Spinach & Mushroom Quiche

I made this quiche for breakfast with some lovely friends this morning and it turned out great!  The texture was nice and light. It was so flavorful--the perfect savory dish to go with a tall glass of orange juice. I started with this recipe as a guideline but made changes to fit my own tastes: Spinach Quiche.  I love that you can be flexible with this recipe--you could use whatever types of veggies and cheese you prefer.  I combined some muenster with Kraft's triple cheddar shredded cheese.

9-inch pie crust
2 Tbsp butter
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp minced onion
6 oz spinach, chopped
4 oz mushrooms, chopped
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
4 eggs
1 cup milk
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lay unbaked pie crust out in a 9-inch pie dish. Melt butter in a frying pan over medium heat.  Add garlic and minced onion and cook for 1 minute.  Add chopped mushroom and spinach and saute 3-5 minutes until spinach is wilted and mushrooms start to brown.  Add most of the cheese, reserving 1/4 cup for later, and mix well.  Pour vegetable and cheese mixture into the pie crust. In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs and milk. Add salt and pepper to taste and pour over the vegetable mixture in the pie crust. Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup cheese over the top.  Return to oven and bake another 30-40 minutes until the top is golden and the eggs are set.  Let rest 10 minutes before serving.  Makes 6 servings at 241 calories per serving.

Monkey Bread

Ingredients

• 3 -10 oz or 4 - 7.5 oz rolls of buttermilk biscuits
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp Karo syrup

Cut biscuits into four quartered pieces. Mix sugar and cinnamon in mixing bowl. Coat biscuit pieces in cinnamon sugar mix and place into a greased bundt pan. The biscuit pieces coat easiest if you only add a handful into the sugar mixture at a time.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On stove, melt butter in a saucepan. Then add brown sugar and Karo syrup. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and pour over biscuits in the bundt pan. Bake 30-45 minutes until cooked through and golden brown. I suggest baking it covered for half of the time to keep the top from getting too brown.

Once the bread is finished baking, place a serving plate over the top and turn upside down to remove bread.

Homemade Granola

A quick note about this recipe...the type of oats you use will make a big difference in how the granola turns out.  Quick Oats do not clump together as well and they also cook faster so I'd recommend decreasing the cooking temperature/time.  Old Fashioned Oats clump very well especially if you let them cool on the pan and then break them apart once cooled.  Also note it is important not to add the dried fruit until the last round of baking or the fruit will harden.

Ingredients

• 3 cups oats*
• 1 cup coconut flakes
• 3/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup dried fruit (I use a mixture of raisins, craisins and dried cherries)

*Gluten free dieters: make sure your oats and spices (cinnamon, vanilla) do not contain gluten.

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. In large mixing bowl: combine oats, coconut and almonds. In a separate bowl: mix honey, oil, brown sugar and cinnamon and heat until boiling (on stove or about 30 sec in microwave). Stir in vanilla to mixture. Pour over oat mixture and coat evenly. Transfer the mixture into a large jelly roll pan (or any large pan with sides) by squeezing handfuls of it into clumps. Bake 15 minutes. Remove pan and mix granola. Bake another 15 minutes. Remove pan and add 1 cup dried fruit. Mix granola and bake another 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Let cool in pan and break apart mixture if clumps are too large.

Mom's Pumpkin Bread

This bread is a Thanksgiving tradition in our house!

Mix ingredients in a large mixing bowl in the following order:

• 6 eggs
• 4 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups oil
• 1 large can Libby's pumpkin pie mix
• 1 Tbsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 5 1/4 cups flour
• 1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare bread pans with butter and flour. Pour batter into pans until half full. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Recipe yields 4-6 loaves of bread (depending on the size pan you use). Decrease baking time by about 30 minutes if you are making muffins.

Perfect Homemade Pancakes

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1 whole egg and 1 egg white (beaten until frothy--this is VERY important for fluffiness)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
4 Tbsp melted butter

recipe yields 8-10 pancakes