Western Omelet Wrap

Breakfast- For me, it’s a necessity. Not an option. A must. I am a morning person so I always have something for breakfast before I rush out the door. This is not to say I don’t hit the snooze button like the rest of the world, but I always have enough time to grab some grub before starting the work day.

So on weekend mornings I like to take a little more time in the kitchen and prepare something I normally wouldn’t do on a weekday. Recently, I have been on a “clean out the kitchen and refrigerator and only buy necessities” kick….so as I glanced in the fridge I saw: some black beans left over from homemade nachos this past week, one tortilla, a bell pepper I was going to use for dinner this week, half an onion, and egg beaters. And of course the staples of the fridge….salsa, jalapenos, sour cream and shredded cheese.

So here goes the “Western Omelet Wrap”

Feel free to alter the amounts dependant on the number of people that will be eating with you but this recipe does not require exacts. It’s a preference thing…so I’m not even going to bother.

Enjoy your concoction of your leftover fridge items!

Tomato and Feta Frittata

Warmed feta…need I say more?!

Source: Weight Watchers
Serves: 4- 3 points plus

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1 small shallot (or small onion)
2 large Eggs
4 egg whites (or egg substitute)
¼ tsp salt- to taste
¼ tsp pepper- to taste
1 ½ cup grape tomatoes- cut in half if large
½ cup feta cheese
2 Tbs bread crumb, dried, plain, Panko variety if possible

· Coat a large ovenproof skillet with cooking spray and set over medium heat. Saute onion about 5 minutes or until tender.
· In a medium bowl, beat together eggs, egg whites, salt and pepper; stir in tomatoes and cooked onion.
· In same skillet that onion was cooked, spray again with cooking spray and set over medium heat. Pour egg mixture into pan; cook until almost set, loosening edges of frittata. Sprinkle cheese and bread crumbs on top.
· Place skillet under broiler; broil until cooked through and bread crumbs brown. This only takes about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Watch carefully so frittata will not burn.

Notes- I prepared this for two servings. Omitted the real eggs and used ½ cup of egg substitute. I didn’t have grape tomatoes so I just sliced up a regular tomato and drained them. It was great for a weekend breakfast!!

Leftover morning omelet

I always seem to find myself left with a ¼ of an onion….a handful of mushrooms….maybe some sort of greens (spinach or collard)…and if I’m lucky some ham or turkey. When it’s time to clean out the fridge, I turn all of these ingredients into a wonderful satisfying and healthy breakfast omelet. So take your leftovers, whatever they may be, and make your own concoction! Serve some fruit alongside and you’ll be set deep into the morning hours.

Ingredients:
Let your fridge do the talking!!

But I used:
Chopped onion
Sliced mushrooms
3 slices of Canadian bacon
Handful of collard greens
½ cup egg beaters

Sauté all the ingredients except the egg beaters. When they have reached your desired doneness, add the egg beaters. Freshly grated white sharp cheese would be a nice addition but my fridge didn’t have any of that.

My healthy breakfast turned out to be only two points plus!

Other things you might not think of throwing in there…. Tomatoes, asparagus, broccoli, sliced turkey…just think of an omelet bar at a hotel.
Delicious!

Lemon-Blueberry Oat Muffins

I think it’s funny how my eyes are always drawn to a recipe including blueberries….but yet, here I find myself cooking another one!

Source: Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook
Ingredients:
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 egg
1 egg white
1 cup fat-free milk
2 Tbl butter, melted
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Topping:
½ cup quick-cooking oats
2 Tbl brown sugar
1 Tbl butter, softened

1. In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. In another bowl, combine the egg, egg white, milk, butter, lemon peel and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in berries.
2. Coat muffin cups with cooking spray or use paper liners; fill two-thirds full. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over batter.
3. Bake at 400 for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the muffin comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
Yield: 1 dozen

Blueberry Pancakes

Whenever I see "blueberries" in a recipe, my eyes are drawn towards it to see the other ingredients. I have found some spectacular recipes out there such as: Lemon-Blueberry Bread and Blueberry Cobblers and who can live without Blueberry Muffins. So when I found one for Blueberry pancakes, I thought, "Why not?"

I'm not a huge fan of pancakes because I find myself hungry in oh about an hour and then I think that was a waste of points, but I think these might stick just a little bit longer.

This one comes to us by a great line of books called "Eat This Not That". Actually, the recipe is in "Cook This Not That" but you can find more about them here.

Ingredients:- I altered for 2 servings (7 points plus). Feel free to adjust up if you are cooking for more.

1 cup frozen blueberries (I'm sure you could use fresh as well)

1/4 cup water

1/8 cup sugar

1/2 cup plain Greek style yogurt

1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese or ricotta

1 egg

1/8 cup egg beaters

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup white whole wheat flour (you can use white flour you just won't have as much fiber)

1/4 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

*Mix the blueberries, water and sugar in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring often, for 10 mins or until the blueberries begin to break apart. Whisk together the yogurt, ricotta cheese, eggs and lemon juice in a bowl.

*Add the flour, baking soda and salt to the yogurt mixture and stir just until blended. (This will not be the consistency of the pancake batter you are used to. MUCH thicker)

*Heat a large skillet and coat with cooking spray. Add batter in large spoonfuls. Flip the pancakes when the tops begin to bubble, 3-5 mins and cook the other side until browned. Serve with the warm blueberries.

*I made 4 large pancakes

You will notice there is no syrup in these instructions. I actually agree with that. Believe me, I tried it for you and don't add it. Takes away from the taste of the blueberry sauce.

If you think your sauce is a little too runny, use a few Tbls of the blueberry juice and mix with some cornstarch and then add back to the sauce, should thicken up.

Lemon-Blueberry Bread

After a long and stressful day at work, I decided to try one of the recipes I discovered looking for new material. I had all the ingredients on hand so it worked out great. In my eyes, there is nothing more relaxing than putting a few simple ingredients together and watching it turn into a wonderful smelling beautiful looking and magnificently tasting treat.

If you like the taste of lemon then you are sure to love this easy to make bread.

Source: All Recipes Cookbook
12 servings

Ingredients:
5 Tbl melted butter
1 cup white sugar
3 Tbl fresh lemon juice
2 eggs (1/2 cup egg beaters)
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 Tbl grated lemon zest
½ cup milk
½ cup chopped walnuts
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
2 Tbl lemon juice
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar


1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan.
2. In a bowl, beat butter, 1 cup sugar, 3 Tbl lemon juice and eggs. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest; stir into egg mixture alternately with milk. Fold in nuts and blueberries. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool bread in pan for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine 2 Tbl lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl. Remove bread from pan and drizzle with glaze. Cool on wire rack and serve!


Notes: I used egg beaters instead of eggs. Used chopped pecans instead of walnuts. I also used frozen blueberries. If you let them thaw, they’re going to turn your batter purple so use straight from the freezer or fresh.

Broccoli Bacon Quiches

A breakfast quiche normally includes tons of cheese, eggs, milk and a flakey crust. This slimmed down version still has the cheese, eggs and milk but you’ll never miss the crust. The rest of the ingredients meld together nicely for a wonderful, filling and delicious meal that is sure to please your spouse or a crowd.

Source: Taste of Home Comfort Food diet cookbook
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
½ cup fresh or frozen broccoli florets, thawed and drained
½ cup reduced fat Swiss cheese
1 bacon strip, cooked and crumbled
½ cup egg substitute
½ cup half-and-half cream
1/8 tsp salt
Dash garlic powder (just a few sprinkles)
Dash lemon-pepper seasoning

Divide the broccoli, cheese and bacon between two 5-in. pie plates coated with cooking spray. In a small bowl, whisk the egg substitute, cream, salt, garlic powder and lemon-pepper. Pour over bacon mixture.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

*I didn’t have two 5 inch pie plates so I just used a regular 9 inch and cooked it for 30 minutes.
*Substituted the Swiss cheese for some shredded some Parmesan. I also didn’t have any lemon pepper so I sprinkled a little Mrs. Dashs’ seasoning in there.
*Next time I’ll double the broccoli and maybe add some other stuff like chopped onions, bell peppers, mushrooms. The sky is endless with this one!! Canadian bacon would also be a good addition. And I’ll probably slim down on the ½ and ½ and see what happens.
*You could easily serve this to more than two people but I would suggest bulking up on the ingredients to make it go a little further. Feel free to serve with a side of toast, grapes or some oranges.

Pumpkin Oatmeal

I know I've already done one oatmeal with pumpkin but this one is instant oats cooked in either the microwave or on the stove.

Ingredients: Serves 1 for 3 points
1 cup water
1/3 cup oatmeal
2 T canned pumpkin
1/4 t pumpkin pie spice
1/4 t cinnamon
1 T brown sugar
dash of salt

Boil water and salt. Add oats and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and enjoy! The pumpkin adds fiber and it helps cool the oatmeal down so you don't burn your tongue. Yummy!

Pumpkin Pancakes

Mix equal parts of pancake mix and canned pumpkin and then follow directions listed on mix! Yes, it's that easy and they are ohhh so good.

I always avoid pancakes because it never fails, I'm hungry in an hour. But these fiber packed beauties stuck with me until lunch. Also, I omit the egg for these pancakes. Enjoy and happy eating!

Fiber One Muffins- Reformed

Ingredients: serves 18, 1 pt each
1 box Fiber One muffin mix
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup water
1/2 cup egg substitute

Mix all ingredients until blended. Spray 18 muffin tins with cooking spray. Pour mix into tins and bake as directed on box.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese

Ingredients:
1- 8 oz low fat cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3 T brown sugar
2 t pumpkin pie spice
2 t vanilla

Blend all together and enjoy! What a wonderful topping to a toasted English muffin or a bagel thin.

Quick breakfast sandwich

We hear over and over "breakfast is the most important meal of the day." I always say, "I'll be late to work before I skip breakfast." I can't make it 30 minutes without filling my tummy with something and this is one of my favorites. Just takes a little time...so wake up 10 minutes earlier and treat yourself to a wonderful filling breakfast.

Egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute

Cheese, Borden fat free sharp for 30 cal

1-2 slices of 98% fat free ham

English Muffin, Thomas' Multi-grain light for 100 cal and 8 grams of fiber!

While English muffin is toasting, cook egg or egg substitute to your liking. Put ham in same skillet to warm up. Put together your sandwich and go!

*If you make it with an egg, breakfast is 4 points. Made with egg substitute, points count will be 2!

Blueberry Muffins

Perfect for a lazy Sunday morning....

Source: Taste of Home

Yield: 2 batches- 1 dozen per batch

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 T baking powder

1 t salt

1 t ground cinnamon

1 t ground nutmeg

Additional ingredients:

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

In large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Store in airtight containers in a cool dry place or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

To prepare muffin mix:

Place 2 3/4 cup cups muffin mix in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg, milk, and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in blueberries. Fill paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-21 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Notes: I used 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 unsweetened applesauce instead of 1/2 cup butter. Also used egg substitute instead of the egg. Next time I will spray the liners with cooking spray.

Some information about blueberries!!

*blueberries have been tested to have one of the highest ORAC values of any food in the world and the highest ORAC value within fruit!....what does that mean?? ORAC stands for oxygen radical absorbance capacity. It is a rating system for antioxidant power. Not only do blueberries have all these wonderful phytochemicals and antioxidants, this score means they perform well together and get the job done.

*blueberries keep your memory sharp

*good fighter of cancer

*lowers cholesterol

*contain anthocyanins which improve vision and brain function and guard against macular degeneration (eye disorder)

*frozen is definitely an acceptable alternative to fresh

*eat them frozen with a dollop of yogurt, throw them on a salad or mix in for a shake!