Eggplant Omelet

I stopped by my local produce shop today and picked up an onion, eggplant, and some bananas.  I love living a 5 minute walk away from a great little shop.  I had not cooked anything with eggplant in a while.  So after looking through my refrigerator, I decided to make omelets for dinner.

preparation time 10 minutes
cooking time about 15 minutes
makes 2 omelets

Ingredients:

1 small eggplant
1 broccoli floret
1 small onion
1/2 tomato diced
a little butter
oil
1/2 cup grated cheese
3 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Directions: 

Dice onion and saute in pan with oil.  Then chop up eggplant, add to pan.  Thinly cut the broccoli and add to pan.  Saute until tender, about 8 minutes.

Crack eggs and put in a small bowl.  Whisk with a fork until smooth.  Set aside.

In another small pan, add butter and half the egg mixture.  Once one side is set, flip over and add the veggies and cheese.  Fold in half and cook until done.  Turn and cook the other half.  Top with cheese.  Do the same thing with the rest of the eggs and veggie mixture.  Enjoy!

Italian Ice Tea

Italian Ice Tea

My next door neighbor used to live in Italy. She made ice tea for me one day and it was delicious! She said it was Italian Ice Tea.  

Here is how to make it:

Brew herbal tea
Chill (or add lots of ice to cool it down)
Add about a teaspoon of mint syrup
Sugar or honey to taste
Top with lemon or lime sherbert

This tea was wonderful and very refreshing. If you need something to cool you down, this will do it. She said the coolness factor comes from the mint.I made our Italian tea with green tea and it was yummy!

Quick and Delicious 3-Ingredient Pizza Crust

Mushroom Pizza

I love homemade pizza and am always looking for tasty, quick, and easy recipes.  I got this yummy pizza crust from a cookbook I bought while on vacation in Italy. It is called 30-Minute Italian by Fran Warde.  I usually make a whole wheat pizza crust. However, I had to try this one when I realized it only uses three ingredients and the pizza crust does not use yeast. It is called Quick Pizza Base. My family loved it and my husband said it was so good he would have been happy about his purchase if we bought it at a restaurant. I have to say, I would agree. It was one of the best pizzas I have made.

preparation time 10 minutes
cooking time about 10 minutes
makes 4 small pizzas or 1 large pizza

Ingredients:

250 g/8 oz (1 cup) self-rising flour
1 teaspoon salt
150 ml/1/4 pint (1/3 cup) warm water

Directions: 

1. Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and mix well.  Slowly add the water and mix to form a soft dough. When it has bound together, mix the dough with your hands into a ball. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead until it is smooth and soft.

2. Divide the dough into 4 and, with your hands (flour your hands well) and a rolling pin (I did not use a rolling pin), flatten it as thinly as possible - or make one large square or circle (this is what I did). The pizza rounds do not have to be exact circles as that is one of the charms of making your own pizzas! Make the pizzas just a bit smaller than your serving plates and as thin as you can.

That is it!  Then add your toppings and bake in a preheated oven, 230⁰C (450⁰F) for approximately 10 minutes or until golden and sizzling.

I made mine simple and put tomato sauce, mushrooms, sprinkled some Italian herb seasoning, a little garlic salt, and topped with shredded mozzarella cheese.  If you want to make it more Italian-like, put sliced mozzarella cheese rather than shredded.  Guten Appetit!

German Eis Coffee

German Eis Coffee

Last weekend I went to a cute cafe and joined a few friends as we said farewell to a sweet friend of ours who is moving back to the States. Since it was hot, I decided to order Eis Coffee. I had never had German eis (ice cream) coffee before and was not sure what it would be like. It was yummy! Today I made some at home.  Here's how to make German Eis Coffee.  It is perfect on a hot summer day.

Ingredients/Directions:

Mug of fresh coffee
Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream
Add whip cream on top (optional)

Drink with a straw.  As the eis (ice cream) melts, it will get sweet.  If it's not cold enough for you, you can add an ice cube or two.  Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

I love homemade pizza.  Not only is it cheaper than take-out but it is also healthier.  In Germany the selection of prepared pizza crust is limited.  Thankfully making pizza crust is simple.  I got this recipe from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook: Everything you Need to Know to Cook. The pizza crust is modified to whole wheat pizza crust. If you don't want to use whole wheat flour, just substitute white flour for the whole wheat.

Prep: about 5 minutes
Let Rise: 20 minutes
Bake: about 10 minutes

1 package regular or quick active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105 degrees to 115 degrees)
1.5 cup all-purpose flour*
1 cup whole wheat flour**
2 tbs olive or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Olive or vegetable oil
cornmeal

Dissolve yeast in warm water in medium bowl.  Stir in flour, 2 tbs oil and the salt.  beat vigorously 20 strokes.  Cover and let rest 20 minutes.  Follow directions below for thin or thick crust.

For Thin Crusts: Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease two cookie sheets or 12-in pizza pans with oil.  Sprinkle with cornmeal.  Divide dough in half; pat each half into 11-in circle on cookie sheet with floured fingers.  Prick dough thoroughly with fork.  Bake about 10 minutes or until crust just begins to brown.

For Thick Crust: Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease 2 square pans, 8x8x2 inches, with oil.  Sprinkle with cornmeal.  Divide dough in half; pat each half onto bottom of pan.  Cover and let rise in warm place 30-45 minutes or until almost double.  Bake 20-22 minutes or until crust just begins to brown.

*If using self-rising flour, omit salt.
**You can substitute the whole wheat flour for white flour.

To make pizza remove pizza crust from oven, top with sauce, toppings, and cheese.  Return to oven and bake 8-12 minutes.  Pizza is ready with cheese is bubbly.  

Easy Veggie Scrambled Egg Wrap

Last night I didn't feel like cooking but I also knew it would take too long for take-out to be delivered.  So I decided to make some veggie scrambled eggs.  They turned out really good.  This is an easy way to get your child(ren) to eat zucchini.

Prep Time: about 5 minutes
Cook Time: about 5 minutes

Total Time: About 10 minutes.

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 zucchini grated

1/2 cup cheddar cheese grated

1-2 tomatoes diced

4 whole wheat tortillas

Directions:

Dice the tomatoes and set aside. Grate zucchini and cheese.  Crack the eggs in a bowl (or straight in the skillet) and stir.  Pour the egg mixture into the pan.  Cook about 1 minute.  Then add the zucchini.  Stir and cook a few more minutes.  When it is almost done add the cheese.  Cook until done.  Heat the tortillas in another skillet or in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds.  Fill the tortillas with the egg mixture and add the diced tomatoes.  Fold over and serve warm.

You can also serve these with chips, sliced avocados (or guacamole), and hot sauce. 

**If your child is old enough, have him/her grate the zucchini and cheese.**  

Quick and Easy Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

My son loves blueberry muffins. Sadly I usually use a box mix which has a lot of preservatives.  One thing that is lacking in America is cooking and baking from scratch. Cooking used to be something that you learned growing up, now with so many good restaurants, fast foods places, and over packed schedules, busy parents are not taking the time to teach their children how to cook. I learned some baking from my grandmother but it was mainly special treats such as cookies, fudge, pies, and cakes.  As I'm learning to bake and cook more nutritious foods, I am constantly searching for recipes that don't take much more time than opening a box and added a few things.  

I got the base of this recipe from cooks.com, which I posted at the bottom. Overall the original recipe was good but my son didn't care for it.  So I made a few modifications and the recipe below turned out great.  It takes me 5-10 minutes to mix and put in the muffin pan.  And that time included searching for things like my baking powder.  I use frozen organic blueberries that I let thaw while I mixed the batter.  I estimated the honey because honey is so sticky and I like to minimize my mess.  If you're looking for a healthy blueberry muffin recipe, give this one a try!  

Prep Time: about 10 minutes
Cook Time: about 15-20 minutes

Total Time: About 25-30 minutes.

Servings: 17 muffins

Ingredients:

1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. honey
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. blueberries

1/4 c. wheat germ (optional)

2 tbs. flax seed (optional)
1/4 c. sugar (optional)

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray pan or line muffin pan with muffin cups. Beat egg; stir in milk and oil. Mix in remaining ingredients except blueberries just until flour is moistened.  Then add blueberries, batter should be lumpy. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown (mine were done in about 17 minutes). Makes about 17 muffins.

Original Recipe from cooks.com

1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. honey
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. blueberries

Follow the directions above.  Makes 12 muffins.

Quinoa, Broccoli, and Cheese Casserole

I have made this recipe a few times.  Every time I make it for guests they ask for the recipe.  I got it from The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet by Nava Atlas.  One of the main ingredients is quinoa. If you have never had quinoa, you have to try this recipe.  It is one of the healthiest grains there is.  I have served this with sweet potatoes, salads, and asparagus. It is also pretty filling on its own.

Prep Time: about 15 minutes (you can do this ahead of time)
Active Time: 10 minutes stove top
Cook Time: 20 minutes oven

Total Time: About 45 minutes.

Servings: 6


Ingredients:

1.5 cups quinoa, pre-rinsed (or rinse in a fine sieve)
2 Tbs light olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium broccoli crowns, cut into bite-size pieces (or smaller if you want to blend it more for your child)

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese or cheddar-style soy cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste


Directions:


-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (180 degrees C).  

- Bring 2 cups water to a simmer ina  medium saucepan.  Stir in the quinoa, cover, and simmer gently until the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.

- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet.  Add the onion and saute until golden.  Add the broccoli and about 1/4 cup water.  Cover and steam until the broccoli is just a little more done than tender-crisp, 5-7 minutes.

- In a mixing bowl (I use the same one I'm going to put in the oven), combine the cooked quinoa with the broccoli mixture and half of the cheese.  Season with salt and pepper and stir well.  Transfer the mixture to a lightly oiled, shallow 2-quart casserole.  Sprinkle evenly with the remaining cheese.  Bake until the top is golden and crisp, 20-25 minutes.  Let the casserole stand for 5 minutes, and serve. 

Reba's Lemon Cheesecake

without Cool Whip

If you are looking for a spring/summery dessert, look no further.  This is my mother-in-law's lemon cheesecake recipe.  When I first tried it, I was in love.  If you like lemon flavored things and cheesecake, you'll like this dessert.

Prep Time: about 20 minutes to soften cream cheese
Active Time: 5-10 minutes
Refrigerate Time: at least 2 hours

Total Time: 2.5 hours

Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:

8oz cream cheese

with Cool Whip

3-4 fresh lemons (1/4-1/2 cups of lemon juice but you can estimate)

1 can of Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 Graham Cracker Crust
Cool Whip Topping (optional)

Directions:

Let the cream cheese soften.  While the cream cheese is softening, juice the lemons and mix it with the sweetened condensed milk.  Once mixed, add the lemon juice mixture to the cream cheese.  Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.  Pour mixture into the graham cracker crust.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Top with Cool Whip, if desired.

Cauliflower Marranca

I served this dish with broccoli and tomatoes

I am always looking for new recipes that include cauliflower.  This one turned out very good.  This recipe is from Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen.  The only thing I would modify is steam the cauliflower before sautéing it.  The easiest way to do that is add a little water to the bottom of a microwave safe bowl, cover, and cook about 1 minute.  You don't want to over steam it because you do bake it in the oven.  But not steaming it causes the cauliflower to be a little crunchier than I prefer.

Prep Time: about 10 minutes
Active Time: 10 minutes stove top
Cook Time: 30 minutes at 300 degrees F in the oven

Total Time: 50 minutes - 20 minutes prep and sauteing and 30 minutes baking

Servings: 5-6


Ingredients:


3 cups cooked brown rice or millet - salted and buttered
1 lbs mushrooms, sliced
1 lemon - juiced
1 large onion, chopped
1 large head cauliflower in flower pieces - saute with 3 cloves crushed garlic, basil, salt and pepper
2 1/2 cups grated cheese of your choice


Directions Modified:


1. Preheat oven 350 degrees F
2. Steam cauliflower until almost soft
3. Saute mushrooms and onions in butter and lemon juice in one pan
4. Saute cauliflower with garlic, basil, salt and pepper in another pan
5. Combine cooked rice, mushrooms, onion, cauliflower, and cheese.
6. Bake, covered, 1/2 hour

Easy Pesto Sauce

As we are getting ready to vacation in Italy, I decided to make some Italian food.  I usually make my own pasta sauce but have never made pesto sauce.  It could not be easier!  If you like pesto you should try this simple and easy recipe.

I took this recipe from Rick Steve's Italy movie along with tips from online.  There was a short demonstration on the movie which told what to put in it.  This sauce is strong but very tasty!  I made some bruschetta to go along with the pesto and pasta.

Prep Time: about 8 minutes, plus time to cook pasta
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves - the easiest thing to do is buy a small herb plant unless you have basil growing in your garden
• 1/2 cup pine nuts (I heated them about 5 minutes on the stove)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a food processor, blend together basil leaves, nuts, garlic, and oil.  Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Serve over warm pasta and top with cheese.

The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet

I am always looking for new cookbooks.  Today I received the book, The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet by Nava Atlast in the mail.  After looking through it I am really looking forward to trying some of the recipes.  I cannot wait to share them with you, along with a picture, and how long it took to prepare and cook.  Simple is the key according to Atlas and that sounds great to me.

Baked Zucchini Stuffed with Couscous

Baked Stuffed Zucchini with a side salad and tomatoes

I made this recipe for the first time tonight.   While it is a little more time consuming than I generally prefer, it was pretty simple to put together and the end result was very good.  This recipe comes from Joy of Cooking: All About Vegetarian Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker.  My toddler liked the couscous with the mixture but did not eat any of the zucchini shell.  I served this with a salad.

Prep Time: about 15 minutes
Active Time: 10 minutes stove top
Cook Time: 32 minutes oven

Total Time: About an hour but you're not actively doing something the whole time and you get "breaks" between prepping and cooking so you can entertain your child if need be.

Servings: 4 

Ingredients:

2 medium zucchinis
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 c chopped onions
1/3 c quick-cooking, whole-wheat, or spelt couscous
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/4 c vegetable stock
1 Tbs dried currants
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbs pine nuts, toasted

Directions:

-Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).  Lightly oil a baking dish.  
-Trip the stems and halve lengthwise 2 medium zucchinis, sprinkle with salt and ground black pepper to taste. 
- Place teh zucchini cut side down in the baking dish.
-Bake unti lthe cut side is lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes.
-Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). 
-Let the zucchini cool slightly.
-Using a teaspoon, scoop out the centers of th zucchini, leaving four 1/4-inch-thick shells.
-Finely chop the pulp.
-Heat in a large skillet over medium heat - olive oil and onions, cook for about 5 minutes. 
-Add chopped zucchini, couscous, and minced garlic. 
-Cook, stirring, until coated with the oil.
-Stir in: vegetable stock, currants, and ground cinnamon.
-Bring to a boil.  Cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
-Uncover and let cool to room temperature - I let it cool for about 5 minutes
-Stir in pine nuts.  
-Spoon the couscous mixture into th zucchini boats, dividing it evenly.
-Arrange in the baking dish and cover with aluminum foil.
-Bake until heated through, about 20 minutes - I only cooked it 10 minutes and it was good
-Serve hot.  

Easy Greek Salad

Greece is one of my favorite countries.  One of my friend's mom lived in Greece for a long time.  She makes a salad similar to this.  I love the fact it does not include lettuce.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Servings: 2

 

Ingredients:

1 cucumber

1 quart cherry tomatoes

1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

1 Tbs olive oil 

feta cheese

Directions:

Wash and dice cucumber, put in bowl.  Wash tomatoes and add to the cucumber. Add feta cheese (however much you like).  Top with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Mix well and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Optional:

Add bell peppers, turnips, olives, purple onions, or any other none lettuce veggie you like.  Substitute balsamic vinegar and olive oil for Greek salad dressing.

Easy Spinach Lasagna

I am constantly looking for quick, easy, good , and toddler friendly vegetarian recipes.  I got this recipe from Campbell's Kitchen.  Assembling this lasagna is quick and easy.  The original recipe uses regular lasagna noodles, I use whole wheat.  When cooking whole wheat pasta or noodles, you may want to add a few more minutes to the cooking time.  I did not precook the whole wheat lasagna noodles and they turned out great.  Here is the easy spinach lasagna recipe with my changes.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

1 container (15 ounces) ricotta cheese

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained

8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese (about 2 cups)

1 jar (24 ounces) Prego® Fresh Mushroom Italian Sauce

6 uncooked whole wheat lasagna noodles

1/4 cup water 

Directions: 

1) Stir the ricotta cheese, spinach and 1 cup mozzarella cheese in a medium bowl.

2) Spread 1 cup sauce in a 2-quart shallow baking dish. 

3) Top with 3 lasagna noodles and half the spinach mixture. 

4) Repeat the layers. 

5) Top with the remaining sauce. 

6) Slowly pour water around the inside edges of the baking dish. Cover with foil.

7) Bake at 400°F. for 40-50 minutes (50 minutes if using whole wheat noodles). 

8) Uncover the dish. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella cheese. 

9) Bake for 10 minutes or until it's hot and bubbling. 

10) Let stand for 10 minutes.