Recipes

Recipes for the Efficiency Minded Lifestyle

Super Fast Breakfast worth Waking up for

/ The Missus / Leave a comment

Mornings are chaotic in our household. One thing I can rely on is that this breakfast will get the most resistant child out of bed, it’s fast and stays with you without causing a sugar crash.

Ingredients:

  • Costco Croissant
  • DocMayberry Raw & Pure Wildflower Honey

Instructions:

  • Place one Croissant on a paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds (depending on your microwave)
  • Cut in half and spoon honey into the open, warm Croissant to drip down (~1 Tbsp, to taste)
  • OR cut long ways and spoon a layer down the croissant
  • Enjoy!

There have been several studies on Honey vs Table Sugar or other sweeteners and how they are processed in your body. Raw Honey not only has a world of additional micronutrients & enzymes but it has been shown to not cause the glucose spikes and be gentler on human digestion than other sweeteners.

It is important to remember that Raw Honey from your local Apiary is what we are talking about. Industrialized factory honey has had these health benefits removed through pasteurization, irradiation, etc.

I will include that full post with references soon!

In the mean time, check out these interesting articles:

nutrients-10-01009Download

TIP:

Initially our Croissants would go bad before we could eat them all.

Now I take gallon zip lock bags, put 5-6 Croissants in each one: Freeze one and put the other in the Fridge. I have not tried microwaving a frozen Croissant, only the ones out of the Fridge.

When the we run out of Croissants in the Fridge, I throw the bag from the Freezer to de-thaw in the Fridge over the next 20+/- hours.

Works great for us! Great, fast breakfast in a pinch.

Egg Recipes: Savory Spin on our favorite Toad in the Hole

/ The Missus / Leave a comment

Breakfast on the run made simple. Savory and filling.

Ingredients:

  • DocMayberry Fresh Happiest Eggs
  • Rosemary bread (Costco bakery)
  • EVOO or oil/butter of choice

Directions:

  • Heat skillet with oil/butter
  • Slice bread and cut ~1-2″ hole in middle of bread (to fit egg yolk)
  • Place bread in skillet, crack egg over hole in bread so yolk touches the pan surrounded by bread.
  • (or in this example we didn’t have time for the holes, so we did a sort of scramble, flipped the eggs, then added the bread)
  • Cook egg to desired wellness.

Pairs well with:

  • Sliced apple or orange

The Dozen Frittata

/ The Missus / Leave a comment

Optional:

Big hit with picky eaters of all ages. Delicious as left overs as well. Feeds 12-16.

Ingredients:

  • 12 eggs (Fresh Happy DocMayberry Eggs preferred)
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 0.5 cups heavy cream
  • 0.5 cups parmesan cheese (my family wouldn’t let me use the real Italian cheese, we had to use Kraft)
  • 2 Tbsp oregano
  • 0.25 tsp (kosher) salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 12 patties of Goolsby’s premium country sausage (Costco)

Optional:

  • 2 Tbsp EVOO
  • 2 Bell Peppers, diced
  • 2 Tbsp Boursin cheese
  • 2 handfulls chopped green onion (to taste: if you like green onion use up to 2 cups)

Directions:

  1. in a 9″ x 13″ x 2″ pyrex dish combine (and prepare to stir if you want less dishes) everything except the sausage and bell peppers: EVOO, Milk, Cream, Eggs, Parmesan, Boursin, salt & pepper, Oregano, Green onion. Stir till combined well.
  2. In a pan cook the sausage patties and cut them up. Cook the chopped bell peppers in the same pan.
  3. Add cooked sausage and bell peppers to the pyrex dish with other ingredients.
  4. Cook at 350F for 40-50m or until no longer wobbly when shaken.
  • Amount of Boursin
  • Initial mix
  • Pre cooked ingredients
  • Cook Sausage
  • Add cooked Sausage
  • Add Cooked Bell Pepper
  • Out of the Oven
  • It disappears quickly!
  • Perfection!

Pairs well with:

  • Toast
  • Ciabatta bread
  • Tea with DocMayberry Honey
  • By itself

Quick No Brainer Meals: Chicken Ravioli

/ The Missus / Leave a comment

Warm Meal- great if you are low on energy and time.

Ingredients: All ingredients from Costco.

  • Pasta Prima Chicken & Mozzarella Ravioli (14g protein per serving) 36oz – both sides
  • Boursin Garlic & Fine Herb 5.2oz – whole block
  • Victoria Organic marinara sauce – 40oz, entire container (We’ve tried it with multiple higher end marinara sauces and as small as the 28oz. All have worked well).

Directions:

10 min prep & cook:

In one large saucepan with cover add Marinara Sauce, Boursin and Chicken Ravioli. Cook on medium high heat. Stir occasionally, not letting the ravioli burn the bottom of the pan.

Done!

Pairing options:

  • Salad +/- garlic bread
  • Roasted veggies

6 things that changed my Health Game

/ The Missus / Leave a comment

1 (ONE): I STOPPED THINKING IN BLACK AND WHITE AND GAVE MYSELF SOME GRACE. Understanding that a lot of little moves add up to make a striking difference was a light bulb moment for me. It reminds me every time of that quip: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!”

The day is not lost if I “forgot” to exercise or stopped by for fast food. It is all about making the day just a little better than the day before — and being CONSISTENT.

For nutrition I try to remember: Home made / Farm sourced is better than from the Factory (eat as close to the source as possible). So: if I am really craving ice cream – make some from simple ingredients! Use the full butter and real sugar. This environment we live in today is full of plastics and estrogen like chemicals to which we need to minimize our exposure. Eating closer to the source with real foods will help tremendously (Check out COUNTDOWN).

For exercise I try to remember: Its not the time I exercise that matters, but the distance. And any exercise will help every system in your body (brain, heart, muscles, blood sugar, digestion, etc). Did you know you burn the same calories whether you walk that mile or run it? Yes, putting a little stress on your cardiovascular system helps your overall exercise reserve and cardiac functioning, but giving yourself grace that you are going to complete that mile, whether its sprinting or walking is step one.

2 (TWO): STOP THINKING IN TERMS OF WEEKS TO MONTHS WHEN GETTING GROCERIES. I think living through COVID-19 has put many of us in the habit of stocking up on shelf stable items to minimize trips to the store. Vegetables and fruits (living food) is not meant to last a month, let alone 2 weeks off the vine or out of the ground sometimes. Buy one week at a time and anytime you make a meal, see what veggies you can sneak in from the fridge so they don’t go bad.

This is one way that my chickens have really helped me feel better about my purchases. If I forget that leek or boston lettuce in the fridge drawer my girls eat it up with lightning speed and enjoy it so much. And I have so much fun watching them!

3 (THREE): MEAL PREP IS A MUST FOR ME. Washing, cutting and portioning +/- seasoning was game changing. It takes more effort than you know when you are already exhausted and don’t feel like cooking. It saves time and makes it easy to freeze.

  • Chicken breast into 1″ cubes, portioned for nuggets, pasta & chicken, chicken & dumplings, chicken pot pie, etc.
  • Chopped onion or bellpepper
  • Ground beef portioned for chilli or taco night

4 (FOUR): START THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN GROW ON YOUR OWN. Do you love herbs? Tomatoes? Eggs? Honey? Eggs and honey are a little more in depth, but herbs are a relatively low work for high yield option. In residency I had a jungle of basil & tomatoes growing on my apartment porch– all grown from seeds. I ate caprese salads till I was red, white and green!

And hey! If you want to get into running your own backyard egg and honey show– I am here for it and will help you as much as I can. My family has found it immensely rewarding. Also, of course, you can visit our store and purchase your own eggs and honey from our harvest.

5 (FIVE): IF YOU CANT GROW, HOW DO YOU GET CLOSER TO THE “SOURCE” WITH YOUR NUTRITION? Read the label: get as few ingredients as you can in an item. Think WHOLE FOODS as ingredients. Is there a local farmer or local business that has food staples you can purchase? Some farmers allow purchase of a cow to then have cuts of meat straight from the farm, not filled with saline or other preservatives.

6 (SIX): HAVE FUN! FIND THE BEAUTY IN THE MOMENT. If there is anything that practising as a physician has taught me– its (1) that stress 100% deteriorates your health, and (2) no one knows when the Good Lord will call you Home. Stress is (mostly) optional. There are several good books about this and a long list of studies showing how having a embracing attitude toward stress can improve your health on a cellular level, not to mention your head space. Have fun with spending effort on yourself and showing yourself some love.