Zucchini and Onion Quiche

Since we eat vegetarian Monday through Friday, it sometimes can be difficult to not get stuck in a routine of eating the same things for dinner all the time. (I can only eat so many bean burritos and veggie stir fry's). 

This prompted me to try and find something totally different to make for dinner, which proved to be more challenging than I anticipated. 

Anyhoo- I decided to make a quiche for dinner tonight! I've made them before for brunches, but usually Quiche Lorraine, which sadly would not work for my meatless meal on account of the bacon. 

So I adapted my dads quiche Lorraine recipe into a all veggie one! 

(I also need to figure out a few other things along the way since he some how left out baking times and had very few measurements...)

The recipe is as follows! Hope you try it! 

Ingredients:

-1 frozen pie crust 

-1/2 a small white onion

- 2 small zucchini 

-3 eggs

-3/4 cup whole milk

-1 clove garlic 

-~1 cup cheese (mozzarella or other)

-a pinch each of: salt, pepper, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, paprika. 

Directions:

-Let pie crust thaw while oven preheats to 325 degrees. Poke holes in crust with a fork to prevent bubbles. Bake crust for 10 minutes. 

-Chop onion and slice zucchini. Sauté in a pan until cooked. Add garlic. 

-In a bowl mix together eggs, milk and spices. Set aside. 

-Let crust cool 5-10 minutes. Fill with zucchini and onion about half way. 

-Cover veggies with shredded cheese the rest of the way. 

-Pour egg mixture over everything in crust. 

-Bake in the oven on a cookie sheet (in case of spills), for about 40 minutes. 

-Let cool for 10 minutes. 

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

This morning I got up early to make muffins to go along with cappuccinos made with our new espresso machine. I couldn't find a recipe I loved so I mixed and matched a few and came up with this one, that I LOVE. 

I'm literally writing this entry so I don't forget this recipe. I'll definitely be making it again. 

Here's the recipe and some photos. Hope you try it! 

Ingredients: (Yields 1 dozen muffins) 

-1 egg

- 2/3 cup sugar 

- 1 banana (about 2/3 cup mashed)

- 1/4 cup milk

- 1 and 1/2 cups flour 

- 3/4 tsp. Baking soda 

- 3/4 tsp. baking powder 

- 1 tsp. vanilla 

- 1/4 tsp. Cinnamon 

- 1/4 tsp. Nutmeg

- 1/4 tsp. salt

- 5 tablespoons coconut oil

- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tray with papers. 

Combine wet ingredients. Mix in dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes. 

Easy-peasy Lemon-squeezy Bars

Just a short recipe post for Lemon Bars. This is an old recipe I used to make all the time because it's very easy and we almost always had all the ingredients. 

Here's my original recipe!

If you need something quick and easy to make, that's hard to mess up, this is for you. The bars came out great, but I'm sure there are more complex recipes that would make them a little lighter and fluffier. 

Here are some photos of the process and final results! 

Enjoy!

Chinese Chicken and Broccoli

I'm going to do my best to guess-timate my measuring for this recipe, since you might know that I rarely measure my ingredients when cooking. (Baking is another story).

I made this for dinner again the other night, and it comes out a little better each time I make it. (Practice makes perfect?)

It's definitely cheaper and healthier than getting take-out, but has a similar flavor. I obviously like it way more than take-out now too.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
-1lb. organic chicken breast or tenders, cut into bite-sized pieces
-1 bag of frozen organic broccoli 
-1 1/2 cups cooked rice

-Secret Sauce: (here's where the measurement guessing comes in)
  - about 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
  - 1/4 cup warm water mixed with a 1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch
  - about a tablespoon of ginger (I buy a jar to keep in the fridge)
  - a teaspoon of sugar
  - a teaspoon of ketchup
  - 1/2 tsp. mustard
  - 1 large clove of garlic (minced)
  - a dash of cayenne pepper

Directions:
Cook the chicken in sesame or coconut oil. Add the broccoli to the pan once the chicken is browned. 
Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl. 
When chicken and broccoli is done cooking, turn heat to low and add the sauce. Let it mingle for a few minutes before removing from heat and serving with rice. 
Top with sesame seeds if you're feeling fancy, and definitely use chopsticks. 

Enjoy!

Vegan Pumpkin Breakfast Bars

Yes, yes, I know...but the important part is that I update at all, right? Even if it's twice a year...

Anyway, now that we're living in a state where autumn exists, the kitchen seems like a cozier place and I've been spending more time there.

I also got tired of paying $5 for a box of 6 granola bars, so I decided to make my own. This recipe is similar to my cinnamon raisin granola bar recipe, except pumpkin flavored and accidentally vegan!

Ingredients: 
2 tablespoons organic coconut oil
7.5 oz. organic pumpkin (1/2 a can)
1/3 cup organic sugar
1 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup  all-purpose flour
2-1/4 cups organic rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. chia seeds

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 13x9 (or similar size) pan with cooking spray.
Combine the wet ingredients and sugar by hand or with a hand mixer.
Add the dry ingredients. Mix again.
Stir in the raisins.
Pour mixture into the pan and spread evenly with the  wooden spoon.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until edges are brown and top is golden. 

I'm considering printing these recipes (since they're mostly for myself anyway) after reading one of those articles about old websites everyone used to use like Xanga and Webshots that are now gone forever with along with all our photos and journal entries. Maybe I'll make a little book out of them some day.

For now, if anyone tries this recipe, I hope you enjoy it! 

Mallory :) 

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

Hi out there! 

I made chocolate syrup/sauce from scratch the other night and it was so easy and delicious I wanted to share the recipe. You can use it the same way you'd use Hershey's chocolate syrup or any similar brand, but it will be a million times better because you'll know it has just 3 simple main ingredients. 😊 

Here they are:

Ingredients: 

-1 cup organic cocoa powder 

-1 cup organic sugar 

-1 cup water 

- a dash of additional flavoring (optional), such as cinnamon, vanilla, or peppermint. (I used a little cinnamon). 

And here are the super easy directions!:

Mix all ingredients in a medium saucepan on medium heat, stirring to remove lumps and thicken, for about 5-10 minutes. Pour into a glass jar and store in the refrigerator. That's it! 

So far I have used this syrup to make chocolate milk and added it to my iced coffee the last 2 mornings. If we had ice cream I would have gladly poured it over that by now. 

Bon Apetite! 

Snack Attack

I would definitely be okay with living off of appetizers.
Everything tastes better when it's mini and made into a dip anyway, right?

Which leads me to the reason for this post: Spinach and Artichoke Dip and Jalapeño Poppers.

Before I get into the recipes, I have a confession to make...
Although I made these for us to enjoy on Superbowl Sunday, we didn't actually watch the Superbowl, per se... whoops. In my defense, the food is the best part anyway and we had a lot of shows on the DVR to catch up on! I know, I know...next year for sure.

Whatever the occasion, both of these recipes are sure to please and easy to make!

For the Jalapeño Poppers, you will need:

- WHOLE jalapeños (as many as you want, I had 6 wish made 12 poppers)
-cream cheese
-bread crumbs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Wearing gloves, cut the top (stem) off each jalapeño and then cut each in half lengthwise. Next, filled each half with cream cheese and rolled them in breadcrumbs. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes. That's it!

Warning: These turned out too spicy for me to eat more than one :( but the BF loved them! It depends on how spicy the jalapeños you buy are, but you may want to try this with a slightly milder pepper if you're a wuss like me.


For the Spinach and Artichoke Dip, you will need:

-1 8oz. container of cream cheese
-1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
-1/2 block of sharp cheddar cheese (about 4 oz.) + another 1/4 of the block (about 2 oz.)
-1/2 tsp. black pepper
-1 tsp. garlic powder
1 can of artichoke hearts (drained and chopped)
-1 cup of packed frozen spinach (thawed and squeezed dry)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all ingredients in a bowl (except the extra 2 oz. of cheese - that's for the top). Spread the mixture in a pie pan or other shallow baking dish and sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake for about 30 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips, pita chips, or crackers.

Side Note: We basically ate this entire dish of dip in one sitting...it's that good. Also we're gluttons for snack foods. 

Veggie Wrap Delight

Sometimes I open the fridge and groan that there's nothing to eat. However, when we remember to stock the fridge with fresh organic veggies (usually whatever's on sale), I don't get a chance to groan. 

Veggies + tortilla = delicious healthy lunch, every time. 

I made this one today with:

Organic Carrots

Organic Kale

Organic White Onion

Organic Fresh Cilantro and

Leftover homemade steak sauce. 

Of course you can use any veggies and sauce that you like, the point is, a yummy, quick, healthy lunch is easy to make with the right ingredients. And if you buy too many veggies, just freeze extra to use later in soups or stir fry. 

Side note: we just recently realized how awesome buying fresh organic herbs is! The cilantro was about $2 for a huge bunch that we will probably end up freezing part of, and makes everything we cook just a little more special. 

I hope this post reminds a few people that it's not too hard to eat healthy, inexpensively, organically, and quickly. 

Bon appetite! 😊🍴

Sweet Potato Casserole

Here is my recipe for sweet potato casserole. I'm too stuffed with thanksgiving food to write anything else. 

In conclusion, it's delicious but make it next year - it's time for a nap. 

Ingredients:

(For the casserole)

4 large sweet potatoes 

1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted 

1 egg

A pinch of salt 

2 teaspoons vanilla 

2 tablespoons sugar

(For the topping)

1 cup pecans 

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/2 stick unsalted butter 

Directions: 

Scrub the potatoes. Poke each with a fork several times. Bake at 350 on a baking sheet for about an hour or until tender. Let cool slightly. Peel skin off. It should come off easily, but if it doesn't you can scoop out the insides instead. 

Place in food processor, or a bowl if mixing by hand.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Combine potatoes with remaining casserole ingredients. Spread evenly into a baking dish. 

To make the topping, combine all ingredients in food processor, pulsing until crumbs form. Sprinkle over potato mixture. Bake for 35-40 minutes. 

Phenomenal Coconut Brownies

I don't use that word lightly - these brownies are indeed phenomenal. 

If anyone still reads this, they may have noticed that I don't blog quite so often as I had hoped and planned. Alas, they don't pay me to do this so I have to work 8+ hours a day elsewhere. However, I am happy that it has been 8 months and I am still blogging away, whenever I get the chance.

These brownies came out so amazingly perfect that I couldn't not blog about them. 
I found the original recipe on Pinterest, which brought me to this lovely blog: http://simonesmith.hubpages.com/hub/Simple-Homemade-Brownie-Recipe. Her recipe is coconut-free, so if you're into that sort of thing, by all means, use her recipe instead. 
I, on the other hand, am definitely pro coconut. In almost anything really, but especially in desserts with chocolate. 

Here is my adapted recipe: 
Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup of organic coconut oil
• 1 cup of organic sugar
• 2 large organic eggs 
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of cocoa powder 
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• Coconut flakes (optional topping)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil brownie pan and dust with cocoa powder. 

2) Mix together the coconut oil (melted)*, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Then add the cocoa powder, flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder.

3) Pour batter into a brownie pan (about 8x8). Top with coconut flakes, if desired. (I did half and half just in case the BF didn't like the idea). Bake for 25 minutes. VOILA! Brownies :) 

*(Mine is always melted because we live in Florida.....)

I didn't pre-plan and take many photos, but here's one of the finished product! Hope you like them as much as we did! 

Autumn Soup

Today is the first day of autumn, and since we are now living in the Sunshine State, I wanted to make something that would make it feel a little more "Fall-y" around here. 

I got the idea for this recipe from this blog: http://www.myrecipes.com/m/recipe/carrot-ginger-soup-50400000123351/

Then I tweaked it a bit to turn it into the wonderful autumn soup you see above. Or as the bf called it, "it tastes like fall in my mouth", (a very accurate description I might add). 

Here is my recipe, which is for the crockpot but I'm sure it can be made on the stove as well. 

SLOWCOOKER AUTUMN SOUP

Ingredients: (all of which are approximate since my best cooking is never measured). 

- 1 1/2 lbs. organic carrots

- 1 organic sweet potato, peeled

- 1 10oz. bag organic frozen butternut squash 

- 1/2 a yellow onion

- 1 heaping tsp. minced garlic

- 2 teaspoons minced ginger 

- 1/2 to 1 tsp. of curry powder 

- a generous dash of nutmeg and black pepper

- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter 

- 3 cups chicken stock

- 4 cups water 

Directions: 

Roughly chop the carrots, potato and onion. Add butter then vegetables to crockpot. Then add spices and stock and water.  Cook on low 8-11 hours. (We have a ridiculously long work day so mine was on almost 12 hours and came out amazing). Blend with an immersion blender stick until smooth. Serve with toast or bread. Enjoy! 

Pistachio Doughnuts

Please forgive me for not updating this blog. I'm literally writing this post on my phone in the car, while I wait for the bf to get out of work. 

Turns out living in Florida does not exclude you from commuting. Who would have thought other cities have commuters too - clearly not us. 

Anyway, between commuting to work, sharing a car, and both working full time, we have on average a 12 hour day, 5 days a week. Not much time for hobbies, especially indoor ones being that it's so beautiful here most days. 

In conclusion, I made doughnuts this weeks and used the recipe from this website: http://www.thelawstudentswife.com/2014/03/baked-pistachio-donuts/

I tweaked it slightly, using several organic ingredients and whole wheat flour, but it's basically the same recipe. 

They came out really good so I hope you try them! Very easy to make too. (I had an hour to figure out what to bake and then bake it and it worked out great.)

Enjoy! 😊🍩

Breakfast (Smoothie) of Champions!

I've been a little lazy with the cooking and blogging lately, but now that we're starting to get settled here in Florida, I'm trying to get back on the bandwagon.

This is a very simple and easy breakfast (or dessert) smoothie that is also ridiculously healthy
and ridiculously delicious. (I just finished mine and I'm considering making another one for lunch).

Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT be deterred by its green hue! It tastes nothing like "green" as some people might say... and I think the color is actually quite pretty.



Here we go! Ingredients:

- 1 frozen banana
- a handful of spinach (this is not much)
- 2 dashes of cinnamon
- a dash of nutmeg
- about a cup of coconut milk (or any other milk you like)






Directions:
Put everything into a blender (or nutribullet, which is what I used), and blend until smooth. Drink!


Now some of you might be wondering, 'what's so great about a smoothie with bananas and spinach in it? And what's up with the cinnamon and nutmeg!?' 

Well, besides all the ingredients being yummy, here's why they are also really good for you:

Bananas

 

Spinach                       

Cinnamon

Nutmeg



Happy Blending! :)

A Happy, Hungry, Healthy Life...in the Sunshine State!

My good excuse for not blogging in a month? We finally moved to Florida!!!!! The last few weeks have been very hectic - and I loved every minute of it.
Sitting here in our new, beautiful, spacious apartment, in the sunshine state, feels really, really good.

Today is the bf's first day at his new job, so our mini-moving-vacation is over I guess, but school doesn't start for another month, so I'll be home, with plenty of time to blog!

Here are a few photos of our new home!

Quick and Easy Veggie Sammie and Gluten-free Brownies

Hi Everyone! Just a quick post today for a "recipe" I made for lunch over the weekend. This veggie sammie is super simple, so I wasn't going to blog about it originally, but so many people mentioned how it inspired them to eat something a little healthier this past weekend, so I thought I should post it on here!

I use the term "recipe" loosely because hello, this is sandwich, not rocket science, you can literally put whatever you want on it.

This is what I choose:

-homemade hummus
-organic tomatoes
-organic cucumbers
-organic spinach
-organic arugula 

I layered all those yummy (and consequently, vegan) goodies onto whole wheat bread. I may have eaten some goldfish crackers with it... nobody's perfect.

Here's the proof:

I also made some gluten-free brownies this weekend for some co-workers (and myself...). The recipe uses black beans instead of flour and can be found here. They are SO good and no, they taste nothing like black beans. Give them a try if you don't believe me (they are also very easy to make), and before you tell you boyfriend/husband/neighbor/bff/whoever what's in them, let them taste for themselves.



Here's how mine came out:

Chocolatey Goodness

Please leave a comment and thank you for stopping by! :)

Super Summer Salad Dressing

 I CANNOT wait for summer to be here. So many good things to look forward to - including more time to blog! :) 

I made this salad dressing last weekend and have been meaning to post about it. 

Here are the ingredients: 

1/3 C. rice vinegar

2/3 C. extra virgin olive oil

a pinch of pink Himalayan salt

a pinch freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. dry mustard powder

1 t. honey

1 tsp. chia seeds

1 tsp. sesame seeds

juice from 1/2 an orange

                                                      Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a glass jar and shake well. 

The day I made it, I poured it over this salad: 

 

The ingredients for the salad were these (but you can use whatever you'd like). I also added pan-seared shrimp on top, and more sesame and chia seeds (which are uber-good for you). The shrimp was seared in a little butter, salt, pepper, and a little chili powder. 

 

I also used this dressing on top of my veggie wrap today for lunch. The wrap had homemade hummus, organic cucumbers, organic tomatoes, and organic arugula in it. It was too big to wrap, so I ate it like a giant taco (I looked ridiculous but was still delicious). 

I ALSO made some fresh squeezed organic orange juice today! It only took me maybe 10 minutes (squeezed by hand - old school style) and it was a 10 minutes well spent! 

Please comment below! Thank you for stopping by! :)