Ok, that's not entirely a true statement.

I've always loved eggs, pancakes and other decadent things, but there was a time when I never made eating breakfast each day a priority.

Now, I can't imagine going without breakfast in the morning! I often take photos of my breakfast, but since I don't food document here on the blog, I hardly ever share them. Here's a look at some of my favorites, Instagram-style!

sliced banana with peanut butter

egg white sandwich

berry-baked oatmeal

tea in my favorite mug

strawberry vanilla yogurt muffins

sliced apple & banana with peanut butter

veggie-filled frittata (and you may see my fave frittata here)

sliced bananas and peanut butter on toasted sandwich thin

homemade holiday cookies on Christmas morning

my favorite scrambled eggs, fontina & toast from 92Y TriBeCa

pumpkin oatmeal & piping hot coffee

banana, peanut butter & Wasa crackers

fancy French toast for Valentine's brunch

What are your go-to breakfasts?

Oh and if you aren't following me on Instagram, come on over so we can be friends! Find me @theavidappetite!

A-mazingness.

I'll share some more photos and videos tomorrow!

On another note, today is my Secret Recipe Club reveal! Yay!

I joined the Secret Recipe Club a few months ago and love being a part of this community. The lovely Amanda created the SRC in order for bloggers to, once a month, try out another blogger's recipe and share it on their own blog. It's so fun to find new blogs, test out new recipes and to find out who has your blog for the month!

This month, I was given Denise's Creative Kitchen (http://creativekitchenadventures.com) and was so excited to find her blog. Denise writes delicious and simple recipes that all look fantastic. I love her honesty about going low-carb and her ideas for lightening dishes up!

When I found her recipe for a Mexican Layer Bake, I couldn't wait to get in the kitchen and cook it up. You see, I've been working late a bunch of nights and therefore not really so into cooking when I arrive home. A nice, hearty casserole was just the ticket for us last week! It lasted for a few meals and was delicious every time.

This was so easy and so delicious. I will definitely be making this again and again!

Mexican Layer Bake
*Adapted from Creative Kitchen for the Secret Recipe Club
6 servings; 6 WW Points+ per serving

3 chicken breasts
1 tsp olive oil
kosher salt
black pepper
4 taco-sized tortillas, such as Mission Life Balance
1 can black beans, very lightly drained
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles, such as mild Rotel, very lightly drained
1 1/2 C reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
cooking spray
sour cream, for serving

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Lay the chicken breasts over a foil-lined baking sheet, sprayed with cooking spray. Drizzle the olive oil over the chicken, using a brush to distribute. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast about 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Once chicken is cooked, lower the oven to 350 degrees and then shred chicken in a large mixing bowl with fork and knife. Mix in the black beans, Rotel, chili powder and cumin. Add any salt and pepper as necessary.

Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Cut all 4 tortillas in half, so that you have 8 pieces. Layer 4 tortilla pieces in the bottom of baking dish. Pour half of the chicken mixture over the tortillas. Sprinkle with 3/4 C cheese. Repeat with remaining ingredients, layering 4 more tortilla pieces, the rest of the chicken mixture and cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve with sour cream, if ya like. We actually mixed a bit of sour cream with a little cumin to make a nice little crema for serving. It was delicious.

Also, this reheated perfectly the next evening. Simply cover again with foil and bake until heated. Yum!! Thanks to Denise for this great recipe!

Questions of the Day:

What kind of dishes do you make to last you more than one meal?

How was your weekend?!

THON

Just thinking about this A-mazing cause and the work that my sister has put into it over the last several months brings tears to my eyes. Proud of Christine doesn't even begin to describe it. THON is the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon - the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, which raises money for pediatric cancer (I believe last year's THON totaled around $8 million). Year-long efforts to raise money for this organization culminate with a dance marathon in which the dancers are required to stand on their feet and stay awake for 46 hours. I can't wait to be part of the experience this weekend!

Homeland

Ok. So we're a little late to the party on this one. I finally convinced Shaun to give it a try after many, many recommendations from friends. Um yeah, so we've watched 4 episodes over the last 2 evenings. Yeah, we're kind of into it.

Essie's Chastity

Though I usually lean toward dark colors, sometimes a girl just needs a little pink in her life. Especially when it's Valentine's week and I'm craving some warm weather and summertime.

Chunky Necklaces

...like this roundabout fringe necklace from Anthropologie. I love how they dress up any outfit. I really need some more of these.

Fun Kindle Covers

I don't have this specific one, but I have another cute one from M-Edge. They make reading fun.

So that's what I'm digging this week! I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

What are you digging this week?

Until Monday, it had been months since I'd read a book.

I typically always have a book going and so to go months without reading is a strange predicament indeed. As you may recall, I had been reading A Clash of Kings (from the Game of Thrones/Song of Ice & Fire series) but to be honest...I couldn't get through it. And so I put it down at about a third of the way through it. And then I took a long hiatus from reading.

But!

I missed having that amazing feeling of reading a fantastic book. The kind that, when reading it, you actually don't mind being stuffed on the train, you stay up late in bed way after husband has gone to sleep, you can't wait to turn the next page and find out what happens next.

So, I logged onto my Kindle Store and took a look at the top sellers. I needed something that would grip me from the very first page. When I came across T.R. Ragan's Abducted, I downloaded it right away and dug in.

I have to say...I am loving this book! I do love me a good thriller/mystery and though some of the story points are tough to read, overall, I'm really plowing right through it. It was just the ticket to get back in the swing of things!

Abducted follows the story of Lizzy, a woman who is abducted at age 16 by a serial killer. Somehow, Lizzy manages to become 'the one who got away'. 10 years later, she is a private investigator teaching women how to defend themselves, when suddenly another girl goes missing and the killer leaves a note for Lizzy, letting her and the FBI know that's he has returned and is back on the scene.

Ah, it's so good!

I think I smell the return of the Book Club page! Maybe with a few twists. Would others be interested in reading a book at the same time and then having a discussion here on the blog? Or on the Facebook page? Just a thought! If there's interest, I can set that up starting on March 1.

Oh and are any of you on Goodreads? If so, we can be friends!

Questions of the Day:

What are you reading right now?

Do you go through phases with reading?

Also, if you'd like some other book recommendations, here are some of my favorites:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Series, by Steig Larsson

The Hunger Games Series, by Suzanne Collins

The Fever Series, by Karen Marie Moning

The Pillars of the Earth & World Without End, by Ken Follett

Shanghai Girls, by Lisa See

Room, by Emma Donoghue

A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini

Something Borrowed & Something Blue, by Emily Giffin

...I could go on and on, but let's start with those! :)

psst...it's link day over on The Peach & The Pit and we're sharing one super link that I hope you'll check out!

Anyhow, yesterday was Valentine's Day. Did you celebrate?

Shaun and I had a low key evening...my favorite kind. We decided not to do gifts and instead just cards. Somehow, we both still had a similar candy idea though! Reese's Pieces for him and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for me :)

I love Reese's Pieces, but to me, nothing compares to a peanut butter cup...it's my all-time favorite candy! Conversely, Shaun doesn't like the 'fake' pb in pb cups, but loves the kind in Reese's Pieces. To each his own! I dug right into my peanut butter cups as a little appetizer :)

Shaun also picked up a pretty mixed bouqet of flowers for me and had some delicious red wine aerating for us by the time I arrived home from work. Love that man.

Instead of going out, we decided to go all out for dinner at home. Shaun picked up two porterhouse steaks and I left the cooking to him. After seasoning them with nothing but salt and pepper, he pan-seared them in butter in a cast-iron skillet and then finished them off in the oven for a few minutes. Bellissimo.

I was in charge of the side dishes. To get a little fancy, I decided to make classic mashed potatoes. So incredibly unhealthy, but so wonderfully delicious. I used my mom's recipe with a few tweaks; just a little less butter and half and half instead of heavy cream. No matter, they were still decadent, creamy and such a treat. The key to great mashed potatoes is lots of salt in the cooking water, cooking them until fall-apart tender, and then mashing them with a hand mixer/beater. Trust me on this one. They are so easy and so worth it!

I also roasted up some asparagus for some greenery.

We finally sat down for dinner around 8:15. The money shot:

Oh yeah. And yeah, I only ate like a third of that steak. It was ginormous!

For dessert, I picked up 2 oversized chocolate chocolate chip cookies from City Bakery in NYC.

I simply heated them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds, topped with a scoop or two of light vanilla bean ice cream and finished them off with pink and red sprinkles for good measure. Gotta get with the holiday theme!

We tried to end the night with episode 1 of Homeland via On-Demand, however, Verizon wasn't digging our plans and we couldn't get it to work. We will have to try it again tonight! Instead we watched Castle from Monday night and an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. My kinda Valentine's Day.

Questions of the Day:

How did you spend Valentine's Day? With a significant other? With your best girls?

Did you eat anything special? Or anything especially pink or red?

It's Valentine's Day, and so I got you a card.

Though this one is my own personal favorite:

To send your own zombie card, you may check out them out here. It's the obvious Valentine's Day choice, after all.

Tonight Shaun and I will be making steak and mashed potatoes for dinner and drinking a bottle of wine. And possibly even eating a few one of these:

I hope you all have a great day!

xo,

Rachel

Why? I have no idea. I'm really more of a pancake kind of girl. But something about it was calling to me. It was on Wednesday, and Shaun had basketball so I was on my own for dinner. Coincidence?

I like to think it was meant to be.

Of course I realized it would be significantly more delicious by stuffing it with sweetness. I like sweet things, what can I say? I settled on raspberry and cream and realized that this would also be a sweet little Valentine's Day breakfast.

Oh!

And I wanted to tell you that this plate of yum clocks in at 7pts+ per serving. And trust me, you do not need more than 1 serving. And it takes about 5 minutes to make. So yeah. You should do it already.

Raspberry + Cream Stuffed French Toast
serves 1
7 WW Points+ per serving

1 sandwich thin, such as Arnold's multigrain
1 Tbsp reduced fat cream cheese
1 Tbsp raspberry jam, such as Polaner all-fruit
1 tsp light butter
1 egg white
2 Tbsp fat free milk
sweetener, to taste
2 Tbsp sugar-free syrup, such as Vermont Maid

In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese and jam. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg white and milk until fluffy. Spread the cream cheese and jam in between the sandwich thin. Place entire sandwich in the egg mixture for 20 seconds. Flip over in the egg mixture and let sit for another 20 seconds.

Heat a skillet and melt the butter. Cook the stuffed French toast sandwich about 2-3 minutes on each side. Serve with syrup, if desired, and sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

There you have it. An easy, delicious breakfast. Oh and you can obviously use any kid of jam you'd like in this! Hope you enjoy!

Have a great week, everyone!

Questions of the Day:

Do you ever eat breakfast for dinner?

What's your go-to?

Regina Spektor, Hero;

and the scene in which it's used in 500 Days of Summer

I absolutely adore this soundtrack. Although the movie came out years ago, I still revert to this soundtrack often. It makes me feel happy and sad and the music is overal awesome. Regina Spektor's Hero definitely takes the cake for me, especially how it's used in the movie...perhaps one of the best scenes of all time. It contains a spoiler alert, so don't watch it if you plan to see the whole movie...but please download this song! Oh, and please excuse the Spanish subtitles...it's the only one I could find :)

Raspberry & Cream Stuffed French Toast for Dinner

I whipped this up on Wednesday when I was home solo. I made it WW friendly, and can't wait to share the recipe for this easy French toast for one!

TOMS ballet flats

Yay! I have been a long TOMS-wearer and I'm so excited to see them in ballet flats. Methinks they will be perfect for the springtime. They are incredibly pricey at $78+ but still...

West Elm Striped Duvet

I ordered this duvet a number of weeks ago and I'm happy to report that we are LOVING it. I need to take a proper photo to share with you with it all done up and purdy on my bed, but here's the stock photo for now. It works beautifully with our greige walls and bright, happy yellow accent pillows. Now all I need is this wildly expensive extra tall tufted headboard. Hmph.

L'Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream

My hands have been so incredibly and disgustingly dry. I'm digging this little hand cream. One little dollop gets 'er done and my hands feel instantly moist and fresh.

So there you have it. My five things this week! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

What are your things this week?

 Oh and unrelated:

Has anyone seen The Artist? Worth it?

Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? I don't like to make a big deal out of it, personally. I love using it as an excuse to just find something fun to do with Shaun. Over the last few years, we've been known to hit up Shake Shack, Bobby's Burger Palace and a nice little brunch, instead of going out for a big fancy dinner (though we've definitely done many of those during the first few years we were dating). This year, we plan to have brunch on Sunday at my favorite Jersey City spot, The Lighthorse Tavern, and for the actual V-day, we plan to simply make a nice dinner at home. I think steak will be involved. :)

But back to dessert. I made little cheesecakes.

Isn't it pretty? I am obsessed with that deep red color. Oh and the whipped cream. I really love whipped cream.

And they aren't just any little cheesecakes. Nope. These have a whole Oreo on the bottom, white chocolate chips throughout, and a gorgeous red velvet color. They are rich, sweet and a perfect dessert for any day really. That's why I made them into individual servings...so you can have a treat anytime without feeling like you are eating a decadent slice of cheesecake. Ya know?

Oh!

And I almost forgot to mention that these little guys clock in at 4 Weight Watchers Points+ per cheesecake. Not too shabby if you ask me.

Individual Red Velvet Oreo Cheesecakes
Yields 24 cheesecakes
4 WW Points+ per cheesecake

24 reduced fat Oreo cookies
2 1/2 pkg reduced fat cream cheese (20 oz total), softened slightly
1 C granulated sugar
1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 small bottles red food coloring
2/3 C white chocolate chips
whipped cream

special equipment:
foil baking cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two muffin tins with foil baking cups and drop an Oreo cookie in the bottom of each. Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer. Beat in the sugar and cocoa on medium speed until light and fluffy. Pour in vanilla and food coloring; beat to combine well. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix thoroughly. Make sure you scrape down the bowl, turn over the ingredients that have sunk to the bottom. You want to make sure it's all gorgeously red and not lumpy.

Add white chocolate chips and stir until combined. Pour batter into baking cups, filling them about 2/3 of the way full.

Bake 20 minutes or until centers are firm. Cool for 10 minutes in baking pan. Remove cups from pan and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. Store in an airtight container for up to a week, or freeze for future use!

Serve with 2 Tbsp whipped cream per cheesecake.

I really love these! I think they just turned out so pretty and were fairly easy to make. I definitely set a couple aside for Valentine's Day. I love that they are already in individual servings, so there's no temptation to go overboard. Each of us gets one, and end it there. It's my kind of dessert.

Questions of the Day:

Are you into Valentine's Day?

If so, what are you doing for it?

Do you like individually portioned desserts?