Breakfast

Welcome the latest addition to the MBMK muffin family. I'm a huge fan of peanut butter and I love incorporating it into various recipes.

These muffins are a convenient way to add protein and fiber to a quick breakfast. They have up to 6g of fiber and 10g protein per serving.

Try this recipe and let me know what you think.

Prep Time: 5 mins . Cook Time: 15 - 18 mins . Servings: 9 to 12

If you haven’t heard I’ll be running the NYC Marathon this year and the countdown to race day has begun! This plate was the first thing I ate after one of my 10-mile runs: vegetable scramble, toast, avocado and an orange.

It’s my first marathon so there’s a lot of excitement and unknowns.  But what I do know is that my nutrition needs to match my fitness/training goals; my approach is not much different from before. I’ve just upped everything: consuming more calories to run more miles each week and ensuring my protein and micronutrients intake are enough to help my body repair.  I’ll keep you posted on how the last few weeks of training goes.

Scramble Eggs Tip

I know many people add milk to their eggs to make them fluffier. I don’t! What I’ve found to help is (1) whisking the eggs in a bowl before adding them to the skillet and (2) cooking on a low heat. Thoughts?

Try this recipe and let me know how it goes.  If you do not eat eggs or are vegan, you can try my tofu vegetable scrambleinstead.

Prep Time: 5 mins . Cook Time: 5 mins . Yield: 2 Servings

What should I make next with whole wheat flour? I thoroughly enjoyed these cheddar green onion pancakes this week.  You have to try them! Yes, they are savory! I’ve had them alongside fruit and also with scrambled eggs.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Walmart. The opinions and text are all mine.

I'm excited about sharing this broccoli and potato hash recipe. You can add it to your meal prep repertoire for breakfast or quickly whip it up for a midweek dinner. It's made with fresh produce and provides a hearty serving of fiber and many micronutrients that make our bodies run smoothly.

This is a post sponsored by ATKINS, all opinions are my own.

Many of us eat too much sugar and we even start off our day with heaps of it for breakfast. There are the obvious sugars that are found in desserts disguised as breakfast foods. For example, your average blueberry muffin can have up 7.3 tsp (30 grams) of sugar. Check out this guide for a few more examples.

In addition to sweet sugary breakfast foods, we also need to keep an eye out for the sneakier culprits that have a hidden sugar effect - when carbohydrates convert to sugar when digested. You don’t see the sugar, but your body does. The “hidden sugar effect” is the impact foods have on our system that is equivalent to that of teaspoons of sugar. For example, the sugar effect of one bagel is equivalent to 8 teaspoons of sugar. Consuming too many carbohydrates that result in the “hidden sugar effect” can cause unwanted ups and downs in your glucose levels which can result in you feeling tired (sugar crash) and hungry.

Frittatas can be great additions to your meal-prepped breakfast options.  This protein-packed frittata is on the lower carb side (2 grams net carbs) so feel free to enjoy it with other side like whole-grain toast or a salad. And although I had breakfast in mind when I made this frittata, I’ve also enjoyed it as a part of my dinner a few times.

Try this recipe and let me know what you think.

Check out the latest addition to the breakfast recipes.  It’s my lemon poppy seed waffles with some coconut flavor. They’re pretty straightforward to make.  And, if you use gluten-free oat flour, they’ll be gluten free as well. Try them and let me know what you think.

This year I’ve been dabbling a bit more with baking.  Some of my favorites have been these Carrot Apple Muffins, my Mocha Chocolata Cupcakes and this Nutty Banana Bread. One of the lessons I’ve learned from doing these recipes, is that the type of gluten-free flour you use makes a huge difference in the outcome.  

Have you ever tried savory oatmeal?  Yes, SAVORY oatmeal. I asked this question in the Instagram story where I showed how to make this bowl. It was no surprise that 91% said they had never tried savory oatmeal.  Well, I am happy to provide you with another tasty savory oatmeal recipe; you can also check out this steel-cut oats pilaf.

I’m not going to lie; these lemon poppy seed zucchini muffins are the bomb! It did take me several tries to come up with a recipe that met my taste, texture and macronutrient requirements, but I’m so happy I stuck with it.

The other day I wanted to make a tasty banana bread but ended up also learning a lot more about protein.  Protein is the material that our bodies use to build and repair tissue and to create enzymes and hormones. It’s important stuff.

There are several ways to get protein into our diet but for many people when they hear “more protein” they think “more meat”. However, it is important to note that everyone (not just vegans and vegetarians) can benefit from increasing their plant proteins consumption.  Here’s why:

I first experimented with chia pudding during Breakfast Lovers Month when I came up with the Black Forest Chia pudding. Since then, I’ve made a few other varieties including this peach cobbler inspired pudding.

Here's the short story about how I came up with my ketogenic waffles.  Earlier this year, I tried the ketogenic (keto) diet for about 2 months.  I wanted to experience this high-fat low-carb diet as a way of learning more about it.  The keto diet restricts carbohydrates to 0%-10% of your daily caloric intake while fats make up 60% to 80%. During that time I restricted my diet to these keto-friendly foods. 

This recipe was submitted by Alex Torres of Meal Prep Mondays.

When I first started taking my nutrition more seriously I turned to social media for healthy meal ideas.  Meal Prep Mondays (Alex Torres) was one of the first Instagram accounts I followed and is one of the reasons why I started doing meal prep. 

I grew up eating eggs without ever thinking twice about removing the yolks. As I got more involved in the fitness world, I learned that many people only consume the egg whites. The main arguments for this practice are that egg whites are low in calories and contain no cholesterol.

Let me tell you about eggplant ("baigan") choka.  But first I want to talk about my mom's cooking.  My mother somehow always made every meal a memorable one for my sisters and I growing up.  My love for cooking definitely started with me following her around in the kitchen.

My first experience with chia seeds was a messy one.  One day a few years I bought a bag of chia seeds to see what all the fuss was about. I guess I was too excited to try this miracle grain because I accidentally spilled most of the chia seeds when trying to open the bag.  

I strongly believe that there are naked cupcakes parading as muffins at our supermarkets. These sneaky sugary baked goods don’t don their beautiful frosted crowns in their attempt to sneak into our breakfasts.

When it comes to choosing granola, I sometimes feel like the fastidious Goldilocks trying to find the perfect bed. I like my granola to be a bit crunchy but not too dry. 

 Sometimes making a tasty satisfying breakfast every morning is almost impossible because of my work schedule. I remember one summer when I had to get to work at 7AM, I got into the habit of buying breakfast every day on my way to work. I would usually get one egg and sausage (no cheese) sandwich at a certain fast food chain.

When was the last time you had quinoa for breakfast?  Here's a sweet breakfast quinoa recipe that we've topped with pineapple, blueberries and pumpkin seeds.  You can also try natural peanut butter or just some honey as  a topping as well. This dish is vegan and  gluten free.

Scrambled eggs, anyone? Check out these cheesy veggie scrambled eggs.  Packed with flavor and perfect for those on a ketogenic diet.  You can also try adding other vegetables like bell peppers and spinach.