Now you have a chance to win a free box of Van’s Natural Foods frozen breakfast food!

8 winners will receive a coupon good for any one Van’s 6 or 8-count Waffle, Waffle Sticks, Pancake or French Toast Sticks.

Click here to enter this giveaway today!

Van’s Natural Foods, based in Phoenix, AZ, is the market leader in gluten free and allergy friendly, natural and organic frozen breakfast foods. Driven by a company mission to encourage healthy habits, their broad range of products deliver superior natural nutrition with such great taste that eating healthy is easy. Van’s has a 20-year legacy of serving a loyal and growing community of wellness-oriented consumers with high quality products including frozen waffles, pancakes and French toast sticks. Look for Van’s products in grocery stores across the country, including organic products; their 8 Whole Grains, Mini, Belgian and Lite waffles; and Van’s gluten and wheat free products, also free of dairy and egg.

Plus, be sure to check out the FaveDiets product review of Van’s frozen waffles.

The Van’s Natural Foods Giveaway Summary

• Prize: One coupon good for a free box of Van’s frozen breakfast food for 8 people
• Timeline: Begins on November 2, 2011 at 12:00:01 a.m. Eastern Time, and ends on November 13, 2011 at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time
• Contest open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only. Winners must claim prize within 14 days of being announced.

Good luck!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love cooking in autumn and winter?  In the summer we spend our time hiding from open flame like mice, in winter we cluster around them like men (or moths), and create the hot breakfasts that we need to carry us to our cars, buses, and hot air balloons.  So when it’s time to brace myself for the days work, I naturally reach for my oatmeal, green onions, soy sauce, and …hey, wait, where are you going?

Its the soy sauce, isn’t it?  Well, I’m prepared to defend my strange Savory Breakfast habit to the death.

“But Ryan” you might be saying, “Clearly this is an inversion of the natural order, which has decreed that breakfast be sweet!”  Well, what’s so strange about savory, anyway?  We eat lots of savory things for breakfast: bacon comes to mind, or any egg dish, and just try to order something at your average breakfast nook that doesn’t go well with cheese.  Green onions wouldn’t be out of place in a breakfast bake.  Southerners, with their grits, understand the importance of a hearty grain, as would Italians with their polenta or risotto.  Do I need to go about about the joy of Cold Pizza in the morning?  Frankly, I say nuts to sweetness!  A savory oatmeal is not only filling and satisfying in a way that sweet oatmeal isn’t, it’s a refreshing change that shakes up your expectations and may ever change your life!

Alright, that last bit may have been a slight exaggeration, but consider this: unlike honey, cream, brown sugar, jam, or any sweet topping, soy sauce is nearly free of sugars and fats.  Put as much of this miraculous sauce on as you like, and you’ll never need to feel bad about it.  Green onions are one step better than that, they’re a vegetable rich in antioxidants and vitamins.  You can’t say that about anything in a sweet oatmeal recipe, can you? Next time you’re hankering for something different for breakfast, why not take a leap of faith and dress it like this?  It’s simple, it’s delicious, and I promise not to say “I told you so.”

Did you catch yesterday’s guest blog post? As I mentioned then, this week we have a great Laura’s Wholesome Junk Food giveaway for you. We are giving away two 7-ounce tubs of Laura’s Wholesome Junk Food Cranberry Breakfast Bite-lettes to one person.

Click here to enter this giveaway today!

Crack open a tub of Cranberry Breakfast bite-lettes and the first thing you’ll notice is the fragrant, fruity aroma. Take a bite, and a burst of tangy cranberry and orange mixes with the chewy sweetness of this little healthy cookie as it melts in your mouth. The intense cranberry flavor matches up perfectly with the warm taste of oatmeal, while the evaporated cane juice, fruit juice and unsweetened coconut balances out the tartness.

Only the highest quality ingredients are used to make their healthy cranberry breakfast cookies. Made with an oat flour base, each healthy cranberry breakfast cookie is smooth, moist and chewy. You’ll find each healthy cookie filled with large, plump, Ocean Spray cranberries. These all natural, healthy cookies are cholesterol free, vegan, kosher, and are wheat-free.

Also, be sure to check out the FaveDiets product review of Laura’s Wholesome Junk Food Cranberry Breakfast Bite-lettes.

The Laura’s Wholesome Junk Food Cranberry Breakfast Bite-lettes Giveaway Summary

• Prize: Two 7-ounce tubs of Laura’s Wholesome Junk Food Cranberry Breakfast Bite-lettes to one person.
• Timeline: Begins on September 7, 2011 at 12:00:01 a.m. Eastern Time, and ends on September 18, 2011 at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time
• Contest open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only. Winners must claim prize within 14 days of being announced.

Good luck!

This week, we are giving away one full mixed case of Love Grown Foods granola for two people!

The mixed case includes:

• One 12-ounce package Sweet Cranberry Pecan granola
• One 12-ounce package Apple Walnut Delight granola
• One 12-ounce package Raisin Almond Crunch granola
• One 12-ounce package Cocoa Goodness granola
• Two 12-ounce packages of Simply Oats granola

Click here to enter this giveaway today!

Love Grown Foods produces all-natural, nutritious foods that are made delicious with love — not artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated oils, or preservatives. Each product is made with recipes that are left as pure and as simple as possible, with each ingredient hand-picked for its naturally vibrant taste and rich nutrients. Love Grown Foods believes that when foods that are nutritious and delicious are more accessible, more people will make the conscious decision to adopt healthy lifestyle that they’ll share with others, spreading the love.

Love Grown Foods’ Oat Clusters & Love is a line of five granolas in flavors that range from subtly sweet Simply Oats and chocolately Cocoa Goodness, to fruit combinations like Sweet Cranberry Pecan. Each granola is made with high-quality, all natural, and freely unprocessed ingredients to make a taste so wonderful, people can’t help but fall in love. Each flavor is made with Certified Gluten-Free oats, gently sweetened with natural honey and agave, toasted to perfection, and packaged with love in 12 oz re-sealable bags.

Additionally, the FaveDiets editorial team had a chance to try out all of the flavors of Love Grown Foods granola, so be sure to check out what we thought about it.

The Love Grown Foods Giveaway Summary

• Prize: One full mixed case of Love Grown Foods granola for two peope.
• Timeline: Begins on August 3, 2011 at 12:00:01 a.m. Eastern Time, and ends on August 14, 2011 at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time
• Contest open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only. Winners must claim prize within 14 days of being announced.

Good luck!

If you like this contest, don’t forget to sign up for a FREE subscription to the Quick and Healthy Recipes newsletter. Each week, our talented Editors will bring you an assortment of healthy recipes, including quick and easy recipes, that you can try in your very own kitchen. We’ll also feature the best diet tips, healthy cooking ideas and more.

FaveDiets.com has created a brand new eCookbook, 27 Easy and Healthy Casserole Recipes For You, chock full of the healthy cooking ideas you need to get through your weeks. The casseroles in this eCookbook are great because they allow you, the home cook, to meet everyone’s needs. In particular, these healthy casserole recipes combine the ease and convenience of a casserole with the benefits of a balanced meal.

The 27 Easy and Healthy Casserole Recipes For You eCookbook is completely free, and can be downloaded here: http://www.favediets.com/Casserole-Recipes/27-Easy-and-Healthy-Casserole-Recipes-For-You-Free-eCookbook

The healthy casseroles featured in this eCookbook will show you everything you need to know in order to get a tasty and healthy meal on the table without spending a lot of time or money. This eCookbook features some of the most popular casserole dishes around, including healthy chicken casserole recipes, healthy vegetable casserole recipes and casserole recipes with ground beef.

With this eCookbook, we have assembled some of the absolute best casserole recipes around, including healthy chicken casseroles, vegetable casserole recipes and healthy casseroles with ground beef. This healthy cooking eCookbook has everything from Swiss Cheese and Chicken Casserole and Homemade Green Bean Casserole to Super Simple Hamburger Casserole and Easy Breakfast Potato Casserole. The recipes in this crowd-pleasing collection are fun and easy, and all of them are delicious. Make one or make several, and discover the tasty and healthy delights that can only be found in healthy casserole recipes!

Learn more and download the 27 Easy and Healthy Casserole Recipes For You Free eCookbook

Be sure to go to this page to see all of the great healthy recipe eCookbooks offered completely for free.

Interested in reviewing this eCookbook? Download it, peruse it, and then write about it in the comments section of this post! I’d love to know what you think of this masterpiece!

This Sunday is Mother’s Day, as we have some interesting traditions in my family to mark this day.

Rewind back to my impressionable youth many moons ago. My older brother and I wanted to do something nice for our mother, so we decided to make her breakfast in bed. The only problem is neither of us had much cooking ability, and our idea on what constituted a fancy breakfast in bed was rather skewed. How skewed? Well, our only reference on what was in a fancy breakfast came from McDonald’s, and so we embarked to make our own version of a Sausage McMuffin. However, we didn’t have sausage patties or muffins around the house then. We were able to find an English muffin and a piece of chicken, so my brother and I figured that would work just as well. I toasted the English muffin while my brother cooked the chicken in a pan on the stove top.

We rushed upstairs to greet our Mother, proud of our kind accomplishment. My mother, needless to say, was extremely startled as she was not expecting to eat a chicken sandwich in bed in the morning. I am sure the sandwich was bland (we did not think to add any seasonings) and the chicken was probably horribly undercooked (we had no idea how long it took to cook meat) but my mother still appreciated the gesture nonetheless. Now, breakfast chicken sandwiches have become a running Mother’s Day joke in my family, a sign of the right intentions but the wrong execution.

For more traditional Mother’s Day fare, be sure to Surprise Your Mom with The 19 Best Brunch Recipes for Mother’s Day. Your mother might appreciate a quiche or a frittata for breakfast more than a chicken sandwich.

For the ultimate breakfast on the go, reach for this intriguing healthy breakfast recipe. Coffee baking recipes for breakfast are ideal because they give the food energy you need in the morning, plus the coffee adds a needed caffeinated jolt. Cooking with coffee is easy, and can be a great way to use up your leftovers.

I don’t know about you, but there are just some days where I have a hard time functioning without that morning cup (or cups) of coffee. I try not to rely on coffee too much for my morning ritual (maybe singing that anti-coffee song all the time in middle school did affect me) but nothing wakes me up quite as well as a cup of coffee. When I make coffee for myself though, I sometimes find myself with leftover coffee at the end. I don’t want to throw it away, but I’d also rather not drink stale coffee heated in the microwave.

The solution? Time to reveal some healthy coffee baking recipes. That’s right – you can use that leftover coffee to make some delicious coffee baking recipes that are perfect for the morning. One of my favorite recipes for cooking with coffee is this one for Coffee Muffins.

Your Turn: Are you a morning coffee drinker? What’s the one thing that you always need to do in the morning?

I have always been a big breakfast lover, but these days it seems like I devote less and less time to this important meal. Breakfast, for me, is the ideal time to set my food habits for the rest of the day, but doing so is difficult when breakfast happens on the go. This healthy blueberry smoothie recipe is the perfect remedy for those craving a healthy on-the-go breakfast option.

A few weeks ago, Snack Girl featured a recipe for a green smoothie that intrigued me. Sure, I love kale, but how would it taste in a smoothie? I had my doubts, but the concept intrigued me too much for me not to try my hand at a green smoothie recipe. As it turns out, this healthy smoothie recipe did not turn green, but it was plenty tasty and full of nutrients.

Quick: name the biggest breakfast trend among bloggers. If you read food blogs with any consistency, you know that oatmeal is so hot right now. Why? Well, it’s cheap, it’s healthy and it’s a filling breakfast option. I mean, what’s not to love about a big warm bowl of yummy oatmeal in the morning?

Before I forget: a big thanks to everyone who answered This Month’s Healthy Bite for March. I asked my fellow food bloggers about their favorite breakfast recipe to make, so be sure to check out all of the great responses!

Okay, it’s taken me a while to jump on the oatmeal bandwagon. Truthfully, most of my breakfasts are eaten on the go. Plus, my stove top oatmeal is pretty plain and not really worthy of its own recipe. However, I started seeing versions of baked oatmeal recipes pop up on a few food blogs I follow, including on Jackie’s Kitchen and on Chocolate-Covered Katie amongst other blogs. I figured, well maybe a baked oatmeal recipe will change my mind, so I gave it a shot.

Your Turn: What are your thoughts on oatmeal and on baked oatmeal recipes? Are you pro or con?

For the March version of This Month’s Healthy Bite, we asked, “What’s Your Favorite Breakfast Recipe to Make?” We got some fantastic answers, from oatmeal to eggs and a whole lot more. Check them all out:

From Kalyn, Kalyn’s Kitchen:

I love cooking breakfast, so picking my favorite breakfast is really hard, but one that I make all the time is this Roasted Green Bell Pepper and Roasted Tomato Breakfast Casserole with Feta and Oregano. (Whenever I have cherry tomatoes that are getting a bit past their prime, I use them to make this!)

From Carla, Gluten Free Recipe Box:

Over a year ago, my chiropractor told me that almond milk is usually loaded with sugar, and that even the unsweetened varieties were not very healthy for us. I began my search and discovered Ani Phyo, raw foodist, on YouTube, “Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen”. She has a wonderful raw almond “mylk” (milk) recipe video. You just blend together soaked raw almonds, dates, filtered water and if you wish, a little vanilla. I began using this recipe in my morning protein shake. Now I have tweeked things a bit. Instead of adding expensive protein powder to my shake, I just used the almonds, dates and whatever fruit I like. I no longer make the milk separately, unless I need it for a non-dairy recipe. I used to add dates, but now that I am trying to lose a few pounds (from all of those gluten-free baking experiments and taste-testing), therefore, I skip the dates in most cases. Use a good quality blender and you won’t have to strain the milk. I don’t usually strain mine, as I want the extra fiber. You can adjust the level of protein and carbs to your liking. Enjoy!

From Heather, Dietician on the Run:

Nice n’ simple: oatmeal! You can jazz it up with anything, and keep things interesting. My favorite, go-to oatmeal breakfast: bananas, agave, natural peanut butter & a splash of almond milk (or other milk preference)!

From Carla, The Year of the Vegan:

This one! Not the healthiest but at least your GF friends can have some too!

From Meg, Meg’s Food Reality:

I like having granola and a banana for breakfast, or soup!

My favorite granola recipe: Maple Nut

From Jen, Domestic Divas:

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and I never miss a chance to make it special. I’m also always torn—sweet or savory? Reflecting my inability to choose, here are a few of my favorite things to make:

Greek Frittata

Prosciutto Hash with Baby Broccoli and Farm Fresh Egg

Cornmeal Pancakes with Apples & Cinnamon

From Jackie, Jackie’s Kitchen:

Breakfast is my favorite meal. It is difficult to name only one favorite recipe. I can easily construct an omelette, some pancakes, or even a simple but hearty bowl of oatmeal. But perhaps what I really enjoy making are various breakfast breads that I can freeze in slices and enjoy at work with my coffee. A few of my recent favorites include:

- pumpkin walnut bread with spiced orange glaze

- apple pecan bread with sweet brown sugar glaze

- banana nut “bread” baked oatmeal — not technically a “bread” but the final texture is reminiscent of one

From Melissa, Eat on the Run:

My favorite thing to make is a loaded bowl of oatmeal. Adding a tablespoon of nut butter with my favorite dried fruits and some granola for crunch satisfies me all the way to lunch. Incorporating protein and a little fat into breakfast has been very helpful in keeping me full through the morning hours.

From Stella, The Witchy Kitchen:

My favorite breakfast recipe often changes with the seasons due to both food availability and even temperature. In fact, being that we live in a subtropical hollow, the temperature outside can really dictate whether we even turn on the oven or not. So lately my favorite healthful breakfast is soaked organic steel cut oats. You simply put 1 cup of the steel cut oats in two cups of your favorite milk (soy, almond, dairy, etc) covered in the fridge over night. Wake up and eat them cold with your favorite fruits and toppings!

From Beth, Budget Bytes:

When I’m in the mood for oatmeal, I like cold oats (muesli)

But I’m also an egg addict and can’t get enough egg quesadillas!

From Elise, Hungry Hungry Hippie:

As boring as it is, I can’t go wrong with oats. The different add-ins (dried/fresh fruit, nuts, nut butter, etc.) make each day’s batch different from the one before it. Plus, it holds my appetite at bay far longer than any other breakfast.

Thanks to everyone for all the fun responses!

Answer the next This Month’s Healthy Bite question: How do you use spring produce in your cooking? Email us your answer or just simply comment on this blog post, and we’ll publish your answers and link to your blog at the end of the month. Got some blogger friends who would like us to link to them too? Ask them to answer This Month’s Healthy Bite too!