Quick Dinner: Bisquick Quiches

I mentioned in my menu plan yesterday that I was relying on my old friend Bisquick® to help with dinner. If you haven’t thought of using Bisquick, you should! It’s more than just a baking mix for pancakes and biscuits.

My boys love the quiches I make for them. Seriously, love them. Hubby even freezes left-overs for his home-made microwave lunches. And I tell you, I don’t mind making them.

First, they are one dish that has most of the food groups in it. Meat, dairy, veggie.

Second, they are easy-peasy! Nine times out of ten, I have all the ingredients on hand and can throw it together in a matter of minutes.

Tip: When you have left over meats such as chicken or ham, dice them up and divide them into one-cup bags, then freeze. You’ll always have your ingredients ready for recipes such as these.

While I linked to a recipe in yesterday’s post, I wanted to share my version and alternatives that I make.

Bisquick® Ham, Spinach & Swiss Quiche

1 cup diced ham
2 cups frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 7oz can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 tbsp dried chopped onions (or 1/4 cup fresh diced onions)
1 1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup Bisquick®
3 eggs
salt & pepper to taste or celery salt

Preheat oven to 400°.
Spray 9″ pie plate with cooking spray.
Layer first 5 ingredients in pie plate. Add seasonings.
Mix together milk, Bisquick® and eggs and pour over other ingredients.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until center of quiche is firm.

The milk, Bisquick® and eggs are the base ingredients for any quiche I make. I just change-up the meat, veggie and cheese to make a different quiche. Sometimes I add mushrooms and onions, sometimes it’s something else. Here are a few of my variations:

• Chicken, Broccoli, Cheddar and Diced Tomatoes
• Shrimp, Spinach, Mozzarella and Diced Tomatoes
• Ground Beef (browned), Bacon Bits, Cheddar and Mushrooms
• Spinach, Feta and Tomatoes*
• Grated Zucchini and Cheddar Jack*
• Ground or Sliced Sausage, Peppers, Tomatoes and Parmesan

*Note: If not using a meat, increase your main veggie to 2 cups.

Try a Bisquick® quiche for a meal and let me know how it turns out. And if you have any ingredient suggestions, please leave me a comment!

PS: Bisquick® did not provide me anything for this post – no coupon, sample or money. I just love it and wanted to share my recipes with you

Free Cookbooks Download

I’m obsessed with recipes! My husband often tells me that if I cooked every recipe I’ve collected, he’d be as big as a house!

Anyway, I found a few free cookbooks you can download:

33 Hearty Slow Cooker Recipes featuring 50 pages of quick and easy recipes Click Here

Free Fall Finger Food Guide with recipes is available now from Feed Your Fingers. Click Here

27 Secret Restaurant Copycat Recipes featuring 46-pages of quick and easy recipes from your favorite restaurants. Click Here

America’s Favorite Pork Chop Recipes featuring 52-pages of quick and easy recipes. Click Here

Friday Faves: Breakfast Shortcuts & Recipes

I’ve mentioned before that we like to have smoothies for breakfast. Little Dude takes a long time to fully wake-up in the mornings. So during the school year, we have smoothies for breakfast on school days because it’s what i can get hime to ‘eat’.

The recipes I use came from Natural Mom Recipes ebook Simply Delicious and Nutritious Smoothie Recipes. Little Dude’s favorite is the “No Need For Pancakes” smoothie.

If you’re looking for more ideas, here’s a free report with breakfast smoothie recipes just for you! (Right click and save as).

Now, hubby and Little Dude can’t do smoothies everyday. So I have mini veggie quiche cups in my freezer. Talk about easy peasy! Here’s the recipe:

Veggie Quiche Cups

Ingredients:
1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach
3/4 liquid egg substitute
3/4 C shredded reduced-fat cheese
Salt, pepper and/or hot sauce to taste

Directions:
Microwave spinach for 2.5 minutes and drain the excess liquid.
Line muffin pan with foil baking cups.
Spray the cups with cooking spray.
Combine all the ingredients – mix well. Divide evenly among the muffin cups.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Once cooled, I wrap in plastic and freeze them. In the morning, I just unwrap, take out of the foil, and microwave for 1 minute.

Options:
I use the Egg Beaters Garden Vegetable liquid eggs. This adds a nice bit of peppers, celery and onion to the quiches.
I’ve added left-over diced ham to these – Hubby loves them! You could also add bacon bits.
I once made these with chopped broccoli. Not a big hit – tasted too much like a dinner casserole!

Next, I’m going to try something new – Breakfast Cookies! I’m thinking these will be a big hit! So this weekend, one morning before it get’s too hot to use the oven, I’m going to bake some of the recipes for breakfast cookies I found.

These Hearty Breakfast Cookies are made with oatmeal and wheat germ.

Banana, apple sauce and raisins are in this recipe from wisebread.com. Just sounds yummy!

Now this recipe that I’ve already tried  isn’t labeled as a breakfast cookie, but it’s chock full of goodness.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

(I found this recipe many moons ago at Taste Of Home)

Ingredients:
3 egg whites
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup reduced-fat peanut butter
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
2 teaspoons baking soda

Directions:
In a large bowl, beat egg whites and brown sugar until frothy. Beat in peanut butter, applesauce, honey and vanilla. Combine the oats, flour, milk powder and baking soda; gradually add to peanut butter mixture.
Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray.
Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: 5 dozen.

Options:
I use Skippy Natural Creamy, but a chunky will work too.
I’ve added raisins and dried cranberries to this recipe.

Your Turn! If you have any breakfast short cuts, let me know by leaving me a comment!

Cinco de Mayo Recipe: Nacho Dip

It’s Cinco de Mayo – why not celebrate with the family with a Mexican inspired dinner. Tacos, burritos, and lots of other foods would make a fun family dinner. Add a margarita and it’s perfect

I’m going to share an easy-peasy recipe that has been in the family for quite a while. It’s a staple at parties and is a great (and quick) dinner when served with a salad. While it’s not a traditional Mexican recipe, it has the south-of-the-border feeling!

Layered Nacho Dip

Ingredients:
1 large bag of tortilla chips
1 lb of ground beef (or turkey)
1 package of taco seasoning
1 can of refried beans (vegetarian or low-fat is fine)
1 jar of your favorite salsa
1 16oz container of sour cream*
2 cups shredded Mexican style or taco cheese

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350.
Brown the ground beef and drain the fat. Once browned, add the taco seasoning to the meat.
While the beef is cooking, spread the can of refried beans into the bottom of an 8×8 square glass cooking pan (a pie plate will do too as long as it’s deep dish).
Spread the browned and seasoned beef over the refried beans.
Next, spread the salsa over the beef.
And then spread the sour cream over the salsa.
Finally, thoroughly cover the salsa with a nice layer of the shredded cheese.
Bake for 25 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted.
Serve with the chips and some guacamole.

*Note: I do not recommend fat free sour cream for baking – it just doesn’t keep a nice and creamy consistency.

Like I said, this is a family favorite. All the kids love it, including my little dude. And remember, serve it with a salad and it’s a nice well rounded family dinner.

If you’re looking for more festive recipes to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, I recommend you pay a visit to one of my fave recipe sites All Recipes.

Leftover Easter Eggs – An Egg-cellent Recipe

Every year you might wonder what to do with your hard-boiled eggs that you colored after Easter. Well, besides making Deviled eggs or egg salad, I add them to salads for a little extra protein. Hubby likes to just eat them as is (minus shells of course). But I have a yummy, family friendly recipe that puts good use to the left-over Easter eggs as well as some of the left-over ham:

SCALLOPED HAM & EGGS

1 cupful of diced, cooked ham
4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and diced
2 tablespoonfuls of butter
2 level tablespoonfuls of flour
2 cups of milk
1 teaspoonful of salt
1 teaspoonful of pepper

In a sauce pan combine the butter, flour, and milk. Stir until boiling and fully combined. Add the salt and pepper.
Put a layer of eggs in the bottom of a casserole, or baking dish, then a layer of the ham, then a little white sauce, and so continue until the ingredients are used.
Dust the top evenly with bread crumbs and bake in the oven at 350 for 25 minutes or until nicely browned.

A few notes and ideas:

• Adding a cup of cheddar cheese to the sauce mix while it’s cooking is a nice addition.
• I serve this for dinner – not just breakfast – with asparagus and dinner rolls as sides.
• Once cooked, this freezes and re-heats very well so it can be a grab-and-go meal.

So what do you do with your left-over Easter eggs?

Leave me a comment with your ideas! Or if you’re looking for inspiration on what to do with your left-over eggs, visit http://www.incredibleegg.org.

Happy Pi Day (Recipe)

Yep, it’s Pi day. I know this because hubby is a math freak. He see’s everything in numbers an equations. Anyway, to help my nerdy mathematician celebrate, I’m making a pie:

EASY & QUICK CANDY PIE

Ingredients:
1 graham cracker crust (sure, you can go buy one – I won’t tell)
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese , softened
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
3/4 cup cold milk
1 pkg. (4-serving size) instant vanilla flavor pudding and pie filling
1-1/2 cups non-dairy whipped topping, thawed
16 chopped snack sized Snickers*

Instructions:
1. In large bowl beat Cream Cheese until fluffy.
2. Gradually beat in condensed milk until smooth.
3. Add milk and pudding mix; beat on low speed until smooth.
4. Spoon half of filling into crust.
5. Sprinkle chopped candy bars over filling. Top with remaining filling.
6. Garnish with some extra chopped candy bars**
6. Chill 3 hours. Makes 8 servings.

Notes:
* I use Snickers ’cause they’re his fave. Other candy bars will work just as good. You can make it holiday specific – like use chocolate Easter eggs, etc. I’ve even made this once with Nutter Butter cookies – yummy!
** Instead of chopped candy bars, I’ve placed whole bars on the top in a nice pattern.

Grilled Apple Toss

Ingredients:

6 T olive oil
1/4 C orange juice
1/4 C white balsamic vinegar
1/4 C fresh cilantro, minced
2 T honey
1/2 t chili sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 t salt
2 large apples cut into wedges
1 (5 oz.) pkg. spring mix salad greens
1 C walnut halves
1/2 C blue cheese, crumbled
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Chilli Popcorn Movie Snack

Ingredients:

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup popping corn
6 tbsp butter
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp hot paprika
1 tsp salt

Directions:

In a large, heavy saucepan heat the oil, add the popcorn, cover and cook until corn stops popping. Arrange popcorn in a serving bowl.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in the saucepan, stir in cayenne pepper, paprika and salt and pour over popcorn.

Mix well and enjoy this snack with the whole family while watching a favorite movie.

Works For Me Wednesday: Sweet & Sour Kielbasa

I plan my family meals weekly. Even with proper planning and list making, things get forgotten. I am human!

I went into the pantry this afternoon to prepare dinner and  – oh no! – I forgot the sauerkraut for the kielbasa!! What to do for dinner now?

After a quick search, and a couple ingredient substitutions, I pulled from my pantry ingredients to make Sweet & Sour Kielbasa:

8oz can crushed pineapple in juice
1 cup ketchup
2 tbsp wortchestershire
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 can-full of water
1 lb kielbasa cut up

Cook in the crock pot for 1 hour on low setting. Serve over egg noodles.

OMG! The boys (hubby and son) loved it! Not bad for an on-the-fly dinner!