Mary’s Special Eggs

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.

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

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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

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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.

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At that point, you pour on the egg mixture:

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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,

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then toss in the cooked turkey sausage:

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And some more veggies!

  • 1 diced tomato, seeded
  • 2 cups spinach thinly sliced

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Into the pan:

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

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Soooo yummy.

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

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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

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Eggcellent.

My kitchen is no stranger to eggs.

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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. 

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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!

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

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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:

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Tuesday through Friday B#1:

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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?

 

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Back to the normal routine

Even with the big tax deadline behind me, my schedule is crazy hectic.  What’s up with that???  Wednesday for instance is a VERY busy day for me because I go straight from the office to the university for the class I teach.  This requires ample food-planning on Tuesday nights because I have to pack 6 meals.  6 meals?!?  Yes 6.  Take today for instance, here’s what I packed last night for the day ahead:

  • B#1:  Scrambled eggs & roasted broccoli
  • B#2:  Overnight oats + chopped strawberries + blueberries
  • Lunch:  Big ole Salad + Jennie O’ Turkey Sausage
  • Snack:  Granny smith apple
  • Dinner:  Chicken & hummus wrap + cucumber salad
  • Snack: 1/2 of an 18 Rabbits granola bar

I like to travel with food apparently 🙂

One thing I’ve been craving the past few weeks is getting back to my normal foods routine! 

You know what that means:

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EGGS for breakfast #1!

Last night, I cooked up a batch of my scrambled eggs:

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I also roasted up some broccoli which I enjoyed at 8am at my desk with a dollop o’ heaven Ketchup:

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Of course, this was followed up 2 hours later by none other than my overnight oats for B#2:

 

Yesssssssss.

My lunch salad consisted of romaine lettuce, 1/2 a large cucumber, 1 baby roma tomato, some red onion, banana pepper and Ken’s steakhouse Lite Italian Romano dressing:

I also had a Jennie O’ turkey sausage on the side…

Is it just me, or does that sausage look really sad?! … A sausage with no bun is like a bird with no wings eggs with no ketchup!  Luckily I had a monster Italian sausage sandwich over the weekend 😀

After the 2PM doldrums pass, it’s time for a snack!  My usual afternoon snack is a granny smith apple:

Usually my snacks go unpictured.  But today, I’m snapping everything that goes into my mouth 🙂 Uh oh. 

Fun fact about me and apples:  I REFUSE to buy an apple unless the stem is still attached.  An apple sans stem is a clear indicator that a worm has crawled inside…. I’m pretty sure my sister told me that as a child, and it has stuck with me through the years.  I may look funny in the produce aisle as I pick up one apple after another to find one that still has the stem attached, but guess who WON’T be looking funny when they bite into a worm?  It won’t be me, that’s for darn sure!  😉

For dinner, I packed some cucumber salad:

And also a La Tortilla low-carb wrap consisting of 2 ounces grilled chicken, onion, and 1 tbsp Trader Joe’s original hummus:

Come to think of it, I probably should have avoided so many onions right before class… Oh well, they don’t call me the Onion Lady for nothin’. :mrgreen:

 

Last my not least, I packed 1/2 of an 18 Rabbits granola bar (thanks Dorry!) for my late-night snack:

Whew!  That’s a lot of food! 

Happy Eating and Happy Hump Day!

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Hallelujah it’s Friday!

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

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

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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:

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Look how delicious:

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

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

2 happy campers:

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

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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!

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

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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!

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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!

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I put ketchup on my ketchup

While on vacation in Charleston, we came across several touristy shops selling t-shirts with funny sayings.  Jarrod seriously contemplated buying me this T-shirt:

Hahaha… I do use ketchup quite frequently.  I’m just a class act like that 😉

Breakfast #1

Last in the trio of eggwhite/turkey sausage scrambles I made Sunday night… Served up with a dollop of you-know-what 😉

Stats on Scramble, Broccoli, & Ketchup:  180 calories, 10g carbs, 5g fat, 24g protein, 2g fiber

Breakfast #2

I started breakfast #2 off with some Blueberry Cho-cho-chobani:

Then I added some strawberries (in my hunger-tinged excitement, I forgot to use my flash…)

MMMMMMMM…. Come clooosssseeerrr:

So darn good.

Stats on B#2:  157 calories, 24g carbs, 0g fat, 14g protein, 1g fiber

Lunch

 The turkey meatloaf I made last night was so yummy, I immediately had a craving for a meatloaf sandwich!  Needless to say, I was SUPER excited about my lunch today.  

I sliced up one of the turkey meat muffins:

I placed the cold slices of meatloaf on a Pepperidge Farm 7 Grain Deli Flat, and then added the star of the show:  KETCHUP.

That’s what actually made me think of the ketchup on ketchup T-shirt.  Even though my turkey meatloaf had ketchup mixed in and was thoroughly basted with ketchup before baking, I still needed to put some ketchup on my leftover meatloaf sandwich 😀

Match made in heaven:

Heinz — if you’re looking for a new “face” for your ketchup, have your people contact my people.  ferventfoodie@gmail.com 😉

On the side, I also had a cup each of roasted cauliflower and broccoli:

One AMAZING lunch:

Makes me feel like a kid again 🙂

Side note

Over the weekend I made the BF a beautiful banana granola parfait.  Apparently he liked it so much, he decided to recreate it in my workweek absence:

I love that he even went the extra mile and put it in a pretty glass.  Sometimes ya just gotta treat yourself, am I right? 

QUESTION:  What is your FAVORITE condiment?  OR do you like ketchup on your ketchup? :mrgreen:

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