Green Monster Breakfast Casserole

Thanks for all your comments yesterday about our insurance.  I’ve got a call into our insurance broker to make sure that I am on the right plan.  I pay an extra $100 a paycheck for this particular insurance plan based on how much medication both Tony and I take.  When I called the insurance company directly yesterday, they are telling me that I have to pay retail prices until I hit my $2500 deductible, which is just insane to me.  Hopefully I’ll have some answers today.

When I was doing South Beach (that I stuck with for all of about a week or two!), one of my favorite go to recipe sites was Kalyn’s Kitchen.  She had all sorts of great ideas for Phase I, etc.  I saw a recipe not too long ago for a zucchini and green chile breakfast casserole. 

My recipe isn’t anywhere near hers, but I have to give her credit for inspiring my breakfast casserole – which I am calling a Green Monster because it has lots of spinach, Chobani and almond milk in it.

Green Monster Breakfast Casserole

• makes 4 servings:  278 calories, 18 fat, 6.25 carbs, 2 fiber and 20 protein

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of cottage cheese
• 1 can (4 oz.) diced green chiles
• 6 eggs
• 1 container plain Chobani Greek yogurt
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 4 cups baby spinach, rough chopped
• pinch of crushed red pepper
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat oven to 375.  Spray an 8×8 pan with Pam.  Combine all the ingredients in a bowl until the eggs are combined.  Pour into casserole dish – bake for 40-45 minutes or until browned and the eggs are set.

I jokingly asked Tony if he wanted me to leave him a piece for his breakfast and surprisingly he passed on it.  Huh.   It was super light too.  Later I had some raspberries and almonds as a morning snack – no pic of that though.

It was only 68 degrees out when it was time to hit the gym – a bit too chilly to swim outside.  I went on Pinterest and found this workout:

I wasn’t sure I’d get through 3 rounds, so my goal was to do the 2.2 mile run (.2 was a warm up) and get through 2 sets – I ended up doing the burpees down to the squat hold (except I held that for a minute) then repeated the set a second time.  It took me just over 44 minutes.

I have to say that the hardest part was the one minute of jump roping – that’s tough! When I got back to the office, I sent an email to my sister and brother with my workout.  This was my brother’s workout at lunch:

And check out my brother’s latest post – he posted in August – woop! 

Lunch was easy – a ham/mozzarella/baby spinach low carb wrap with carrots, strawberries, blueberries and grapes.

And later in the day I had a low cal café mocha – for some reason I had a sweet tooth!  This is just a 25 calorie pack of cocoa mix with coffee and a splash of coffee creamer.  Jenn (cooking aweigh the pounds), I brought out the snowman cup you gave me! (I’d link to her blog, but it’s private now)  

With the roast we had over the weekend I had plans to make beef sandwiches and I paired that with my copycat Panera broccoli soup.   I wanted really thin pieces of meat, so I stuck the roast in the freezer for about 15 minutes – made it much easier.  On the stove I had 1 can of beef broth with 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning.  Bring that to a boil, remove from the heat and then add the shaved beef for just a couple minutes.  You just want to heat the meat enough but not cook it so it gets tough.

These are 150 calorie french bread rolls – I put them under the broiler with an ounce of mozzarella cheese and when that was all toasty and melty, I added in the 4 ounces of beef – I like a “wet” beef – so I poured a ladle full of au jus over the top of mine.  I like how the top part of the bread is all crunchy, and then the bottom of it is all soggy.

The only thing missing?  Hot giardiniera!  I am completely out.

Last nights Insanity workout was Core Cardio & Balance, which is only 40 minutes long and it does slow strength moves.  I am happy to say I was able to do it 100% with no modifications – even all the leg work and shoulder work at the end!

And my blog friend and reader Katie sent me this on Facebook which is hilarious – if anyone has done Insanity you’ll find this so funny – thanks Katie!

24 Things That Happen To You When You Decide to do the Insanity Program

I am to the first to admit that I do say “this shit is bananas!” when Shaun T says it.  Of course, he doesn’t swear, but I have a potty mouth.

And I’ve been telling Heather for days (weeks?) that I would do a handstand and send it to her.  While she does hers freestyle (I will too soon!) I posted this to her in Instagram last night:  (and Skippy – note the snowman picture to the right that stays up all year!)

She replied:  Whooooo!  You go girl!  #strong

Stats for the Day:

• 1581 calories, 61 fat, 147 carbs, 29 fiber and 111 protein
• 38% of calories from carbs, 35% of calories from fat and 27% from protein
• 45 minute lunch workout run/circuit
• 40 minute Insanity core cardio and balance

And I am happy to say that my friend NIcole’s cookbook is ready for purchase!  We met each other through our blogs years ago – only to find out we went to the same high school, except, ahem, she may have graduated about 15 years after me.

Check out her husband’s vlog about making one of my recipes that made it in the book – my baja fresh grilled salsa, although I know she puts onions in hers.   You can check it out on page 17 of her book, which is also available at Barnes & Noble.  Thanks for the shout out Mr. P.!

Not sure if I’ll hit the outdoor pool today – when I woke up this morning it was only 49 degrees – feels more like October than August!  Time to get his show on the road – make it a great day!