Easy Brunch Egg Frittata Recipe

Happy Friday everyone!!! So yesterday I asked what you would like to see today and someone mention brunch, so I will give you a great brunch item. It is so good and it would be great for breakfast , lunch or dinner, but it is especially great for brunches and easy on the pocket.

So what is it???

A frittata!

I was actually making these quite a bit earlier this year because I wanted to “bulk up.”  It is super simple and requires very few ingredients unless you want to go all out.  Now when I was bulking up I would use 16-18 eggs in mine and make it last 5-6 meals.  I am giving you a scaled down version that you can make that will feed 4-6.  It really depends on how many eggs you use. I figure two eggs per person.  If you do not know if your skillet is oven safe either put it in a cake pan or wrap the skillet handle with tin foil (this is what I do, which I learned from Rachael Ray). 

Ingredients

• 8 eggs, beaten
• 1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Pinch salt
• 2 TBS EVOO
• 1 medium Onion chopped
• 3-4 Roasted Red Pepper  thinly chopped
• 1 Cup of French style Green Beans
• ½ cup of Black Beans
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

In medium size bowl, using a fork, blend together eggs, pepper, and salt. Once the eggs are beaten add the cheese.  Heat a large non-stick, oven safe sauté pan over medium high heat. Add EVOO to pan. Add chopped onion, roasted red pepper, black beans and green beans to pan and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour egg mixture into pan and stir with rubber spatula. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until the egg mixture has set on the bottom and begins to set up on the sides and top. Sprinkle with parsley.

Place pan into oven and back 25-30 minutes until set firm.

Slide out using a spatula, cut into pieces and serve.  I love topping my eggs with salsa so enjoy any way you like!

I hope you guys enjoy this one!

Staying Cool with No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Happy Tuesday everyone!  How have you all been?  Still staying cool? I noticed I haven’t had any sweets on the site since I restarted so I wanted to give you guys a quick and easy sweet and something you don’t have to turn on your oven, just your stove.  It is a tired and true recipe but it’s so good.  What makes me enjoy it so much is not the chocolate or the sweetness, but texture. I love the oatmeal that gives this cookie the texture.  There isn’t many ingredients so you might already have everything on hand.

Recipe adapted from the Food Network Chocolate Peanut-Butter No Bake cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 4 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 stick butter
• I used ½ cup of almond milk b/c that is all I had on hand. Regular milk is fine
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 3 cups oatmeal
• Waxed paper

Directions

Take all the ingredients, except for the peanut, vanilla  and oatmeal and bring to a boil. THIS STEP IS MAJOR, once it is at a rolling boil, let it boil for one minute to a minute and 30 seconds.  Take it off the heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla.  Once that is melted in, mix in your oatmeal.  I let it stand in the pot for another minute and used a small melon scoop to scoop out the mixture and placed it on wax paper.  I then used a spoon to make them more into a round cookie shape.  I made over 48 so it just depends on how big of a scoop you take out. Let cool and enjoy!

I hope you guys like this one, it is another recipe to do with the kids, so make up and enjoy!

P.S Here is a special one, I added a little cool whip (which is way to soft for the middle, but who cares it was all in fun) and make a No Bake whoopie cookie!!

Quick Easy meal on a HOT summer day- Ravioli with Arugula, Tomatoes and Pancetta

Hello everyone how are you?  Has your week been going fast? Mine has gone way to fast. I didn't have many hours at work and had a ton of things I wanted to do at home and never got to it.  Don't you hate that feeling?  It is like a stay home vacation where you want to do a ton of stuff but never get around to doing it.  Well I have the majority of today to get things done and then tomorrow before I finally have more hours again.

So if you live where I live we are under a major heat wave.  We need rain really bad.  Its so hot i don't want to even grill outside, and me and the grill are a scary thing.  I will tell you that story at another time (it's really not that bad). 

Here is a simple and quick dinner for a hot summer day.  It is from Giada De Laurentiis.  This recipe is a revisit to a recipe I already had on here, but it was so long ago I wanted to share it with you again.  You need one skillet and one pot to make these.

Brown the pancetta, add your canned tomatoes and arugula.

 Wilt your arugula with the canned tomatoes

 And your done! I had roasted cauliflower on the side, don't worry about turning on the oven, its wayyyyy to hot. Buy a nice loaf of bread from your store's bakery and have that with it.

I didn't really change anything.  Arugula has a bite to it, so if you don't think you would like it, swap it out for spinach it will be just as good! Also if you cannot find pancetta you can either swap it out for bacon, or just leave it out.


Since this is from Food Network and due to copyrights I will post the link for the recipe. I hope you all are staying cool and enjoy!
Ravioli with Arugula, Tomatoes and Pancetta

Breakfast for Champions Peanut Butter and Jelly Oatmeal

Happy Monday everyone! How was your weekend? Mine was very nice. I went to garage sales on Saturday and found these awesome books!!! 

I can’t wait to start making recipes from them to show you guys.

I also made a Breakfast for Champions! This is one of my favorite go to recipes for breakfast.  It’s healthy and so good.

I have always added extra liquid to my oatmeal and it always comes out creamy and looks like your getting more. Unfortunately I didn’t put two and two together to realize the liquid makes it expand more and that is why it looks like you are getting more.  

Hungry Girl did claim this on one of her shows so the credit goes to her.  

What you basically do is double the liquid. So if you are cooking on the stove top instead of one cup of water or milk for a half of cup of oatmeal you would add two cups.  Hungry Girl adds one cup of water and one cup of almond milk.  You can use normal milk too.  It takes about ten minutes. 

You can do this in the microwave if short on time.  This is how I do it. I add a few extra things to mine.  1 TBS of vanilla protein powder, 1 TBS of ground Flax Seed and a few pinches of cinnamon. These are all optional.  

The best part of it though comes from the topping.  Today I am making a Peanut Butter and Jelly oatmeal.

My camera was dying on these pictures so I didn’t get a good last picture of the swirl at the end.  I really hope you try this it is really good. 

Here is my recipe adapted from Hungry Girls Growing Oatmeal Bowl.

½ cup of Oatmeal (I add about ¼ cup more b/c I'm a hungry boy)

1 cup of water

¾ cup of Almond Milk (I know it is a little shy of the two cups, but it still comes out the same)

The next 3 you do not have to add if you don’t have on hand

1 TBS of Protein Powder

1 TBS of Ground Flax Seed (good for the heart)

A few pinches of cinnamon 

1 ½ TBS of Peanut Butter

1 TBS of any Jelly you like or have on hand (you can use fresh fruit instead if you have that on hand)

Add all your ingredients to a bowl. Add you liquids and stir well. Microwave on High for 3 minutes watching it after 1 minute.  This mixture will rise up and spill over if you do not watch so please make sure you are watching!  When it rises stop the cooking, stir and start heating again.  If after 3 minutes you still have quite a bit of liquid, at 30 seconds intervals heat then stir watching so it doesn’t spill over.  Do this until you get your desired consistency.  Top with Peanut Butter and Jelly, swirl in and let cool before eating. Enjoy!

Pizza Dough Part 1

Hello everyone!! How's it going?  I know I broke my promise and did not post a new recipe yesterday. Work was a little rough and crazy and when I got home I was tired.  Have you every had one of those days?


Now for food. I am always looking for a good pizza dough. I have tired a few recipes before and I found some I like, but I am still looking for one I LOVE. When I lived in L.A I used to throw pizza party's all the time. I would make the dough and tell people to bring the toppings. It was a ton of fun and very interactive and it gets your guests involved.

I found a new recipe while searching for coupon deals a few weeks ago and decided to try it.  You can find the original recipe here: My Litter Pizza Dough

What I liked about this pizza dough is you don't have to wait for the dough to rise. You just kneed it and have at it.

First gather your ingredients for your dough, Flour, Salt, Yeast, Warm Water, Oil and your toppings. I used a yellow and red pepper, a onion, garlic and olives.I used half whole wheat flour for this recipe.

Let your yeast proof for 5 minutes. I added a Tablespoon of honey to my mixture.  Next take your dry ingredients and mix them in a bowl putting a well in the center.

 Mix until the dough pulls away from the sides (sorry it is not the greatest picture) then kneed on a floured surface for 5 minutes until smooth. Roll your pizza dough out into the shape you want.

Bake your dough at 500 for 5 to 7 minutes until brown. Take out your pizza and turn the oven down to 425.  Top with what ever your heart desires. I used a homemade marinara sauce and then all the veggies mentioned before and then lots of cheese.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and brown.  Wait a few minutes before slicing, this helps everything stay together. Slice and serve and you have delicious pizza.

I really enjoyed this dough and I would try it again, but I think next time I am going to use all white four and not mix it.  I am also going to top the pizza with cheese then the veggies. I wanted a more roasted taste for them and I didn't get that with the way I topped mine.

It was very simple and easy to make and if you don't have time to wait for the yeast to rise, then this is great for you.  I hope you guys try this at your next pizza party or family pizza night. Get the kids involved let them put the toppings on and have fun!

Here is my recipe adapted from My litter Pizza Dough


Homemade Pizza Dough
1 1/2 c. warm water
2 tsp. yeast
1 TBS Honey
1 tsp salt
1 T oil
3 c. flour (1 cup Whole Wheat flour, 2 cups White Flour)
Fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme oregano) Finally chopped

To make the dough, Dissolve the yeast  and honey in warm water (110 - 115 degrees) for 5 minutes. In another bowl add salt, oil 3 cups of flour, fresh herbs finally chopped  and beat until well blended and smooth. Mix until the dough pulls away from the bowl. Knead until smooth. Do not allow to rise. Roll out to desired thickness, I like a thick crust.

Place in 500 degree oven, on bottom rack and bake about 5min. until slightly brown. Take out dough and turn the oven to 425. Top with sauce and toppings and put back in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is brown and bubbly.

HOT Summer days deserve an Ice Cold Drink

Hello my friends!!! How are you? Did you have a good weekend? What did you do?  I went to garage sales and found a few neat items and worked.  I watched a scary storm move in last night, produce tons of lighting and thunder (and I LOVE a good thunderstorm) but it never rained.  This is what I saw moving in...

Doesn't it look like a tornado was coming? Talk about scary. I also found a scary bug on my tomato plant. I would upload the picture but I don't want to look at it again.

Since my last post was about coffee and since it has been so hot, I wanted to show you my version of an ice coffee. 

Its simple to make you just have to remember one thing: Make your coffee strong than you normally do.  I normally use 2 1/2 TBS of coffee for six cups. For my ice coffee I doubled it.  The reason for doubling your coffee is once the heat melts the ice, the coffee will get watered down. If you don't have strong coffee you wont have a really good coffee taste it just be very watery.

So first brew your coffee.
Second add ice (I actually filled my cup with ice, I just took the picture too soon)

Next pour your coffee in:

Add your cream and or sugar if desired

Lastly enjoy!!! How easy it that and how cool is this cup?! I received it as a going away present from my last job.

I hope you all enjoy your day and I promise tomorrow I will have a new recipe for your that involves food.

Copycat Recipe-Dunkin Donuts Carmel Mocha

Hello everyone!  Excited its the weekend? I know I am. Work was a little rough. If you have every worked in retail you know it can be hard to get through. Hours always fluctuate, customers need attention, your co-workers drive you nuts, the list goes on. But enough about me, I want to know about you, how was your week?

Tonight's post is a copycat of Dunkin Donuts Carmel Mocha Coffee.  I LOVE Dunkin Donuts coffee.  I could drink it all day.  When I found out they came out with a Carmel Mocha I knew I had to have it. I also knew I would have to learn to make it myself.  When I moved three months ago, I moved to a town that has NO D&D! There are some around, but further away.  I am used to them being close and  now I don't have one. 

So here is my take on their Carmel Mocha Coffee. It is super simple and you might even have the ingredients on hand. What you need is Coffee, Carmel Creamer, Chocolate Syrup and a spoon.

I don't have a recipe, but I have more of a guide. 


1. Brew your coffee the way you like it.
2. Add your creamer 2-3 tablespoons until you get your desired creaminess
3. Add chocolate syrup about 2 tablespoons depending on how much of a chocolate taste you want.
4. Stir
5. Enjoy!

Two things: I used sugar free syrup just to keep my sugar down. The creamer I used is coffee-mates new natural cream which does not have any trans-fat and is all natural ingredients. It does have sugar though so watch how many tablespoons you add.

If you would like an ice coffee version to keep you cool on these hot summer days, brew your coffee stronger than normal.

I hope you guys try this and enjoy it. Let me know and have a wonderful weekend!!

M-

As promised a new Recipe!! Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

So how is everyone this morning? Still recovering from yesterday? I promised a new recipe for this week and here it is. This is a very easy, fun recipe and its perfect for any holiday or cookout and especially for the Fourth. I only have a picture of the final product. I always forget to take pictures of all the ingredients first and also the steps. This is a Strawberry Pretzel Dessert. I am sure many of you have tried it or made it before. This is it and the recipe follows. You can google the recipe and a million will come  up.  Here is a link  to the blog I found the recipe at Kelly's Recipes. Any changes I made I put in  ( ). I hope you try it and enjoy.

 I LOVE the layers of this, the salty pretzel crust and the sweet cream cheese filling, yum!!!

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

Ingredients

• 2 cups crushed pretzels
• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 3 tablespoons sugar, plus 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese (I used a low fat cream cheese)
• 1 (8-ounce) container whipped topping
• 2 (3-ounce) packages strawberry gelatin dessert mix (I used a sugar free)
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen strawberries (I used almost two packages of FRESH strawberries)
• Whipped topping or whipped cream, to garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

For the crust, mix the pretzels, butter, and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Press this mixture into a 9 by 13-inch pan and bake for 7 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool. 

In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and 3/4 cup of sugar. Fold in the whipped topping, and spread over the cooled crust. Refrigerate until well chilled. 

In a small bowl, dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water, and allow to cool slightly. Add the strawberries and pour over the cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate until serving time.

To serve, cut slices and serve with a dollop of whipped topping. 

If you have tried this before leave a comment and let me know what you thought! Enjoy!