bacon, spinach, and mushroom egg muffins

We are almost half way through the semester, and midterms are closing in.  Things are speeding up like crazy!  I feel like I'm constantly grading and just trying to stay on top of things.  These kids hormones are raging too!  They have homecoming this weekend, and it seems like they have been pairing up all over the place.  Looking around the school and parking lot, you can see all of the imaginative ways the students have been asking one another to the dance.  They are so funny.

  With the semester moving so quickly, and the work piling up, breakfast becomes the hardest meal of the day for me.  It is hard to begin with because there are not many low-carb options for breakfast.  Secondly, those low-carb options are hard to eat on-the-go.

I know I've talked about this on the blog before, but truly, breakfast is the hardest meal to prepare when you have to be at work so early!  I've seen these floating around Pinterest and finally decided to give them a go and they are fantastic!  They are great on the go.  Just warm one up in the microwave!

Bacon, Spinach, and Mushroom Egg Muffins

Makes 12

6 eggs

1 box of frozen spinach

1 box fresh mushrooms

1/2 cup shredded colby jack cheese

1/4 cup 0% Fage yogurt

2 tbsp skim milk

2 tbsp of turkey bacon pieces

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat to 350.

Cook the spinach and mushrooms down over the stove.  While they are cooking, mix the eggs, cheese, yogurt, milk, bacon, salt and pepper together well.  The greek yogurt can clump sometimes, so mix well.

Spray your muffin tin with cooking spray well.  You want to make sure these pop right out!  Once the spinach has cooked down, mix it into the mushrooms in the skillet.  In each of the 12 cups, put some of the spinach and mushrooms.  Then scoop the egg mixture into each of the cups.  You can fill them up almost all the way.

Bake for 25 minutes and enjoy!

hazel's 1st birthday + dog treat recipe

Our little princess is celebrating her 1st birthday today!

David and I continually find ourselves declaring that bringing Hazel into our lives was the best decision we have made since being married.  We got her just before Christmas this past year.  She was much smaller then, and her hair was sort of straight!  If you want to see some pictures from when we brought her home for the first time, click HERE!

Our mini goldendoodle comes in just under 30 pounds.  She loves to curl up in our laps or snuggle all night.  David jokes that she has to be close enough to us to feel our heart beat at all times.  Hazel is sweet, loving, and brilliant.  We have given her so many nicknames, but most popular--Hazey, Hazette, Hazel Bunch and Baby Girl.  We are so blessed to have this precious puppy in our lives.

So of course, I had to throw a small party for my special little one!

For quite sometime I've been wanting to attempt homemade dog treats.  But I ran out of time to get to the grocery store for some of the recipes I found online.  I knew I wanted to use peanut butter, one of Hazel's favorites.  And I came up with something that she LOVED!

Frozen Peanut Butter Dog Treat

 1/2 cup JIF peanut butter

1/3 cup 0% Fage Greek yogurt

Melt peanut butter for 45 seconds, until creamy.

Mix in greek yogurt until consistent.  

Put a little flour on your hands and ball the mixture up.

Place in cupcake wrappers and freeze overnight.

Now, let your pup enjoy!

David's parents came over to join in the puppy fun too.  Hazel got many new toys at her birthday celebration, and she was VERY happy!  Except for when I put her hat on... she wasn't a fan of that.  But she loves her new flamingo!

Happy Monday! Love Hazey!

gluten free vs. low carb

I read a lot of blogs.  One of the things I consistently read about are people going on gluten free diets to lose weight.  As a person with a very special diet, I have had to read lots of books to truly understand what I can and can't eat.  When I first started this journey, I decided I would just go gluten free.  That's a diet right?

Unfortunately, it's not.  In fact, if you do not have celiac's, it's probably not a good idea.

What most people don't realize when they buy something gluten free, in hopes of dieting, is that it's actually made with rice flour!  And well, that means it actually has on average 10-15 more grams of carbs that regular flour.  So if you are doing the math, when I decided to try a gluten free diet, I actually GAINED WEIGHT.

Truthfully, the best diet is NO carb.  I turned to a no carb diet shortly after the gaining weight by accident, on a gluten free plan.  My dad recommended a book to me.  In fact, if you want a reason to steer clear from carbs forever, try reading Wheat Belly.  Trust me, it'll do the trick.  I read one subtitle and suddenly everything clicked "Be gluten-free but don't eat gluten-free."  It's amazing the adverse affects flour and even WHEAT flour can have on your body!  Wheat will make you tired, increase your blood sugar, slow your metabolism, make you hungrier, and make your belly fat!  Now I am not completely no carb, I eat limited fruit and very rarely a piece of bread (maybe at a restaurant or something).  Not too long ago I made the decision not to refer to this as a diet any longer.  This is a lifestyle for me.  And it has changed me.  I have lost weight and gained energy. It has motivated me to keep on going and continue living this way.

I have come up with ten tips to help anyone be successful on a low carb lifestyle.  I hope that if you are interested you will give it a try.

1. Use alternatives.

When you are cooking, it is very easy to use healthier alternatives in recipes.

For peanut butter cookies, use peanut or almond flour.  For "fried" or baked breading, use a nut based flour to coat.  Or make changes to your favorites!  Last Easter, I made a squash casserole.  I traded out the mayonnaise with 0% Fage Greek yogurt, used VERY few whole wheat Ritz cracker rounds, and Smart Balance butter.

2. Use vegetables.

Vegetables can be used in more ways than I ever imagined.  Three of the best examples I have are mashed cauliflower, zucchini noodles, and cauliflower sauce.  They are so yummy and satisfying.  When I use vegetables to replace starches, I actually feel full faster and longer.  I would also encourage someone looking to participate in a low carb diet to try new vegetables, like spaghetti squash and acorn squash.

3. Get full on protein.

Tuna, eggs, chicken, almonds, and ground turkey are some of the staples in my life.  I usually make tuna salad, chicken salad, or egg salad for my 20 minute lunch.  I try to make it the main part of my lunch.  I always eat it first and then the rest of my lunch.  My goal is to get full on the protein first.  I give myself more leeway at supper time.  I don't necessarily eat the protein first, because there are usually so many delicious veggies on the plate too :)

4. Cook with seeds.

There are two seeds I currently could not live without--flaxseed and chia seed.  You can put them in anything, and they only add to your meal.  I especially love chia seeds and make several fruit flavored chia puddings for breakfast during the week.  There are so many benefits to these wonderful little seeds.

5. Use fruit.

If you are going to eat a carb, this is the way to do it!  Some of the best fruits you can eat on a low carb diet include--blueberries, strawberries, grapefruit, apples and pears.  Sometimes after you have been eating protein and vegetables, just having a piece of fruit feels indulgent. Yum :)

6. Know what you are consuming.

Read labels!  Turn that package around and look at the ingredients.  Are they mostly real?  How many carbohydrates are in the product?  You would be surprised what products you assume are low in sugar or carbs.  While the Atkins program has some great options (breakfast bars and frozen meals!!!), they have something even better and FREE!  If you sign up for information, they will send you 3 free bars, coupons, and the best part--a Carb Counter book.  It lists the carbs in the most popular foods and some options at restaurants.  I highly recommend signing up!

7. Get creative.

Use blogs, recipe books, and just your general knowledge in the kitchen and get creative with how you eat.  Eating well is most of the fight when it comes to weight loss, so do it right!  Some blogs I use to help inspire me in the kitchen include--Skinnytaste, Steamy Kitchen, skinnyms.,and Eat Yourself Skinny.

8. Find things you love!

Eating healthy foods you love and having fun exercising are the perfect combination for success. When I make things that the hubs and I both love, I make it over and over again.  We enjoy eating healthy and it only makes it better when it tastes amazing.  Exercise can be difficult if you do the same thing over and over again.  Find something you are really into.  This summer I fell in love with Zumba, it was different and fun.  It gave me something to really look forward too!

Find what you love!

9. Do your research.

Read books, blogs, and health magazines.  Become informed about the decisions you are making. The best part is that several of them include lots of recipes and eating plans!  Here are a few really good ones--Wheat Belly, The Metabolism Miracle Cookbook, The PCOS Plan, and Why We Get Fat.

10. Make it a lifestyle choice, not a diet.

Living no carb/low carb can be a diet.  However, as soon as its over and you bring those carbs back into your life, you will inevitably gain a little bit of weight back.  Every day I have to choose all over again to make this a way of living, but it is and will be worth it.

How do you live a healthy lifestyle?

smothered spinach chicken

Pre-planning is in full swing and I've been staying up late trying to get everything ready.  I always feel extremely overwhelmed this time of year.  There is so much to get done before the first day! But me and Hazel have still found a little bit of time to get in our FRIENDS for the day ;)

As I have mentioned before, I love 90s music.  It's one of the things that really keeps me going during this time of decorating and rearranging my classroom, creating new lesson plans, pacing guides, syllabi,  common core curriculum and much much more.  So when I arrive in the morning, I immediately put on my playlist and get busy.  

Yesterday morning, one of my favorite 90s songs came on.  I was filling out my desk calendar, singing/rapping EVERY word, and dancing.  I was really not expecting anyone, however my principal was going around the school greeting everyone and stood in my doorway silently watching me as I jammed to Gangsta's Paradise.  Embarrassing. But he thought it was hilarious.

One of the other things that helps me get through this stressful time is cooking.  It's been a long time since I cooked for just David and I, and we both wanted to stay in.  Of course the first place I looked for a recipe was Pinterest.  I was drawn to something called Smothered Chicken.  It sounded great, but not healthy or easy to make! So many ingredients!  I thought I might be able to make a easier, faster, and healthier version.  It turned out great! Husband approved!

Smothered Spinach Chicken

4 chicken breasts

Garlic salt

Seasoned salt

1 package of frozen chopped spinach

1 package of frozen mushrooms

1 tsp minced garlic

2 tbsp 0% Fage greek yogurt

Mozzarella cheese

Chicken:

Preheat to 350.

Cover chicken breasts in garlic salt and seasoned salt.

Bake for 40 minutes.

Smothering:

You will need two skillets.

In one, put a dash of water and the spinach.  Begin cooking and add minced garlic. Cook down.

In the other skillet, put a dash of olive oil and the mushrooms. Cook down.

Once mushrooms have cooked, drain excess water and add to the spinach over low heat.

Add Fage yogurt and fold together.

Once your chicken is cooked, add "smothering" on top.  Then add as much mozzarella as you would like.  It will melt from the heat!  The "smothering" would also be good as a side!

ENJOY!

spinach and parm baked eggs

In my last post, I detailed our wonderful trip to Savannah, including the yummy breakfasts we ate at the President's Quarters Inn.  But what I didn't mention was what some of those breakfasts included.  Ever since our last morning there, I have been trying to recreate (with my own twist) their baked eggs dish.  

Now lets get real...up until this point in my life I have only liked eggs cooked one way...

scrambled with cheese.

However, I'm almost always open to trying new things and I went for it.  I ordered baked eggs.

And I was genuinely surprised at how much I loved it!

When I got to my mama's house, I located a couple ramekins the first morning and tried to recreate the wonderful breakfast I ate at the inn.  First try was a fail.  My mama ate the other one and pretended to like it, but we talked about some changes I could make to create something better.  That's how I made what you see in the picture above!  The best part is that the spinach and mushroom I used could be substituted with anything, including breakfast meats!  I promise you won't regret eating this yummy egg dish!

Spinach and Parm Baked Eggs

Serving Size: 2

4 eggs (separated)

Half a bag of fresh spinach

Handful of chopped mushrooms

2 tbsp of parmesan cheese (halved)

3 tbsp 0% Fage Plain Yogurt (halved)

1 tbsp water

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400.

Put 1 tbsp water, spinach, and chopped mushrooms into skillet and cook down.  This usually takes about 10 minutes.  While they are cooking separate 4 eggs into two bowls. Yolks in one (stir together) and whites in the other.  Add some salt and pepper to the egg whites and stir.

Then put 1 tbsp of parm and 1 1/2 tbsp yogurt into each ramekin.  Mix together.

When spinach and mushrooms are ready put an equal amount into each ramekin and mix together with yogurt and parm.  Cover the bottom of the dish with mixture.

Put half of the eggs whites over each dish.  Then drop in a little bit of the yolk.  We are not big on the yolk, so I just added what I felt like the yolk of one eggs was to each dish.  Feel free to add more if you wish.  Below is a picture of what mine looked like before going in the oven!

Place ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until it is puffy and solid on top.

I have been known to open it halfway through cooking and add a little parm to the top too.

What can I say, I like cheese!

Again, these could be made with any type of cheese, bacon, ham, or breakfast sausage.

They are truly so easy!

Let me know if you try it or make changes, I would love to know!