Breakfast sandwiches

 I've been awful. I'm sorry. I'm running out of apologizes and excuses. The past week or so has been a whirlwind. I got some awful news that i'm going to need surgery. Surgery will mean I won't be able to cook myself for at least a month, unless I do it single handily. Ha. I can still make jokes. I went through the phases of self-pity, despair, anger and acceptance. I can only hope it will make me better and not cause new issues. With acceptance, I came upon a recipe that is so easy even a one handed woman can do it.

LC's wannabe Egg McMuffin


1 egg per sandwich you want to make
1 slice of 2% american cheese per sandwich
I Can't Believe it's Not Butter light spread
2 strips of center cut bacon per sandwich. (3 pieces totals 70 calories. Hooray!)
1 whole wheat english muffin, toasted

 Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a muffin pan, only greasing the cups you plan on using. Crack one egg into each cup. You can cook it as is, or stir up the yoke and white for even distribution. If you do this, I suggest you mix it into a glass and then transfer it into the pan. Place into the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes until desired firmness. I usually stick to 15 minutes.

  While your eggs are cooking, it's time to multi-task. Cook your bacon in whichever method you choose. Toast your english muffin. After taking it out of the toaster, immediately apply a small amount of ICBINB on each half. Quickly put your slice of cheese on whichever half you want. It's key to put it on quickly because that way the heat melts the cheese slightly.

  Once your eggs are done cooking, gently run a knife around the rim of the muffin cup. Lift gently to remove the egg from the cup. Ta-dah. That's what I call magic. Place the egg onto the cheese.

 Bam. Add that bacon. You could do a sausage patty if you wanted to, bacon just happens to be our vice of choice.

 Guess what? Now you don't have to leave your house to have a delicious, satisfying breakfast sandwich. Thumbs up for not having to change out of PJs on Sunday morning. This meal is easy to slim down. The english muffin I use is 120 calories, the cheese is 40, the egg is 70 and the bacon is ~45. That's 275 calories for a sinful sandwich. I would call that a great start to the day! These also freeze well. Enjoy!

Breakfast ala Ramekin: Eggs, bacon AND an english muffin for under 250 calories!

  I've always been fascinated with the concept of using a ramekin to portion control. I have a terrible sweet tooth, so I begin to imagine all of these smaller portion guilty baked goods I can make. I simply couldn't bring myself to shell out the money for a set. When we were at Target the other day, my husband bought me two ramekins.

 
 His and hers, respectively. I've been plotting over the past few days what to do first, and what I could do with what I had as far as stuff in my fridge. I love breakfast. There is an understatement. It's easy to go overboard with calories though. Thanks to my ramekins, I was able to tweak a recipe to make a fantastic, filling egg bake for under 250 calories per serving!

  Also before I go on, I apologize for my absence. I've been running around to a lot of doctors, and thus have been making a lot of repeats for dinner in my medical fog. I promise these ramekins will definitely fuel an onslaught. Remember that apple pie I showed a few weeks back? Think that.. but in an acceptable size!

240 calorie Oven-baked Egg with Bacon
Adapted from Epicurious.


1 egg
Half an English Muffin. (The type I used is 60 calories for half, but there are even ones that are only 50.)
2 strips of center cut bacon. (If you use turkey bacon, you can shave another 40 calories off, my husband is just serious about his bacon haha.)
1 tablespoon of heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste.

  Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

 Feast your eyes upon my ugly skillet. Just because it's ugly doesn't mean it's not functional! Start to cook your bacon on medium low heat. I'm making two servings of this recipe, thus the four pieces. You will want this to be very crispy since you will be crumbling the bacon later. While you are cooking the bacon, go ahead and toast the english muffin half.

  After cooking the bacon, reserve the fat. Using a baking brush, coat your ramekin with the bacon grease. This will help keep your egg from sticking, and also add a little extra flavor.

  Now that your ramekin has been prepped, place your english muffin within the well, split side up. You can see I substituted a piece of 50 calorie bread for my husband's, since it fits better into the well. Take note you can follow his example if you want a bigger serving size. Using a spoon or your fingers, press a little well into the center of your english muffin. This will help make a space to keep your egg from running away.

  Crumble the two strips of bacon over the top of your english muffin. Both serving sizes shown have only two pieces, and it was sufficient.

 Carefully, crack an egg and place it into the well you created without breaking the yolk. As long as it doesn't break completely, the dish will turn out fine.

  Drizzle a tablespoon of heavy cream over the top of the dish. Salt and pepper to taste. Don't overdo it though. Keep in mind you can add more after cooking. Place into the pre-heated oven and cook for 15 minutes, or until the eggwhite is mostly set.

  Breakfast is served! For how easy this dish is to make, it has a fantastic presentation. I also want to note that prior to baking, make sure your ramekins are oven safe to 400 degrees. This will help prevent some chaos. This dish has changed my perception of breakfast, and is easily one of my new favorites. Enjoy!

Weekend Gluttony: Chorizo & Eggs.

  My husband would like me to believe he spent an entire week suffering from hunger since I was gone, so I decided as a treat I would make him his favorite breakfast. Just as a little background, my husband is from a town pretty close to the Mexican border, his mother was Mexican and thus he has an affinity for real Mexican food. In Hawaii, real authentic Mexican food is almost nil, so I have taken it upon myself to learn a few of his favorite recipes.

LC's easy chorizo & eggs
Serves two


2 Chorizo links
2 large tortillas (side note: You can shave off a lot of calories by using high fiber, low carb tortillas, but flour tortillas really make this dish shine so it can definitely be worth the extra 100 calories)
4 eggs
1 cup of water
A few dashes of pepper

Optional:
Hot sauce
Fat free shredded cheddar cheese.

  Pre-heat a large skillet on medium. If you like, you can also preheat a second skillet for your tortillas. I set mine on medium. Start by making a slit in the casing of both of your chorizo links. This will make it easier to grind up the meat in the skillet. Remove the casing, and place your chorizo meat into the skillet.

  Using a spatula, dice up your chorizo as if it were ground meat. This is the kind of consistency you are looking for in the recipe. Continue to cook on medium until the chorizo is browned all the way through.

  While your chorizo is browning, it's time to multi-task! Grab a glass (or a bowl if you are classier than me), and break your four eggs into it. Now i'm going to go against your natural instinct, and use water instead of milk. Not only does this cut out some calories, but it also gives you lighter, fluffier eggs. Add a cup of water to your eggs, add a few dashes of pepper and beat well.

  At this point, your chorizo should be cooked all the way through. Pour the beaten eggs into the skillet. You can handle this similar to scrambled eggs, and simply scrape along the pan every few minutes to make sure the egg does not burn. Dice the eggs as well so it has a nice scrambled texture.

  Meanwhile, it's time to start warming those tortillas. You can either prepare them in a skillet, or in a microwave. In my opinion, there is something special about warming them in a skillet. It adds a nice crispness to all varieties of tortillas, even healthy low calorie ones! Warm them on one side until it looks a little translucent, and lightly brown in some spots. Repeat for the other side, and then plate it in preparation for the chorizo mixture.

  Cook your chorizo until the eggs are well done. You will notice a lot of excess fat in the pain. You will want to drain this for two reasons. 1) Unneeded calories. 2) Runny stuff always makes it difficult and messy to eat a tortilla! After the chorizo is drained, distribute it between the two tortillas. You can add a large variety of toppings. My husband likes to add Frank's Red Hot, while I add a light sprinkle of fat free shredded cheddar cheese. In no way is this exactly a "light" breakfast, but it is certainly a treat worth having every once in a while. Enjoy!