Avocado, Baby Kale, and Smoked Gouda Quiche

                 You will need:

• 1 refrigerated pie crust
• About 3 cups baby kale
• 1 scallion
• 1/2 lb sliced smoked gouda
• 9 eggs
• 1 tbsp yellow mustard
• 1 tbsp garlic
• 1 ripe, but firm avocado
• 1/3 cup YoChee

1. Methodically place the room tempurature pie crust into a pie plate.
2. Fill (as full as you can) with baby kale
3. Mince the scallion and sprinkle over the kale.
4. Dice the sliced gouda (just stack on top of itself, cut longways, then sideways), sprinkle into the plate.
5. Mix the garlic, yellow mustard, YoChee, and eggs and pour evenly over the kale. using a fork, press the kale down so the liquid mixture gets inbetween and all throughout the kale.
6. Slice the avocado and place evenly over the top of the rest of the ingredients.
7. Cover the edges of the crust with tinfoil. (I did this too late!)

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until set.

Salt & pepper to taste (I used Franks Hot Sauce).

{Healthy} Baked Potato Skins

• Gather medium sized bakers potatoes, pierce with a fork and bake until soft. (375 degrees for an hour should do it).
• Let cool completely and then cut in half (longways).  Scoop as much of the innards as you can whilst still leaving a 'skin'.
• Fry up a pound of bacon bits (easiest way is to cut the uncooked bacon in strips and then cook).
• Generously drizzle olive oil over the potato skins (outside and inside) and use pastry brush to coat. *If you are into salt, after you paint the skin of the potato, you could dip it lightly in kosher salt*
• Put the potato skins back in the oven @ 400 degrees and let bake until you see them getting nice and brown.
• Remove from oven and fill the boats with shredded cheese of your choice, as well as the cooked and drained bacon bits.
• Place back in oven for around 4-6 minutes until the cheese is nice and gooey.

Top with sliced green onions and a dollop of sour cream or YoChee.

Baked Jalapeno Poppers: 2 ways

I suggest making both versions at the same time

Baked Jalapeno Poppers

• Slice, core and rinse around 2 lbs fresh jalapenos
• Arrange flat on a foil lined pan.
• Using either yochee or single serve cream cheese (for easy-factor), squeeze cream cheese into each jalapeno pod nearly filling completely.
• Bake at 375 degrees until the jalapenos look like they are beginning to wilt.
• Pull out of oven and sprinkle shredded monteray jack over the cream cheese. 
• Generously COVER the jalapenos with panko crumbs and set your broiler on low.
• Broil for 5-10 minutes watching carefully and pull from oven when panko is browned.

Jalapeno Poppers with Bacon in a Crescent Roll

You will need:

• 4 cans 'jumbo' crescent rolls (cut in half, 64 pieces total)
• 2 packages of Bacon (cut up in strips and cooked until crispy, then drained)
• 2 8 oz packages of cream cheese (or 2 cups yochee)
• Around 1 pound seeded and cored fresh jalapenos, diced (use your chopper)

Mix the cooked bacon crumbles, cream cheese and diced jalapenos in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

Now, cut all your crescent triangles in half with a pizza cutter:

See how I have already foil lined pans ready to go? .... Do that :)

Using a small scoop (this is a 'small' pampered chef one), scoop the mixture and put on a crescent wedge.

Now, fold the corners up to seal the crescent completely around the filling.

Follow cooking directions on the crescent package (I think it was 375 degrees for 16 mins).  I did have to keep them in the oven a bit longer to get the tops golden brown. 

I set out Chipolte sauce, Dijon Mustard and Ranch to dip in <- All three equally enjoyed :)

With only 10 people at my house, these were demolished in less than 15 minutes. Score!

How to make YoChee

Q: What the heck is that?! 
A: Yogurt-Cheese

Q: What can you do with it?
A: Darn near anything you please :)

Take whatever flavor yogurt you'd like (I start with a non-fat plain):

Get out a 'catch bowl' some cheesecloth and a mesh/wire strainer. 

Deposit the yogurt on the cheesecloth like pictured:

Put in your fridge (covered) for around 24 hours. 

You may need to drain the container a few times as the whey will sieve into the 'catch bowl'.

24 hours later: Remove from cheesecloth and you have yochee.

Stores in your fridge for 7-10 days.

Ok... on to the real info......

 A 1/2 cup serving of  YoChee made with nonfat yogurt contains 85 calories, no fat, 10.5 grams of protein, 10 grams of carbohydrates, and 235 mg of calcium.   Approximately 1/3 of the carbohydrates contained in a cup of yogurt are drained away in the YoChee making process, so, if one cup of undrained yogurt has 16 grams of carbohydrates, then the drained YoChee will contain approximately 10 grams of carbohydrates. 

Information above cited from Eating Well the YoChee Way

Yochee can be substituted for a variety of things.

1. Cream Cheese - You can add herbs, seasonings or even start with a fruit yogurt and you will have non fat, low calorie, high protein cream cheese over night.

2. Mayonaise- Add a bit of vinegar to the yochee and mix thoroughly.

3. Sour Cream - If you let it strain for less time, you have perfect sour cream.

4. Baking Substitutions - Use to substitute equal amounts of sour cream in baking, 1/2 & 1/2 for oil substitutions or recently I just added a blob to my quiche liquid to 'cheese it up'.

5. Ricotta Cheese - Hello!  How expensive and calorie ridden is ricotta?! Substitute across the board.

You'll get creative once you get the hang of it :)

Somethin Outta Nothin Pasta

Since I've been 'leaning vegan' it's been rather difficult to make a meal to please the family AND feed myself.  A couple weeks ago, I came home from work and wanted to make something quick but didn't have anything prepared.  I pulled a couple things out and went to work:

Boil your pasta and drain.

Cut your tomatoes in halves.

Chop up your artichokes hearts (don't worry about draining).

If you have frozen spinach (like I did), microwave.

In a fairly large pan (or wok),  put a couple tablespoons of olive oil  and quickly heat about 1-2 tbsp of minced garlic (DON'T BURN).  Add your pasta to the pan a bit more olive oil and toss well.  Add the spinach, artichokes and tomatoes.  Toss again and throw all into a serving bowl hot.  Garish with parmesan cheese.

I think this took 10 minutes to make, fed 4 and had leftovers for 2 :) Worked for me!

Lentil Stew

Ingredients:
1/2 c barley
2/3 c lentils
2 packages frozen spinach
5 cups chicken or beef bullion
1/2 large onion (diced)
2 cans diced tomatoes (with the liquid)
2-3 cups diced carrots
1 tube sausage (cook ahead of time)
2 tsp tumeric
Heaping tbsp minced garlic.
salt & pepper

Precook your meat.  Dice your veggies.

Throw everything in the crockpot.

Cook on low for 3-6 hours (or until the barley and lentils are soft).

Salt and pepper as you please.

Nail Art- 4th Grade Idaho History

This was supposed to be Alexia's project.... then I got all paranoid and decided it wasn't a good idea for her to be nailing.... so.......... Step by step.....

Gather:
A board the size you want it (I bought a shelf thing for $5 and had Home Depot cut it for me)
Some spray paint
Nails (with a head)
Embroidery floss (at least 5, + yellow for the star)
A template (google it)

First, get your hubs to draw the template on your board, then draw a star (wherever the capitol of the state is)

Next, hammer a nail in each place there is a 'point' + gauge the places in between.

Make a protective area to spray on and paint the board.  (make sure you get the nails too, because you don't necessarily want them to show.

After it dries, tie a piece of the embroidery floss on one of the nails, then string back and forth between all the nails to fill in the blanks.  Leave your star open in the middle and do it last with the yellow.

Send to school with your child.  *Sigh*