Bacon & Mushroom Breakfast Casserole

When I saw this recipe on Pinterest, and I realized all the ingredients were right there in my fridge, well I had to give it a try.  I did some minor modifications which are listed in parentheses with the recipe.  Credit for the recipe goes to Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes.

Ingredients:

4-5 slices bacon, chopped
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese (pepper jack)
8 eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream (half & half)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
Dash pepper
4 green onions, chopped (one shallot sliced thin)

In addition I added one chopped Green Mexi Bell Pepper

In a large skillet, fry the bacon until crisp, reserving about 2 tablespoons of the drippings. Remove the bacon from the pan and sauté the mushrooms in the reserved bacon grease until tender and the liquid has evaporated. Season with a little salt and pepper. Spread the cheese in a greased 11.75x7.5" baking dish. Or a baking dish lined with non-stick aluminum foil.  Top with the mushrooms, then the bacon and green onions (mexi bell pepper) (shallot).

 In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, cream (half & half), salt, celery salt and a dash of pepper. Pour evenly over everything.

 Bake at 350º 35-40 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 6-8 servings 

Enjoy friends!

Zucchini Bread

Well, I've picked the last zucchini from our garden--it's done now.  Can you believe that I have NOT made zucchini bread this summer?  Especially since there was such an abundance of this vegetable.  Therefore, it was time, time for zucchini bread.

I've searched a lot of recipes and most of them call for a huge amount of oil, up to three cups in some recipes.  Then, I found the perfect recipe--only 1/2 cup of oil.  So how can it be so moist?  Well, there is also 1/2 cup of applesauce.  I think that's the secret.

So here's my version of the recipe from AFamilyFeast.com.  I reduced the amount of sugar and also the amount of vanilla.  For the flour, I used half whole wheat pastry flour and half unbleached flour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line two 8" x 4" loaf pans with parchment paper (spray the pans with coconut oil or PAM then line with the parchment).

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups zucchini grated (can use as little as 2 cups and as much as 4 cups)
3 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup oil (I used light olive oil)
3 cups flour (I used half whole wheat pastry flour and half unbleached white flour)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. cinnamon
3 tsp. vanilla
2 cups sugar

Mix together in separate bowls, the wet ingredients, and the dry ingredients.  Then add the wet to the dry mixing just until combined, don't over mix.  Fold in the zucchini.

Pour half the batter into each of the loaf pans.  Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.

Remove the bread from the pans and cool on a wire rack.

After the bread is completely cool, slice and serve with softened butter, real butter!

Enjoy Friends!

Banana Bread

I always buy too many bananas and as a result, end up with some over ripe bananas.  

Oh well, that's a great excuse to make banana bread, right?

This recipe is from Mary Sue Milliken & Susan Feniger.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar (I used 3/4 Cup)
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

• 1
  Preheat the oven to 325° F. Butter a 9x5x3" loaf pan.
• 2
  Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• 3
  In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• 4
  Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.
• 5
  Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.
• 
  

Source: M.S. Milliken & S. Feniger

Enjoy friends!

Breakfast Quesadillas

This morning hubby ask for "something Mexican" for breakfast.  Looking over the contents of the fridge, I noticed lots of possibilities.  However, having not used my quesadilla maker for a while, I thought this might be just the ticket!

I chopped up some onion, jalapeno, and some Jimmy Dean turkey sausage.  

Saute until the vegies are tender.

Get the rest of the ingredients ready.  The salsa, sour cream, and avacado will be garnish!

We like to use whole wheat tortillas!

Here's the quesadilla maker that was a gift from our daughter, Nickole!

Top a tortilla with some cojack cheese and the sausage mixture.

Place another tortilla on top and close the lid.

Meantime, break a couple of eggs into a non-stick skillet.

A bonus of living in a small town, we get farm fresh eggs from our 

next door neighbors for $1.50 a dozen!

The finished product, sprinkled with some cilantro.

Enjoy friends!!

Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins

This is a recipe from Traeger Grills.  But you can bake these in a conventional oven as well.  Either way, they are moist and super delicious!

Get the ingredients ready and let's get cooking!!

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar, plus extra for the muffin tops
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• Paper cupcake liners

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda; whisk. In another bowl, using a wooden spoon or a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light-colored and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in sour cream and vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the blueberries.

2. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with the cupcake liners. Using an ice cream scoop or spoon, fill each muffin cup two-thirds full with the batter. Sprinkle sugar evenly over the top of each muffin.

3. When ready to cook, start the Traeger grill on Smoke with the lid open until the fire is established (4 to 5 minutes). Set the temperature to 375 degrees F and preheat, lid closed, for 10 to 15 minutes.(OR in your conventional oven, pre-heat to 375 degrees.)

4. Bake the muffins 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean (no uncooked batter clinging to it). Serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy friends!!

Chili Relleno Casserole

I was looking for some inspiration for breakfast this morning.  Since we have lots of Anaheim chilies in the freezer, I wanted to use some of those.  This recipe was listed on cooks.com.  Wow!  Excellent!

This recipe calls for canned chilies, but by all means use home grown if you have 'em.

2 (4 oz.) cans whole green chilies, cut in half and seeds removed
1 1/2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 Cups milk
1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce (optional)
1/4 Cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs beaten

Place half the chilies in a 10 x 6 baking dish; sprinkle with cheese.  Arrange remaining chilies over the cheese.  Mix the milk, flour, salt, and eggs -- beating until smooth.  Add the optional hot sauce.  Pour mixture over the chili cheese layers.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven 45 - 50 minutes or until a knife inserted just off center comes out clean.  Let cool and set for 5 to 10 minutes.  Serves 6.

This is seriously good stuff.  

You could serve this with some sausage links and fruit for a complete breakfast.

Omelette

This is how we like our omelettes.  Stuffed with all kinds of veggies, ham, and cheese.  

Dice up all the veggies and the mushrooms.  Grate some cheese and beat three or four eggs.

Saute the mushrooms first.

Add the diced tri-colored peppers--these are nice and sweet.  Saute until tender.

Add the sliced green onions and the ham.

Today, I added diced tomatoes from our garden, this is optional.

Beat the eggs, add salt and pepper and some dry mustard.

Pour the beaten eggs into a non-stick skillet to which some oil and butter has been added.

Push the eggs around with a spatula so they cook, do this slowly so they don't get brown.

Put all the cooked veggie mixture on one half, top with grated cheese.

Flip the other half over the veggie mixture and let the cheese melt.

This is what is left of my portion!

Enjoy friends!

Torta Tex-Icana

We like, like, like Tex-Mex food! So for brunch today, I made this layered casserole.  

The recipe comes from one of my very favorite cookbooks,

"The Border Cookbook, Authentic Home Cooking of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico."

Get all of the ingredients ready.  Roasted green chiles, sweet red peppers, zucchini, onion, green onion, garlic, cheddar cheese, eggs, milk, and whole wheat tortillas.

Here's the exact recipe and a photo of all the ingredients prepped.  

By prepping everything in advance, the torta comes together in a snap.

3/4 C chopped roasted green chile.  (We grow, roast, and freeze our own Anaheim peppers.)
2 or 3 small sweet red bell peppers
1 C grated zucchini (No need to peel it.)
1/4 C chopped onion
3 or 4 green onions, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
4 eggs beaten with 1/4 C milk
1 to 2 tsp. ground cumin
3 to 4 Tbl grated cheddar cheese
sea salt and ground pepper
whole wheat tortilla

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Warm a tablespoon of light olive oil in a saute' pan.  

Add the onion, garlic, and red bell peppers.  Saute for about 5 minutes.

Next add the grated zucchini.

Add the peeled, seeded, and chopped green chiles.  

You could substitute canned chopped green chiles.

Mix it all up and saute' for another 5 minutes until veggies are soft and the liquid has been absorbed.  

Line a casserole dish with foil, spray with non-stick cooking spray, 

place a whole wheat tortilla in the bottom of the dish.

Top the tortilla with the vegetable mixture, and spread it around evenly.

Beat together the eggs, milk, cumin, salt, and pepper and pour over the veg mixture.

Bake the casserole at 350 F. for 20-30 minutes until puffed, golden brown, and lightly set in the center.  Allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.  

Eat it hot or warm.  Serve with salsa and guacamole.

Here's the cookbook I mentioned earlier.

Enjoy friends!  This is yum, Yum, YUM.

With only one whole wheat tortilla in the entire dish,

this is quite a low-carb treat.

Springtime Quiche

I am starting to dig out the springtime recipes from my recipe book and cookbooks!  It's time for some refreshing recipes with ingredients that are available now.

First the crust.  Since I don't make a lot of pastry crusts, 

consider this one "rustic" looking when it's done!

OK?

1 C flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 C butter (cold, cut into pieces)
2 Tbl. cold cold water

Combine the flour and salt, add the pieces of cold butter.

Use a pastry thingy to cut the butter into the flour until you have course crumbs.  

Work quickly so the butter stays nice and cold.

Sprinkle in the cold water a little at a time just until the flour is moistened.  Dust some flour on the counter, shape the dough into a ball, then flatten into a disk.  See those pieces of butter in the dough--

that, my friends, is a GOOD thing.

Now roll out the dough into a 12 inch circle about 1/8 inch thick.  

Place in the pie pan and crimp the edges.
Rustic looking, don't you think??

For the filling you will need 2 C of shredded cheese 

(cheddar, cojack, jack, whatever you like), Ham, 

4 eggs, 1 1/2 C milk or half & half, salt, pepper, and a few asparagus spears.

Put the cheese on the bottom of the crust, top with the ham, then arrange the asparagus spears in a spoke pattern on top of the ham.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt & pepper in a bowl..  Pour egg mixture over everything -- slowly -- so you don't mess up this beautiful creation.  Into a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 40 - 45 minutes.

If the edges of the quiche crust start to brown too much before cooking time is up, 

shield the edges with some aluminum foil.  

The quiche is done when it's puffed up and set in the center.  

Let it stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Cut the quiche into wedges and serve.  

Enjoy friends!

yum, Yum, and YUM!