Egg Casserole

A co-worker gave me this recipe, and it is terrific. It is ridiculously healthy for you, extremely low-calorie, and quite filling. (Healthy & low-calorie, sad to say, are not the same thing. When you find something that’s both, it’s a wonderful thing.)

• Either two small or one tall cartons of egg substitute (Egg Beaters or the like)
• 9 oz. bag of raw spinach
• Cooking spray
• Additional ingredients like Boca or Morningstar crumbles, sliced mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, etc. Make it healthy and low calorie and the sky’s the limit. I used gorgonzola crumbles in the casserole above (2 tablespoons = 74 calories).

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray the casserole dish thoroughly with cooking spray.

Pour one small or 1/2 tall egg beaters carton in.

Remove stems of spinach leaves and layer very, very thickly over the egg beaters. I used half the bag in the one above, but you can use as much as you like. 

Layer the mushrooms, crumbles, any other ingredient you want over the spinach. 

Pour the rest of the egg beaters over this. Shake some Mrs. Dash over top, if you like.

Bake for 40 minutes.

I used a 9 X 13 casserole dish, cut the above into 8 servings; each serving is a generous size, and only 71 calories. 

Delicious, I promise. And you don’t need to save it for breakfast.

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Pumpkin Pie Dip

From a recipe I’ve seen all over Pinterest (source here).

• 15 ozs (1 can) canned pumpkin
• 1 8 oz tub cool whip
• 1 box instant vanilla pudding
• 2 cups milk
• pumpkin pie spice/cinnamon/nutmeg, whichever you prefer

Make the pudding as usual, using the milk. After it’s set up, use hand mixer to thoroughly blend the pumpkin, cool whip and pudding. Add the spices to taste.

Cinnamon graham crackers, animal crackers, Nilla wafers, and apple slices are all good choices for dipping in it.

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Movie Night

Original Post Date:APRIL 27, 2012

A little snack tonight while I finally watched Boston Kickout. (Much better than I thought it would be, and surprisingly touching. And surprisingly hot.)

Anyway; popcorn and peanuts with shaved dark chocolate sprinkled in while the popcorn was still hot enough to melt it. I may be on a diet, but I still know how to whip together something decadent.

“Tuesday” is next.

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Green Apple

Original Post Date:JANUARY 28, 2012

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Sunday Morning

Original Post Date:NOVEMBER 20, 2011

Good morning! Inspired by this post and how easy it made homemade donuts look, I gave it a try. And they are delicious! (Even that one that got away from me a bit and got a little dark.) I made a smoothie too, so I’d be full enough not to go back for seconds on the donuts. We’ll see if that works.

The tablecloth was a vintage sheet till I got my hands on it. I love ’70s era sheets.

All right, breakfast is posted, now I’m off to eat it.

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Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake

Original Post Date:OCTOBER 23, 2011

From Joy the Baker’s recipe here.

This is delicious, full of fluffy white vanilla and marshmallow flavor. It’s not low-cal, obviously, so go easy, but it’s well worth trying once.

(I like my marshmallows burned, as you can see.)

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Pumpkin Pie White Hot Chocolate

Original Post Date:OCTOBER 9, 2011

Recipe taken from Closet Cooking. I’ll let you go to the link for the recipe because it’s only fair that the recipe’s author get the hits.

A combo of pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spices, and white chocolate chips (the recipe says to chop it up, but I’m lazy and will never ever chop chocolate if I can throw chips in instead), this drink is warming and rich. Personally I felt it was the tiniest bit not sweet enough so if I were making it again, I might throw in some sugar, or some more chips. As it was, I tossed a couple of candy corns in the picture there into the drink and let ‘em melt. Again, I am super lazy.

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Friday

Original Post Date:JUNE 10, 2011

Pizza on Friday nights, nothing like it. This one received a little basil from my garden.

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Jeni’s

Original Post Date: APRIL 18, 2011

My favorite flavor of Food Network’s Best Exotic Ice Cream In America.

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Christmas Baking

Original Post Date: DECEMBER 11, 2010

Whoopie Pies!

See large

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Orange Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Original Post Date: OCTOBER 26, 2008

The nuclear orange glow was created with food coloring for the season’s orange & black color scheme; the next time I make this (and oh there will be many next times) I’ll leave the food coloring alone. The orange flavoring comes from orange zest and juice and is sooo nice with the chocolate.

One warning, double the recipe to make a layer cake; I really expected this to make more than it did. (When do I leave “beginner stage”?  )

Orange Cake (recipe from here with minor alterations by me)

1 1/2 c. flour plus 1 tbsp.
3/4 c. sugar
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, plus 1 tbsp.
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
Zest from 2 oranges
Juice from 1 orange
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour an 8-inch cake pan; set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into butter and sugar mixture along with orange zest and juice.

Baking time: about 30 minutes; check frequently after that.

Ganache: (from here)
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream

Place the chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, watching very carefully because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot. When the cream has come to a boil, pour over the chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth.

Allow the ganache to cool slightly before pouring over a cake. Start at the center of the cake and work outward. For a fluffy frosting or chocolate filling, allow it to cool until thick, then whip with a whisk until light and fluffy.

Ganache is my new BFF.

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Happy Memorial Day

Original Post Date: MAY 28, 2007

Enjoy your cookouts!

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Pancake Day

Original Post Date:FEBRUARY 21, 2007

Happy Shrove Tuesday, y’all.

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