How to Peel and Egg & Ham and Egg Breakfast Sandwiches

I follow a lot of "mom" blogs and one of favs is Design Mom. A white back, she had a post on "How to Peel an Egg" that really blew me away. Check it out! There is a video and it is pretty amazing. I decided to try it at home.

Boil the eggs at a slow boil for 12 minutes. Cool the eggs by throwing some ice in. In the video he says when you put the water in you put a 1/2 teaspoon on baking soda in and it raises the pH thus reducing the adhering of the egg to the shell. OK, I have to admit that I didn't really know if you boiled it with the baking soda (which is what I did) or if you add it after. I guess I could have done some more research. He cracks and peels a small hole in the top and bottom of the egg and blows it out of its shell. No, I couldn't blow the egg out when I tried it but the shell did come off easily without taking any of the while with it. To my skack and awe, the egg came out perfectly, no pocks where I had gouged the white. This was a first. (My husband makes fun of how bad eggs look after I usually peel them.) Its worth a try and a fun experiment.

So after experimenting, I had to put the eggs to work. I decided on a super easy breakfast sandwich. We make these sandwiches all the time with scrambled eggs but after trying them this way, I am converted to hard boiled.

Ham and Egg Breakfast Sandwich
4 pts
Serves 1

high fiber English muffin (1 pt)
1 slice of lean ham or canadian bacon
FF or 2% american cheese slice
1 boiled egg

Peel egg (per instructions above). Split and remove yolk. Disgard yolk. Slice egg white and lightly salt.


Split and toast Enlish muffin. Place slice ham, cheese and egg on the muffin.



Put two halves of muffin together and enjoy! You can boil a bunch of eggs at once for a fast breakfast. Just warm the egg white for a few seconds (under 10) for a quick morning meal.

Peach Pie Smoothie - 3 pts

A few weekends ago, I was watching Food Network while feeding the baby boy. Ellie Krieger was on. If you are not familiar with her, she has a healthy cooking show and is a nutritionist and registered dietician. She always has some good tips for getting maximum nutrition out of your food. In this episode, she made a delicious looking peach smoothie. I had the ingrediants for it so I thought I would try it out for breakfast with a few alterations to the recipe. I really was pleased with the results and so was the little girl. I had to talk her into sharing with me because she was determined to keep it to herself.

Peach Pie Smoothie
3 pts
1 serving

Here is the original recipe via FoodNetwork.com.

And here is mine.

1/2 c skim milk
6 oz Weight Watchers Amerretto Cheese Cake Yogurt
1 c frozen peaches
1 T Splenda
1/4 t vanilla
1/8 t cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
pinch ginger

Put all ingredient in blender and blend till smooth.







Low in points for a large shake and a great source of calcium and vitamin C. 1 1/2 milk credits and a fruit. And kid approved! What can get better than that!

Breakfast Hash

I am always looking for something new and different from my usual breakfasts: cereal, oatmeal or a fried egg. The other night we had baked potatoes for dinner and there was a half of one left that I bound and determined to put to good use. I stuffed it in the fridge without a plan. The next morning I pulled it out and started thinking that it would be great as hashbrowns. I almost stredded it, but settled on peeling and cubing it instead. I wanted a breakfast hash like one of those that you get at a diner with a little bit of everything in it. This is what I found in my fridge:



I know, not much but enough to make do. I really wish I would have had some mushrooms at the time because I definately would have thrown those in.

This is what I came up with:

Breakfast Hash
Serves 1
4 Points

1 whole egg
2 egg whites
1/2 baked potato
1/2 oz reduced fat cheddar
1 green onion
1 slice canadian bacon
various 0 pt veggies, diced (optional)

For the eggs, I just crack 3 whole eggs into a bowl and pull out 2 of the yolks with my hands. I know that you can save points by just eating the whites, but in my opinnion, the yolk gives it too much flavor to leave it out. After all, it is only 1. Mix whites and yolks together with a fork and set aside.

Spray a pan with non-stick spray or an oil spritzer. Heat to medium heat. While pan is heating, peel and cube 1/2 potato. Add potatoes to the pan and brown. Add green onions once potatoes start to brown. If you are using veggies now is the time to add them to the mix. Like I said, I thnk that mushrooms would be awesome in this. Saute until tender. When veggies are almost done, add diced canadian bacon.



Push mixture to the side and add eggs to the empty side of the pan. If your pan is prone to sticking, give it a light spray. Scramble eggs. When about half cooked, incorporate the potato mixture.



Once eggs are cooked through, sprinkle with cheese while eggs are hot so that it starts to melt.



Serve it with a fruit and toast. Like you see from the first picture, I ate it with tangerines and a light english muffin with sugar free jam. Yum! Oh and don't forget a tall glass of water. The whole meal was only 6 pts.

Apple Crisp Oatmeal - 4.5 pts & Spiced Apples - 1 pt

I think I am on a breakfast kick! I promise I have other recipes and ideas for dinners waiting in the wings. Now that I am photo tracking, I am trying to get the recipes up here that correspond with my daily menu. We'll see how well that works out, but for the time being I'm trying.

After loving the Strawberries & Cream Oatmeal so much, I decided that I needed to experiment putting more fresh fruit in my oatmeal. In the past, I have cut up an apple and tossed it in but there was nothing amazing about how it turned out. For Valentine's day, we had pork ribs and I thought that it would be delicious to serve it with some spiced apples, like you get at the restaurants. These are the spiced apples that I came up with. It is a really chunky applesauce with lots of flavor. I loved how they turned out and thought that they would be delicious on oatmeal too. This is what I came up with.

Apple Crisp Oatmeal
4.5 pts
Serves 1

1/2 c oatmeal
1 c water
2 packets Splenda
dash of salt
1/2 t almond extract
1 serving Spiced Apples (recipe below)
2 T Microwave Granola

Place oatmeal, water, Splenda, salt & almond extract in a micowave safe bowl. Allow extra room in the bowl for the oatmeal to bubble during cooking or you will have a mess in your microwave. Microwave on high 3 minutes.

Top with Spice Apples. Sprinkle Microwave Granola over the top. Enjoy hot!

Spiced Apples
1 pt
Serves 3

Peel and cube 4 small or 3 medium apples. Put in a small saucepan.



Add 1/4 c water and 1 t lemon juice. Stir. Them at 3 T Splenda for Baking, 1/4 t cinnamon and 1/8 t nutmeg. Stir to coat apples evenly. Cover and place over medium heat.


Cook until apples are tender but not mushy. Mash lighly with a fork or potato masher. Divide into 3 servings. Stores well in fridge for a few days. Can be used as a topping or a side dish or just enjoyed pure.

Here is the original go at the spiced apples. They were delicious served with the ribs and sweet potatoes. The candied yams recipe is coming soon! By the way, pork ribs, not WW friendly at all! They were a Valentine's treat for the husband.

Breakfast Sundae with Microwave Granola - 3 pts

This is a simple breakfast sundae. You could add more fruit to it or serve it as a parfait but it was absolutely delicious just like this. The microwave granola recipe below is very easy and fast. It is a great breakfast or even a quick homemade gift for a friend.

Breakfast Sundae
3 pts
Serves 1

1 pt worth of fruit
1 pt yogurt cup (This is Fiber One Strawberry.)
2 T microwave granola

Cut up fruit and place in bowl. Top with yogurt. Sprinkle on microwave granola.

Microwave Granola
4 pts
Serving Size 1/2 c
About 12 Servings

1/3 c sliced almonds
1/4 c walnut halves
2 1/2 c uncooked oatmeal
1/8 c Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
1/4 cup(s) honey

Place the nuts in a 13 by 9 inch glass baking dish. Cook on high for 2 minutes to lightly toast the nuts. (The time may vary with your microwave so watch them carefully.)

Stir in oats, and Splenda brown sugar blend until well mixed. Stir in honey, making sure to coat the mixture well.

Cook on high in microwave for 3 minutes. Stir well. Cook 1 minute longer. Cool slightly. Stir in raisins and/or dried cranberries (optional, but will may change pts). Store in airtight container.

Strawberries & Cream Oatmeal - 3 pts

This recipe was a Valentine's Day invention. I was up early and wanted to make something special for the holiday. My husband loves those fruit n cream instant oatmeal packets from Quacker but they are loaded with sugar plus expensive for the amount of oatmeal that it makes up. This is so simple and easy but quite delicious.

Strawberries & Cream Oatmeal
3 pts
Serves 1

1/2 uncooked whole grain oatmeal
1 c water
1 t powdered fat free coffee creamer
dash salt
6 strawberries
3 packets Splenda
1/4 - 1/2 t orange zest (optional)

Combine oats, water, creamer, salt and orange zest in microwave safe bowl. Make sure there is plenty of extra room because the mixture will bubble up while cooking and may overflow. (see picture below) Cook in the microwave on high for 3 minutes. Set aside.



If using frozen strawberries, microwave until slightly thawed. Aren't they beautiful frozen.



Put in a food processor or blender with Splenda and puree. You could squeeze a small amount of orange juice in here too if you wanted to but I didn't think of that at the time. Maybe I will try that next time.



I poured a little over half of the sauce on the bottom of a fresh bowl, topped with oatmeal and then put more on top. You could save the dish and just pour the sauce on top but as you can see by the first picture, I really needed a new bowl and it was Valentines and wanted to surprise the little girl with a heart. I wouldn't mix it all together though. It was nice to taste the diffence between the oatmeal and the sauce.



You could do this with any fruit/berry and lemon zest would be really nice with blueberries. I will have to try that soon. It is a nice change to my normaml plain oatmeal with a bit of sugar free syrup on top.

Big Bowl Cereal - 4-7 pts

Well, I keep saying how I have a bunch of recipes or ideas to post here and never follow through so today is a the day. I think I am going to post 1 or 2 a day so that some of the first ones I post don't get lost behind the latter posts.

Really, who measures their cereal?

No one unless they are watching calories or points or whatever. From kids on, we crack open the box and poor it into the bowl until it looks like a reasonable amount and will satisfy our hunger. Fast forward. As an adult, we want to shed the pounds and so watch our portions. We break out the measuring scoop and have anywhere for 1/2 cup to 1 1/4 cups depending on the cereal. Well, when you put that in a regular cereal bowl, it sure seems like a puny amount. In thee past I measure out my cup of Cheerios and pour my milk on it and wolf it down in 3 bites or so. I end up feeling totally unsatisfied and I am hungry in 90 minutes or so.

The above reasons is why I started doing this. My Big Bowl Cereal. It is a mixture of different cereals and some fruit if you care for it. You end up with a big soup bowl filled to the brim with cereal and after eating it, you are full all morning.






Big Bowl Cereal
4-7 points
Serves 1

1 serving of cereal, 2 pts for 30 g of cereal (I use Cheerios - 1 c or Kix 1 1/4 c.)
1 serving Fiber One Original, 0 pts for 30 g
1 serving of Puffed Wheat, 1 pt for 15 g
1 pt serving of fruit (I use 1/2 banana or a couple of strawberries cup up.)

Mix together.

Pour 1 c milk over top of cereal. (see options below)

1 c skim milk, 2 points
1 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1 pt (If I use this I usually add a package of Splenda to it and sometimes skip the fruit because it has a nice flavor to it already.)

I usually have 15 g Kix, 15 g Cheerios, 30 g Fiber One, 15 g puffed wheat, and 1 c. unsweetened vanilla almond milk with a package of Splenda. This is 4 pts, the same as 1 c Cheerios and 1 c skim milk, with lots of fiber to keep you full all morning.

Grain Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce - 5 pts

i love my better homes and gardens cookbook. it is the one that can be found in almost every kitchen in the country. lots of basic of recipes and they all turn out delish. many are not very figure friendly though. i know that several recipes in there have contributes to me gaining weight.


while perusing the cookbooks at costco earlier this week, i came across another bhg cookbook, "eat well, lose weight". as i flipped through it, most of the recipes looked pretty easy, they all had pictures (which i love), and it had all the nutritional information for them so it would be easy to figure points. i tossed it in my cart and excited headed off to the check-out so i could go home and really look through it.


well i love it as much as i thought i would. great recipes. it is a 3 ring binder, like the classic, so it lays open nicely. all of the recipes are geared towards healthier eating. i have gone through and calculated the points on many of the recipes that i want to try and written them in for easy reference. if you come across this cookbook, take a peek.

well enough about how great this cookbook is. here is the recipe. it has a strawberry sauce which i didn't make even though it looked delicious. i prefer yogurt on my pancakes. i know, strange, but something that my dad got me hooked on as a kid. now i use dannon light n' fit 0 plus smoothies as syrup. only 1 pt for the entire smoothie and i am getting my dairy from it. i had fresh strawberries on the side.

the texture was a great. i like a nutty pancake. i used whole grain oats instead of instant and substituted splenda brown sugar for regular. points are figured on original recipe.

Grain Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce
from Better Homes and Gardens' cookbook "Eat Well, Lose Weight"
5 pts

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup uncooked yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup quick cooking oats
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp table salt
1 egg
1 cup fat-free milk
2 tbsp canola oil

1. In am medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, rolled oats, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; set aside.

2. In a small bowl combine egg, milk, and oil; beat with a fork or wisk until combined. Add the egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter shoul be lumpy).

3. Lightly coat an unheated griddle or large skillet with momstick cooking spray. Preheat griddle over mdium heat. For each pancake, pour a scant 1/4 cup of the batter onto the hot griddle. Spread each to a 3 to 3 1/2 inch circle. Cook over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes on each sie or until pancakes are golden brown, turning to second sides when pancakes have bubbly surfarces and slightly dry edges.

4. Meanwhile, for sauce, in a blender or food processor combine 2 cups strawberries, granulated sugar, and canilla. Cover and blend or process until smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan, heat sauce until warm. Quarter remaining 2 cups strawberries. Serve pancakes with sauce and berries.

Makes 6 servings. (2 pancakes per serving).