A Twist on an Egg Salad

I'm not a huge fan of egg salad, or any salad that isn't green or clumped together with mayo; plus the fact that I'm allergic to dairy makes me slightly biased. So, I don't like egg salad but I absolutely love eggs (I also used to be that person who loved ketchup but hated tomatoes but eventually got less picky and discovered their beauty). Any who, my favorite way to cook eggs is over easy; then I can use my toast to soak up the yolk... it is total bliss.

Well today I was craving eggs... and spinach. Sigh, Omelettes are so in-the-box that I really wanted my lunch to scream Look at me, I'm innovative! Hmm....what to make? Then it hit me, I'm gonna put a literal (and dairy-free) twist on an egg salad with a Taco Bell flare.

What you'll need:
Whole wheat tortilla
2 eggs
Couple tomatoes
Spinach
Olive oil/butter spray
Glass bowl

1) First, I pre-heated the oven to 400 degrees. I took my tortilla and placed it into the glass bowl so it would conform to the bowl's shape (like a Taco Bell's taco salad without the Mexican-ness). Sprinkle with a little olive oil or butter spray so it'll crisp in the oven. 

2) While the "bowl" is baking, I fried 2 egg over easy; super easy peasy lemon squeezy. AH, I so love EB eggs because they come from cage-free chickens aka happy chickens aka happy eggs aka happy me.

3) Once the tortilla has taken on the shape of the glass bowl and crisped up, remove (with oven mitts, learned that the hard way) from the bowl and place on a separate plate. Perdy! Take 1 of the fried eggs and place it on the bottom of the edible bowl. I punctured the egg, so the yolk could be absorbed into the tortilla and create an eggy yuminess throughout the salad.

4) Next, add your spinach (or legal greens of choice), tomatoes and other fun toppings. Lastly, place the     second fried egg (aka the cherry on top aka the crowned jewel), and just admire the masterpiece you have created. I, again, punctured the egg to let the yolk run free. 

This recipe was really quick and simple, and I'm a fan of anything where you can eat the bowl. 

Dig in!

Beans, Beans, the Magical Fruit...

The more you eat them, the more you _______.

a) Newt
b) Toot
c) Boot
d) None of the above

I would have to say d) none of the above. Are beans even a fruit? That's the better question.

So it was a typical Manic Monday, I was on the gym's elliptical reading about beans in my Self magazine. The usual, and I came across some really good information about legumes.

I love beans: coffee, jelly, and especially the ones inspired by an organ. Legumes are heart-friendly and high in fiber, so they'll fill you up without filling you out. Self had a great beans buyer's guide that I wanted to share. To buy canned or dried, both have advantages. So without further ado....ahem:

A Buyer's Guide to Beans

When they're in a bag....

• They're cheaper. Buy dried beans and save almost half of what you'd buy if canned. One bag of dried Goya red kidney beans costs $1.80, the same amount in a can in $4; that's a 53% savings!
• You control the salt. Dried beans have little to no sodium. If you add salt to taste, wait until after they're cooked because salted water can make beans tough.
• BPA free. Bagged beans have no BPA (bisphenol-A, a chemical linked with increased risk with breast cancer and heart disease). Some canned goods contain the chemical, yuck.

If they come in a can....

• They're a huge time saver. It takes only seconds to open a can of beans while dried beans needs a night of soaking. Make sure you rinse and drain them well to reduce sodium levels.
• Toots are muted. You read correctly. Beans have sugars called oligosaccharides that we can't digest; as a result, we get gassy. But, the canning process eliminates some of these stinky sugars to reduce those biffffsss...
• You have more options. The canned varieties are wider than the dried versions; ex: green beans.

I leave you on one, final note:

Genius 

Have a great week!

Stevia: The Sweet Superman

When looking for something to spruce up my coffee or tea, I am a victim of no calorie sweeteners. It's a fact that sugar imitations like Sweet n' Low and Splenda aren't good for you, but it's so hard to avoid them when you want something sweet without all the calories. I love agave nectar on my oatmeal and greek yogurt, but a few squirts can add at least 80 calories (or more if you have a mouth full of sweet teeth like moi). Plus it's processed and high in fructose (70-80 %). If you don't want to give up agave, like me, look for products with 30-40% instead.

The Sugar Imitation Villains (yeah, we're on to you)

Ugh, I feel so stuck in my non-sugary sugar options. Can the health gods answer our prayers? Well, they may have. It's a bird! it's a plane! No, it's Stevia! Yay...finally a natural, zero calorie sweetener to save the day!

If you've seen the Truvia commercials with the cheesy jingle, that sweetener is only partly made of the Stevia plant. 

*FUN FACT ALERT* 

Coke and Pepsi just got the green light to use Truvia instead of Splenda (sucralose..bad!) to sweeten their diet drinks. Thumbs up for a slight step forward in making soda kinda-sorta healthier; I actually am really excited about this because I also am a huge victim of diet sodas. Sigh, no one's perfect.

The question on everyone's mind (or perhaps not) is: what exactly is a Stevia plant? Well, I Googled it and it's a plant from South America whose leaves are 30x sweeter than sugar; many companies are starting to use it because of this. It looks like any other plant you'd see outside, but hopefully it can be the sugar superman to beat all the imiattional villains.

Hm, now what to do with all those Sweet 'n Low packets? 

Here's an idea:

Have a Sweet Hump Day!

No-Funday Monday turned Egg-cellent

Today knocked me down, laughed, then stole my bike. Not entirely, but today was a grueling day. I didn't have any classes, but somehow I was busier than when I do. I was running around campus like a bat outta H-E-double hockey sticks. Sigh, I was a frazzled mess. It's 7pm and just realized that I'm starving (an indicator of a busy day is when I'm not constantly thinking about my stomach or food). But, I had a big red surprise waiting for me when I got home! No, not roses....tomatoes! The tomatoes in the garden finally ripened; this bumper crop of produce has made my Monday!

What to make with these fine, red, plump, tomaters? Since I never have time in the morning to make myself a scrumptious omelette (that word never looks like it's spelled correctly), what's a better way to turn Monday into Funday than with breakfast for dinner. You were thinking the same thing, too. I knew it.

I decided to make an egg-white omelette with tomatoes and spinach (which I spilled all over the kitchen floor.. today needs to be over).

These tomatoes scream perfection (or eat me). For the egg whites, I don't waste a carton of eggs and toss the yolks. I buy a container of egg whites instead. Pouring milky clear liquid may look gross but the ingredients are: egg whites with no added crap, so we're okay.

I love taking pictures of my food. Call me strange, but think it should be a declared an art form. Not bad quality for a old, scuffed-up Blackberry. 

*FUN FACT ALERT!* Do you know where the name, Blackberry, came from?  

Well yes..most of the phones are black, but its name derived from the keypad that's positioned and shaped like the seeds on a blackberry. 

Now you can't tell me that you've never learned anything from my blog...unless you knew that already (then I got nothin').

Anyways, here's the egg-cellent finished product. 

FYI: I love ketchup on my eggs, and it took me until middle school to realize that not everyone smothered ketchup on their eggs. I thought it was like peanut butter and jelly until kids gave me grossed out looks. 

But, hey..don't knock it 'til you try it. It's delicious. 

My Colorful Nature Run/ I Spy Game

Today puts the sun in Sunday; it is absolutely beautiful out. I would be insulting Mother Nature not to enjoy the weather because soon everything will be covered in a white blanket of snow. Ew... I have lived in New York all my life and still have not accepted our long and chilly winters, so even more reason to go and frolic under the sunshine!

I chose to go on a nature run but decided to make it into game to pass the time: a solo I Spy game (can you tell I'm an only child?). I wanted to capture as many colors as I could throughout my run. Plus..for each colorful object I'd discover, the more times I'd have stop, whip out my smartphone, & the capture the moment...aka the more colors I find = the more breaks I can take.

Yay, lets channel our childhood and play I Spy!

         

 

   

Not a bad way to start off the upcoming week; now let's hope my "runner's high" can stick with me long enough to write a 5 page paper.

Enjoy the sunshine!