Baked Veggies and Egg Ramekins

So my fiance and I love, love, LOVE breakfast for dinner, really who doesn't?  So lately we have been indulging in some baked veggies and eggs in a ceramic ramekin.  Any Ramekin works, you can use the tradition circular ramekin or a wider, more shallower ramekin.  Me...I like the shallower, wider ramekin because I can fit two eggs into each servings.

Since January 5th, I have been eating according to the 21-day fix meal plan.  This meal plan, is focused mainly on portion control and is measured in color coordinated containers.  Each container's color  represents a type of food (ex. red = protein, purple = fruit, yadda yadda yadda)  If you want more information on the 21-day fix and the eating plan, let me know! :)

Ok So here is the recipe for some healthy, yummy, ramekins.....

Ingredients:

2, green zucchinis, chopped into bite-size pieces
1/2 pound cheery tomatoes, cut in half
1 bell pepper (i prefer red, but any will work), sliced
1 yellow onion, sliced, not chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped (add more if you love garlic - it's a "free food" on the 21DF"

2 tsp dried basil ( or 2 tsp of fresh basil)
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of pepper

1 cup of mushrooms
two big handfuls of raw spinach
olive oil and/or spray oil

8 eggs (4 eggs if using the circular ramekins)

shredded parmesan cheese (optional)

4 oval ramekins (see pictures)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
spray shallow roasting pan with oil

Place zucchinis, tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, and garlic in pan
spray veggies with oil to coat
sprinkle basil, salt, and pepper on veggies and mix with your hands.....Yes...your hands (make sure you wash them first)
once all mixed, place in oven and bake for 30 minutes

When there is about 5 minutes left for the veggies, start your mushrooms and spinach.
Grab a small skillet, pour 2 tsp of olive oil in a heat skillet (medium heat is good)
cook mushrooms and spinach until cooked (about 4-6 minutes)

Spray ramekins with oil

Once all veggies are cooked (oven and skillet) combine them together into the roasting pan
measure cooked veggies in a green container and place in individual ramekins (1 green = 1 ramekin)

KEEP OVEN ON at 400 degrees

With a spoon, press veggies down so the eggs have a place to lay

Crack 2 eggs/ramekin (this equals 1 red container)

sprinkle 1/2 blue container full of parmesan cheese on top of eggs per ramekin

Place all 4 of the filled ramekins on a cookie sheet and back for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

21 Day Fix Containers (estimate):
1 red
1 green
2 tsp
1/2 blue

Thanksgiving worthy: Apple Crisp

Every Sunday, Scotty and I head over to his parents house for our weekly dinner ritual.  This week I was asked to make an apple crisp, which happens to be Scotty's moms favorite.  I found a recipe online by the Bare Foot Contessa but added my own twist to it.  I was happy that this recipe came out DELICIOUS...seeing that fall cooking is right around the corner, I think it is time to gather some fall worthy recipes.

INGREDIENTS:

3lb pounds of Granny Smith Apples

Grated Zest of 1 orange

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Fresh squeezed juice for the 1 orange

Fresh squeezed juice from the 1 lemon

1/2 cup granulated sugar

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg



FOR THE TOPPING:

1 1/2 cups of flour

3/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cups light brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 pound (2 sticks) of unsalted butter (if you only have salted butter in the fridge, use and do not use the 1/2 teaspoon salt)


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter an oval glass dish.  I used a dish a little smaller than a 9x14, but if you do not have one, go ahead and use what you have.

Peel, core, and cut apples into large wedges.  Combine all ingredients: apples, zest, juice, sugar, and spices.  Stir together and place into oval dish.

For the topping, combine the flour, sugar, salt, oatmeal, and the butter (chopped into pieces) into the mixing bowl and mix on low speed.  This could take a few minutes.  Our goal is to get the topping as crumbly as possible.  The butter pieces should be small, about the size of a pea.  Once completed, spread evenly over the apple crisp.

Place apple crisp into the oven, bake for about an hour.  You want the topping to be a brown in color and the apples bubbling.

Take out of oven, let it rest for about 10-15 minutes.  Then serve warm with a dollop of french vanilla ice cream.

Green Machine Smoothie

Recently, my best friend, Michelle, came and visited me is Rochester, NY.  I love when she visits.  Not only do I know that this visit will bring along a sore stomach from the amount of laughter that will be pouring out of my mouth, but she always is so good about getting me to eat healthy.  Since I have moved here to NY, I have gained almost ten pounds, good lord....I have my boyfriend to blame! ;)  Always going out to eat and drinking wine.  It seems that I have been enjoying life maybe a little too much.  So when I heard Michelle was coming to visit, I knew that she could whip me back into shape and get back into healthy eating.  Michelle introduced me to this nutritional powder called Vega.  Vega was created by Brendan Brazier who is a vegan, professional Ironman triathlete and a best selling health author on plant-based nutrition.  Michelle incorporates Vega into her smoothies.  Let me tell you, these smoothies are great...they are delicious...hits the spot after a hard, hot workout....and just to warn you...they are GREEN.




Ingredients:  Obviously add more fruits for more servings...

1/2c-1cup Frozen pineapple

1-2 bananas

2 handfuls of fresh spinach leaves

1/5 package of silken tofu

Coconut Water

**optional: Vega One all-in-one nutritional shake or any nutritional powder of your liking




Directions:

Place all ingredients, except for coconut water in your blender.  Now add the coconut water until it submerges 1/4 of all ingredients.  (I like using coconut water instead of juices in my smoothie because of the low calorie, high electrolyte factor AND no artificial sugars!)

Turn on the blender.  If you find that the blender is having a hard time mixing the smoothie, turn off the blender and add more coconut water and/or stir the ingredients.

Lastly, enjoy!


TIPS:

1. if you find you're not going to eat all of the smoothie in one sitting, freeze the left overs and pull out of the freezer 30-60minutes before you would like to drink.

2. When storing tofu, place tofu in glass dish with cover submerged in FRESH water (filtered if you have it) and change the water everyday.

3. BUY ORGANIC.  You are taking two steps forward with feeding your body fresh fruits in veggies in a smoothie....but you will be taking 10 steps back if you do not eat organic....do you really want all those pesticide chemicals swimming around in your body?  No thank you!

4.  You can buy the Vega One powder at Whole Foods or GNC.  GNC has buy 1 get one 50% deals at times and if you sign up for the gold card ($20/yr) you get 20% off your purchase the first week of every month!

Fisherman's Stew

Ingredients:

3 lb 5 oz Mussles

3 tbsp Olive Oil

1-2 Onions, Chopped

3 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

3 Carrots, chopped

1 lb (12oz can) chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp chopped fresh dill

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

1 tbsp fresh bail leaves

2 lbs whitefish fillet (or any fish you like) cut into chunks

1 lb shrimp, peeled and devined

32 oz fish stock

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1.  Clean the mussels by scrubbing or scraping the shells and pulling off any beards.  Discard any with broken shells and any that refuse to close (gently tap the shells...if the muscles are still alive, this tapping will freighten them and they will close their shells--you want to cook the muscles when they are fresh and sadly when they are still alive.)  Rinse the mussels under cold running water

2. Heat the oil in your pan.  Add the onions, garlic, bell pepper and carrots and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes...or until softened

3. Add the tomoatoes, wine (Yum-O), tomato paste, and herbs.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. 

4. Add the fish, mussels, shrimp and stock and season to taste with the salt and pepper.  Return the stew to boil and simmer for 6-8 minutes, or until the shrimp have turned pink and the mussles have opened.  Discard any mussles that remain closed (that is because those mussels may have not cooked all the way--toss 'em, you dont want to take the chance)

5. Serve immediately, garnish with basil leaves...again it is all about presentation... :)

My friend, La'Rhonda made this for me today.  Not only was it delicious, it was also very light and i didnt feel like a fat ass after eating it! lol...and to me, that is always a plus.  She found this recipe in a book titled "Mmmm...Casseroles"  Check it out! :)

From Scratch...Pumpkin Pie

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of pumpkin pulp purée from a sugar pumpkin* or from canned pumpkin purée
• 1 1/2 cup heavy cream or 1 12 oz. can of evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs plus the yolk of a third egg
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest
• 1 good crust

* To make pumpkin purée from a sugar pumpkin: start with a small-medium sugar pumpkin, cut out the stem and scrape out the insides, discard (save the seeds, of course). Cut the pumpkin in half and lay cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet lined with silpat or aluminum foil. Bake at 350°F until fork tender, about an hour to an hour and a half. Remove from oven, let cool, scoop out the pulp. (Alternatively you can cut the pumpkin into sections and steam in a saucepan with a couple inches of water at the bottom, until soft.) If you want the pulp to be extra smooth, put it through a food mill or chinois.

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 425°F.

2 Mix sugars, salt, and spices, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Beat the eggs and add to the bowl. Stir in the pumpkin purée. Stir in cream. Whisk all together until well incorporated.

3 Pour into pie shell and bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes reduce the temperature to 350°F. Bake 40-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

4 Cool on a wire rack for 2 hours.

Hope you enjoy this one.  You can taste the spices in this pie compared to the libbys canned pumpkin pie.

You can find the original recipe at simplyrecipes.com.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Streusel Cuffins

INGREDIENTS: Cream Cheese filling

1 (8oz) package cream cheese, SOFTENED*
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons brown sugar

INGREDIENTS: Streusel

4 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
5 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, SOFTENED*
3 tablespoons chopped pecans

INGREDIENTS: Cuffin

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups canned pumpkin (about 3/4 of a can)
1/3 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

INGREDIENTS: Cream Cheese Icing

1 lb cream cheese, SOFTENED*
2 sticks butter, SOFTENED*
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 cups powdered sugar (I used 3 because i don't like super sweet icing)
1 1-gallon ziploc bag


DIRECTIONS:


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).  Prepare paper liners in cupcake pan.
2. To make the filling: Medium bowl, beat SOFTENED cream cheese until soft.  Add egg, vanilla and brown sugar.  Beat until smooth, set aside.
3.For Streusel Topping: Medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and pecans.  Add SOFTENED butter and cut it in with a fork until crumbly.  Set aside.
4. Cuffin Batter:  In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  In another large bowl, add eggs, pumpkin, olive oil and vanilla--MIX the wet ingredients together then gradually start mixing in the dry ingredients.  Beat together until smooth.
5. Place cuffin mixture in the cupcake liners in the pan; fill 1/2 full.  now the Cream cheese filling.  Add one tablespoon or so of the cream cheese mixture right in the middle of the batter.  Try to keep cream cheese from touching the paper.  Once all cuffins have their filling sprinkle the streusel topping.
6. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

7. Once the cuffins is out of the oven you want to COOL THE CUFFINS completely....or else the icing will melt right off the cuffin and the whole "presentation" is out the window.  Cooling your Cuffins can take a few hours.

8. For the Cream Cheese Icing:  Add the SOFTENED cream cheese, butter, vanilla into a bowl and mix it until smooth.  Set the mixer on LOW SPEED (or else you will be wearing most of the powdered sugar) and you can slowly add some powdered sugar...wait until the sugar is blended before adding more, beat until all sugar is incorporated.  NOW turn mixer to high and beat until fluffy.

9. Add all frosting into a 1-gallon zip loc bag.  This is going to act as your pastry bag.  Push all frosting to a bottom corner of the bag and cut a small opening in the bottom corner.

10. Lastly, You want to add the icing to the top of the cupcake.  To give it a professional look (as professional as you can with a ziploc bag that is...)  Start squeezing the frosting on the outer part of the cuffin and work your way towards the center, see pic.

11.  Once you ice all your cuffins, use chopped and whole walnuts to garnish.





*It is important to use softened ingredients or else the texture will make the baking process harder than it really needs to be.


Hope you enjoy this recipe.  I first found this recipe on allrecipes.com but the original recipe did not call for the cream cheese icing.  Do yourself a favor, MAKE THE ICING...it is 10x better., if not 100X.  It has been a big hit here in Rochester.  If you want a little less calorie intake, make the cuffins without the cream cheese filling.

And lastly...I could decide if these are muffins or cupcakes...so that is where the name Cuffins came about.

Enjoy ;)