Single Girl Stuffed Pepper Breakfast Bake

It's Thursday. I work late on Thursdays so I can sleep in and have a relaxing breakfast. I know it seems like I post a lot of breakfast recipes, that's because I love breakfast food. I don't just eat it in the morning.

This is pretty easy to make and very filling.

Single Girl Stuffed Pepper Breakfast Bake
220 calories

So delicious!

The Line-Up:

This is going to be easy

Ingredients:
1 bell pepper with the top cut off and scooped out
2 T. minced oninon
1 whole egg
1/4 cup egg white
1 oz cheddar cheese, medium, light

Place the hollowed out part of the pepper into a microwave safe ramekin and microwave for 1 minute to soften the pepper. Drain any liquid.

Chop your onion. You can also use onion flakes or omit this altogether if you're not a fan.

You can omit these if you're not a fan of onion

Whisk together (I'm going to use my magic bullet) the whole egg, egg white and onion.

Whiz it all for a few seconds

Add half of the cheese to the egg mixture.

Save the other half for later!

Scramble the egg mixture.

They're so light and fluffy.

Pack the eggs into the bell pepper and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

This would also be delicious in a hollowed out tomato.

Place under the broiler for a few minutes until cheese is all melty and delicious. You will thank me.

Ridiculously awesome!

Chocolate Strawberry Overnight Oats

It's been so hot here the past few weeks. Overnight Oats have become my new thing. I've played around with a few different kinds. Last night I prepped this dessert-like breakfast.

Chocolate Strawberry Overnight Oats
230 cals

Oh no you didn't!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup almond milk (I like the sweetened vanilla)
1 1/2 t. Cocoa
3 oz. sliced strawberries

In a container or jar (that has a cover) mix the oats and cocoa together, add the almond milk. You can add the fruit now or in the morning. Cover and refrigerate overnight. I added a dollop of fat-free cool whip for an additional 20 calories. Honestly, I felt like I was eating dessert for breakfast.

Single Girl Mac 'n Cheese

It's finally a cool day here. It's been in the 30s (celsius, I'm Canadian remember?) all week with wicked crazy humidity so I haven't been cooking much. This past week I've been living on salads and a cooked rotisserie chicken I bought from the grocery store, I couldn't stomach the thought of turning on the oven. Since it was a bit cooler today I decided to make something that would keep well in the fridge for a few meals in case the weather heats up again. This Single-Girl Mac 'n Cheese makes four fairly large servings. Pair it with a garden salad and you've got an awesome evening meal.

Single-Girl Mac 'n Cheese
 285 Calories per serving

If you look closely you can see the rain pouring down outside

Ingredients:

200 grams pasta (I used 100grams whole wheat rotini and 100 grams white elbow macaroni)
3 strips chicken bacon - cooked
1 small yellow onion - diced
2 ounces light medium cheddar cheese (the stronger the cheese flavour the less you have to use)
2 wedges of light Laughing Cow Swiss cheese
2 cups skim milk
2 T flour
1 t dry mustard powder (or 1T of regular mustard)
1 t black pepper
1/8 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions:

Measure your pasta and boil a pot of water (salted if you're not watching your sodium intake like me)

I love to mix it up with a couple different kinds

Spray a pan with your favourite brand of spray oil and cook the bacon over medium-high heat.

I love this brand of chicken bacon

While that's cooking dice a small yellow onion. Remove the bacon and re-spray the pan before adding the onions.

While the onions are cooking grate 2 ounces of a strong flavoured cheese.

Light, medium cheddar

And chop the bacon

Life is so much better with bacon

Next you're going to want to create a thickening agent for your sauce. Traditional mac 'n cheeses have you adding flour to some melted butter in a saucepan. Since we're lightening it up that's not a good idea. A couple of tablespoons of flour in a half cup of the skim milk do the same trick. I used my magic bullet to create my thickening because it's easy and there aren't any lumps. If you don't have a magic bullet I recommend adding a small amount of milk at a time to the flour and mashing with a fork to get a smooth result.

Liquids on bottom, flour on top, whiz for a minute or so

Once the thickening was ready I added the dry mustard and the black pepper and whizzed it again to get the flavours incorporated. At this point add any other seasonings you want, salt, paprika, nutmeg, chili flakes etc.

By this time the onions should be cooked. Add the other 1 1/2 cups of skim milk to the frying pan and give it a good stir to loosen all the good bits of onion and bacon from the bottom of the pan. At this point you'll want your pan to be on low to medium heat so you don't scorch the milk. Add the thickening agent and stir 

 together.

Oh man!

Break up the two wedges of laughing cow cheese and add to the pan along with about 3/4 of the cheddar cheese.

How is it even possible that this is 'light'?

Stir until everything is combined. Drain the cooked pasta and add to sauce. Stir in the bacon. Pour into a greased 8X8 pan (or parchment lined pan if you're lazy like me and don't want the clean-up). Top with panko bread crumbs and the remaining cheese.

Are you ready for all of this awesome?

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Divide into four equal portions. Enoy!

Best breakfast/lunch ever!

Essential Kitchen Tools

There are several things in my kitchen that I use pretty much every day. I recommend investing in these inexpensive items just to make your life (and cooking) easier. Most of the items on my list I bought at the local dollar store. Slowly I'll replace the cheaper items with more durable (read: expensive) items but for now the cheap ones are working just fine.

Becky's Top Ten Kitchen Tools 

The Countdown:

10. Plastic containers - LOTS of them. I make quite a few big batch recipes and store them in individual portion sized containers in the freezer.

9. Wooden spoons - several. I use them for everything and they're easy on my non-stick pots and pans.

8. A Non-Stick skillet. You can cook 80% of your meals in a skillet.

7. At least two cutting boards (one plastic for cutting chicken and meats).

6. Whisk

 5. Small dipping bowl. Great for salad dressings and sauces on the side.

 4. Microwave/Oven safe ramekins. Great for individual sized desserts.

 3. Spatula: Regular size and mini. Trust me, you'll need these.

 2. Measuring Cups and Spoons. What you think is a tablespoon of butter and what is actually a tablespoon of butter are two different things. Until you get used to real portion sizes I recommend weighing and measuring everything.

1. Kitchen Scales. I weigh pretty much everything. You get a more accurate calorie count and a more consistent product.

Quick and Simple Meals

It's Cod fishing season!! That means fresh fish, straight out of the sea. I got off work today and took a quick trip to my brother's house to get a few pieces of fish fillet. This was a super simple meal. Garden salad with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing and 6 ounces of cod fillet.

Fried Fish with Garden Salad

Simple and delicious!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

6 ounces cod (Tilapia would work as well) - 180 cals
1/8 cup egg white substitute - 10 cals
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (calories for 1/4 cup because you'll toss away half) - 50 cals
1 T olive oil - 120 cals
Total - 360 cals

Heat 1T of olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Dip the fish fillets into the egg white substitute, press into panko bread crumbs. Fry 3-4 minutes per side.

Salad Dressing

1t olive oil
1T balsamic vinegar
1T light feta cheese crumbles
Total - 65 calories

Whisk together (or blend in magic bullet) and pour over a garden salad. A typical garden salad - mine had baby romaine, carrots, mushrooms and bell peppers- is about 50 cals.

Total calorie count for the entire meal - 475 cals

SALSA!!!!!!!

One of my favourite condiments is salsa. I add it to tons of stuff including omelets. One of the downsides of my love for salsa is the amount of salt in the store-bought kind. I have high blood pressure so I have to be very careful about my sodium intake. You'll notice that none of my recipes have salt in them, if they do I've put it there for others to add but you can be sure the recipe works just fine without the salt. Store-bought salsa has a LOT of salt in it and when you eat as much of it as I do that can be a problem. I find it healthier (and cheaper) to make my own. One batch of this salsa will usually last me a few weeks unless I'm invited to a party (like tonight) and I take a jar with me. For this recipe I like for all of my canned goods to be either salt free or low salt. No salt added tomatoes can be found with the regular canned tomatoes so just read the labels carefully. Corn can easily be found with no salt as well. The black beans are harder to find with no salt so I just rinse them really well (they can also be omitted from the recipe if you don't like them but they add a lot of fiber which is good for you). 

Low-Sodium Salsa 
1/2 cup serving is 44 calories.

Makes about 18 servings (1/2 cup per serving).

Ingredients:

2 large cans of diced tomatoes, drained well
1/2 c Black Beans, canned, rinsed well
1/2 c Canned Corn
1/2 c No Salt Added Tomato Sauce
1 Chili Pepper (or 1 T chili flakes which makes a medium spice salsa)
1/4 c Red Wine Vinegar
1/2 c Onion,Chopped
1 t Minced Garlic
1 1/2 t Cilantro (optional, I've found a lot of people aren't fond of cilantro)
1/2 t Oregano
1 1/2 t Cumin

Toss everything into a large pot and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Store in jars, let cool slightly before storing in the refrigerator (prevents the glass jars from shattering). I'm not sure how long this would keep in the fridge, I've had mine for up to two weeks without problems.  Note: Save the leftover black beans and corn and check out Gina's recipe for Fiesta Lime Rice on one of my favourite WWs websites: Skinny Taste.

 

A full recipe makes one and a half of these jars

Healthy eating tip/trick: Going out to supper with friends is one of the hardest parts of eating healthy. We love to eat and try new restaurants. Appetizers can be loaded with calories (because they're usually deep fried) AND they can increase your bill quickly. About an hour before I leave I'll snack on Chipins (Tortilla style popcorn chips which are 60 cals for 10 normal sized chips) and 1/2c. salsa. This 100 calorie snack will prevent me from ordering an appetizer which saves me calories and money. Win!