Best (tiny) breakfast ever

[thistlechaser]

Hungry Girl really does have some of the best food/diet ideas around.

For, well, ever my breakfast hasn't come even close to keeping me full until lunchtime. I'm generally lacking in protein, so that's not surprising. This morning I made Hungry Girl's egg scrambles in a mug and it was amazing.

One mug, sprayed with some nonstick cooking spray (butter flavored Pam is the only one I have).
1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute
One wedge Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss cheese, cut into pieces
Some bacon bits
Salt and pepper (she didn't list this, but I added it on my own)

Put everything in the mug, microwave for a minute to a minute and a half, stirring in the middle.

SO GOOD. The cheese makes it creamy and rich, the bacon makes it salty. All for about 100 calories! The only downside is that this made about five forkfulls of food. Not exactly what I would call a meal. I think doubling the egg but keeping everything else the same would work (as-is, it was seriously cheesy, more so than almost any other flavor).

Edit: I realize I used half the amount of egg that I should have (I think). A half cup of egg substitute is two eggs, which is one container of the substitute. I used a half of the container. Tomorrow: A full container!

Comments

[tersa.livejournal.com]

That sounds awesome!

What 'container' of egg substitute are you using? Usually I see them come in 1 pint versions which would be about four, 1/2 c. servings (or the equivalent of 8 eggs). Did you find something smaller somewhere? /intrigued

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

It was great! I can't stop thinking about it. Adding bacon bits added a lot of flavor without that many extra calories.

Yeah, it wasn't the pint kind, it was a three-pack of single(ish) serving containers. I can't find an image on the net (oddness), but from their website: "Single-serve 4-oz cups (refrigerated)". Next time I'd go with the pint sized container though, I suspect it would be a lot cheaper. I wasn't sure I was going to like this though, so I didn't want to start out with too much.

YMMV, but the downside to this was it left a mess in my mug (and I used plenty of Pam). Other people said their mugs ended up very clean, but mine didn't even clean up well with a soak in the sink. I was hoping to be able to wash out the mug by hand and use it again the next day, but I think they'll end up going through the dishwasher instead.

[tersa.livejournal.com]

You may have had more clean-up problem because of using less egg. If you nuked it the same length of time, you would've overcooked the proteins more and possibly made them more tough/sticky. Also, lower egg:cheese ratio may have made the cheese overcook/stick more as well.

I tend to use real eggs but I've used egg substitute in the past, and I like it! It also freezes, so if you buy the pints you could divvy it up into 1/4 or 1/2 c. increments to keep/use later.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Hm, that explains why mine was done in half the time, too. My microwave is more powerful than most, so I chalked it up to that, but I guess it's further evidence that I really did use half the amount of egg that I should have.

My doctor said that two yokes per week is the accepted amount of egg one should have, so for me I'm fine with the substitute. (Plus it's faster and easier for me, no egg shells to pick out!) I still tend to get a fast food breakfast sandwich once a week or so, so I get my yokes there.

[gconnor.livejournal.com]

ok THAT one I have to call bullsh*t on: My doctor said that two yokes per week is the accepted amount of egg one should have

What the hell? I guess not all doctors have got the message yet: low-fat diets are killing way more people than fat ever did.

Sorry, I said I wouldn't ramble about fat vs. carb but it's hard... I really do believe that low-fat diets are literally killing people, so it makes me angry to hear health professionals still giving that kind of advice.

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

That... actually sounds pretty awesome.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

It is! I had the other half of it for lunch. I don't know why or how, but microwaving eggs makes them come out really good -- light and airy and fluffy. I'm going to try using a different kind of LC cheese next time though, the plain Swiss tastes just like cream cheese, which is a tad odd in this.

I don't use the dried out plastic bacon bits, they sell bags of "shredded" real bacon. That stuff rocks.

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

Random science thought of the day: The reason popcorn "pops" is because of the pressure from heated water within the kernel. If you've ever made popcorn using a frying pan + butter you will note it takes longer and the popcorn ends up less "fluffy" than the microwave version. Perhaps this can be applied to eggs and instead of a longer cooking on a frying pan since the microwave heats the water within the egg much faster it causes the expansion faster so when it's scrambled it has large air pockets within it, thus, more fluff. That's how I figure it works.

Or, you know, microwave voodoo.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Hm. I'd buy that.

...also, now I want popcorn. With real butter. Maybe tonight!

[gconnor.livejournal.com]

I used to buy the "egg substitute" but since switching to low carb, high fat I went back to regular eggs. Because now I am actually actively seeking fat sources. But, you've probably heard my "Fat gets a bad rap" reply before so I'll keep it short :)

I do want to try that recipe though. With real eggs and regular cheese, and maybe a little bit of butter.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I bet making it with the real stuff will be at lest as good, if not better. I'm going to start leaving the cheese out (or switch to some other kind). Swiss laughing cow tastes like cream cheese, and biting into big chunks of cream cheese in your egg is kind of odd. This morning I tried the sundried tomato flavor, and that worked even worse.