Breakfast on the Go

Happy Friday!

Today I want to share a delicious way to have a healthy breakfast or snack...and it's mobile!  I love a hearty breakfast.  I'm not one of those people who can go all morning with nothing to eat, and most mornings I'm racing to get out of the door by 7 am so these little guys are perfect to take with me and heat up mid morning.  I've made a similar recipe in the past, but this one is courtesy of my sister.  My sister and I share a love of cooking yummy, healthy food and we bounce a lot of ideas and recipes between us.  She is passionate about nutrition and fitness and is a great resource if you want some ideas on how to take care of your body and feel good! 

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Here's a pic of her, with her three crazy Bostons, as we were heading out for a hike. Get to know her at Foodieluvsfitness! So on to these yummy little egg cups.

This is one of those recipes where I didn't really measure the seasonings, so now as I'm sitting here trying to write it out, I'm thinking "OH NO!" But these are so easy, that I know you can add seasonings to your taste and these will turn out great! So bear with me.  This is a learning experience for me...from now on I will write down what I'm doing while I'm cooking.. 

The beauty of these is that you can use whatever you have on hand. Want veggies? Spinach, zucchini, kale, peppers, onions, mushrooms are perfect.  Do you have meat lovers in your house? Try diced ham or sausage. And then any kind of cheese you have on hand...jack, cheddar, havarti, feta...the possibilities are endless.  You really can't go wrong, and that's what I love about them. I'm going to share a basic recipe and then you can improvise however you choose.

I started with:
6 eggs
1/2 c. milk
*you can use any kind of milk, including almond, rice, or omit it altogether
  
Next I added a bunch of seasonings, which I didn't measure.  I just poured little piles in my hand and threw them in.  You can't go wrong, really.

Here's what I added:

 
Salt
Smoked Paprika
Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute
Trader Joe's South African Smoke
Black Pepper

Let me just say that if you haven't browsed the Trader Joe's spice section, you are missing out! They have lots of different blends of spices that I love!  The South African Smoke is simply Paprika flakes,sea salt, garlic and basil and I put it in almost everything! Eggs, potatoes, marinades, on steamed and sauteed veggies, soups, gravies, etc.  I love it!  The 21 Seasoning Salute is the newest one I tried and its good in soups, stews, meat dishes, gravy, eggs, etc.  Beat feet to TJ's and try out some spices!

Meanwhile, I chopped some onion, garlic, kale and flat leaf parsley. 

Kale is such a power house food and is getting so much press right now.  If you haven't tried it, do it! It's seemingly tough and thick, much heavier in weight than spinach, but that's what makes it hold up well in dishes like this.  Don't be intimidated by it.

I like to cut out the woodier stems like this and am left with the leafy part, but you can use the whole thing if you like. I sauteed the onion and kale in some olive oil for just a few minutes, and added some garlic toward the end:
I put the flat leaf parsley in with the egg, just to keep it fresh.  It's all going in the same place, so you can add it to the saute, but in my mind, it went with the eggs.  Go figure.  So when this was done, I spooned it into some cupcake papers.  I was skeptical about this at first, but my sister assured me that it worked, so i did it.  Once when I made these without the papers, I felt like the egg had a metal taste, but it may have been from using really old muffin pans. Just go with your gut and what you think will work best.

I had some frozen spinach as well, so I decided to make two different varieties of eggs.  In one kind of paper went the kale and onion, and in the other went the spinach.  I realized once I got into this little project that I didn't have the abundance of veggies and cheese that I would have liked, but you may be a little more prepared than I was, so add as much yummy stuff as you like!  

Here's how they looked:

Don't you love my photography skills?! Oh boy.  Anyway, you get the idea.  I had swiss cheese slices, but obviously shredded cheese would be ideal.  But again, you just use what you have on hand, and don't over think it! So I added the swiss cheese that I had cut into little pieces and put them on top of the veggies in the muffin cups.  The kale and onion is on the left and the spinach on the right.  

Pour the egg mixture over the top, and here's what they look like:

Bake about 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees, or until they are just set.

And here's what they looked like when they were done:
 

 
Don't they look yummy?!  Healthy, filling and ready to take with you!  They are all puffed up when you first take them out of the oven, like the one in the center, and they fall just a bit as they cool, like the ones to the left.  Put them in the fridge or freezer and then pop them in the microwave for a quick protein pick me up whenever you need them!  Thanks, Foodieluvsfitness for this recipe!

Shelf Makeover

Have you ever seen the ecard on pinterest that reads, "whenever I start feeling spontaneous, my bank account quietly reminds me to calm down?" (Actually it reads a little differently, as you know, if you've ever seen it, but I didn't want to offend anyone.) Well, I can SO relate!  So recently, when I was dreaming of some little bookshelves, I knew I would need to overhaul one I already had for literally just a few dollars. I have a weird love affair with paint. It's a sickness, really.  Whenever I paint something, my mind begins to race with the endless possibilities of painting everything!  It can be a relatively inexpensive way to change and spruce up what you already have.  So, one day as I was leaving Trader Joe's (which is another love affair altogether) I zipped into JoAnn Fabrics to see if I could find some paint to add some life to a drab, particle board book shelf that I have had for decades.  I have read about the wonders of chalk paint, as it will cover surfaces without you having to sand or prep, and I wanted to give it a try.  But I was not able to splurge on the name brand chalk paint I see all over Pinterest.  But I found this:

It was only about $7.00 but I wondered if they had a coupon, so I got on my phone and quickly found this:

So my total was under $4.00!

I was so excited and raced home to begin my project.  Here's my bookshelf when I started.

I'm sure you'll agree that it needed a make over! It housed my youngest son's books when he was young, but now I'm using it in my living room so time for a different look.  I took the back off, which was flimsy cardboard and decided not to re-attach it when I was done.

After I had it apart, I used a damp rag to clean it well and that was it for the prep.  I put the paint in a plastic lid and used a small foam roller instead of a brush, because I didn't want brush strokes. And I just started painting.

Even though it was beautiful outside, I did most of the painting inside because I've learned the hard way that the wind can whip up and lots of little dust particles and bugs attach themselves to the drying paint.  NO GOOD!  I used this light grey color so it did need two coats but they dry quickly.  Here's another view as it was drying.

I'm really happy with how it turned out!  What a difference!  Here's the finished product in my entry way.

What's not to love about a $4.00 makeover?  
I would love to hear from you about your inexpensive makeover in the comments below!