Broccoli and Mushroom Quiche

Dave was out the other night so I decided to make myself a lovely vegetarian quiche. It was easy but yummy and full of flavor and veggies.

1 pie crust (like Pillsbury)
1 small head of broccoli, chopped
5 baby bella mushrooms, sliced and chopped
6 eggs
1/3 cup low fat milk
1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese

Preheat the oven to 350. Spread the pie crust in a pie dish. Place the broccoli and mushrooms into the crust.

Whisk the eggs and milk in a medium sized bowl. Pour over the veggies. Top with the cheese. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Homemade Meatball Subs

Yesterday I made a batch of my homemade sauce and turkey meatballs specifically to make these delicious sandwiches for Dave and I tonight. After simmering the meatballs in the sauce for a couple hours yesterday and then letting them sit there overnight before reheating today really gave everything that robust flavor. Dave was happy so that makes me happy. Another successful meal!

Chicken Alfredo Lasagna Rolls

I got the idea for these when I recently read the Daily Deliciousness blog. I've never made an alfredo sauce so I was originally going to skip this but then I decided, what the heck, I'll go for it. I'll probably never make it non-pregnant because it's really not good for you (sorry Robyn, I hope you don't die when you read this!). Honestly, I think I made magic in the kitchen when I made it. It was so simple but SO good. I guess cheese, butter and cream are a pretty damn good combo. Anyway, these are heavy and hearty. We loved them for our Sunday night dinner. Here's how my lovely rolls came together. OH and by the way, 1 roll is plenty for one person if you have a salad with it.

Rolls

12 oz. chicken breast, poached and shredded
12 oz. part skim ricotta cheese
5 oz. chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
4 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
12 whole wheat lasagna noodles, cooked according to package

Sauce

1/4 cup butter
1 cup heavy cream
1-1/2 cups parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBSP dried oregano

Grease a 13x9 pan with cooking spray. In a medium sized bowl, combine the chicken, spinach, ricotta and parm cheese. Spread the mixture down the center of each noodle, leaving about an inch and a half at each end. Roll the each noodle and place it in the pan.

For the sauce, melt the butter in a small sauce pan. Whisk in the cream and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the parm cheese, garlic and oregano.

Pour the sauce over each noodle. Top with the 4 oz. of shredded mozzarella cheese.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 20 minutes.

Exercise as soon as you can after eating these. :)

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

I made this today for my good friend Sarah who recently had a little baby girl Katie. I picked it from her blog because she liked it so much. I hope her and her family enjoy it while they continue to navigate the world of new-parenthood. Of course I had to taste it and it was DELICIOUS! I did make a few very minor changes to the cooking method but I don't think it affected it at all.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Courtesy of The Joy of Cooking

2 cups (8 ounces) elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter, divided plus extra for greasing pan
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups 1% milk
1 shallot, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon paprika
3 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
1/2 cup panko

Bring 6 cups water and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt to rolling boil in a large pot. Add macaroni and cook until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and put in large bowl.

Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in large saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly, 3 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk. Stir in onion, bay leaf and paprika. Simmer gently, stirring often, 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and remove bay leaf. Stir in 2 cups of cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in macaroni.

Pour the mixture into greased, 1 1/2-quart baking dish and sprinkle with all of remaining cheese.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in small skillet over medium heat. Add bread crumbs and toss to coat. Sprinkle buttered crumbs over top of macaroni.

Bake at 350 degrees until bread crumbs are lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

OK, the kitchen isn't that busy lately

Being 25 weeks pregnant is starting to take it's toll on me. My little guys loves to keep me up at night with his kicks and punches so I've been sort of a mess lately. I will try and get back in this weekend though. Thanks for sticking by me!

Turkey Chili in the crockpot

Emma and I went to see the new movie A Christmas Carol on Monday and let me just say it was awesome. The 3-D effects were amazing. I truly felt like it was snowing on me. I do need to recommend it to everyone, young and old, although not the really young. Some parts were perhaps a little scary and creepy. Anyway, when we got back I had to get dinner together because I was heading out for my H1N1 flu shot and wasn't sure when I'd be back. In comes turkey chili in the crock pot. To be very honest I didn't measure anything but it was delicious and as usual, easy. Here are my estimates for what I threw in there but I really think chili is practically foolproof. Some meat, beans and tomatoes and spices and you're good to go

1.25 lb. ground turkey
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can red kidney beans, drained
8 oz. low sodium chicken broth
2 beef flavored bouillon cubes
1 shallot, diced
1 TBSP chopped garlic
1 TBSP chili powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 TBSP paprika

2 TBSP corn starch
1/4 cup cold water

Combine turkey, tomatoes, beans, onion, garlic and spices into the crock pot and stir together. Cook on medium high for 4-5 hours. Right before serving, dissolve the corn starch in the water and stir into the chili to thicken it. Top with sour cream and cheddar cheese.

Panko Crusted Fish Sticks

This is my second time making these courtesy of my friend Colleen at Cooking This and That. Emma loves them so I thought I'd surprise her this Sunday night after she was so good on our Turkey Trot walk this afternoon we did to help raise money for a local soup kitchen.

Once again, they were a huge success. They are easy, fast, crunchy and healthy. Instead of using tilapia as Colleen does, we use Alaskan Cod. It's a personal preference as I just like this fish better. And we don't bother with the sauce, we just use good old bottled cocktail sauce.

Broccoli and Cheese Soup

I have been searching for the last few days for a good broccoli cheese soup but none had all the elements I wanted. Some called for heavy cream or half and half and I just want to use milk. Some wanted me to use Velveeta. Sorry but no dice. So finally I came up with my own. I guess sometimes I'm afraid especially when it comes to exact measurements but I think I did really well with this one. It was a good blend of broccoli and cheese without all the fat of heavy cream.

4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1/2 cup all purpose flour
salt & pepper
1 large head of broccoli, about 4 cups chopped
6 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

In a medium sized pot, combine the chicken broth, water, milk, and flour (salt & pepper to your taste) and bring to a boil, stirring often with a whisk so the flour doesn't sink to the bottom and burn. Make sure there are no lumps too!

Once the liquid has boiled, add in the broccoli and 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese and lower the temperature and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

With an immersion blender, blend the soup until there are no large pieces of broccoli left. Mix in the cheddar and remaining parmesan cheese. Again, add salt and pepper if needed.