Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

I wanted to revisit a past post of mine and make a variation. I had a yellow cake mix and pumpkin pie filling in my pantry so I decided to give this a try:



Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (makes 24 muffins)

1 box yellow cake mix
15 oz. canned pumpkin pie filling (not pumpkin puree)
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Put cake mix in a mixing bowl and break up clumps with a fork. Add pumpkin and mix until it is all incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips.

Fill muffin cups 1/2 full and place in 350 degree oven for 12 minutes.

I got the idea to drizzle these from Reeni at Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice. Just melt some semi sweet chocolate chips in a plastic baggie, cut off the tip and drizzle over the muffins.


I think I may have a "drizzling" problem. I want to drizzle everything with chocolate!

My Favorite Breakfast Casserole

Last week I was in Utah for my brother's wedding. It was so nice to be with my family for such a special occasion.

I flew out by myself and stayed with my mom and dad. It was strange to not have my kids or husband with me, but it was fun to be just a daughter and sister for a few days.

One of the nicest things was enjoying my mom's wonderful cooking. I miss it! We had this awesome breakfast casserole the first night I was there. I quickly took advantage of this very photogenic and scrumptious opportunity.


I highly recommend this casserole for a special brunch or holiday breakfast. It is WONDERFUL!

Note: It needs to be prepared the night before it is to be served.


My Favorite Breakfast Casserole

1/4 cup butter
1/2 lb. fresh asparagus - 1" pieces
1 small/medium red bell pepper (chopped)
1 small/medium onion (chopped)
1 loaf French bread (cubed - 8 cups)
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup cubed ham

Beat together:
1/3 c. honey
8 eggs
2 1/2 c. milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Saute:
Asparagus, pepper and onions for 3-5- minutes.

Grease 9 x 13 pan.

Layer:
bread, ham, 1 cup cheese and sauteed vegetables. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Refrigerate overnight.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes (or until golden and puffed), uncovered.

Buon appetito!

A special thanks to Megan at Shabby blogs for the brand new blog design. Isn't it cute? You need to check out her site and blog for lots of free layouts and cute extras for your blog!


Isn't my new signature cute too? Love it!

Sweet Mrs. Smith's Baked Oatmeal

Lately, I've been hearing a lot about how good baked oatmeal is. I guess I've never been "into" oatmeal that much, unless it has a bunch of brown sugar on it. That kind of defeats the purpose of a healthy, oatmeal breakfast though. I might as well just eat my cocoa crispies and be done with it.

Well, a very sweet patient brought this recipe to work for baked oatmeal and it was already lightened up.

Mrs. Smith always comes in the office with her husband and we talk about American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and other celebrity gossip while I do her ultrasound. I love how Reality TV transcends all ages and demographics. Mrs.Smith is, what those concerned with political correctness might call, a "mature American" and she is up on all that stuff. Her husband always helps her up from the table after her treatment and she always says, "thank you" to him. They are so sweet.




Back to the recipe....

It uses unsweetened applesauce in place of any fat and whole recipe is only 7 points! It has a dense, cakey consistency and I actually quite liked it. I paired it with some scrambled eggs for protein. Eggs and oatmeal together make a great breakfast that will ward off hunger. The protein, fiber and carbohydrates keep your blood sugar level and help you feel full longer. Try it this weekend for something new.



Sweet Mrs. Smith's Baked Oatmeal

Mix together:
1/3 unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1/4 cup Splenda
dash of cinnamon

Add:
2 c. quick oats
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup skim milk

Pour into a greased loaf pan (9x4x4) and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Cut into 6 pieces and each piece is a just little over 1 point. (1.17 to be exact)

I put a little drizzle of maple syrup over mine for fun. Hey, at least it wasn't a bunch of brown sugar!

Now, I better go watch my DVR recording of American Idol from this week so I can dish with Mrs. Smith.

Melody, out!

Mini Breakfast Quiche

These little babies have saved me for the last couple weeks! I had kind of stalled in my weight loss and decided that I needed to shake things up a little bit. I decided to do Phase 1 of the South Beach diet. That means no bread, fruit, milk and, well......anything tasty that you could conveniently grab and eat. I needed to find something yummy (because you have a green light on all meat, cheese and eggs) that I could prepare quickly before I accidentally ate some frosted circus animal cookies! These mini quiche were easy and delicious! And guess what. You don't have to share! Make a batch the way YOU like it, freeze it, and you have a quick breakfast or a "It's 4pm and I'm having a meltdown" snack. The best thing about this recipe is that your imagination is the limit! Use this recipe as a guide and add or subtract ingredients as you see fit! I adapted this recipe from Our Best Bites. Let's get started!

My recipe makes 24 standard muffin size quiches

Mini Breakfast Quiches

10 oz. spinach thawed and squeezed dry
16 oz. pork sausage (use crumbled cooked bacon, Canadian bacon, finely diced ham)
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
18 eggs (can use 8 eggs and 2 cups liquid egg substitute)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 1/2 c. sharp cheddar, shredded (can also add part Swiss, Parmesan, cottage cheese, low fat cheese or pepper jack)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350

Thaw spinach (you can put it in the microwave) and squeeze out all the liquid. I put it in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze the heck out of it. After it is drained, you can chop it up a little more.

In a skillet, saute the onions and green peppers in some olive oil. I like the onions and peppers caramelized so they are browned and sweet.

In a bowl combine the ingredients and stir well.

Place foil cupcake liners in muffin tin and spay with cooking spray. Fill the muffin liners with 1/4 cup of egg mixture. Keep stirring the egg mixture in the bowl to evenly disperse the ingredients.

Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes until tops are just barely set. You can store the quiches in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. When reheating in microwave, make sure to remove the foil liner. When I want to reheat from frozen, I try to take a few out the night before and put them in the fridge to defrost a little.

I don't have calorie counts. Sorry! But this is a great breakfast or snack that is high of protein to keep you satisfied.

And just in case you were wondering, I lost 8 lbs in two weeks on the South Beach diet.