Veg, Veggie, Vegetarian...

Well, our week of vegetarianism starts tomorrow (technically) but we began the experiment today at 1:30pm (after we had delicious Greek Gyros for lunch... with diet coke... one last kick before the ban...).

But I just finished a couple hours of cooking and have come up with a Carrot and Onion Quiche and a new recipe I made up - Black Bean Cheese Enchiladas. Recipes will follow at the end of this post! We had some yummy Orange, Strawberry, and Banana Smoothies for an afternoon snack and we will try some of the enchiladas for dinner.

Here is our plan for the week:

MONDAY:
B - Cereal
L - Carrot and Onion Quiche
D - Chilled Avocado Soup and Grilled Three Cheese Sandwiches

TUESDAY:
B - Yogurt with Fruit
L - Black Bean Cheese Enchiladas
D - Mushroom Strudel and Spinach Salad

WEDNESDAY:
B - Smoothie
L - Stuffed Pasta Shells
D - Black Bean Burgers with homemade French Fries

THURSDAY:
B - V-8 with a granola bar
L - Sweet Potato Burritos
D - Vegan Risotto and Garlic Bread

FRIDAY:
B - Yogurt with fruit
L - Broccoli Fettuccine Alfredo
D - Minestrone Soup and Stuffed Peppers

SATURDAY:
B - Cereal
L - French Onion Soup with Cheese Sandwich
D - Artichoke Spinach Lasagna

SUNDAY:
B - French Toast
L - Eggplant and Cauliflower Curry
D - Potato Kale Enchiladas

Stay tuned for all the recipes and for the results on how everything goes! I'm excited about all of this!!!

And now... for the first two recipes:

Carrot and Onion Quiche

Ingredients:
2 Frozen Pie Crusts
4 tbsp butter
1 large red onion, chopped
1 large chalet, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 medium carrots, very thinly sliced
2 tbsp flour
3 eggs
1 tbsp white wine
1 cup milk
1 cup mixed cheeses: mozzarella, monterrey jack, parmesean, and cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp savory
1 1/2 tsp seasoning blend
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tbsp fresh chives

Preheat oven to 425. Bake empty pie crusts until crusts begin to brown. Remove from oven to cool and reduce temperature to 325.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, chalets, garlic, and carrots. Saute for 3-5 minutes then drizzle with white wine. Continue to saute until carrots are tender. Remove from heat, stir in flour, then mix in all remaining ingredients. Return to the stove and stir until cheese melts - be careful to not let the eggs cook.

Pour into the pie crusts and bake for approximately 45 minutes until filling is completely set. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.



Now the yummy Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups mixed cheese - Monterrey Jack and Cheddar
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1 can Rotel, drained and reserve liquid
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cans cheese soup
1 26.5 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp paprika
24 warm white corn tortillas

Grate cheese and combine with black beans, drained rotel, diced onion, salt and paprika in a large bowl being careful to not crush the beans.

In a separate bowl, mix the rotel liquid with one of the cans of cheese soup until creamy. Add the other cheese soup and the diced tomatoes (liquid included) and mix thoroughly. In a large casserole dish or several smaller dishes (this made four sets of six enchiladas for me - enough for freezing for later!), spoon some sauce into the bottom and spread around.

Take the warmed tortilla one at a time and spoon some of the bean filling just off the center of the tortilla. Roll tightly and place seam down into the sauce in the casserole dish. Continue until all the filling is gone. Top the enchiladas with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with some grated cheddar and a dash of paprika.

Bake at 375 until sauce is bubbly - 25-35 minutes.

ENJOY!!!

New Recipes!!!

I have two delicious new breakfast recipes to add. I made both of these last night and they were amazing!!!

The first is a Cheese Breakfast Souffle for 2!

Ingredients:
2/3 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
pinch salt
pinch cayenne, dry mustard powder, or paprika
4 yolks
4 egg whites

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place a large (9x13 or so) baking pan in the oven and fill with water, about an inch of water. Spray two 2-3 souffle baking dishes with cooking spray.

Melt the butter and whisk in the flour, cooking for a couple of minutes over medium low heat. Whisk in the milk until smooth and cook until thick, three minutes. Stir in cheeses and spices, cook over very low heat until the cheeses melt. Beat a few tablespoons of the very thick sauce into the yolks, then mix the yolk mixture into the sauce.

Beat the egg whites stiff, but not dry. Mix a big scoop of the whites into the cheese sauce to lighten the mixture. Then carefully fold the sauce into the whites. When combined, put in the souffle dishes, sprinkle with some grated cheddar, and slip the dishes into the water filled baking pan, bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Yum! I love souffles but have been too scared to even try it. For my first time, this turned out so yummy - the key is to not over-mix the batter once you add the egg whites.

The second recipe is for a yummy Stuffed French Toast - again for two!

Ingredients:

4 slices bread
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/3 bar of cream cheese
2 tablespoons of jam (I used strawberry!)
1/4 cup powdered sugar

With a hand blender, mix well the 2 eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and 1 tsp. of the vanilla. Dredge each piece of bread on both sides and cook in a skillet or frying pan.

In a separate bowl and still using the hand blender, combine the cream cheese, jam, powdered sugar, and remaining tsp of vanilla until creamy (may still contain clumps).

As bread is cooked, make french toast sandwiches with a piece of bread, a large dollop of filling and a second piece of bread. Cook in the oven for 5-8 minutes at 375 to let the filling melt and get gooey!

Mmmm-hmmm... dinner was yummy last night!

EDIT:

In looking back, I realized I never shared the recipes for the Homemade Whipped Cream and the Belguim Waffles. So sorry! Here we go:

Homemade Almond Whipped Cream

Ingredients:
1 small or 2/3 large can of evaporated milk
1/2 -2/3 cup powdered sugar (start with 1/2 cup and add more to suit your tastes)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract

Place bowl that you will be using, hand beater whisks, and can of evaporated milk in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. Beat all ingredients on high using a hand blender until thick and creamy (keep everything very cold - if it starts to warm up, take a break and pop the bowl back in the freezer for a little bit. Make sure every utensil you use has been chilled or it will make the cream melt). Serve immediately. If you need the whipped cream to hold for a little bit, sprinkle in some gelatin while the cream is still liquid to help it hold its shape.

Belgium Waffles for two (the recipe can be easily double or tripled, but this makes 8 waffle squares - 4 for each person)

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs, separated
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 cup milk

Preheat waffle iron. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a second bowl, use a wooden spoon to beat together the egg yolks and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the vanilla, melted butter, and milk. Whisk to combine.

Combine the egg-milk mixture with the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Do not overmix.

In a third bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric hand mixer until soft peaks form. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Do not overmix!

Coat the waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray and pour batter into iron. Close and cook until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Now you are all set for an amazing breakfast!!!

Cupid's Chase!

My list is well underway and wow is my life getting busier and busier. I took the GRE last Sunday and did really well - I was pleasantly surprised with my score. Better yet, I was glad to get it out of the way. It is such a relief to know that this hurdle is out of the way and I can move on to the next "to-do".

Also, I am officially done with my first graduate class tomorrow! Although, I've already finished and submitted all of my coursework and have closed out the program. Now I am 1/12th the way to my master's and my principal certificate! I am so excited and am absolutely loving my program. I think I've realized again just how much I enjoy being a student - Clint and I are even talking about the possibility of him doing his master's and I might pursue my doctorate! Wouldn't that be fun - Dr. Hoover! It has a nice ring to it.

And then, this morning, we woke up bright and early at 5:20am to go to McKinney, Texas to participate in our first 5k. Clint and I crossed the finish line and are so proud of ourselves! We ran to benefit the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign. We are looking into upping our training at the gym with the elliptical and the treadmill with some weight machines built in so that the next time we run we can do better. We are working up to 101 list item #1 "Run a half marathon". We are looking at September for that... But, until then, I think we will do some more training and run another 5k in March. Very exciting!

Enjoy some pictures from our 5k - keep in mind that this was a Valentine's day run and there was a certain "dressing up" component...

Our 101 list items #2 and #15 are being planned for next week. We are going to freshen up our diet with no sodas and vegetarian recipes. We will see how it goes, but it should be very interesting - I'm actually looking forward to giving this a try. I think it will be very healthy for us. I'll post the recipes and menu once we finish the "experiment". That means that I will add recipes for 101 list item #40. That should be yummy!