Thursday, March 19, 2009

Ode To The Faux Egg McMuffin

Oh faux egg mcmuffin,
How I do love thee,
After a hard workout,
Especiallee!

All right, obviously I'm no poet...but the sentiment is there! Confession time: I love McDonalds Egg McMuffins - the perfect combination of egg, Canadian bacon, cheese, English muffin and grease...bliss! Unfortunately, because they are around 300 calories each (and 12 grams of fat), AND because they come with the super delicious hash brown, which is 150 calories (and 9 grams of fat), I haven't had one in a long, long time. Yes, I know you *could* order just the McMuffin, but the Value Meal is such a bargain...and that is my downfall. Because although I could occasionally work the McMuffin into my daily calorie plan, I can't fit that hash brown in. And I can't not eat the hash brown. (Though to be real, it would probably make me sicker than a dog to eat that much grease now that I've eaten clean for so long). So long story short, I've been missing the McMuffin!

Luckily for my taste buds, I bought Hungry Girl's cookbook and what do you know...there's a recipe for a healthier version of the McMuffin in it! And it's good! Now, most days I eat my Fage 0% plain yogurt with fresh fruit and Kashi Golean Crunch cereal for breakfast, but on the mornings that I work out, the Faux McMuffin has been my go-to meal after I'm done. This baby comes in around 175 calories, is low in fat and high in protein - perfect to feed my starving (or so it feels) body!

I keep meaning to buy a biscuit cutter so that my ham and cheese will be round and fit nicer in the English muffin, but so far the only one I've seen was at Target and was over $3, which seemed a little ridiculous considering what I want it for. I really should check out one of the many dollar stores in my town. And yes, I am that much of a cheapskate, lol!

16 comments:

  1. My eyes were wide open when I read that there's a healthier version of the Egg Mcmuffin. I love them!

    And I had no idea that something so small as the egg mcmuffin can be 12 grams of fat!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I heart the egg mc muffin too! And yours looks pretty good to me, with the ham hanging out or not.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I still don't own a biscuit cutter after all these years. I just use a large drinking glass. I've even taken a can after eating the contents and cut the top and bottom out of it and it works just great. And a whole lot cheaper!!

    I've never been much of a fan of the egg McMuffin but I'm sure glad that you found a healthier way to enjoy them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Confession time.....I love the sausage mcmuffin with egg or the sausage biscuit with egg. EEK! I probably have one of those at least 3 times a week if not more. I know...I know....they are bad. My kids get grossed out when I have one because of the unhealthiness of them so I hide the small mcdonald's sack in my purse and go in the my bedroom and eat it. Isn't that awful!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love those too . . . and your poetry's not bad either :)

    I make mine with Arnold's whole wheat sandwich thins.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It looks so yummy! I can't belive it's so low in calories.......even with the cheese!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I didn't know the McDonalds McMuffin had that many calories, thanks for that info. I miss them too, I used to love them.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  9. LOOOVE HG and her substitute concoctions.

    and Ive never seen a biscuit cutter!
    could you use a glass??

    ReplyDelete
  10. I used to eat 2 egg mcmuffins and 2 hash browns on my way to work at least twice a week :( I'd pick off most of the cheese and think it was healthy! Egads! No wonder I weighed 300 pounds.

    Anyway, a low-fat cheese, bacon, carby thing...what more does a body need? Now I have to go make one of those.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Yum - I'm drooling already. Isn't it great when you find a substitute that you really like?!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'll make the same thing, but I'll add honey mustard to the English muffin. I know that sounds gross, but its so good!

    I got a muffin at Great Harvest today, I bought the "morning glory" variety, which had bits of carrot and cranberries. I looked up the nutritional value and even though they didn't have that variety, most of their muffins are in the 300 calorie range and 17 grams of fat for HALF the muffin!! What? I wish I had checked first!
    That's what I get for not planning ahead!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I must be the only one who thinks that looks gross. No offense to your efforts to emulate the original, which also looks gross to me... But it you had the English muffin with sharp *REAL* (not processed) aged cheddar cheese, and *REAL* (not watered and glued) ham, you could sign me up for many of those babies! Less processed cheese and ham has way better flavor, IMHO. Calories are probably the same or worse than their processed counterparts, but at least you'd be able to pronounce the ingredients :) Have you tried looking at the ingredients of your ham or cheese in that mock up? You'll need a PhD in chemistry to understand that engineered food ;) Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your breakfast looks so so so amazingly good! I am totally jealous - it looks way better then the otameal I have every day!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Glad to see that I'm not the only McMuffin fan out there! Love the suggestions for substitute biscuit cutters! And to Anonymous...you are missing the point - the egg McMuffin has a flavor all of its' own - real cheese and ham would *not* taste the same!

    ReplyDelete

Comments are now moderated to prevent spammers from leaving, well, spam - but rest assured that as soon as I read a real comment, I will publish it. So please, comment away, even though the blog is officially closed. Thanks!