Quick and Easy (and Healthy!) Work Breakfasts.

"What's this?" you ask, "two posts in a week???" Yes. Two posts in a week.

I work in an office with a small kitchen area. We have a fridge, microwave, and toaster oven. We have a blender too but I'm not really a blended drink person. I get into the office fairly early every day, and it's easier for me to just make food here than to eat at home. So I thought I'd take today to talk about some good eats that you can make at work. I mostly eat breakfast here with the occasional lunch, but I think brown-bagging a lunch is pretty self-explanatory so unless anyone wants me to address that on a different post I'm only going to go over breakfast.

Breakfast is a tough one to make on the go because unless you want to have a cup of coffee or a bowl of cereal, it's hard to make healthy food in the microwave (although the toaster oven is easier). One of my favorite breakfasts is actually supposed to be for lunch but it really hits the spot on a cold morning: Lean Pockets with Turkey, Broccoli, and Cheese. You just zap it in the microwave as directed and *bam* you've got a super yummy and filling breakfast. The problem is that those things can be a little pricey and tend to be high in preservatives, sodium, etc. They are low-cal, but you don't get a free ride there.

Another great option for quick cooking is to make turkey bacon and then have some sort of side- I like a whole wheat English Muffin with some butter. I know I should probably mix in a fruit in there somewhere, but when you're in a rush it's tough. I'd say buy yourself a big jug of V8 Splash or something with 100% juice in it. Turkey bacon rocks because you still feel like you're eating bacon but you can actually cook it in the microwave (about 45 seconds). I put it in the toaster oven for about 4 minutes the other day and it was really great that way too. It's tough to get turkey bacon crispy without burning it, though, so if you're a die hard crisp fan you may have to figure something else out there. English Muffin can be put in the toaster oven or a regular toaster (duh) if you are lucky enough to have one.

Obviously fruit is always a great choice, especially on a hot morning. One of my favorite things to do is chop up some fruit- maybe strawberries, raspberries, or bananas. Then you get some low-fat yogurt, the fruit, and some sweet granola- mix it all together in a cup or bowl and voila! You have a yummy, healthy, indulgent, but best of all low-fat fruit parfait. The best part is that you can get these at McDonald's or even Corner Bakery but I feel that freshly cut fruit is always going to be much tastier and obviously less expensive.

Last but not least on my list of yummies is what I had today and my inspiration for this blog. I read about it in a magazine and tried it and fell madly in food-love. What you do is buy some Egg Beaters. I just tried the Southwestern flavor and they're WAAAAY better than regular. Then you get whatever you would normally like in a scramble: turkey bacon, bell peppers, tomatoes, cheese, etc. Today I put a wedge of Weight Watcher's Jalapeno Cheese, Tapatio, and Tomatoes in it. Now what you do is get a mug and pour the cheese (go with a light or even veggie cheese to stay low-fat) into the mug, followed by the egg beaters mix. Side Note: I highly recommend using a mug that you do not care about. If you over cook it and it sticks to your mug then you're pretty bummed. You can also use a bowl but make sure it isn't a plastic one. My roommate cooked regular eggs in my plastic bowl and it burnt the bowl as the eggs get quite hot. Anyways- pour the mix about an inch and a half deep- the egg beaters rise when they cook and I've had quite a mess on my hands before! You'll want to mix in any meats that you decide to use but not any of the vegetables. Then just pop it in the microwave for about a minute. Next you put any vegetables you want, as well as any seasoning or sauces you want to use, stir it up, and enjoy! The whole process takes about 2 minutes and it tastes absolutely amazing. You would never guess that it's microwaved Egg Beaters and not off-the-stove top eggs. There are a lot of other recipes and ideas for this sort of thing on this website:http://www.hungry-girl.com/

Happy Eating!

Love,

Lula Mae