Tag Archives: breakfast

My Meal-prep Dirty Little Secret

So I can’t remember the last week that we actually ate all of the food I prepped on Sunday.  Invariably – life happens.

A teen’s event was not planned for.  A worship meeting goes long.  An opportunity to roll presents itself.  Something happens that prevents us from eating what is in the fridge and dictates that we are going to grab something from a restaurant somewhere.

Every.

          Single.

                      Week.

So when for the 3rd week in a row I was about to throw out baked sweet potatoes and chopped peppers, I decided to find a new way to utilize these staples of our week.

Enter:  Sweet Potato Bird’s Nests

These take a bit longer than I would like since the potatoes I use are already baked and take a while to crisp up like I like them but they are awesome.  I will definitely be making these regularly and for sure will do this with a sweet potato hash as well.   Video and the recipe are below.

See the Video Here

Ingredients:

  • Pre-baked sweet potato (each potato yields approximately 4 “nests”)
  • Pre-diced Red Onion
  • Pre-diced Red Pepper
  • Pre-diced Green Pepper
  • Pre-diced Jalepeno Pepper
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Eggs

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray.
  3. In a medium sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and peppers and sauté until onion is translucent but peppers are still crisp.img_3452
  4. In a medium mixing bowl, mash the sweet potatoes. Add salt, pepper and sautéed vegetables and mix well.                                                          img_3450
  5. Transfer a spoonful of sweet potato mixture to each muffin mold. Press the mixture up against the mold until it is approximately ¼ inch thick leaving a cavity for the egg (to be added later).
  6. Bake for 20 minutes then remove from oven.
  7. Adjust the oven to broil (still at 400 degrees)
  8. Crack one egg for every sweet potato being baked. Add egg to the cavity created by the mold.
  9. Place muffin pan back in oven. For soft yolk eggs remove after 6 minutes.  For hard yolk eggs, remove after 12 minutes.

You have probably noticed that I did not give quantities of potatoes and peppers.   Because this recipe was conceived around leftovers, whatever you have left over will determine how much to use.  You can always cut up more peppers to meet your potato supplies (like I did when I created this one).

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Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day – especially on the road!!

For years we have all been hearing about how breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  We could probably get together and sing the jingles from Saturday morning cartoons of our youth together.  So why is it that the older we get that the more we neglect this uber important start of the day?  I even see it in my own kids.  For years I made them a complete breakfast before school (seriously, the USDA could have taken a picture and used it as the cover to their brochure most mornings) but now that they are teenagers I am lucky to get them to grab a bowl of cereal.  Really makes me wonder why I am surprised when I travel with folks and they do not grab breakfast in the mornings – and no, a Venti-Triple shot- non-fat, no whip macchiato IS NOT BREAKFAST!!!

Now I could certainly make a strong argument and point you to all kinds of resources as to why you need to eat breakfast.

Like this study from John Hopkins University

Or this one from LiveScience

Or even this one from WebMD

Are you getting the point?

Instead, I want to address the reasons why you as a RoadWarrior (or anyone who finds themselves on the road) need to pay special attention to making sure you start the day off right.

Accomplishment: 

This one may just be me but I feel better knowing that I got up and started getting things done.  I dislike feeling rushed in the morning more than I dislike the alarm clock.  Allowing of the extra 20 minutes making time to stop by the breakfast buffet starts my day off with a sense of accomplishment.  It may sound trite but you are literally starting your day off with a victory and victory is contagious.

Mind Set/Focus: 

I use this time to get my mind focused on the tasks that are at hand that day.  I can eat, have the calendar open and review the appointments, to do list and travel plans for the day.  I spent this much time and effort getting there, use the morning time to make sure you are prepared to execute.

Nutrition:

The beautiful part of most hotel breakfast buffets, whether in the lobby or the concierge lounge, is they typically offer some great nutritional choices.  Unlike most evening fare that consists of heavy pastas and fried finger foods, breakfast options tend to include eggs, oatmeal, fresh fruit, non-fat yogurt, juices and coffee (wait – did I just put together a complete meal!?!?!)

Sneak in a Vegetable:  

I have come a long way since my days of only eating canned green beans but I still struggle to make sure I eat enough vegetables.  However one of my favorite ways to eat vegetables is in an omelet.  Load that bad boy up with all kinds of veggies and then you can even smother it with salsa (did you know that as long as there is not added sugar that cooked tomatoes have the same nutritional value??)

Availability:    

Most hotels of repute these days have some type of breakfast buffet.  It seems to be a standard amenity these days – which is a wonderful thing – so it does not take much extra effort to start the day off right.  I make sure I get a good breakfast because often, it is the only great meal I get.  From running to meetings, to calls, to shuttles, to airports to hotels I often find that I am grabbing fruit and/or a Protein Bar and calling it ‘lunch’.

So listen to common logic and make sure you start your day off right….WITH BREAKFAST!!!  I’ll see in you in the lobby in the morning.