Broken Scales?!

Did a few pounds happen to appear out of nowhere
and cling to you over Thanksgiving???
I heard a radio DJ say the other day that
he gained SIX pounds over the holiday.  EEK!
Thankfully, we only had ONE day of feasting around here,
but if you'd like to drop a few pounds
before the next eating fest, you might want to try
this week's Free Recipe Friday.

It's not fat-free, but carb-free? I think YES.

Baked Italian Salad is it's name,

but it actually tastes like the toppings off of a pizza.
It is DELISH!  Grrreat with a salad and a baguette?!
(IF you're not too carb conscious)

Obviously this dish would be PERRRfect
in the summer when fresh garden tomatoes
are plentiful...but store bought Roma's
work just fine here!

WHAT YOU NEED:
appx. 8 Roma tomatoes (or your fav)
Sea Salt/Black pepper
2-3 teaspoons Garlic, minced
1/4 - 1/2 cup Green olives (and/or black) sliced
1 medium Onion, sliced thinly
Fresh herbs (parsley and/or basil) opt.
Red pepper flakes, just a few
1/4 - 1/2 cup Parmesan
drizzle of Olive Oil
splash of Red wine

WHAT YOU DO:
Preheat oven to 425
Spray a shallow dish with non-stick cooking spray.
You could use a pie plate, individual dishes
or use a dish to accommodate
whatever serving amount you need.
With this recipe, you just layer
as much as you need - there's no right or wrong.

Begin layering ingredients
starting by covering the bottom of your pan
with some tomatoes, then onions, garlic

a few flakes of red pepper, salt/pepper,
and a bit of parsley and/or basil.
Now start all over again and begin
another layer of tomatoes
then onions, seasonings, herbs, etc.
Two or three layers should be plenty.
When you've reached the top,
toss on the sliced olives -
as much or as little as you'd like.
To finish, top with Parmesan,
give it a splash of red wine all over
and finish it off with a drizzle of olive oil.
Bake until golden and bubbly
approximately 30 minutes.

Mmm!  Serve this along side a salad
and maybe some good crunchy bread
and you've got an amazing meal
that will not leave you feeling deprived!

ENJOY!!!

Wake Up. . .It's Time to Eat Again!!!

For all you late nighters that were
out there doin' your Black Friday thing
until the wee hours - this is for you.
An easy go-to breakfast that'll
get you goin' whenever you decide to get up.

This week's Free Recipe Friday
is something we played around with
to try and dodge a carb overload
first thing in the morning.
It's an all-in-one breakfast in a muffin cup.
You can tweak it absolutely any way you like -
there's about a million variations.
Give it a try sometime - it sure beats
standing over a hot stove with bacon grease
splattering all over you!

I've come to love a more 'adult' style
breakfast these days...maybe because
a good part of my life
I was all about anything sweet for breakfast.
Cinnamon toast, a pop tart, cereal,
cinnamon roll, cake, pie - anything sweet.
As the years have flown by

I prefer saving the sweets
for another time of day and
having something savory for breakfast
with my coffee drinking self.

Breakfast items all revolve around
pretty much the same ingredients, don't they?!
A bread/grain, a meat, an egg, maybe cheese and fruit.
Every breakfast is just a variation of these things
and how you want to put them together.
Since I've grown to love more
bacon and eggy type breakfasts,
it doesn't mean I want to spend my whole
morning cooking it.  The quicker and easier
I can cook bacon or make a meal
including it, the better.

WHAT YOU NEED:
1 dozen large whole eggs
(because we used a 12 cup muffin tin -
you can certainly adjust and make less)

1  12 oz. pkg bacon (thin, cheap stuff)

Shredded Cheddar

Salt/Pepper

Green Onions (optional)

WHAT TO DO:
Preheat oven to 350
and coat your muffin cups
with non-stick cooking spray.

 Line muffin cups with bacon and pre-bake
(because we like our bacon
a bit more crispy - you could easily jump ahead
and skip this step).
Bake approximately 20-30 minutes.

 

 After the bacon has some time to

cook, remove from oven

and crack an egg into each cup.

If you like more of a scrambled egg,

by all means, you can whisk the eggs

before pouring in each cup.

 

 Don't worry, the bacon will lose it's shape a bit

but just pour your egg right over it and all will be well.

There will be a bit of bacon grease in each cup,

but you'll be able to pour that out

once the muffins are done.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper

and return to the oven.

Bake for 5-10 minutes more

depending on what kind of egg you like.

When you remove the breakfast muffins
from the oven, carefully tilt pan
over a large bowl and pour off
excess bacon grease and then
top with a little shredded cheddar
and some chopped green onions.
Mmmmmmmmm.
If your muffin pan is as pathetic
as mine is, you'll need to use a knife
to loosen each muffin before removing
from the pan.

These are great 'as is' or would be great
between some toast or an english muffin
for an on-the-go breakfast.

Hope everyone had a great
Thanksgiving and all you crazies
recover quickly from your overnight shopping!

ENJOY!!!

Goodbye Carbs. . .for Now!

I'm not going to name any names or anything,
but the male in our house has decided he wants to
do without 'the white stuff' for awhile. . . .you know, those evil carbs.
Just when I had my 'cooking for 3' routine figured out. . .
now I get to rethink everything.  Arrggh.
The rest of us around here have decided to, kind of,
go along with him. . .because I love my 'mountain man' that much!
(Our new nickname for him. . .have you SEEN him lately?
He just gets more and more handsome every day!)

So, if you see us out in public, remember,
the females in this household may or may not be
as serious as the male is about cuttin' our carbs.
We may partake of a carb once in a while. Don't hate.

I will say that as of week 3. . .I have found that it is actually
harder to figure out WHAT to cook
rather than what we are being deprived from.
It's just a new way of doing things. . .I mean, we love veggies and protein.
We are just so used to having that starch on our plate.
Carbs are actually just tooo easy, aren't they?!?
It's easy to throw together a meal when you can toss
a potato in the oven, or boil up some pasta.
These days are different now. . .and it's time to get creative!

Sooooo. . .since potatoes have always been a staple
around our household, we had to find a substitute....fast!

This week's Free Recipe Friday addresses just that.
It's an AWESOME substitute. . .for potatoes.

   We think it's so good, you could probably even get by with
not even telling anyone it's cauliflower!
Wait, did I just say cauliflower?!

WHAT YOU NEED:

Fresh Cauliflower - 1 head - cut up
Water/Stockpot

Steamer Basket or Colander | optional
Butter or Butter Buds
Salt/Pepper
Maybe a little bit of Milk
Hand Mixer or Potato Masher

It's as simple as that!

WHAT TO DO:

Rinse your cauliflower and cut or break into sections.
Place cauliflower in stockpot with approximately 1 cup water.
If you have a steam basket or colander that fits into your
stockpot, by all means set your cauliflower in that.
I don't have a steamer basket
and not one of my 4 colanders fit in my stockpot.
Place stockpot on high heat and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and cover with a lid.
Continue to simmer on low/medium until soft and tender.
Approximately 20 minutes.
You will know they are done when they have wilted
and/or they are fork tender - which means you can easily
pierce them with a fork with no resistance.
Drain your cauliflower and keep in the stockpot.
Add several tablespoons of butter into the hot cauliflower.
(Or Butter Buds if you'd like them to be fat free)
Add salt and pepper to your liking.
We probably used 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.
You will only need milk if they are too thick.
We needed none.

Now, using your hand mixer or potato masher, blend until smooth.
Well, they won't be perfectly smooth. . .and that's how you want them.
They will have the look and texture of 'smashed' potatoes.
Delicious.
 

YUM.

Disclaimer:  I cannot post this recipe without telling you
the ONLY drawback if there were to be any.
When you eat these faux potatoes, you would
seriously think they were potatoes
IF you couldn't smell at all.
They still smell like cauliflower and maybe even
a bit like cooked broccoli. . . .soooo
if you cannot stand the smell of
cauliflower or broccoli, be forewarned!
In our household, we recognized this fact
and kept on eatin'!  It didn't bother us a bit.
They are yummy! Now, go be healthy.

The end.