Veggie-Loaded Egg Bake

Plant-rich and nutrient-dense, use this as a base recipe and mix it up with different vegetables. Add sausage, smoked salmon, leftover chicken, or ground beef. Make a double recipe and enjoy it throughout the week for breakfast or lunch.

Variations:

  • Finely slice kale or Swiss chard, instead of spinach
  • Replace basil with parsley or cilantro. Or other finely chopped herbs such as rosemary, thyme, dill or oregano. If using fresh herbs, use spinach as the greens as it is more neutral than other greens
  • Or use arugula for the greens and skip the fresh herbs
  • Use finely chopped broccoli instead of greens
  • Add other veggies: asparagus, cauliflower, peas, green beens…
  • Add leftover chicken, bacon, sausage, ground beef

Toppings (optional)

  • Chopped fresh herbs
  • Sliced avocado
  • Chopped jalapeño

Serve with green smoothie from Simple Green Smoothie, a bowl of berries or Orange and Pineapple Medley

 

Veggie Egg Bake
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Servings
4 servings
Servings
4 servings
Veggie Egg Bake
Print Recipe
Servings
4 servings
Servings
4 servings
Ingredients
Adjust servings: servings
Units:
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush a baking dish with butter or olive oil.
  2. Combine all vegetables, garlic and pepper. Add optional meat and mix well. Pour into casserole dish.
  3. Whisk eggs with milk and pour over vegetables.
  4. Top with cheese
  5. Bake for 50 - 55 minutes or until eggs are cooked through.
Recipe Notes

http://www.nutritionistreviews.com/2016/01/spinach-and-bell-pepper-egg-bake-fitbit.html

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Turkey Meatloaf with Dried Apricots

Apricots seems to bring some kind of alchemy to this meatloaf, adding moisture, texture and a delightful flavor. Ground bison or beef can be used instead of turkey.

Toss some vegetables with what I think of as “roasting oil “ (about 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil mixed with 1 tablespoon minced garlic and 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt) and place them around the meatloaf in the roasting pan/Pyrex. Some of my favorite combinations are:

  • 1 large baking potato, 1 large sweet potato cut into cubes and 2 poblano peppers (or red bell peppers) seeded and cut in similar fashion
  • About 2 cups of Brussels sprouts trimmed and cut in half, and 2 cups of diced potato (or new potatoes cut in half)
  • Large head of broccoli cut into large chunks: NOTE: add the broccoli after meatloaf has baked about 25 minutes.

Add a green salad and voila, dinner is ready.

Double the amount and freeze the extra turkey meatloaf to have later for later in the month or use leftovers for a quick dinner:

  1. Meatloaf spaghetti: chop it and warm up with 1 – 2 cups marinara sauce
  2. Shepherd’s pie: saute a chopped onion, carrot and celery, add chopped meatloaf and place in a pyrex covered with leftover Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Puree or leftover Delicious, Nutritious Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
  3. Stuffed bell peppers or zucchini: mix with leftover rice or quinoa and 1 – 2 eggs. Hollow bell peppers or cut zucchini in half, scoop out and add into meatloaf mix. Roast in oven 20 minutes at 350 degrees, add grated cheese and cook until melted.
  4. Meatloaf tacos: chop it up and serve in taco shells alongside guacamole, salsa (chopped tomato, onion and cilantro), plain Greek yogurt and grated cheese
  5. Meatloaf quiche: 2 cups chopped meatloaf, 2 eggs, 1 cup milk,1 cup pease or chopped veggies (broccoli, celery and carrots) 1/2 – 1 cup shredded cheese. I make this easy   whole-wheat crust. from 100 Days of Real Food.
Turkey Meatloaf with Dried Apricots
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Servings
6 servings
Servings
6 servings
Turkey Meatloaf with Dried Apricots
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Servings
6 servings
Servings
6 servings
Ingredients
Adjust servings: servings
Units:
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Brush a loaf pan or roasting pan with olive oil (or 13 x 9 Pyrex).
  2. Heat remaining tablespoon olive oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped onion, celery, carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion becomes translucent, about 8 – 10 minutes.
  3. Mix in garlic, chili powder, cumin, tumeric and 1/2 teaspoon salt (and red pepper flakes if using) and cook another 2 – 3 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, in a bowl mix oatmeal, turkey, dried apricots, parsley, eggs, teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper until just combined. Add cooked onion, carrot mixture, stir until combined.
  5. Place into loaf pan, or form into a 9- by 5-inch oval loaf and place in roasting pan.
  6. Bake 45 minutes.
Recipe Notes

A Color My Food recipe

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Baked Blueberry French Toast

My sister introduced me to this recipe years ago and it is a big family favorite.

It’s quick and easy to make the night before. In the morning toss the blueberries and pecans on top and bake in a pre-heated oven for 25 minutes.

 

Baked Blueberry French Toast
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Servings Prep Time
8 15 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Servings Prep Time
8 15 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Baked Blueberry French Toast
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
8 15 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Servings Prep Time
8 15 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Ingredients
For Blueberry Syrup
Adjust servings:
Units:
Instructions
French toast
  1. Butter a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
  2. Cut twenty 1-inch slices from baguette and arrange in one layer in baking dish.
  3. In a large bowl whisk together eggs, milk, nutmeg, vanilla, and brown sugar. Pour evenly over bread.
  4. Chill mixture, covered, until all liquid is absorbed by bread, at least 8 hours, and up to 1 day.
  5. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  6. Sprinkle pecans and blueberries evenly over bread mixture and bake mixture 20 minutes, or until any liquid from blueberries is bubbling.
Syrup
  1. Make syrup while French toast is baking: In a small saucepan cook blueberries and maple syrup over moderate heat until berries burst, about 5 minutes.
  2. Pour syrup through a sieve into a heatproof pitcher, pressing on solids, and stir in lemon juice and zest.
  3. Syrup may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Reheat syrup before serving.
  4. Serve French toast with syrup.
Recipe Notes

Modified from

Epicurious: Baked Blueberry French Toast

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Carrot Cake Cupcakes

This is a delightful recipe from Cooking Classy. I modified it by adding fresh ginger, reduced the sugar and used coconut oil.

Rather than the Cream Cheese frosting from the original recipe, I made Whipped Orange Cream because I had heavy cream in my refrigerator.

But check out the original recipe with its marzipan carrots!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes
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Servings Prep Time
12 cupcakes 30 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Servings Prep Time
12 cupcakes 30 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
12 cupcakes 30 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Servings Prep Time
12 cupcakes 30 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Ingredients
Adjust servings: cupcakes
Units:
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg for 30 seconds, set aside. Shred carrots as directed in notes below, set aside.
  2. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together granulated sugar and brown sugar, then add eggs and using an electric hand mixer, blend mixture on low speed 30 seconds, until slightly pale. Mix in applesauce and vanilla extract. With mixer running on low speed, slowly pour in vegetable oil and mix until combined, then mix 20 seconds longer. Mix in half of the dry ingredients, then pour the shredded carrots into the bowl with the remaining flour mixture and toss in flour mixture to coat carrots (they'll clump together a bit but that's fine). Pour carrot mixture into the batter and blend until evenly combined.
  3. Pour batter into paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup about 3/4 full. Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean, about 19 - 21 minutes. Cool in muffin tin several minutes then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
Recipe Notes

Modified from
Cooking Classy: Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

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Whipped Orange Cream

As with many of my recipes, I take liberties with this one. I found out inadvertently when in the middle of making it one day, that it works well without the white chocolate!

And I’ve also made a lemon variation

  • Replace 6 tablespoons orange juice with 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • Replace 1 tablespoon grated orange rind with 1/2 tablespoon lemon zest

 

Two oranges with blossom flowers hanging on orange tree
Whipped Orange Cream
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Two oranges with blossom flowers hanging on orange tree
Whipped Orange Cream
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Ingredients
Adjust servings:
Units:
Instructions
  1. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, eggs and lemon juice in top of double broiler set over simmering water. Whisk until it thickens and candy thermometer registers 160°F, about 5 minutes.
  2. Remove from over water. Add chopped white chocolate and whisk until smooth. Cool to room temperature.
  3. Beat cream in large bowl to firm peaks.
  4. Fold in white chocolate mixture.
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Carrot Apple Muffins

Loaded with carrots, apples, pecans and raisins these muffins fill the belly and get the day off to a good nutritious start.

They can also convert from breakfast food to a teatime delight with cream cheese icing and coconut sprinkled on top. Simply mix 2–4 tablespoons of cream cheese with half that amount (1–2 tablespoons) of plain Greek yogurt, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and just enough sugar to suit your taste.

carrot muffins
Carrot Apple Muffins
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18 muffins
carrot muffins
Carrot Apple Muffins
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18 muffins
Ingredients
Adjust servings:
Units:
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Oil eighteen 1/2-cup muffin cups.
  2. Into a large bowl sift together flour, baking soda, cardamom, and salt and whisk in sugar.
  3. Coarsely shred enough carrots to measure 2 cups and chop pecans. Add shredded carrots and pecans to flour mixture with raisins and coconut and toss well.
  4. In a bowl whisk together eggs, brown sugar, oil, applesauce and vanilla. Core apple and coarsely shred. Stir shredded apple into egg mixture. Add to flour mixture, stirring until batter is just combined well.
  5. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling them three-fourths full, and bake in middle of oven until puffed and a tester comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes.
Recipe Notes

Instead of spelt flour, use 1 cup whole-wheat flour and 1 cup white flour.

I like using spelt flour because it is more nutritious than white (wheat) flour, but is also light whereas whole-wheat flour makes the muffins dense.

 

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Sweet Potato and Zucchini Bread

This is quite popular in our house—either as muffins or a loaf of bread. I make a double recipe to freeze some for week days. Before freezing the bread loaf, I slice it and place pieces of parchment paper between the slices; making it easy to pull out a frozen slice and pop into the toaster.

Sweet potatoes pack a powerful nutritional punch. They have over 400% of your daily needs for vitamin A in one medium spud, as well as loads of fiber and potassium. More about sweet potatoes here.

I also like the high fiber content in these muffins (slices); high fiber breakfasts help promote regularity for a healthy digestive tract.

Sweet Potato and Zucchini Bread
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To make muffins instead of a loaf,  brush the muffin tin with softened butter, coconut oil or expeller-pressed canola oil. Bake 25 - 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
Sweet Potato and Zucchini Bread
Print Recipe
To make muffins instead of a loaf,  brush the muffin tin with softened butter, coconut oil or expeller-pressed canola oil. Bake 25 - 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
Ingredients
Adjust servings:
Units:
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Butter and flour 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.
  3. Sift first 5 ingredients into medium bowl.
  4. Beat sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla in another, larger, bowl until blended. Mix in zucchini and sweet potato.
  5. Add dry ingredients and walnuts and stir well.
  6. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 20 minutes.
  7. Cool bread in pan on rack 15 minutes. Cut around bread to loosen. Turn out onto rack and cool completely.
Recipe Notes

Adapted from Epicurious: Sweet Potato and Zucchini Bread

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Ambrosial Torte from Historic Cacao

Cacao was domesticated in Central America about 3,000 years ago. Linguistic findings suggest the word “cacao” is comes from the word kakawa in Mixe-Zoquean, believed to have been the language of the Olmecs, the oldest civilization of the Americas (1500–400 B.C.). The chocolate legacy passed from the Olmecs to the Maya, one of Mesoamerica’s most advanced civilizations. Drinking vessels elaborately decorated with chocolate illustrations discovered by archaeologists contain traces of ceremonial chocolate drinks dating from 250 to 900 A.D.

Cacao beans were so valued in ancient Mexico that the Maya and later Toltec and Aztec civilizations used them as currency to purchase small household items and pay for various services: a large tomato was worth one cacao bean, a rabbit 10 beans, and a slave 100 beans. Taxes levied against conquered tribes were also paid in cacao beans.

Typically Mexican chocolate is made with roasted and ground cacao nibs, sugar and cinnamon; other spices like nutmeg and allspice can also be added.

Chocolate and cinnamon
Mexican Chocolate Torte
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Chocolate and cinnamon
Mexican Chocolate Torte
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Ingredients
The Torte
The Glaze
Adjust servings:
Units:
Instructions
The Torte
  1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter an 8-1/2-inch springform pan and line it with a round of wax paper. Butter the paper and dust the pan with flour, knocking out the excess.
  2. In a small skillet on the stove top, toast the almonds about 5 minutes and let them cool.
  3. In a food processor blend together cooled almonds, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt until the almonds are ground fine.
  4. Add the chocolate, and blend the mixture until the chocolate is ground fine.
  5. Add the egg yolks and vanilla; blend the mixture until it is combined well (it will be very thick), and transfer it to a bowl.
  6. In another bowl beat the egg whites with an electric mixer with a pinch of salt until they hold soft peaks, beat in the granulated sugar gradually, until the meringue holds stiff peaks.
  7. Whisk about one third of the meringue into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Fold in the remaining meringue gently but thoroughly.
  8. Pour the batter into the pan, smoothing the top, and bake in the middle of the oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
  9. Let the torte cool in the pan. Run a thin knife around the edge, and remove the side of the pan. Invert the torte onto a rack, discarding the wax paper.
The Glaze
  1. In a metal bowl set over barely simmering water in a saucepan, combine the chocolate, the butter, and the cream.
  2. Stir the mixture until it is smooth, and let the glaze cool until it is just lukewarm.
  3. Set the torte on the rack over wax paper and pour the glaze over it, smoothing the glaze with a spatula and letting the excess drip down the side.
Recipe Notes

Source: Epicurious: Mexican Chocolate Torte

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