easy macaroni and cheese casserole

I’ve been totally and completely loving this weather we’ve been having lately, anyone else?  Itz been sunny and warm throughout the day, yet it cools off at night which leads to crisp mornings.  I love it.  Zoey and I have been getting in some awesome walks and soaking up the sunshine while itz here.

Today is What I Ate Wednesday over at Peas and Crayons, so I’m going to show you my meals from yesterday.

Breakfast: An Eggwich

We used to make these all the time as kids.  Scramble a couple of eggs, toast a bagel, spread the cream cheese, and boom!  You’ve got a great breakfast!

Lunch: Easy Macaroni and Cheese Casserole

Ever since my friend Diana made macaroni and cheese casserole a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been wanting to recreate it… and add a few vegetables!  All I did was brown the turkey meat, saute onions, and add frozen corn and peas.  I mixed that together and spread it out in a sprayed casserole dish.  Then I poured red sauce and cooked macaroni and cheese (yes, good ole’ fashioned Kraft!) and spread that on top.  I sprinkled bread crumbs, though honestly those can be easily omitted as they didn’t add as much as I thought they would.  I baked the dish at 350 for about twenty-five minutes.

I asked Jonny if he liked it, and he replied, “Of course!  Anything with mac and cheese is always good!”  Ok good point, but still.  We liked it!  We ate it for dinner on Monday night and now it will double as much lunch for the rest of the week which is just fantastic.

Dinner: Pasta Primavera from Bravo

Jonny and I went out to dinner last night with friends and my pasta was wonderful.  Jonny ordered a pizza which was also fantastic… Can’t really ever go wrong with pizza!

Eggwich fan? Mac & cheese casserole fan?

Good Earth Tea Giveaway {CLOSED}

Today’s WIAW will be a tad different.  I’m featuring two different brands and will end the post with a giveaway.  Happy Wednesday to YOU, friends!  Let’s begin:

Nasoya, makers of Nayonaise, the original vegan mayo, recently perfected Nayonaise for a smoother, creamier texture and it now comes in new distinct varieties.  Nasoya came out with this interesting graphic just in time for Easter: Have an Eggless Easter: A Guide to Simple Substitutions for Spring.

Now, you all know I don’t celebrate Easter (I’m Jewish) nor do I eat strictly vegan.  In fact, I love eggs.  However, I certainly do not love mayonnaise mostly due to the fact that itz just so bad for you.  I am all about making healthy substitutions and eating a variety of foods, and I do try to eat plant-strong.  Nayonaise has half the fat and a third the calories as traditional mayonnaise.

I decided to try the nayonaise on my eggwich first.  Use an eggless-mayo on an egg sandwich?  Yeah, doesn’t make much sense, but it did taste good!

I toasted an english muffin, fried an egg, added fresh spinach and turkey, and smeared on the nayonaise.  I put it all together and wah-lah!  I was amazed at the flavor the nayonaise added!  It was a quite a tasty addition.  Next, I added it to two turkey sandwiches made on dollar rolls on a plate perfect for Easter.

I feel like if I’m going to eat mayo nayo, it must be with turkey!  For Jonny’s lunch yesterday, I made him a turkey sandwich on matzoh (remember, we’re Jewish and itz Passover!), and asked him how it was when he got home from work.  “Turkey, cheese, and mayo?  Of course it was good!”  It passed the Jonny-test!  Plus, the entire line is vegan, a good source of vitamin B12 and made from expeller pressed oil. All products are also fortified with Omega 3 ALA for added nutrition.

Disclaimer: Nasoya provided me with product; I received no compensation.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Now itz time to switch gears and talk TEA!  Good Earth Tea specifically.  To launch their unique new tea flavors, Cocoa Tango and Sweetly Twisted, Good Earth Tea partnered with Hollywood’s hottest fitness guru, Bizzie Gold to create signature BUTI Fitness workouts inspired by these new flavors – which taste sweet without the need to add sugar.

The full-length workouts are available free on Good Earth’s website and YouTube channel and are the only place to stream FREE full-length BUTI workouts.  Pretty fun that workouts and teas are connected, eh?  Ali was kind enough to also include a box of their Original Sweet & Spicy blend!  I most recently enjoyed a cup amidst the twelve inches of snow St. Louis got over the weekend.  It sure warmed me right up!

An aromatic sweet cinnamon tea with hints of orange. Our full flavored signature blend offers up a rich, spicy fragrance followed by a sweet, warming, clean taste without added sugar.  Honestly, I usually do sweeten my teas with honey or NuNaturals, but with these teas I did not have to.  They were all bursting with so much flavor and sweetness that I was totally good without.

New flavor #1: Cocoa Tango Black Tea.  Sweet, sensually smooth flavor of cocoa envelops the unpredictably fiery hit of chili pepper.

The smell alone of this tea will leave your mouth watering.  Usually when teas are flavored “cocoa” or “chocolate,” I find that they smell really good, but the taste leaves something to be desired.  Not with Cocoa Tango – it was just as delicious as it smells.

New flavor #2:  Sweetly Twisted Black & Herbal Tea.  A sweet start takes an unexpected tangy twist leading to a refreshing finish.

I warmed up with a cup of this tea by the fire and made Jonny a glass, but added ice to his.  Jonny is not a fan of tea at all, so I was really curious to what his reaction would be.  And guess what?  He liked it!  He kept asking what the flavors were because there really is a mixture of sweet and tangy.

Good Earth has offered to give ONE Itz Linz reader a variety pack including Sweet & Spicy, Green Tea Lemongrass, and Cocoa Chai tea.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post telling us what your favorite flavor of tea is!

For an optional additional entry, follow Itz Linz and Good Earth Tea on Twitter and tweet the following, “I want to win a @GoodEarthTea variety pack from @ItzLinz! Enter here: http://wp.me/p2WMfo-1sE” and leave a comment saying you did so.

Itz a fast giveaway, folks!  I will announce a winner on Friday, March 29th and the winner will have 48 hours to contact me or another winner will be chosen.

The winner of the Good Earth Tea giveaway is #41 Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli.

Disclaimer: I was provided the teas to review without compensation; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

WILD HARVEST Southwestern Spiced Benedict

Boy, have I got a recipe for you.  This one is sure to knock your socks off, and while it looks extremely fancy (and it is), it is totally doable, but sure to impress all who is lucky enough to be invited over for breakfast.

SUPERVALU INC. sent me ten WILD HARVEST products free for the purpose of a blog entry and a fun, healthy recipe.  WILD HARVEST prides themselves on their organic and natural products which I love.

The dish I created is called WILD HARVEST Southwestern Spiced Benedict.  There is half of a toasted english muffin with a slice of turkey, poached egg, and spiced hollandaise sauce sitting on top.  Surrounding the open-faced Benedict are delicious dollops of black bean puree and WILD HARVEST mild mango peach salsa.

Not only is this breakfast like none other, it packs a nutritious punch, as well.  While it seems as though it would be terribly unhealthy, itz not!  The hollandaise sauce is created out of nonfat greek yogurt.  This increases the protein count, and diminishes the use of butter as most hollandaise sauces use.  You are sure to be satisfied.

WILD HARVEST Southwestern Spiced Benedict

*serves 6

Ingredients:

Black Bean Puree:

• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 can WILD HARVEST black beans, rinsed
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon taco seasoning
• 1/2 cup chicken stock (unsalted) plus more, as needed
• salt & pepper to taste

Spiced Hollandaise:

• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 cup nonfat plain greek yogurt
• 3 egg yolks
• juice of half a lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon WILD HARVEST ground cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon WILD HARVEST ground ginger

Other:

• 6 WILD HARVEST cage free grade a large brown eggs, poached
• 3 whole wheat English muffins, toasted
• 6 slices turkey
• WILD HARVEST mild mango peach salsa

Directions:

Black Bean Puree:

1. Sauté onion, pepper, and garlic with olive oil over medium-high heat (being careful not to burn) until the vegetables are soft and/or onions are translucent.
2. Add WILD HARVEST black beans. Continue to sauté for 4 minutes.  Let cool.
3. Transfer to a blender or food processor and purée.  (Add additional chicken stock as needed.)

Spiced Hollandaise:

1. Beat WILD HARVEST cage free grade a large brown egg yolks, greek yogurt, and lemon juice in double boiler.
2. Cook for about 15 minutes or until thickened.  (Sauce will become thinner as the WILD HARVEST cage free grade a large brown eggs cook, but the sauce will thicken up again soon after.)
3. Remove from heat and add parsley, WILD HARVEST ground cayenne pepper, WILD HARVEST ground ginger, salt, and Dijon mustard.

Putting It All Together:

1. Place one slice of turkey on half of a toasted English muffin.
2. Gently layer one WILD HARVEST cage free grade a large brown egg (poached) on top.
3. Spoon a generous portion of the Spiced Hollandaise on top.
4. Garnish with parsley.
5. Alternate dollops of the Black Bean Puree and WILD HARVEST mild mango peach salsa around the plate.

While consuming this delectable dish, it is imperative that careful navigation of the plate is performed in order to get a little bit of each of the flavors that this dish has to offer.

And then itz equally important to eat every.last.bite.

Because itz just that good.

Want to come over for breakfast?

Blueberry Egg Sammie

I made a very delicious breakfast yesterday morning.  So good, in fact, that I made it again this morning.  And maybe I’ll make it tomorrow.  Some might dare to call it a “weird combo.”  But I wouldn’t judge.  😉

Blueberry Egg Sammie: two pieces of whole wheat toast + blueberry chia jam + three egg whites + nutritional yeast.  Delish.

It even looks pretty all layered together.  I thought I would check-in and let you know how RW Run Streak is going.  I’m six days in and still going strong.  No crazy long intense runs, but it is consistent and that’s the point, so I’d consider it a success thus far.  Here’s what this week looked like with runs and workouts:

• Monday – 3.01 miles to my grandparents’ house
• Tuesday – 1.3 miles to the gym before completing this tough lower body workout
• Wednesday – 3.08 miles with my friend, Diana (so fun to have a running buddy!)
• Thursday – 3.13 miles with Diana again
• Friday – 1.01 miles on the treadmill in our basement; quickie run and workout with push-ups, diamond push-ups and ab work to follow
• Saturday – 1.3 miles to the gym with a little upper body weight lifting

Tomorrow I’m running with my friend, Whitney, so hopefully we’ll get in a bit longer mileage than I had done this week (4 – 5 miles).  We shall see.

The winners of the NuNatural’s giveaway were chosen by random.org and are numbers 17, 38, 30, and 14.  Congratulations, Alex @ therunwithin, Marielle @ HealthyPantz, Chris G., and IHeartVegetables.  You all have 48 hours to contact me or another winner will be chosen.  Please e-mail your full name and address to ItzLinz (at) gmail (dot) com.  Thank you to everyone who entered!  Now I’m off to refuel with breakfast…

Another blueberry egg sammie, obviously.

What’s your breakfast today?

Brussel Sprouts + Eggs

It was 65 degrees today in St. Louis!  Today is January 5th.  This is insanely warm for this time of year in the Lou.  But I am definitely NOT complaining.  I love warm weather and despise the cold.  It was especially nice when I took my kiddos outside for their earned recess this afternoon.  We stayed out a little extra long to enjoy the sunshine. 🙂

After school, I met my friend at the gym and had a quick workout session.  We did 30 minutes on the stairmill (BEAST!) and then some random leg machines.  Not bad, but definitely not a stellar workout.  By the time, I got home and showered put on clean clothes, I was ravenous.  Our food supply is a bit sparse and I wanted something fast and easy.

Brussel Sprouts and Egg-wich it was!  The egg-wich idea came from Julie who probably made this combo famous.  Her combo is egg, jelly, cheese, and english muffin.  I spread a thin layer of red-raspberry preserves (love the seeds in this!) on a whole wheat bagel thin and smushed egg whites, steamed spinach, and cheddar cheese in the middle.  Such a surprisingly tasty combination.  I would highly recommend this if you haven’t tried it yet.  Get on the bandwagon. 

I always like having a vegetable (preferably green) on the side at dinnertime, so I steamed a bag of brussel sprouts.  Brussel sprouts and eggs CAN work.  Especially with a clementine on the side.  I think I hit all of the major food groups with this dinner.  My belly was satisfied.

And now it’s time for some more quality tv.  It is Jerseday after all…