Weekday Breakfast: Baked Egg and Beans

I have to confess that I'm not much of a breakfast person and this is primarily due to laziness. Given the option between getting up and having a healthy breakfast before work or sleeping fifteen minutes longer, I'll always choose the sleep. However, the current tube strike means I've been working from home for the last two days so I thought I'd use this as an opportunity to try out a few breakfast dishes. 

Beans ready for the egg topping

Baked eggs are a really healthy option since they don't use any oil or butter while cooking. I have another recipe where the egg is baked in a bell pepper but, since I didn't have any bell peppers in the fridge, I thought I'd try branching out a bit. I had purchased the little 200g cans of baked beans so for this recipe, you only need half (or a quarter of the regular cans).

Egg and beans ready for the oven

While in Tesco the other day, I had a sudden craving for baked beans on toast so I picked up a few little cans of Heinz baked beans and some soda bread. So of course, this seemed like a great chance to use them! This recipe was super easy and the cooking time (10-15 min) means you could pop it in the oven, jump in the shower, and then have a tasty breakfast waiting when you get out. I left mine in slightly too long so be warned: keep an eye on it during the last minute or so. You mainly are just waiting for the white to set but if you prefer a more cooked yolk then leave it in a bit longer. It was still tasty albeit slightly less photogenic...

Finished product! 

Prep Time: 1 min

Cook Time: 10-15 min

Serves: 1 

Ingredients: 

100g baked beans
1 large egg
Salt and Pepper
Bread to serve

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F.

In a small ramekin, spoon the baked beans into the bottom and spread them out to make a nice bed for the egg. When ready, crack the egg on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Bake for ten to fifteen minutes and serve with buttered toast. Enjoy! 

Cinnamon Banana Muffins

Hello lovely readers! It's been a while! But I have two very good reasons for the lack of posts: I was on holiday in Virginia for almost three weeks and the day after I got back, I started my new job (!!). So things have been a little hectic to say the least - especially since I'm still slogging away at my thesis as well. The trip home was so nice and  exactly what I needed to help me destress and come back to London ready to hit the ground running. It was amazing to so many of my family members and old friends! Back in London, my new job with the Institute for Global Health has also been fantastic so far: I have great colleagues who are incredibly friendly and helpful (even when I'm asking the same question over and over!), the office has a great atmosphere and the kitchen has a little spout that instantly pours hot water... I'm very impressed. 

Anyway, to get back to today's recipe! I had a few bananas that were a little past their best and I was looking around online for a way to use them up. I love banana bread but find that it's a little hard to transport (I usually eat breakfast at my desk) so I thought muffins would be a more stable alternative. This recipe is almost exact from the Betty Crocker website (I omitted the sugar topping and added an extra banana and some nutmeg) and was super easy and delicious. If you have extra bananas, give it a go! Of course, I'm not sure if this recipe beats my Mom's though...

Also, the Betty Crocker website has a little tip section at the bottom of the page that I thought was pretty helpful. For example, did you know that you can freeze bananas and then use them in any dish that requires them to be mashed? I guess the texture would be a bit off after freezing if you tried to just eat them straight away. All you do is pop them out of the freezer, leave to thaw and then mash. Handy tip if you don't feel like baking anytime soon but love banana bread as much as I do! 

Stay tuned for a post with what will hopefully be a triumphant return to the Monthly Food Challenge... this month's chosen ingredients were absurd so I'm excited to see what my friends got up to! 

Recipe via www.BettyCrocker.com

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 17-20 min

Serves: 16

Ingredients: 

2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2-3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 and 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 375F / 190C.

With a wire whisk, mix the sugar, vegetable oil and eggs in a large bowl until nicely combined. Stir in the mashed bananas and vanilla extract and continue mixing. When the wet ingredients are ready, slowly sift in the flour and baking soda before adding the salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Line muffin tins with paper wrappers and divide the mixture evenly, filling each cup about two-thirds full.

Bake for 17-20 minutes. Enjoy!

Herby Egg White Omelette with Spinach, Feta and Scallions

Today's recipe is probably my go-to breakfast option when I need something that will keep me full for a while without too many calories and that's relatively quick and easy. I saute the spinach and scallions first and then add them back in later but you could keep them in the pan and make a quick scrambled egg version of this instead if you prefer. Either way, less than 10 minutes to a tasty breakfast means this would work well on either a work day or a leisurely weekend.

Ingredients

Feta, Spinach and Scallions

Ready to mix!

Finished!

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 3 min

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

Whites of 2 large eggs

Tsp skimmed milk

Handful of spinach, stems removed and roughly chopped

1 green onion, chopped

15g feta, crumbled

Olive oil 

Dash of dried mixed herbs

Pepper

Method: 

Sauté the scallions for 30 seconds until they're sizzling. Add the spinach and stir until wilted. Remove from pan and set aside. 

Whisk egg whites, milk, dried herbs, and pepper. Add a tiny bit of oil to the pan if needed before pouring in mixture. Heat over a low flame until the bottom has set. 

Next, layer the spinach and scallion across one half of the omelette and top with the crumbled feta. Shake the pan to loosen the omelette before flipping the unadorned half over the filling. 

Sauté for a further 30 seconds before flipping. Leave for 30 seconds again and serve. Enjoy! 

Easy Oatmeal Berry Smoothie

When it comes to smoothies, I've been itching to try making my own for ages. However, I was always a bit nervous about trying it in a normal, low end blender because I thought the consistency might come out kinda weird. This proved to be completely untrue and I am now enjoying this tasty treat as I write this! The smoothie comes together ridiculously quickly and with  a little prep work the night before would be a tasty breakfast option especially if you have to eat and run! With 250 calories, it might not be the most robust meal but would definitely make a great snack later in the afternoon as well.

Strawberries de-stemmed and quartered

Frozen raspberries

I chose raspberries and strawberries for two reasons: 1) they're what I had on hand already and 2) they're some of the best low GI fruits you can find. I'm not a nutritionist by any means but apparently the lower the GI level, the less of an insulin spike/sugar crash you'll get later on. This also helps to keep energy levels even. Adding the oatmeal helps to make the smoothie a bit more satisfying.

Milk and ground oatmeal 

To prepare the oatmeal, I just popped it in my mini chopper (because I was worried my blender wouldn't get it to a nice consistency) until it resembled flour and had been all broken up. I made a cup of oatmeal this way so that I would have enough for several smoothies. I've stored them in a leftover pickle jar in the cupboard and I think they'll be ok for a few weeks.

Oatmeal after a whirl in the mini chopper

Everybody into the pool!

Seriously, this could not be simpler. It's literally a drop and mix kind of recipe. If you've been hankering after a cool and easy summer treat, this is definitely the recipe for you! I prepped my strawberries by removing the stems and quartering them the night before just so that they would be ready to use. Delicious!

Finished delicious smoothie

Prep Time: 2 min

Cook Time: 1 min

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

1/2 cup diced strawberries

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

1/4 cup ground oatmeal

3/4 cup semi-skimmed milk

1 tbsp honey or to taste

Method:

Pop everything in the blender and mix until it reaches your preferred consistency. Enjoy!

Overnight Oats: Chocolate Raspberry

This dish is literally a revelation. I'm not known as much of a breakfast person and therefore, as you may have noticed, the majority of the recipes on this blog fall into the lunch or dinner categories. I'm just not very hungry first thing in the morning so the thought of putting in the effort to make something just isn't very appealing. However, there are some days when external forces conspire to create a busy day where there just isn't time for a snack until well into the afternoon and therefore a good breakfast is essential. Enter overnight oats. The combinations for this dish are endless and I'll definitely be posting more options as I go along. It takes about five minutes to mix the ingredients together and pop them in the container the night before and then when you wake up... they're ready! While this is a chilled breakfast and therefore ideal for summer, I thought they were equally good now when the weather is freezing since they're nice and filling. Served along side a cup of coffee or tea, you really don't even notice that it's a chilled dish.

Ingredients

Raspberry puree 

I first tried this recipe with just yogurt since I didn't have any almond milk on hand. You can of course substitute regular milk or soy milk if you prefer but I didn't have any of those on hand either. The result was a little too stodgy for my liking so I definitely recommend using both milk and yogurt. Also, I pureed the frozen raspberries but you could also toss them in whole if you wanted (probably best to defrost them first thought). I went ahead and pureed the whole package (350g) because I didn't want to have to do it every day for each serving. I just popped it in a spare jar and then left it in the fridge. I didn't bother sieving the seeds out but if you think they will annoy you then definitely go for it since they are noticeable in the final dish. FInally, I served this in a glass mason jar because I found that it was the most reliable when it came to avoiding leakage when I throw it in my bag for breakfast on the go but I'm sure a small tupperware would be fine as well.

Finished product

Cook Time: N/A
Prep Time: 5 min
Serves: 1

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of rolled oats or porridge oats
1/3 cup almond milk (sweetened or unsweetened)
1/3 cup fat free plain yogurt
1 tbsp raspberry puree
1 tbsp honey
Handful fresh raspberries
4 squares dark chocolate, chopped

Mix the oats, almond milk and yogurt in a small bowl until completely combined. Next stir in the raspberry puree, honey and the dark chocolate. Carefully spoon mixture in the serving jar or tupperware and top with fresh raspberries. Place in the fridge for a minimum of three hours or overnight. Enjoy! 

Bell Pepper Baked Eggs

Easy. Quick. Delicious. I'm not much of a breakfast person so when I do take the time to make something, I want it to be simple, fast and worth the effort. Bell pepper baked eggs are definitely all of those things. Pop the egg in the pepper and throw it in the oven for 20 minutes and it's ready. Basically by the time you've had your shower, your breakfast is ready. I know most of you lovely readers won't want to try this on a weekday but I really think it could be incorporated into a morning breakfast routine if you're looking for something healthy and easy. I think this might be the healthiest way I've ever made eggs (I'm terrible at poaching...) since there's no butter or oil involved. I sauteed up a quick kale, garlic and onion mix to go along side but toast would be equally tasty. I cooked my egg all the way through which made it more of a hard boiled consistency so if you'd like a runny egg, start with 10-15 minutes (depending on your oven). It's ready to go as soon as the white sets. My bell pepper was amusingly lopsided so I had to construct a foil lift to keep it steady - you don't want the egg sliding out while cooking!

Preparing to bake

Heading into the oven 

Finished product: bell pepper baked egg and kale saute

Prep time: 3 min

Cook time: 15-20 min

Serves: 2

Ingredients: 

1 bell pepper (any color)

2 large eggs

Salt

Pepper 

Spring onions or herbs to finish (optional)

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 400F / 205C.

Halve and deseed the bell pepper, removing the stem and white ribs to create an open space for the egg. Line a baking tray with foil (in case of spills) and ensure that your pepper halves will stand on their own. Crack an egg into each half and season with salt and pepper. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the white has set and the yolk is at your preferred consistency.