Tag Archives: Breakfast

breakfast, recipe

Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

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To celebrate The Recipe ReDux‘s 5th birthday, this month’s theme is to highlight another ReDuxer’s recipe. This was a great opportunity for me to check out the Recipe ReDux blogroll. Through it, I discovered The Foodie Physician, a board certified Emergency Medicine physician, mom, culinary school graduate, recipe developer and cookbook author. I’m so glad I came across her blog. I’m so inspired by Sonali because she’s living many of the aspirations I’ve had for a long time! I’m truly impressed that as a mother and physician, she still finds the time to share creative and family-friendly healthy recipes on her lovely blog. You should definitely check her out!

Somali’s recipe for strawberry stuffed french toast caught my eye because breakfast is my favorite meal. In fact, Colby and I enjoyed this seemingly decadent strawberry french toast for dinner tonight! It tasted like we were eating dessert for dinner, and I’m not mad about it. Added bonus? It took only about 20 minutes to make from start to finish!

Check out my version of Sonali’s delicious strawberry stuffed french toast below.

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Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

  • Servings: 2-4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

A decadent tasting yet lower calorie french toast stuffed with a sweet ricotta and fresh strawberry filling.


Adapted from: thefoodiephysician.com

Ingredients

  • ½ cup low-fat ricotta cheese
  • 2 ounces Neufchâtel cheese, at room temperature (1/3 less fat than cream cheese)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 3 teaspoons honey, divided
  • 8 slices of whole grain white bread, or traditional whole grain bread
  • 1 cup sliced strawberries, plus extra for garnish
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 egg whites
  • ½ cup milk, any type
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • Nonstick cooking spray or butter, for the griddle
  • Optional: maple syrup or whipped cream for serving

Directions

    1. Mix the ricotta cheese, Neufchâtel cheese, 1 teaspoon vanilla, lemon juice and 2 teaspoons honey together in a bowl.  Spread equal amounts of the filling on each slice of bread.  Arrange strawberry slices on the surface of 4 slices of bread and top them with the other 4 slices of bread, forming 4 sandwiches.
  1. Whisk the egg and egg whites, milk, cinnamon, ½ teaspoon vanilla, and 1 teaspoon honey together in a bowl or shallow dish.
  2. Heat a griddle or large skillet over
 medium heat and spray with a bit of cooking spray or brush with a small amount
 of butter. Dip each sandwich into the
 egg mixture for a few seconds on each side
 and place them on the griddle. Cook
 3–4 minutes until golden brown, then flip and cook another 3–4 minutes on the second side.
  3. Transfer the sandwiches to a cutting board and let them cool slightly. Cut into triangles. Serve with fresh strawberries, a little maple syrup, and/or whipped cream.

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This dish is seriously delicious! Make it a point to try it out and visit Sonali’s website for more great recipes. Scroll down to check out this month’s Recipe ReDux posts in the linkup!

As the first and only recipe challenge founded by registered dietitians, The Recipe ReDux aims to inspire the food lover in every healthy eater and inspire the healthy eater in every food lover. Thank you for visiting. We hope you enjoy!

breakfast, recipe

Breakfast Pizza

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There’s a restaurant in Las Vegas that serves a delicious breakfast pizza on the weekends. If you’re in town, I highly recommend checking out Honey Salt for a great mimosa brunch on the patio. Even if you aren’t a Vegas local, you can recreate Elizabeth Blau’s tasty breakfast pizza at home with this simplified replica I came up with. Did you know you can buy raw pizza dough at most pizzerias for just a few bucks? This is great news for making pizza at home easily! Just call your favorite pizza shop and ask. I got the dough for this recipe from Trader Joe’s. They have a great wheat dough ball that’s only $1.19.

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Ingredients:

(serves 4)

1 lb dough ball of your favorite pizza dough (preferably whole wheat!)

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed

Splash of milk (about 2 tablespoons)

6 oz reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese

8 large eggs

1 tablespoon butter

Salt & Pepper

Grated parmesan, parsley, and/or hot sauce for garnish

Preparation:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes, uncovered.
  2. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and shape each portion into an individual pizza crust. Place all four on a large baking sheet or two smaller baking sheets that will fit side-by-side in the oven.
  3. Heat the olive oil in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Sauté the spinach for about 2 minutes until hot and add a splash of milk. Continue to cook until most of the liquid is absorbed. Season with a dash of salt and pepper.
  4. Extend the spinach mixture evenly among the four pizza crusts, spreading it as close to the edges as you can.
  5. Top each pizza with about 1.5 oz of shredded cheese. Bake for 12 minutes or until the cheese is becoming golden and bubbly.
  6. While the pizzas are baking, whisk the eggs vigorously in a medium mixing bowl. Scramble slowly in a medium nonstick skillet coated with melted butter over low-medium heat. Scramble until nearly finished, but not fully cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.
  7. Top each pizza with an equal portion of the eggs and return to the oven for 1-2 minutes more, or until the eggs are fully set.
  8. Serve with your favorite garnish and a side of fruit. I topped my pizza with freshly grated parmesan, parsley, and sriracha sauce. Enjoy!

I was nervous about the timing of baking the crust, adding the cheese, and knowing when to incorporate the scrambled eggs, but it ended up being a very intuitive process. The basic idea is that you’re baking a pizza 90% of the way through and adding eggs that are 90% finished, then finishing the last 10% of the cooking process with all ingredients combined. I think you’ll like it!

Here’s a close up of the eggs and cheese, pre-hot sauce.

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Make it a little messy for a nice plated look:

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Nutrition information, per individual pizza without garnish:

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breakfast, recipe

Baked Oatmeal Recipe

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I love brunch! How could I not? We have beautiful weather and great friends joining us for bible study this fine day! This recipe is simple, filling, and nutritious. I hope you’ll try it and tell me what you think!

Ingredients:

(Serves 4-6)

2 cups rolled oats (or 1.5 cups rolled oats + 1 scoop vanilla whey protein isolate)

2 ripe bananas, sliced into 1/2″ disks

1.5 cups fresh or frozen berries (I used fresh blueberries)

2 cups milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

Dash of sea salt

5 packets stevia (or 1/3 cup maple syrup)

1/2 cup chopped and toasted walnuts or pecans

3 tablespoons melted butter

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease the bottom of an 8×8 square baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Line the bottom of the dish with a single layer of banana slices and sprinkle half the berries on top.

3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, half the butter, vanilla extract, and maple syrup (if using).

4. In a separate bowl, stir together the dry oats, half the chopped nuts, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, protein powder (if using), and stevia (if using).

5. Stir the wet and dry ingredients together and pour into the baking dish. Sprinkle remaining berries and nuts on top.

6. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the mixture is set and golden brown on top. Allow to cool for several minutes.

7. Top with remaining melted butter (optional) and a sprinkling of brown sugar (optional). Serve with Greek yogurt, sliced almonds, maple syrup, and/or fresh berries!

Dig in!

I topped mine with greek yogurt mixed with vanilla extract and stevia.

And there are still leftovers for tomorrow! Yesss!