Double Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

If you’ve ever been out to breakfast with me, this won’t come as a surprise, but I’m sort of in love with oatmeal. It’s such a simple food, and yet it is so delicious. While I could honestly eat plain oatmeal with a little Truvia and a lot of cinnamon every day and be perfectly content, I am always looking for new ways to enjoy this healthy breakfast staple. I went grocery shopping hungry after the gym yesterday (big mistake!), and these Hershey’s Cinnamon Chips magically jumped right off the shelf and into my cart. Once I got them home, I started wondering what to do with them since Cesar doesn’t like cinnamon (who in their right mind doesn’t like cinnamon??), and I certainly don’t need to eat an entire batch of cookies on my own. Then I remembered seeing a baked oatmeal recipe that included chocolate chips on Healthy Food For Living, and I realized that it would be easy to minimally modify it and have a yummy breakfast treat on hand for the next few days.

Double Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

Recipe adapted from here
Makes 3 Servings

1 cup old fashioned oats
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp Ideal Brown Sweetener
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp cinnamon
6 packets Truvia
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp butter flavored extract
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice + enough unsweetened vanilla almond milk to make 1 1/2 cups
3 tbsp egg whites
1 tbsp Hershey’s Cinnamon Baking Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray three mini loaf pans with non-stick baking spray.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together dry ingredients with the exception of the cinnamon chips.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine. Stir in the cinnamon chips.

Pour into the prepared loaf pans. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until the oatmeal appears set.



Nutrition Information per serving
Calories: 175
Fat: 4.7g
Carbohydrates: 22g
Protein: 6.8g
Calculated on Sparkrecipes.com

You can eat this warm or cold, topped with maple syrup or peanut butter, sprinkled with extra cinnamon chips…..the options are endless! My personal preference is to reheat it in the microwave, add some unsweetened almond milk, and sprinkle it with even more cinnamon.

If you need further proof of my love affair with oatmeal, check out my oatmeal board on Pinterest!

Morning Glory

There's a saying that things/events usually happen in sets of 3.  Sometimes they're good things, sometimes they're bad.  This morning they were good. 

1) I saved a little tree frog.  It was sooo cute.  Pretty much looked just like this:


I almost stepped on it walking through the gym.  I was able to pick it up and take it outside. 

2) I had a good tempo run:

10 min w/u on elliptical
5 min w/u jog @ 7.0 (8:34 min/mi)
6 miles @ 8.2 (7:18 min/mi)
10 min c/d jog @ 7.0 (8:34 min/mi)
5 min walk @ 3.5
Total time - 1:05
Total distance - 7.90 miles (not including the elliptical)

3) Sarah sent me some links to easy recipes with quinoa.  I have never had quinoa before and I had no idea how to use it, but heard a lot of good things about it.  So, I made Hot Banana Breakfast Quinoa from using the instructions from here - www.thewannabechef.com.  I am happy to say that 1) it was easy.  Less than 8 minutes including the 3 minutes to heat everything up in the microwave.  And, 2) it was yummy.  I need to add some more sweetener to it, but it was still tasty without it.  I am very excited about this because I was getting sick of my low carb wrap with veggie cream cheese and egg beaters for breakfast.  It was either that or a protein shake from the gym on the mornings that I swam.  Thanks Sarah for sending me the links!

Potato Crusted Mini Quiches

Last week, the monthly newsletter from Clean Eating Magazine showed up in my email, and it included this recipe for Potato-Crusted Salmon & Goat Cheese Quiches. I loved the idea of a grab and go quiche with a potato crust in place of the traditional fat-laden pastry crust but wasn't entirely sold on the rest of the recipe. The original recipe called for yellow potatoes, but since I had a sweet potato that needed to get used, I threw that in the crust mixture as well. Not being a huge fan of salmon or goat cheese, I totally re-worked the egg mixture, opting instead for caramelized onions, roasted zucchini and peppers, and some fat free cheese.  The end result was fantastic – veggie packed and flavorful with just a bit of heat from the jalapeno in the cheese.  Each quiche has less than 75 calories to boot!

Potato Crusted Mini Quiches

Adapted from Clean Eating Magazine
Makes 14 Quiches

Ingredients
10 oz yellow potatoes, grated
8 oz sweet potatoes, grated
4 large eggs, plus 1/2 cup egg whites
1 tbsp whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp basil infused olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced onions
1 cup diced bell peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup shredded zucchini
2 oz Lifetime Fat Free Mild Mexican Cheese, shredded

Directions
Preheat oven to 425ºF. Arrange silicone muffin liners on a large rimmed baking sheet.
In a large bowl, combine potatoes, 1 whole egg, flour, salt and pepper. Line the muffin cups with the mixture; the potato crust should be about 1/4-inch thick on all sides. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, until browned around the edges. Remove from oven and let cool, about 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350ºF.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onions and let them cook until slightly brown...this should take about 10 minutes. Add the peppers and garlic and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the shredded zucchini and cook until softened. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together 3 eggs and 1/2 cup of egg whites. Add the Greek yogurt and whisk until incorporated. Add the veggie mixture as well as the cheese and stir. Spoon the mixture into the prepared potato crusts.
Bake at 350 degrees until set. This took 27 minutes in my oven. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge of the muffin cups before removing from the silicone molds.

Nutrition Information per Quiche
Calories:74.3
Fat: 1.8g
Carbohydrates: 8.3g
Protein: 5.5g
Calculated on Sparkrecipes.com
 

After having eaten most of the quiches, I had a flash of brilliance and whipped up some Adobo Cottage Cheese Sauce to amp up the spice and add a little more protein to my post workout meal. I can see myself making these again and again; the recipe is completely customizable based on what kind of veggies, meats, cheeses, etc I have on hand, and the convenience of being able to grab a couple as I head out the door is a huge plus.

As is usually the case in my kitchen, the cooking process was closely monitored by my in-house quality control staff.  Rest assured that nothing escapes Phoebe’s watchful eye!