March 30th, 2010

Egg in a Basket: My New Favorite Breakfast

I first learned about “Eggs in a Basket” while watching “V for Vendetta” one of the best movies ever ( a topic for another post). I remember it looking so yummy and wanting to make it right away. For one reason or another I became very distracted and forgot all about it for a few years. However, in an attempt to add some variety to our menus, I decided to make it one day. My husband had a horrible stomach ache and I remembered that my mom used to make me hard-boiled eggs and toast when my tummy was hurting. Drew’s belly gave my the perfect excuse to try this out.

What You Need

• Bread- (I prefer wheat but we only had white when this photo was taken)
• A Shot glass, small cookie cutter or a champagne glass (which is what I used)
• Butter or something like it.
• 1 egg for every slice of bread used

How You Make It

1. Heat non-stick skillet. While pan is warming cut out centers of each bread with cutter (keep the centers and put to the side)
2. Place bread in the pan and immediately crack egg into each center
3. Let it set (cook) for a few minutes (I like my yolks cooked fully) then flip
4. Salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

February 3rd, 2010

Wednesday Dinner: Onion Mushroom Burgers with Mashed Potatoes

I love coming up with new recipes and new ways to try some old-time favorites with a new twist. If you have been following my weight loss journey you know that I have a serious problem getting enough protein in my diet.  So, I decided to add a little ground beef to my menu. The problem is that I really don’t like the taste of meat. It makes me gag to think that I have to eat beef.

So tonight I tried to create a burger that was more like a Salisbury steak and paired with some of my favorite veggies: mushrooms, onions, and green peppers.

Burger Recipe

Mushroom Sauce:

• 1 pint Baby Bella Mushrooms
• 1 large onion
• 1 large bell pepper

Saute this mixture starting with the onions and then adding the green peppers and then the mushrooms. Cook on medium until the green peppers and mushrooms have released all of their liquids. ( I learned this techniques from the Iron Chef competitions). Remove from pan.

Burger Seasonings (I cook by smell so the measurements are all palm -sized)

• Black pepper
• Ground Thyme
• Paprika
• Garlic Powder
• Red Pepper
• Cumin

In a bowl combine all of the dry ingredients and mix well. Mix half of the dry mixture into the ground beef. Form your burgers (4) and “flour” each burger patty with the remaining dry seasoning  mix. Cook burgers in pan (8 minutes on each side if you like yours well done).

For Sauce

• Mushroom, Onion, Pepper mixture
• 1 cups of hot water with a beef bouillon cube dissolved
• .5 cup of Balsamic Vinegar

Remove the burgers from the pan and add vinegar and water/broth. With fire on medium scrap bottom of pan and mix well. Add MOP mixture and bring to a slight boil. Add burgers back to pan and cover. Turn fire to low and cook until the middles of the burgers are as pink as you want (I like them well-done so it took about 13 minutes to cook thoroughly. This will differ based on the thickness of your burger)

Serve with mashed potatoes (I used instant mashed potatoes and made them with Soy Milk) and a side salad (my salad had baby carrots, 2 kinds of lettuce, peppers, mushrooms, and onions). Cover mashed potatoes and burgers with sauce/MOP mixture.

The burger is about 215 calories alone.

*The picture features a very large burger that I cut in thirds.