Healthy Breakfast Challenge Day 2: Strawberry Banana Breakfast Wrap

Morning! I've had a very busy week and in continuing my daily breakfast challenge I've been making a lot of grab n go and make ahead breakfasts to help manage my time. The last few days I've been munching on organic blueberry yogurt with my homemade granola and previous to that I was a glutton on a weekend away. If my day goes well you'll see the gluttony posts later. In the meantime, here is a favorite quick breakfast for on the run that still gives me the energy I need to start my morning. 

take your favorite wrap or flat bread (I prefer whole grain ones, gluten free  and vegan ones are also available) and smear it with 2 tablesspoons of peanut or almond butter.  Then I like to sprinkle some granola  into the nut butter. Then I slice up a  few strawberries and place them as the next layer. I like to toss in a couple blueberries as well. Then I put half of a banana in the center. Roll up you wrap around the banana like you are making a burrito.  This breakfast is easily portable and I find the granola gives it a nice crunch.  Then simply enjoy.

One of Our First Milestones

Today is the one year anniversary of my husband and I getting married.  After all the stress, drama and chaos of the previous year of wedding planning we were so looking forward to a break.  We imagined the first year as husband and wife to be one of relaxation, bliss and lots of wonderful time together. Whomever started this rumor, I want to smack them. Apparently, so do all of our friends who've been married recently. 

For today's young, or even not so young, newlywed couples this vision truly is a fantasy. We juggled jobs, a new home and school..... not to mention trying to maintain a good relationship with our families who are just as busy  as we are and rather far away.   We've talked to a number of fellow newlyweds and the fact of the matter is that we're all too exhausted to be making whoopee all the time. I honestly felt relieved that it wasn't just us.  From the first week of our marriage we began running to family events, even before we left for our honeymoon. As soon as we got back we dove into work and were house shopping. Not exactly a relaxed lifestyle. My husband and I have decided that is not going to be the case for the rest of our marriage. I talk to make clients about creating their own "Life in Balance", and this is the year my husband is teaming up with me to make our home life just that. 

On Wednesday we're getting out of town for a few days to enjoy Virginia wine country and renew our vows.  We found some great restaurants that specialize in local sustainable foods.  Time away for us has been long overdue.  Charley and I have decided this is going to be the the beginning of "our year". We have vowed to travel more, spend more time turning our new house into the home we've dreamed of, get in shape together and he is helping me turn my dream job into a full time career. This is huge since currently my job to pay the bills has a very inconvenient schedule that is one of the reasons we don't see each other enough.  I am really excited about all the adventures we will have this year and maybe with all of this new found time spent together one of those adventures will be to become parents. 

Here's to hoping. I'm not going to stress about what may or may not happen this year, but one thing I will definitely be doing is enjoying the ride.

Is there a 12 step program for Pinterest users? & The Healthy Breakfast Challenge

I have discovered that I have an addiction.... to using Pinterest.  For those of you whom are unfamiliar with this marvelous little app, it allows you to "pin" pictures with links you've found around the web to your own virtual styleboards. Then your friends can follow and look at your boards and "repin" the ideas you've saved and liked to their own boards.

I am a very visual person who also has a million and one "to do" projects in my brain. I am also a list maker and a dreamer. For me, Pinterest fits all of those needs and I don't have to lose any of my ideas. Previously I spent hours making a board manually. Now it takes seconds. The only problem with that is that Pinterest has become a major way for me to unwind and I seem to be losing hours of my life. I have decided that I need to to come up with a way to make my time a little bit more bankable or productive.

Being the food obsessed individual I am, my favorite ways to use the boards is to categorize recipes that I's like to try. I started  reviewing my boards this morning and had a light bulb moment. I will be blogging about my recipe adventures that I've saved on Pinterest. The first board I'd like to tackle is one I've entitled "The Healthy Breakfast Challenge." 

Eating breakfast every day is hugely important. I am challenging myself to make a different breakfast every day and share what worked and what didn't with all of you out there in blogland.  I will only be sharing successes, to hopefully save those of you attempting to do the same some time and frustration.  The first recipe I'd like to share is one of my own concoctions, after that you'll get Pinterest recipe central.

my egg poaching cup- makes it so easy!

I love poached eggs.  Unfortunately they can be a royal pain to make, not to mention time consuming. About a year ago my mom got me these marvelous silicone cups to make poached eggs in. That was the moment when the egg experimentation started. One of the by-products of these experiments is my recipe for Poached Italian eggs.

A few years a go there was a dish on the brunch menu of my parents restaurant called Italian eggs.  Essentially it was a variation of  the English "toad in the hole". They took Texas toast garlic bread and baked an egg in the middle of it. IT was wonderful but rather greasy and not exactly on the light side.  I took the concept and ran with it.

I love savory flavors like rosemary oregano & tomatoes, so why not enjoy them at breakfast?! I take a piece of my favorite whole grain bread and lightly toast it. Meanwhile I poach my egg using my egg cups on the stove top. Next I take the toast and smear on some pasta sauce and sprinkle it with mozzarella cheese and italian herbs. I pop this back in the toaster oven so the cheese melts slightly. By the time the cheese is toasted my egg is ready (I like my yolks nice and runny and the timing seems to always work out). I place the egg on top of my pizza toast (as the hubby calls it), sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and a little bit more herbs.

Italian Eggs

I love the way the yolk soaks into the bread and all the flavors blend together as I cut this breakfast into bites. Not only is it delicious but it gives me the energy I need to get my day started. Bon Appetito!