I realized, while getting ready to post my next food blog, that I don’t post the amount of time it takes to prepare and or cook the recipes on here. Is that something that you look for when finding a new recipe? Are you the person that says, “OMG! That looks fantastic! I HAVE to make that!”, or are you the person who needs to a quick recipe around 30 minutes or less?

One of my favorite things in the WORLD is Caprese Salad.  What?  You don’t know what that is?  It is a party in your mouth!  That’s what it is!  caprese is the combination of fresh mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and basil.  So tasty!

Today, to celebrate the birth of one of my best friends babies (oh who am I kidding, it’s another excuse to go get my baby fix), I made a quiche to take over to the hospital for new mommy and daddy to enjoy.  It just so happens that the mommy is also very fond of caprese too, hence the Caprese Quiche!  (I’m salivating as I type)

What you need:

1 Pre-made pie crust (I cheated and used a pre-made pie crust from Whole Foods)

4 Large eggs

2 Cups of half & half

2 Cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

1 Cup tomatoes cut the way you would like

1/4 Teaspoon salt

1/4 Teaspoon pepper

What to do:

Heat oven to 425*

First, place the pie crust into the pie plate and softly press it to all edges. Cut off or fold over any that goes over the rim of the plate.  Place some aluminum foil over the crust. Make sure to cover all the crust.  DO NOT POKE HOLES IN THE CRUST!

Place the pie plate in the oven for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, remove the foil and leave the plate and crust in for an additional 2 or 3 minutes.  The crust will look light golden brown.

Turn the oven heat down to 325*.

In a bowl, gently beat the 4 large eggs with a fork, then add 2 cups half & half, 2 cups of shredded mozzarella (the recipe I found called for 1 cup but I like a lot of cheese in mine.  Actually, next time I will use 3 cups), 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and depending how much basil you would like.  I really love basil and used all the leaves from about 3 or 4 sprigs.  The smaller leaves I left whole, the larger leaves I tore into smaller pieces.  Stir everything together gently.  You don’t want to over beat the eggs.

Next, depending on how you would like the tomatoes, add them.  I waited till the end and sliced in half my yellow pear cherry tomatoes and carefully placed them on top of the egg mixture after I poured it on the crust.

So with that, pour the egg mixture onto the crust and with a steady hand, put the quiche back into the oven.

It should take about 40-50 minutes to bake.  I set the timer for 20 minutes and checked, then another 20 and checked, then another 10 and it was done.  So yummy!

Enjoy!

We recently returned from our first family vacation in Puerto Vallerta and with my 19 month old being a picky eater, we were not looking forward to the challenge of finding things he would eat.  Since we were staying in a condo, we made breakfast everyday.  One morning I decided to try making a smoothie with all the fruit we had gotten from the grocery store.  My son loved it!  In fact, I am not allowed to fill his sippy cup any less than the brim.  He fusses if I do. 

Now that we are home, I made him his first smoothie since Mexico.  Normally I have no interest in smoothies.  I’m just not a fruit or yogurt person but the one I made yesterday made me a little jealous there was only enough to fill my sons sippy. 
Because my son and I are lactose intolerant, this recipe calls for coconut milk and vanilla coconut yogurt.

You will need:

1/4 c coconut milk
1/2 c vanilla coconut yogurt
1/2 smaller avocado
2 t ground flax seed
1 banana
Sprinkle of ground cinnamon

So you want to put all the liquid ingredients into the blender first.  Then add the remaining.  Be sure you break the banana and avocado up enough so the blender can liquefy them. 
I start the blender on puree and end with liquefy.  If you would like the smoothie thinner, add a little more coconut milk.

I am so thrilled with how this turned out!  I can’t get my son to eat avocado so now, I have a way of feeding it to him that we are both pleased with.

Enjoy!

Last night I took one of our organic chickens that we bought from the Whole Foods sale for $1.69 lb. out for dinner tonight. I planned on just cooking the chicken slowly in the slow cooker to slice up later but decided at the last minute to turn it into soup. I don’t use a recipe for this. It is a ‘do as you please’ recipe. Here is what I used:

• Thyme
• Rosemary
• 2 Bay Leaves
• Salt
• Pepper
• Carrots
• Celery
• Wild Rice
• Barley
• 1 Whole Organic Chicken
• Water

To start out, I turn the slow cooker on high heat, then pour in about two or three cups of water.  Next, after rinsing the chicken and removing the bag of innards, place the whole chicken in the Crock Pot.

After the chicken hits 180 degrees you will want to pick the chicken off of the bones.  This is fairly easy.  I use a pair of tongs and have a plate or a bowl next to the slow cooker.  If the chicken has cooked long enough, it will separate from the bone easily.  Let the chicken cook another 20 or 30 minutes if this isn’t the case for you.  I also remove any skin I find.

After removing the skin and bones, you can add more water.  The amount of water you add will determine how much soup you will have.  I add about six to eight cups or so of boiling water from the teapot.  Then I add about two cups of wild rice and 1 cup of barley.  It really depends on how ‘rice-y’ you want it.  Just remember that the rice and barley will at least double.

* If you don’t have time to wait for the rice to cook, you can cook it in a pan on the stove and then add it when it is done cooking.

Next, saute as much chopped celery and chopped carrots as you would like in your soup.  (To saute, just add about 2 tbsp of oil to a hot pan and throw in your celery and carrots.)  While your celery and carrots are sauteing, add a few pinches of thyme, rosemary and the two bay leaves.  Once the celery has softened up, you can add the saute mixture to the soup.  Stir and salt/pepper to taste.

Your Slow-Cooker Chicken Soup with Wild Rice and Barley will be done as soon as the rice and barley are tender.  If you cooked the rice on the stove, the soup is done!  If you added the uncooked rice directly to the soup, try checking for tenderness after two hours.

Can I just say OMG!! OMG!  These are seriously the BEST bar cookies I have ever had!  Very peanut buttery, lots of chocolate chips which normally I don’t like in excess.  Fabulous!  And chewy!  The bar cookies I am used to are always kind of hard.  Not these puppies!  I did have to let it cool completely before I cut into it.  Ok, before I pump it up to much, here is the recipe.  ENJOY!

It has been a while since I posted any recipes.  I guess that would be because it is hard having a toddler, baking or cooking, taking pictures and actually taking them out of the camera to post on here.  Easier said than done.  So, I am going to try not doing pictures for a while so I can get this blog back up and going.  Bare with me!

Ok, so my friend Kat was here today with her daughter Camryn.  August loves Camryn and they play well together.  So, while the babes play, Kat and I bake.  Today, homemade bread sounded really yummy!

I just pulled the bread out of the oven.  It isn’t pretty so I supposed I could have brushed the top with butter or egg white.  This is a yummy bread.  I think next time I will add a little more salt.  Here is the link to the World’s Best Flaxseed Bread!

Visit the new blog Urban Eaters!  It’s about eating in Portland.  I think you will find it to be fantastic!

This is the MOST amazing chocolate cake ever!!! And it is better for you than just plain old chocolate cake.  I made this cake for my dad’s birthday as his birthday cake.  He hasn’t been diagnosed with diabetes yet but… well at least he hasn’t told me he has anyway.  This cake was very easy and everyone wanted the recipe afterward.  I posted the link above but sadly don’t have any pictures of my own making.  If you try this recipe, please comment on what you thought about it!  I would love to know your opinion!

Ok Peeps! Food Inc. is on OPB tonight at 9pm! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE watch it! You will be glad you did!

Ok everyone! It’s coming on! Turn your tv to ABC and join me while I watch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution!! It will AMAZE YOU!