Category: recipes

The best part about working from home… Part 3!

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This is the third and final post in a 3-part series. Last but not least, I took time one morning last week to make a quiche. My logic: make something tasty while using up the leftover veggies and ham we had just sitting in the fridge. 


Ham and Veggie Quiche


Ingredients

  • 10 eggs
  • 1 cup of cauliflower, chopped
  • 2 cups of baby bok choy, chopped
  • 1/2 an onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup of red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 cup of yellow squash
  • 1/2 cup of ham, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons of bacon fat (or coconut oil, ghee, or olive oil–whatever you prefer)
  • salt and pepper to taste
Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
  2. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with the bacon fat.
  3. Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl.
  4. Toss all the veggies and ham in with the eggs, sprinkle on some salt and pepper (to your liking), and stir until well mixed.
  5. Pour the egg mixture into the baking pan.
  6. Bake for 45 minutes.
It’s so fast, so simple, and so delicious! Between me and Brent, it only last three mornings, but that was three mornings I didn’t have to whip up breakfast from scratch (which was a welcome break). The best part is, you can do this with just about any raw veggies you have hanging out in your fridge leftover from making some other recipe.



Enjoy!

The best part about working from home… Part 2

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This post is the second of a 3-post series in which I’m sharing three delicious breakfasts that resulted from having spare time  in the morning (when I worked from home over the past two weeks). The first post can be found here: Poached Egg and Smoked Salmon over Roasted Asparagus and Red Bell Pepper.


Ham and Spinach “Egg-izza”

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • approx. 1 cup baby spinach
  • approx. 1/2 cup red bell pepper
  • approx. 1/2 cup of leftover ham
  • 1/2 of one shallot
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ghee
Method

  1. Chop the baby spinach, red bell pepper, ham and shallot.
  2. Scramble the eggs in a small bowl.
  3. Sauté the shallot with the ghee on medium-high for about 2 minutes in a small pan.
  4. Toss in the red bell pepper for about 30 seconds.
  5. Add the ham; continuing sautéing for another 30 seconds.
  6. Pour in the eggs.
  7. When the eggs first hit the pan, I take a fork and carefully pull the egg from the edges towards the center for about 30 seconds to a minute. This allows more raw egg to reach the pan, which in the long run helps the egg cook through a little faster. 
  8. Layer on your spinach. 
  9. After letting the egg cook to form a solid bottom (about 2 to 3 minutes), carefully flip the whole thing over in your pan. I use the largest flipping spatula I have, and hold the pan at an angle to let the egg bake slip out on one edge about half way. I “catch” it with the spatula and flip.
  10. Let the egg-izza cook another 2 to 3 minutes. To confirm it’s fully cooked through (unless you don’t mind slightly undercooked),  lightly touch the center of the egg-izza. If it’s super soft, it still needs to cook. At this point, cover it and turn the heat down to help it cook through without burning the bottom. If slightly firm, you’re all set!
  11.  Flip out on your plate and eat up!



The best part about working from home… Part 1

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I love working from home, which I do on average once a week, for a number of reasons. It saves me on commuting costs, I get to sleep in, I can work in my pjs if I want to, etc. One of my favorite perks is the ability to make whatever I want for breakfast. I’m in no rush to catch the metro the mornings I work from home, and that gives me the time to make something more creative than scrambled eggs and bacon (not that I don’t love those… I do! but variety is necessary sometimes).

Last week, I worked from home once and this week, twice. This post is the first of a 3-post series in which I’ll share three yummy breakfast creations that came out of my few extra minutes on those mornings. 🙂

Poached Egg and Smoked Salmon over Roasted Asparagus and Red Bell Pepper

Ingredients

  • 4-5 asparagus stalks
  • 1 large, roasted red bell pepper from a jar or can (or a large, fresh red bell pepper)
  • 1 egg
  • 1- 2 thin slices of smoked salmon
  • a drizzle olive oil or ghee for roasting the veggies (I used ghee for my asparagus)
  • a small splash of coconut vinegar for poaching the eggs (optional)
  • a sprinkle of salt*, pepper and chopped fresh dill to taste

Method

  1. Peheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. If you don’t have roasted red bell peppers in a jar or can, roast the red pepper for about 45 min (or until the skin is just about to blister; if you like it black, leave them in longer).
  3. About 10 minutes before the red bell peppers are ready, add the asparagus with a drizzle of olive oil or ghee on top to the oven for roasting.
  4. Meanwhile, bring a small pot of water to a light, rolling boil.
  5. Add a small splash of coconut vinegar if you like.
  6. Crack the egg into a small bowl and carefully drop it into the boiling water. If you want, you can take a small spoon and gently push the egg whites towards the egg yolk to keep it all together. I haven’t found this method to be particularly effective, but some people do.
  7. Wait 3 minutes for the egg to cook (I actually prefer to wait about 5 minutes because that will make the yolk just a little less runny).
  8. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the egg from the boiling water, and set aside on a small plate or clean bowl.
  9. Once everyone has been cooked, pile up your plate (or bowl): first, the asparagus; second, the red bell pepper (I got fancy and tried to wrap my asparagus with the red bell pepper, but you don’t have to do that); third, the poached egg; fourth, the slices of smoked salmon; last, but not least, spinkle on your desired amount of salt*, pepper and freshly chopped dill!

*Note: Smoked salmon is naturally very salty, so if you use any at all, I caution you to use very little!

This recipe is Paleo-friendly, Whole30-friendly if you use a fresh red bell pepper or if you make sure your jar/can of roasted red bell peppers doesn’t have any additives, and 21DSD-friendly. Enjoy!

Dairy-Free Mocha Latte

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I’m working from home this morning and with the sudden onset of dreary weather (the past few days have been in the 80’s and bright, but this morning it was a chill 57 and grey out), I was in the mood for something warm and comforting. “Coffee?” I thought, “No… Maybe tea? No. Maybe, later.” I sighed, I wanted something but I wasn’t sure what. So I tidied up my breakfast dishes and started to make my way downstairs to my office.


Now, I know from experience that hot chocolate made with coconut milk and baking cocoa powder isn’t naturally sweet (I foolishly thought it might be the first time I made it, haha). So, I knew I would have to add something… sugar, maple syrup, stevia, honey…? I decided on raw honey because maple just didn’t make sense, sugar didn’t sound appealing at all (in fact, the past few months, every time I’ve had the opportunity to use sugar, I’ve felt somewhat adverse to it because of this vague sense that it’s “fake,” but I’m not really sure where that came from, lol), and stevia leaves a weird chemical taste in my mouth.
So, here we go… my attempt at a dairy-free mocha latte. 🙂
Ingredients and Tools (yeilds 2 6-oz mugs)
  • approx. 10 oz of coffee
  • approx. 2 oz of coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon raw honey
  • 1.5 teaspoons baking cocoa
  • a blender (I actually used our MagicBullet, but you could use a regular blender, immersion blender, etc.) OR just a jar or cup with tight sealing lid
 Method
  1. Put all ingredients in the blender.
  2. Mix it up really well.
  3. Serve, sip and savor!

Then, I suddenly remembered we had coconut milk in the refrigerator, leftover from my attempt to make icing for carrot cupcakes this weekend. “I could make hot chocolate! Oh, but I could really use some caffeine… Mocha latte! Yay!”

Homemade Ghee

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From what Brent and I have read, clarified butter and ghee are more or less the same thing; and what we’ve noticed is that ghee can be expensive and somewhat hard to find, depending on where you live. So, what did we decide to do? Make our own. 🙂


While Brent was at work on Saturday, I tried my hand at making ghee. It was really easy! Here are the two sources I used today to guide my ghee making adventure:


I clarified 4 sticks of unsalted butter (2 cups) and ended up with 13 ounces (1.625 or approx. 1 and 1/3 cups) of ghee. So far, I’ve used it in a number of dishes and I think its tastes and behaves just like the ghee we bought at the store. 🙂

This is the ghee we normally purchase at the store.
The butter cooking down.
After I spooned off most of the foam.
The straining is complete!
I was able to reuse the jar from the store-bought ghee and it was just the right size (13 oz).
The final product, cooled and sealed and ready for use! 🙂