mushroom and brussels sprout hash

Happy Sunday Funday BRUNCH DAY!!!!!

As I mentioned in my #veglife post, one of my strategies for making sure I eat enough veggies is to make sure that I eat them with my breakfast.  Something else I have been really trying to do is to eat seasonally to save money and to diversify my palate.  As I was doing my research, I found that brussels sprouts are seasonal to the winter/January and decided to try to find some recipes that incorporate them.  Eating seasonally is an excellent way to save money, promote local agriculture, and to eat healthy foods!  And this recipe is soooooo simple! 

I actually learned about how to peel brussels sprouts and when I saw that I was supposed to slice them, I’m sure the look on my face was priceless.  Slice brussels sprouts?  What the h?  I had only ever had them roasted or sautéed whole…which is a delicious way to eat them, by the way.  But anyway, yes!  I learned things with this recipe!  And I bought a ton of brussels sprouts as part of my shopping this week, and I am really looking forward to trying them sautéed with scallions on a salad.  I’ll share if it works out! :]

As always, you should tailor this recipe to how you like it, particularly with how long you cook your eggs at the end.  Personally, I like the yolks firm, so I cover it and braise the eggs until they turn firm, but if you like yolks runny, then you can just cover and cook for a shorter time!

Without further ado…..here it is!  My January seasonal breakfast!

Mushroom and Brussels Sprout Hash

2 tsp ghee

2 cups brussels sprouts, peeled & sliced

1 package sliced baby bella mushrooms

½ small yellow onion

1 clove garlic, minced

2 eggs

½ tsp thyme

Salt & pepper to taste

In a skillet, melt ghee over medium heat.  Sauté mushrooms and onions for about 8 minutes, or until the mushrooms start to get juicy.  Add in brussels sprouts and garlic and sauté for about 3 minutes, to soften. Season with thyme, salt, and peper and stir. Make 4 small holes in the layer of mushrooms & brussels sprouts for the eggs.  Crack an egg into each of the 4 holes and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook your eggs to your preferred level of doneness and serve!  Voila!

I hope you like this one as much as I did!

xoxo,

anne

lazy girl's breakfast muffins

Hi, all!  (Katy)

I have exciting news!  I signed up for a gym membership this week!  Yay!  I was so excited that I lifted on Wednesday and discovered that I am not NEARLY as strong as I thought I would be.  Anyway, adjustments will need to be made for that.  I can't wait to start seeing results.  Because I am already pretty thin, I really want to focus on building muscle and feeling strong and fit again.  I felt absolutely invincible at the height of my athletic career because I was in the best shape of my life.  I'm hoping to surpass that feeling, although I have a feeling it will be slightly different with the training variance.  So here is my starting point:

 January 2014, 144lb.

So this is where the whole "healthy thing" comes into play.  I'm not doing this to lose weight.  I'm not doing this to get skinny.  I want to fuel my body better, workout, and take care of myself because I love the way that I feel when I am doing those things.  Also, I want my butt back.  I used to have this perky, bubble booty when I was lifting for track.  To be completely honesty, I think I can hold it responsible for a few misses in high jump, but I don't have to high jump anymore, so that doesn't matter!!  Mwaahahaha!  So I want my butt back.  Also, my tummy & posture.  Ever since I stopped working out regularly, I have noticed that I stand differently and push my hips and belly out.  I want to be able to see my abdominal muscles and I'm hoping that the core strength that I build will help with my awful posture.

Those are my two main goals as far as aesthetics.  Smaller goals include working some definition in to my back/shoulder muscles, legs, and triceps.  :]

I haven't thought about weight goals too much, so for now I will just say that I want my maxes to be higher than what they were when I was competing.

All of that being said, has anybody ever heard of DOMS before?  It's Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.  It sucks.  I am in the middle of it right now.  It's that awful soreness that you get when you start working out again and it hits on about the 2nd or 3rd day.  Ouuuuch.  Suggestions?

Okay, now to the main point of this post:  breakfast food!  I don't know about you, but I am TERRIBLE about getting up in the morning and eating breakfast.  Since I am trying make better choices, I'm thinking processed granola bars are no longer the way to go.  So I didn't a little research on recipes and, as per usual, tweaked it to my needs.  I give you....

The Lazy Girl's Breakfast Muffins:

They are so full of protein and so filling.  Sadly, they do not incorporate much from the plant world, so adding some mixed fruit to your morning snack would be beneficial.

Ingredients:

1-1.5 cups hash browns (I grated my own potatoes to use)

6 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup grated cheese

desired toppings:  peppers, onions, mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, ham, bacon, turkey....whatever you love!

*keep in mind that you might need to prep some of the toppings before starting this process.  (ex. if you want the mushrooms sauteed first, spinach wilted, etc)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.  Spray muffin tin with non-stick spray.  If using hash browns, put about 1/8 cup into each muffin tin.  Season with salt & pepper.  Pop into oven for about 30 minutes, or until they start to get browned and crispy.  In the meantime, get out a mixing bowl and start cracking your eggs.  Whisk eggs until smooth.  Add milk and keep whisking.  When hash browns are finished, pull out your muffin tin and distribute the egg mixture evenly among the cups.  Add toppings of choice.  Sprinkle cheese on top.  Bake for about 15 minutes or until eggs are cooked all the way through.

I froze half of mine and have been storing the others in the fridge until I want to eat them.  To reheat, it takes about 30-45 seconds in the microwave.  Easy, right?!

I am the ultimate anti-morning person, so I love this idea.  I made them initially with just a couple of ingredients and I used hash browns, but I think that on the next round, I am going to try to do spinach and mushrooms or broccoli or something and skip the hash browns.

What are your favorite easy, peasy breakfast foods?!  Comment!

Stay fit!

xoxo