Happy Foodie Friday!  How was your Thanksgiving, if you celebrated?  Mine was a blast – I’ll be sharing a bunch of pictures from the weekend with you in my “7 Things” post on Sunday, so stay tuned!

Since I’m usually either traveling for work or not getting home until past dinnertime, I generally make my Foodie Friday recipes on the weekends, and I keep a schedule of when I’ll share them with you.  Today’s recipe was supposed to be an easy-to-make, comforting, and veggie-packed chili … with a good dose of protein coming from beans and … lean ground turkey.  It’s a great recipe, but I didn’t realize until today that you’ve probably either had your fill of turkey or are up to your ears in turkey leftovers, and the last thing you want to do on the day after Thanksgiving is make a big pot of turkey chili that will make tons of leftovers.  Am I right?!?

So, today you’ll get a 5-minute breakfast recipe that’s made with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry and fridge.  Does that sound a little better?  It’s a great breakfast for those who still feel a little stuffed from yesterday’s big meal, or want to get back on the healthy eating bandwagon so as not to “throw in the towel” on the whole season!  Of course, it’s also delicious!  Although I generally stick to my favorite breakfast during the week, I like to change it up on weekends with this recipe or some healthy pancakes.  Due to the almond milk and the pumpkin, this recipe takes on a consistency more like oatmeal than like eggs (even if you omit the oats), but it’s still packed with satiating protein from the eggs.

Just one more thing before we get started … if you’ve ever thrown away an empty jar of peanut butter (or any nut butter), we are no longer friends.  OK, we can still be friends, if you promise never to do it again!!!  You are missing out on SO much deliciousness.  Pouring a warm meal (like oatmeal, or these Sweet Cinnamon Eggy Oats) into an “empty” nut butter jar lets you enjoy every single last melty bite of that delicious treat.  I go through nut butter jars at a pretty speedy rate at my house, so I get to enjoy treats like this very often!  OK, let’s get cooking!

Sweet Cinnamon Eggy Oats (in a Jar)

Serves 1

Ingredients

• ½ cup liquid egg substitute (or 2 whole eggs, or 3 egg whites, beaten)
• ¼ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or other milk or milk substitute of choice)
• 6 drops of liquid stevia (or other sweetener of choice)
• 1 Tbsp oats (can omit if you prefer)
• ¼ – ½ cup canned pumpkin
• ½ – 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ cup berries of choice (frozen berries are fine)
• 1 almost-empty jar of nut butter (I used this Once Again Organic Almond Butter that I won in a giveaway from Family Food Experts.  BEST. GIVEAWAY. EVER!  I love this product and will buy it again, although they have no idea I’m posting this and don’t sponsor me in any way)

Instructions

1. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together all ingredients (besides the berries, and the jar!).  Mix well until smooth.
2. Spray a small sauce pan with cooking spray or olive oil, and place on stove.
3. Pour liquid mixture into saucepan over medium heat.
4. Stir at least every minute or so; otherwise, your eggy oats will turn into more of an omelet!  I use a spatula to go around the edges and bottom of the pan frequently, to make sure nothing is sticking.
5. After a few minutes, or when it’s starting to look a bit like oatmeal, dump in your berries and give a good stir.  The berries will cook through and “melt” through the dish if you let it cook for another minute or so.
6. Carefully, pour your eggy oats into your almost-empty nut butter jar.  (I should mention that you should be using a glass jar for this!  I have tried it with a plastic jar, and it crinkles all up, making it very hard to eat … not to mention a little scary due to the chemicals in plastic!)
7. If you’re not using an empty jar, pour into a bowl and drop a spoonful of nut butter right in the middle for the same melty effect!
8. Enjoy!

If made according to the recipe, the whole thing comes in at 262 calories, 10g fat, 29g carbs, and 18g protein.  This includes 1 Tbsp of almond butter, which will obviously vary based on how much you have left in the jar and the type of nut butter you use!

Foodie Pen Pals

Before we go, it’s time to reveal this month’s Foodie Pen Pals loot!  For November, I got matched with Deb from Deb’s Daily Life, and I feel so fortunate to have had her as a pen pal!  Before I even got her package, I was so inspired by reading Deb’s story – she has lost 80 pounds, and her daughter Amber has lost 166 pounds!  They are both loving the active lifestyle now … her daughter even asked to run a half marathon for her last birthday!!  Keep up the good work, Deb and Amber! 

Deb sent a homemade loaf of her banana chocolate chip bread, which was the very first thing I tried.  After the first bite of deliciousness, Kevin and I had to fight over the remaining pieces – it was so good!  Deb also canned her own apples for the first time this year, and sent me a jar to taste.  Apples and cinnamon is one of my all-time favorite flavor combinations, and these surely did not disappoint!  I enjoyed some apples over vanilla ice cream per Deb’s recommendation, then on top of my Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Protein Pancakes, and even stirred into plain Greek yogurt!  I told Deb I loved pumpkin flavor, and she certainly delivered on that aspect as well!  She sent some pumpkin butter (one of my favorite treats!), a pumpkin dessert that I haven’t tried yet, and some pumpkin candies – plus some delicious peanut butter and a lovely note.  Thank you, Deb!

So tell me in the comments … What was the best thing you ate yesterday (Thanksgiving or otherwise)?  Do you have different breakfasts during the week and on the weekends?