Fiber Fool

I was kind of excited when I opened this week’s 10 on Tuesday email. Food themes are often quite enjoyable for me to both write and read. This one is especially helpful. We get eggs delivered with our milk each week and regularly end up with a big stock pile if we haven’t enjoyed leisurely breakfasts at home (or breakfast for dinner) or had a baking spree. My usual go-to is to boil some up for easy protein snacks at work or on the go, but I’m the only one who will eat cold hard boiled eggs.

1. One I enjoy a lot, though haven’t made in quite a while is baked eggs, like this recipe I posted almost a year ago not. The recipe is really flexible. Add whatever you have on hand!

2. Along similar lines, DH and I like to make our own “McMuffins.” I use a turkey sausage patty and he makes one from Gimme Lean Sausage and we put a little bit of shredded sharp cheddar (sharp and higher flavor cheeses mean you can use less) on a whole grain English muffin that we’ve toasted. I’m a sucker for hot sauce on my fried eggs, so I often splash a good dose of Cholula on there and if we have baby spinach I’ll put some in there too.

3. Frittatas are another egg go-to around our house. I love that I add some egg and whatever vegetables and cheese we happen to have on hand. A favorite combo is kalamata olives, onion, mushroom and feta with perhaps some artichoke hearts if there are some in the pantry.

4. I don’t always think of it as an “egg” dish per se, but last summer we made whole wheat German pancakes and served them with fruit and Greek yogurt several times. One pancake calls for 3 eggs and actually very little flour so I think it does fall into the realm of an egg dish. We haven’t done that in a while. I should revisit that one. I think it is a good one for spring and summer as it feels like a lighter meal.

5. Along similar lines, popovers also use a fair number of eggs versus flour. I generally do pretty plain ones. But I’ve played around with savory ones in mini muffin pans and then filled them with some egg or chicken salad for afternoon tea. With the egg salad it is an even eggier-dish!

6. I’m also a huge fan of deviled eggs, especially this time of year!

7. Fruit curds are also a great way to use eggs. Some recipes call only for yolks and others, like our go-to lemon curd recipe calls for the whole egg. I’ve recently become enamored of putting a dallop of lemon curd in my plain Greek yogurt. Delish, tangy, tart yogurt that still goes with any fruit! Though lately I’ve been topping it with strawberries. I load it all into a 1/2 pint jar in the morning and have it as my afternoon snack at work several times a week. It’s great! You can also lighten it up with some fresh whipped cream and use it as a wonderful frosting or filling for cake, like my my Almond one. I’m seriously contemplating making that to bring to work and knitting next Monday as a belated birthday treat.

8. One of DH’s specialties is Juevoes con Tomates from one his Jewish cookbooks. You make an onion and rosemary spiced tomato sauce on the stovetop, then poach eggs right in it and serve over some form of starch. I think we’ve had it over homemade bread, brown rice and biscuits in the past.

9. One that many of you likely haven’t heard of unless you’ve been a long time reader here is Ostkaka or Swedish cheesecake. It isn’t anything like our cheesecake. You make your own cheese curd that is along the lines of cottage cheese, then you mix it with an egg-rich custard that is scented with vanilla and almond extracts and bake it. I love it, though it is work intensive. Growing up it was a July 4th regular for which the little church in the unincorporated village near the farm was well known for.

10. Quiche has been big around our house for quite a while, but man or man are crusts high calorie and lacking nutrition! So a few months ago, inspired by a recipe I saw for a brown rice crust I decided to try making a quinoa crusted quiche. We now make one almost every other week! It boasts a lot of fiber and more protein making for a very satifying meal. I think my favorite is the broccoli cheddar version, but I did an onion and pepper one which we topped with avocado and homemade enchilada sauce that was fantastic!

11. And because I just can’t help myself you get a bonus! Another mexi-style way to enjoy eggs that we tried a few weeks ago that I want to do again is in what I’m calling a “deconstructed enchilada bowl.” I made up polenta and topped it with black beans, grilled veggies, enchilada sauce and over-easy eggs! It was delish and not near as much work as enchiladas proper and lower in fat.

12. And if you just can’t eat one more egg, slather yourself in it! The whites, yolks and the whole egg can be used for a multitude of DIY natural beauty remedies. The whites applied as a face mask are said to fight wrinkles. The yolk conditions and moisturizes both your face and hair. There are tons of recipes out there for egg-based beauty.

I’m looking forward to my blog reading today and find some new ideas to help us get through our dozen eggs each week! What’s your favorite way to eat eggs?

Sorry for the radio silence! About the time our basement flooded I started a day job. And still had two weeks to go to wrap up a couple existing contracts. To say life has been crazy is an understatement. I am starting to feel as though I’m getting into a new groove. An exhausting groove. But it is becoming habit and thus easier. Though I’m still not used to interacting with people in person for so many hours a day and it tires me out. Well, that combined with getting to the gym somewhere between 5 and 5:30 am to get my workout in before work on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Basically since I finished my contract knitting I haven’t picked needles back up. Even though it is fine with my current employer to knit when there is down time. I think I’ll break the hiatus today as I have inspiration for using some very old yarn from the stash (that actually used be in Amanda’s stash) for a summer top. It should be mindless enough that I can put it down and pick it back up at any time. I have to do some planning and math yet today, but hopefully I won’t go to Stitch ‘n Bitch tonight and just eat and drink :-O

Speaking of eating and previously of my early morning workouts, I’ve hit a new milestone on the healthier living front! The smallest size pants/jeans of my adult life - I now have a pair of pants and will soon have a skirt in that size! I’m somewhat amazed as my weight has stalled out since late February a few pounds shy of having lost 75 pounds (though technically, I switched scales last summer and there was a 2.5 pound difference that I had to loose extra of so I’m calling it 75 pounds if anyone asks).

Here are a few things that have caught my eye recently…

• Amanda sent me this link on making your own “beauty balm” which I hadn’t even heard of before, but I think I’ll be trying it soon as I think it could shave a good bit of time off my gym routine mornings which I could use to get in a little extra stretching or cardio or to grab a tall non-fat latte on the way to work ;-)
• I’m totally lusting after this fun bicycle tee, even though I’ve not yet gotten the courage to brave the cool mornings or to break in my butt to ride to work, even though it is on a major bike trail.
• I’m going to use this yoga skirt tutorial to help me turn some of my 3X tees into skirts for the summer. I loved biking in yoga skirts last summer and I will eventually start biking to work - at least on Tuesday and Thursdays when I don’t lift weights at the gym. And one of these weekends I’m going to have the time/energy to follow through on that intention :-)
• This trick of washing berries in a dilute white vinegar solution really does help them last longer! It is totally worth it. I wash them in our salad spinner so I can easily just pull out the mesh portion and let them dry off. I don’t actually spin them. But it allows me to use a bit less water/vinegar.
• Mom gave me Power Foods from the editors of Whole Living magazine for Christmas. I’m finally diving in and made a few things from it yesterday for lunches this week. There are a ton more recipes in it I want to try and I love that the nutritional info is already calculated for me! In a few more weeks I’ll probably do a review.
• This cookie dough dip looks fabulous, but I’m dubious that chick peas can really pass for cookie dough. I think I’m going to have to try it though!
• This has become my new way to eat oatmeal in our unseasonably warm weather. I’ve added 1/2 serving of protein powder and my favorite mix-in is 1/2 T cocoa powder and 1/2 cup frozen raspberries which are still quite cold, but no lonegr frozen once I get to work after the gym. It sticks with me well and gives me 10 g of fiber and with a small non-fat latte 30 g of protein to start the day! I want to try pumpkin here soon too.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend! Oh, and if any of you have a favorite method of roasting a whole chicken I’m taking recommendations. I’ll be roasting one on Wednesday I think (my best guess of when it will have thawed in the fridge). I don’t want anything with a drastically ethnic bent as I’m the only one in the house who will eat it, so some will become soup and some probably seasoned mexican style for salads or enchiladas and some just eaten with some veggies etc. I’m just in need of easier, quick protein sources that might mesh with whatever DH wants to cook for himself for dinner. And for quick to pack lunches too. I thought I’d give a whole chicken a try and see. I’m totally sick and tired of chicken breasts on the Foreman grill.

I’m not going to set any expectations for this space for now. I’ll pop in when I have time/inspiration/energy. Tomorrow’s 10 on Tuesday is intriguing so I’m hoping I’ll be here for that tomorrow, but no promises. I hope you are having a great day!