Brinner: Cinnamon Raison French Toast, Scrambled Eggs, Hashbrowns & Bacon

Talk about a brinner (breakfast for dinner) for champions! This is the meal I whipped together after my Weight Watchers meeting. Breakfast is a meal I enjoy, but cooking a full course breakfast isn't something that happens often. So, since my boyfriend and I enjoy breakfast we typically have it for dinner. This way we get our favorites, or exactly what we're craving, without any time restrictions. The great thing about breakfast foods is they are relatively easy and quick -- so this dinner was done in under 20 minutes.

We had some Country Kitchen Light Raisin bread (you can see that post here) and since my boyfriend planted the french toast seed, I really wanted it. So I whipped up some regular french toast (using whole eggs) for him and my french toast using Eggbeaters. I dredged my bread in Eggbeaters - but I didn't season it this time since the bread is already flavorful. I ended up using a little more than 1/3 of a cup to dredge the four slices of bread. If you're interested in seeing how I make my french toast, you can see that recipe here.

I went the "easy way out" and cooked my bacon in the oven. This is quite possibly the easiest way to cook bacon ... the only part that takes effort is making sure not to burn it because it can go from good to horrible in a matter of unwatched minutes. While the bacon and french toast was going I added the shredded seasoned hashbrown potatoes to a non-stick skillet. I seasoned them additionally with some black pepper and a bit of garlic and let them cook. Then after cooking my french toast, I scrambled up my eggbeaters seasoning them with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Easy, peasy!

My whole meal, as pictured, was 10 points plus. That's 3 slices of Light Raisin bread (4 points plus), 1 1/2 tbsp sugar free maple syrup (0 points plus), 1 cup eggbeaters (3 points plus - note: I used a portion of this 1 cup to dredged my bread in and the remainder I used to scramble), 2 slices of turkey bacon (1 points plus), and 3 oz of hashbrowns (2 points plus).

QUESTION:
What is your favorite breakfast item?

Breakfast for Dinner

Having breakfast for dinner is starting to become a staple dish within my household.  My boyfriend isn’t a big breakfast guy, while I on the other hand am a breakfast girl.  Granted, my breakfasts are usually not as lavish as they’d be if they were for dinner, but regardless I’m having something in the morning!

This entire meal was really brought on because I purchased the new Al Fresco Country Style Chicken Sausage Breakfast Patties.  I’m a big fan of the Al Fresco sausage line and I was completely intrigued after finding out one sausage patty was only 2 points plus values.

I whipped up some scrambled egg substitute with some frozen pepper stripes in it, seasoned with pepper, salt and a handful of spices.  I did sprinkle a tablespoon of shredded fat free mozzarella over my eggs for a little added pizzazz.

I like to purchase shredded potatoes in a bag or even diced potatoes in a bag because you can typically have 3 ounces for 2 points plus.  Even if they are seasoned, I do re-season them with garlic, black pepper and a dash of salt.

As a staple to tie it all together, I garnished my plate with 2 slices of light Italian bread toasted and spritzed with spray butter.

For a side I had a few pieces of cantaloupe and 2 strawberries cut up.

The entire plate was 7 points plus.

QUESTION:

What are some items you like to have for breakfast or even breakfast for dinner?

Brinner: Waffles w/ Compote, Sausage & Scrambled

My boyfriend and I ended up having breakfast for dinner one night (termed: Brinner).  I personally wanted something simple to cook because I initially thought of pancakes, but then the thought of making them just wasn’t intriguing any longer.  Since we had some frozen low fat waffles in the freezer, my boyfriend was more in-tune with waffles (I think he sensed my immediate need to NOT want to make pancakes – so we settled).

To fancy up the waffles, I decided to make a fruit compote.  When I dumped my frozen mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries and black berries) into the pan there wasn’t enough to make one serving – so I decided to jazz it up, slicing up an apple (peeled) into small pieces and cooking it up all in a sauce pan with a bit of Equal (sugar substitute), a pinch of salt and water.  I let the mixture come to a slow simmer, stirring frequently until it thickened just slightly.  (Note: if I had used real sugar and a tiny bit of cornstarch it would have been a thicker compote.)

The waffles went into the toaster (simple!) and I cooked up some Trader Joe’s Sweet Apple Sausage (see review here: http://shannonslifestyle.blogspot.com/2013/03/trader-joes-sweet-apple-chicken-sausage.html).  Since the sausage is sweeter I felt it would be a perfect pairing with a breakfast – and I was right.  Then to just wrap things up I made myself  ½ cup scrambled egg substitute – seasoned with black pepper and a pinch of salt.  (Side note: if you’re cooking for someone who doesn’t like egg substitute, you can fry up regular eggs – which is what I did for my boyfriend since he does not follow the WW program).

Once the meal was done and assembled, I spooned the compote over the waffles and it was munja time! Points Plus wise, the entire meal was 8 points plus (4 – waffles, 3 – sausage, 1 – eggs).

QUESTION:

What is your favorite breakfast food to have for dinner?

Binner ... Breakfast for Dinner!

This is what I call Binner ... Breakfast for Dinner!  A few weeks ago I was throwing options out there for dinner to my boyfriend and somehow I mentioned breakfast.  Then it was a toss-up between pancakes and french toast (evidently french toast won almost immediately).  I had some shredded potatoes in the refrigerator that I had picked up at the grocery store -- so I decided on hash browns, sausage patties and french toast it was!

I took 3 slices of light wheat bread and dunked it in a mixture of 1/2 cup liquid egg substitute, a dash of cinnamon, and a dash of vanilla extract.  I cooked them up on a non-stick grill pan.  The 3 slices of french toast came out to be 4 Weight Watchers PointsPlus values.  I made my boyfriend regular french toast (with 1 beaten egg, skim milk, vanilla and cinnamon) and simply cooked his in a non-stick grill pan.

I tossed a turkey sausage (2 PointsPlus) into the pan to heat through while in another skillet (sprayed with Pam) I cooked up some diced onion and minced garlic and added in a 1 cup of shredded potato.  I seasoned with black pepper, garlic powder and a dash of salt.  When done I split the pan between my boyfriend and I -- my serving was 2 Points Plus.

Once plated I drizzled 1/4 cup sugar free Vermont Maid syrup over my french toast and added a few sliced strawberries.  Delicious and totally filling!

QUESTION:
Do you like breakfast for dinner?