Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

This is great breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. You can easily add any meats or substitute whatever cheeses and veggies that you have on hand.

-1 homemade or store bought pie crust
-6 eggs
-3/4 c heavy cream
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp pepper
-2 c broccoli florets, cut into bite sized pieces
-1 c cheddar cheese

In medium bowl, whisk together eggs, heavy cream, salt and pepper. Stir in broccoli and cheese. Pour into pie crust. Place quiche on a baking sheet and bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes, until the center is just set.

 

Sweet and Spicy Rosemary Curry Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Sweet and Spicy Rosemary Curry Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

These are by far my favorite pumpkin seeds I've ever eaten. I modeled the recipe after my favorite roasted nut recipe because I love this combination of flavors. This recipe easily doubles or triples based on how many pumpkin seeds you have on hand.

-1/2 c pumpkin seeds
-1 tsp olive oil
-1 Tbsp brown sugar
-1/2 tsp curry powder
-1/4 tsp rosemary
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/8 tsp cayenne

Boil pumpkin seeds for 10 minutes, drain and blot dry with kitchen towels. In small bowl stir together the oil and spices. Toss with the warm, just boiled pumpkin seeds. Spread pumpkin seeds out on a baking sheet lined with parchment or foil. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Happy 5th Birthday Noah!

Happy 5th Birthday Noah!

 

This year you;

 started school and have been attending pre-K. it was a bit of a hard adjustment with you (and me) crying everyday for the first week, but now you have adjusted and tell us that everyday was the "best day yet". you have made several friends in your class and are learning so much. you have great behavior and understanding of the material at school and I am so proud of you.

 

continued to play soccer and have really improved your abilities over last year. now you play actual games every Saturday. you have scored goals every game and scored as many as 6 and 7 in a single game, being the high scorer for your team. it has been so much fun to see you really apply yourself to something, do well at it and learn how to come out of your shell and go for it on the field.

 

last week when we played the ungame with friends you said that your favorite place to go is church because they give you candy and you learn lots of things. you  have several friends at church and I love that out of all the fun things that we regularly do (trips to the zoo, museum, chick fil a etc) that church is your favorite place to go.

 

you are such a fun, silly, energetic, creative, confident boy. you are rough and tough yet thoughtful and caring. you love to be the center of attention and to do tricks for or tell stories to people. you get lonely and bored when you don't have someone to play with and you always want to be around other people.

 

you love to dig in dirt, go to playgrounds and the zoo, wrestle with your daddy and brother and do just about any craft from playdoh to painting or coloring. this year your main interest has been dinosaurs, so we threw you a dinosaur 5th birthday party, but you have also been into superheros as well. you have a vast knowledge of dinosaurs and can identify them and tell us names that your daddy and I have never heard of. you can also tell us which dinosaurs came from different time periods. you say that the indominus rex is your favorite dinosaur. you say that you want to be a paleontologist when you grow up.

 

you love to play games like I Spy and Hide and Go Seek.

 

you love our family and when we are all together. you love your brothers so  much. when you get a treat you always want to make sure that Eli gets one also. you want to pray for Zeke every night before bed.

 

Noah, your dad, brothers and I love you so much!  you bring so much adventure, fun, excitement and joy to our lives. you make us laugh and help us to not take ourselves too seriously.  you make me more aware of my words and actions and the example that I set. you give me a reason to be better, to be slow to anger and quick to seek and extend forgiveness. you teach me about childlike faith and expecting and believing big things from God.

you are destined for great things, my son!  you are going to take the spiritual legacy and inheritance that your daddy and I give you and go so much further with it.  you are going to change the world.  you are going to be a leader of men and a lover of people.  you are going to walk in the power of God and a supernatural lifestyle.  you are going to do "greater things".  you will be like Noah, and will walk in righteousness despite the depravity around you.  you have found favor with God and are His chosen instrument.  you will be a mighty man, a man who walks with God always seeking His heart. 

Mixed Berrry Cobbler

Mixed Berry Cobbler

This cobbler is very versatile, you can use your favorite combination of berries, all of one type of berry, or really use any fruit that you like. I've also used frozen berries straight from the freezer, just increase the baking time by at least 10 minutes. I've doubled the recipe to fill a 13x9 pan and feed a crowd and I've used whole wheat flour instead of the all purpose flour and no matter what I do, this turns out delicious! You can eat it as is, or my preference is to serve vanilla ice cream scoop over the top.

-1 cc plus 1/4 c sugar, divided use
-1 c flour
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 c milk
-4 Tbsp butter
-3 c (fresh or frozen) mixed berries or your choice of raspberries, blackberries or blueberries

In a medium bowl whisk together 1 cup of the sugar, the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the milk and butter. Pour batter into the bottom of a greased 8x8 dish. Top with the berries. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes, until the dough has risen above the berries and browned nicely.

Roasted Chickpeas

 Roasted Chickpeas

Roasted chickpeas are an easy, healthy, inexpensive, vegan snack that you can customize however you like with different flavor combinations. I've listed the two pictured below (Indian Spiced and Salt and Vinegar) but I also intend to experiment with Buffalo and Chili Lime flavors over the next week.

Indian Spiced Roasted Chickpeas

-2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
-1 Tbsp olive oil
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 tsp sugar
-1 tsp curry powder
-1 tsp garam masala
-1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Dry off chickpeas by patting them with paper towels or a kitchen towel. In a small bowl, mix together olive oil and all of the spices until well combined. Stir chickpeas with spices until well coated. Spread chickpeas in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 30-45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven when they reach your desired crispness. Cool to room temperature and store in an air tight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Salt and Vinegar Roasted Chickpeas

-2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
-1 Tbsp olive oil
-1 tsp salt
-2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Dry off chickpeas by patting them with paper towels or a kitchen towel. In a small bowl, mix together olive oil and salt. Stir chickpeas with oil/ salt mixture until well coated. Spread chickpeas in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 30-45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven when they reach your desired crispness. Drizzle the vinegar over the chickpeas and stir to incorporate. Return chickpeas to the oven for an additional 1-2 minutes to allow vinegar to soak in. Remove chickpeas from oven, cool to room temperature and store in an air tight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Chipotle Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili

 

 

Chipotle Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili

 

This is a hearty vegan dish as is, or you can add ground turkey to please the meat eaters. Serve with an assortment of toppings such as cheese, sour cream, cilantro, chopped scallions and diced avocado.

 

-2 Tbsp olive oil

-1 yellow onion, diced

-1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, diced

-5 cloves garlic, minced

-15 oz diced tomatoes

-1-2 c vegetable broth

-1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, diced

-1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

-1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

-1/2 Tbsp chili powder

-1/2 Tbsp cumin

-1/2 tsp oregano

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/4 tsp black pepper

-1 Tbsp sugar

-your choice of cheese, sour cream, cilantro, scallions or avocado for topping

 

 Heat oil in medium pot over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper, saute until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and continue to cook, stirring often, for 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until sweet potatoes are tender, about 20-30 minutes. Serve with desired toppings.