Bacon and Eggs Muffins

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So...the girl who has a blog about baking, mostly sweet treats, decided to do a 21 day sugar detox. It was tough; you would be surprised as to how many items have sugar in them that you wouldn't even realize. Never before have I looked at so many labels! It also forced me to plan ahead and prep a lot of food. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun (especially since hubby did most of the cleaning after I destroyed the kitchen almost nightly).

Most of the recipes I used were directly from the 21-Day Sugar Detox book and cookbook, although I did make up a few of my own and modified some from the books, one such modification is below. 

This Bacon and Eggs Muffin is an adaption of the author's Buffalo Chicken Egg Muffins, which are quite delicious, and that you should totally try.

I'm not what you call a dieter, although one time in college I did Atkins and I felt gross. Really gross. Having basically only meat and cheese and grease does not work for me. And neither does eating a set number of meals per day. 21DSD (that's what the cool kids are calling it) has lots of food on the approved list and you eat when you're hungry; which makes sense to me.

I suppose now you want to know my results. Well, my skin cleared up and I have been sleeping better.

And I lost 6 pounds.

 

Nope, this isn't one of those before and after photography tricks. I'd be much skinnier in the after if it was ;)

It was a great kick-start to getting out of "fat season" and getting back on a healthy track. While I don't plan to eat like this forever, I have picked up some good habits that I hope to continue.

Yup, I totally took a pic after I'd had a few bites

Bacon and Eggs Muffins

1 1/2 pounds bacon

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

12 eggs

1/4 cup sliced green onions (scallions)

sea salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425. Prepare 12 cups of a muffin tin with parchment paper muffin liners (I've tried it with regular liners - does not work!).

Cook bacon your favorite way until fully cooked and chop into pieces.  In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the green onions, salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture into muffin cups, filling about halfway. Gently spoon about 1/4 cup of the bacon on top. Bake for 40 minutes or until the muffins rise and become golden brown around the edges.

Drop Sugar Cookies

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...as it should, I suppose, since it is, in fact, Christmas Eve.

When I was a kid I would go to my Godmother's house to bake cookies with her for Christmas. I always loved baking with her because she always did "fancy" stuff. Also, because she actually let me help, unlike when I baked with my mom, who let me help by cleaning (although I did get to lick the beaters).

I carried the tradition on myself for years, but it's been quite some time since I've spent the day baking a billion cookies and making deliveries to friends and family. I had wanted to reignite the tradition this year with some friends, but it didn't work on account of being an adult is busy. Hopefully next year!

One of the most common Christmas cookie (as far as I'm concerned) is the sugar cookie so I decided I would at the very least make these for the holidays. Seeing as though I thought they were so popular, I was shocked to find that there wasn't a single sugar cookie recipe in any of my four of my high altitude baking books. Thankfully, the interwebs exist and I was able to find a very awesome recipe. I chose drop cookies instead of the cute cooking cutter type cookies because I've never really had much luck with them (but maybe I'll try again, one of these days.

These cookies were really simple and very delicious. Hubby doesn't want me to make these again because he couldn't stop eating them.

Drop Sugar Cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
colored sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine flour, salt, baking powder and nutmeg in a small bowl. In a mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth. Slowly add flour mixture, a little at a time, until everything is well combined.

Set aside for 15 minutes.

Roll into 1-inch size balls. Roll top in colored sugar and flatten a bit. Place 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes.