bfast- really fast :)

quick and dirty breakfast egg cup-

all night trying to sleep and all i could think of was making this...clearly i tend to hyperfocus on the randomest things. so when my alarm went off at 6 this morning i got dressed for work and went about preparing this quick, healthy and oh so easy to fiddle with breakfast egg cups

Egg Cups
Makes 5

3 eggs, beaten
1/2 c broccoli, small florets (mine were frozen so i zapped them for a minute in the microwave)
1/2 c black beans (precooked)
dash of spices you like (i used black pepper, garlic and oregano)
optional additions- chopped up ham, pine nuts, other veggies, sun dried tomatoes, shredded cheese, etc. go crazy.

Combine all the ingredients and pour into a well greased (or sprayed) muffin tin. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until the edges are a golden brown.

On top of those additional items, you can always make each egg cup specific to a persons requests by adding in more ingredients to individual cups once they are all scooped out and before going into the oven.

This all took from start to finish about 30 minutes, so totally do able. I'm going to try it w/ some salsa for lunch today. happy eating!

thanksgiving recap

woo, as wonderful as thanksgiving is, i'm thankful it only happens once a year. although i suppose since leftovers drag out for a bit, it's not really one day. but most of the dishes i care about disappear within the first day, so i'm sort of in luck (now if someone could magic the pies out of my house, that would be great!)

the menu for the day. my foodservice class theme meal project seems to have rubbed off onto me. it was all new recipes again this year and i've modified most if not all the recipes to be healthier. the biscuits did not make an appearance (we were feeling unmotivated) and the spinach and artichoke dip didn't get a photo op b/c i was too lazy before it got devoured:)

from top left corner clockwish: rosemary and butter turkey, focaccia stuffing, focaccia stuffing base, apple pie and mississippi sweet potato pie, roasted lemon brussels sprouts, smashed potatoes. we also had a mushroom gravy (that stuff gets better and better everytime). recipes at the end!

the veg's plate (w/o the gravy yet)!


Recipes:

Spinach & Artichoke Dip with baked corn chips modified from here
Makes 5 cups

1 10oz pkgs frozen spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
2 14-oz cans artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
1 c shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
8 oz light cream cheese, softened and cut in ½” cubes
½ c cannelini beans, pureed
1 c greek yogurt
¼ c grated Parmesan
4 cloves garlic, minced (1 T)
½ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ tsp salt

1 pkg small Corn Tortilla wraps

Chips can be made a day to a few days ahead. Cut the tortillas into eighths and lay out on lined baking sheet. Bake in 350 for about 7 minutes. Flip or toss the wedges and bake for another 7 or until golden brown (the wedges will curl up). Let cool and keep in air tight container.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set aside half the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. In a large mixing bowl, stir together all remaining ingredients. Spoon mixture into a greased or sprayed 1- ½ to 2 qt baking dish. Sprinkle top w/ remaining cheeses. Bake uncovered for 25-40 minutes or until bubbly and golden.

Smashed Potatoes

serves 8

15 small red potatoes, washed, de-eyed, chopped into even pieces, boiled, water removed and mashed

3 wedges laughing cow garlic cheese

1/2 cauliflower head, microwaved about 5 minutes and pureed

1/2 can cannelini beans, pureed

3/4 c chopped kale

garlic

milk

salt and pepper
Make sure the potatoes are completely mashed, while still warm add other ingredients and spices to taste.

Roasted lemon Brussels sprouts

serves 6

2 lbs Brussels sprouts, washed and quartered

olive oil

garlic, minced

salt and pepper

Canola oil

lemon

Toss Brussels sprouts in all ingredients except lemon and spread out in large baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Spray with canola oil (or olive oil. Bake in 350F for 10 minutes. Remove, toss and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with half lemon juice and toss. Serve immediately.

Focaccia Stuffing from here
serves 5
½ loaf focaccia bread, cubed
2 T pine nuts
1 ½ T olive oil
½ small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 dried sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
½ c marinated artichoke hearts, chopped 1 ½ T chopped fresh basil 1 c vegetable stock ½ tsp salt ½ tsp black pepper
Preheat oven to 375 F. Place cubed bread in a large bowl and set aside.
In a dry skillet, toast pine nuts over medium heat until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Add the nuts to the bread cubes.

Heat 2 T of oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute for 5 min. Add garlic and cook for an additional 5 min, stirring often. To the bread bowl, add the onions and garlic, along with the sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, basil, stock, salt, and pepper. Stir until combined well.

*The day before I combined the sauteed onions, garlic, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, salt and pepper and kept it refrigerated. I also toasted the pine nuts in advance so that way on Thanksgiving day all that needed to be done was cubing the bread and tossing everything in basil and stock.
Oil a 3-quart casserole dish and spoon the stuffing into the dish. Spray the stuffing with canola oil. Bake, uncovered for about 20 minutes. Broil for a few minutes until golden.

Mississippi Sweet Potato Pie modified from here makes 1 pie
4 oz (1 stick) butter, softened, could probably use less of this 2 c baked and mashed Korean sweet potatoes 1/4 c brown sugar 1 5-oz can evaporated milk 3 eggs, beaten 1 tsp cinnamon 1 pie shells, unbaked
Mix butter, potatoes, sugar, and evaporated milk until well blended. Add eggs, and cinnamon; mix well. Pour into the prepared pie shells. Bake in a 350 oven for about 75, until set.

pumpkin goodness

a mini pie

if you don't have a pumpkin pie recipe for thanksgiving yet and want something a little different this year- go for this (i may sing a different tune when i try out a paula chiffon pumpkin recipe, but that's not important right now).

wasn't really feeling in the thanksgiving mood (which is a clear sign of something very wrong!) but after my run this morning i was feeling so much better (now i know, those 5 am runs are completely necessary). but anyway, since i had today off from work and was feeling rejuvenated, baking was in order! this is a recipe merging a much healthier recipe with a not as healthy one, and together it's yummy goodness, totally ready for t-day!

the crust inspiration comes from this fitness blog which i think i actually found from some daily newsletter i get in my inbox. 

regular sized muffin cup

the filling comes from my friday-at-work-and-only-30-minutes-left to do perusal. from foodnetwork.

i had some leftover filling (i made less "crust") and so popped the rest in the microwave for 3 minutes and had instant pumpkin pie filling (my favorite part). not sure what to call this- but i'm going with oat & date pecan maple pumpkin mini pie with maple whipped cream. whoo, that's too long. any suggestions?

Oat, date & Pecan crust Maple Pumpkin Mini Pie w/ Maple Whipped Cream

Makes 12 mini, and 8 muffin cup sized pies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups instant oats

8 large dates, pitted (make sure you take out the seeds, or you'll have my problem and wonder why your food processor sounds like it's dying and then have to dig and search for each partially broken seed)

pinch of salt

~ 1/4 c pecans

1/4 c water

1 c pumpkin puree

1 T all purpose flour

1 T sugar in the raw

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 c heavy cream

1/4 c maple syrup, grade B

1 egg, beaten

Maple whipped cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 c grade B maple syrup (or to taste)

dash of cinnamon

Optional

Top with a toasted pecan

Line muffin pans with paper wrappers. Process the oats, dates salt and pecans. Slowly add in the water until the mixture begins to combine (but not wet sticky!). Form into balls and press into the muffin tins.

For the pumpkin filling, combine all the ingredients except the egg. Taste, add more maple syrup or spices as desired, and then add in the egg. Spoon into the muffin tins and bake at 400 for 15 min (for the little ones) and about 25 min for the larger ones. Place a pan filled with some water in the oven (this way the pies won't crack on top and stay nice and moist).

For the whipped cream, beat the whipping cream on high speed until the mixture thickens. Add the maple syrup and continue to beat until the cream holds firm peaks. Dollop on top of the pies and sprinkle with cinnamon. Top with toasted pecan. 

happy baking!

the bright side of insomnia

there's always a positive spin to anything right. well, here it is, finally updating this baby :D

my mom bought these pre-peeled roasted chestnuts at Costco and since they have no preservatives realized we had to eat them in 7 days and since we're off on a 24 hour road trip we figured chestnut bread. which i couldn't find (anyone have a recipe?) but found this instead- Korean chestnut dessert. or what i'm just calling chestnut rolls. the whole blog is pretty cool.

i did a half recipe and fiddled a bit b/c of the insanity that was trying to get honey out of the bottle. i love that these aren't that sweet and remind me of my cakebites, but your teeth don't cry from the sugar shock (don't get me wrong, cakebites in a flavor i like are no match for my sweet tooth!). 

Korean Chestnut Rolls (adapted from the korean american mommy)
8 oz Galil roasted chestnuts
~3/4 T honey (i had clover)
1 T sesame seeds (i bet these would add a great flavor if toasted!)
dash salt
dash cinnamon
1/4 c pine nuts, toasted and ground coarsely.

Food process the chestnuts. Add the sesame seeds, honey, salt and cinnamon until a meal forms. Shape into balls. Food process the pine nuts (make sure your nuts are cooled before processing) and then roll the balls in the pine nuts. I got about 15 rolls/balls. (balls just sounds awkward...haha).

after seeing this post, all i want is to go out and buy a mini cheesecake pan! sounds and looks adorable! now if only there was a bakery store that was open 24/7. but seriously, peanut butter AND cheesecake. i'm thinking a biscoff version also needs to be tested!

happy baking! and happy weekend! we're off to cleveland to visit s4, which hopefully means some yummy italian food, if not, certainly delicious korean california rolls on the way over!