Breakfast with my feathered friends - Eggs Florentine Breakfast Sandwich (6 WW Pts)

One of the things we enjoy the most about our North Carolina home are the amazing birds that frequent our yard.  Recently, Steve relocated one of our feeders to the deck off of our living and family rooms.  The motivation was to get it away from the deer - the real benefit is that now we have woodpeckers, blue birds, chickadees and a range of other feathered friends feasting outside our windows.  And the more time we spend with them on the deck, the more comfortable they become sharing their space with us.

Two weeks ago he would have flown
away; today he enjoyed his
breakfast just a few feet from me 

What a great excuse for dining al fresco!

I took advantage of a lovely morning today by enjoying my breakfast on the deck.  Me, a cup of coffee, a nice egg sandwich to get the day going.  

Slowly but surely the birds also arrived to enjoy their first meal of the day.  My favorite -- the strong and sturdy woodpecker with the bright red bonnet.  
He keeps an eye out for predators as he pecks away at the special suet that Steve puts out for woodpeckers.  But he also is becoming more familiar with us; and today for the first time did not fly away when I moved to take his picture.  A nice way to start the day.

This one hits the spot

Another nice way to start the day is by enjoying a tasty, nutritious and figure friendly breakfast sandwich. I love Eggs Florentine; the tang of the swiss cheese against the bite of sautéed spinach and a perfectly runny poached egg atop an English muffin.  Some folks even put hollandaise on this little beauty. Gilding the lily for sure, but mighty tasty.

But boy, oh boy, the calories can add up. A better option is to make this yummy sandwich that takes packs a serious flavor punch, without the fat and calories.  It also takes just a few minutes to make and travels well for work day mornings, or a breakfast picnic at the beach.

Eggs Florentine Breakfast Sandwich 
Serves One (6 WW Pts)

Ingredients

• 1 farm fresh (if you can get them) egg
• 1 Tbs diced sweet onion
• 1/2 cup fresh baby spinach
• 1 wedge Laughing Cow Lite Swiss Cheese 
• 1 toasted Sandwich Thin (whole wheat with flax seeds is my personal favorite)
• Cooking spray
• Salt and pepper

Method

• Heat a small nonstick pan and coat lightly with cooking spray
• Drop in the onions, salt and pepper and saute until translucent. 
• Add the spinach and saute until it just begins to become soft
• Crack the egg over this mixture.  As it begins to set, break the yoke and stir to combine.  Cook, stirring lightly and form into a little patty about the size of the sandwich thin.
• Meanwhile, lightly toast the sandwich thin and spread with the Laughing Cow cheese wedge on both pieces.
• When the egg is set to your liking, slide the patty onto the bottom half of the sandwich thin, top with the other.  
• Enjoy immediately, or wrap tightly in foil if you are transporting.  It will stay warm for about 30 minutes.  

Keepin' it light without additives - Tuna Salad Sandwich with Avocado "Mayo" (5 WW points)

I love a good tuna salad sandwich.  And yes, I’ll admit it, “good” equals a nice dollop of Best Foods, Hellman’s or Dukes full fat mayonnaise.  Not exactly figure friendly.  So what’s a tuna-lovin’ girl to do?

Now that's a satisfying and
healthy lunch!

Simple, so many folks say -- Use low-fat or fat-free mayo.  In my world, that is so wrong on so many levels.  First, it does not taste the same.  And second, with a ton of additives (16 ingredients vs 8) including high fructose corn syrup, most commercially made low fat mayos are not always the best (i.e. closest to the original food source) way to go.  

So today, as I was pondering my lunch options, it dawned on me – at 50 calories, an ounce of avocado has about half the calories as regular may, close to half that of the “lite variety mayo, and about twice that of fat free.  Plus the fat in avocado has been proven to do some pretty cool things, like increase the absorption of  fat-soluble nutrients like carotenoids. And, the fat in an avocado is a monounsaturated fatty acid, which has also been shown to help lower our risk of heart disease. So why not give it a go as the binding agent for my tuna sammie....

Eureka! I found it!  

Moist, tasty and not green – a side effect I was a bit concerned about -- this is one heck of a sandwich.  And it weighs in at a healthy 5 WW points plus value.  You could make it even less with the use of a high fiber tortilla wrap (like the ones from Ole) or open face on a slice of whole wheat bread, rather than the sandwich thin.  

Here’s the recipe, I hope you give it a go.


Tuna Salad Sandwich with Avocado "Mayo"
Serves 2; 5 WW pts each

Ingredients

• 1 small can water packed tuna, drained
• ¼ avocado, mashed
• 1 Tbs Lemon Juice
• 1 rib celery, finely diced
• ½ carrot, shredded
• ½ red chili pepper, seeded and diced (optional)
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp celery seed
• Pinch or two of kosher salt
• Pinch or two of black pepper
• 2 Sandwich thins, toasted (I like the whole wheat with flax seeds)
• Leafy mustard greens, lettuce or spinach

Method

• Mash the avocado with the lemon juice in a medium sized bowl
• Add the salt, pepper and celery seed.  Stir to combine.
• Next add the celery, carrot and onion. Stir to combine.
• Crumble in the tuna.  Mix well – a fork is fine, but frankly, combining it with a clean hand is the best. 
• Toast the sandwich thin.  This is really necessary – they are not that great untoasted.
• Pile half the mixture on the bottom half of the bread, top with a leafy green – I love mustard greens for this! – top with the other half of the bread and you are good to go.

Enjoy.