Spinach, mushroom & feta crustless quiche

I found out what quiche was my junior year of high school when I went on a field trip with my french club!  I feel in love and craved them all the time afterwards... sadly I didn't begin cooking until just now.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz Fresh mushroom
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• non-stick spray
• 10 oz Frozen spinach
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2 oz feta cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• salt & pepper

Instructions:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 
• If your frozen spinach is not already thawed, thaw it in the microwave. Empty the box into a colander and let it drain while you begin to prepare the rest.
• Quickly rinse the mushrooms and slice them thinly. 
• Place the sliced mushrooms in a skillet coated with non-stick spray, add the minced garlic, and sprinkle a little salt and pepper. 
• Turn the heat on to medium-high and saute the mushrooms until they release all of their moisture and no more water remains on the bottom of the skillet (5-7 minutes).
• Spray a pie dish with non-stick spray. 
• Squeeze the rest of the water out of the spinach and spread it out on the bottom of the pie dish. 
• Next add the cooked mushrooms and crumbled feta.
• In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs until fairly smooth. 
• Add the milk, parmesan, and another small sprinkle of pepper. Whisk to combine. (This step can be completed while the mushrooms are cooking) 
• Pour this mixture into the pie dish over the spinach, mushrooms, and feta.
• Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over top. 
• Place the pie dish on a baking sheet for easy transfer into the oven. 
• Place the quiche into the preheated oven and bake until it is golden brown on top and the center is solid. 

Every oven is different but this should take between 45 minutes to an hour. Slice and serve!

Baked Oatmeal with Blueberries & Bananas

 

I personally love starting my day off with one of these crispy, warm, heart-healthy breakfast treats.  I love enjoying oatmeal baked with ripe bananas, blueberries, cinnamon, honey and walnuts!!!  The best part is that you can make this with any combination of nuts and fruit you like, the possibilities are endless! But I really enjoy bananas, & blueberries... I may however try a strawberry banana one in the near future because I sure do LOVE strawberries & bananas!!!!!


Ingredients:

• 2 medium ripe bananas, (the riper the better) sliced into 1/2" - 1/4" pieces
• 1 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/4 cup honey (I personally love honey & do 1/2 cup)
• 1 cup uncooked quick oats
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup fat free milk (or any milk you desire)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

• Step One:

• Preheat the oven to 375° F.  
• Lightly spray a 8 x 8" or 9 x 9" ceramic baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.
• Arrange the banana slices in a single layer on the bottom of the ceramic dish.
• Sprinkle half of the blueberries over the bananas, 1/4 tsp of the cinnamon, 1 tbsp of the honey and cover with foil. 
• Bake 15 minutes, until the bananas get soft.
• Step Two:
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the oats, half of nuts, baking powder, remaining cinnamon, and salt; stir together. 
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining honey, milk, egg, and vanilla extract.
• Step Three:
• Remove the bananas from the oven, then pour the oat mixture over the bananas and blueberries.
• Pour the milk mixture over the oats, making sure to distribute the mixture as evenly as possible over the oats.  
• Sprinkle the remaining blueberries and walnuts over the the top.
• Bake the oatmeal for about 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the oatmeal has set. 
• I however like mine a little crispy, so I leave it in a little longer!! =]

Serve warm from the oven.

Nutrition Facts (per serving):

• Servings: 6 
• Serving Size: 1/6th 
• Old Points: 4 its 
• Points+: 6 its  
• Calories: 211.7 
• Fat: 5.4 g 
• Protein: 5.6 g 
• Carb: 38.1 g 
• Fiber: 3.8 g 
• Sugar: 22.8 g
• Sodium: 76.9 mg (without salt)     

The Final Product:

Butter Beer Cupackes (Harry Potter Style)

I don't know about the rest of you, but I absolutely LOVE Harry Potter!!! I also love butter beer, or at least the butter beer coffee I've tasted! With that being said I had to try these butter beer cupcakes when I first found out about them... & let me tell you, they are AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to try an keep this blog filled with healthy food, but every so often I have to post about my AMAZING cupcake creations!!!!! These cupcakes are not about calories cutting!! Trust me!

Ingredients (for the cupcakes): 

• 2 cups flours
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon butter flavoring
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup cream soda

For the ganache:

• 1 11-oz package butterscotch chips
• 1 cup heavy cream

Butter cream frosting:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup butterscotch ganache (made previously)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon butter flavoring
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 16-oz package powdered sugar
• splash of milk or cream (as needed)

Instructions (for the cupcakes):

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with paper liners.
• Combine your flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside. 
• In a large bowl, cream your butter until light and fluffy. Add your sugars and beat until well-combined. 
• Beat in your eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 
• Then beat in your vanilla and butter flavoring.
• Alternate adding your buttermilk, cream soda, and dry ingredients in batches until all are well incorporated. 
• Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 full, then bake for 15 to 17 minutes until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean and cake springs back to the touch. 

For ganache:

• In a double boiler (heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water on the stove), combine butterscotch chips and heavy cream and stir until completely combined and smooth.
•  Cool to room temperature. 
• Fill a squeeze bottle with ganache and insert into the center of each cupcake, squeezing until filling begins to overflow.

For butter cream frosting:

• Cream butter in a large bowl until fluffy. 
• Add in ganache, vanilla, butter flavoring, and salt and mix until well combined. 
• Beat in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until reaching desired consistency. 
• Add milk or cream by the Tablespoon as needed. 
• Frost cupcakes, once cooled, and top with a drizzle of butterscotch ganache.

I only wish once finished  I could serve these with some butter beer. Perhaps some cream soda could do the job and you could just use your imagination. =]

Oreo Cupcakes!! yum yum

These are with out a doubt the best Oreo cakes I have ever ate!! In this recipe there are Oreo's in the cake, in the frosting, and at the bottom is a Oreo surprise. That's right, you put a whole Oreo at the bottom of the cake & everyone loves that surprise. The cookie stays firm, which makes it a little interesting to eat against the soft cake, but in reality it gives it a rather nice crunch. Overall this is an amazing cupcake. I make them for every family get together, and not only do the kids rave about them, but the adults love them as well!!!

Ingredients:

• 1 package Oreo Cookies (regular size)
• 1 package Mini Oreo Cookies, for decoration (optional)
• 1 package chocolate cake mix (mix according to directions on box)
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temperature
• 3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• cupcake liners

Instructions for cupcakes:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
• Mix packaged cake mix according to directions (do not bake).
•  Line cupcake tins with liner, place a regular size Oreo cookie in the bottom of each liner. 
• Take 1/2 of remaining cookies and chop coarsely and add to cake mix. Fill the cupcake tins. 
• Bake for 15 minutes (or according to box directions). 

While cupcakes are baking make the frosting.

Instruction for frosting:

• Cream together butter and cream cheese. 
• Add vanilla, then add powdered sugar slowly until blended well. 
• Chop remaining regular-sized Oreos very fine (I put the cookies in the zip-loc and crushed them by hitting them, instead of trying to chop them up super fine and it worked out really well). Add to frosting. 

After cupcakes have cooled frost and decorate with Mini Oreos.


The finished product: 

Bite sized carmel apples

It may not look like it, but this is a wonderful bite sized dessert!!! Especially if you have a thing for carmel apples & can't always find it at the store, or it a whole apple.  This can cure any carmel apple fix in minutes!!!  And yes, you may not like green grapes or whatever... but my roommate was a nonbeliever before, and now she loves them!!! All you need to like is carmel apples!!! Trust me! =D

Ingredients:

• Grapes
• Carmel Sauce
• Nuts
• Tooth picks

Instructions:

• First begin by poking all of your wonderful grades with tooth picks!
• Once your tooth pick you may now pick up your grapes and dip them into your carmel sauce.
• Once covered in carmel sauce you can then decide if you like your nuts bigger or smaller, and chop them to your likely. You now have two options; pour the nuts onto your carmel covered grapes or you may also dip each grape into the nuts as well, both work.

I personally like smaller nuts, I apologize however that this is a rather crappy picture!

Alfredo Sauce made for Gods

I use to HATE Fettuccine Alfredo, which to me is amusing that my first recipe is for such.  But I found a healthy recipe for it that taste amazing!!!!!  The truth now about how I feel about Fettuccine Alfredo is that I could eat it all the time!!! So thank goodness that this stuff makes great leftovers! 

There is one main ingredients to this Alfredo sauce... A shocker if I must say so my self

Yep, you guessed it... that's cauliflower baby!! 

I would have never guess that cauliflower puree could make an Alfredo sauce that taste so good and is still really creamy, slurpy, and amazing!! It's also not made with a lot of cream or butter... which lets you eat it without feeling horrible about it because most of this sauce is VEGETABLES!!!!!!!  It also makes wheat noodles not taste like crap!!!

Ingredients:

• Noodles to your liking
• 1 cauliflower head from your local grocery store
• 3 cups of vegetable/chicken broth
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Instructions:

• Chop the cauliflower into small pieces like the pictures shows.  Bring the broth and cauliflower to a boil over medium high heat.  Cook until the cauliflower is soft, about 15 minutes.
• While the cauliflower is cooking, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the minced garlic and saute this for 4 minutes or until soft and fragrant. Once finished add into the pot of boiling cauliflower.
• While these are cooking together, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook your pasta according the the directions found on the package.
• Transfer the cauliflower and garlic not a blender with the broth you boiled it in.  You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your chosen blender.  Puree for about 1 minute and then add the salt, nutmeg, and black pepper and puree until very smooth. Add more broth to the blender if the mixture seems to be too thick.  It should be turning through the blender easily.  Once this is finished transfer it back to the butter/garlic skillet.
• Add the cream and olive oil and cook over low heat while blending in these ingredients.  Keep warm until you are ready to serve! 

The final product:

Nutrition Facts for the entire pan of sauce without noodles: 

• 10.5 g Fat
• 7g Saturated fat
• 0g Trans fat
• Cholesterol 55mg
• Sodium 2590mg
• Total carbohydrates 3g
• sugar 3 g
• Protein 3g

How it all started!!!!

Hello Readers,

I suppose I'll start with how it all started! In the summer of 2012 I hit an all time high with my weight & all time low with my self esteem. That's also when I found out about a food program my best friend was trying.  It's a way to turn your food habits around and start eating on the healthy side of life.  I was on the fence for awhile about it but then I dropped 25 pounds & so much body fat that summer!!!! AMAZING RIGHT!! The other ladies in my group were loosing around the same as well, and they were twice to three times my age!!!  The best part is, you aren't starving yourself... I actual had the problem that I was to full to eat all of my meals.

Meet my best friend and I at the start of our journey:

We're some amazing lifeguard at the pool I manage & have been friends for years!!!  We're also both very competitive, which is wonderful for soccer and weight loss.

Here's the after picture:

The pictures aren't the best of quality so I do apologize, but the inches and sizes I lost were amazing!!

Since then I've kept the weight off and even though I was only half way to my ideal weight I entered what they like to call "maintenance mode."  That of which, I'm about to exit and start my weight loss adventure once again.  I figured while I start this adventure again, I'd begin to post my recipes so others could get the chance to milk these benefits of weight loss as well!!

Hope you enjoy feeding your bottomless pit as much as I do!!!