Protein Packed Breakfast Bowl

Mmmm. Breakfast. My favorite meal. Breakfast for breakfast is amazing enough, but breakfast for lunch or dinner... Unbeatable. While I really enjoy a good waffle or fat-laden omelet from time to time, during the week, I try to come up with food combinations that will keep me fueled all day and help repair my muscles from working out (not to mention the muscle pains that come from chasing and lifting a very healthy-sized two year old boy).

I recently stumbled upon this snack on Pinterest and it inspired me to turn it into a breakfast bowl by adding an egg and omitting a couple of other ingredients. I had it for breakfast this morning and (I promise) I have been filled with energy all day and have not had any potato chip/Oreo/peanut butter out of the jar cravings. Not to mention, this healthy, delicious, filling breakfast takes less than 10 minutes to put together.

Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• 1/2 avocado, sliced
• 1/2 C low fat cottage cheese
• 1/2 C chopped tomatoes
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• Cayenne pepper to taste (optional. I personally like almost every food to be spicy)

Directions

1. Scramble egg to desired consistency, adding pepper and cayenne pepper if desired.
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. 
3. Sprinkle on more black pepper, if desired.

Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

As you might have noticed, I have been obsessed with squash this season. To be honest, I've been obsessed with squash for...? Since I can remember. I'm a big fan of just cooking them with butter and brown sugar and letting the squash do the rest (because honestly, that's all you need to do to make them extraordinary). But I'm learning that there's a billion other ways to make really satisfying, tasty, and beautiful meals out of squash. I've also been sharing my squash cooking adventures on my blog! Spaghetti squash pad Thai! Butternut squash stuffed with breakfast sausage! And tonight, acorn squash stuffed with quinoa.

Ingredients

• 2 acorn squash, cut in half
• 1 C quinoa 
• 1 C water
• 1 C vegetable stock (or chicken broth)
• 1/2 minced white onion
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1/4 C chopped walnuts
• 1/4 C raisins
• 1/4 C dried cranberries (or just another 1/4 C of raisins because no one usually has dried cranberries just lying around)
• 3 T Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 C grated cheddar cheese
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 T red wine vinegar (more or less to taste)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375º and place acorn squash cut side down in a cookie sheet or casserole dish with some water (about a cup, roughly). 
2. When oven is heated, put squash into oven for 30-45 minutes, until soft.
3. Meanwhile, cook quinoa. Because I'm lazy, I use my rice cooker for this. One cup quinoa to two cups liquid, in this case one cup of vegetable stock, one cup of water. Whole Foods' website has good instructions on how to cook quinoa the right way.
4. Saute onion on medium heat in a pan for about 5 minutes, until clear. Add in garlic and saute another 1-2 minutes. 
5. Add onions and garlic to the quinoa mixture along with walnuts, raisins, cranberries, and Parmesan cheese and mix thoroughly. 
6. Next add the olive oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper. I recommend adding no more than two tablespoons of olive oil and then adding the vinegar, salt, and pepper to your taste.
7. When the squash is done, remove from the oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes. Flip squash over and spoon in heaping amounts of the quinoa mixture.
8. Finally, sprinkle cheddar cheese on top of each squash half and place back in oven for 10 minutes.