Frittata

Oh my gracious, y'all. I have had the hardest time making myself sit down, upload photos, go through said photos, reupload them back onto blogger, then type out everything. I decided to try taking pictures with my relatively new iphone and then use google+ to transfer them here. We'll see how that goes and if it makes it easier to keep up with my little recipe box. My posts might be sporadic but at least they are delicious!!

Introducing: Breakfast Frittata, a staple in our home because it is super easy to make and anything can go in it :) It's an open faced omlette which means no flipping, folding or complicated maneuvers. In this frittata I have leftover rosemary-onion roasted potatoes from the night before, spinach, frozen broccoli and onion. Usually the red potatoes are what remind me about frittatas "ohhh these would be so good in an omlette tomorrow morning!" 


The main ingredients you have to have are:
- 6 eggs (for the 3 of us works great but always add more/less for the group of people you're feeding)
- Splash of milk
- S&P
- Whatever veggies or meats you want to add in.

Saute the veggies/meat in a non stick pan. Then whisk the eggs up and throw it into the pan. Leave it alone until the edges are starting to set up and then stick it into a 350 oven until the eggs are set up all over - usually 10 minutes but depends on how many eggs you have. The top will not brown (if you have cheese on top and want it browned then try broiling it for a few minutes.)
*side note: I'm not sure my pan is an "oven safe" pan since it has a squishy handle so I wrap the handle in foil (thanks RR!) and it's totally fine!*
 Then just slide your frittata out of the pan, slice it up like a pizza and serve. I love to serve mine with pico de gallo up top but was out of that this week so added feta cheese - delicious! We used to add cheddar cheese to the top when baking it but LB is dairy-free now so we have to add it afterwards.

A New Perspective

Put plain and simply: I have neglected my poor cooking blog :( 

BUT, no more!

I have still been trying new recipes and entertaining friends and family. I've just stopped taking pictures and carving out time to put them up along with recipes. I thought long and hard about how best to approach this and I think I've come up with something that will help me and maybe get some good recipes out there...

I think I will write this blog for me.

Eh?

Yeah, I think I was trying too hard to write like a food writer. I tried being witty, telling a story, blah blah blah. I was bit upset when no one really came to read or leave comments and you know what? Shame on me. Because I really started this blog for me: To keep track of recipes made, ones I don't want to lose, ones that were disasters (though I've yet to post one of those yet!) 

So I am taking on a new perspective. I will treat this blog like it is mine, since it is, and write for me and keep this as my online cook book that I can share with the world ;-) 

Enough with the words, let's get cooking! I'm going to make up a pork dumpling recipe tonight so I'll take pictures and hopefully get that up later tonight or by tomorrow! 

Balsamic Mushrooms

It's funny how as you get older your taste buds change. It's why I am constantly trying things again and again even if I didn't like them before. I used to hate mushrooms with a passion and now I can't get enough of them!

This recipe comes to you thanks to my parents. They always made these mushrooms and onions anytime they made grilled steak. It is fantastic on top of a filet mignon but it is equally as good as a side dish especially for a vegetarian meal. Today I am showing you how to make them stove top but I usually make them in the oven. This time stove top was much easier so I'll probably try that more often from now on. 

Ingredients:

- Any mushrooms, sliced thick. (My parents always used big portabella mushrooms. I use cremini.) 

- Half an onion, sliced

- 1T butter

- S&P 

- EVOO

-Balsamic Vinegar

Directions:

- Add the mushrooms and onions to the pan over med-high heat with pad of butter and a bit of EVOO. Saute.

When mushrooms start to get soft, add a splash of balsamic vinegar (remember you can always add more but you can't take away any!)

- Let simmer until mushrooms are cooked. Add a splash or so of water if mushrooms start to burn.

- Season liberally with pepper and a tad bit of salt.

Served here with Spinach Potato Cakes

Potato Spinach Cakes

I am so excited to post this new recipe because it is 100% mine - meaning that I came up with the idea and the ingredients on my own and the best part? They were delicious! Feels pretty good ;)

I came up with these cakes because LB was going through a major "tatoe" eating spree and because my sister passed along a bunch of fresh spinach from her produce box (I so want one!) I didn't just want to saute up the spinach and it eat because I wanted LB to get in on all that goodness so I figured I could mix it with potatoes and she would dig right in. Then why not take it one step further and add some extra seasonings like onions and garlic and then brown those babies right up! 

I wasn't going to post this recipe just yet because there are a few things I would like to try out (Fresh vs frozen spinach because I don't always have fresh) and tweak (egg, no egg? more garlic?) But my mother in law caught a picture of Lily devouring these nutritious cakes and requested the recipe so I was more than happy to oblige! 

So here we go:

Ingredients

- 2 servings of box made mashed potatoes 

- 1/4 of a yellow onion, chopped

- 2 cloves garlic

- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

- 1/4 cup panko + some for breading

- 1 bunch of spinach, chopped

(Options to try next time: 1 egg for more binding? Real mashed potatoes? More chopped onion?)

Directions:

Saute onion and garlic in EVOO until fragrant. Add chopped spinach until wilted

Prepare mashed potatoes

Combine spinach mixture with potatoes. Add parmesan cheese and panko (add more if mixture looks too wet.) Season with S&P

Mix and taste

Make as big or as little cakes as you'd like and bread in panko. Place into a hot non stick pan with canola oil (I had to add more oil as I flipped.) 

Flip when browned. Place on paper towel when done and serve !

Crispy and creamy! Served here with balsamic mushrooms 

LB ate a whole cake plus a bit more - spinach and all! YUM!

Comforting Vegetable Soup

Sometimes, even when I'm not sick, I crave homemade vegetable soup. I often make this for lunch time for me and LB and we both devour bowls of it. Plus we always have leftovers to freeze or eat later in the week.
I always vary the ingredients depending on what I have. There are a few staples that I always have in the soup: Potatoes, A can of tomatoes, carrots and frozen veggies like peas, lima beans and spinach. So feel free to make your own favorite version of veggie soup. Believe me, you will never eat canned veggie soup again. It is so gross and there's no reason you should subject yourself to that! Just thinking of it makes me shudder! This soup is too easy not to make. RR would call it a "chop 'n drop" soup but really all you have to chop is the carrots, potatoes and zucchini, everything else you just throw in!

First start off with boiling the ingredients that will take the longest. You can boil in water or chicken stock. I didn't have chicken stock on hand but used a cube of chicken bouillon to add some extra flavor.  Today I started with potatoes, carrots and lima beans. Not long after the boiling started I added in the whole wheat noodles that would take 7 minutes. As the noodles and such were cooking I slowly started adding more ingredients.
(I should say, this time I made the soup I used every vegetable in my house. I was craving some serious veggies!)
So I added the tomatoes, beans, frozen spinach, first then the zucchini and peas at the last minute. I also added a sprinkle of dried basil and dried oregano.

Big pot full of healthy deliciousness

My bowl

LB's bowl - she ate it all and asked for more beans this time :) 

More Pinterest Finds

Here are a few recipes I've tried from pinterest:


Starting with zucchini "tots." These actually do smell like tater tots but that's about where the similarities end. They taste a lot like small zucchini quiches (although mine had a bit too much black pepper in it! whoops!) They were still very delicious and I would love to make them as an appetizer sometime.

 Next up is "egg boats" It's like having scrambled eggs with all your favorite ingredients in a bread bowl. AMAZING. The only problem I had was that I didn't make enough. Each person should ideally get their own baguette. Either that or serve some kind of side (besides the bacon we had) with this. I used a cheese bread and it was fabulous. I added broccoli, mushrooms, and green onions. YUM!

Chicken Pot Pie

Mmmm...nothing says "I love you" more than a homemade chicken pot pie. This is a great meal to take to a sick friend, a new mom, someone that's just moved, or just make it to show your family how much you love them! I am attempting to freeze one of mine this time around (not baked) and see how it comes out - standby, I'll let you know!
I have a few shortcuts to making homemade pot pie. I don't, and never will, make my own crusts. I buy deep dish pie shells and pie crust tops that can roll over top.
I also use rotisserie chicken when it's on sale or I happen to be short on time. That chicken is so soft and moist! But, it's not always cheap or convenient if you don't want to go out. Yesterday I made chicken salad so I just baked off two extra chicken breasts for the pot pie today. An easy way to do this is slather chicken breasts (you can do either boneless-skinless or bone-in breasts) with EVOO and S&P and cook for about 25-30 minutes at 350 until juices run clear. Make sure to let your chicken rest before slicing or placing in the fridge.
This is also one of those recipes that you can put almost anything you like into. Don't like lima beans like our family does, leave 'em out! Add onions if you like them. Add mushrooms if you feel inclined! I also change up the seasonings. This time i used a smidge of garlic powder at the end and thyme leaves for a little zing. But it's delicious without any extras, too!

Ingredients:
1 russet potato, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
Carrots cut up in bite sized pieces
Frozen peas
Frozen lima beans
Cooked Chicken breasts, cut up into pieces
2 deep dish pie crusts
2 pie crust tops
1 box chicken stock or broth
3T butter
3T flour
Splash of milk (Another bonus for this recipe: No heavy cream!)


Directions:

Start by boiling the potatoes and carrots together. Drain when cooked.

- Make a roux! Remember that fancy word from Lemon Spaghetti? It's the exact same principle, melt the butter, add the flour and whisk at med-low heat. Turn up the heat to med-high and whisk in chicken stock. Whisk on and off until mixture comes to a boil. Add in a splash or so of milk. Season the mixture with S&P and other seasonings of your choice (good ones are thyme, garlic, rosemary, chives, etc.) Wait until mixture boils enough to thicken. If roux is too thick, add more liquid (milk or stock.)


It just so happens that this time around my mixture did not thicken up as I normally like it to so I took 1T of butter, 1T of flour and mashed them together until you could not tell which was which and plopped it into the roux and whisked my arm off! Voila! No lumps, no raw flour taste and it thickened up nicely.

You do want the mixture to be a bit looser than say...a mac n cheese mixture, since things will tighten up in the oven and keep things moist for leftovers.

Add Chicken and Vegetables, stir. 

Divide into two pies (or however much you end up making)

- Roll tops out and place on top of pie. Cut to fit and mash down with fork around the edges to seal. Cut  slices on the top to let out steam. Brush on egg wash if you desire, I happen to have lost my pastry brush so I skip this step now (it'll just help it brown more.)
- Place in oven at 350 for 35 minutes or until bubbly and brown.
- Let cool before cutting into or everything will spill out (We never wait long enough though and it's a mess when we cut into but luckily we like taste over looks!) Remember, no worries if your mixture is a bit looser than you want, it just makes for better leftovers!

We served ours up with a side salad

Lily's bowl. Chicken pot pie is one of her FAVORITES

Yum!
Though LB always thinks it needs "more tatoes!"