tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30871068337462803692024-03-14T05:43:42.503-07:00The Occasional ChefAn attempt by the cooking challenged (that would be me) to make something edible that doesn't come from a box.TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.comBlogger153125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-63171693045409147402019-12-07T15:04:00.002-08:002019-12-07T15:04:19.032-08:00Applesauce Masa (corn) muffins<br />
I was busy making corn muffins when I ran out of corn meal after the first batch. <br />
Knowing that I needed at least two dozen for The Jensen Family Christmas Party, I got to thinkin'... I knew that we had masa flour in the pantry. It's normally used for tamales, but it is corn meal - just a different kind of corn meal. I did a little online search, and decided to try <a href="https://www.cookistry.com/2011/12/masa-muffins.html">this recipe</a>.<br />
<br />
I was a bit worried, but didn't need to be! These do have a different texture and just a barely different flavor. They definitely aren't as mealy as the muffins with proper corn meal.<br />
<br />
I made some minor modifications as follows:<br />
<br />
1 cup flour<br />
3/4 cup masa harina<br />
2 tablespoons sugar<br />
1 teaspoon salt<br />
2 teaspoons baking powder<br />
1 cup milk<br />
1 egg<br />
6 Tbl butter<br />
2/3 cup applesauce<br />
<br />
Like my other applesauce corn meal muffins, I put the milk and butter in a bowl and microwaved it for 30 seconds. I did this slowly and four different times. You don't want to get the milk/butter mixture too hot or else it will cook the egg and leave lumps in the mixture.<br />
Once the butter is melted, whisk in an egg and the applesauce.<br />
<br />
In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.<br />
Then, mix all together.<br />
<br />
Load up a muffin tin. The mixture is perfect for a dozen muffins.<br />
<br />
I did NOT do the jam/jelly in the center like the folks over at Cookistry did. I'm sure that it's awesome, but these muffins are going to accompany chili, so that wouldn't work so well.<br />
<br />
I hope all of my cousins enjoy the muffins tomorrow! Can't wait to see everyone!<br />
TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-50486357413749602722018-08-26T18:25:00.001-07:002018-08-26T18:25:56.298-07:00Herbed Summer Squash and PotatoesMy niece went out of town for the night, so I was feeding and watering one of her horses. She had a bunch of crook neck squashes that she needed to get rid of, so she offered them to me. <br />
A week ago, we picked up our CSA basket. In it was a 10lb bag of potatoes. I needed something new where I could use the squash, so I went online, of course.<br />
<br />
I like crook neck squash, but I don't like them at the same time. I've actually stopped growing them because I can't figure out when to pick them before their skin gets rock-freakin-hard. They are so damn hard to cut - especially with their bumps and awkward shape that wobbles around the cutting board. So irritating. <br />
Today's squash - while free - are a pain in the butt. They are everything that I just described.<br />
(Turns out that you're supposed to harvest them when they are less then 2" in diameter. Huh. Who knew? Well, who besides anyone willing to do an online search...)<br />
On the other hand, <a href="https://www.nutrition-and-you.com/crookneck-squash.html">according to the internet</a>, they are full of vitamins and minerals.<br />
And, you've got to love a food that makes 11-year olds moan and groan. In all fairness to squash, they do this over every vegetable right now...<br />
<br />
I managed to use two of the squashes and four of the potatoes in the recipe that I found <a href="https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Herbed-Summer-Squash-and-Potato-Torte-with-Parmesan-105167?utm_campaign=yummly&utm_medium=yummly&utm_source=yummly">here</a>. I made a couple of changes, and the details are as follows:<br />
<br />
CAREFULLY cut the peel from the rock hard squash. Remove the seeds. Cut the remaining flesh into thin slices<br />
Slice the potatoes into thin slices as well<br />
Chop 1/2 brown onion<br />
1/2 cup parmesan cheese<br />
1/2 cup cheddar cheese (because I ran out of parmesan)<br />
2 T flour<br />
1 tsp (approximately) thyme leaves <br />
1 tsp (approximately) salt<br />
1/2 tsp (ish) pepper<br />
olive oil<br />
<br />
Mix the onion, cheeses, flour, thyme, salt, pepper together.<br />
Spray casserole dish or baking tin.<br />
<br />
Place a layer of potato slices on the bottom of the dish and follow with a layer of squash.<br />
Drizzle a little olive oil over the potato/squash slices.<br />
Sprinkle some of the cheese mixture.<br />
Repeat steps for 3-4 layers.<br />
<br />
Cover and bake at 375* for approximately 40 minutes.<br />
<br />
Literally, the hardest part of this recipe was cutting the squash!<br />
Also, you can prep this ahead of time and then pop it into the oven when ready to bake.TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-24758528617326478182018-03-04T19:49:00.000-08:002018-03-04T19:49:42.666-08:00Cheesy egg and bacon bitesGuess what? Yet another thing that the kids won't eat!<br />
Whatever.<br />
All they want is cereal, pancakes, and juice boxes. Ingrates.<br />
<br />
I love Pioneer Woman, and she loves me. That's why she provides me fattening recipes that my kids hate. <br />
HER kids eat them, but whatever.<br />
<br />
4 hard boiled eggs, chopped<br />
4 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped<br />
1/4 cup mayo<br />
1/2 cup (ish) chopped mushroom<br />
1 cup shredded cheese<br />
couple dashes of Worcestershire<br />
1 T mustard<br />
2 English muffins or those really thin bagels<br />
<br />
Mix everything up and spread it atop the muffins/bagels. <br />
Sprinkle a bit more cheese.<br />
Broil. <br />
Eat. <br />
Listen to how the little people "don't really like these eggs." <br />
Move on. <br />
Eat two (because, don't waste!) <br />
Make pancakes for the whiners.<br />
You're welcome.TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-51607297423011094592018-03-04T19:18:00.001-08:002018-03-04T19:18:44.762-08:00More lemongrass! Carrot and lemongrass soup!I got so excited to find lemongrass (at Harmon's, downtown) that I bought two!<br />
Actually, I thought that I was going to use it all in the shrimp dish. (I probably could have.)<br />
So, I really didn't want this to go to waste, so I found another recipe.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.bawarchi.com/recipe/orange-and-lemongrass-soup-oetk6fdjbjaac.html">It's rather odd, but good - different, but good.</a><br />
I found it from a site called bawarchi.com which has some pictures of some really good looking food. Maybe someday I will figure out the trick to making Indian food. (Maybe someday Janna will give me cooking lessons!)<br />
<br />
Anyway...<br />
<br />
1 T butter<br />
small piece of finely chopped ginger<br />
1 stalk lemongrass, finely chopped<br />
1 small clove garlic, finely chopped<br />
1 cup water<br />
2 cups pureed squash<br />
1 cup orange juice<br />
1 cup carrot juice<br />
salt<br />
pepper<br />
fresh basil - 2-3 small sprigs (well, I guess you could chop it up if you want)<br />
<br />
Melt the butter and then quickly saute the garlic, ginger, and lemongrass.<br />
Add the water and squash. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes.<br />
Add the orange, carrot juice, and basil. Simmer for a few more minutes.<br />
<br />
This is very broth-like. Brothy, if you will.<br />
Which is FINE if you're looking high and low for some broth. <br />
Me? I was looking for soup. This wasn't soupy. <br />
(Funny. Soupy is recognized as a word, but "brothy" is not. Huh...)<br />
So, I added a thickening agent. Much better. For me. <br />
<br />
Fish out the sprigs of basil unless you chopped it up.<br />
<br />
It's got a gingery tang to it which is accentuated by the lemongrass. <br />
I like it. I didn't even bother offering any to Bub. I already know what the answer will be. TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-67527547758128564462018-03-04T18:50:00.003-08:002018-03-04T19:19:29.205-08:00Crock pot Challenge February: lemongrassWell, finding lemongrass proved to be kind of a pain in the ass. <br />
There was NONE to be had in all of Tooele county. There was pureed lemongrass, but I didn't want to resort to that.<br />
So, I ended up making my recipe on the LAST day of the month because I kept forgetting to grab the lemongrass while in SLC. <br />
I found <a href="http://crockpot.betterrecipes.com/crock-pot-thai-coconut-chicken-and-shrimp.html">this recipe</a> at the beginning of the month.... 25 days later....<br />
<br />
As usual, I didn't do it exactly as the recipe indicated.<br />
I really like it. It's got a very mild flavor, but there is a way to fix that...<br />
<br />
4 chicken breasts, cut into thin slices<br />
10-ish jumbo shrimp<br />
1 can coconut milk<br />
1/2 cup soy milk<br />
2 tsp sriracha sauce<br />
1 tsp ground coriander<br />
1" cube of finely chopped ginger<br />
2 stalks lemongrass cut into 1" pieces<br />
1 cup chopped mushrooms<br />
1 T hoisin sauce<br />
1 T lemon juice<br />
<br />
Add chicken, millks, sriracha, coriander, ginger, and lemongrass to crockpot.<br />
Cook on low for 3-4 hours.<br />
Add shrimp, mushroom, hoisin and cook for another 30 minutes.<br />
Serve over rice.<br />
<br />
The liquid does not thicken. It's very runny, so you only need a couple of tablespoons of sauce on the rice after dishing up the rest of the food.<br />
You could thicken it up if you really wanted it to be more of a curry consistency.<br />
Sprinkle some lemon juice over the top, and if you want more of a kick, then a couple of dashes of sriracha sauce should be added.<br />
I really like it. Bub, not so much... (She's less adventurous than the boys lately!)TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-43849779714612940142018-02-18T10:33:00.001-08:002018-02-18T10:33:30.941-08:00No Flour Pancakes with bananasIn the mood to try something new - and healthy. <br />
I'm on day 18 of no candies, cookies, cake, ice cream, soda, hot chocolate, pie, etc. I haven't cut out all sugar, but I'm not eating junk right now. I'm paying attention to how much sugar is in the stuff that I'm eating and choosing the foods with less.<br />
<br />
Now, it's time to cut out the breads which means breakfast must change. UG. Except...<br />
<br />
So, I looked up "flourless pancakes," and I found a whole bunch of them. I basically just chose one at random and altered it a bit. You can <a href="http://www.tosimplyinspire.com/flourless-banana-pancakes.html">find the original here</a>.<br />
<br />
The boys barely noticed the difference between these and the pancakes that I usually make. Both are 1000x better than some crap from a box, IMO.<br />
<br />
INGREDIENTS:<br />
1 cup oatmeal, blended into a flour<br />
2 very ripe bananas<br />
1 eggs (maybe two - I don't remember!)<br />
1/2 cup gluten free flour<br />
1 tsp vanilla<br />
<br />
Yeah - that's about it.<br />
Grease the pan well so that the pancakes don't stick because they are full of sticky stuff.<br />
<br />
These are more dense than regular pancakes, but they are still fluffy enough.<br />
Since there is no added sugar, they definitely don't have the normal sweet flavor that you associate with pancakes. However, what does it matter? Everyone just drowns them in syrup anyway!<br />
I used honey since, well, see above. Perfect! And, easy!TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-34815949870954961372017-12-17T11:34:00.000-08:002017-12-17T16:58:48.924-08:00Venison Taco soupEvery year, my mom's side of the family gets together a couple of weeks before Christmas. It's a big deal, and people come from Arizona, California, and sometimes even Hawaii. (Unfortunately, due to grudges and pissing contests, some people can't be bothered to come from two hours - or even two minutes - away. Well, they are missing out.)<br />
<br />
For the past few years, there has been a soup theme. We have taken Tuscan tomato, chili, and something else that I can't really remember right now.<br />
<br />
Well, with dad and Sindi's move to Florida, there was a rush on getting everything out of their freezer and fridge. We were the lucky recipients of a LOT of venison (and condiments and pickled peppers). I am the ONLY person in this house who will eat venison, so I made a big batch of chili. I froze half of it and took the other half to work for lunches. Then, a couple of weeks later, I thawed the frozen half and had IT at work for a week. It was so good.<br />
<br />
Anyway, knowing that I was going back to my redneck roots and that I would be surrounded by a LOT of people who not only eat venison but also hunt it, I knew that I would come home with no leftovers.<br />
There's always a catch, right?<br />
Every recipe that I found was like a stew, and I knew that we would already have a proper stew and at least one soup stock type of soup. (Bless the Jensens. We're nothing if not predictable.) <br />
<br />
So, I wanted something different. Granted, venison soup IS different, even four my family. <br />
In our family, venison is usually served as a steak, a mixed sausage, or a 1/2 and 1/2 burger - in that order. Deer steak is by far the way that we eat it.<br />
FYI - venison must be a mixed sausage or 1/2 and 1/2 burger because it's just so incredibly lean. Even when browning up the meat for this soup, there are literally NO drippings. Think about it. Deer don't hang around and get fattened up by artificial means. They eat what they need to eat. They are very active, bounding and trotting from place to place, over fences, up hillsides, and through forest thickets. So, when cooking up a steak, you must be careful to add some oil or water. Without something else, sausage and burger would be as dry as a bone, and it would burn to a crisp. Therefore, it's common to mix venison with beef or pork.<br />
<br />
Anyhoo...<br />
I scrolled around the internet long enough to find Venison Taco soup. I like tacos. I like spice. I like venison. Intrigued, I clicked the link and then spent a few minutes literally chuckling at the directions.<br />
The <a href="http://guide.sportsmansguide.com/recipes/venison-taco-soup-2/">recipe comes from Sportsman's Guide</a>, and it reads as if my dad or brother wrote it. <br />
Basically, brown the meat, cook the onions until tender, and then just throw everything else in the pot.<br />
None of this nonsense about writing fancy and superlative information. Just a hunter/sportsman making dinner. Basically, a "you get what you get" approach to dinner. (Exactly opposite of this post!)<br />
<br />
Here is my version of the meal:<br />
1 - 1 1/2 pounds venison<br />
1 large onion<br />
1 quart stewed tomatoes<br />
1 can kidney beans, drained<br />
2-ish cups of water<br />
1 can of corn with juice<br />
1 pint of no-salt tomato sauce<br />
1 package taco seasoning<br />
Salt<br />
Pepper<br />
Cumin<br />
<br />
Cut the deer steak into small cubes, brown with a bit of water or olive oil<br />
Chop the onion and saute it in a bit of olive oil in the soup pot<br />
Once the onion is tender, literally dump everything into the pot and simmer.<br />
The original recipe asks for the kidney beans to be with juice, but that's just too much sodium. So, I drained mine and then added a bit more water.<br />
You can also top this with cheese, tortilla chips, sour cream, and cheese.<br />
<br />
In the end, this was awesome.<br />
Everyone loved it, and I came home with split pea and ham soup which I exchanged with my sister for the leftover venison taco soup.<br />
<br />
Next year, I'm in charge of organizing the food. (Yikes!)<br />
We're having brunch! Waffles, pancakes, aebleskivers, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, and juice. It's going to be a fun change.<br />
<br />
<br />
TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-18923743996564714592017-06-10T20:09:00.000-07:002017-06-10T20:10:15.045-07:00Banana pancake cookiesIt's a relatively boring story about how I got a mega bag of Krusteaz pancake mix.<br />
We'll totally eat it all, but the boys were making a lemonade stand and wanted to sell some cookies. Business was opening very shortly ("C'mon, mom!" says an exasperated voice), so I consulted the internet and found these yummy cookies <a href="http://www.shrutisdilectabledilites.com/2014/02/22/pancake-mix-cookies/">here</a>. They were simple, fast, and yummy!<br />
Then, we got very few customers because it was a Sunday on a residential road. It's all about location, boys!<br />
<br />
3 1/2 cups powdered pancake mix<br />
1 cup sugar (or 1/2 sugar and 1/2 brown sugar)<br />
1 egg<br />
1/3 cup water<br />
2 tsp vanilla or almond extract<br />
1 very ripe banana<br />
<br />
Mix everything together - no need to do anything special...<br />
<br />
Bake in 350* oven until the edges are golden brown. They were very flat and pancake like (duh), so I folded them in half as they were cooling.<br />
<br />
These literally took about 20 minutes. So very easy and fast!TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-66335927732578669762016-02-23T18:30:00.001-08:002016-02-23T18:30:36.088-08:00Chicken Noodle soup minus the chicken and the noodles... (in other words: Pork Quinoa soup)We had pork roast last week. The leftovers needed to be eaten, but 3/4 of us have been sick. Nobody is going to want leftover pork roast...<br />
So, we're sick. Chicken noodle soup makes everyone feel better, right? Alas, no chicken.<br />
<br />
I don't care. I want soup.<br />
<br />
We also have no noodles, unless I want spaghetti soup. Which I don't.<br />
<br />
Bing gives me Peruvian pork quinoa soup which includes peanuts. I can't even begin to imagine that today. Or maybe any day.<br />
It also gives me <a href="http://happyhealthymama.com/2015/01/chicken-quinoa-soup.html">chicken quinoa soup</a> which makes perfect sense.<br />
<br />
I drizzled some olive oil in a soup pan.<br />
Added a diced white onion (not sweet like the recipe called for).<br />
Pressed three cloves of garlic.<br />
Cooked until tender.<br />
Added three stalks of celery and some baby carrots, all chopped.<br />
Poured in two quarts of turkey broth from the pantry. (Oh, no! I'm all out of broth!)<br />
Added some thyme and bay leaf.<br />
Rinsed and added one cup dry quinoa.<br />
Brought the whole thing to a boil, then added the diced pork (probably 2 cups), some leftover black beans, leftover corn, and leftover carrots.<br />
Simmered for a while until ready.<br />
<br />
But was it really ready? Nope.<br />
Right at the end, I got a wild hair and decided to add 1/4 cup of roasted green chilis that a friend gave me last fall. They have been frozen and just waiting for something like this to come along. <br />
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......... Perfect addition.<br />
<br />
This made about 3 1/2 quarts of soup. I now have something healthy and yummy for lunch for the rest of the week. I have two quarts in the freezer that I can take out and have whenever!TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-60861508938539594552015-09-07T17:41:00.000-07:002015-09-07T17:41:28.634-07:00Apple wanna-be "bars"So, I'm in the back yard, and I'm looking at our tree with its heavy, heavy limbs.<br />
I'm looking at the ground with a bunch of windfall apples from the weekend's very brisk "breezes."<br />
I'm thinking to myself "Man - I'm going to be busy next month when it's time to get all of these apples off of this tree, and I should probably do something with these windfall apples."<br />
<br />
An hour later, I'm in the pantry. We're down to three quarts of applesauce, one quart of sliced apples, and three jars of apple pie filling. <br />
"Hmmm..." I say to the spider in the corner, "I should use up some of this pie filling."<br />
But, I just didn't want to do a pie crust. Not in the mood. (Not that it's hard or anything, but just not feeling it.)<br />
<br />
Recently, however, I did see some yummy looking thing in a magazine that looked like a lemon bar. I think that it had pumpkin or something.<br />
"I can do that with the pie filling," I think to myself (no longer talking to the spider in the corner - she was ignoring me anyway).<br />
<br />
So, I made the crust from my lemon bar recipe:<br />
<br />
INGREDIENTS for the crust:<br />
2 cups flour<br />
dash of salt<br />
1 cup butter<br />
1/2 cup powdered sugar<br />
<br />
DIRECTIONS:<br />
Mix together. Moist, but crumbly. Press half of the mixture into a 9" round pan. Bake for 15-ish minutes at 350*.<br />
<br />
Then, I dumped the quart of pie filling into the blender. I blended it up.<br />
After the first half of the crust has been baked, I poured the apple mush over it. Then, I pressed the rest of the crust into flat pieces that I used to cover up the apple mush. I had to do this in palm sized sections because it's not like a pie crust...<br />
<br />
Popped it all back into the over and baked for quite a while. The liquid mixture was bubbly the entire time.<br />
<br />
It turns out that the pie filling had a bit too much liquid in it. It never really evaporated enough to get solid like lemon bars do before I had to pull it out of the oven (because the crust was getting on the darker side of done).<br />
So, we're eating it in bowls instead of as hand held bars, but MAN! It is GOOD! This one is a hit with everyone!<br />
Next time, I think that I'll add some cream cheese or some ricotta to thicken the mixture up a bit. I'll also drain off some of the liquid.<br />
<br />
INGREDIENTS for the apple pie filling:<br />
I think that I got the pie filling from the Ball Blue Book (the bible of canning), but I'm not sure.<br />
Apples<br />
sugar<br />
a bit of flour<br />
cinnamon<br />
cloves<br />
<br />
The windfall apples are still on the ground, BTW.TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-61503621620493757612015-08-09T07:10:00.000-07:002015-08-09T07:10:18.165-07:00Creamy Cabbage Potato SoupOh, hi.<br />
<br />
I don't know why I even bother.<br />
Well, other than I actually make good stuff. Sadly, nobody will try anything because they're all a bunch of chickens.<br />
I also don't know why everyone thinks that cabbage is only for kraut and slaw. This is the third soup recipe that I've made with it. I got the recipe from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen (copyright 1982).<br />
<br />
INGREDIENTS:<br />
2-3 T butter<br />
1 cup chopped onion<br />
1 tsp caraway seed<br />
1 tsp salt<br />
4 cups (packed) shredded green cabbage<br />
3 cups stock/potato water<br />
pepper<br />
2 medium potatoes<br />
1/4 cup milk<br />
1/4 cup sour cream<br />
<br />
DIRECTIONS:<br />
In a large kettle, melt the butter and add the onions. Add caraway and salt after a few minutes. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally.<br />
In separate pot, boil potatoes until soft.<br />
Add cabbage, potatoes, 1 cup potato water, 2 cups stock*, pepper. Cover/Simmer about 30-40 minutes.<br />
Once cabbage is soft, remove from heat. <br />
Blend with blender, hand mixer, wand mixer, etc.<br />
Add milk and sour cream, blend again.<br />
Pepper to taste.<br />
<br />
Now - how to make this dairy free?<br />
I can use EVOO instead of butter, but how to "cream" something without sour cream/milk?<br />
I'm thinking that goat/sheep cheese could be used instead of the sour cream and rice milk?<br />
TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-76114021469097093462015-04-24T04:56:00.002-07:002015-04-24T05:03:17.643-07:00Baked Oatmeal (and I've been gone a long time)You know what? I don't like it when things don't go the way I planned.<br />
And, I don't like surprises that derail everything. <br />
Finally, when life slaps me in the face, I can get a bit bummed out.<br />
<br />
Well, YES to all of these things in the past two years except I got more than bummed out. What a funk I've been muddling through! Bless my family for tolerating me through it all. It has been an incredibly difficult time for me, but I'm gaining some perspective and trying to finally bounce back.<br />
<br />
I've still been cooking and baking and canning - mostly on the weekends - and mostly stuff that I already know. Adventure has taken a back-seat to finances and nourishment. The boys are less adventuresome than ever - I think it's the age (6-8). It doesn't matter how much fun the food is for me to make and experiment with if they won't eat it, right? And, finances have been incredibly tight, so I can't really go out and buy new and crazy ingredients all of the time. So, it's back to the basics (and, even then, the boys might not eat it - like this AWESOME baked oatmeal recipe).<br />
<br />
BAKED OATMEAL:<br />
I've tried quite a few baked oatmeal recipes over the past year.<br />
Baked because Bub thinks that oatmeal prepared in the regular way tastes like gruel and looks like paste. She may be right on the "looks" part. So, I've taken to throwing together something based on what I find online. The problem is that I can never remember which recipe I used the last time and end up using something else the next time, and it's been inconsistent. But, last weekend, I fell in love with this one, so I just HAD to get it written down!<br />
I found this recipe <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Oatmeal-II/">here</a>, and then Meatball and I added a couple of things to it. You can see that it gets great reviews from others who have made it.<br />
So yummy!<br />
<br />
Ingredients:<br />
3 cups oatmeal (we used quick cook even though I know that you're not supposed to - it turned out just fine)<br />
1 cup brown sugar<br />
2 tsp cinnamon<br />
2 tsp baking powder<br />
1 tsp salt<br />
1 cup milk<br />
2 eggs<br />
1/2 cup melted butter<br />
2 tsp vanilla extract<br />
2/3-ish cup fresh blueberries<br />
1 medium banana (pretty ripe - getting brown spots and needed to be used)<br />
1/2 cup sliced strawberries<br />
<br />
Instructions:<br />
Mix dry ingredients.<br />
Add in wet ingredients.<br />
Stir in fruit(s).<br />
Bake at 350*.<br />
<br />
Ours was very moist due to the fresh fruit, so the middle was still pretty wet and goopy while the outsides were done. We just dished up from the outsides and put the whole dish back into the oven so that the middle could finish baking.<br />
This could also be because I put the lid on the casserole dish for the first part of the baking...<br />
Either way, it was delicious and healthy (minus the brown sugar). It was even excellent as a leftover that I took to work as breakfast for the next four days. Yes. It makes a lot. Perfect for a family of 4-6 OR perfect for that time everyone keeps warning me about when my boys will eat all of the time. I've been waiting for this to happen for almost 8 years.....TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-1369448267271123582013-01-22T19:36:00.001-08:002013-01-22T19:36:29.324-08:002013 food challenge - Yum. Yum! YUM!Ok. So the VX4 challenge ended in a total fizzle, but let's be honest..... The holidays are hard and stressful and crazy and who has time for vegetables anyway?<br />
<br />
So, here's the thing. 2013 has started with, well, shitty news on four different fronts ( house re-fi, job, car, plumbing), and January isn't even over yet!<br />
<br />
So, what's a food lover to do? Well, make dessert, of course! Yes. I know. It's not healthy to stress eat. It's not good to drown your emotions in food. It's just eff-Ed up to eat instead of deal. <br />
Well, I AM dealing. I am coping. I am doing the best I can, and I deserve a treat or two. Or, three to be exact. <br />
<br />
It's not like this is going to just be a free for all. There are some rules. I'm lost if I don't have a rule or two to keep me in line, dontcha know...<br />
<br />
So, enter the 2013 Yum. Yum! YUM! Challenge. <br />
Each month, I will make three desserts:<br />
One vegan<br />
One with only whole ingredients<br />
One sugar free<br />
<br />
See? Told you that it would be a challenge!<br />
<br />
And, yes. I realize that January is almost over. What of it? You think I can't eat three desserts in one week? <br />
<br />
P'shaw... Do you not know me at all? (plus, I'm having foot surgery in two days. I'll need something to eat while I'm laying around for two days.)<br />
<br />
2013's got nothing on me. <br />
When the going gets tough, the tough eat dessert!<br />
AND, they don't give two shits who knows it!<br />
Bring it, 2013. I'll throw a friggin' vegan pie in your face!TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-39140830814692898982012-12-28T07:07:00.000-08:002012-12-28T07:07:00.212-08:00PINWHEEL COOKIESSo, the boys wanted to make some cookies. But, drop cookies wouldn’t cut it, and we didn’t have all of the necessary accoutrements for “shape” (sugar) cookies. Yes. Mommy actually ran out of sprinkles, sparkles, and doo-dads. All we had was food coloring.<br />
<br />
As we were flipping through the cookie book (which is AWESOME), Meatball saw some pinwheel cookies. They were red and white and very holiday with some artificial cinnamon flavoring. Well, Bub is allergic to that flavoring, so that part was out, and we didn’t even have red food coloring, so we couldn’t do that, either. But, we did have green and blue food coloring, and those are the boys’ favorite colors, AND our football teams were playing each other that day. (Eagles/Cowboys – Eagles lost. Boo-hoo – too bad for me and Meatball.)<br />
<br />
So, these were what we picked. Little did mommy know that these would be the most time consuming cookies on the planet. First, you’ve got to make and color the dough and let it set up in the fridge for a couple of hours. Then, you flatten them with a rolling pin and place them on top of each other and roll them up – pinwheel them together – and let it set up on the fridge for another couple of hours. Then, you take them out and cut the cookies off of the big roll and finally bake them. However, you’re now baking them in the MIDDLE OF THE STINKING FOOTBALL GAME, so you forget what you’re doing, and YOU EFF-ING **BURN** THEM. Yup. I burned them. There were about 18 cookies total, and I overcooked every last damn one of them.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaeiK2z34fOr6_7r9xfFvZW2ws4WJ-ZoUCQkXivHPbU9i8Ah1v5Q1lG9LqOt_m9sKQ41UEPuILU_YzHUSnqbOBD38OJYpq0FNOIqxQyDoOC7db3Xv2mGPgwGeEu0IIoQvZLmmRBgGVmps/s1600/122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="276" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaeiK2z34fOr6_7r9xfFvZW2ws4WJ-ZoUCQkXivHPbU9i8Ah1v5Q1lG9LqOt_m9sKQ41UEPuILU_YzHUSnqbOBD38OJYpq0FNOIqxQyDoOC7db3Xv2mGPgwGeEu0IIoQvZLmmRBgGVmps/s320/122.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<br />
I wish I could say that this picture was just poorly lit, but it’s not. Sonofa….<br />
They would have been awesome, too. The flavor – minus the burned sugar cookie thing – was really good. Grrrr…<br />
<br />
TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-4336406572308123152012-12-12T21:08:00.000-08:002012-12-12T21:08:00.083-08:00Potato Leek SoupThis is such a no brainer, especially when you have both leeks and potatoes that need to be eaten. The leeks were from my garden, and (I think I’ve talked about this) were small. They were more like mild green onions than the leeks that I see in the store. I want to figure out how to fix this for next year because they flourished in our garden, and I would love to try them again. The potatoes were from my dad’s garden. Every year, he plants about 8427 plants, and every year, his wife and I give him grief. Then, at harvest time, they spend an incredible amount of time bottling them. Again, I give him a hard time. But, they have just enough to last them the entire year until the next harvest. Me? I’ve never planted them. They are so cheap that I don’t bother. I would rather spend my valuable summer water on things that aren’t easy/cheap to find in our stores.<br />
<br />
Regardless, I made this soup last night. Man, that was a long intro to get to the part where I make the soup, wasn’t it?<br />
<br />
INGREDIENTS:<br />
3 pounds potatoes, peeled<br />
2 small bushes of leeks, chopped (about ¾ cup)<br />
1 quart turkey broth<br />
1 quart veggie broth<br />
1 package Knorr’s Potato Leek soup mix<br />
Some extra onion powder and some garlic powder (not much)<br />
½ cup milk (the recipe called for half and half, but we didn’t have any, of course)<br />
2 T sour cream (part of the substitution for the half and half)<br />
<br />
DIRECTIONS:<br />
Peel/slice leeks. Sautee them in some of the broth in the soup pot. <br />
Once they are tender, dump everything else in except for the cream/milk.<br />
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. <br />
Simmer until potatoes are very tender.<br />
Puree with blender or immersion blender.<br />
Add milk/half and half at the end of the blending.<br />
Serve.<br />
<br />
And, by “serve,” I mean call the two five year olds in to have a little taste. Watch them pull faces and act like they are going to die a painful death. Rejoice as they say “Ewwwww, yuck. Wait! I like that!” Parenthood success. (Of course, they didn’t actually eat their soup. They just weren’t hungry UNTIL it was bedtime, naturally. I gave them a banana and some milk and reminded them that they wouldn’t be hungry if they just would have eaten the soup that I had slaved over. What kind of parent would I be if I didn’t add a bit of guilt to every meal?)<br />
<br />
TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-11230263576179678392012-12-11T21:06:00.002-08:002012-12-11T21:10:13.430-08:00Home Made GranolaI love granola. I add it to my yogurt. I add it to waffles and pancakes. If it weren’t so high in calories, I would eat it for breakfast every darn day. But, it’s really, really high in calories! So, I decided to make it for myself using a recipe that I found in my Sunset Brunch cookbook (which I live by on the weekends – especially the pancake/waffle section!).<br />
<br />
I did not, however, look at the ingredients and add up the calories before making it. You can see where this is going, right?<br />
<br />
INGREDIENTS:<br />
3 cups oatmeal<br />
1 cup wheat flour<br />
½ cup corn meal<br />
½ cup rye flour<br />
½ cup wheat germ<br />
½ cup brown sugar<br />
½ cup coconut<br />
½ cut peanut butter<br />
½ cup vegetable oil<br />
<br />
DIRECTIONS: mix it all together and bake it at a low temperature until nice and crunchy.<br />
<br />
So, duh. Coconut, oil, peanut butter, brown sugar…. Could I choose higher calorie ingredients? These are common ingredients for commercially made granola, so that explains a lot. It certainly explains the 483 calories per one cup serving!<br />
<br />
BUT – this is so yummy! And, it doesn’t have that stale or chemical taste that so many store bought granolas have.<br />
<br />
I’ve had to use this sparingly, but I will continue to make it at home instead of buying it. This way I know what it contains, and I can tinker with the ingredients to find things that are less calorie laden while still maintaining the overall granola integrity. (Does granola have integrity? Do you have to stick to some core ingredients to still make a granola? If you stray too far from traditional granola, what does it become? Deep questions for a Monday. I think that I need more brain food. Good thing I have some fresh granola!)<br />
<br />
TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-42285863271529901432012-11-30T21:07:00.000-08:002012-12-11T21:10:34.794-08:00Peas and LeeksWhy have I never had this before? So easy and tasty.<br />
<br />
The boys, of course, hated it. A foreign substance in their veggies? Seriously! Don’t take that wrong. I’m SO happy that they will even EAT their veggies. I guess I shouldn’t bellyache when they don’t want an onion/leek.<br />
<br />
INGREDIENTS:<br />
Peas<br />
Leeks<br />
Broth<br />
Yup – that’s it.<br />
<br />
DIRECTIONS:<br />
Slice leeks. Saute in broth. Add frozen peas and maybe a bit more broth. Simmer until peas are hot throughout (just a couple of minutes). <br />
<br />
That’s it!<br />
TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-85571577257832182992012-11-15T11:10:00.000-08:002012-12-11T21:11:02.528-08:00Cherry Cake - Um, YUM!I have a cookbook called The Neighborhood Cookbook. My ex bought it from work - one of those do-it-yourself cookbooks that wards, churches, or tight knit communities puts together. I think that she bought it from a friend who had a recipe featured in it. I didn't give it to her when we split because she never used it. At this point (17 years later?), I know absolutely NOBODY in it, but I use it all the time for the worlds greatest banana bread. (No, I'm not kidding.)<br />
<br />
Anyway, the boys wanted to make a cake. I'm tired, and I don't get home from work until 6pm on most nights anymore. The time between getting home and getting to bed is spent trying to make them actually eat dinner, doing dishes, getting bath time over with, reading stories, putting them in bed about 50 times, and so forth. My point: I don't have a ton of time. <br />
<br />
But, they wanted to bake a cake. We didn't have any boxed cake mixes! What?!?! The world's easiest treat for busy parents, and I don't have any? FAIL!<br />
<br />
On top of that, Meatball wanted to make a strawberry cake, and Peanut wanted to make a blueberry cake. Well, it's not the season for either of those berries (or any other, for that matter), and I'm not about to pay off-season prices to eat something that is utterly tasteless. So, I talked them into making a cherry cake since we have quarts and quarts in the pantry. Of course, I did this before I realized that I didn't have any mixes. I was just going to bake a regular cake and throw some cherries in the frosting which would make me look like super-mom without all of the trouble.<br />
<br />
So, great. Here I have them all amped up to bake a dang cherry cake, no time, and none of the fixins.<br />
<br />
Out came The Neighborhood Cookbook. This thing was made in Utah, so SOMEONE has had this problem before, right? SOMEONE has got to have an easy recipe for cherry cake, right? YES! Hallelujah!<br />
<br />
And, guess what? It's super moist, the spices aren't overpowering, it's sweet enough that we didn't frost it (see also: no time), and it's already halfway gone in one night (OK, I had two big pieces). Oh, we'll be making this again, for sure. <br />
<br />
INGREDIENTS:<br />
3/4 cup butter<br />
1 1/2 cup sugar<br />
3 eggs<br />
2 cups flour (all-purpose or whole wheat)<br />
1 tsp baking soda<br />
1 tsp cinnamon<br />
1 tsp nutmeg<br />
1 tsp cloves<br />
1 quart drained cherries (reserve the liquid)<br />
<br />
DIRECTIONS:<br />
Cream the butter, sugar, and eggs.<br />
Add the dry ingredients.<br />
Add the drained cherries.<br />
Add necessary reserved cherry juice to get the batter to the right consistency.<br />
Dump into greased cake pan.<br />
Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.<br />
<br />
Calories: 249 (based on 15 pieces per 9x13 pan)<br />
<br />
Here's something else that I love: It's moist enough that you can totally substitute the all-purpose flour with whole wheat, and if drained, you could add ANY fruit that you have in the pantry. Success on many levels! <br />
<br />
Finally, you can do a lot with the remaining cherry juice:<br />
1) drink it up or add it to other juice that you already have in the fridge<br />
2) substitute it for the cooking oil that you would normally put into your pancake/waffle recipe this weekend<br />
3) freeze it into home made juice popcicles<br />
4) add it to your morning smoothie<br />
5) add it to champagne for an interesting twist on the traditional mimosa<br />
In other words, NEVER dump this stuff (or any other juice) down the drain.TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-17034833116508337862012-11-14T10:40:00.001-08:002012-11-14T10:40:33.180-08:00VX4 November Vegetable: PeasSo, October was another FAIL for VX4. I just did not find the time or ambition to make four things with leeks. I still have plenty in my nice cool pantry, so I'll be doing something with them soon.<br />
<br />
November is going about as well as October. We're halfway through the month, and I'm just now coming up with an ingredient. So, I'm going with something easy. If I have to open a can and heat it up in a pan and scoop a couple of spoonfuls onto a plate, then so be it. I am going to get my monthly FOUR dishes, so help me gawd.<br />
<br />
OK - that really won't count because I would feel like a big shmoh. Wait. I already do since I wasn't successful again last month. UG! Enough whining already, right?<br />
<br />
So, November is peas. I'm going to come up with something good. Perhaps something containing peas and leeks?TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-54701812869621902542012-10-27T10:50:00.000-07:002012-12-11T21:11:31.073-08:00VX4 Leeks #1 - Leek and Lemon LinguineOK - I don't have the time or patience to re-write this whole thing. Let's just say that I googled a recipe, and chose <a href="http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/leek_lemon_linguine.html">this one</a>.<br />
<br />
You should try it. It was really good.<br />
My major digression from the recipe is that I didn't have any fresh parsley, so I used dried. I used a bit too much, in my opinion, but it was still a very good dish. The boys even ate it (and liked it), so it's kid tested/approved.<br />
I would totally make it again - especially with the fresh parsley!<br />
<br />
I suppose dill would also be good in this recipe, right? Dill and lemon are practically married in our house. (Just like us. Practically married. But, it doesn't count in Utah. There is probably some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Constitutional_Amendment_3">amendment</a> in some cookbook somewhere that forbids these two lovelies from legally tying the knot. Spite them, dill and lemon. Live happily! Love! Spend all of your time spicing things up TOGETHER! Spite them all! OK. I need to calm down.)<br />
<br />
Also, I may have mentioned this, my leeks are tiny. They resemble green onions more than the leeks that I see in the store. They still taste good.TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-50976989901470429722012-10-20T21:39:00.001-07:002012-10-20T21:39:19.556-07:00VX4 October Ingredient: LeeksI know, I know. I'm behind in my blogging, and this is really too bad since I've made some awesome things lately! <br />
<br />
I'm choosing leeks as this month's ingredient because I just happen to have seven bunches of leeks in the garden to harvest. I've only used leeks once, and that was during last year's soup challenge. I'm going to try to make four things in two weeks without making soup.<br />
<br />
ACK!TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-23551232923024199542012-09-30T21:30:00.000-07:002012-10-20T21:31:36.283-07:00VX4 Squash #4: Vegetable Lentil Creamy SoupI made two different versions of this soup, one with and one without lentils. Both are very yummy. The trouble is that I continue to fill the jars too full, and some of the soup siphons out during the pressure canning stage. That messes with the seal on the jar, and I can only put half of the jars in the pantry. The others go in the fridge for me to eat at work.<br />
<br />
Bub said that this soup smelled "like feet." Too bad for her that she didn't taste it! I love it. She dosn't know what she's missing!<br />
<br />
INGREDIENTS:<br />
Summer squash, diced, peeled, and seeded <br />
Tomatoes<br />
Bell peppers, diced<br />
Balsamic vinegar<br />
Broth (vegetable or otherwise)<br />
Green lentils, cooked<br />
Salt, pepper, herbs to taste.<br />
<br />
DIRECTIONS:<br />
Put rack in center of oven. Spray baking sheet. Spread out vegetables and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and EVOO. Roast vegetables at 450* until tender (about 20 mintues). <br />
Bring the stock to a boil. Add veggies and lentils. Simmer about 5 mintues or until the lentils are very tender.<br />
Remove from heat and let cool a bit. Add mixture to blender and puree. <br />
Add more stock if necessary.<br />
<br />
SERVING:<br />
A tablespoon of sour cream (or lowfat cottage cheese) in the center of the bowl makes for a great presentation. Pita or naan bread is great for dipping.TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-71718272751431438422012-09-13T06:53:00.000-07:002012-09-19T06:54:15.246-07:00VX4 Summer Squash #3 – Spicy Squash Puree [Cue maniacal evil mommy laugh with thrown back head!]<br />
<br />
Let me just say that I TOTALLY didn’t think that this would work.<br />
The recipe (that I got out of Stocking Up from Rodale Press) claims that this is a great substitute to applesauce on pork or whatever. So, I thought, maybe I can get this past the boys and convince them to eat squash without them knowing it. It was worth a shot.<br />
<br />
DIRECTIONS:<br />
<br />
Peel summer squash (any kind). Halve and remove seeds. Cut into chunks that can be shredded. (Note: use the shredder contraption on the food processor, or you will run out of elbow grease before you’re done.)<br />
<br />
Add about six cups of shredded squash to pot with ½ can of apple juice concentrate.<br />
<br />
Don’t worry. The liquid from the squash will provide enough moisture.<br />
<br />
Cook the entire mixture down until almost all liquid is gone. Add some cinnamon, allspice, and cloves.<br />
<br />
Remove from stovetop and cool.<br />
<br />
Put into blender and puree the holy heck out of it.<br />
<br />
That’s it. You have faux applesauce.<br />
<br />
The boys LOVE IT! (They love it almost more than regular applesauce!) I’m a genius! (OK, fine. The people over at Rodale are geniuses. Whatever. My kids are eating squash.)<br />
TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-40218339520085449922012-09-11T06:51:00.000-07:002012-09-19T06:52:55.397-07:00VX4 Summer Squash #2 – Stuffed Summer SquashAgain, incredibly easy, nutritious, and economical!<br />
<br />
DIRECTIONS:<br />
<br />
Cut zucchini (about a foot long) in half. Discard seeds.<br />
<br />
Whisk one egg and then coat the exposed zucchini flesh. Sprinkle wheat germ over the egg. (I’m not sure why these steps are in here. They didn’t add any flavor, but I suppose that they did add some protein, although only if you’re eating the entire thing by yourself. See below.)<br />
<br />
Place on rack over a pan of water at 350*. Steam the zuke for about 10 minutes.<br />
<br />
While the squash is steaming, cut up a carrot, a stalk of celery, some onion, and whatever other veggies you want to include in this. I used some corn off an ear that had been forgotten in the drawer.<br />
<br />
Sautee veggies in a tiny bit of oil and vegetable broth (homemade from the pantry, for me).<br />
<br />
Add some oregano and basil (or whatever you have a hankering for. I’m sure that any flavor would work well for this dish) and about 4 ounces of tomato sauce.<br />
<br />
Remove the zucchini from the oven. Stuff the veggie mixture into/onto the zucchini. Return to the oven for about 30 minutes.<br />
<br />
Just before removing from oven, sprinkle some shredded cheese over the top to melt. <br />
Cut into 1-inch slices for serving.<br />
<br />
This was so good that I ate one half of an entire foot long zucchini by myself. Then, two nights later, I ate the other half because Bub was sick and the boys weren’t having any business with this many veggies all at once. Chickens.<br />
<br />
TooeleTwinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10104667417655628403noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087106833746280369.post-89969189740166680422012-09-09T06:50:00.000-07:002012-09-19T06:50:30.027-07:00VX4 Summer Squash #1 – Veggie Egg BitesOK – this couldn’t be easier. At all. A friend/coworker/part-time personal trainer turned me on to this, and what’s not to love?<br />
<br />
First: you can sneak veggies in to something that kids already like, and they will be none the wiser.<br />
<br />
Second: you can use up those veggies that are two days away from the compost bin. (Yes, I said “compost.” Yes, it was an effort to fool you into thinking that we are mindful about composting at chateau Beeny. Most of the time, I forget to walk everything to the top of the yard where the compost box is. Bub just doesn’t care about it. Plus, it attracts fruit flies, and nothing makes me crazier than them. Well, except for not taking my medication. Bwah-ha-ha-ha! Just kidding. I’m not crazy, and I don’t take meds. My other personalities told me to tell you that, by the way.)<br />
<br />
Third: this is fast and easy and a quick source of protein – which I’ve been lacking lately.<br />
<br />
So, this is what you do:<br />
<br />
Spray muffin tin.<br />
<br />
Either line the bottom with some pieces of bread or make a cupcake cup looking thingy out of a piece of lunch meat (turkey, ham, etc.)<br />
<br />
Cut up some veggies into small pieces. Place veggies in each tin on top of the bread or meat.<br />
<br />
Here’s where it gets hard: Either scramble twelve eggs and pour into each tin or crack directly into each tin. Try not to work up a sweat.<br />
<br />
Sprinkle some pepper or other spices over the top.<br />
<br />
Bake at 350* until done.<br />
<br />
Store in the fridge and use between biscuits or rolls (what we call egg rolls – funny, right?) as a quick breakfast food that can be eaten on the go.<br />
<br />
It’s a good alternative to hard-boiled eggs. It can be made ahead of time. It’s healthy. It has protein and veggies. Win!<br />
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And, you guessed it. I had some leftover shredded summer squash in the fridge that I used in these along with some onions and broccoli.<br />
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