Great danish?

It was supposed to taste like a danish. A sweet, rich, indulgent danish.

Instead, it tasted like cottage cheese on an English muffin with a drizzle of eff-nasty sugar-free syrup ... because, well, it was.


My WW leader mentioned in a meeting not too long ago that you could putt cottage cheese with a bit of jam on a semi-toasted English muffin, put it in the toaster oven till it looked good and eat it. Just like a Danish, she said.

Yeah. Right. "Danish, my German butt," I told my grandma. Except she agreed with D. Apparently, in the 1960s, when Grandma led a diet workshop, cottage cheese for breakfast was all the rage. Grandma even remembered how she made the breakfast - mix a bit of sweetener, cinnamon and vanilla in the cottage cheese and then put it on the muffin.

Remembering I had a lone cinnamon-raisin English muffin in the fridge (Operation: Clean Out the Pantry), I decided to see if Grandma and D. were right. I put the muffin the toaster and proceeded to make a cottage cheese mixture. Into a mini food processor, I put a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla and cinnamon. I blended it until it was more like ricotta than cottage cheese and scooped equal parts onto the muffin. The little Danishes went into the oven, under the broiler, until the outer edges began to bubble.

I didn't even put it on a plate before taking my first bite I was so, err, excited. Or hungry. Whatever. I chewed and swallowed and waited. Hoping for this moment of serendipity where the bite I just took reminded me of heaven.

It never came.

The only thing I was reminded of was the fact that I forgot the sweetener and I was eating cinnamon-flavored cottage cheese. Let me tell you, there's a reason that's not on your grocery store shelves. I opened up the fridge and drizzled the last of the sugar-free syrup over the top. It was a definite improvement but not fantastic.

What could have made it better? Sweetener, obviously. Leaving the muffins in the oven long enough that all of the cottage cheese mixture bubbled. Drizzling the syrup on top before broiling (I think it might make it creme brulee-ish).

I'm anxious try it again but first I have about two boxes of cereal and a schload of oats to work my way through before new breakfast options come around. Stupid, Operation COP.

Say cheese!

According to my eating plan for the day, my breakfast was supposed to be French toast made with a cinnamon-raisin English muffin (Operation: COP) with a side of cheesy scrambled egg whites.

Instead, my breakfast was just the French toast.

Doesn't it look lovely? I am so glad no one can see how badly I need to clean the stove.

I just didn't feel like cracking the eggs ... and cooking the eggs ... and having syrup get all over my eggs. Gross, just gross. Sort of like the sugar-free syrup that I'm trying to use up before I crack open the organic maple syrup I bought at the farmers market this past weekend. Dern that Operation: Clean Out the Pantry.

While my breakfast was lovely, it was lacking something important, something I planned. PROTEIN. Protein is key, for me, to staying full and I knew the French toast and Diet Coke (don't judge - it was a bad morning) wasn't going to hold me till noon. I knew I had to run to the store for lemons before work so I figured I might pick up a container of Greek yogurt. (More on the lemons later ... like tomorrow.)

Once in the store, though, I was distracted by the posted weekly circular. As part of the 10 for $10 sale was sour cream and cottage cheese. I didn't want much to do with the sour cream but the cottage cheese ... well, I hadn't thought about cottage cheese in ages. Sad really. It's such a good source of protein, always on sale and very versatile. Never mind that it's DELICIOUS.

I had to pick some up, and I took a 1/2 cup serving to work as a nice mid-morning snack to replace my egg whites. I topped it with some red bell pepper rings and had myself a little protein-packed treat.

Do you have a favorite food that tends to slip your mind when you go to the grocery?

Toast to success

Do you ever get a food stuck in your mind and you won't be satisfied till you have it?

Yeah, that's how I felt Sunday morning. After reading other bloggers eating French toast and my husband talking about it, all I wanted was a piece - or 10 - of French toast.

So after my run, I walked to the grocery and picked up some egg substitute and a Sunday paper and headed home to make a much-thought-about breakfast. I poured 1/2 cup egg substitute into a shallow bowl and added a healthy dash of cinnamon, a couple drops of vanilla and some Silk Almond Milk. I whisked it all together and got set to dip the wheat bread and get cooking.

That's when I had an idea. A genius idea born from Operation: Clean Out the Pantry. I took a handful of Fiber One cereal (that I've had far too long) and roughly chopped it in the coffee grinder. I dipped the bread in the egg, then the cereal and put it on the griddle.

French toast must be sprinkled with powdered sugar and drizzled with syrup.

What was put on the plate was crunchy on the outside, a bit gooey on the inside and tasty all the way around.

The only thing I might have done differently is processed the cereal a bit less. Of course, I'll probably find this out later in the week as I need to redeem my Operation: COP efforts. You see, I picked up a box of cereal at the grocery that my friend promised tasted like candied pecans found at the festival. So instead of being down one box of cereal, I am up one ... or two ... however you decide to look at it.

It's OK to be chicken

I didn't want to cook. I had just spent a whirlwind weekend in Cincinnati with family, driven 3+ hours in a hot car and still had to grocery shop and pick up Denali from the kennel. That was enough for a day. Or two.

Instead of picking up a pizza, which was very tempting, or buying a slew of frozen entrees at the grocery, I picked up one of my favorite ready-to-go meals: the rotisserie chicken. My grocery always has them hot and waiting for me near the checkout lanes. While they have several flavors, I like to stick with good ol' plain. It makes it that much easier to dress it up.

(Get it ... the chicken's dressed up! OK, I'm lame.)

Without further ado, the many faces ... or meals ... of the rotisserie chicken.

Monday: Chicken breast slices (about half of breast) with a microwaved sweet potato and grilled summer squash. (With the holiday and all, I forgot that I was supposed to go meatless.)

Tuesday: Wrap with chicken breast, raw summer squash, tomato, red onion and a wedge of the new sun-dried tomato Laughing Cow.

Wednesday: Chicken thigh quarter, broccoli and a sweet potato mashed with Silk Almond Milk, pumpkin pie spice and Truvia.

BBQ Chicken Wrap

Thursday: Wrap with chicken breast (on to breast No. 2), 1/2 T barbecue sauce, 1/2 T light ranch, shredded cheddar and red onion. Grilled until it was all warm and melty.

Friday: Quesadilla with chicken, salsa and homemade creamy avocado sauce. Wait. What is homemade avocado sauce? I took a 1/4 avocado and 1/4 cup 0% Fage, and I mashed it with a splash of lime juice and dashes of cumin, salt, pepper and garlic powder. By the way, this meal scores extra points because I served it with a 1/2 cup fat-free refried beans. Beans that were in a can, which was in my pantry. Operation: Clean Out the Pantry, full steam ahead!

How do you dress up chicken?

Thin pickings

Today's lunch was brought to you by Operation: Clean Out the Pantry.


Tuna salad on Thomas Everything Bagel Thin with a slice of cheese and a side of cut vegetables. (Sorry about Feisty Fiona. She forced herself into the photo and tried to steal the sandwich.)

The other day, I found myself waist-deep in the bottom cabinet looking for a box of pasta. I pushed aside a can of garbanzo beans, a can of white beans, two cans of tuna and myriad other items - all of which were purchased with a dish in mind, dishes that were never made. It's a bit ridiculous to have so much food and just let it sit there.

And so Operation: Clean Out the Pantry was born.

Canned tuna, packed in water, is the easiest item for me to use. I decided to whip up a quick tuna salad made with:

• 1 can water-packed tuna
• 1/2 rib celery, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons finely diced red onion
• 2 tablespoons chopped squash-zucchini mix
• 1 egg white, diced
• 1 tablespoon garlic-herb mayonnaise (I received this as a sample in the mail)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

I toasted an Everything Bagel Thin from Thomas in the toaster oven at work, added a slice of cheese and topped it with my tuna salad and sliced tomato. A side of cut veggies along with a Kashi oatmeal raisin cookie rounded out the meal. It was a tasty lunch that looked like I actually put thought into it.

Thanks, Operation: Clean Out the Pantry!