Zucchini Fritters

This breakfast is surprisingly easy and tasty.  I used roasted red pepper hummus.  It tastes good but I might actually like this better with just salt and pepper (maybe a little greek yogurt/sour cream?). 

Zucchini Fritters
Combine 6 egg whites, 1/2 c oats and 1 grated zucchini in a mixing bowl and mix until well combined.  Spray or coat a non-stick pan with a light layer of oil and ladle the pancake mix onto the pan as you would a regular pancake.  Note: Watch the heat on these. You may need to keep it closer to medium and allow these to cook longer. You want the eggs to cook completely without letting the pancake burn. Adjust accordingly.  Remove pancakes from the pan when cooked through and top with a bit of hummus.
(You can definitely make these in advance and heat up in the morning for a quick breakfast!)

I froze half the recipe and ate the rest.  I think they're better cooked more rather than less, some I made weren't quite cooked enough, might even try for crispy next time.


 

Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake

I'm loving that a frozen meal was included in this challenge.  So quick and easy and something I would easily have again.

And, as a bonus, this stuff is delicious!  It would probably be even better if my office microwave wasn't so crappy and I could actually cook it right.

I will definitely be trying more flavors from Kashi.

FYI, I had a hard time finding it, but Target had a great selection.  In fact, they have a huge selection of frozen mealsy (health and not) at the White Plains Target.

Zucchini and Spinach Soup

I'm going to call this one a runner up.  It's certainly edible (such a glowing endorsement!) but needs a little something.  Maybe I blended it too much or need more lentils or spinach.  It's kind of watery and boring.  The cheese helps.

Zucchini and Spinach Soup

Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in large pan and add 1 chopped onion.  Cook over low heat until soft and slightly golden. 
Add 1-2 chopped garlic gloves, 1 tsp cumin and 1 tsp coriander.  Stir until onion are coated with spices and then add 2-3 handfuls of lentils and 2-3 medium zucchinis, diced into cubes. 
Stir until mixture is covered in spices and cook for a few minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally. 
Add 4 cups of boiling water and 1 tsp salt and bring to a boil. 
Turn down the heat and simmer half covered for 10 min or until the zucchinis and lentils are well cooked. 
Add 5 large leaves of chopped spinach and cook for another 5 min. 
Turn off the heat and with a stick blender (or by running batches in your regular blender), blend until your desired consistency. 
Season with salt and pepper, to taste. 
You may garnish the soup with parmesan cheese.

This makes 3-4 servings so I put one serving in my mason jar to take to work and froze the rest.
A nice chunk of crusty bread would do a lot for this soup but, alas, it is not on my menu.  Maybe by the end of the week I won't crave that so much?

Oh, and not exactly the most appetizing LOOKING thing I ever ate, smells good though.



I had already eaten half when I remembered to take this, oops.  Oh, and some proof I eat at my desk at work :-(



Chicken Enchilada Soup

Being home this week inspired me to do some cooking to try some new things and have leftovers to hold us over into January.  B requested something "spicy" so I tried this Chicken Enchilada Soup.  It is spicy and really tasty.  I made a couple of edits to the recipe, noted below.

I even remembered to take a picture!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

I used small chunks of chicken rather than shredded.  This tasted fine and cooked through nice and fast but they were kind of hard to fish out of the broth once they were cooked.

I couldn't find Cojito cheese.  The site says to use what you have on hand so I used about 4oz cheddar and 4oz feta, tasted really good so that worked fine.

I broke up whole wheat Tostitos scoops on top. 

Not a huge fan of the cilantro so I will leave that off in the future.

You can make this in the crock pot, but I made it on the stove top.

ENJOY!

Cheeseburger Casserole

I decided to skip the crock pot this week but still wanted to make something to make my weeknight meals easier.

So, I tried this Overnight Cheeseburger Casserole.  I did the "same day" prep rather than letting it refrigerate overnight.  It came out pretty good but was rather labor intensive. 

I think I might try it the overnight way sometime, see if that's any better.  Otherwise, while it was good, I don't think it was really worth the amount of work or dishes required.  I HATE washing dishes!

At least I still have some tasty leftovers for the rest of the week though.

It's Two for One Day!!

I have two recipes for you today!  Just cooking up a storm (and my kitchen is showing the damage.  What a mess!) :-)

Last night I made Personal Sized Baked Oatmeal.  I even took a picture of it!

 

I followed the recipe pretty closely but found that when scooping the batter into the muffin pan 1/2 cup is too much.  I used a 1/3 cup scoop and it worked much better.

Oh, and I didn't have Flax Seeds so I left those out.  I probably should have substituted Chia seeds but didn't think of it at the time.

They came out good but could maybe use a few more minutes in the oven (I baked for 30 minutes).  

For toppings I added peanuts and peanut butter, cranberries, and blueberries.  

I like this recipe because it's not difficult, you can use what's in the house already for toppings, and it makes a lot so you can freeze some for later.

And maybe my new favorite food ever (except ice cream, but really, what could top ice cream?):  Quinoa Mac & Cheese. (And another picture...)

Confession:  I cut one corner off the picture because I couldn't resist and already ate some!

Seriously???

DELISH!

The only change I made to this recipe is that I coated the top of the whole dish with Panko breadcrumbs before baking.  I didn't put any veggies in it, broccoli would be good.  I had roasted veggies left over from our cookout this weekend, so I had those on the side instead.

Pretty sure I could eat the whole thing in one sitting but I'll be good.  Doing that would screw up the rest of my meal plan for the week!  I packed up some for lunch over the next few days and froze some for a treat next time I'm craving mac & cheese.

Enjoy!  If you try these recipes (or any I post), let me know how it goes.