Spanish Frittata with Chorizo

Recipe #1 courtesy of "Against All Grain" by Danielle Walker. Her website is www.againstallgrain.com, if haven't read her story, you should!  I was immediately drawn to her cookbook because all the recipes had normal ingredients, pictures looked yummy and the recipes seemed simple.  Recipe #1 was probably one of the best I've tried in awhile! Hearty, filling and with a slightly different flavor than your standard frittata or quiche. 

Ingredients:

2 T Coconut Oil

1/2 lb Chorizo, casing removed

1 small Sweet Potato, peeled and sliced (she called for scrubbed and shredded but I just used mandolin)

 1 diced Bell Pepper (I used 1 whole green, recipe calls for 1/2 cup yellow)

1 small yellow onion, diced (again I used whole, recipes calls for 1/4 cup)

8 eggs (I use cage free brown)

1t coconut milk

Sea salt

Roma tomatoes (I used 4-5, recipe called for 2)

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Heat the oil in an oven safe skillet over medium heat

3. Add sausage, sweet potato, bell pepper, and onion. Sauté about 4 minutes.

4. Beat the eggs with milk and salt

5. Here is where i vary, recipe calls for pouring eggs into skillet and cook for 2 minutes, top with tomato then transfer to oven for about 15 minutes. I put my veggies in a pie pan then poured eggs over and topped with tomato and cooked whole thing in oven for 30 minutes. 

Pictured below before going into oven! 

My husband and I both approve if this 100%!  I think you can add any sort of veggie to this and it would still be amazing! I'd love to add some kale or maybe even jalapeño next time! 

Sunday is my cooking day!

Sundays I usually spend the whole day preparing meals for the next week. Today was no exception. I'll post the recipes and thoughts on the stuff I made from "Against All Grain" cookbook later this week but I must say so far they look good, smell good and were super easy! 

I've mentioned before that my husband can eat the same thing every day for months and currently that something is salad jars! Easy enough for me! He travels most weeks but when he is home he always requests them. I usually make him 4 jars, 2 with a buffalo chicken Cobb and 2 with something else. This week he basically got 4 of the same thing. Only difference is the chicken, buffalo chicken vs sun dried tomato chicken. 

Order of the salad jar is very important to keep things fresh and not sogg. Lettuce should always be towards the top. Here is how I make his....

2 tablespoons ranch or blue cheese dressing

A handful of blue cheese crumbles 

Chicken with sauce of choice (buffalo, Italian etc)

Sliced tomatoes

Sliced eggs

Celery

(Oops I just realized I forgot red onion) 

Lettuce of choice (romaine)

Bacon/croutons/cranberry or any topping like that you wish

Sometimes I add corn or beans or peas, it really depends on what I have on hand. But he really likes the buffalo chicken with blue cheese mix. I also have avocado for him to add upon eating if he wants. 

Meal Planning

By far the hardest thing for me to do is come up with healthy, yummy meals on a weekly basis. I have become a hoarder of recipes (here is my recipe cabinet). #dontjudge 

 I have cleaned this cabinet so many times but it never fails to become this mess over and over. Because of this, I rarely go into this cabinet to search for a recipe to reuse. The recipe just gets tossed in this abyss, never to be seen again. I am also semi picky when it comes to pre made meals throughout the week. Example: I do not like pre made salads or sandwiches-these must be made immediately prior to eating. Weird?  I like variety, whereas my hubby can eat the same thing day in and out for months. One week is about my limit on a food with the exception of pizza or nachos. 

This past weekend I got a new cookbook that I am dying to try! I love, love, love cookbooks! This is a totally passed down behavior from my maw maw and mom! Combine our collections and I think we could open a cookbook store! 

I'm not paleo or really grain free but the recipes in this book looked so good!  I already use coconut milk and flour so it will not be too far of a stretch but here is what I decided for the week and I will post the recipes and comments this next week. 

Breakfast: Spanish frittata with chorizo

(Anyone else love chorizo as much as I do?)

Lunch: Roasted butternut squash soup with sausage 

(I got a squash from a coworkers garden so HAD to use it!)

Dinner: Slow cooker pot roast with mashed cauliflower

Snacks: banana or grapes, Kind Bar

May throw in a spinach salad or something to get some nice greenage in there. 

I sure hope these come out as good as the pictures look! 

Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken

As I said on my previous post, I was inspired to make this based off of IowaGirlEats Recipe.  Actually, I meant to make the exact recipe but....I could not find Lite Laughing Cow Cheese in Tomato Basil and I just totally forgot Feta Cheese AND apparently, I do not have toothpicks.  With that said, I loosely based my recipe off of hers. 

Ingredients

Instead of Laughing Cow Tomato Basil, I found Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb.  And since I forgot Feta, I just used the Shredded Colby Cheese that I just happened to have.  I snipped some fresh basil from the yard and got a 9oz jar of Sun-Dried Tomato in Oil.  I mixed all of these together in a bowl.

Then I prepared chicken by trimming excess fat and cutting a little pocket in the thickest part.  On a side note:  Next time I think I will pound the chicken thin and roll the filling instead of stuffing it.

And Remember, I didnt have toothpicks so....you can just imagine how hard it was to keep that filling in there! 

I seasoned both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper and then cooked about 6 minutes on each side over medium heat in a pan with a little olive oil. 

Overall, I think this recipe is really easy and yummy.  You can pretty much substitute ANY ingredients you like.  I would love to try with spinach and a different Laughing Cow flavor next time.

Ingredients

6 Chicken Breasts

Handful of Fresh Basil, Chopped

Jar of Sun-Dried Tomato in Oil

1 package (8 triangles) Laughing Cow Cheese Garlic & Herb

1/2 cup shredded Colby Cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste



1. Cut a pocket into the thickest part of the chicken breasts, being careful not to cut all the way through. Combine Laughing Cow wedges, cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil in a bowl and stuff  the filling into each pocket. Close pockets with toothpicks then season lightly with salt and pepper.
2. Heat some olive oil in a skillet over medium heat then saute chicken for 6 minutes a side, or until cooked all the way through. Remove toothpicks then serve.

Day 1- Yep, I'm Trying to make ANOTHER Blog

Over the years I've tried a couple of times to start a blog. Finally, I know what I need to post on here! My weekly attempts at eating healthy, trying new recipes (good and bad), running in Memphis and anything in between!  But mostly recipes. People ask me for recipes all the time because they know I cook a lot and try to make almost everything from scratch (but must still be easy).  This will be a centralized place for me to store all my information and direct people when they ask, "what should I make? Or "what do you eat?" Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist, I just cook what I like and in no way claim that eating what I make will work for you, make you superman, cure this or that etc.

My next post will be what I made tonight; A variation of  the below Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil Stuffed Chicken recipe, courtesy of one of my favorite blogs:

http://iowagirleats.com/2013/09/04/sun-dried-tomato-and-basil-stuffed-chicken-breasts/

I made mine slightly different and definitely have an idea of how I'd like to change it up to make it easier.