Make Ahead Spinach, Bacon and Egg Sandwiches

It's about to get really really busy up in here. Next week, I'm on the longer shifts at work so I'll be starting early most days, then the week after we have a big big PR event that I'm partially responsible for, then we go on our dark and I'm away for most of two weeks... one week in Antigua, one day in New York, then two or three days in the mountains learning to Snowboard with the new boy. I'm learning, not him. He can already Snowboard quite well,  although there was an incident with a tree last season that best not spoken of.

When I go into a period where I'm about to get busy, I try and be smart and prep ahead with food in the freezer so I'm not busy and tired AND hungry. Honestly, you don't want me to be all three. I'm awful. I'll start by getting cranky, then I'll just live on the verge of tears where any little thing can make me cry. I am not fun when I'm busy and tired and hungry.

But the promise of vacation is coming. I think the last time I went on a real holiday was when I was a teenager. Every other time I've been responsible for someone else, or visiting family, or something else where I can't relax. I'm so happy I get to just take a week on a beach with no one but my Mum and Stepdad, and unlimited food, drink, beach and sleeping.

So anyways. Make ahead stuff. I've seen a version of this knocking around Pinterest for a while. I figured I would go ahead and play around and see what I could come up with. I'm a big fan of adding bacon to things, and when I was making this, I had a really really good idea. I was cooking the bacon, and prepping the muffin cups, and I was about to reach for some cooking spray when I said Nay! Thou Shalt Not Use Cooking Spray, Thou Shalt Use Bacon Grease!! And yea verily, a bacon grease smeared muffin cup was born. For I am mighty in my use of bacon. I love my brain sometimes.

So yeah, screw the spray, use the bacon grease. I made six of these and after they had cooled, I wrapped them in foil and put them in a freezer bag. When I want one, it'll be two minutes in the microwave, add a slice of cheese and an English Muffin, and I'll be out the door on my way to make people fly through the air.

Make Ahead Spinach, Bacon and Egg Sandwiches

6 Eggs
3 Rashers of Bacon, cut in half
1 Cup Spinach
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the over to 350F. Cook the bacon in a skillet until mostly done. Use a basting brush to coat six muffin cups with bacon grease. Layer in the spinach so that it is essentially lining the muffin cup.
Lay a piece of bacon in each cup. I like to flip it over a little so it's like a little ball of bacon. Break an egg into each cup and put a few grinds of salt and pepper over each one.

 

Bake in the oven for twenty minutes. Everything will be cooked through and delicious. Allow to cool then wrap individually in foil, and place in a freezer. To use later, unwrap from the foil, pop in the microwave for two minutes or a little longer if needed. Add a slice of cheese and an English Muffin and you've got breakfast. 

Eat hurriedly whilst heading to your car. Then double back because you left your coffee on the counter. 

Makes 6.

Healthy Scrambled Egg Wrap

I know, I know. I'm on another breakfast kick that I can't seem to shake. I'm not complaining, though, because this one is really really good.

I've mentioned a few times before that I went through a period of weight loss over the last year. It wasn't easy, and I'm still working my ass off to maintain my current level of fitness. I'm so much healthier, happier and I have more energy. These days I try and do a big run on Tuesdays.... hoping to reach my goal of being able to run a 10K (6.2 miles) in an hour by the 1st of December. I'm at 5.81 miles right now and continuing to push. I try and do at least three 20+ minute runs at other times during the week, and I'm also starting to add in some more toning and shaping.

I'm happy with how far I've come and I'm happy with where I'm going. The only problem is that I've come to realize that it's going to be very easy for me to backslide. Gone are the days when I could eat anything that I wanted. Now it's all about portion control. If I make cookies, I eat one or two and I don't eat half a cup of the dough any more.

So I'm frequently on the look out for lower calorie, flavorful food that I can put into my regular rotation. A while ago I decided that I don't eat enough veggies, so I starting going more for scrambled eggs with spinach and other vegetables, instead of my usual poached egg on toast.

I've made this combination as just a bowl of scrambled eggs, as a breakfast sandwich using Sandwich Thins, and as a wrap. Honestly, in my opinion, the wrap is the best choice. It comes together quickly and it's really delicious. It won't break the calorie bank, and it's nice and filling.

Healthy Scrambled Egg Wrap

1/2 Cup Spinach
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Egg Whites
2 Tablespoons Goat Cheese
1 Tablespoon Sundried Tomatoes (chopped small)
1 Teaspoon Butter Replacer (I use Store Brand I Can't Believe it's Not Butter)
1 Whole Wheat Flour Tortilla
Salt
Pepper

In a saucepan over a medium/low heat, melt the butter replacer. Add in the sundried tomatoes, egg and egg white, and a few grinds of salt and pepper. The key to scrambled eggs is cook over a gentle heat and to stir frequently. So, stir frequently and gently until the eggs are cooked most of the way through. Add the spinach and cook for a few more seconds, then add the goat cheese.

Warm your flour tortilla just a little by setting over the flame of a stove for 5 seconds each side. Turn out your eggs onto the tortilla, wrap up and serve.

Eat at the dining room table, staring out a window at rare fluffy clouds.

Serves 1.

Strawberry, Vanilla and Coconut Granola

 
A while ago I got on this kick. I became hooked on eating this granola that I would buy at Fresh & Easy with plain yoghurt. It became a really easy breakfast/lunch/between show snack. It's a great granola and my favorite thing about it is the chunks of freeze-dried strawberries scattered throughout.

I had pulled a recipe for french chocolate granola a few months back and stuck it on my fridge with the hopes that I would be inspired to try it, but every time I thought about granola, it was the strawberry one that I wanted.

The other day, I saw freeze dried strawberries on sale in the store and I had an Aha! moment. Why not just make my own big batch of granola? I buy it so often anyway and I had literally every ingredient except for the strawberries. So, scoop up the strawberries I did and I scurried home to whip up a monster batch of granola. Since I was making this for myself, I played around and added in some coconut and some vanilla.

This granola is extremely yummy. It's really filling. It's not super sweet, but it gives you lots of energy. I made double the amount here because I knew I would eat it all. I love looking at the jars in the pantry. They fill me with sunshiney joy.

Strawberry, Coconut and Vanilla Granola

3 Cups Oats (not quick-cook)
1/2 Cup Shredded Coconut
3 Tablespoons Sugar
Pinch of Salt
6 Tablespoons Honey
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1oz Freeze Dried Strawberries

Preheat the oven to 325F.

In a small saucepan, heat up the honey and the oil until it is very very liquidy. Take off the heat and stir in the vanilla.
 
In a mixing bowl, combine the oats, coconut, salt and sugar. Pour over the liquid ingredients and mix well to coat. Spread the mixture on a cookie sheet in a thin even layer. Put in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring at the ten and twenty minute marks until the granola is golden.

Take the pan out of the oven and let cool, stirring occasionally so that it doesn't form one big sheet. When it's cool, mix in the strawberries and store in a nice big glass jar.

Eat with plain yoghurt at the dining room table while reading the latest issue of Saveur.

Makes about 4 Cups.

Sausage and Pepper Cornmeal Breakfast Muffins

Yesterday was the first normal day I feel like I've had in a while. I got up, went for a run, played in my kitchen, went to work. Just like the 3-2-1 punch of the last couple of months never was. It was nice, but it was also strange and conjured up lots of emotionally feelingy type things. I'm working through those.

I'm also working through what I made in the kitchen. I've had these in my brain for a while and am very happy with how they turned out. I've had sausage in the freezer for a while and I wanted to repurpose it into something else that I could keep in the freezer and then defrost overnight and eat in the morning. I'm still mostly working on pantry-busting but it certainly got put on hold for the last month or two.

So, these muffins were born. They taste really great and have an interesting texture. The buttermilk makes them incredibly moist. They are hearty and filling and very easy to grab and go. They would be great for brunch with some scrambled eggs and orange juice.

Sausage and Pepper Cornmeal Breakfast Muffins

8oz Sausage
1 Green Pepper
3/4 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Yellow Cornmeal
3/4 Cup Grated Cheddar
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 Cups Buttermilk (I used Lowfat)

Preheat your oven to 350F. Cook the sausage and drain off as much of the grease as you can. Dice the pepper and add it in to the sausage and cook for another three minutes or so until the peppers start to soften. Set aside.

Sift the flour in a bowl and add in the cornmeal, baking powder, cheddar and salt. Add in the egg and buttermilk and stir until combined. Add in the sausage and pepper mix.

Either line a 12 space muffin pan with cupcake liners, or grease each individual space. Fill each cup with batter. It should make every cup pretty full and even.

Bake for 20 minutes until set all the way and just starting to brown a little. If you want, you can also grate more cheese on the top of the muffins.

Eat while figuring out the rest of your day and listening to Imagine Dragons.

These freeze really well.

Makes 12.

The Hash House

 

For a few of the days that my Stunt Guy was in town, his Mum was also with us. Mimi is an incredibly interesting woman. She's done a lot of really amazing things in her life and has a constant deluge of ideas coming out of her brain. I'm a big fan of hers. I was working my socks off this last couple of weeks. The Circus is going through a busy time, and my Stunt Guy was off at a convention that Mimi was also helping out at. So there wasn't much opportunity for us to have any family time. 

We managed to swing breakfast though on Mimi's way out of town. 

She is an avid fan of Chopped and she wanted to check out The Hash House, which is a Las Vegas breakfast spot that I'd vaguely heard of but never tried. It's up past the strip in a little shopping center. Very out of the way and definitely more of a locals spot than a flashy spot. 

The restaurant itself was pretty cute and old timey. Mary, the owner was also working as host and she seemed a little surprised that Mimi had seen her on Chopped. The restaurant was pretty quiet at 10am on a Tuesday.

Mary specializes in Hashes, and they were very prominent on the menu.

This is the Super Hash that my Stunt Guy ordered. It's basically a blend of all of their other hashes. Perfect when you don't know what you want and man it was absolutely delicious.

Mimi went for the Corned Beef hash, which was also really delicious. Not quite as interesting as the Super Hash, much more simply, but really good.

Me, it was Poached Eggs and Turkey Bacon. I was in the mood for something light, mostly because we had hit up Tacos El Gordo (for the fifth time) the night before. I have to say, this restaurant sure knows how to poach an egg. They were perfect.

After our food had been served, the incredibly timid waitress came over with a tray of little cups of homemade jellies. That's the tray in the picture above. We were really sad that they didn't lead with that tray, because we agreed we all would have ordered toast so we could try more jellies. The waitress also wasn't very confident on what the jellies actually were, but she did give it a valiant (if meek) attempt. She was sweet as pie but very timid. The jellies we did try, splitting up Stunt Guy's order of toast, were amazing. He loved the Apple Jalapeno, and I thought the Passionfruit was excellent. The Pineapple was also really good.

I'd love to head back to the Hash House and order their Super Hash some time. I'd also make sure I got a couple of rounds of toast to try their jelly tray. I wasn't crazy about the interior of the restaurant, it could certain do with a bit of freshening up inside if it's going to gain in popularity, but the food was really really good. Try it out and let me know what you think.

Mango Oat Pancakes

I go through breakfast phases. I often stay within the same phase for a week or two and then rotate. Sometimes it's yoghurt and granola, sometimes poached egg on toast, sometimes cereal with fruit. When my guy is in town though, I like to break out of the phase and make something different. Something that takes enough effort to say "I love you" but not enough to make me have to get up two hours early, tear my hair out, and curse his name.

We eat fairly healthy in my house these days, and having just splurged a little on the calories the night before, I decided to whip up some pretty darn healthy oatcakes. I made Mango the theme of the day because we had the making of some kick ass Mango Mimosas, and nothing says classy like drinking out of a champagne flute at 10 in the morning.

These pancakes are tailored for my guy. Healthy, hearty, fruity. They are also really easy to make because honestly the best way to put them together is to throw all of the ingredients in a blender. You could use other fruit than Mango to similar result here. What you get is a cross between oatmeal and a pancake. Yummy, hearty, healthy, fancy looking, easy to make.


Mango Oat Pancakes

1 1/2 Cup Oats
1 Cup Non-Fat Milk
1 Tablespoon Low-Fat Butter substitute, melted
1/2 Cup Mango
2 Teaspoons Equivalent Stevia or 2 Teaspoons Sugar
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Egg

Put all of your ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. In a non-stick pan, melt a little butter for just the first pancake. Pour a quarter of the batter in and cook over medium heat. When the edges start to get pretty tacky, flip the pancake and cook on the other side. The first side is about three minutes, the second side is closer to two.

Repeat for three more pancakes. Keep warm in the oven.

Top with fresh mangoes, raspberries or other fruit and syrup if you like. This would also be great with some non-fat yoghurt on top.

Serve with a mango mimosa if you can scrounge one up. Eat, sip, plan your day.

Makes two hearty servings

Blueberry Vanilla Honey Butter

Here's a super quick recipe for you today, since I am busy working on a multitude of projects. My schedule has started to get so busy that I actually went and ordered a day planner again, something I quit using when I started a regular schedule by working at the Circus.

It is kind of nice to be busy. I'm hoping that on Wednesday I'll have some kitchen time though. I've been living on salads and toast for the last week and I could do with something new and experimentational!

So, here's a recipe you can make incredibly quickly. Flavored butters are awesome for the aforementioned toast and are also great on pancakes, waffles, english muffins, or anything you'd normally stick something sweet and buttery on.

I made this recipe initially to go on top of cornbread muffins, but the cornbread muffins were a disaster. I'll have to play around with that recipe a lot before I share it here! But, the butter came out splendid, so give it a whirl!

Blueberry Vanilla Honey Butter

1 Stick of Butter, softened
1/2 Cup Blueberries
2 Tablespoons Honey
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Let your butter sit out until it becomes room temperature which takes about 30 minutes, or soften carefully in the microwave. Be cautious as you don't want it to be completely melted.
In a large bowl or a stand mixer, add all the ingredients together and use a sturdy whisk or a whisk attachment to beat the butter into submission and whisk everything together until it's a gorgeous blueberry flecked purple light mass.

If you grab some wax paper, you can dollop a bunch of this out and roll it into a log, then refrigerate. This will let you cut off pretty buttery disks. Or, you can keep it in a ramekin. Be sure to store in the fridge so it doesn't stay too soft. It really is delicious on pancakes and waffles, but is also quite spectacular on whole wheat toast.

Makes about a cup of whipped deliciousness.

Sausage and Pepper Breakfast Tortilla Pizza

There really is something to be said for simplicity. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I really don't feel like any of my standard go-to breakfast foods. I'm not always in the mood for a poached egg, or some cereal, or yoghurt and granola. So I tend to just not eat anything. Finally I cave into my hunger, and by then I want a little of everything... veggies, carbs, meats, cheese. Enter the Breakfast Tortilla Pizza. Sounds odd, I know, but this really is becoming one of my favorite little creations. 

I think what I like most about this is the texture. You get chewy sausage, creamy mozzarella, a little tang from the bell peppers, then the tortilla is soft in the center and crispy around the outside. It's immensely satisfying.

You can do anything you want with this concept, really. So long as you don't overload it, or use a sauce that is too liquidy. Try some bacon with blue cheese, or some fresh veggies with cheddar, or be super brave and smear it with slightly underdone scramble eggs that will finish during the broiling phase.

Sausage and Pepper Breakfast Tortilla Pizza

A word to the wise when eating this... hold it over a plate so you don't spill anything on your favorite pajamas!

8oz Sausage

1 Red Bell Pepper, diced

1 Cup Chunky Tomato Sauce

1/2 Cup Mozzarella Cheese (fresh is best)

4 Flour Tortillas

In a small frying pan, crumble up the sausage and cook with the bell peppers. Cook until the sausage is all the way done and the peppers are just starting to soften. 

Spread about a 1/4 Cup of chunky tomato sauce on four flour tortillas, being sure to leave at least 1/2 an inch of room around the edges. Divide the sausage and pepper mixture between the tortillas. Top with mozzarella.

Broil on low for 3 minutes. The cheese will melt, the edges will crisp, and simple deliciousness will rule the day.

Makes 4.

Other recipes you might like:

Poached Eggs with Tomato and Avocado

You still have a little time to enter my giveaway!

Bacon, Brie and Spinach Quiche

Normally, I use the phrase "When all else fails, just drink wine". I'm amending that today.

"When all else fails, just make quiche".

I sometimes think that I make too much quiche. It's my go to. My fall back when I have nothing in the freezer, or when I have extras of something that I feel like I need to use up. The story of this quiches inception story involves the latter.

A little while ago, I got into the habit of having a midnight snack of some really good brie on some toasted bread, or a couple of crackers. This with a glass of wine is what became my go-to after work for about a month. I'm still on the kick, but I've been trying to be better about eating things that are delicious unhealthy before bed.

One fateful night, I was heading home. I was tired and sleepy and I just wanted to curl up in bed with my snack of choice, a decent glass of red, and some early episodes of 30 Rock. As I was driving, I remembered devastatingly that I was out of Brie, and also out of cat food. I stopped at the 24 hour grocery store and sleepily grabbed some cheese and friskies, concentrating hard to ensure I didn't mix them up. I got home, toasted my bread and cut into my cheese. This was when I realized that I had picked up some decidedly sub par cheese. This was not the creamy brie that I had been spoiled by. This brie made me sad and unsatisfied. I crawled into bed with just my wine and pouted.

The next day I wrestled with what to do about the Brie. It was a slow day at work. I decided that if I was thinking about it at work, I should just go and pick up some decent Brie, dammit. So i did. The rejected Brie sat in my cheese drawer for a couple of weeks. I felt sorry for it. It hadn't done anything wrong and here it was, lazing around and going to waste.

So when I went through my freezer trying to take stock of the necessary pantry busting that was coming and found some bacon, I realized that I could make this Brie's life worth living. I could restore it to joy and glory. I could turn it into quiche!

So that is what I did.

Spinach, Bacon and Brie Quiche

I've posted a basic quiche recipe before in the early days of my blog. This one is very similar in structure and is a good base to use if you ever want to make a standard quiche. I have a real live quiche pan in the mail right now because I did get a wee bit tired of using my good old pie pan. I'm looking forward to christening it. For the filling, if you don't want to use cream, you can substitute it with half and half or milk.

The Pastry

1 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons (1/3rd Cup) Butter
2-4 Tablespoons Cold water

Make sure the butter is really cold. Dice it up and mix it with the salt and flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add a little water at a time and mix or knead until the dough comes together. You don't want it sticky at all. Roll it out until it's the size of the pie dish. Set into a standard pie or tart pan, spread evenly up the sides. If you have a standard tart pan, you may have some excess to trim off. If you are using a pie dish, you'll likely have extra pastry up the sides when the filling is in. Personally, I like the crunch, but feel free to trim it is you don't.

The Filling

6oz Brie
1 Cup Fresh Spinach, Chopped
4 Rashers Bacon, cooked crispy
5 Eggs
1/4 Cup Cream
1/4 tsp Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper

Preheat your oven to 350F. Cook the bacon until it is nicely crispy, then chop in into inch sized pieces. Chop up the Brie and layer it over the bottom of the pie dish. Cover with the chopped spinach, then sprinkle over the bacon.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream and salt and pepper. Pour over the fillings. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the pastry is cooked and the filling is set. Delicious warm or cold.

Makes 8 servings. Believe it or not, this quiche freezes beautifully wrapped in foil and then stored in a zip lock bag.