We work really hard to avoid artificial ingredients in our home, including artificial coloring. So when it comes to Easter, I feel awful taking our beautiful eggs and smothering them in red 40. We decided to try a natural approach. Not only did it work but it was way more fun than dropping pellets in […]
I’ve always bought “cage-free” eggs. I was so proud picturing my eggs being laid by chickens roaming around a field of grass and flowers listening to Simon and Garfunkel. Then I learned that “cage-free” may not mean what I thought it meant. What about Organic? Free Range? Pasture Raised? What does it all mean?!
My kids started school this week. This was a big deal because my youngest started Kindergarten! I’ve never seen someone so excited to go to school. So now I have 3 1/2 hours to myself every day because we opted for half-day Kindergarten. My daughter is a smart little coconut and I’m sure she’d do just fine in full-day, but I needed the adjustment from half to full day. Here are my cutie patooties ready to go! In the words of my mom, one of these kids was okay with going to school (school is old hat once you hit third grade) and the other one is excited beyond all reason.
Day 1, I was so excited. I went grocery shopping by myself for the first time in years. It was so liberating. But then my daughter’s favorite song came on the radio. It made me a little… sad. I’m a complicated person.
Anyway… that’s what’s going on in our lives. That cute little girl in the picture loves to have eggs for breakfast. The problem is, I don’t have time to make eggs every morning now that we have to leave for school at 7:30 a.m. I wake up at 5:45 and work out while my husband gets the kids breakfast. In order to save on time and make sure the kids have a good breakfast, we set it out the night before. So how could I give my daughter eggs, but make breakfast the night before (and scrambling eggs at 9:30 p.m. was not an option for me)?
The solution: Egg muffins. These are SOOOO easy to make. Just scramble eggs and flavor them however you want. My daughter loves salsa and this makes them even easier to flavor. Be careful with salsa. There are some great options out there but read the labels. It’s really easy to find salsa without sugar, but you have to check and make sure they didn’t sneak it in. My daughter also loves bacon, so I cooked some bacon before, chopped that up and added it in.
Then I just put the eggs into a muffin tin using an ice cream scoop. Make sure you grease the pan well.
Just bake them at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.
After the egg muffins cool put them in a Ziploc freezer bag and put them in the freezer.
When I want to serve one, I put it in the fridge the night before. Then in the morning I (or my husband) just stick it in the microwave for about 30 seconds.
This breakfast will give your kids the energy they need to leave you and go out into the world… I’ll get through this… give it a few weeks and I’ll be fine…
When I was a little girl I would get angry and throw fits, as most kids do. In the morning if I didn’t like what I was wearing, or my pigtails were too tight, or my favorite lace-trimmed socks were dirty, it was the end of the world. I’d cry, scream and lose my ability […]
Easter is one of my favorite times of year. It’s the first real celebration since Christmas and it’s the start of warm weather and playing outside. It’s like a new beginning. I especially love Easter because of what it represents. We are a Christian family, so this is a special time of year for us. […]
It’s kind of ridiculous how much I love breakfast. It’s really my favorite part of the day. So I’m not going to have a tiny breakfast that leaves me hungry an hour later. I’m going to eat a hearty meal that takes at least 15 minutes to eat.
This is my go-to breakfast. I eat it at least three times a week. I feel guilty calling this a recipe. It’s more of a delicious hodge-podge of things thrown together. I’ve listed approximate measurements for the ingredients, but I don’t measure. I just add the amount I feel like at the moment. I also change up the ingredients based on what I have on hand. I generally add zucchini, but I was out this day. So the point is, add what you have and what you like. This recipe looks very different for me than it does for my husband.
I sautee 2-3 cups veggies in avocado oil. This may sound like a lot, but because veggies have so much water, this shrinks down as it cooks, especially if you add leafy greens.
I also try to pick an array of colors. Vegetables get their colors from the vitamins and minerals they contain so if you eat more colors, you get a bigger variety of health benefits.
I always add one half an onion and one clove of garlic, but then it’s open to whatever sounds good. I often add zucchini, peppers, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes spinach and kale.
I heat a pan with 2T avocado oil and add all the veggies except the garlic, cherry tomatoes and kale, seasoned with a good amount of salt and pepper. I let this cook until I see charring on the onion and peppers. This takes about five minutes. Then I add the garlic and tomatoes and let this cook for another minute. Then I add the leafy greens and let them wilt down for another minute or two.
Scoop this all into a bowl and then add more avocado oil to the pan and fry two eggs.
Once the eggs are done, put them on top of the veggie mixture. The veggies taste fabulous on their own but when you break the egg yolks over them, it’s heavenly.
If you make this, breakfast is likely to become your favorite part of the day too.
Last week we were supposed to have chicken for dinner. About an hour before dinner, I realized I had failed to thaw said chicken. This always leaves us with two options: Go out to eat or throw together something quickly with what we have on hand. In the past I would have boiled some pasta and topped it with canned sauce. That amounted to very little protein, lots of sugar, and basically just a lot of processed junk. So I needed a solution that would give us a protein and vegetables without loading us down with processed ingredients. The solution: eggs. Eggs are packed with protein, vitamins, minerals and iron. It’s hard to beat the nutrients of an egg. Plus, turning it into a frittata makes it seem more fun and elegant. If I were Fancy Nancy I’d say, “We’re eating frittata. That’s a fancy word for eggs.” Can you tell I spend a lot of time with a 5-year-old girl?
Brown a pound of turkey sausage. Let this cool a bit or the eggs with scramble as soon as you add it.
Whisk together the eggs and almond milk. Stir in some Pico de Gallo. Pico is so versatile and adds all the seasoning this dish needs. Add the sausage and mix everything together.
I like to bake this in a pie dish but you could also bake it in a 9×9 pan or an oval casserole dish.
This dish is great because it’s so versatile. Add whatever meat you want or leave it out completely. If you’re not a fan of pico, switch it out for different vegetables. Use what you have on hand and what your family likes.
This goes great with roasted veggies, a green salad or sliced fruit.
I don’t understand people who say they’re not breakfast people. How can you not be a breakfast person? After not eating since dinner, doing a workout, taking the kids to school, and having to do a very picky 4-year-old’s hair, I’m starving. Breakfast time is pretty much the best time of day. So I don’t want to waste this fabulous meal on a sugary, processed cereal. I want something healthy and delicious that will give me the energy to make it through the rest of the day. This hearty stir fry is the key.
Start by heating up some avocado oil in a large skillet. I use avocado oil because it performs great at high temperatures and is good for you. Brown the onion and garlic first. Add in the pepper, zucchini, mushrooms, cauliflower and saute until the veggies are tender but still have a bit of crunch. Make sure to season your veggies with plenty of salt and pepper.
Add the halved cherry tomatoes last and cook them until they are slightly shriveled and have released some of their juices.
Because I’m lazy and don’t want to dirty extra dishes, I just push the cooked veggies to the side before adding the eggs. I like to keep the two separate for a while so I still have distinct pieces of veggies and eggs. If you just toss the eggs in and mix it all together, it’s a bit mushy and just not as good.
Once the eggs are cooked, stir it all together for a bit.
This recipe is easy to customize. Add any seasonings or vegetables you like. Leave out any you don’t like. Even add leftover chicken or sausage. Either way, I’m sure this recipe will make anyone a breakfast person. If not, go ahead and make it for lunch.
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