Egg McElle Sandwich

Ok, I admit it: I love to stop at McDonald's for breakfast. Considering that their breakfast offerings aren't really the healthiest options and that I either (a) don't have time to stop before work when I'm scheduled for the early shift (6-2), or (b) I'm still sleeping and they're no longer serving breakfast when I work the late shift (2-close), I don't eat there very often. So to satisfy those cravings, I have created my own versions of some of McD's breakfast favorites. Today's version is my answer to the classic Egg McMuffin... with a few tweaks.

Ingredients:

1 egg, fried (I suppose you could scramble or poach an egg, but I just went with the classic fried)

2 slices of Canadian bacon

2 slices of bread (I always have whole grain bread on hand... the kind with lots of nuts/seeds/oats etc. baked right in)

goat cheese (the kind that comes in a log is easier to spread on toast than the usual crumbles I have in the fridge, but you can use any cheese you like)

So keeping it close to the classic version, I had originally considered adding spinach and sun dried tomatoes this morning but in the end, decided to leave off all the frills (but you can add whatever floats your boat). I won't tell you how to fry an egg because I can only assume that if you're reading this, than you have at least some basic skills in the kitchen. I will say that I fried my egg in a small amount of Smart Balance and that I broke the yolk so I could have a bit of yolk with each bite. Meanwhile, I toasted 2 slices of my favorite whole grain bread and in the last moments before the egg was done cooking, I tossed the Canadian bacon into the pan to heat through. To assemble the sandwich: piece of toast, Canadian bacon, fried egg, top with second piece of toast that has been smeared with creamy goat cheese. Serve with iced coffee, and it's the perfect "fast food" before heading out the door.

Enjoy!

Broccoli With Breakfast

So today I had my morning free again since I'm scheduled to work the 2-close shift yet again. Because I accidentally went to bed rather early last night and dinner consisted of a piece of peanut butter toast with apple butter (that was just supposed to be my "after school" snack), I woke up absolutely starving this morning. I decided to go with one of my ever favorite breakfast foods... an omelet. Paired with a piece of cinnamon toast and coffee, this was fantastic if I do say so myself.

Ingredients:

2 eggs (or the equivalent of Garden Vegetable Egg Beaters like I usually use)

broccoli florets, steamed, diced (I always have broccoli in the freezer)

red bell pepper, roasted, diced (these were left over from some roasted veg I made the other night)

Canadian bacon, diced

goat cheese

salt and pepper to taste

I'm not going to go in to detail on how to prepare an omelet (it's easy and I've already described my technique in a previous post) so suffice it to say, whatever veggies you might have in the fridge or freezer make fantastic fodder for an omelet. As for the cinnamon toast, I simply spread some whole grain toast with Smart Balance then sprinkle on some cinnamon and Splenda. I used to love making cinnamon toast when I was a kid because it was so easy and one of the first things I can remember my grandmother letting me do by myself in the kitchen. To complement the toast, I put some ground cinnamon in the basket with the coffee before brewing so as to make my own flavored coffee. It smells fantastic as it brews and tastes even better!

Enjoy!