Creamy Scalloped Potatoes with Ham

Creamy Scalloped Potatoes with Ham
Serves 8 to 10 people
Scalloped potatoes are a great side for your Easter meal or take the leftover ham and make scalloped potatoes with chunks of ham in it.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion chopped
13 oz homemade chicken broth or one can if homemade is not available
1 cup of whipping cream
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup flour
6 large potatoes peeled or unpeeled (about 3 pounds)

4 cups of diced ham

Directions:
Heat the oven to 325 degrees.
Grease a 13 by 9 inch pan.
Mix together the onion, broth, cream, bay leaf, flour, salt and pepper in a bowl.
Wash the potatoes and make sure they are somewhat dry.
Slice potatoes into 1/4 inch slices and arrange them in your pan.
Add broth mix to the potatoes. Mix in diced ham.
Cover and bake for 45 minutes.
Remove cover, give them a little stir, sprinkle the top with cheddar cheese and bake the potatoes for 45 minutes longer.

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng

Great way to get the kids to eat vegetables, Easter Egg Veggie Pizza

This Easter have fun decorating an Easter Egg Veggie Pizza

Decorating Easter eggs was always one of my favorite activities at Easter. I enjoy it so much, that even after all my nieces and nephews got too old to want to partake in the activity, I invited friends with small kids over to do so. Of course those kids got older too, so it has been a few years since I’ve decorated an Easter egg. This year, I at least decorated some food to look like an Easter Egg.

I went to the grocery store last week to buy the ingredients to make my Carrot Shaped Veggie Pizzas and right next to the broccoli was purple cauliflower. I had never seen purple cauliflower and just couldn’t pass it up. Immediately I envisioned a veggie pizza decorated to look like an Easter Egg using a rainbow of colorful vegetables. Easter eggs can be decorated any way you like using a few or a lot of different colors. The design I chose incorporated the purple cauliflower, orange and yellow peppers, green celery, and some orange carrots. You, of course can decorate your Easter Egg Veggie Pizzas any way you like using your favorite vegetables.

You may even get non-vegetable loving kids or adults to eat this pizza. I haven’t eaten cauliflower in many, oh, so many years, and thought I’d pick it off this pizza before eating it. I really just bought it because it was purple, but found it palatable mixed with the other veggies and was surprised that I did indeed eat it.

Easter Egg Veggie Pizza (makes 1 pizza)

Ingredients:

a dusting of flour
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed according to package instructions
8 ounce tub of vegetable cream cheese
veggies of your choice, finely chopped
optional, 2 tablespoon heavy cream or egg wash (egg mixed with a bit of water)

Supplies Needed:

cutting board
rolling pin
parchment paper lined baking sheet
pizza wheel or knife
fork
optional, pastry brush

Instructions:

Just a note: I should have set a piece of parchment paper on top of my cutting board before proceeding, but didn’t. I would recommend it, as it will be easier to move your egg to the baking sheet.

Dust your cutting board (or parchment paper) with flour. Un-fold puff pastry sheet and set on cutting board (or parchment paper.) Sprinkle some flour over top of dough. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough so that it increases in length to 13″ long. Use a pizza wheel or knife to cut a large egg shape out of the dough.

Move your egg to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. This is where it would have been easier to have it on the paper already. Use a fork to prick holes all over the dough. Optional: brush heavy cream or egg wash over the entire egg. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake egg for 18-22 minutes until golden brown (longer if you like it really dark.) Allow to cool completely.

Spread veggie cream cheese over crust. Decorate with vegetables and serve. You can refrigerate your pizza for a few hours or up to two days.

For more great ideas like this check out http://www.hungryhappenings.com

Fun Easter Chicks Deviled Eggs Recipe

 April 7th, 2012  Kim  No Comments »  Edit

This is such a cute twist on deviled eggs

Fun Easter Chicks Deviled Eggs Recipe

Serves: 24
Ingredients
2 dozen eggs
your choice of type of mustard
Mayonnaise or use yogurt if you like
Sweet pickle relish
Celery Salt
Paprika
Part of a can of black olives and carrot slivers
Instructions
Hard boil a couple dozen eggs (or adjust for the size of the group to feed). I always put them in cold water after boiling and then put in the fridge for at least 10 minutes – makes them easier to peel.

Mix together the mustard, mayonnaise, pickle relish, and celery salt. Taste and adjust as needed. Sprinkle some paprika on last. The pickle relish is my secret ingredient and makes them very flavorful – really – try it.

Cut the Tops off the eggs and stuff with mixture. Use black olive pieces for eyes and small slivers of carrot for a nose. Stick the top back on at an angle like a hat to make the eggs look like chicks

Photo courtesy of Ruth Andrews

found on http://www.squidoo.com

Chickpeas or garbanzo beans all the same bean

Chickpeas or garbanzo beans all the same bean

Chickpeas
13 grams of fiber with 15 grams of protein 270 calories per cup
Rich in Folate, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc

Whether you call it a chickpea or a garbanzo bean it is both the same bean.

The fiber in chickpeas lessens the strain on your intestine, reducing the risk of  diverticulitis disease and constipation.

The researchers found that chickpeas reduce cholesterol levels also they can help reduce  hot flashes among post-menopausal females.

Uses

1.  Try it instead of mayonnaise. Hummus  can be used as a spread on sandwiches and wraps.  You’ll get more flavor with less fat.

2. Hummus turns into a tasty dressing. Mix some hummus with broth, water, or wine until you get your desired drizzling consistency to make a dressing for cold pasta salads.

3. Hummus serves as a great dip with raw veggies. Serve with assorted raw vegetables such as sugar snap peas, sliced cucumber or zucchini, grape or cherry tomatoes, and broccoli or cauliflower and pita chips.

Recipe for Red Pepper Hummus

Ingredients:

1 small head of garlic (or 1/2 of a large head)

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

15.5-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained

1/3 cup roasted red pepper (drained well if from jar), firmly packed

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 1/2 tablespoons tahini 

1/16th teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

1. To roast head of garlic, preheat oven to 425-degrees. With a serrated knife, cut 1/4-inch off the top of the garlic head. Place head on a sheet of foil then drizzle olive oil over the top. Wrap head in foil well and bake in oven until garlic is golden (about 45-60 minutes). Squeeze garlic cloves out, leaving the skins to discard.

2. In food processor bowl, combine roasted garlic cloves, garbanzo beans, roasted red pepper, lemon juice, tahini, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and process until smooth. Serve with vegetables or pita chips.

Use Chickpeas as flour

In the United States, most people automatically think of wheat when a recipe calls for flour.  Chickpea flour adds a nutty taste to baking, soups and sauces, and can substitute for wheat flour in most recipes.  Chickpea flour is both wheat-free and gluten-free. Chickpea flour is also easier to digest than other wheat-flour substitutes, such as soy flour.  Other names for chickpea flour include gram flour, cici flour and garbanzo bean flour. Besan (gram flour) is chickpea flour made with unroasted chickpeas. Chana is flour made from roasted chickpeas.
Substitute 7/8 cup of chickpea flour for 1 cup of wheat flour for most baked goods. For yeast-raised breads, use 1 part chickpea flour to 4 parts wheat or spelt flour. In recipes that use flour for thickening, substitute chickpea flour for wheat flour or cornstarch on a one-to-one ratio. 

A Supper Food to Add to Your Diet, Swiss Chard

A Supper Food to Add to Your Diet, Swiss Chard

Swiss chard
It comes in a rainbow of colors; red, yellow, white
It does not take long to prepare and yet it is packed full of vitamins K , a and a great source of vitamin C , magnesium, potassium and iron and is only 40 calories per serving. Swiss chard also offset natural occurring sodium. blood sugar regulating  anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support.

An easy way to cook Swiss chard is;  boil the leaves and stems together for 3 minutes, this brings out a sweeter taste from the chard.

Prevent inflammation, Reduces Blood Pressure:

1 cup of cooked leaves of Swiss chard has a person’s daily recommended content of potassium, which helps to support the level of blood sugar. Swiss chard being rich in potassium content helps to reduce the level of blood sugar, especially when it gets replaced by the sodium. On the other hand, Swiss chard contains a high amount of fibre content that helps to cut the level of blood cholesterol.

Maintain proper heart health:

Along with various other vitamins and nutrients, Swiss chard stores vitamin K that helps to classify the blood vessels and hardness the arteries. It also helps to support clotting of normal blood. Presence of magnesium content helps to deal with various cardiovascular diseases. According to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre, Swiss chard acts as a helping hand to deal with hypertension.

Maintain proper skin health:

Swiss chard is good for skin maintenance and skin health. This cousin of spinach helps to boost up skin glow. Presence of vitamin A along with vitamin C plays a great role in the production of collagen, providing skin health and prevention of acne.

Boost up immune system:

Vitamin A and vitamin C is essential to stimulate and improve the function of body immune system.

Maintain proper eye health:

Swiss card feature 110% of the daily requirement of vitamin A in your diet. Vitamin A  helps to protect your eyes against macular degeneration and ensures good eye health.

Prevent anaemia:

Swiss chard is useful for people suffering for anemia.  Iron  is essential to make red blood cells which act as an oxygen carrier. The leafy vegetable also houses B complex vitamins, which helps to cure tiredness and depression.

Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant Parmesan

2 Eggplant peeled and thinly sliced

4  eggs

2 cups bread crumbs

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes

8 oz.   shredded mozzarella cheese

16 oz. Italian cheese mixture cheese

1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce

oil to Fry the eggplant in.  If baking, just oil the pan

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Peel and slice the eggplant. In a bowl combine flour, bread crumbs, red pepper flakes.  In another bowl crack eggs for dipping. Dip eggplant slices in egg and coat in flour mixture.  Fry  eggplant or bake on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes, flip and then another 10 on the other side.

In the bottom of a 10×15 inch glass baking dish, spread tomato sauce. Top with one-third of the eggplant slices. Top eggplant with half of the cheese mixture.

Make a second layer of eggplant slices, topped by 1 cup of sauce,  mozzarella and cheese mixture.  Add remaining eggplant, and top with the remaining tomato sauce and cheese.

Bake until cheese has melted and the top is slightly brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.

The dish goes great with garlic bread and a salad

chicken wrap

Chicken Tortilla Wrap

1 pound Chicken strips
1 Avocado
1 onion
1 cup cilantro
2 limes

2 cups of spinach
1/4 cup greek yogurt
1  tomato
whole wheat tortillas  ( I like to use Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Tortillas)
3 tablespoon Mexican spices
3 tablespoon hot sauce.

Marinate chicken with spices and hot sauce and oil oil let sit for an hour. Cook chicken  4 min each side or till no longer pink in the center
In small bowl add chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro,avocado and juice of one lime with salt and pepper. M ix together

Add chicken mixture  greek yogurt, spinach, avocado mixture,  and hot sauce to tortilla and fold  closed. Add extra lime as garnish