fills a tall glass.  I just used up my last bag of Yoplait Smoothie mix this morning so after this I might just use 2 cups of regular frozen fruit.  Yoplait smoothies are amazing but there is a lot of added stuff and the breakfast would be fewer points, less expensive, and "cleaner" if I used regular frozen fruit.

Out of all my yummy breakfast ideas, this one keeps me the fullest and gives me the most energy to start my day :)