Chicken Apple Sausage and Vegetable Egg White Frittata

Happy Thursday! I think I brought the rain and gloomy weather home with me, because we have yet to see the sun around these parts. I'm hoping it will make an appearance this weekend, but I'm not holding onto much hope there. We actually got a bit of a reprieve last night, which I was glad for as I made the trek on over to Bellaire for our second open gym of the summer, and I loved getting to see my sweet volleyball girls. It had only been two weeks, but when you're used to seeing them every day, a happy reunion is sure to ensue. Shout out to so many of these girls for putting in work over the summer.

Workout

I ran a couple of errands after leaving Bellaire before returning home and calling it an early night, as I had plans to wake up for Felipe's 7am Muscle Blast class at the MAC. I'm not even going to think about the fact that 6:30am feels early, rather, I am going to savor the extra few minutes in bed for as long as I can. I will admit that when my alarm went off, I contemplated staying in bed, but I knew I would regret not going more than I would regret going. Plus, I have quite a bit that I hope to accomplish today, so the earlier the start, the better.

I've talked before about how tough Felipe's class is,  and today's episode was no different. I can already tell that my legs are going to be S-O-R-E tomorrow. Lots and lots and lots of squats. And lunges. But one of the things I love about Felipe's classes are that he targets multiple muscle groups at once - ie, we'll be doing bicep curls as we step up on a bench with one foot, and when we come back down, we lunge back. It prevents me from thinking about how much one muscle group hurts, because multiple muscle groups are being worked out at the same time. Tricky tricky.

And while I don't want to compromise the integrity of the class by sharing exactly what we did (and more importantly, I don't want to bore you guys), but I will share a couple of my favorite exercises. The latter portion of the class consisted of a giant circuit workout. I used the rope for the first time,

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learned that I am still a hula-hooping champion,

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and the TRX band that has long intimidated me was one of my favorite exercises. We did both TRX Rows and TRX Chest Press. It may even have inspired me to take one of Felipe's TRX classes. Just maybe.

TRX Row (Source)

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I headed straight home after the MAC, promising to get in some cardio later today, but I was more than ready to dig into my newest breakfast creation.

Chicken Apple Sausage and Vegetable Egg White Frittata

I'm broadening my horizons a little bit. I'm not straying away from the egg whites completely, but it has taken a little shift. And I am officially hooked.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups egg whites
• 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chopped broccoli
• 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped squash
• 1/2 cup chopped asparagus
• 1 1/2 chicken apple sausage, chopped (I use Aidell's)
• 1/4 cup diced onions
• 2 small handfuls spinach
• Pepper
• Salt, if desired

Directions:
1. Spray a 9" pie pan with cooking spray and set aside
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
3. Over medium heat, saute onions in a frying pan
4. Using a cutting board, slice, chop, and prepare all remaining vegetables

5. Slice and chop sausage links, pairing them with the vegetables
6. In a large bowl, combine all vegetables - including onions - and sausage pieces

7. Pour in your three cups of egg whites (the equivalent of 8 eggs)
8. Add in two small handfuls of spinach and stir
9. Season with salt and pepper, if desired
10. Carefully pour mixture into the pre-sprayed pie pan
11. Place pan in oven and cook for 40-45 minutes
12. Enjoy! I topped this with salsa, because if I'm being honest, while I love egg whites, they're just a little bland without something to spice them up. And as for storage, I covered the pan with foil, stuck it in the refrigerator, and heated up a slice this morning.

Healthy? Check. Delicious? Check. Colorful? Check. I don't know why you wouldn't sink your teeth into this one. You're sneaking in a serving of vegetables where you normally wouldn't get any, and the chicken sausage adds that all-too-important protein, something that many of us don't get enough of. And this recipe is so easily customized to whatever YOU want! If you don't like mushrooms? Switch them out for something else. Zucchini, bell peppers - it's completely up to you. And then you have breakfast for the week. I see this sneaking its way into a regular school-week breakfast. Especially during volleyball season, when the less time I spend on food prep, the better.

And now I'm off to cross a few things off of my to-do list. Have a great one!