Omelets

  Good Morning! One of my favorite breakfast foods is omelets. Not only are they are a good source of protein to keep you full during the day, they also allow you to have vegetables for breakfast! 

Tomato omelet. Yum yum.

  The omelet I made this morning has chopped garden fresh heirloom tomato and part-skim mozzarella cheese. Any vegetables that you like can be added. 

  Start off with a skillet on medium heat and spray it with some non-stick cooking spray. If you like onions and green peppers, add them first since they need to cook longer. Then add the softer veggies, like tomatoes, mushrooms, or raw spinach leaves. I would have never thought of putting spinach in an omelet until I had a veggie omelet at The Georgian Terrace Hotel in Atlanta, and it was amazing.

  Next, beat an egg with about a tablespoon of skim milk and pour it over the veggies. This is a Julia Child tip. Adding a little milk to an egg before you scramble it gives it a light, moist, fluffy texture. 

  Then top with some shredded cheese. I prefer part-skim mozzarella because it is the lowest in fat of all the natural cheeses. Specialty reduced fat cheeses tend to be kind of expensive, but they do taste good and are better for you.

Whole Grain Blueberry Muffins

These yummy blueberry muffins are an even healthier variation on the blueberry muffin recipe I posted last month. Half of the flour in this recipe is 100% whole wheat. Using half whole wheat and half white flour adds fiber and other benefits of whole grain, but the muffins still have a good, light texture.

Ingredients: 

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup 100% whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

3/4 cup sucralose sweetener for baking

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup skim milk

1 pint fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray 12 muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray. 

Combine flours, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir together well. 

Add oil, sweetener, eggs, vanilla, and milk, and stir together well. 

Fold in blueberries.

Spoon batter into muffin cups. 

Bake for 20 minutes.

Frozen Dessert

Today I made a quick and easy frozen dessert with pudding and Cool Whip. It has a nice frosty quality, a little different than ice cream. Since it's made with skim milk, it's also good for you, and it can be portioned out into individual servings to control the calories and total carbs.


Ingredients: 
Large box instant sugar-free pudding mix
3 cups skim milk
Large container Cool Whip or store brand

Directions:
Whisk together pudding mix and milk. Add softened Cool Whip, and whisk until smooth. Pour into popsicle molds. Freeze.

 

Portion control

I love ice cream, but it's tempting to eat large portions when I'm just scooping it directly from the container.  A great way around this is to buy packs of ice cream in pre-portioned cups. Each portion is 1/2 cup, which gives you about 100 calories depending on the brand. Usually, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, or swirls are available.  

You also get some calcium with ice cream, as you would with any dairy food like milk or yogurt.  These are quick and easy for kids, too!   

I think it's snack time.