Breakfast for Warriors

As you are reading this, Staci and I will be participating in the...

 WARRIOR DASH!

Even though it is almost May and has been 80 degrees in Texas for a good long while, Mother Nature decided it wanted to throw a curve ball and have it be COLD!! Projected Forecast:

Just the normal 53 - 57 degrees outside (not cool...haha). But really, it seems like every time I place to compete in a race in this state, it decides to be cold the day of the event.

Nonetheless, I am super excited about tomorrow!! But thinking of the cold, really just makes me want to curl up in my pajamas on the couch, eating a hot, toasty bowl of healthy oats. 

But normal oats are boring... I'm talking some tasty oats that feels more like dessert than breakfast. 

Enter: Strawberry Banana Oatmeal

Trust me, it is even more delicious than it looks. At it has the added bonus of sneaking in some protein to give it an extra healthy kick that will help you to feel fuller for longer.

Recipe for success? Start with 1/4 cup of unsweetened almond milk and 1/4 cup water into a small saucepan over medium heat.

don't forget the water too!

And drop a banana in the pot...

Now chop up your banana into a million little pieces with your wooden spoon. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be in many small pieces.

Now, let that mixture come up to a simmer. It will look like this:

Nice and bubbly... and the banana magically disappeared!! It's still there... no worries.

Now, back the heat down to medium low and add in your 1/4 cup rolled oats.

 Now cook your oats on medium low for about 10 minutes or until they are nice and tender. Next comes the protein part... Egg Whites!!

The packaged kind really do work better in this situation than egg whites from a "real" egg.

To add these 1/4 cup egg whites to your hot oat mixture, you will need to take your little pot off of the hot part of the stove. Stir the oats around to get some steam (and heat) out.

VERY SLOWLY, pour your egg whites into the oatmeal mixture, and stir the oats vigorously as you go. A little coordination is required for this maneuver.

If you thought your oats were a little too wet for you, they definitely will NOT be runny after the egg white addition. The egg whites bulk up the oats a bit and add to a nice fluffy texture.

Once all the egg whites have been combined, you are ready to serve your oats for one! Garnish with strawberries, brown sugar, chopped nuts, or whatever else you might like!

Chocolate would also be a good addition... :) 

Turkey Time!

I know I showed you last time how to cook your turkey burger with vegetables, but this time I am going to show you how to make the burgers!

Using turkey is a great alternative to using beef in your burger grilling extravaganza. You are able to get a nice lean portion of meat that is a lot lower in saturated fat than beef (Remember: saturated fat is the stuff that can clog your arteries!).

I know, I know you can buy very lean portions of ground beef now as well, however it can end up a little dry. The best thing about lean turkey? You can impart lots of flavor in the burgers using a few trick (I'll show you!) and lean turkey is typically cheaper than super-lean ground beef!

I'd call that winning...

Now on to the good stuff:

Print this recipe!

Spicy Turkey Burgers

Ingredients

• 0.75 pounds lean ground turkey
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/4 of a small onion, diced
• 1/4 of a small red bell pepper, diced
• 1 egg white
• 2 heaping tablespoons bread crumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 dash of salt

Directions

Place the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, sauté the onion in the pan until is becomes semi-translucent and just a tad brown around the edges. At this point, put in your red bell pepper and sauté until everything is soft and golden brown in color. This should take about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

When it looks like this, add the bell peppers!

In a medium bowl, combine all of the remaining ingredients. When the onions and peppers and cool enough to touch, dump those in the bowl as well.

Throughly combine all of the ingredients together with your hands. If the mixture is too wet, add a little more breadcrumbs so that everything will come together.

Shape burgers into 3.5 - 4 ounces a piece (or divide mixture into four equal portions).

Sorry, it was dark!

Grill until completely done!