Tuna Quiche

Got this recipe from a friend of mine (thanks, Nancy!) awhile ago and have used it a lot over the years.  While the ingredients aren't exactly that great for you...you can make some substitutions like me to make it a bit healthier...it is really delicious and hits the spot for any meal.

Tuna Quiche--the original recipe!

1 6-7 oz can tuna in oil, drained
1 frozen pie crust (deep dish recommended)
1 6 oz pkg of Swiss cheese, shredded
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup milk
Bread Crumbs

MMWM Notes:
1.  I got rid of the crust and bread crumbs.  You can make this crust less, or come up with a creative vegetable crust.  For one pie, I mixed cooked spaghetti squash with grated zucchini and threw that into the bottom of the pan (also threw a bit on top with some chopped up parsley, instead of bread crumbs, which was yummy too--see photo below).  For another pie, I simply used grated zucchini and mixed it with some Italian seasoning for the "crust" and topping.  Ta da!

2.  Recommended healthier substitutions...
* Use tuna in water, drained
* Olive Oil Low Fat Mayonnaise
*  Low Fat Swiss cheese (if you can't find shredded Swiss cheese, I simply bought a pack of Swiss cheese slices and crumbled them up)
*  Egg Whites instead of whole eggs (3 egg whites=1 whole egg)

3.  Feel free to throw more veggies into this quiche (and delete the onions if you don't like them)--good choices might include, red pepper, spinach, broccoli, squash, peas, etc.

Picture of my quiche (this is a big one made with double ingredients)...

Meat Loaf Cupcakes

Meat cupcakes--I had to make these!  This recipe is from this book that I picked up from Barnes & Noble's Bargain Book section...

Product Details

• ISBN-13: 9781450851268
• Publisher: Publications International
• Publication date: 11/15/2012

Here is a photo of the recipe in the book (sideways--that's the way it goes, folks)...

 

My ingredient substitutions:

Instead of 3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped, I substituted three (well, four just in case--ended up with a bunch of extra potato but it was okay...used it as a side) medium sweet potatoes.  Also used egg whites (3 Tbsp=1 egg) instead of an egg, and unsweetened almond milk instead of whole milk.

Instruction modifications:

1.  Instead of peeling and chopping the potatoes before boiling, I plunked them into a pot whole...when they were soft, I pulled them out and dunked them in/put them under running cool water and the peels slipped right off.  Put the unpeeled potatoes into a bowl and mashed them (with a hand masher) with the other ingredients to make the potato topping (rather than using an electric mixer).

2.  Instead of putting the meat into cups, I put them directly into a non-stick cupcake baking tin/pan--meat mix divided nicely into twelve "cupcakes."

3.  I used a decorating device to pipe the mashed potato topping onto the cupcakes instead of a pastry bag.

Ta da--presenting my meat loaf cupcakes!  Tasty!

Quick Tips

Came across a list including some cooking/kitchen tips, so posting them here to try out (tried two today--boiling and dunking potatoes in cool water to peel and wooden spoon over pan to prevent boiling over--and they worked!)...

The simplest way to slice a bunch of cherry tomatoes is to sandwich them between two plastic lids and run a long knife through all of them at once!

Keep brown sugar soft by storing with a couple of marshmallows.

Deodorize sponges in the microwave. Soak in water spiked with white vinegar or lemon juice and put on fill power for one minute. Use tongs to remove as it will be hot!

Repurpose an old picture frame as a serving tray

Boil orange peel and cloves to get rid of unpleasant smells in the kitchen.

Fill an old box with skewers to make an all-purpose knife block

Hang onions in cut-up tights or old stockings to make them last for months!

Use a paper plate to prevent splatters when using an electric whisk.

Water  straight from the tap becomes cloudy when frozen. To make ice cubes crystal clear, allow a kettle of boiled water to cool slightly and use this to fill your ice cube trays. 

Use a large muffin tin to cook stuffed peppers in the oven - it will help keep them upright.

To prevent potatoes budding, add an apple in the bag.

Add half a teaspoon of baking soda to the water when hard-boiling eggs to make the shells incredibly easy to peel off.

To tell if eggs are fresh, immerse them in a bowl of water. Fresh eggs will lie on the bottom, while stale eggs will float to the surface. 

To clean a wooden chopping board, sprinkle on a handful of Kosher salt and rub with half a lemon. Rinse with clean water and dry to ensure it is clean and germ-free.

To easily peel potatoes, boil with the skins on them immerse in cold water for 5 seconds. Then twist the potatoes between your hands and the skin will peel right off!

To prevent your eyes watering while chopping onions, wipe the chopping board with white vinegar (which won't affect the taste of the onions)

Take a bunch of bananas apart to prevent them from ripening too quickly

Store cut lettuce in mason jars and refrigerate to make it last much longer

Use cupcake cases to cover drinks glasses in the summer and prevent flies from dropping in

Line salad drawers with newspaper to absorb bad odours in the fridge

Use binder clips to keep stacked bottles in place in the fridge

Another way to clean a chopping board is to cover liberally with Kosher salt and leave overnight. Scrape off with a cloth in the morning to find the salt has absorbed all moisture to leave your board clean and dry.

Cut the top off a screw-top bottle and use to seal open bags.

Place a wooden spoon over a pan to stop the water from boiling over

A ball of aluminium foil makes a great glassware scrubber!

From http://www.glamumous.co.uk/2013/03/101-household-tips-for-every-room-in.html

Frittata Frenzy

Promised my brother I would make something good for breakfast so he could eat something besides cereal (which he has been eating in copious amounts).  Got a nice book at Barnes & Noble last night (hooray for Bargain Book shelves :-))=

Product Details

• ISBN-13: 9781450851268
• Publisher: Publications International
• Publication date: 11/15/2012
• 
  

So, one of the recipes is a frittata (yes, you have to read the below pictures sideways (and the right side is blurry--made the photos bigger if that helps), but that's the way it goes--turn your electronic device or head sideways--heck, it's a good stretching exercise--as needed)...

I did not have all the ingredients handy (not a huge green pepper fan either), plus I wanted to switch some things up to make it a bit "healthier" (I'm a big egg white fan and I limit cheese) so my revised recipe follows.  Feel free to use the original recipe above, my recipe below, or throw in whatever veggies you have in your refrigerator to create your own frittata frenzy!

Here's what I did...

1.  Cook turkey bacon in microwave--I made about 8 slices (doubling the recipe)--following the cooking instructions on the bacon package (to get them crispy took about 4-5 minutes).  I didn't want to mess with bacon in the skillet this morning.

MMWM Note:  There's a lot of sodium in bacon so I highly recommend buying low(er)-sodium!

2.  Heat some extra virgin olive oil in large skillet (I didn't measure it out--but 1 teaspoon per the recipe is probably fine).  Add vegetables (I doubled up on the veggies)...I added: 1 cup finely (or somewhat finely) chopped onion (used white onion this time), 1 cup organic mushrooms (used canned--can use fresh if you have those), 1 finely chopped and seeded jalapeno pepper, about 2 cups organic spinach that I ripped up into little pieces.

3.  Follow the original recipe from this point...except instead of regular eggs, I used egg whites (3 tablespoons=1 egg so I used about 18 tablespoons to almost cover all the ingredients already in the skillet).

MMWM Note: I did not add cheese at the end, but feel free to throw cheese on there if that makes you happy.  When eating this, I did throw some extra hash browns (separately cooked) on the side/top, plus some ketchup (remember ketchup with no high fructose corn syrup!).

Came out YUM--both I, my brother, and my husband enjoyed!

Israeli Salad

One summer I had an Israeli camp counselor (hebrew=madricha) staying with us for a few days while she worked at our local Jewish Community Center camp.  She helped us make falafel for dinner (note: for fast falafel, she told me to use the Osem packaged mix...

which is a tasty one and I use this all the time) and showed me how to make an "Israeli salad" to go with it, which was very easy and good!  So, here you go (thank you, Lehi)...

Ingredients

Cucumber (regular or long, skinny English kind)

Tomato (I prefer Roma, but any will do)

Onion (Yellow or White probably best)

Lemon Juice (fresh squeezed best)

Salt (preferably Kosher)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
MMWM Note: The amounts above vary according to how much you want to make.  There are plenty of Israeli salad recipes online if you want to use an exact recipe.  Other recipes can include other ingredients such as parsley, pepper, etc.

Instructions

Dice cucumber into little square pieces.  If you are using a regular cucumber, make sure to get the seeds out first.  You can peel the cucumber before you chop if you'd like, or leave the peels on...whatever you prefer.  Dice tomatoes into little square pieces too...again, make sure you get any seeds out.  Dice onions into little square pieces (no seeds in onions so you're okay there).  Put all of these chopped pieces together into a bowl.  Add lemon juice, olive oil, and salt to the bowl...the amounts vary according to taste.

Photo from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_salad (also some good information about Israeli salad here).

Reduced-Fat Moussaka

From: Eat Well Live Well with High Cholesterol (Karen Kingham, 2009, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.), pg. 125

Spotted this recipe and knew I needed to try it because I love Greek food!  Gave it a whirl after my first shopping trip to Whole Foods where I spotted some ground lamb.  This recipe is yummy but, fair warning, it is time/effort intensive.

REDUCED-FAT MOUSSAKA

THIS REDUCED-FAT VERSION OF A GREEK FAVORITE MAKES A NOURISHING LOW-GI MEAL


2 to 3 eggplants
olive oil spray
2 onions, finely chopped
3 large garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
about 1 lb lean ground lamb
2 tbsp no-added-salt tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
28 oz canned reduced-salt tomatoes
3 tbsp chopped parsley
4 oz low-fat cheddar cheese
1 1/2 tbsp olive or canola oil margarine
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 cups skim milk
2/3 cup low-fat ricotta
pinch ground nutmeg
MMWM Note: Freshly ground pepper is mentioned in the recipe instructions below.

PREP TIME: 30 MINUTES
COOKING TIME: 1 1/2 HOURS
SERVINGS: 6

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Cut the eggplant into 1/4 inch thick slices.  Spray the eggplant with the oil and grill or broil under a preheated grill or broiler for 4 minutes on each side, or until golden.

Heat a large, non-stick saucepan and lightly spray with oil.  Cook the onions 3-4 minutes, or until softened.  Add the garlic, allspice and cinnamon and cook for 1 minute.  Add the lamb and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until cooked.  Add the tomato paste, wine and tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Stir in the parsley and season with freshly ground black pepper.

To make the white sauce, grate the cheese.  Melt the margarine in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.  Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the milk.  Return to the heat and stir constantly until the sauce boils and thickens.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes.  Stir through the ricotta and nutmeg until smooth and season with pepper.

Spoon half the meat sauce over the base of a 9 x 13 in ovenproof dish.  Cover with half of the eggplant.  Spoon over the remaining meat sauce and cover with the remaining eggplant.  Spread over the sauce and sprinkle with the cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden.  Stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition per serving: Energy 347 Cal; Fat 12.2 g; Saturated fat 4.4 g; Protein 31.4 g; Carbohydrate 20.8 g; Fiber 7.1 g; Cholesterol 65 mg; Sodium 282 mg

MMWM Notes:
--When I made this for the first time, I did not make the white sauce (to keep it lactose and gluten free)--it was still delicious (and probably helped make it an even healthier meal).
--I was impressed to find gluten and lactose free cheddar cheese.  Because I did not make the white sauce, I simply grated the cheddar cheese and sprinkled it on top of the dish before cooking.
--Interestingly, the can of "no-added-salt" tomatoes I purchased did not have "no added salt" on the label, yet had the same sodium as the ones that did...hmmm.  Checking labels is a good thing.
--I don't use "freshly ground" black pepper...I use the stuff already ground.
--This recipe calls for 2 to 3 eggplants.  I started with two and it didn't seem like enough so I went to three...I had a few slices leftover at the end but three seemed better than two.  I guess it might depend on the size of your eggplants, but I would recommend three...especially if you like eggplant as much as I do.
--Personally, the taste of lamb wasn't all that pleasant for me personally...I wonder if the meat could be replaced with beef or turkey/chicken...?

Ceviche (Peru)

From: Family Circle (May 2013, pg. 146 familycircle.com)

Pulled this recipe out of a magazine--love salmon and avocado so couldn't go wrong with this one...pretty quick prep and yum!

Ceviche (Peru)

MAKES 4 servings
PREP 15 minutes REFRIGERATE 20 minutes

1 lb salmon, skin removed, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 avocado, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped, plus more for garnish (optional)
1/2 tsp salt

*Combine salmon and lime juice in a bowl, making sure fish is submerged.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

*Pour off all but 1 tbsp of the lime juice.  Gently mix in avocado, onion, jalapeno, cilantro and salt.  Garnish with more cilantro, if desired.

Buy best-quality seafood when it's to be eaten raw or undercooked.

MMWM Notes:
1.  Our family does not like cilantro, so we eliminated this from the recipe.
2.  Not sure if the salmon in this recipe is supposed to be raw or cooked--?--but I went with cooked.  Instead of fresh salmon (which I probably ought to try some time), I found a box of grilled salmon (2 pieces per box--as healthy as I could find) and cooked it (via oven and/or microwave).
3.  I tend to make a larger portion of this by increasing the amount of salmon a bit and increasing the avocados to three (we are huge avocado fans).  If you do this, might want to use some more lime juice to keep it moist.

PER SERVING 276 CAL; 16 g FAT (2 g SAT); 27 g PRO; 7 g CARB; 4 g FIBER; 353 mg SODIUM, 72 mg CHOL