Monday, October 24, 2011

Apple Bacon and Cheddar Frittata

I love me some eggs.  I eat an egg or two nearly every single day.  I like 'em scrambled, fried, hard-boiled... you name it.  The way I like my eggs best?  With bacon, of course!  This tasty and super-easy-to-pull-together frittata puts together two of my favorite breakfast foods with sharp cheddar and a surprising addition of apple.  Sounds a little strange, you say?  Ignore that little voice and try it anyways.  You'll thank me.
Apple, Bacon and Cheddar Frittata
This recipe was adapted slightly from The Whole Family Cookbook
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
2 egg whites
8 whole eggs
4 slices of bacon, cooked and roughly chopped
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
Generous pinch of ground thyme and ground sage
salt and ground pepper, to taste
1 large apple (or 2 small), Fuji or Gala
1 Tbsp butter

Put the rack in the upper third of the oven.  Preheat to 450

Whisk eggs until thoroughly combined. Add half of the grated cheese to the egg mixture and stir to combine. Add salt, pepper, thyme and sage.
Peel and core the apple.  Slice the apple into very thin pieces. In a medium cast-iron or ovenproof skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add egg mixture to the skillet. Sprinkle bacon evenly over the eggs. Arrange the apple slices over the bacon in a circular pattern (or whatever... this is my ocd talking), then sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Move skillet from the stovetop to the upper rack of the oven. Bake until frittata is firm in the center and the cheese is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Use a flexible spatula to loosen the frittata from the pan and slide onto a serving platter or cutting board. 



Allow it to cool for a few minutes before slicing into wedges. 

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Windowshop Wednesday



I absolutely LOVE this store.  Sadly, my budget strongly disagrees with me.  The last time I ended up with lots and lots of awesome things from Williams-Sonoma was just about 10 years ago... at my wedding.  We registered here, and are still eating off of the white dishes with simple blue trim. Classic, and we haven't broken a single one!  If I could have a part-time job, I would love to work here... just think of the discount!  But, let's be honest - I would never make a single dime.  I'd be paying them to work there.

Here are some of my current favorites from their website -

I need this. I actually need four of them. Yeah, you heard right.  I'm always responsible for four pies at Thanksgiving dinner - 2 chocolate and 2 pumpkin. Wouldn't they look perfect in these pie plates?


Heirloom Pumpkin Dipping Bowls. Love.
I'm a little obsessed with dipping bowls have have a ridiculous amount of them in many colors and sizes.
But, I don't have any festive fall ones!


I'm only 4 months away from making the finest baby-food known to... well, babies. Charlie will be utterly and completely impressed by the food I'll be whipping up from this book! Or, maybe he'll just spit it all out anyways. Worth a try.


I see awesome recipes rather frequently that I pass over, just because I don't have a thermometer. If I had one of these, I could fry stuff... and make caramel... and... well... other stuff, too.

Honestly, I could go on for days about the amazing good at WS. But, that might bore you... and then you would probably stop reading my blog.

Hope you enjoyed Windowshop Wednesday!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Pineapple Not-so-Fried Rice

I'm feeling a tiny bit like a failure.  I made it about 3 whole seconds into my unprocessed week before messing it up.  Seriously.  I was all set to start on Sunday morning.  I made delicious eggs for breakfast, and then headed off to church.  Well, wouldn't you know... they were serving donuts.  Yeah. like totally processed donuts.  I didn't mean to eat it... I only had a tiny bite before remembering that I wasn't really supposed to be eating it.  You'll be proud to know that I actually stopped after that one bite!  

I was an unprocessed rockstar for about... 2 days.  I made Chris's favorite veggie tacos and tasty curry coconut soup.  I baked a double batch of granola bars, rice pudding and berry banana oatmeal.  I was doing so well.

But, here's the thing about trying to cut something so major out of your daily life. You have to have some super-human willpower to make it happen.  And I don't.  By Tuesday night I was obsessively thinking about the chocolate covered coconut popsicles in my freezer.  I swear, I could hear them begging to be eaten.  Let's just say, it was all downhill from there.

Is this what it is like to be on a "diet"? No wonder people hate dieting! As soon as I label a food "off-limits", that is all I can think of!  I think it is much more healthy to just try and eat the best that I can most of the time, and not freak out if I have to have a cookie (umm... or a bag of cookies) sometimes.  A much better way to live, I think.

The good news is that I'm still doing a pretty decent job of meal planning and trying new recipes.  Last night's dinner was Pineapple Not-So-Fried Rice.  This won't exactly be confused with the sodium and calorie laden stuff from your corner Chinese restaurant, but it is healthy and tasty - which is what I was going for! Use up whatever veggies you have stashed in your fridge and freezer.

Pineapple Not-so-Fried Rice
Original recipe from Blissful Bites, but was altered substantially by the random contents of my fridge.
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup brown jasmine rice
2 cups water or vegetable stock
1 cup frozen peas
1 can (14 oz.) pineapple chunks, juice reserved
3/4 cup carrot, diced
3/4 cup asparagus, cut on diagonal (I used Trader Joe's frozen)
1/2 cup green onions, diced
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup frozen edamame
2 Tbsp tamari
drizzle of toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
toasted sesame seeds, for garnish



Cook rice in water or stock according to package directions. When rice is done, place in medium bowl with frozen peas.


Meanwhile, bring pineapple juice to a boil and simmer with remaining vegetables, pineapple chunks, sesame oil and tamari sauce until veggies are tender, about 5 minutes.


Toss with rice.  Garnish with cilantro and sesame seeds.