Veggie Ham Egg and Cheese Bake

For an easy brunch recipe to serve for a large gathering, try this wonderful savory egg dish; made with part whole eggs, part whites, mushrooms, broccoli, bell peppers, scallions, tomatoes, ham and cheese.

You can modify this however you wish – swap the ham for lean sausage or leave it out. Swap the cheddar for mozzarella or leave it out for dairy-free. As for the vegetables, use whatever you prefer, no rules here!

My sister in law Denise recently made something very similar to this at a brunch she hosted and I knew I wanted to remake it (just a bit lighter). Her recipe called for flour but I tested it without and it worked fine, plus I swapped some of the eggs for egg whites, added a lot more veggies and use reduced fat cheese. This turned out wonderful, and you can prep it ahead and bake when your guests arrive. Enjoy!


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Egg Tomato and Scallion Sandwich

Sliced hard boiled eggs, juicy ripe tomatoes, chopped scallions with a touch of mayonnaise, salt and pepper – enjoy this for breakfast or lunch.

With Spring in the air, I thought I'd share this sandwich from the archives which I often make for my older daughter, Karina. It's inexpensive, easy to make and she loves it!

Before I left my previous job in Manhattan, there was a small cafe that served this simple egg sandwich that I was hooked on. It's so simple but the flavors just work with the tomatoes and scallions. Now that I work at home, I make it quite often for myself and my daughter as she often requests it.

Easy Tip: Keep hard boiled eggs in your refrigerator for a quick breakfast on the go, to add to sandwiches or even salads. It only takes a few minutes to boil a few eggs, here's a foolproof way to make perfect hard boiled eggs every time.


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Superfood PB Banana and Cacao Green Smoothie

Whenever I go to my local health food store, I like to challenge myself and purchase something I've never tried before. Last week I bought a small bag of raw cacao nibs which come from the bean of the cacao plant and is rich in antioxidants, fiber and magnesium. What I was expecting when I opened the package was the bitter taste when I put a spoonful in my mouth. But after asking around on Instagram I got tons of great feedback and ideas. I realized if you combine them with something sweet, the bitterness subsides and tastes like rich dark chocolate.

I've been playing around with them all week and decided to try them in my smoothie. Here, I combined almond milk, peanut butter, a really ripe banana with a few drops of stevia along with a handful of spinach. Aside from all the health benefits associated with raw cacao which you can read more about here, this tasted great and was very satisfying.

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Roasted Strawberry Protein Smoothie and a Vitamix Giveaway

Roasting strawberries in this smoothie brings out their amazing natural flavor in this creamy, protein packed smoothie – what a great way to start the day!

I discovered a new way to add protein to my smoothies... cottage cheese! This is a great discovery for me because I'm not a fan of the tang of yogurt in my smoothies. Cottage cheese makes it creamy with no tang, and has more protein than yogurt so it's perfect! I also love adding chia seeds to my smoothies which is an excellent source of fiber and omega-3's which is available at Target.

I'm sooo excited to review my new Vitamix blender for the first time. Wow, what power this blender has. And guess what… it's now available at Target! And Target is giving one away to a lucky winner!! All you have to do is leave a comment here and share your favorite smoothie recipe along with a way I can reach you if you win (email, twitter, Instagram). That's it, easy!! Good luck!!

RULES:  Giveaway is provided by Target and the Target Inner Circle and will run until Monday evening, March 31, 2014 open to all U.S. residents 18 years and older. A winner will be chosen at random using Random.org. Chosen winner must respond within 48 hours of notification to claim their prize or another shall be chosen. Good luck! 



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Bell Pepper and Potato Frittata

Egg frittatas are my answer to an easy, inexpensive meal solution whether I'm having it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. For breakfast, I'll serve this with a side of berries or fruit. For dinner, I make a salad on the side and call it a meal!

You can literally throw anything into a frittata and call it a meal, but I thought it would be fun to make this one a St Patricks Day theme which of coarse MUST have yukon gold potatoes, and to create a shamrock design, I sliced my bell peppers into flower shapes – completely optional! This one's vegetarian, perfect if you need a meatless Monday dish idea, and it's naturally gluten-free.

I'm not sure if there's anything quite as beautiful as farm fresh eggs. A friend of mine is raising chickens in her yard and gave me some of her eggs and the colors were so beautiful I almost didn't want to crack them. The yolks are so orange, it's hard to believe I made this frittata with half egg whites.

If you want to see more Skinny St Patrick's Day recipe ideas, Target's blog: A Bullseye View did a roundup of some of their favorite Green Skinnytaste recipe, click here to see more!

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Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread Muffins

These whole wheat Irish soda bread muffins are delicious, the perfect start a lazy cold March Sunday morning. Speckled with raisins, they are sweet and perfect enjoyed with a hot cup of tea.

Plus, making them in muffin tins is perfect for better portion control. I first posted these back in 2010, and almost forgot just how good these were! I used a combination of King Arthur unbleached white whole wheat flour with unbleached all purpose flour, and the flavor and texture was perfect – they don't taste whole wheat at all. If you like caraway seeds in your bread, you can add about an eighth of a teaspoon.

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Low Fat Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Sunday mornings are a little better when I make these deliciously moist muffins. These muffins make a regular appearance in my home whenever I have ripe bananas I need to use up. Everyone loves them around here – if you try them you'll know why!

I resurrected this recipe from the archives for those of you who haven't tried these yet. They are so good, and quite popular here. When I first created this recipe, I found the best way to get the peanut butter taste without the added fat was to use use Better'n Peanut Butter which I find at Trader Joe's. You could also use PB2 if you wish. I put a little extra peanut butter in the center of each muffin to give you the extra peanut butter flavor with every bite. Of course, if you wish to use regular peanut butter that's fine too, only you'll have to adjust the nutritional info.

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Kale, Banana, Chia, Hemp Superfood Smoothie

Baby kale, chia seeds, banana and shelled hemp seeds – this smoothie is packed with nutrients and it's quite delicious and satisfying. It's also vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free.

If you're wondering why I haven't been around as much these past two weeks, I just spent an amazing two weeks on set in NYC for the Skinnytaste Cookbook photo shoot! It was a wonderful experience and I worked with a great group of inspiring people who truly love their job. I miss them already, but I'm also happy to get back into a normal routine and this smoothie was the perfect way to start my Monday morning!

I'm obsessed with sweetening my smoothies with dates. It's the best way to sweeten a smoothie naturally without the need to add sugar plus it adds fiber. I just wish someone would invent a date paste, it would be so much easier to dissolve in the blender (does this exist?). Until then, I find it helpful to let the dates soak in a little boiling water to soften them before adding to my blender, and I let my blender run a little longer. 

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Blueberry Kale Smoothie

Don't be afraid by the color of this smoothie, I promise it tastes better than it looks! The dark color is from antioxidant rich blueberries and kale (one of the healthiest vegetables on the planet). Black is the new green!

Combined with almond milk, peanut butter, ripe banana and dates, this smoothie is naturally sweet, filling and so good for you!

For those of you on Weight Watchers, I never know if I should count the fruit in my smoothies. Some say no, others say yes. I've decided to count the dates, but not the banana and blueberries – your call!

Here's a helpful tip: When your bananas are brown, freckled and look like they're ready to be thrown out – peel them, cut them and put them in your freezer, they are perfect in smoothies! Buy organic berries when they go on sale, and freeze them too!


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Banana Cranberry Bread

If you have ripe bananas lying around, today is the perfect day to make this wonderfully moist banana bread studded with tart ruby cranberries!

It's snowing here today – the kind of day I look for any excuse to turn on my oven so I can warm up my home with the scent of fresh baked goodness. With ripe bananas on my counter, and some cranberries left over from yesterday's pear-cranberry crumble, I knew exactly what I wanted to make.

This bread turned out moist and wonderful, I love the contrast of the sweet bananas with the tart cranberries in each bite. Some other Skinnytaste banana bread recipes you may enjoy are Banana Nut Bread,  Roasted Strawberry Banana Bread, Petite Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Loaves, and Pumpkin Banana Bread.

Stay warm and enjoy!

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Morning Maple Cranberry Pecan Oat Bars

 

Chewy bars with chunks of toasted pecans and dried cranberries combined with toasted oats, almond butter and pure maple syrup. I'm in LOVE with these bars!

I made these bars last week and I couldn't wait to share them with you. I've been eating one every morning for breakfast (in fact I am having one now as I type this). These are by far, the best tasting bars I've ever had, they are chewy and have great texture, made with wholesome ingredients – one bar is a meal and it's perfect to take on the go. They are also egg free, dairy free, vegan, and can be made gluten free if you use gf oats. Next time I make these, I plan on rolling them into smaller balls and turning them into healthy cookies instead.

The recipe is very slightly modified from the Power Hungry: Ultimate Energy Cookbook. Camilla really knows how to make great tasting breakfast bars, you may remember the banana split bars I made a few month back also from the same book.

You can use any type of mild flavored unsweetened nut butter, such as almond, cashew, or sunflower seed butter. Peanut butter would also work perfectly well in this recipe, but it can overwhelm the flavor of the maple syrup. Toasting the oats and pecans adds tremendous flavor, but if you are in a hurry, you can skip this step.

Once made, individually and tightly wrap the bars in plastic wrap. Store the bars at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Alternatively, place the wrapped bars in an airtight container and freeze for up to three months. Let the frozen bars thaw at room temperature for about 1 hour.

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PB + J Smoothie and Better Blog Retreat

Strawberries, blueberries, peanut butter and almond milk – this is my favorite smoothie to order when I'm at my gym. It tastes almost like peanut butter and jelly – but it actually has no grapes.  I often make this myself at home; the peanut butter is a great source of protein and keeps me full until lunch and I just love how it tastes.

I just got a new KitchenAid 5 Speed Diamond Blender thanks to the Better Blog Retreat and I immediately knew I was going to make this smoothie to put it to the test. The blender is quite powerful and crushes ice perfectly. I give it two thumbs up!

I've been doing so much traveling these past few weeks and I'm a bit behind in sharing my amazing four days spent in Park City, Utah with some of my favorite blogging friends for the Better Blog Retreat hosted by Maria from Two Peas and Their Pod and Heidi from Foodie Crush. 

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Breakfast Egg White Spinach Enchilada Omelets

 

Enchiladas are one of my favorite all time favorite Mexican comfort foods. But enchiladas for breakfast you might ask? Well I say yes, why not! These are low-carb, gluten-free and grain-free by using egg whites as my "tortilla" – they turned out awesome! You can also have them for dinner – perfect for Meatless Mondays!

These are basically glorified egg white omelets, stuffed with sauteed spinach and topped with enchilada sauce, avocado and cheese. Prep them ahead and bake when ready to serve,  make them as hot or mild as you want. I used Frontera green chile enchilada sauce to speed this up, but I also think this would be awesome with homemade red enchilada sauce.  If you follow a Paleo diet, simply leave the cheese off.

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Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes

Whole wheat buttermilk pancakes made with white whole wheat flour, pumpkin puree, pure maple syrup,  pumpkin spice and pecans – a perfect lazy Sunday morning breakfast.

I'm not a big breakfast person, usually a green smoothie, a simple hard boiled egg or some overnight oats in a jar is all I need to keep me fueled until lunch. But on Sundays, we wake up a little later and have more time to make a more extravagant breakfast. My kids love pancakes so I often treat them to Sunday pancakes. Now that pumpkin season is here, I've been making these nutty pumpkin muffins – they are so good no one knows I use whole wheat flour in place of white flour. Happy Sunday!

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Pumpkin Spice Quinoa Breakfast Cookies

These good-for-you cookies made with quinoa and pumpkin spice are the perfect Fall treat, whether you have them for breakfast, snack or a post workout bite!

I just returned from a fabulous weekend in Park City, Utah for the Better Blog Retreat and asked Leanne to guest post in my absence. Please welcome today's guest poster and Holistic Nutritionist, Leanne Vogel of Healthful Pursuit.

Hi Everyone! I was testing recipes a couple of weeks ago and figured out that oats could be replaced with cooked quinoa in just about any oat-based cookie recipe. Since then, I've gone a little cookie crazy. I've made these Quinoa Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies, Quinoa Zucchini Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies, and Quinoa Banana Bread Bread Breakfast Cookies. They're just SO good! Gram for gram, quinoa has less fat, less calories and less carbs than rolled oats. And, the super, ultra bonus to it all? Quinoa is naturally gluten-free and isn't considered a "grain" (it's a seed!), which means it's going to be easier for your body to digest it. This little super seed has it all... and so does this breakfast cookie recipe that I've made for you today ;) Enjoy!
 
 

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Whole Grain Apple Nut Muffins

Whole grain apple muffins made with fresh apple, applesauce, walnuts plus a combination of bran flour, white whole wheat and almond meal with a granola topping.

It's apple season and I picked up some gala apples at the farmer's market last week to make a great big batch of crock pot applesauce. Last year I used that applesauce to make an applesauce nut bread which I love, and it inspired me to experiment with almond meal, wheat bran and flax to come up with these delicious muffins. I love how moist they turned out, and I saved the extra in my refrigerator to eat for the week – they stayed moist for days!

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Easy Tomatillo Huevos Rancheros

Once in a while, I crave something different for breakfast; something with a little flavor and spice to wake up my taste buds. And that's when Huevos Rancheros land on the menu in my home. But this time, rather than making them the traditional way, I had some tomatillo salsa lying around and I thought why not simmer the eggs in there.



Turned out brilliant, and I only dirtied one pan – even better. But the best part was this took less than 10 minutes to make, so all in all it turned out to be a great morning.

And by the way, I'm excited to have partnered with Eggland's Best for my first sponsored post with them. I'm sure you can tell if you've been following me for a while that I only work with brands I would use in my own kitchen and I have always loved Eggland's Best so this was a no-brainer. Plus, I'm sure a lot of you are curious as to what makes their eggs different than other eggs on the supermarket shelf. Aren't they all the same you may wonder?



A few things actually set them apart. First their diet (the chickens are fed an all-natural diet of healthy grains, rice bran, alfalfa, sea kelp, canola oil and vitamin E, they are never fed recycled food, animal by-products or processed foods) and because of this they have less saturated fat, more vitamins, double the omegas and more Lutein than ordinary eggs found in the supermarket. Makes total sense, plus they never use hormones, antiobiotics or steriods on their chickens, which is always important to me.

This dish is gluten-free and perfect for Meatless Mondays as a lunch or dinner. To make it a main meal I would serve this with a big ole salad or some Fiesta Lime Rice on the side. Enjoy!


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Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Breakfast Cookie

Oats, ripe bananas and chocolate chips – these healthy, "breakfast" cookies are chewy and delicious, and made with just three ingredients.

I was craving chocolate this morning, and decided to whip up a batch of these yummy cookies for breakfast (I ate 4 cookies, for 4 points). Some of you may recognize them, in the past I made them with walnuts in place of chocolate chips.

I would never eat cookies for breakfast, but these are made with healthy ingredients – oats, bananas, and a handful of chocolate chips (antioxidants, right?) with no added sugar or flour. If you wanted, you could replace the chocolate chips for cocoa nibs, raisins, craisins, whatever! Perfect for breakfast, snack or any time you crave a sweet healthy treat. And these are nut-free, gluten-free and egg free so they are perfect for different diet restrictions.

The riper your banana the better, so make these when your bananas are almost black and freckled with dark spots.

I personally think these are best eaten warm, right out of the oven. They taste almost like mini banana bread muffins, the texture is soft and chewy, not crisp like a dessert cookie. If you're expecting a crispy cookie you would keep in your cookie jar – you WILL be disappointed. But if you have a very ripe banana hanging around your counter, and you are craving chocolate... make these! You will be happy you did.

If you want more of a "traditional" oatmeal cookie recipe, then try my Low Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies instead... but I wouldn't eat them for breakfast.

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Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Smoothie

If you're looking for a heart healthy, dairy-free breakfast loaded with fiber you can eat on the run, this is it!

In South America, it's common to drink avena, a delicious oatmeal shake usually made with whole milk, cinnamon and sugar. My oldest daughter loves it, you can see my original recipe here. I've made it with pumpkin, but I was curious to see what would happen if I used unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze almond milk instead, along with blueberries and banana. The outcome was really good, I added some raw sugar to sweeten it, but you could even use stevia or whatever sweetener you would normally use.

This is best if you make it and drink it right away. If you only need one serving, cook all the oatmeal in water as instructed below, but use only half of the cooked oatmeal in the blender and save the other half for the next day.

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Skinny Mini Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

These mini pumpkin spiced muffins are made light with pumpkin puree and egg whites and loaded with chocolate chips in every bite!

I don't know about you, but I'm so ready for Fall... cozy sweaters, boots and jeans, changing leaves, apple picking and of course pumpkin! Even if it's still warm out, these mini pumpkin muffins will get you in the Fall spirit and they are perfect for breakfast with a Skinny Pumpkin Latte or to put into your kid's lunch box for a healthy, homemade snack.

You can make them in a regular sized muffin tin if you prefer, you should get around 14 larger muffins and the nutritional info should remain the same. And if you want more pumpkin recipes, I have TONS, check out my Skinny Pumpkin Recipes in the Index or follow my Skinny Pumpkin Madness Pinterest Board.

Enjoy!!

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