Sunday, May 1, 2016

Crustless Ham and Cheddar Quiche

I went through a phase where I tried all kinds of quiche recipes. This is by far my favorite and I use this recipe interchangeably with whatever I have in my fridge, cooked vegetables, lunch meat, or sausage, this recipe is really just a base for whatever I want it to be. And my kids love it.

Crustless Ham and Cheddar Quiche

2 Tbs olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cup chopped carrots (or any other vegetables)
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk (I sometimes use rice milk as a substitute)
1 Tbs cold butter
1/2 cup baking mix (bisquick or pancake mix works)
8 oz chopped ham
2 cups shredded cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In medium pan saute onions and carrots in olive oil over medium heat for four minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat eggs and add milk to combine.
4. With pastry cutter or fork mix cold butter into baking mix until small pea sized pieces form. Add this to the egg and milk mixture and mix until combined.
5. Add ham, cheese and sauted vegetables to egg mixture and stir with wooden spoon to combine.
6. Spray caserole dish or pie plate and pour into dish. Bake for 30-40 mins until tooth pick comes clean.

My Favorite Broccoli Cheese Soup (Panera Bread Copycat)

When we lived in Henderson, Panera Bread was one of our favorite places to eat. Mostly because my kids always at so well there and we loved all of the food. Their version of Broccoli Cheese soup has become our favorite and there are a lot of good copy cat recipes on line but I more or less follow this one.

Broccoli Cheese Soup (Panera Bread Copycat)

1 Tbs melted butter
1/2 med chopped onion
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half and half cream (I always just use milk or sometimes rice milk for my non-dairy children)
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 lb fresh broccoli chopped small (I tend to use quite a bit more and sometimes have to add a little         bit more liquid)
1 cup grated carrot
1/8- 1/4 tsp nutmeg (its weird but its what makes it panera)
1-2 bay leafs
8 oz grated sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute onion in 1 Tbs butter and set aside. In a large pot whisk together the melted butter and flour over medium heat for about 3-4 mins.
2. Slowly whisk in milk and chicken stock. add nutmeg and bay leaf and let simmer for 5 mins or less.
3. Add vegetables and sauted onion, let simmer on low for about 20 mins until all is tender.
4. Remove from the heat, remove bay leaf and stir in cheese until melted. and serve!

Best Zucchini Bread (from Kayescupboard.com)

Kayla is one of my mission companions. She started food blogging about the same time I did, although she has kept it up and her site is way better organized than mine. But we have similar taste in recipes and food and this one comes from her blog. I love it!

Best Zucchini Bread

3 C flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/2 C applesauce
1 1/4 C sugar
3 tsp vanilla
2 C shredded zucchini
1 C chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Grease and flour 2 bread pans, preheat oven to 325
2. Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Beat eggs, oil sugar and vanilla together in a large bowl. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and mix well. Stir in zucchini and nuts. Pur batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 40-60 mins until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 20 mins remove bread from pan and cool completely.

Mandy's Sheet Cake

I want to print this blog so that I have my own cookbook, but before I do, there are several recipes that I need to add, that have become some of our family's favorites or the past few years. So I will comment very little on these recipes. 

Just a quick note, this is my sister-in-law's sheet cake recipe that she got from her Grandma Nyles. It has become my favorite version too.

Mandy's Sheet Cake

Bring to a boil:
    1 Stick of butter
    1/2 C of oil
    1 C water
Pour over and mix into:
    2 C sugar
    2 C flour
    1/4 C cocoa
Add:
    2 beaten eggs
    1/2 C buttermilk
    1 1/2 tsp soda (mix it into buttermilk)
    1 tsp vanilla
Bake in sheet pan @ 350 degrees for 20 mins

Frosting
Melt:
     1 Stick of butter
     1/3 C buttermilk
Pour into and beat:
     1/2 32 oz bag of powdered sugar
     1/4 C cocoa
Add:
     1 C nuts (optional)
     1 tsp vanilla

Frost cake while hot.