Breakfast Inspiration at SparkPeople

90% of the time, I log in to SparkPeople using my laptop, rather than the app on my phone.  Usually I ignore the videos playing in the sidebar, but yesterday a recipe video from Eggland's Best caught my eye.  I'm glad I watched it because I can't find the video anywhere - at SP or on the EB site.  Even though I don't remember the exact amounts to use, I remembered the ingredients.  Here ya go:

One mini naan bread (which I found in the bakery breads section at Kroger)
Cream cheese (I used whipped cream cheese/greek yogurt)
grape tomatoes (cut in half)
fresh mozzarella (cut up)
fresh basil leaves (I tore them into smaller pieces)
salt/pepper  (a few sprinkles)
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 400* (I think).  Spread the cream cheese on the bread.  Top with tomatoes, mozzarella, basil.  Sprinkle with salt & pepper.  Break an egg over the top of it.  Bake until the egg is cooked.

Here's a picture:

It really is quite good and it wasn't much trouble to make.  More importantly, it's also not any trouble to clean up, as I just have to scrape the baking stone clean.

Some notes from my first attempt:

I wasn't sure if the video had said 350* or 400*, so I did 375*.  One thing I *did* remember, however, is that it said to bake it for 10 minutes.  10 minutes at 375 was not enough - the egg was not cooked at all.  So I turned up the heat to 400* and baked it another 4 minutes.  It still didn't look quite done.  I wound up going another 2 minutes.  Not sure.  So another 2 minutes.  I think it actually might have been ready 2 minutes prior to that, but it still tasted just fine.

Nutritional Information:

The mini naan bread has 150 calories.

The egg has 70 calories.

1 ounce of mozzarella has 80 calories.

2 Tablespoons of whipped cream cheese/greek yogurt has 45 calories.

Basil & tomato calories are quite minimal.

So overall, this seems like a pretty good breakfast to me.  It has a little bit of everything and the protein/fat/carb ratio (at my estimation) seems like a good balance.

Lonely Beans at The SuperCenter

I had to make a quick trip to Wal-Mart before heading home after church this past Sunday.  I headed for the food section and oh. my. goodness.  What on earth?  The snack food aisle was mobbed.  So was the beer aisle.  Luckily, I was not there to buy those things, because I bet I couldn't have gotten through.  Then I realized why.

Super Bowl Sunday.
Aha.

Since we weren't planning to watch the Super Bowl, I headed to the bean (canned vegetable) aisle.  The aisle was empty.  There was NOBODY buying beans but me.

I thought about the poor, lonely canned black beans.  Nobody wanted them.  A quick google of "the health benefits of black beans" yields a quick, neat summary.

"The beans are actually the edible seeds of the legume plant. Like other legumes such as peanuts, peas and lentils, black beans are prized for their high protein and fiber content. They also contain several other key vitamins and minerals that are known to benefit human health."

Well, with super qualities like that, they should be flying off the shelves, shouldn't they?

We eat black beans approximately once per week.  My family loves the two recipes I'll share with you here.
Quinoa & Black Beans
Black Bean & Corn Burritos

Maybe I'll see a few of you in the bean aisle soon!  Toot toot! 

An Anti-Inflammatory Concoction

I've been struggling with tendinitis issues in my arms lately, which is not good when you're a concert pianist.  So a caring, health-conscious good friend of mine (who also happens to be a professional violinist) gave me a recipe for an anti-inflammatory concoction she & her husband drink twice a day.  They are around the age of 70 but look and are as active as people 15 years younger than they are.  So I decided to give it a try.

Boil 1 cup of water
Add a 4-inch piece of organic ginger, peeled and sliced thin.  Slightly boil for 5 minutes.
Remove ginger and discard.
Add 2 tablespoons of organic coconut oil
Add 1 package of gelatin (whisk in while warm)
Add 1/2 teaspoon of organic turmeric

Drink a half cup of this mixture twice a day.  It helps to mix it in some orange juice.  You will need to microwave the second serving because the coconut oil & gelatin will solidify during the day.

My review...

Well... it's not horrible-tasting (mixed with orange juice) but it doesn't taste very good (no surprise) and I know I'm not going to take the time to make this every day.  The other thing that I wasn't crazy about was the calorie content.  Coconut oil is really high in calories.  One tablespoon has 120 calories.  That means I'd be getting about 250 calories each day from this concoction.  I'm a little person.  250 calories is a sixth of my daily caloric intake, so I try to choose them carefully.  I just don't see myself drinking this every day, as there have got to be other lower-calorie options.  Another friend suggested I look into turmeric capsules, so I think I will hit the health food store and see what I can find.

In the meantime, I had bought a pound of turmeric in anticipation of making a lot of this concoction.  I think I will give it to my friends.  It clearly works for them, and if you have the time to make this, you might find it works for you, too.

Recipe - Easy Macaroni and Cheese

I took a Crock-Pot recipe and modified it slightly.  I make it on the stovetop, as I found it all mixes together better.  Sometimes I'll make it ahead and put it in Crock-Pot to keep warm.

INGREDIENTS
32 ounces dry macaroni, or some other kind of pasta.  Shells, rotini, whatever.
1/4 cup butter (I use unsalted)
1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1+ tsp. ground dry mustard
1/4 tsp. paprika
16 ounces shredded cheddar

Directions
Make the pasta in a very large pot as directed on package.  While it's draining, melt the butter in the pot you just used to cook the pasta.  Add the soup, milk, cream, ground dry mustard, and paprika.  Mix it up so the mustard & paprika are not in clumps.  Add the cheese.  Mix until the cheese is melted.  Add the pasta back in and stir it up well.

You can put this in a Crock-Pot afterward and put it on the "Warm" setting if you need to make it ahead.

My kids like to sprinkle a little garlic powder and dried tarragon on their individual servings.

This recipe has been very popular with the high school marching band at their annual bonfire.

Recipe - Black Bean & Corn Burritos (or Enchilada Filling)

This is one of my "go-to" recipes that I created based on an old Lentil Taco recipe.  It feeds my grown-up family of 5, with a little left over for lunches the next day.  The only things that require chopping are the onion and the jalapeños.  (I suppose you could buy a can of chopped chilies and use that if you want.)  It is super quick and easy!

INGREDIENTS
olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cans black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can yellow corn, drained (or frozen corn, unthawed is fine)
1 can no-salt diced tomatoes, UNdrained
2 Tbs. chili powder
1 Tbs. + 1 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. dried oregano
8-12 slices of jalapeños (from a jar is what I use), chopped

Optional (for serving):
tortillas
shredded cheddar or Monterey-Jack cheese
shredded lettuce or spinach
salsa
enchilada sauce (red or green) - 2 cans per 9x13 pan
rice

Directions
Sauté onion in olive oil over medium heat until soft.  Add beans and corn to the pan.  Sprinkle spices all over and stir to coat everything with the spices.  Add the can of tomatoes and mix in well.  Add the jalapeños and stir well, so they're not clumped together.

Turn heat to low and simmer a little while (although you can eat this right away if you want.)

This filling can be served in soft tortillas as burritos, or you can roll it up in soft tortillas and make it into enchiladas.  You can also serve it over rice in a bowl.

If you have a little extra time and want enchiladas...
Put about 1/4 cup of filling in each enchilada.  Sprinkle in some shredded cheddar, if desired.  Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray or misted oil.  Put about 7-8 rolled-up enchiladas in the pan and cover with 2 small cans of enchilada sauce.  Cover dish with foil and bake at 350* for 40 minutes.

Recipe Review - The Happier Homemaker's Swirled Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread

I have no idea how I subscribed to the Happier Homemaker, but every day I get some new tip or recipe from her.  This one for Swirled Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread caught my eye.

I made the pumpkin part in my Kitchen Aid Mixer (using the regular mixing paddle) and the Cream Cheese portion in my 1-quart Pampered Chef Batter Bowl (using a large whisk by hand).  The cream cheese/sugar/egg/vanilla clumped up inside the whisk at first, and I had to use a butter knife to get it unstuck and back in the bowl.  This broke it up a bit, and afterward it whisked very nicely into a liquid.

I followed the directions and put half the pumpkin mixture in the loaf pan and topped it with the cream cheese mixture.  The next part of the recipe says to put the second half of the pumpkin mixture on top, so I was surprised when most of it sank.  I guess in looking at it, that the pumpkin mixture is more dense than the cream cheese part.  Anyway, I swirled with a knife, like the recipe called for.

After baking, it looked beautiful!

It was a little on the dense side, but sliced beautifully, and my family declared it delicious.  Definitely a keeper recipe!