Crustless Quiche

Quiche is another extremely versatile recipe.  In this lighter version I have reduced the carbs, calories and fat by omitting the crust and making some healthy substitutions.  I made it two different ways and you can definitely add anything else that you think would be yummy.

Crustless Quiche

Basic Ingredients:

5 large eggs
1 cup 1% milk (or whatever milk you have will be fine)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground mustard
black pepper to taste

Additional Ingredient Options:

1 cup sauted veggies - spinach, asparagus, onions, anything you like
-or-
1 cup cooked meat (bacon, sausage, etc)
-and-
1 cup shredded cheese - any kind of cheese you love - be creative!

You can definitely mix meats and veggies.  Really... anything goes here.

Carmelized onion, spinach and sun dried tomato-
Slice 1/4 yellow onion very thin.  Using 1 tsp olive oil, cook over medium-low heat until very soft and carmelized (this will take a while, just be patient).  Remove onions from the pan and turn heat up to medium.  Saute 1 tsp minced garlic and 2 cups baby spinach until spinach is wilted (about 2 minutes).  Allow spinach to cool and remove as much water as possible by squeezing it.  Roughly chop the spinach. Chop 3-4 sundried tomatoes.  I used muenster cheese with this quiche.

Bacon and cheddar-
Cook six slices of bacon until crispy.  Drain well and chop. (I cut mine up before I cook it.  It cooks much faster that way).

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray glass pie dish with nonstick spray.  Place meat or veggies and cheese in the bottom of the pan.  Whisk eggs, milk and seasonings until well combined and pour over the top.  Back 35-45 minutes until set.  Cool a bit before serving.

Homemade Granola Rocks!

I love a recipe that you can change up to suit your tastes and what you have on hand.  You can use any dried fruits or nuts that you like in this basic granola recipe.  I've been eating 1/4 cup of this with a low-carb yogurt for breakfast.  It's so good!

Fruit & Nut Granola

Ingredients:

5 cups steel cut (or course) oats

2 cups nuts (I used almonds and pistachios)

2 cups dried fruit (I used raisins, cranberries, cherries, blueberries)

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup agave syrup

1 Tbs cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 225 degrees.  Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir well to coat.  Spread into a large pan and bake 30-35 minutes, stirring frequently.  Cool completely and store in an air tight container.

Creamy Guacamole

Avocados (and anything derived from them) were on the list of foods I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole for most of my life.  Pregnancy cravings with Brooke (now 10) turned my dining world upside down and luckily this was one of them.  Not long after, a coworker at the time showed me how to make guacamole at home.  It's so easy and this one has an extra ingredient that gives it a creamier texture.

Creamy Guacamole

Ingredients:

3 ripe avocados*
Juice of two limes
1 roma tomato - seeded and diced
1-2 fresh jalapenos - seeded and finely diced (or not seeded if you like the heat)
1/2 red onion - finely diced
2 cloves garlic - minced (or 2 tsp minced garlic from a jar)
handful of chopped cilantro
1 Tbs chile powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 c. Miracle Whip
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

Seed and chop ingredients 3-7 and have them ready to go.  Remove pit from avocados, scoop out the pulp and smash in a bowl (potato masher works great).  I like mine pretty smooth.  Combine remaining ingedients and stir well.  Adjust seasoning as needed.

To keep guacamole in the fridge, cover bowl with plastic wrapped pressed onto the surface of the guacamole.  This will keep the guac form turning brown when exposed to air.

* A ripe avocado is relatively firm, but will yield to gentle pressure.  Also, the small knob at the stem end should come free easily and when removed the spot should be green, not brown.

Black Bean and Roasted Corn Salsa

As a native Texas girl one of my favorite cuisines is Tex-Mex (is that even a cuisine?).  Unfortunately with all of the tortillas, cheese and sour cream it often isn't the healthiest meal.  In an attempt to add flavor to my fajitas I decided to throw together a non-traditional salsa.  You can always adjust the seasonings to your taste and even leave out any ingredients that you just plain don't like.

Also, the recipe calls for roasted corn.  I love to roast corn on the grill!  Buy the corn unshucked.  Soak the ears of corn in water for an hour then grill over high heat, 5 minutes per side.  If you have any left over this is great way to use it.  If you don't (or don't want the extra step of roasting it just for the salsa) just used frozen (thawed of course) or even canned corn.

Black Bean and Roasted Corn Salsa

1 15oz can black beans - drained and rinsed
1 ear of corn - roasted, cooled and kernels cut away from the cob
2 roma tomatoes - seeded and diced
1/4 red onion - finely diced
1 jalapeno - seeded and finely diced
Handful of fresh cilantro - roughly chopped
juice of 1 large lime (or 2 small ones)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbs chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Seriously the easiest instructions ever.  Combine everything in a bowl.  Cover and chill for at least an hour.  The longer you let it chill the better it will be.  Serve with chips, on tacos or fajitas.

I bet it would be awesome the next day.... but it didn't last that long at my house.

Temptation

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. - 1 Corinthians 10:13

Last night I was drawn to the last of the children's Easter candy.  I know there's a chocolate bunny or two hiding out in their rooms.  But I resisted.... I had pickles instead. lol.

Nights when my husband is gone are pitfalls of temptation where healthy eating is concerned.  These nights are fairly frequent since he works shiftwork that includes two sets of graveyards a month.  I'll go through the evening routine and we'll probably even have a healthy dinner.  But once the kids are in bed all bets are off.  I'm confessing right now that I will lay in bed by myself, watch TV  and eat anything and every junk food I can find.  I feel so disgusted with myself afterward, but it's a habit I've had a hard time breaking.

This morning I was proud of myself for resisting the temptation of candy last night, but I DID eat something.  And that's still not completely breaking the habit.  I got to thinking about a discussion our ladies Bible study class has had quite a few times.

When you remove anything from your life it leaves a hole.  You MUST fill that hole with God, or satan will slip in and fill it for you.

Trying to overcome my emotional eating habits without God's help is impossible.  Taking away that comfort (although temporary) of food and not filling the void with something with never result in success.

I'm committing right now to READ MY BIBLE during that time after the kids go to bed that I would usually use to raid the cabinet.  With His strength all things are possible...... even weight loss for emotional eaters.

I did what......?

It seems that I could possibly have maybe sort of agreed to run the Aramco Half Marathon next January...... I think.

Seriously! 

I've been very lazy the past few months with my running.  I use the excuse that my schedule changed, but honestly..... I've been lazy.  I've become complacent in quite a few areas of my life and I'm bound a determined to get back on track.  My eating habits and lack of exercise are two areas that will see an immediate improvement.

In order to improve the way I eat I must improve the way I cook.  I love, love, love to bake and cook using all manner of butter, sugar, oil  and countless forms of processed carbohydrates.  That's not going to do me or my family any good in a quest to become healthier.  So I'm giving my cooking habits a makeover.  I think I'll look at it as a challenge.... can I prepare tasty meals that my family will eat in a way that is healthy?

I'll blog about the good, the bad, and the disastrous (you KNOW it happens in my kitchen!) and hopefully along the way I can build a collection of good-for-us recipes that work for my family.

My Big Helper

It's no surprise that I spend lots of time in the kitchen on the weekends.  I have loved cooking for as long as I can remember.  My mom always told me that I started following recipes when I was pretty young.  She did the parts that pertained to fire or the oven, but the rest was up to me.  As I got older Mom was very supportive of my cooking endeavors and more than once allowed me to experiment on the family with new recipes.  Some were hits, others were definite misses.

I try to share my passion for cooking with my girls as well.  Brynne and Brooke always help in the kitchen and it's such a joy to show them new skills as they get older.  They have grown from simply following my instructions to reading recipes on their own.  Brynne even gets to use the "good knives" and it working on knife skills.

This weekend it was me and Tori at home.  The past few weeks she has become very inquisitve and independant. "I'll do it BY MYSELF." is her new motto.  Something else I head many times this weekend was, "Let me help you."  So I did.

She got to use her little toddler knife to cut up Velveeta (that I had already cut up) for chicken and rice.  She also got to brush the egg wash onto the loaf of french bread.  She was so proud of herself!

Sunday afternoon her ZeeZee stopped by for a visit.  We were all hanging out in the family room when Tori disappeared and got very quiet.  Anyone with a small child knows this is never a good thing.  When I called out to see what she was doing she yelled that she was doing the dishes.  Sure enough, she had pulled up her stool and was scrubbing away at the loaf pans I had soaking in the sink.  This was the best picture I could snap before I had to rescue my counter from being flooded.

I love my girls so much!  I'm so proud to be their Mom.