Tomato Basil Spinach Quiche

This is really good and really easy. It's especially quick if you don't do a crust. It's great without crust and probably more healthy, but if you like crust (and I do) I've also put a recipe for the pastry.

Filling:
1 Tbsp oil
1 Onion, diced
10 oz. frozen spinach
4 breakfast sausage links
5 eggs, beaten
1 tomato, chopped or 1 can of diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp basil
1 Cup mozzarella cheese
Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven at 375 degrees. Grease pie pan. On medium heat add oil. Saute onions til clear. Add spinach and chopped sausage. Cook til spinach wilts and saugage is cooked through. Add salt and pepper. In a large bowl combine eggs, basil, tomatoes, cheese and a little more salt and pepper. Add spinach, sausage and onion. Bake 30 minutes.

Crust (Optional):
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp butter or margarine, cut into small pices
3 tbsp shortening
3 tbsp ice water

Measure flour and salt into a blow. Add butter or margarine and shortening. Combine with fork or fingertips. Add water a little at a time. Stir with a fork and form into a ball. Wrap in wax paper and chill for 20 minutes. Roll on a lightly floured board and fit pastry into a nine inch pie plate, then pour in the filling from above.

Burritos

This is something my family eats all the time. Jason just loves them and they're easy. Can't beat that. :)

1 can Chili
1 can Refried Beans
Cheese
Salsa
12-15 tortillas

Mix the chili and refried beans in a big bowl. Then warm tortillas (just a bit so they bend without cracking.) Put a line of beans down the middle of the tortilla, a layer of cheese, and a line of salsa. Wrap them up (Fold the top and bottom in so the beans don't escape and then roll the sides)
I like to fry mine in a frying pan. Cook them on medium heat until browned and warm all the way through. Enjoy!

Baked Dough for Christmas Ornaments

So I just got this from a friend the other day and haven't even tried it before, but I thought it sounded fun! And I thought it was appropriate for the Christmas season! =)

Materials - flour, salt, vegetable oil, water, paint

Instructions:

1. Mix together 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, and 2 Tbsp vegetable oil.

2. Slowly add 3/4 to 1 cup of water and stir until you get a nice clay consistency.

Once completely mixed, make into the desired shapes for different Christmas themes. You can mold shapes, or roll the dough out and use Christmas cookie cutters to shape.

Bake your Christmas ornaments in a 250 degree oven for approximately 1 hour. This will vary depending on how thick your creations are. Paint your finished ornaments.

Hint: Do not make the Christmas ornaments too thick or they will crack with baking.

Artesian Bread

I got this recipe from a friend and it is so surprisingly easy! And it is delicious! (It also makes really good pizza crust.)

3 cups warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp. Kosher salt or 1 Tbsp. regular salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. yeast
6 1/2 cups flour

Mix in a bowl with spoon until combined. Cover and let rise for 2 hours. Put in the fridge.

Makes 4 loaves or 6 pizzas

To bake: Shape in balls and set on a floured cookies sheet, let rest 40 minutes. and bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. If you have a pizza stone heat up the stone inside the oven and when the oven is preheated transfer the loaf from the floured cookie sheet to the pizza stone. Put 1 cup of water in a broiler pan or other pan underneath the pizza stone. The steam from the water actually makes the bread all crusty like the fancy breads you get at the store. Don't worry it's
a lot easier than it sounds.

This is sooo good! We've been having fresh bread almost every day since my friend shared the recipe. (And it makes great baguettes to go along with Sharece's Italian subs.) Hope you like it!

Italian Subs

This is really simple and SOOO tasty!

Pepperoni
Ham
Cheese (I used marbled cheddar, but you can use any kind that you like)
Italian Seasoning (Oregano will work if you don't have this)
Italian Dressing
One Biguette

I just bought a biguette at the grocery store (It just looks like really skinny french bread) and heated it in the oven.
While the bread is toasting you cook the ham and pepperoni in a frying pan/griddle just to heat it up, put the cheese on top and let it melt. Once cheese is melted put inside heated bread.
Then add a little Italian Seasoning and Italian Dressing as the spread...

And ENJOY!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I get requests for these cookies quite often. There are a couple of secrets to getting them to turn out right. One is to make sure the dough texture is right. (You may need to experiment with this a bit.) Two is to HAND mix everything. Do NOT use a blender on them. Enjoy!

Pre-heat oven to 375

Cream together:

2/3 cup butter (real butter tastes better!)

2/3 cup shortening

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla (I use real vanilla)

2 eggs

Add:

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

3-4 cups flour (you know the texture is right when the dough sticks together but doesn't stick to your hands very much. If the dough is too wet the cookies will be flat. If it is too dry they'll fall apart.)

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (You can use any kind of chips you want and add some nuts too if you want. I have found that milk chocolate makes them too sweet for my taste. Half mint chips and half semi-sweet chips are really good!)

Make into balls slightly larger than a walnut and place on cookie sheet. (Don't handle the dough too much.) They shouldn't stick to the cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-12 minutes. (Cooking time varies by oven. Cook until the tops are slightly brown.)

Cool on cookie sheet on cooling rack for a few minutes before removing to cooling rack to finish cooling.

ENJOY!

White Chili

Yea! I'm contributing to the recipe blog! =) Here is a good & quick one I got from a friend. It feeds Steve and I perfectly with enough to have one leftover meal. So I might say to double it if you're feeding 4-5 ish people.

In frying pan combine:

2 1/2 C cooked chicken - cut up into small pieces

1/2 of a white onion - chopped

1 Tbsp veg. oil

1/2 tsp garlic pwd.

Transfer ingredients to a big pot. Then add:

2 cans great northern beans - rinse

1 can chicken broth

1 can diced green chilies

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp pepper

Bring to boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 30 min uncovered.

Then add:

1/2 C whipping cream

1 C sour cream

Enjoy! =)

-Rach