Tasty Tuesday Quiche!

Thankfully Donna has sent me another recipe just in time to post. This is gonna be a tough week. I've got three guest blogs starting tomorrow, and two of them are interviews I haven't even written yet. Oh, yeah, and I work Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I think I need someone to make me a quiche!
Donna writes:

Cheryl,
This recipe I made for breakfast today for my girls. I call if Alex's Quiche because that's my FB role players name. And I used it for her restaurants on my posts. My hubs is away fishing. It's great for breakfast lunch or dinner I always love it with fruit and a small salad with a light vinaigrette dressing, if I have it up for dinner. It makes 9 inch 2 pies. The reason, you'll hate yourself the next day if you make only one. Great warmed up, even tastes better, when the flavors blended more.
Real men don't eat quiche? So not true. ENJOY!





Alex's Quiche
Ingredients

• 1/2 pound thick sliced bacon
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained.
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, finely diced
• 2 cups finely diced smoked ham
• 8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 8 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
• 8 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside. Cook spinach according to package instructions. Allow to cool, then squeeze dry.
2. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Saute onions until soft and translucent. Stir in mushrooms, and cook for 2 minutes, or until soft. Stir in ham and cooked bacon. Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, combine spinach, sour cream, salt and pepper. Divide, and spread into pie crusts. Layer with bacon mixture. Mix together Monterey Jack, Cheddar and Parmesan, and sprinkle over pies. Whisk together eggs, half-and-half and parsley. Season with salt and pepper, and pour over pies.
4. Place pies on baking sheet, and bake on middle shelf in preheated oven for 40 minutes. The top will be puffed and golden brown. Remove from oven, and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes.

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Tasty Tuesday Magic Cookie Bars

In the mood for something sweet?

If you don't have a chocolate hunk, you might try some of Donna's Magic Cookie Bars!

MAGIC Cookie Bars (No Bowls) 24 Bars

Ingredients

• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 14 fluid ounces sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
• 1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees F for glass dish). In 13 x 9-inch baking pan, melt butter in oven. Sprinkle crumbs over butter; pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumbs. Top with remaining ingredients; press down firmly with fork. Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Chill if desired. Cut into bars. Store covered at room temperature.

Tasty Tuesday Chicken Pierre!

And here's another yummy recipe from our own Diva Donna!

Hello! This is one of my hub's favorite recipes. I've made it for a long time. And he keeps asking for it over and over. Not sick of it yet. Serve with French bread to mop up every drop!

Or just add a hunk to do the work!

CHICKEN PIERRE(serves 6)

Ingredients

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Directions

1. In a shallow dish or bowl, combine flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and ground black pepper. Coat chicken breasts with flour mixture. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat, and brown chicken on all sides. Remove from skillet, and drain on paper towels.
2. In the same skillet, combine the tomatoes, water, brown sugar, vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Season with salt, chili powder, mustard, celery seed, garlic and hot pepper sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and return chicken to skillet. Cover, and simmer for 35 to 40 minutes, or until chicken is tender, no longer pink and juices run clear.

Tasty Tuesday Nutty Olives!

Olive Nut Spread

1 cup nuts of your choice. The original version was made with cashews, but I've made it with pecans, brazil nuts, and even sunflower seeds.
1 cup stuffed green olives
Mayonnaise

Coarsely chop nuts and olives together in a food processor. Add as much mayo as you like to achieve the desired spreading consistency. It's great on a sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes (I like it best on whole wheat toast) or on crackers.

Tasty Tuesday

Once again, the time of year has come when my zucchini is growing to outrageous proportions and I've got to figure out some way of getting Budley to help me eat it. He is not, I repeat, NOT, a big fan of squash--or any vegetables, for that matter--which makes me wonder why I bother growing veggies at all when I end up giving most of them away, but I digress.

Budley has, on occasion, wanted to be vegan or vegetarian, and I have learned to laugh at this notion, and continue to serve him hamburgers, pot roast, and barbecued ribs. Thus it was, that as I gazed at the huge mound of squash sitting on the kitchen table, in desperation, I took my recipe for zucchini souffle and added ground beef to it. And voila! We have a new way to trick Budley into eating vegetables!

Hamburger Zucchini Souffle


Saute:
1 onion, chopped or grated
1 lb lean ground beef, seasoned with meat seasoning of your choice, or a mixture of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder
4 cloves garlic, minced

Mix together:
1 large zucchini, grated (about 2-3 cups)
1 cup or more grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 long pkg saltines (whole wheat or regular), crushed
2 tsp of a salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder mixture (Paula Deen's House Seasoning)

Beat together:
3 eggs
1 can evaporated milk
2 tbsp pesto

Now, mix all of this stuff together, put it in a greased 9 x 13 pan (glass or metal) and bake for about an hour at 350 degrees, or longer if you're like Budley and don't like your casseroles juicy. Let it set a few minutes before enjoying with the hunk of your choice!



























Oh, yeah... I almost forgot. Now that I've used up some of the squash, I've got to figure out what to do with all these cucumbers. Something tells me that my Yah Yahs will have some very interesting suggestions...

Tasty Tuesday Grilled Greek Zucchini!

Once again, the time of year has come when my zucchini is growing to outrageous proportions and I've got to figure out some way of getting Budley to help me eat it. He is not, I repeat, NOT, a big fan of squash--or any vegetables, for that matter--which makes me wonder why I bother growing veggies at all when I end up giving most of them away, but I digress.

Budley has, on occasion, wanted to be vegan or vegetarian, and I have learned to laugh at this notion, and continue to serve him hamburgers, pot roast, and barbecued ribs. Thus it was, that as I gazed at the huge mound of squash sitting on the kitchen table, in desperation, I took my recipe for zucchini souffle and added ground beef to it. And voila! We have a new way to trick Budley into eating vegetables!

Hamburger Zucchini Souffle


Saute:
1 onion, chopped or grated
1 lb lean ground beef, seasoned with meat seasoning of your choice, or a mixture of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder
4 cloves garlic, minced

Mix together:
1 large zucchini, grated (about 2-3 cups)
1 cup or more grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 long pkg saltines (whole wheat or regular), crushed
2 tsp of a salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder mixture (Paula Deen's House Seasoning)

Beat together:
3 eggs
1 can evaporated milk
2 tbsp pesto

Now, mix all of this stuff together, put it in a greased 9 x 13 pan (glass or metal) and bake for about an hour at 350 degrees, or longer if you're like Budley and don't like your casseroles juicy. Let it set a few minutes before enjoying with the hunk of your choice!



Oh, yeah... I almost forgot. Now that I've used up some of the squash, I've got to figure out what to do with all these cucumbers. Something tells me that my Yah Yahs will have some very interesting suggestions...

Tasty Tuesday Creamy, Fruity Greek Yogurt!

In the mood for something creamy, delicious, and relatively non-fattening?

No, Alicia. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about yogurt. Since I've been having to avoid the sweet stuff as much as possible, I've missed having yogurt on occasion. True, they make a fat-free or light versions, but they're still loaded with sugar.

I bought some Stevia in the Raw a while back, thinking I'd use it in lots of things. It's sweet, natural, and all that good stuff. Unfortunately, sugar isn't the only bad ingredient in most desserts, so the bag sat around, unopened, for a long time.

Then I discovered fat-free plain Greek yogurt. If you've never tried it before, it is thicker and creamier than regular yogurt, and can pass for sour cream without any trouble at all. No cholesterol, very few carbs, and plenty of protein. I bought a carton of Dannon's plain Greek yogurt and added some raspberry extract. It wasn't bad, but I missed the pieces of fruit.

Then one day, I bought some strawberries. I used to make jam all the time, and nothing I've ever bought in a store can compare with the homemade variety. I miss it. I miss the smell of strawberries on the boil, pouring it into jars, and listening for the pop when the lids seal. Since I can't eat it anymore, I've stopped making it. But I hit on the idea to chop up the strawberries (about a cup), add 2 heaping tablespoons of Stevia in the Raw, stir it up, stick it in the microwave, let it boil for a minute or so, and see what happens. I let the sugar-free "jam" cool in the refrigerator, and then added it to the Greek yogurt.

OMG!!!! It's thick, creamy, fruity, sweet, cool, and delicious!!!! Plus, it's fat-free and the only sugar is what's in the fruit!

Since then, I've tried it with blueberries and raspberries, but I still like the strawberry the best.




















Enjoy your Tuesday!