Fantastic Frittata

Fantastic Frittata

A very easy recipe for brunch, breakfast, or just because. I adapted a recipe I found in a magazine with what I had on hand in the house. There are ways to make this recipe lower in fat calories with substitutions for some of the ingredients. I've noted them below. However, I did not make this recipe with the lower in fat alternatives - and it was, as the title suggests - fantastic AND fantastically easy.

• 8 oz. box cream cheese - softened - OR - you could use low-fat or non-fat cream cheese - but I am betting that the recipe would not be as flavorful
• 6 eggs - Yes, 6 - OR - you could use a egg substitute equivalent to 6 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
• 2 tbsp. butter - OR - you could use margarine or low-fat margarine
• 3 small cans mushroom stems and pieces - drained - OR - you could use a package of fresh mushrooms if you prefer
• 1/2 cup green pepper - chopped
• 6 slices crumbled bacon - cooked - OR - you could use sausage or pepperoni - chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat the cream cheese, eggs, garlic salt and other spices in a bowl until well-blended. I used my mixer as it takes a long time to mix by hand. Melt the butter in a large skillet or oven-proof skillet on medium heat. Add the mushrooms and green pepper and cook, stirring constantly for 5 minutes or until crisp and tender. Stir in the bacon and/or sausage or pepperoni. Stir in cream cheese mixture. Cook 5 minutes or until the center is almost set.

Transfer mixture to a round baking stone (I used my PC round baking stone) - or baking dish - Or - put your ovenproof skillet in the oven. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until the top is golden brown and firm - but not overcooked. Cut with a pizza cutter and serve warm.

Do you know of any other "Fritta" recipes????? Please send them so I can try it!

Does anyone ever read these?

Easy Lamb Chops

Easy Lamb Chops and Potatoes
I've always wanted to try to make lamb chops, but the price of lamb made me pause......BUT, fortunately, our local SAM's Club had a great deal on some beautiful lamb chops, so I took the plunge.

I know there are many people who have a problem with the idea of eating lamb, but I blocked that out and proceeded to find an easy recipe for preparing lamb chops. My husband loves them, so I knew at least HE would appreciate them! I found a few recipes, and took the best of the three and made the chops according to the following recipe.

NOTE: I use Olive Oil PAM cooking spray to cut calories, rather than butter, margarine, or cooking oil. I am hopeful my arteries will thank me one day...!)

• 6 - 8 small- to medium-sized lamb chops
• 2 tbsp. Extra-Light Virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1 1/2 tsp. minced onion flakes
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
• 1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• 6 - 8 medium-sized golden potatoes - skins off and sliced thin
• 1 package fresh mushrooms - rinsed and sliced
• Olive Oil PAM cooking spray

Parboil the golden potatoes in a medium saucepan for 5 minutes or until some of the starch covers the surface of the water in the pan. This will make them less starchy, more tender, and will cook more quickly when you bake them with the lamb chops.

Mix the garlic salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Lightly coat the lamb chops in the mixture. In a large skillet or WOK, brown the seasoned chops in the olive oil. Brown on both sides. Add the water, lemon juice, dried parsley, oregano, onion flakes, remaining garlic salt and pepper mixture, and fresh sliced mushrooms. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to ensure the lamb chops are coated on both sides. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spread potatoes into a rectangular baking dish sprayed with Olive Oil PAM. I sprinkled a little more garlic salt and pepper on them, as well as a few drops here and there with Extra-Light Virgin olive oil. Add the chops and the rest of the ingredients on top of the potatoes evenly into the baking dish. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and/or until the chops are cooked through. Play around with the time they are baking until they appear to be at the consistency and/or doneness you prefer. (Now THAT sounds professional...!!)

ENJOY!!!

Best Pork Recipe Found So Far This Year

Best Pork Recipe Found So Far This Year!!

On my grocery store coupon "jaunt" this past weekend, our local market had a BOGO (Buy-1-Get-1) on Pork Loin Cutlets (the thicker pork chops). Naturally, I bought some and played around with a few different recipes to get one that turned out to be the very BEST pork recipe this year - maybe ever......

(By the way, I got $279.65 in free groceries between BOGO's, coupons,

and sale items! More on that strategy later!!)

This recipe is SO EASY and SO YUMMY - I hope you'll try it and love it as much as we did.

(Is anyone really reading these BLOG entries? If so, could you let me know?? Thx!)

Pork Cutlets/Chops in Mushrooms and Tomatoes

• 4 pork boneless cutlet/chops - thicker than ordinary thin-sliced chops - maybe called "butterflied chops?"
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
• 2 - 3 tbsp. butter (as Julia Child would say - "You can never have too much butter....")
• 1/2 tbsp.minced onions
• 8 to 12 oz. fresh mushrooms - sliced (you could use canned, but fresh is much better)
• 2 cans - 15 oz. - diced tomatoes
• 3/4 cups chicken broth (I buy the Swanson cartons and refrigerate leftovers)
• 1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
• 2 tbsp. Extra-Virgin olive oil

Drizzle olive oil in a large skillet. Put flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl and dredge each pork cutlet/chop until coated in the flour mixture. Brown the pork pieces in the olive oil in the skillet until slightly golden on all sides. Remove pork from skillet.

Add garlic salt, minced onion, mushrooms and butter to the skillet and cook until the mushrooms are tender and butter is completely melted. Add the chicken broth, dried parsley flakes, and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce temp. to "simmer." Add the browned cutlet/chops and continue to simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until the meat is tender. And "voila!!!" - melt-in-your-mouth-tender-juicy-pork!!!

You can serve the prepared pork cutlet/chops with rice - or even noodles - but we enjoyed it without any extras! Well,maybe a glass of wine - but that's a "given."

A Spot of Summer - For Kids of All Ages

A Spot of Summer - For Kids of All Ages

Having a pretty solid case of the "Winter Blahs," and since my throat is scratchy from dry heat and cold windy weather, I craved a cold treat for my throat and for my well-being. In some way, I needed to have a summer treat, that wasn't TOO fattening and unhealthy, to brighten my day. Sooooooo,

I glanced through my many Food Betty's* in search of a treat to satisfy this craving.

Stay Tuned for a definition of "Food Betty" in future posts. Or, if you know any of my students, they could explain to you the meaning and purpose of any type of "Betty."

A long time ago, during one of my MANY weight-loss pledge times - some successful, some not - I came across these Weight-Watcher-Friendly summer snack recipes, and decided the revised version that I made back then would be the perfect fit for my state of mind.

There are two versions - one is with fruit and the other is a creamy version. Both are easy and delicious. If you don't have a popsicle mold, you can use paper or plastic cups covered with foil. Cut a small hole in the foil and put a popsicle stick in the center of each foil covering. Freeze the pops for at least 5 hours. Tear the paper or plastic cup away so you can eat it like a popsicle.

Orange Juice Pops

• 1 cup fresh blueberries, strawberries, or mandarin orange wedges - I chose strawberries
• 1/2 cup diced mango
• 1 cup orange juice - with or without pulp - I made mine without pulp (I hate juice with "things" in it! HA!)

Divide 1/2 cup of the fruit of your choice evenly between 8 (2-oz.) pop molds or cups. Top evenly with the mango, and then with the remaining fruit you chose for the recipe. Divide the orange juice evenly among the cups/molds. Cover and freeze until solid - at least 5 hours or overnight.

In case you count point values for your food - this is a Zero Point value treat - based on Weight Watcher's.

Banana Pops

• 2 (4.4-oz.) packages vanilla pudding - or you could use soy vanilla pudding
• 2 small bananas - diced
• 1 drop coconut extract (if desired)
• 4 tsp. milk or dark chocolate chips - or shavings, squares, etc. - it's your choice

Combine the pudding and coconut extract in a small bowl. Stir in the banana pieces and the chocolate pieces. Divide the mixture between 8 (2-oz.) cups or molds. Cover and freeze for 5 hours or overnight.

Weight Watchers would give this a 1 Point value.

There are lots of versions that you could create with this method of making a fun, cool-to-the-throat treat. Let me know if you have any other versions/ideas that I can try. I have a feeling it is going to be a llllooonnngggg winter.

Greek Pasta Salad

GREEK PASTA SALAD

My boys used to swim for the Davison Athletic Club (DAC) summer swim team and for the Flint YMCA Falcons swim team. We made many friends and had so much fun hanging out together and watching our kids swim at practice and at swim meets. If you've ever been to a swim meet, you know how L-O-N-N-N-G-G-G...they are, so we spent a lot of time getting to know parents of the other swimmers.

We started having family get-togethers periodically and we'd all bring something to eat and drink to share with the group. At one of these gatherings, my friend made a pasta salad that I absolutely DEVOURED. I couldn't get enough of it. I asked her if she had the recipe and she DIDN'T!! I told her that I wanted to make it at home, so she told what the basic ingredients were - but since my penmanship isn't real legible after a couple of glasses of a good Chardonnay and I knew I left out some details - I began searching the Internet for what I hoped would be a close second. After trial and error and phone calls to my friend, I managed to eek out a great recipe that includes pieces of several different recipes. I love Greek Pasta Salad, so I am providing you with this recipe in hopes that you will like it, too. It's easy and even tastes great the day or two after you make it and wrap it up for the refrigerator.

Greek Pasta Salad

• 1/2 cup Extra Virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. dried basil (you can use fresh if you want to - but the dried works very well)
• 1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 3/4 tsp. black pepper
• 3/4 tsp. white sugar
• 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
• 2 1/2 cups rotini pasta - cooked (or any pasta type that you prefer or have on hand)
• 3 cups mushrooms - sliced - fresh or canned - whatever you prefer
• 1 pkg. cherry tomatoes - halved
• 1 cup red bell peppers - sliced
• 1 pkg (4 oz) feta cheese - crumbled
• 1/2 cup green onions - chopped
• 1 can (4 or 6 oz) black olives - halved
• 1/3 cup green olives - halved - if desired

In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic powder, basil, oregano, pepper, and sugar. Add cooked pasta, mushrooms, tomatoes, red peppers, feta cheese, onions, and olives. Toss until evenly coated with the herb mixture. Cover and chill for 2 - 3 hours prior to serving. But honestly, I've eaten it without doing that and it was still delicious.

Try the recipe and let me know what you think. Any suggestions or variations I could try would be fun to get! ENJOY!!

EASY EGG RECIPES

EASY EGG RECIPES

Eggs are the most basic ingredient you can have in your fridge. Even if there is nothing else in the house that you could throw together for a meal, be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you can always figure out something to do with an egg. Eggs are also something everyone in my house will eat, depending upon how they are prepared. Poached, fried, scrambled, hard-boiled, sunny-side-up - or however they are prepared - is an individual choice. But the fact remains, EGGS are a "must."

Following are some basic recipes that require eggs as a main ingredient. The availability of the other ingredients will be easy to get at the grocery store. You may already have some on hand.

Egg Salad

• 4 tbsp. mayo or Miracle Whip - we ONLY use Miracle Whip in our house =)
• 1 tsp. mustard - we prefer regular but you could also use Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1 tbsp. dried chives or parsley
• 6 hard-boiled eggs - peeled and chopped
• 1/2 small green pepper - chopped
• 4 Romaine lettuce leaves

Mix the mayo/Miracle Whip, salt, pepper, chives or parsley, and mustard in a large bowl. Stir in the chopped eggs and bell pepper until well-blended. Serve on Romaine lettuce leaves. You can also make sandwiches using your favorite type of bread.

“Crabby” Deviled Eggs
Emeril Lagasse is a favorite of mine on the Food Network. I made these eggs for the group I play cards with back in 2001 - they loved them! Trying them again in my kitchen was a pleasant reminder of how much I miss my friends.

· 12 large eggs
· 3 tbsp. mayo or Miracle Whip
· 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
· 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
· ¼ tsp. salt
· ¼ tsp. hot sauce
· ½ lb. lump crabmeat – remove shells/cartilage
· paprika - optional

Hard boil the eggs for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and rinse quickly with very cold water for 5 minutes. Peel the eggs and cut in half lengthwise. Remove yolks from the whites and place in medium bowl. Mash yolks with a fork. Add mayo/Miracle Whip, mustard, lemon juice, salt, and hot sauce; mix well. Add crabmeat, gently stir to m ix. Spoon equal amounts of the mixture into the egg white halves and chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Sprinkle with a little paprika. Makes 12 servings.

Egg and Crescent Roll Casserole

• 6 eggs
• 2 (8-oz.) cans refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine (butter is better!!)
• 1/2 cup green onions - chopped
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 (14 1/2 oz.) can chicken broth
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 1 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables - or whatever kind you prefer
• 2 cups cooked ham - diced
• 1 egg - beaten

1. Hard boil 6 eggs. Peel the eggs and chop them once they are cool. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Separate 1 can crescent rolls into 2 long rectangles. Press rectangles over bottom and 1/2-inch up sides of greased 13x 9 -inch (3-qt.) baking dish. Bake 8 to 13 minutes or until light golden brown.
3. Melt butter/margarine in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add green onions; cook and stir until crisp-tender. Stir in flour, thyme, pepper, and broth. Cook 3 to 4 mins., or until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low. Stir in vegetables, cook 4 to 6 mins. or until veggies are crisp-tender.
4. Stir in ham and hardboiled eggs; cook 3 to 5 mins., or until thoroughly heated. Spoon veggie mixture over partially baked crust.
5. Spread the other can of crescent rolls onto waxed paper and make 2 more long rectangles. Overlap the long sides 1/2-inch and press edges and perforations to seal. Press or roll to form 13x9-inch rectangle. Cut slits into the top of the dough or use a cookie cutter to cut a shape out of the dough. Reserve any cut-outs you decide to make for baking time,
6. Invert the dough rectangle over hot filling, and remove the wax paper. Place cutouts on top. Brush with beaten egg.
7. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or until deep golden brown.

Do you have any favorite egg recipes? I'd love to try them!

The Power of Cream Cheese

The Power of Cream Cheese

Cream cheese is a very versatile ingredient around which you can create simple, delicious food that the whole family will enjoy. I use my coupons to buy cream cheese in what seems like "bulk." As long as you don't open a package of it and put it back in the refrigerator, it should store well in your fridge for a while - just be sure to check the expiration date. I've discovered that freezing cream cheese doesn't work well, so I don't recommend it.

FYI - America's Test Kitchen has rated the KRAFT Philadelphia Cream Cheese as the best - but you can try other brands and judge for yourself.

Here are some easy recipes to try using your favorite brand of cream cheese that would be great to serve at a Super Bowl or any other type of party.........

Taco Spread

• 8 oz. block softened cream cheese
• Salsa - jarred or your own
• tortilla chips or flour tortillas
• tomatoes - chopped
• lettuce - shredded
• any other of your favorite taco toppings

Pour any flavor or heat intensity salsa over 8 oz. block of cream cheese - or onto 4 cut squares of cream cheese. Sprinkle with your favorite taco topping - such as tomatoes, lettuce, etc. Serve with warm tortilla chips or warmed flour tortillas.

Confetti Cheese Balls

• 3 oz. package cream cheese - softened
• 4 oz. cheddar cheese- shredded
• 1/2 cup ripe olives - chopped
• 1/2 cup green peppers - chopped
• 1/4 cup pimento - chopped
• 1/2 cup pecans - chopped
• 1/4 tsp. parsley - minced
• crackers or bread sticks

Beat the cream cheese with the shredded cheddar cheese. Stir in 2 to 3 tbsp. chopped ripe olives, chopped pimento, and chopped green peppers. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls and roll half in chopped pecans and minced parsley. Serve with crackers or bread sticks.

Hot Pizza Dip

• 8 oz. package cream cheese - softened
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce - your choice
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese - shredded
• soft or hard bread sticks for dipping
• other pizza toppings - your choice

Spread softened cream cheese in a 9-inch pie plate. Top with 1/2 cup pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, and other pizza topping of your choice. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with bread sticks.