Looks Like Left Overs For a While....

I had a little mishap tonight involving a sharp knife and my thumb in which I nearly took off the tip of my thumb!  Luckily the Dr. was able to glue me back together, but I'm not supposed to get my thumb wet or use it too much for 5 days.  I'll be taking a break from cooking for the weekend, and return in full force next week.  Until then, they boys will get left overs! 

Real Men Eat Quiche!

"Real men eat quiche."  That's what my Dad always says. 

I decided to make some quiche for the real men in my house for dinner tonight.  I took the mashed potato crust idea from the taco pie I made the other night and adjusted it to fit this recipe. The result was a delicious quiche that my husband said tasted like a baked potato covered in broccoli and cheese!

 Quiche with Potato Flake Crust

-Serves 6-8

Crust:

2 Tb. Butter or oil

2/3 cup Milk

2 1/4 cups Mashed Potato Flakes

Basic Quiche:
4 Eggs
1 1/2 cups Milk
1 cup Shredded Cheese

Seasonings of choice: onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, parsley flakes, etc.

 -Melt butter in saucepan.  Remove from heat and stir in milk.  Measure potato flakes in bowl and pour milk over the top.  Stir mixture to combine until it resembles oatmeal.

-Sprinkle mixture with garlic and onion powders. (optional)

-Press mixture into a greased 9" pie pan so it resembles a crust.

 -Whisk eggs and milk together.  Add salt, pepper and seasonings of choice.  Stir in cheese.

-Pour egg and cheese mixture into crust.  You can bake it like this for a basic cheese quiche or you can add meat or vegetables of your choosing.  I added crumbled bacon and broccoli to this quiche.







-Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes until center of quiche is set and doesn't jiggle when moved.

 

-Remove from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!

Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie Pockets

 I was feeling inspired tonight and had fun creating this recipe.  It turned out fabulously and got rave reviews from the boys!

The pot pies were easy to make and made plenty of left overs for lunch tomorrow which is an extra bonus!  I made the same dough as I did for the cheeseburger pizza, adding pureed beans to up the fiber content.  Here is the recipe:

Cheesy Chicken Pot Pies

-Makes 12

-3 3/4 cup low fat bakery mix

1 1/2 cup white beans

3/4 cup water

1 can chicken breast (or cooked diced chicken)
1 can mixed vegetables
2 - 2 1/2 cups shredded cheese

Seasonings: garlic powder, onion powder, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, parsley, etc.



-combine beans and water in blender and blend until smooth

-Measure baking mix into bowl.  Reserve 1/3 cup of bean puree in measuring cup and set aside. Pour remaining beans into mix and stir together.  Sprinkle dough with garlic and onion powder, poultry seasoning and parsley flakes.

-Dust countertop and dough with baking mix or flour and roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thick.

-In bowl combine canned vegetables, chicken and cheese.  Sprinkle mixture with garlic and onion powders, poultry seasoning and any other spices of choice.  Add remaining bean puree and stir to combine all ingredients.

-Cut dough into squares and fill each square with chicken mixture.  Fold dough squares in half and press down edges to seal pocket. 

-Place pockets on greased baking sheet.

-Mix 1 egg white with 1 TB of water and brush on top of pockets.  This step is optional, but produces a crunchier top crust if brushed.

-Cut slits in the top of each pocket for venting.  Bake pockets at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes until gold brown.

For dessert we had a can of fruit cocktail that I fancied up a bit by adding fresh apple and orange slices.

Enjoy!

Taco Pie with Potato Crust

Picture borrowed from here

Tonight's dinner is adapted from a recipe I found many years ago in the newspaper.  The picture looked so good and I couldn't believe the crust was made from potato flakes so I clipped it out and it has been sitting in my cookbook ever since.  I've been meaning to make it for a very long time and tonight was the night!

Taco Pie with Potato Flake Crust

-serves 6-8

2 Tb. Butter

2/3 cup Milk

2 1/4 cups Mashed Potato Flakes

1 lb ground beef

1/2 cup diced onion

1 package Taco Seasoning
1/2 cup Tomato Paste (or tomato soup)

Shredded cheese

Shredded lettuce

Taco Toppings: salsa, guacamole, olives, onions, etc.

 -Melt butter in sauce pan and remove from heat.  Add milk and whisk in 2 Tb of dry taco mix.

-Stir dry mashed potato flakes into milk.  Mixture should be moist, not wet, and look something like oatmeal.

 

-Press mixture into the bottom of a greased pie pan.

-Brown ground beef and onions and drain fat.  Add remaining taco seasoning and 1/2 cup of tomato sauce.

-Spoon beef mixture into prepared potato crust and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes until crust is brown around the edges.

-Removed from oven and add shredded cheese to top while pie is still hot.

-Let pie sit for 5 minutes allowing cheese to melt (you may need to return the pie to oven for a few minutes to help the cheese melt)

-Add toppings just before serving so lettuce won't wilt with heat.  I let each person add their own toppings since not everyone likes sour cream or salsa.   

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Bars

My husband requested a treat tonight.  I had big plans to make peanut butter banana cookies with the browning bananas we had on the counter, but when I went to make the cookies the banana was gone!  If your house is anything like mine, bananas are hard to keep around!  I stared at my commod shelf and had a flash of inspiration:  Peanut Butter Bars!

This recipe comes from a childhood treat that is dear to my heart.  Every Friday at my Elementary school the cafeteria would serve french dip sandwiches with au jus with a homemade peanut butter bar for dessert.  I always had home lunch so I could only watch with envy as the other kids made an event out of dipping and eating their sandwiches then devouring their peanut butter bars, carefully licking the left over chocolate from every finger.  I was jealous in every sense of the word.  One Friday I must have been looking exceptionally envious because my best friend offered me a bite of her peanut butter bar.  It was the taste that launched a thousand senses. The bottom of the bar was thin and chewy, made from oats, peanut butter, butter and brown sugar.  It was then frosted with a layer of peanut butter and topped with a slick of scrumptious chocolate.  It was so good, I'm still thinking about it decades later!
I have taken that recipe and improved it by cutting out the butter, using prunes and honey as the sweetener, and removing the flour.  And you'll still get to lick the chocolate from your fingers!

Peanut Butter Bars

1/2 cup dried plums

1 cup water

1 cup peanut butter

2 eggs

1/2 cup applesauce

2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup honey

3 cups oats

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

chocolate chips 

-Combine prunes and water in pan and simmer for 20 minutes until prunes are plump. 

-Place prunes and water in blender and blend until smooth and the consistency of applesauce.  Add more water if mixture is too thick. Allow prunes to cool before adding to batter as not to cook the eggs.

-Mix peanut butter, eggs, applesauce, vanilla and honey with beaters until smooth.  Add blended prunes and mix well.


-Add oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt and blend until dough forms.

 -Press dough into bottom of a greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until dough is cooked through.

 
-Remove crust from oven and spread about 1/4 cup peanut butter over top of hot crust.  Sprinkle chocolate chips over peanut butter layer and return to oven for a few minutes until chocolate melts.

-Remove from oven and spread melted chocolate chips evenly over entire pan. 

-Allow to cool then cut into bars and enjoy!

I had dough left over so I added chocolate chips and made about 2 dozen of these delicious cookies too!

Side Salad Sunday

 Tonight's recipes were inspired by leftovers.  We had baked potatoes left over from the other night so thought I'd make a salad.  My husband loves potato salad, but I don't love giving him such a mayo-laden, fat- loaded side dish so I lightened it up a bit with some nonfat plain yogurt and he can't tell the difference! (That's when you know you've won!)

 

 Low Fat Potato Salad
-Serves 8

6 baked potatoes
3 stalks celery
1 bunch fresh parsley or dried parsley flakes

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup mayo

1 TB. mustard

1/4 cup dill relish

salt and pepper to taste

-Peel and dice potatoes in a large bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and mix together.  Chill for a few hours before serving.

-No yogurt? No problem.  You can add pureed white beans in the place of the yogurt.  This will give the salad a beanier flavor, but will still bring down the fat.

-This recipe can be used to make chicken salad, pasta salad, or tuna salad.  Simply replace the potatoes with chicken, cooked pasta or tuna!


This second recipe was at my husband's request.  There is a Chinese Chicken Salad sold in the Deli at our local grocery store that he loves, but it is $4 a lb!  I made this one tonight will our commod foods plus a $1 bag of coleslaw mix and a 20 cent bag of ramen noodles.

                                                                                   Chinese Chicken Salad

-serves 6-8

Salad:

8 cups shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix

1 cup canned or cooked diced chicken (you can omit the chicken entirely or add more if you like a meatier salad)

Dressing:

1/2 cup oil

3 TB. vinegar

2 TB. sugar or honey

Dash of salt

1 package chicken flavored Ramen noodles

-Mix oil, sugar and vinegar stirring well to dissolve sugar.  Add packet of chicken flavoring from Ramen nooodle package.

-Drizzle oil over chicken and cabbage mixture and toss all ingredients together.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hour before serving.

Crumble Ramen noodles over top just before serving.

-You can also add roasted peanuts or almonds for an extra crunch!

Cupcakes for Breakfast?

When the cupcakes are made from black beans, eggs and honey, why not have them for breakfast?!  This recipe is adapted from one of my favorite websites, Healthy Indulgences. These cupcakes are a great treat because they are grain free, sugar free, fiberful and taste great too!  Sounds too good to be true, but they are miracle cupcakes.  This recipe uses 5 eggs which is ALOT, but needed to bind all the ingredients together.  The added bonus is that the eggs add about 2 grams of protein to each serving so this cupcake is a power snack filled with fiber and protein that will keep you fueled for hours!

 Healthy Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes
-Makes 15 cupcakes

1- 15 oz. can black beans or 1 1/2 cup cooked black beans

5 eggs

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup cocoa

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

-Rinse black beans in a strainer then place in blender.  Add remaining ingredients and blend together.  Scrape the sides of the blender to make sure all the powder ingredients get incorporated. 

-It may take a few minutes to blend, but you want a smooth pudding texture when it's done.








-Pour batter into cup cake liners filling them about 2/3 full.

-Bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Cupcake top will spring back when touched when the cupcake is done.

 

These cupcakes are good plain, or can be frosted with any variety of sugar free options.  Here are a few ideas:

• Mix sugar free pudding with less milk than is called for until pudding has a frosting like texture.
• Add a dollop of whip cream and fruit to each cupcake (like I did in the picture)
• Mix peanut butter and honey together in equal parts to turn the cupcake into a chocolatey peanut butter delight.
• Add a swipe of an all natural fruit jam. (It's good with raspberry!)
• Mix cream cheese and honey together for a lovely cream cheese frosting.

Enjoy!