Brie & Apricot French Toast

411 calories of delicious breakfast goodness. I'll admit, I've been on a little bit of a kick with apricot and brie lately. Every since I tried out brie-apricot crescent roll pockets and have had extra ingredients just lying around, it's pretty much all I can do not to eat it every day. And by lying around, I mean, I bought more brie to go with my jam. And by all-I-can-do-not-to-eat-it-every-day, I mean I have been eating it every day. 

The good news is, it's not as bad as scarfing down cookies.  The bad news hasn't been found yet. Especially not after this amazing go-be-jealous-now breakfast I just ate.

So, it's very simple. Make french toast, then throw some brie and apricot jam on it. If you're substituting your normal maple syrup, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how many fewer calories are in it, and this combo does actually carry other nutrients that delicious tree sugar does not. (Not to dis maple sugar, which if you buy locally may actually help alleviate some of your maple allergies!)

Ingredients:

2 slices delicious bread (I used 9 grain bread or homemade beer bread)

1 egg

splash of 2% milk (1/8 c.)

1 tsp. vanilla

Sprinkle of cinnamon

1 tsp. butter or coconut oil 

1 tbsp. brie

1 tbsp. apricot jam

What I did: 

My french toast is some form of wheat/grainy toast, this time around I actually used my homemade Beer Bread, but for the sake of figuring out calorie count, I used 9-grain bread.  For two slices of bread, use 1 egg and a splash of milk (I use 2%). If you use skim, go a little lighter on the milk as it makes the mixture more watery.  Throw in some vanilla extract - no more than a tsp. 

I used coconut oil to grease my cast iron pan - butter is factored into my calorie count though, so feel free to get buttery if you need to. 

Turn the heat to medium-medium high before you add the bread.  Dip the bread into your mixture, coating each side evenly and throw it into the pan. Sprinkle some cinnamon to the up side while it's in the pan. Turn to medium. Then flip and cook on the other side until nice and brown on each side.  

(Tip: If you have a little extra egg mixture left, right before you flip to the other side, pour the rest of the egg mixture onto the top of the uncooked side. It will seep into the bread a little more and you won't have any waste! It will be a little messy when you flip it, but it's worth it.)

While the bread is still warm, take a tablespoon of brie and spread onto the french toast until it's gooey. Microwave for 10 seconds for extra gooey-ness. Then add a dollop of apricot jam to the top, and you're all set. 

Calories: 411; 16 gram fat (6 saturated); 15 grams protein; 13 grams sugar.

If you look at the calorie breakdown (I'm obsessed with this pie chart feature in MyFitnessPal), then this meal is pretty spot-on with 48% carbs, 35% fat, 17% protein. MyFitnessPal goals are for 50-30-20 in those categories, so this isn't too shabby! 

Cut out the brie, and you've got 371 calories; 13 grams fat (4 saturated); 15 grams protein; 13 grams sugar. Calorie breakdown: 53% carb, 31% fat, 16% protein. Not bad!

Avocado Egg Tostada

In an effort to eat healthier, I've been searching for quick healthy recipes to make on Skinnytaste.com (thank you, Andrea), and unlike most healthy-eating-diet-skinny-food-fad websites and blogs, I find that Skinnytaste is the ultimate in appealing healthy foods because the author:

A. Sounds like a person that legitimately loves food

B. Doesn't sound crazy (there's not a lot of fad-talk here, which bugs the crap out of me).

C. Uses ingredients you might already have in your kitchen 

D. Doesn't use the fake versions of foods that don't consitute real food at all (looking at you, egg beaters)

So, in my book, this blog is a winner. 

Long story short, when I went to make this delicious looking Avocado Toast with a Sunny Side Egg  I was very disappointed when, having already mashed avocado and started the egg, I found that the loaf of whole-grain bread that had previously resided in the freezer was MIA. So, I had to revamp this recipe, which was perfectly fine for me, because tostadas (which is what I call any open face stuff-on-a-corn-tortilla-with-cheese) are what's up.

Here's the recipe, which makes a single tostada -- and which by itself is only 279 calories. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 corn tortilla (firm it up by toasted it in the broiler or in a hot pan)

1 oz. avocado (1/4 of a hass avocado)

Salt, pepper, and lime juice to taste

1 large egg

1 tsp. olive oil 

1 tbsp. queso (I used Carlita brand Monterey Jack Salsa Con Queso)

Handful of grape tomatoes, or thereabouts

What to do: 

1. Get out all of your ingredients first so that you don't do what I did with the Skinnytaste recipe and then realize I don't have the stuff (classic Hayley move). 

2. Mash the avocado, seasoning with salt and pepper, and a little lime juice to keep it from browning. (Keep the pit - avocado pits naturally prevent browning, so helps preserve leftovers a little better).

3. Heat your egg pan (I used a nonstick) on medium with the olive oil. Let the pan heat all the way up before adding the egg - this makes the egg cook perfectly. I left mine slightly runny. When I flipped the egg, I put the queso on top to let it get warm and runny. While the egg is cooking...

4. Toast the tortilla (I use the broiler - put it in for maybe 2 minutes per side to make it nice and durable).

5. Assemble!  Tortilla on bottom, spread about 1/4 of your avocado onto the top. Set the egg with queso on top, and sprinkle with cut up tomatoes. Pair with a piece of fruit and your morning coffee for a healthy fast breakfast. Nom!

Strawberry Oatnut Muffins

I went strawberry picking and decided to make muffins out of my berries that needed to be used up, which turned out to be a delicious way to use them. This is a mash-up of my favorite muffin - the Banana Split Muffin by the Flat Belly diet people and some oat strawberry recipe I found online. I got it into my head that oats needed to happen, and the addition of walnuts makes them nice and filling for a breakfast on the go. I found a website where I could plug the ingredients and measurements in for a recipe and it would spit out the nutritional facts, which are included at the bottom. So here they are!

1 c. oats
1 c. chopped walnuts
1 c. flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1/4 c. canola oil
1/4 c. yogurt
1/4 c. milk
2 large eggs
1 tsp. almond extract
1 c. Strawberries, diced

Grease and flour 12 muffin cups or use paper liners. Set oven to 400 degrees.

Grind walnuts in food processor into fine meal. Add in oats, flour, eggs, milk, oil, and extract, and blend until oats are smooth. Transfer to bowl. Stir in sugar, baking powder, and salt until well blended. Fold in strawberries.

Bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and tops spring back at touch.