Bacon & Egg "Muffins"

These are super easy, and super tasty! You can play around with the ingredients that you add in with the egg to mix it up a bit each time you make them. I've also made them with ham slices instead of bacon.

 

Ingredients:
5 large eggs
4 tbsp chopped chives
4 tbsp chopped onion
1/4 cup shredded cheddar
1/4 cup shredded monterey jack
12 strips of bacon
Salt
Pepper

Yield: 6 servings
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay out two slices of bacon in an X in six of the cups in a muffin pan.

Beat eggs in a bowl. Pour equal amounts in each of the six muffin cups.

 

Sprinkle equal amounts of the chives, onions, and cheeses on top of the egg. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to each cup.

 

Add the cheese on top.

Fold the bacon ends back over the top of the egg mixture. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes on the middle oven rack.

Apple Pie Bites

So I totally have to give credit for this post to my sister, Kristen. She made these over the weekend and they were so good I just had to share!

The recipe yields 8 pieces, but is easily doubled...or tripled, or quadrupled ;) (When she made it this weekend, she doubled it, as you will see reflected in the pictures.)

Ingredients:
1 refrigerated uncooked pie crust brought to room temperature
1 apple (Granny Smith seems to be the favorite for this recipe so far)
3 tbsp butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Start by peeling the apple and cutting it into eight slices, removing the core.

Melt the butter in a small bowl. While the butter is melting, mix together the sugar and cinnamon. The ratio here can be adjusted to your taste, depending on how much cinnamon you like your apple pie. You could also add cloves and/or nutmeg if desired.

Lay the pie crust out on a large cutting board, and brush melted butter over it, covering the entire surface.

Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the entire crust.

Slice the crust into eight strips (about an inch or so wide each).

Place a slice of apple at the end of an individual crust strip, and roll the apple to wrap the strip around it, covering the entire slice. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Continue to wrap all the apples in the crust.

Brush melted butter over the tops of each piece, and then sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar mixture again.

Bake at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or until the crust starts to brown. Let cool on the pan for about a minute, then use a spatula to remove the pieces and place them on a cooling rack or serving platter. Removing them from the baking sheet while they are still warm will help prevent the bottoms from sticking to the pan. These are extra delicious served with a little vanilla ice cream....YUM!

Squash Casserole

This is one of my all-time favorite Thanksgiving recipes. We've had it at our family Thanksgiving table for as long as I can remember. Aside from just being delicious, this recipe is great because it's easy to make, travels well, and is even better the next day!

As outlined below, this recipe yields about 8 servings, but is easily doubled if you are serving a large group.

Ingredients:
2 lbs yellow squash
1/2 cup chopped onion (I sometimes add a little more)
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dried basil (or 3 tbsp fresh basil)
3/4 cup shredded cheddar, plus extra to sprinkle on top
2 oz bacon bits
Cornbread stuffing mix
Panko bread crumbs
Paprika

Wash and slice squash. Place in a large pot with the onion and add just enough water to cover the veggies.

 Boil until squash is tender. Drain thoroughly. (The draining is really important - if it's not drained well you will end up with a soupy mixture, which is not what we're aiming for.)

Pour drained squash and onions into a large bowl, and mix in the sour cream, salt, pepper, basil, cheese, and bacon bits.

Add the stuffing to the mixture until you get the desired consistency (I usually add between 1/2 and 1 cup).

 Pour into a greased 2-qt casserole dish, and top with cheese, a handful of panko, and a few sprinkles of paprika.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. You can also prepare the squash mixture in advance and add the toppings just before you bake it.

A Lighter Macaroni & Cheese

I've been a bad blogger...it's been almost two weeks since my last post! Hopefully I'll be able to make up for lost time in the next few days though...It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is less than a week away, but I am excited to start sharing a few Thanksgiving recipes!

We started our marathon of Thanksgiving celebrations this weekend, and Clay requested Mac & Cheese. I did a little researching and found this recipe for a "lightened up" version with a secret ingredient in place of heavy cream - butternut squash. Needless to say, I was immediately intrigued given that butternut squash is a favorite of mine. The squash flavor isn't overbearing, but does add a little extra something unique to the taste.

Ingredients:
3 cups peeled cubed butternut squash (about one 1 lb squash)
1 1/4 cups fat free, lower sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups fat free or 1% milk
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp fat free Greek yogurt
5 oz. shredded Swiss cheese
5 oz shredded Italian cheeses
2 oz lowfat shredded Cheddar cheese
1 lb macaroni
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Cooking spray
Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
Paprika

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Start by combining the squash, chicken broth, milk and garlic in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is fully cooked (cuts easily with a fork). Watch closely as it is cooking though to ensure it doesn't boil over. (Yes, I learned that the hard way...)

Once squash is cooked, pour mixture into a blender. Add the salt, pepper and yogurt.

Place the blender top on, but remove the center piece to allow the steam to escape. To avoid any splatters, place a paper towel over the blender top and blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl, and mix in cheeses.

Cook pasta in boiling water until soft.

 
Drain, and mix cooked pasta in with the squash and cheese sauce. Coat a casserole dish with cooking spray, and pour pasta mixture into the dish. Sprinkle with parsley, a little extra cheese if you have some, a small handful of the panko crumbs, and a few sprinkles of paprika.

Bake at 325 for about 20 minutes, or until bubbly.

This was definitely a crowd pleaser, but I do have just a few notes:

- According to the original recipe I based this on, this yields 8 servings. We had 6 people, and had more than half left over, so unless you are serving it as a main dish, or want lots of leftovers, cutting the recipe in half may be a good idea.

- Depending on how you like your mac & cheese, this recipe may not be saucy enough. It was definitely a more dry version of mac & cheese, if that makes sense. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but next time I think I may add a little more milk (or maybe some low fat half & half) and perhaps a bit of Velveeta just to make it a tad more melty.

- I was trying to keep the cost of the recipe down by buying the pre-shredded packaged cheeses, but next time I may try adding in at least one cheese with a more robust flavor to give it a but more punch. Thyme would also be a good addition.

All in all, it was pretty good though!

Source: Adapted from a Cooking Light recipe.

Pumpkin Swirl Bread

This recipe has been a holiday staple in my family for as long as I can remember. My November is never complete without Pumpkin Swirl Bread, and after you try it, yours might not be either! :)

The recipe as listed below makes one loaf. It's easily doubled to make two, which is what I did as I was making it for this post.

Ingredients:
Cream Cheese Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese (I used fat free)
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg

Pumpkin Bread:
1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 egg
1/3 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine cream cheese, sugar and 1 egg and mix until well blended. Set aside.

Combine the dry ingredients for the pumpkin bread (flour through nutmeg).

Mix pumpkin, butter, remaining egg, and water in a mixer until just blended.

Add in the flour and sugar mixture in half cup increments until all of it is mixed in with the pumpkin mixture.

Grease and flour a loaf pan.

Pour half of the pumpkin batter into the bottom of the pan. Pour cream cheese mixture over the bottom pumpkin layer, and then top with the remaining half of the pumpkin batter.

Cut through the batter several times with a knife to create the swirl effect.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving.

Source: My Mom :)