5 Easy Brunch Recipes that use Yogurt

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Fervent Foodie

Breakfast is arguably my favorite meal of the day, and lunch, well, I love that too. Brunch, though? I just don’t get it. Seriously, I need to know–is it breakfast or is it lunch? Do you eat eggs Benedict or do you eat egg salad? Pancakes or paninis? Brunch is a big fat grey area, and I don’t like it one bit. I’m just one of those people. In fact, I’m morally opposed to breakfast for dinner.

Don’t stone me.

Despite my aversion, this weekend I stepped out of my comfort zone and invited some friends over for a yogurt-inspired brunch.

Take a look at the spread!

When preparing the brunch menu, my goal was to cook up a variety of tasty nibblets that incorporated Activia yogurt (since I had some Foodbuzz freebies to use). Heavy emphasis on tasty, of course.

The mainstay of our meal was my Western Sausage Crustless Quiche:
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Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Breakfast Braid

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Fervent Foodie

Morning, friends! I hope you all are lucky enough to have the day off of work like me. If not, well then I’ll try not to rub it in too much. I’ve spent a good portion of the new years weekend in the kitchen cooking up a fury. Ancho chicken tacos, sausage lasagna, and balsamic glazed pork loins, just to name a few. This Monday morning (did I mention I have the day off of work???) I wanted to make something special. So I threw together a delicious sausage and egg breakfast braid.

Isn’t it impressive looking?

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Mary’s Special Eggs

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Fervent Foodie

It’s no secret that I love eggs for breakfast. Every. Day.

Unfortunately, I just don’t have the time to whip myself up some eggs before work every day, so I like to cook a big ole batch on Sunday night. I was getting a little burnt out on my normal scrambled eggs and broccoli (not to mention the fact that my coworkers were getting sick of the broccoli stinking up the microwave), so I decided to switch things up a bit.

And so evolved Mary’s Special Eggs!

For a 5-serving batch, I start off with 2 links Jennie O’ Hot Turkey Sausage, casings removed. I pop those into a hot skillet and cook until no longer pink while crumbling with a spatula.

Once the sausage is finished cooking, I remove it from the pan and set aside while I get to work on the veggies.

In the same skillet (which should still be hot), toss in

A handful of sliced up baby bella mushrooms
1/2 cup diced red onion
2 cloves garlic

Season these guys up with salt and pepper, and let them cook over medium heat until soft.

Meanwhile, get to crackin the eggs. For 5 servings I go with:

5 whole eggs
10 egg whites
Splash of water

Give those a good whisk. The onions and mushrooms should be softened up by now and looking oh so tasty.

At that point, you pour on the egg mixture:

Season these up with S&P, and as the eggs begin to cook, use your spatula to scrape the cooked eggs off the bottom of the pan. Continue this process until the eggs are nearly cooked through,

then toss in the cooked turkey sausage:

And some more veggies!

1 diced tomato, seeded
2 cups spinach thinly sliced

Into the pan:

Then I just use the spatula to fold everything in and finish cooking the eggs through:

Soooo yummy.

Once the eggs are done cooking I divide them up into 5 containers—and there’s Breakfast #1 for the workweek!

I like to break my breakfasts up into 2 small breakfasts rather than one large meal, so I typically follow the eggs up with a serving of oatmeal about 2 hours afterward. On the weekends I like to take a serving of the eggs, pop them on a low carb tortilla with some Franks Red Hot, and give them a nice grill on the George Foreman. Trust me, it’s one delicious (HEALTHY!) breakfast burrito!

Stats on 1 Servings of my Special Eggs: 189 Calories, 9g carbs, 9g fat, 23g protein, 1g fiber

Eggcellent.

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Fervent Foodie

My kitchen is no stranger to eggs.

Shortly after starting this blog, it dawned on me that I really do eat an excessive amount of eggs. So I started thinking about possible substitutions I could make. Something healthy, clean, and full of protein. Something filling and delicious that gave me energy without spiking my temperamental blood sugar.

I searched high and low and ended up right where I started.

Eggcellent.

One of the MANY things I LOVE about eggs is that I can make them in a big batch. Typically, I cook up a 5 serving egg scramble Sunday night and that serves as my breakfast #1 for the workweek. Each serving of my scrambled eggs consists of 1 whole egg and 3 egg whites, which I season up with S&P, Red Pepper Flakes, and some Franks Red Hot.

I was feeling lazy Sunday night, so I ended up pushing back the egg-makin til Monday night this week. After work I headed to the grocery store to get the goods. I typically have some roasted broccoli alongside my eggs, but made a last-minute produce aisle decision to use up some of the frozen veggies in the freezer instead.

Low and behold I didn’t have any frozen veggies (dangit). You know, I actually think this was co-worker karma come back to haunt me. Recently, I discovered that roasted broccoli heated up in the community microwave makes the ENTIRE floor smell like butt. Apparently, I was oblivious to this smell for the last 9 months… Whoops! I guess it’s just pay back for those afternoon snackers who always burn their popcorn in the microwave leaving us with a 3pm funk. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! ;)

Luckily, I had 1 lonely large potato on hand (leftover from my Zuppa Tosacana). Eggs and potatoes. Can’t go wrong with that!

I tossed the potato into a bowl and seasoned it up with a drizzle of EVOO, some S&P, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper:

Then I popped them into a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes to get their roast on. Once everything was done cooking, i evenly divided the goods up into four containers:

Tuesday through Friday B#1:

Now repeat 52 times and you have B#1 for the whole year… hahahah

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What are your go-to workday breakfasts?

Hallelujah it’s Friday!

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Fervent Foodie

With September here already (where the heck did August go, by the way?), I’ve already got my head in “fall mode”. My favorite time of the year is BY FAR the last quarter – October, November, and December. I love the weather, the excessive parties and family activities, and I also love how things just seem to slow down from the fast pace of summer. Speaking of fast-paced summers, it saddens me that I haven’t been doing much cooking lately. The good news is I’ll have plenty of time to cook… in two more weeks!

Breakfast #1

Ever since last weekend’s awesome breakfast fit for vacation, I’ve been craving the spinach and tomato breakfast burrito. (Let’s be honest, I’ve been craving the potatoes and pancakes too) … So last night instead of doing my usual batch-scrambled eggs, I made a double serving of the spinach and tomato scrambled eggs.

First up, I chopped up:

2 tbsp red onion (I used white onion last time, but didn’t have any on hand)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup chiffonade spinach
1/2 a roma tomato, diced

I sprayed a skillet down with some cooking spray, and once it was hot I tossed in the garlic and onions.

While these guys were cooking I whisked together the following in a bowl:

2 whole eggs
6 egg whites
Splash of water

Once the onions were soft, I poured the egg mixture on top and seasoned everything up with S&P and red pepper flakes. I let the eggs start to cook up, and when they were about 1/2 way done I added the tomato and spinach:

Look how delicious:

While the eggs were getting their groove on, I also roasted up some broccoli that was seasoned with black pepper and garlic salt:

Is it just me, or does that broccoli look really happy to be here?

2 happy campers:

One of which I brought to work with me today to introduce to my friend Heinz:

Stats on B#1: 205 calories, 15g carbs, 5g fat, 23g protein, 2g fiber

B#2 = OO

OVERNIGHT OATSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! What a great way to end the workweek!

Doesn’t that just bring a smile to your face???

YUM.

Stats on B#2: 233 calories, 44g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 7g fiber

Lunch

What better way to end the Bruegger’s Bagels giveaway, then to have Bruegger’s for lunch, of course!

Today I went with the Spinach & Lentil soup, and a half sandwich with turkey and lots and lots of veggies. I can’t believe this is the HALF sandwich. It was HUGE!

The Bruegger’s Giveaway ends tonight at midnight (eastern time), so get your posts in!

A sandwich BUILT for Hummus

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Fervent Foodie

It’s Thursday, and I am one happy lady. Thank you to those of you who commented on yesterday’s tell me something happy post. Each one of your comments resulted in a big smile on my face, and I thank you again and again for sharing your happy thoughts with me!

Breakfast #1

Today I planned on eating the last of the scrambled eggs I cooked up on Sunday, but I was in the mood for something a little different. Something with a little kick. And when I’m in such a mood, I turn to my friend Frank. Frank’s Red Hot that is

Come to think of it, I can’t leave out my good friends George and Mama Lupe either! Frank, George, and Mama Lupe all contributed to my yummy breakfast wrap.

Leftover scrambled eggs + several shakes of Franks atop a Mama Lupe low carb tortilla:

Then I wrapped it up burrito-style and grilled on the George for about 5 minutes, until the eggs were hot and the tortilla was crispy.

I also heated up the broccoli in the microwave… Unfortunately my microwave doesn’t have a human name… Frank, George, Mama Lupe, and Emerson (I guess Emerson could be a last name).

I swear the George Foreman grill is one of the most amazing kitchen gadgets on earth–or at least the most amazing one in my kitchen!

Stats on B#1: 208 Calories, 15 g carbs, 8g fat, 24g protein, 6g fiber

Breakfast #2

Overnight oaty goodness:

It’s getting cold in the mornings now… I have a feeling pretty soon I’ll be saying farewell to cold oats and heading back to the warmth the traditional hot oats. *Sigh*

Stats on B#2: 233 calories, 44g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 7g fiber

Lunch

Ive blabbed my Trader Joe’s sob story on this blog many a time.. Sooooo far to drive (~1 hr away) to the nearest TJ’s… So sad. Luckily, my mom picked me up some Trader Joe’s Hummus on her last trip to TJ’s! WOOOOOOT!

The hummus was not an afterthought for today’s sandwich, not a mere condiment to go on the bun. No. Today’s sandwich was BUILT specifically for Trader Joe’s Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus.

This sandwich consisted of a Pepperidge Farm 7 grain deli flat & a four ounce grilled chicken breast:

That I topped off with sliced tomato, onion, and the STAR of the show: Trader Joe’s Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus

Then I added some fresh spinach and some sprouts. Excessive veggies? Perhaps.

Check out the height on this sucker:

I also had some leftover roasted cauliflower on the side. Cauliflower might looking boring, but trust me. It was fab.

Layers of FLAVOR.

Stats on Lunch: 364 calories, 35g carbs, 5g fat, 46g protein, 11g fiber

QUESTION: What did YOU have for lunch today? I’m always looking for ways to shake up my lunch routine!

The great salad extraction…

Posted on August 2, 2010 by Fervent Foodie

Before we get into my salad debacle, let’s recap breakfast!

Breakfast #1

While getting ready for work this morning, I realized I wanted NEEDED eggs for breakfast. I was already crunched for time, and considered passing on my fav B#1, but then it dawned on me. EGGINS.

“Eggins” are baked eggs that I cook up in a muffin tin. Get it? Egg + Muffin = Eggin (bear with me… it is Monday after all).

I had 9 eggs in the fridge, so I decided to go with 2 whole eggs and 7 egg whites. I mixed these up with S&P, Frank’s Red Hot, and a splash of water, and then evenly distributed them into 6 regular size muffin tins. I also threw 2 cups of broccoli into a pan that I had sprayed down with cooking spray. I seasoned the broccoli with some S&P, then threw everything into the oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes while I continued getting ready for work.

2 breakfasts in < 5 minutes prep. Bada bing, bada boom

I had 1/2 of the above ingredients at work today with some ketchup, of course:

Stats: 171 calories, 12g carbs, 5g fat, 21g protein, 2g fiber

Breakfast #2

Blueberry Chobani + Strawberries:

Mixed into a fruity frenzy:

Tasty!

Stats: 163 calories, 26 g carbs, 0g fat, 14g protein, 2g fiber

Lunch

Now we get to the salad debacle. Yesterday, I went to my sister’s for a cookout and brought a huge salad. There was a ton leftover, which meant lunch for today

Sad story: the lettuce in the salad was EXTREMELY wilty and soggy this morning. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s soggy lettuce (and olives–not that there were any olives involved in this story but I just want to make sure we are clear ).

Wilty and yucky:

I’m not one to waste food, so I decided to perform a salad extraction. In preparation for this procedure, I brought a bag of lettuce from the fridge at home.

My saviour:

Piece by piece I sifted through the salad pulling out any of the soggy pieces.

Icky bits:

Icky on the left, crispy on the right:

So fresh and so crisp, crisp:

I also had a Jennie O Turkey Sausage on the side with some mustard:

I may or may not have spent some time playing in the paint program over lunch…

Saturday eggs, smoothies, & tuna salad

Posted on July 24, 2010 by Fervent Foodie

This morning I woke up bright and early to try and pick up on my interval running (even though I had already decided to take a week off of high-impact excercise)… I was able to get 1.5 intervals in before my knee started hurting Looks like I’m going to be in the walking group at the Healthy Living Summit.

Breakfast of champions

After my disappointing run, I wanted a delicious breakfast to perk me up. I cooked up 1 egg sunny side up, and had a piece of Country Hearth 12 Grain bread with sunflowers and a half a cup of oven baked potatoes:

Why are egg yolks SOOOO delicious tasting? I find them oddly decadent!

Stats: 250 calories, 37g carbs, 7g fat, 12g protein, 2g fiber

Soon after downing this delicious breakfast, I was already feeling hungry and decided to make a fruit smoothie.

I threw the following into the blender:

1 container Yoplait Strawberry Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
1/4 cup fresh blueberries
6 medium strawberries
1 cup fresh spinach
1/2 cup ice

This puppy definitely filled my belly up!

Stats on my smoothie: 199 calories, 32g carbs, 2g fat, 14g protein, 4g fiber

After watching me down my smoothie, Jarrod got jealous and decided he wanted a smoothie too. So we threw the following into the blender:

1 scoop optimum nutrition whey chocolate protein
1/2 cup frozen sliced bananas
1 tbsp JIF peanut butter
1/4 cup ground-up quick oats
1/2 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
1/2 cup ice

This doesn’t look like much, but I tried a sip and it was AMAZING:

Tasted like a shake you’d get at a hamburger stand. I’m going to try and make a lower-calorie version sometime!

Stats on Jarrod’s chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie: 377 calories, 39g carbs, 12g fat, 33g protein, 6g fiber

Lunch

A little before lunch, I headed over to my mom’s house for some quality time with the fam. Just as I was about to leave, I locked my keys in my trunk… 8-O What am I, 16 again? When I was younger, I had the joy of consistently locking my keys in my car. Actually, the day I first got my license I locked my keys in my trunk and had to have my dad come rescue me…. Oh joy….

Once I got the key situation all worked out, I headed home to make a tuna wrap for lunch. Here’s what went into the tuna salad:

1 can chunk light tuna in water, drained
1/4 cup red onion
1/2 a chopped roma tomato
1 tbsp Ken’s Steakhouse Lite Creamy Ceaser Dressing
S&P

Then I added a few slices of a ginormous banana pepper I grew in my backyard garden:

I put the tuna salad atop a Light Flat-out Italian wrap with 1 cup of spinach:

Then I wrapped everything up burrito-style and grilled on the george foreman grill for about 5 minutes:

DELICIOUS.

Stats on the tuna wrap: 282 calories, 28g carbs, 9g fat, 32g protein, 12g fiber

I’m hoping to try out a new recipe for dinner tonight.. I have a few ideas in mind. Maybe a nap will help things come to fruition

Foodie who is anti-food?

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Fervent Foodie

All throughout my life, I’ve been a big eater.

Eating minimal food throughout the day so that I could engorge at dinner was commonplace for me for many years. Family members would tease me about always being the first person in the cookout buffet lines, and the first person to go back for round #2. I’ve been a foodie for as long as I can remember. I just love food. Yes, my world basically revolves around it. Yes, that may mean I have issues… but I’m ok with that

Over the past year, I’ve changed a lot of my old habits. Nowadays, I take the time to plan my meals out in advance so that I’m sure I’m giving my body the fuel it needs to chug along throughout the day. And I try as hard as I can to not over do it in one sitting. I HATE that sickly full feeling you get when you overeat. (Despite other changes I have made, I am still always the first in the buffet line… watch out, I throw elbows )

Never in my life have I even been called a person who is “not really into food,” until today that is. I was incorrectly classified today after I suggested a place with “healthy options” for lunch, and then proceeded to only eat 1/2 of my ginormous plate of food. I must say, I was a little taken aback. Dare I say, I scoffed in the commenter’s general direction. I LOVE FOOD. LOVE, I say, LOVE! I just try to incorporate as many healthy choices into my day as possible.

Does that make me anti-food? I think not!

Breakfast #1

I had a leftover link of Jennie-O Hot Turkey sausage from the weekend I wanted to use up, so I decided to make a double batch of scrambled eggs.

I mixed up 8 egg whites, S&P, red pepper flakes, and some water and got my scramble on. Once the curds started to form (least attractive word ever), I added some splashes of franks red hot to the eggs and dumped in the diced up turkey sausage.

I also roasted up some broccoli to go along side.

2 days’ breakfasts & minimal effort. Love it!

B#1 Stats (1 serving = 1/2 of recipe above): 174 calories, 8g carbs, 5g fat, 24g protein, 1g fiber

Breakfast #2

As I was preparing to make my overnight oats last night, I stood in front of an open cabinet pondering what I could possibly put in my oats to mix things up. Then a little voice inside me said.. you know you want the same exact oats you made for Monday. And guess what, that little voice was right.

1/2 cup uncooked quick oats
1/2 cup unsweetened almond breeze almond milk
1 tsp brown sugar
cinnamon
fresh strawberries

Heaven.

B#2 Stats: 208 calories, 38g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 6g fiber

Lunch

Lunch today was courtesy of Aladdin’s Eatery. I went with the Jasmine’s Favorite Plate (plain)–which according to the Daily Plate only has 400 calories. I find that hard to believe, given that the plate of food they brought me was overfloweth with food. What do you guys think of that website? Reliable? Not reliable?

Anyway, the Jasmine’s Favorite is “a fresh mix of cooked beans, vegetables and rice seasoned with a blend of herbs and spices,” and it was DELICIOUS.

I wasn’t able to take a pic of everything, but here’s some of what was leftover:

Something old, something new x2

Posted on July 3, 2010 by Fervent Foodie

Breakfast #1

For breakfast this morning I was craving one of my standards: dippy eggs and potatoes. So, I cooked up 1 egg over easy, heated up some of Jarrod’s special cajun oven potatoes, and a Thomas’ multi-grain english muffin.

Served up with a dollop of ketchup, of course!

Delicious as always! Sometimes you just gotta go with the tried and true.

Stats on breakfast #1: 219 calories, 39g carbs, 6g fat, 12g protein, 9g fiber

Breakfast #2 = Healthified Low-Carb Waffles

I recently picked up some Bob’s Red Mill Low-Carb baking mix, so I decided to try and make some low-carb waffles this morning.

I mixed up:

1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Low-Carb baking mix
1/4 cup + 1 tsp Almond Breeze unsweetened almond milk
1 egg white
Sprinkling of cinnamon

Poured the mix onto the waffle iron, and let it cook for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, I mixed up half a serving of PB2 and made it a little on the runny side (for drizzling!). I also microwaved 1/4 of fresh frozen strawberries. Once nice and hot, I added a sprinkling of Truvia to sweeten them up and a drizzle of Smuckers sugar free syrup.

All together:

This was a good first stab at low-carb waffles! Next time, I think I’ll add half a packet of the truvia to the actual waffle batter and also 1/8 tsp of baking powder to help the waffles perk up a bit. Definitely gonna play with this idea some more!

Stats on just the waffles: 126 calories, 12g carbs, 3g fat, 18g protein, 5g fiber

Stats on waffles with all the fixins: 170 calories, 21g carbs, 4g fat, 21g protein, 6g fiber

Larabar success!!

Yesterday, I was feeling adventurous (albeit hesitant) and decided to try the Peanut butter & Jelly Larabar that I’ve been neglecting for the past week due to Larabar Fail #1 and Fail #2.

Every other larabar I’ve tried to date, I’ve taken 1 bite and tossed the rest. I actually enjoyed this one! Wow! I’m so surprised! And I LOVE the simple ingredients: Dates, Peanuts, Unsweetened Cherries, and Salt. Still keeping an eye out there for the coconut and key lime flavors…