My Egg White Omelette

I am a Zumba fitness instructor, and I teach classes fairly early in the morning. So, needless to say, I have to eat breakfast. However, it has to be both light and enough to get me through my class (which is pretty killer - not that I'm bragging). My students are always asking me what I eat in the morning, so I decided to post an example of what usually do to fuel up.

I start with three egg whites, which I beat until fluffy. I use my Magic Bullet, but any blender would do the trick. If you don't have a blender, a fork or whisk works great, too.

In a small skillet, sprayed with a little cooking spray, I cook the egg whites to form a little patty, kind of frittata-style. No scrambling. Just cook it on one side until it's done, then flip and cook on the other until that side it done. Set aside.

Then, in the same pan, I saute a little chopped garlic, chopped garlic, and chopped mushroom until they are nice and tender.

I then add a little chopped tomato and cook until they are warmed through. Basically, you cook them until they are how you like 'em. :)

Then, I add a little fresh baby spinach and cook until it wilts a little (again, this is all to taste).

After all the veggies are done, I put them in the middle of the egg patty. Fold the patty over the veggies, then ENJOY!!

You can use any veggies that you like. I use whatever sounds good to me at the time, but basically I stick to what I've listed here. Plus, I chop and prepare as much as I can the night before, that way I'm not having to chop garlic, separate eggs, etc. in the mornings. This is such a user friendly recipe that you can adjust any of it to your liking.

Oatmeal Muffins with Dates, Cranberries, and Pecans

Go figure - posting for two days in a row. :)

So, I found this recipe on a blog that I follow called The Brown Eyed Baker, and I had to try it. I LOVE anything with oatmeal, and I'm trying to develop that in my kids, too. Plus, I thought this would be a quick, easy, and healthy breakfast for school mornings. Dillon, 6, really liked them - he ate 3. :)

I made one adjustment. I used half while flour and half whole wheat flour, and I did not pack the brown sugar (the original recipe did not specify either way). Also, I think next time I may chop up some dark chocolate and mix it in there, too. Mmmmmmm . . . .

Oatmeal Muffins with Dates, Cranberries, and Pecans

1 cup traditional rolled oats

1 cup all-purpose flour ( I used half all-purpose and half whole wheat)

½ cup light brown sugar (I did not pack it, but since it didn't specify - your choice)

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ cup finely chopped pecans (or walnuts)

1/3 cup chopped dates

1/3 cup dried cranberries (or raisins)

4 ounces (½ cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup buttermilk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper baking cups.
2. In a large bowl whisk together the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir in the pecans, dates and dried cranberries. In a separate medium bowl whisk together the butter, buttermilk, egg and vanilla.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to gently stir together just until the ingredients are mixed and moistened.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the muffin pan for a few minutes and then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Red Velvet Trifle

Okay, so I know it's been a LONG time since my last post. BUT I promise this one is a good one!!!

I took this dessert to the Elementary School for their Christmas teacher lunch. I got a lot of requests for the recipe, so I just decided to post it here. I hope everyone likes it Let me know what you think. :)

Red Velvet Trifle

Cake:
2 cups sugar
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 ounces red food coloring
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vinegar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Mix cocoa and food coloring together and then add to sugar mixture; mix well. Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla. In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture. Pour batter into large cake pan (I used a 12x18 Wilton pan). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely. Then remove cake from pan and cut into cubes, whatever size you want them to be - I cut them into approx 1"x1" cubes.

Icing:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup melted marshmallows
1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar

Directions

Blend cream cheese and butter together in a mixing bowl. Add marshmallows and sugar and blend.

To assemble trifle, layer about 1/3 of the cake cubes into a trifle dish, then spread about 1/3 of the icing onto the cake cubes. Continue to layer, ending with the icing on top. Sprinkle the top of the trifle with chopped pecans (optional).

Watermelon Juice

I know I already posted this picture, but I didn't include the recipe.
My sister-in-law, Stephanie made this for all of us on the 4th of July. The kids loved them, and some of the adults added a little rum to ours to spice them up a bit. Next time I make it, I will probably blend it with some ice for a slushy kind of texture (probably do the rum thing again, too).

6 c. of cubed watermelon, blended
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. pineapple juice
one can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar and bring to a rolling boil, and simmer for 1 minute.
Strain the watermelon puree (I use a collander lined with coffee filters). Blend together the sugar mixture, watermelon, pineapple juice, and lemonade.
Serve over ice.

Blackberry Cobbler

I bought some fresh blackberries from the farmer's market. I was trying to figure out what to do with them, and I remembered that Daphne has a easy and fabulous cobbler recipe on her blog, Food Junkie from Texas.
Needless to say, it was great. Especially with Blue Bell Vanilla Bean ice cream. :)

Peach Glazed Chicken

We had a couple of peaches, and I love using fruit in my cooking. So, I decided to make a glaze for grilled chicken.
I pureed a couple of peaches, added some ginger, salt, pepper, honey, and rosemary (all to taste). I processed all that in the food processor until I got it to the texture that I wanted. You could probably reduce this down over the stove as well. Then I simply poured it over grilled chicken breasts.
It was sweet, but not too sweet, and so simple. Everybody really enjoyed it.

Fourth of July

We made a LOT of food for the fourth. Everything from really healthy to, well, not so healthy. We had a great time with my family for lunch and Chris' family for dinner. Now, I'm on a diet. :)

Fourth of July Cupcakes

There is really not a recipe, as these were from a (gasp) cake mix. We made red, white, and blue Funfetti cupcakes. So, no recipe just pictures.

We also made fruit kebobs (pineapple, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, and mango). . .

and homemade strawberry ice cream . . .

and watermelon juice (some of which were were spiked with a little rum).