Pannuts and Puffins and Huevos Rancheros

OH MY!

Pannut -- (noun) Pancake batter baked in a donut maker

Puffin -- (noun) Pancake batter baked in a muffin tin

Huevos Rancheros -- (noun) a super yummy breakfast dish


This month I had originally made a menu made up completely of breakfast foods.  I realized after making it that the hubby wouldn't be too happy with it so, I just added a few extra BFD (breakfast for dinner) meals to the menu on nights he works.  Saturday was one of our added BFD nites.  When I asked the girls if they had any suggestions Mantha instantly piped up with "Donuts!  But not the normal kind, a healthy version."  So I set to work figuring it out.  I remembered seeing a recipe for Bisquick muffins before and then I realized that I could make donuts out of a pancake batter.  

Perfect dinner for a girl who won her first soccer game today right?  Yep that's right, Kaylee's team won their very first game of the season 2-0!  

Don't these look yummy?  And even though they aren't fat free the calories aren't through the roof.  You could make them healthier by substituting the whole eggs for either egg whites or egg substitute.  If you can find fat free pancake batter these can easily be made fat free.  (Krusteaz and a few other companies make a fat free mix)

 Sunny decided she needed to make her presence known in my last photo.  That one is the Dark Chocolate Dream filled Puffin.  Puffins are on the top and the Pannuts are on  the left. 

Puffin and Pannut Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups Bisquick
2 eggs
1 cup skim milk
1 T sugar
juice of 1/2 an orange
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Mix together Bisquick, sugar, and baking powder.
2. Whisk in wet ingrediets (eggs, milk, orange juice and vanilla)
3. For Puffin preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a muffin pan.  Fill each cup 2/3 full and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.
4. For Pannuts preheat and spray you doughnut maker (I have a Sunbeam donut maker and I love it)  fill each cavity and bake for about 5-7 minutes.  Repeat until batter is gone.

If you want to add mix-ins into your puffins or pannuts then feel free and have fun.  I used craisins, blueberries, strawberries, cinnamon sugar, peanut butter, and Peanut Butter & Co Dark Chocolate Dream.  The possibilities are endless!  

Tonite was another BFD nite.  This time it was Huevos Rancheros.  I combined a few recipes to get a perfect one.

The top photo is my fat free one (I only used half a tortilla in order to save a few calories), and the other two are the girls with a normal sunny side up egg.  Don't they look good?  Kaylee wasn't a big fan of it but Mantha and I loved it.  


Huevos Rancheros

Ingredients
4 fat free tortillas
2 onions, minced
2 tomatoes, minced
Pickled Jalapenos (to taste), chopped fine
1-2 cups egg substitute (equivalent to 4-8 eggs) [you can use either the yellow kind or all whites]
1/2 cup shredded lettuce
1/2 cup shredded fat free cheese
1 can of black beans (I only had kidney so that's what I used)

Directions

1. Spray and heat a medium skillet on high.  Saute onions until slightly soft (about 2 minutes) add in tomatoes and jalapenos and cook for a bit longer.  If you need to add a bit of water to the pan to keep things from sticking.  Set aside when done.
2. In a separate bowl put the beans and mash with a fork.  If they are too gummy you can add a bit of water.
3. Spray a skillet with non-stick spray and heat each side of the tortillas one at a time until brown and bubbly
4. Cook the eggs.  (Standard Huevos Rancheros is done with sunny side up eggs so, if you aren't watching you fat, feel free to use normal eggs)
5. To put them together place a tortilla on the plate, spread beans on the tortillas, add eggs, then top with the salsa.  

The tomatoes and onions can be substituted for jarred salsa.  I actually used both.  

I made extra eggs so the girls could make themselves burritos also.

Triple F...Fat Free Frittata

Tonite's dinner was quick and simple.  I looked in the fridge and couldn't find anything to make a full "meal".  [I've never been good at that.  Mr. Amazing can look into the fridge and find 40 different meals, I see nothing...]  I did see 4 containers of egg substitute and the new oven-safe skillet that Baye gave Mr. Amazing for Christmas (so he could "cook good food" for her) 

I have been wanting to try making a frittata for forever and I finally had to tool to make it.  But, I had 6 people to feed.  A 12 inch skillet wouldn't be big enough.  I searched online and found out how to make a frittata in a casserole dish.  (Why couldn't I have found it MONTHS ago??)

It was perfect.  I served it with baked potatoes and Green Goddess muffins from Happy Herbivore.  I added a grated zucchini and substituted the applesauce for mashed carrots.  They were awesome.  Next time I'll remember to get a photo before they all disappear. 

Fat Free Frittata

Ingredients
3 cup egg substitute (I used a combination of egg whites and egg substitute)
24 oz mushrooms, sliced and sauteed with 1 T minced garlic
1 medium onion, diced and sauteed with 1 T minced garlic
Splash of skim milk
1/2 cup of shredded fat free cheddar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Line a 9x13 casserole dish with parchement and spray it with non-stick spray
3. Put the mushrooms in the bottom, completely covering the bottom of the pan
4. Scatter the onions around on top, and then sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheddar on top of that
5. Pour the egg into the casserole dish 
6. Top with remaining cheese
7. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the egg is set

Next time I make it  I'll try to remember to get a good picture of it.  So next time you look in your fridge and only find a bunch of eggs and some veggies, make it into a frittata!

Beach Dogs and Dinners

                I’ve switched up my workouts for the past week.  Last week I trained for my stair climb all week so I thought I’d give those muscles a rest.  Plus I somehow gained a few pounds while doing it so I decided to change.  I started walking on the beach with my dogs.  I love walking on the beach.  I get to exercise and tan at the same time. 

Exercise + Tan = Double win!

               Tuesday I took Nawtee.  Greatest beach dog EVER!!  I took his leash off and he followed every command I gave him and he stayed no more than 2 feet away from me at all times (unless he was chasing a bird.)  Yesterday I took Wikkid.  He didn’t listen to me at all!  So I kept his leash on him 95% of the time.  But, I still love him and he still is an awesome dog (even if he’s never allowed at the beach with me again.)  Thursday I took Nawtee again but, I took his ball with us.  The dog is obsessed with his ball.  I will never take his ball on another walk again.  After I stopped throwing it he jumped as we walked for about 5 minutes straight.  The rest of the time he searched for it.  He went up and down the beach, nose to the ground, hoping to find it.  But we still got a good walk in. 

Nawtee enjoying his walk

Wikkid running away from the waves

               Mr. Amazing suggested that one of the reasons I gained the few pounds I did was because I was eating more calories than I thought I was.  Why didn’t I think of that?!?  And I hate to say it but, he was right.  He suggested proportioned meals.  Last night the girls were having leftovers so I made myself this.

Egg boat.  

 {Please pardon the horrible pictures.  My camera is currently being cleaned}

               I adapted the recipe from Spoon Fork Bacon.  My version wasn’t as amazing as I expected.  I totally overstuffed them.  I decided to use up the last of the egg whites that were in the container.  In total I poured about 3 egg whites into this poor roll.  The whole recipe (enough for 4 rolls) calls for 5 eggs.  I also added spinach and onions to mine.  It was still very tasty though.  And the only fat in it was from the roll (about 2 grams)  I’m going to try making them again using the proper measurements. 

               I’m still going with Mr. Amazing’s pre portioned meal idea.  Luckily one of the things on my menu for the month (I’ll do a post about the wonders of a monthly menu at a later date) was Egg Turnovers.  I adapted mine from Clean Eating Mag.  I have made this recipe a million times.  I love it because it’s so customizable.  The girls like different things than Mr. Amazing does and I can’t eat certain things so it’s perfect.  This dish is great for a house full of people with different tastes.  

               But, when I went to make dinner my oven decided to be on the fritz so, I had to scratch that and we just had scrambled eggs with various things mixed in.  I didn’t want to waste the pizza dough that I had rising so I divided it into four pieces, rolled it out thin  and put it in a skillet with some pan spray and a little fat free butter (just to add a hint of a butter flavor) and cooked it until it was lightly browned and no longer doughy.  The kids loved it.  But, for some reason Kay can’t get enough of the fat free pizza dough I make.  I even used the recipe to make crescents for Christmas dinner.