An Easy Way to Improve Your Health - Meatless Monday!

As much as I love a sizzling steak now and then, I do try to be conscious of how much meat that we eat and make efforts to add more meatless options to our menu. At first I had difficulty with finding meals that were satisfying and filling, but over time I have accumulated a rather extensive collection of recipes that have become new favorites.

Meatless Monday is a great public health campaign that has been gaining momentum for years. The premise of Meatless Monday is to reduce your meat consumption by not eating meats on Mondays. By participating weekly you reduce your meat intake by 15% which has huge effects on your personal health and the health of the planet.

Below are a few health benefits of going meatless once a week as suggested on the Meatless Monday website:

- Limit Cancer Risk: Diets rich in fruits and vegetables have been found to reduce cancer risks. Diets high in meats has been found to be associated with some cancers.
- Reduce Heart Disease: Replacing saturated fat-rich foods (meat and high dairy fat) with foods that are rich in polyunsaturated fats (veggie oils, seeds, and nuts) can reduce heart disease risk by 19%.
- Fight Diabetes: High consumption of red and processed meats can potentially increase the risk of Type 2 Diabetes.
- Curb Obesity: Studies have shown that people with low meat intake or vegans have lower body mass indices and lower body weight.
- Live Longer: Red and processed meat consumption is linked to higher mortality rates, cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality.
- Improve Your Diet: Consuming more beans results in a higher intake of fiber, protein and other nutrients. Increase in vegetable and fruit consumption ("eat the rainbow") will also add more nutrients and have lower calorie per density than meats.

Source: Mom Favorites

Meat has the largest impact on the environment that any other food that we eat. Livestock consume a large amount of food and water, while also using immense amounts of land and energy to raise and transport.

Below is what goes into just one quarter pound of ground beef:

Source: NPR.org 

For even more information check out this infographic (click to see larger):

Do you participate in Meatless Mondays? 

My plan for the next few months is to photo and post some of my favorites meatless meals to share. Hopefully some of you will find them helpful. I'd love to hear about some of your favorite meatless meals too so please share your favorites! 

Egg-ceptional Breakfast: Egg & Veggie Quiche Muffins

I'm always looking for quick breakfast options, especially for those dreaded mornings when I have to get up at 5:15 to be to work. On those early mornings I kept finding myself either:

a.) Skipping breakfast
b.) Buying unhealthy options at work (cheese & bacon loaded omelets)

Both options are unhealthy, and the second was also lightening my wallet and leaving me feeling slowed down at work the rest of the day. I knew that the only way I was going to stop that cycle was to have a quick option to choose from in the morning that required little to no time and effort. That's where these come in:

Egg and Veggie Quiche Muffins:

Ingredients:
- 10 eggs (may substitute with egg whites if preferred)
- Turkey Bacon
- Oil Spray
- 2 cups veggies (I used bell pepper, onion, spinach - you could use just about anything you have)
- Minced garlic
- Low fat mozzarella cheese

Directions:
- Preheat over to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Spray a muffin tin with oil spray to prevent sticking.
- In medium bowl, whisk eggs and garlic.
- Add the chopped veggies to the egg mixture and stir well.
- Line each muffin mold with one slice of turkey bacon (wrap it in a circle in the mold).
- Use a ladle to add the egg and veggie mixture. Fill each tin mold only 2/3 of the way because the egg mixture will expand once cooked.
- Add a small sprinkle of mozzarella cheese to the top of each cup.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until slightly browned (you may want to put baking sheet under muffin tin in case of overflow).

Enjoy!

These reheat very easily in the microwave and are great served with a piece of fruit or a slice of toast. Quick, easy and healthy breakfast option for those mornings you really don't feel like cooking. What I like most about this recipe is that it makes multiple servings at a time and since the bacon is on the edge of the pan it get's nice and crispy too!

Very Berry Oatmeal Breakfast Bake

It looks like winter has finally reared it's ugly head here in mid-Michigan.  I can't really complain since there has been many years where we've had snow on the ground before Thanksgiving. This year we were given a little reprieve and made it until nearly mid-January before the white stuff hit.

Weather like this makes me crave warm and savory comfort foods. The other morning I woke up freezing and couldn't warm up so I decided to start my morning with a boost with this amazing Berry Oatmeal Bake.

I highly recommend giving this a try, especially for those of you who might not be big oatmeal fans because this may change your mind.. This breakfast kept me full for hours and was the perfect boost to get me moving on a day when I didn't want to do much but cuddle in blankets on the couch.

Berry Oatmeal Bake:

Ingredients:

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/8 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of salt 
1/4 cup walnut pieces, chopped
1/2 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/8 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cups milk
1 egg (I used egg whites)
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 and spray a medium pan (I use glass/corning ware about 8 inch round) with cooking spray.

Mix all dry ingredients together (strawberries and blueberries included, but save a handful of each out to use later in the process) in one bowl.  Whisk the rest of the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. 

Pour the dry ingredients into the sprayed pan.  Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and slightly shake to mix the wet ingredients with the dry.  Place the rest of the berries on the top of the mixed ingredients. 

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed and the top is a golden brown. Serve! 

Super Easy! If you're short on time I'm thinking that this could be thrown together the night before and put in the oven in the morning to bake as you're getting ready (if anyone tries, let me know how it works out). 

Perfect For a Chilly Morning...

There is nothing more that I love than having the weekend off, especially those days where nothing is planned.  I forgot what it was like to actually have time for yourself after working myself to the bone for the past 2 years.  I’m still busy as ever, but have made it a priority to always make sure to save time for myself & those I love. 

But I digress…

I get bored with most recipes pretty quickly, so I’m always on the search for new recipes to try.  I kept reading about amazing egg breakfast dishes so I decided to finally give quiche a try.  This recipe is simple, hearty & full of veggies.  It was a freezing morning here as well (it got down to -15 that night) so I was looking for any excuse to use the stove and warm the house up.

Veggie Quiche


Ingredients:

• Pastry pie shell
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion diced
• 3/4 cup broccoli heads (fresh)
• Handful of fresh spinach
• 1/4 cup of sundried tomatoes, chopped
• 4 eggs beaten
• Liquid egg whites
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:


Preheat oven to 375.  Also be sure that your pie crust is completely defrosted.

In small skillet, sauté the onion, broccoli, spinach and tomatoes with 1 Tbsp. of olive oil.  Sauté until the onions are slightly transparent. 

Once sautéed, place the veggies into the bottom of the pie crust.


Doesn’t this look amazing already?

Sprinkle with half of the cheddar cheese.

Beat 4 eggs well and mix in the rest of the cheese to the beaten eggs.

Pour egg and cheese mix over the veggies.


Add egg whites until pie shell is nearly full.  I would estimate it would be about a half cup of egg whites, but it varies depending on the amount of vegetables you use.

Place in oven & let bake for 30-35 minutes, until it is golden, puffed out and no longer wiggly in the middle.

We ate soon after it cooled and then nestled back into bed to catch up on reading and enjoy some movies on a freezing day.

The condensation on the windows made it so dark and gloomy in our kitchen.  It certainly makes it much harder to take pictures that aren't blurry or dark.

Winter wonderland out there!

What’s your favorite cool morning breakfast recipe? Have you had quiche before?  How do you like to spend your weekend mornings?

All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.

Weeks ago, Julie, at Peanut Butter Fingers, posted about her trip to a Pom Wonderful Factory.  Pom Wonderful is one of the leading pomegranate companies that grow, harvest and process pomegranates.  Seeing all these bright, tasty looking fruit piqued my interests and inspired me to pick a few up the next time I was at the grocery store.  Let me tell you....they are amazing.  Biting into the arils (the little covering of the seeds) produces a little pop and then a whole lot of juicy flavor.  It is a bit of work to get to the arils, but its well worth it.

There are several ways to open a pom, but this explains it pretty well and seems to be the easiest way to do it.  I do recommend wearing some gloves because these stain your hands pretty badly.  I always throw on a apron too so I don't stain my clothes.

YUM! 

This morning I decided that since I had some of the arils and mango (frozen) on hand I'd add it to my oatmeal.  I was never really an oatmeal person until I started adding lots of fruit goodies to it.  Made such a difference and is now one of my favorite morning go-to's.  

So great! Easy way to add some fruit to your diet and get yourself moving in the morning.

I'd love some more ideas on what to make with the pomegranate and any awesome oatmeal add-in's you might have.  I love the arils on their own, but would love a tried and true recipe to give a try.