Egg White & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day...not to mention, the most important! Many people skip breakfast in an effort to loose weight or cut calories..DON'T! You've been asleep for the past several hours, and your body needs fuel to start the day. Skipping it leads to your body going into 'starvation' mode and leads to overeating later on. Breakfast also gives you more energy...so eat up!

I always love to try new things for breakfast that are a perfect balance between fat, protein, carbs. Something to keep me satisfied for a few hours and of course taste delicious. While my quick staple breakfast when I'm in a rush out the door in the morning is a light whole wheat english muffin with natural peanut butter, if I have more time I like to whip up a simple and much-lower-cal-than-any-takeout-breakfast-sandwich-out-there, egg and cheese sandwich. 

Yum!

What You'll Need:

1/4 cup egg substitute/2 egg whites/1 egg

1 whole wheat english muffin

1 slice of kraft 2% american cheese

1 slice of ham/turkey/turkey peperoni (optional)

Cut english muffin in half and put into toaster. If you are using a microwave, use a microwave bowl or circle tupperware container, spray with nonstick spray, and crack egg or pour egg white/substitute into it. Microwave for 20 seconds, take out to move it around and check on it, microwave again another 20 seconds or until not runny. 

Once english muffin is done being toasted, take out of microwave and put cheese on it and meats (if you decided too use meat). Take egg out of microwave and flip it onto english muffin, and donezo! 

Easy right?

I'll usually pair my egg sandwich with some fruit and a half a cup of skim milk or juice.

Enjoy you Skinny Minis!

xox

Average Price of Ingredients:

(all come in packages..several servings!)

$12

Price per serving:

$2

Nutritional Facts:

(without meat)

Calories - using egg: 230

Calories - using egg white: 180

Fat - using egg: 6g

Fat - using egg white: 4g

Protein: 13g

Carbs: 27mg

Mashed Garlic Cauliflower

One food item I have never heard anyone say they disliked...ever...is mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes are delicious. Chunky, creamy, soft, smooth, buttery...I could go on and on. Last Thanksgiving, some family was over and my aunt was on a low calorie/low fat/low carb diet. Aka, low anything-thats-thanksgiving diet. Talk about a mood kill. She was supposed to bring the mashed potatoes....did she? No. Everyone else upon hearing this disturbing news break, had a mix of emotions ranging from sad, mad, disappointed, in disbelief, annoyed...any emotion besides happiness you can think of was present.

Instead, she brought over her "famous" mashed cauliflower. And there it was. Insult to injury. Take away out mashed potatoes on one of the few days of the year we can eat whatever we want and replace it with mushy VEGETABLES?! 

Preposterous.

Until I unwillingly tried them.

They were great. My aunts mock mashed potatoes were unbelievable. Now, don't get me wrong...nothing can replace mashed potatoes for me, but these tasted surprisingly delightful. Some garlic, some butter, little salt, little pepper. I've made them since then, and not only are they tasty, they are easy, CHEAP to make, and very low carb. 

Wouldn't even know they were once broccoli's first cousin, would you?

What You'll Need:

Altered the recipe from Spark People

1 Medium head of Cauliflower

1 tsp Minced Garlic

Sprinkle of parsley or chives

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tablespoon of margarine or butter (unsalted; opt for heart healthy)

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Cut off outside leaves, wash cauliflower and cut into quarters.
Place in a 1-quart sauce pan filled with cold water and boil until well done (should be soft)

In a small pan, sauté the garlic with a bit of either butter or olive oil
Drain water from cauliflower and add the butter and garlic
Mash like you would with potatoes until light and fluffy
Sprinkle with parsley and salt and pepper to taste

Pinch of cheese on top.

Enjoy You SkinnyMinis!

xox

Average Cost for all Ingredients:

$9

Cost Per Serving:

1 Cup

$2.25

Nutritional Information:

Calories- 45

Fat- 4g

Cholesterol- 8mg

Sodium- 33mg

Carbs- 4g

Fiber- 2g

Protein- 1.5g

Sweet Potato Baked Fries

Fries. I LOVE fries. Salty, crunchy but soft, and ketchup's soul mate. The only thing about fries though....they tend to be fried. Eek. Fried foods, as we all know, aren't exactly on the top of the food pyramid. Did you know though, that a little bit of olive oil and some seasoning, tossed in the oven for a bit, you get almost the same thing for a way healthier option?!

Sweet potato fries are my favorite, so i decided to chop a sweet potato up and test this out the other night. I was very very very happy with the results. I know not everyone loves sweet potato fries, but you can do the same thing with a regular potato and make your own homemade french fries!

What You'll Need:

           Recipe from SkinnyMs.

 1 Large sweet potato, sliced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 egg white, beaten

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper/Cajun seasoning/curry powder

(which ever you like or have)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients in a gallon size zip lock bag. Whisk together in a large bowl oil and egg white. Add potatoes and spices to oil & egg mixture, toss lightly to coat.

Place potatoes on a non-stick cookie sheet, spread out so they are not touching, bake 30 minutes or until tender on the inside and crunch on the outside. Turn potatoes after 15 minutes of cooking time.


Enjoy You Skinny Minis!
xox

Average Cost for Ingredients:

$6.75

Cost per serving:

$1.25

Nutritional Information:

6 Fries

(a little unrealistic, but for 115 calories, have a few servings!)

Calories: 115 

Fat: 7 g 

Saturated Fat: 1 g

Sodium: 11mg 

Carbohydrates: 13g 

Sugars: 2 g 

Fiber: 1 g 

Protein: 1 

Chicken Rollatini Stuffed w/ Zucchini and Motz&Feta

Monday's for my roommate are rough. She is an elementary school education major, so she has to wake up gravely early, flick boogers off herself all day, leave the school at the end of the day only to venture up to the University campus to attend a three hour lecture. Roughly, that's a 13 hour day.

Ouch.

By the time she gets home she is so exhausted and hungry that dinner time will usually consist of a bowl of cereal, twizzlers, or a lean cuisine. 

So, this week I decided to make a home cooked, healthy and inexpensive meal of stuffed and panko crusted chicken breasts.

It came out really great. The chicken was seasoned with cajun seasoning and was baked at 350F. It came out so juicy and the stuffing consisting of chopped zucchini and onion, sautéed and browned garlic, mozzarella, & feta cheese, made it really delicious. Dipped in a mixture of lemon juice & olive oil (you could probably get away with just using the lemon juice if you don't have olive oil at hand) and rolled in a breading of panko crumbs and parmesan cheese, gave it an awesome citrusy flavor and a crispy outside coating.

Paired it with some steamed broccoli for an additional nutritional kick and now my mouths watering...

again.

Needless to say, we garbled it right up and went to bed full and happy.

Annnnnd I'm hungry.

What You Need:

I altered the recipe by SkinnyTaste

1 tsp margarine
4 cloves garlic, diced

1 medium zucchini, chopped

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp parmesan

2 oz part skim shredded mozzarella

1 oz feta cheese crumbles
Pepper to taste

Cajun Seasoning to taste

8 thin chicken cutlets, 3 oz each

1/2 cup panko crumbs
Lemon juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp olive oil
salt and fresh pepper
olive oil non-stick spray 

Wash and dry cutlets, season with cajun and pepper.  Preheat oven to 450°F and spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.

In a large skillet, heat oil on medium-high heat. Add margarine when hot then saute garlic until golden. Add zucchini, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, pepper and saute about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool. When its not so piping hot, add mozzarella and feta cheese and mix to combine.

Lay chicken cutlets down on a working surface and spread 3 tbsp of zucchini-garlic-cheese mixture on each cutlet. Loosely roll each one and keep seam side down.

Combine panko and grated cheese in one bowl; in a second bowl combine olive oil (if accessible, like I said it works just fine with just lemon juice too), and lemon juice, and pepper in another bowl.

Dip chicken in lemon-oil mixture, then in panko crumbs and place seam side down in a baking dish (no toothpicks needed). Repeat with the remaining chicken. When finished, lightly spraywith oil spray.

Bake 25 - 30 minutes and serve.
Can always store and eat for lunch or dinner the follow couple of nights or to split between roommates!

Options to serve with:

Steamed vegetables

Over whole wheat pasta and marinara sauce

Side salad

Grilled tomato wheels with basil and sprinkle of parmesan 

Enjoy Skinny Minis!
xox

Average cost for Ingredients: 

$23.50

Average cost per serving:

$2.93

Nutritional Information:
Servings: 8
Serving Size: 1 cutlet
Calories: 171.9
Fat: 6.3 g
Protein: 20.3 g
Carb: 7.9 g
Fiber: 2.9 g
Sugar: 1.3 g
Sodium: 280.7 mg

Cranberry Oat & Honey Cinnamon Almond Bread

Superman's one weakness, kryptonite, has nothing on mine. Alright, so I may have more than one kryptonite (chocolate, ice cream, wine, my dog..etc), but one of the topers on my I-simply-cant-resist-it list is bread. Soft, warm, crusty edged bread. Any kind of bread. I love it with olive oil, natural peanut butter, banana slices, honey, jam, brie. However you got it, i'll take it. I could never do the no carb/low carb diet. The thought of never eating a toasted roll with dinner or a slice of homemade bread for breakfast just makes me sad.

Dessert breads tend to be my favorite, except it kills me when I look at how high the calorie content can be in some of them. Not even just the calories, but the fat and the sodium content can be ridiculous! So, when I found this recipe on Eat Yourself Skinny I knew I had to try it. Healthier AND cheap to make? Let's go.

Ready for some delicious Cranberry Oat & Honey Cinnamon Almond bread? 

I know I am.

You had me at Cranberry.

Instead of oil, I used applesauce. Applesauce is a great alternative to oil because it still makes the breast moist but with much fewer calories. You can also use plain yogurt in substation for oil to! I wanted to make it with fresh cranberries, but since they aren't in season right now I had to settle for the dried ones. If you do come across fresh cranberries, grab them, and instead of 1 cup, make it 2. Also, you may have noticed there is no added sugar to this recipe besides the tsp of brown sugar to sprinkle on top for a little extra sweetness. That is because the honey replaces the need for addd sugar.
 Yum! Whose ready to bake?

What you'll need:

Recipe altered from Eat Yourself Skinny & AllRecipes

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Dash of nutmeg

1 cup quick cooking oats

3/4 cup honey

1/3 cup applesauce

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup fat-free milk

1 cup of dried cranberries

Several crushed almonds

(I suggest BlueDiamonds Cinnamon almonds...They are SO good!)

1 tsp of brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan, or do like I did, to spare having to wash extra dishes, and line the pan in tin foil and spray with a non stick cooking spray.  In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and oats.  

After you sift the dry ingredients together, in a larger bowl mix together honey, apple sauce, vanilla, eggs and milk.  Mix in flour mixture gently.  Then stir in cranberries and pour into baking pan. Crush the almonds (or walnuts, pecans, mini chocolate chips - moderation is key!), and sprinkle them on top of the dough along with some more oats, and the tsp of brown sugar. Bake for about 40 minutes and you have a crusty, moist, and healthier alternative to the bread you're craving!

Enjoy you skinny mini!

xox

Average Cost for Ingredients:

$21.75

Average Cost per Serving:

$1.81

Nutritional Information:

Servings: 12

Serving Size: 1 slice 

Calories: 137

Fat: 4 g

Carbs: 27.5 g

Fiber: 1.7 g

Protein: 3.9 g