(*EASY*) Lighter Mini Cinnamon Rolls

Man, I love me some tasty breakfast pastries! Unfortunately, they don't exactly fit into a healthy eating lifestyle. I found this recipe posted on a Weight Watchers message board...it was everything I love in a recipe...quick, easy and most of all tasty! Not something for every day, but a great something sweet for company.

I made these as a last minute breakfast when my parents were in town. They came together in minutes and looked pretty on the serving plate. My only regret was that I didn't whip up a quick icing for them, but they were great without it. Oh well, next time!!! We had these with fresh cantalope and honeydew on the side.

Mini-Cinnamon Rolls

(Source: Weight Watchers message board)

2 T packed brown sugar (I used 1/3 C Splenda Brown Sugar Blend)

1 t ground cinnamon

1 t unsalted butter (omitted, but spritzed Smart Balance butter spray on the dough before topping)

1 11oz tube of refrigerated breadsticks

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. Separate breadsticks into 12 strips, sprinkle mixture on each strip (I rolled out the dough, and patted the entire "square" of dough with the sugar/cinnamon topping, then separated). Roll each strip into a spiral, pressing to seal the ends. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet, 1 inch apart for 15-18 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool 10 minutes on a rack before serving.

Eggs Over Spinach & Mushrooms (& other fun stuff!)

So this brings us up to the Memorial Day holiday weekend. We decided not to go anywhere, and just spend some quality time on the deck, grilling tasty foods and just relaxing. And that we did!!!

It was so nice to sleep in for a change!!! On Saturday morning, I woke up before Norm, so I put on the coffee and decided on what to make for breakfast.

Here's what I came up with....

3 C baby spinach
1 C mushrooms, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
salt, pepper
1/4 C reduced-fat feta cheese
2 slices of canadian bacon
2 eggs

Heat two skillets over medium-high heat. Spray both with cooking spray. In one pan, add mushrooms, saute until brown around the edges. Add spinach and garlic; sautee until spinach is wilted. While the mushrooms and spinach are cooking, add the canadian bacon to the other pan, and "fry" until it starts to brown. Remove bacon to the spinach pan and keep warm.

Re-spray the bacon pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add eggs and "fry" until done season with salt and pepper. Divide spinach and mushroom mixture between 2 plates; divide cheese between two plates. Top with canadian bacon and eggs.

Naners

I had some very ripe bananas on the kitchen table that I really needed to do something with. I decided to try a recipe for Banana Crunch Muffins, which I got off the a Weight Watchers message board that had been in my "must try" pile of recipes for a long time. They were good...not great...but good enough to be a nice subsitution for breakfast this week in place of my usual Kashi granola bars. Maybe next time I'll doctor up the recipe a little and add some raisins, bran and some almonds to it to give them a little more oomph.

Banana Crunch Muffins

Source: weightwatchers.com message board

1 cup whole wheat flour

½ cup Kashi GOLEAN crunch cereal

½ cup splenda

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

2 large bananas, mashed

½ cup skim milk

¼ cup egg beaters

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray In a medium bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients In a large bowl, combine all of the wet ingredient. Stir into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin tins.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins