Fat-Burning Chickpea muffins

Is stubborn belly fat one of your most bothersome body problems? I know it's mine!! Besides everywhere else - lol BUT.... there is hope for us fatty's yet! We can beat the bulge in just 7 days by adding one cup of beans to every meal! 

Beans, like chickpeas, contain soluble fiber, which works to lower the inflammation that causes belly fat. Start your day off right with this belly fat-blasting breakfast muffin. 

Skinny Slow Cooker Oats

Delicious and easy recipe for slow cooker oats that you can cook 

overnight using steel cut oats.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup steel cut oats 
• 4 cups water 
• 2 tsp cinnamon 
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• Splenda or Brown Sugar Splenda to taste 

Directions: Heavily coat slow cooker with cooking spray. Place oats in slow cooker and pour water over oats. Add in cinnamon and vanilla and stir to mix. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours overnight. Wake up and stir oats. Add Splenda and or Brown Sugar Splenda to taste. If the oats are too thick, simply add in skim milk or almond milk and stir to desired consistency.


Optional: Top with fresh blueberries, pecans, and milk. 

Nutrition Info Per Serving: (serves 4) Calories: 150, Fat: 2.5g, Carbohydrate: 27g, Fiber: 4g, Protein: 5g, Sugars: 1g

Source

How to Peel an Egg Without Peeling

  I saw this on one of my Aunts Blogs and I had to share it with you. This is a great way to entertain your kids.  I wish I knew about this easy methods ions ago!! Check out this video!

How to Poach an Egg

Many of us cooks, including me, has been frustrated by the seemingly simple and straightforward task of poaching an egg. Hopefully, you have already seen your mistake. Most egg poaching disasters can be averted by keeping the water below a simmer. 

• Bring 3 inches of water and a splash of vinegar to about 170 degrees, F. 
• Look carefully at the bottom of the pan. There should be small bubbles all over it, but they should not be rising to the top and breaking. 
• Crack an egg into a small cup. 
• Lower the egg—cup and all—into the water in the center of the pan. 
• Tip the cup to let the egg slide out gently. If any errant strings of white try to swirl away from the egg, gently push them back with a heat-resistant spatula or a spoon. 
• Let the egg gently poach for about 4-5 minutes, depending on how done you like your eggs. 
• “Jiggle” the egg with your spoon. The white should be fairly firm, but the yolk should still shimmy. 
• Remove the egg with a slotted spoon, and let it drain on some paper towels. 
• Serve on buttered toast, or get fancy and make Eggs Benedict. A lovely way to serve a poached egg at dinner is to make a salad with a fairly acidic dressing. Perch the warm poached egg atop the salad and break the yolk. The rich yolk will blend with and become part of the dressing. Wonderful!

Mexican Eggs in Tortilla Cup

Great for spicing up a vegetarian dinner or weekend brunch! This fast and easy recipe is full of zest, satisfying and nutritious. Ground cumin and a dose of chili powder combine with AllWhites® in a baked tortilla cup. 

The 20 Best Snacks for Kids

When it comes to kids, I think they are precious but I don't have any at this time in my life (because I like to give them back to their parents lol ) but that's okay because I'm sure a lot of my readers do and I want to make sure that their little cherubs, devils, or heathens are taken care of health wise too!! So with that being said, I found this little article in Parents Magazine and thought it could be helpful to some of you who are struggling with picky eaters or for those of you who just need some inspiration or creativity in some snack foods for your kids.

Ham and Cheese Crepes

 These little breakfast wonders will have your kids lining up at the stove for more!! Make a bunch and freeze them for the week! 

Double Coconut Muffins

Although these are a fine muffin, fragrant with coconut and filled with a dense, moist crumb, the potential for adaptation is almost endless. First, you could make them triple coconut muffins (and dairy free) by using coconut milk instead of yogurt. You could make mango-coconut muffins by adding a cup or so of diced mango chunks to the batter; pina colada muffins would use the same volume of pineapple chunks. You could replace the yogurt with mashed banana or banana puree to make a banana-coconut muffin and if you’re into that whole lime-in-the-coconut thing, you could add a teaspoon of lime zest. Chocolate chips? (1 cup), Macadamia nuts? (1/2 to 3/4 cup, toasted and chopped)… All the possibilities!! 

If your yogurt and egg are not at room temperature, they will re-solidify the coconut oil, which is fine for baking but makes the batter quite thick and difficult to stir, like a cookie batter.  But, it all works out. It’s much easier, however, if you let the ingredients warm up.

Avocado Spinach Egg Salad Sandwiches

If you like egg salad and avocado, there’s no reason you won’t like this! In fact, you might even decide that you never want to make egg salad the “normal” way again. Because what’s the point? You might even want to serve this with Healthy Homeade Baked Tortilla Chips and eat it like it’s an eggy guacamole. With the spinach added, you get an extra nutritional boost.

Ingredients:

• 7 eggs, hardboiled 
• 4 oz. plain fat free greek yogurt 
• 2 avocados 1 stalk celery, chopped 
• 1 C baby spinach 
• Hot pepper flakes to taste 
• Good bread, toasted if you want 

Directions:
Start by hard boiling your eggs. If you’re never sure how to tell when your eggs are done boiling, follow Simply Recipe’s amazing guide! Once your eggs are ready, obviously you need to peel them. The shells are not the kind of crunch you like!! \mash them up with the Greek yogurt. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top, too. Now, peel and pit your avocados. And mash those up, too. Just like a guacamole. Add a little salt and pepper to this, too, if you’d like. Now, all you do is combine the egg with the guac! And mix in the cup of spinach and the celery, too. Add a few hot pepper flakes to kick it up. Makes about 5-6 sandwiches. 

Source: We are not Martha

Healthy & Hearty Breakfast Idea: Egg Baked In an Avocado

Avocados are amazing things—they're delicious on their own, but they also have a lot of healthy fats, dietary fibers, and vitamins, and despite their high caloric value, they're remarkably easy to prepare. If you have an avocado that's too firm to use for something else, or you're just in the mood for something new and healthy for breakfast, slice it in half, remove the pit, and carve out a little space in the center. Crack an egg where the pit was, and bake. In a few minutes, you'll have a delicious, protein and vitamin-packed breakfast treat that's rich enough to keep you going all morning.

The recipe itself is pretty simple.  Basically, you remove the pit from a halved avocado, hollow out a little more space if needed, and crack an egg into the hollow. The avocado becomes an edible ramekin, holding the egg as it bakes. Additions like cheese or herbs can be sprinkled over the top before baking.

Directions:  preheat oven to 425, have cast iron pan in there Slice avocado in half, take out pit then take pan out, put avocado half on, crack egg in put whatever you want on top place in oven and cook till your eggs [are done how you] desire.

Source: Lifehacker 

The Perfect Valentines Day Egg!

Who wouldn't want to wake up with breakfast in bed in the shape of a heart!!  You could follow up the idea with Toast and some fruit cut in the heart shape using a cookie cutter! You could always Pickle the egg, (soak it in beet juice) for a bright pink take on this!!

Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

SIMPLY GORGEOUS! Looking at the title and this picture, it's hard to believe that this doesn't add 10 pounds to your hips by just reading the recipe, BUT...with all these fabulous low fat ingredients,  this is a breakfast casserole that could turn into a Sunday Brunch staple! 

Homeade Fruit and Oat Granola Bars

These easy-to-make healthy granola bars with none of the additives or preservatives, are lower in fat than many commercial snack bars. These are perfect for a quick-fast and in a hurry breakfast.

Egg Salad with Dill in a Tomato Flower

This recipe is a healthy makeover of egg salad. Traditionally, it has lots of mayonnaise and is high in fat and calories. I've substituted Greek yogurt for most of the mayo; and honestly, I like the taste better.
This recipe has all of the protein and nutrition of eggs combined with high protein, low fat yogurt. It's hard to believe something this creamy is really good for you. Fresh dill gives it great flavor, too. I let the food processor do the work in this recipe, so it's super fast and easy to make.

3 Egg Omlet

Ingredients:

• 1 whole egg
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped green pepper   
• 1/4 cup chopped onions
• 1/4/ cup fresh chopped mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1 slice fat free cheese (if you must)
• olive oil cooking spray  

Directions:

Stir eggs with fork until whites and yolk are blended.  In an omelet pan sprayed with cooking spray, pour in mixture and cook slowly on low heat.  As under surface becomes set, lift it slightly with a spatula to let uncooked portion flow underneath and cook.  

Add onions, peppers, and mushrooms.  When almost done, add tomatoes and fat free cheese.  Fold or roll it and serve immediately with salsa.