Egg "Muffins"

Kids seem to like anything they can pop into their mouth or eat with their hands. The below recipe is for easy eggs that taste great, are portable and are healthy. Swap any of the veggies listed for leftovers you have in the fridge. I always make a few extra and store them in an airtight container in the fridge, perfect for snacking or a quick protein source with toast or soup. This could easily be an appetizer for adults by adding smoked salmon!

"Muffins"

• 4 eggs
• 1/4 c milk (sub in soy/almond etc.)
• 1/4 c broccoli
• 1/4 c mushrooms
• 1/4 c shredded cheese (optional)
• 5 olives diced
• s & p to taste

* Preheat oven to 425F
* Whisk together eggs, milk and s & p
* You can saute the veggies in a little oil if you have time or nuke them for about 1 minute in the microwave. I find this makes them less liquidity when cooking in the oven. This step is unnecessary but one that I do recommend
* Add veggies to eggs, pour into greased or lined muffin pan and top with shredded cheese
* Cook for approx. 20 minutes for the mini muffins or 25 for the regular size. Prick with a knife when it comes out clean they are done

Enjoy!

Rachel Ray's Green Beans 'n' Shrooms

I tried Rachel Ray's Green Beans 'n' Shrooms recipe the other night and liked it. The beans till had some firmness to them and the mushrooms were a great addition. It was super simple and quick to make. I made it ahead and served it cold, it was equally as yummy as when warm. The only thing I modified was olive oil for the butter, added garlic when I combined the mushrooms and beans and omitted the almonds. (I was out but will try them next time. I love toasted almonds.)

This recipe is defiantly worth adding to the regular line up.

Baked Kale

I am sure by now you have heard at least one celebrity saying that they cook up baked Kale and snack on it as a way to have something crispy & salty while being low cal and healthy. If you haven't tried this trick I recommend it, if not for the health benefits at least for the taste.

Kale The Super Food

Not only is Kale insanely healthy for you (it is actually one of the healthiest foods that you can eat) this actually tastes great too. I don't know what it is about this simple snack, but I can eat literally the whole tray of it in a sitting. I think it is the combination of the salt and the flakiness of the Kale. Kale is known to lower cholesterol, reduce the risk of 5 different cancers and help the body to detoxify, just to name a few of its benefits. For more information and a nutritional break down go to this site.

To cook it simply wash the Kale, cut and discard the center hard stems then cut the leaves into 1"-2" pieces. Remember it shrinks when it cooks and will break apart so they don't need to be too small. Sprinkle with just enough Olive Oil to lightly coat the Kale then top with sea salt. Bake at 475, stirring frequently until the pieces crisp up and turn brownish. You may prefer them super done so they crumble or less done so they are slightly chewy. Near the end it goes from almost done to burnt rather quickly, so keep an eye on it.

Enjoy your yummy and healthy snack!

Candace's Guacamole

Guacamole is one of those dishes that tastes delicious, is simple to make, but there are so many recipes out there it is hard to figure out which one is worth making. Quite often people only make it when company is coming or as a dip with a corn chip, but guacamole is an ideal way to get in healthy fats and Compliments the flavour on so many other foods.

I put guacamole on toast, in sandwiches, I even use it to dip veggies in. Below is a super simple recipe that I always get lots of compliments on. I have tried several that involved cilantro and/or onions, this one has neither, making it super fast and favorable to more people. See how to cut an avacado here.

Candace's Guacamole

• 2 avocados, inside scooped out and mashed, reserve one pit
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• salt and pepper
• few drops of Tabasco (optional)

* Combine all the ingredients and stir. Since lemons and garlic can very greatly in size you may need to add more of one or both to suit your taste, but the above measurements are fairly accurate for medium sized ingredients.
* If not serving immediately put the pit in the guacamole. This will help it from turning brown. Keep in mind it isn't bad when it turns brown. It is just oxidizing like an apple would do. It just isn't as appealing visually, for what ever reason the pit helps with this.

Enjoy!

French Onion Soup

As a child my mom occasionally would make us French Onion soup. She would get out these special bowls that she only used for this soup, therefore making it an extra special treat. I remember the soft bread and the gooey, stringy cheese more than the actual soup!

I wanted to recreate the soup but didn't have her recipe. Quite a few recipes involved French onions (I know shocking). I found a recipe by Michael Smith he is the Chef at Home on Food Network. This super simple recipe uses simple yellow onions, and who doesn't have a whole bag of those sitting around and chicken stock, for the main ingredients.

The result was a good soup, with the gooey topping I remember but just not with the dark strong broth that most French Onion soups have. This soup is light in colour with a fairly mild taste which actually is nice with the cheese and bread. I used mozzarella for the cheese instead of Gruyere as the recipe suggests. Not my favorite soup of all time, but I would make it again.

Apple Dip

It is Sunday at 4 o'clock, you have company popping by at 4:15 and Monday is your grocery shopping day. You are standing in front of your open fridge containing only condiments, some apples, broccoli and may be some dry baby carrots and only 15 minutes to pull something together. . . enter the apple dip!

This dip is super simple and a huge hit! Whenever I make this it disappears fast! In fact I quite often double the recipe. It can be made a head, but add the Carmel and Skor bits right before you serve the dip to avoid the Carmel being too hard and the Skor being too mushy.

Apple Dip

• 1 container/block of cream cheese
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup white sugar (if you don't have any brown sugar would work as well)
• Carmel sauce
• Skor bits (optional)

* Stir/blend cream cheese until it is soft
* Add in 1/2 cup sugar and blend until well incorporated, taste test. Depending on how 'cream cheesey' you want it to taste you may want to add another 1/4 cup of sugar. Also if your apples are tart you may want the extra sugar, while with sweet apples you may find it unnecessary.
* Spread in platter and top with Carmel sauce. If you don't have Carmel sauce then you could always use honey. Although not quite as decadent it would be good as well.
* Chop up apples right before serving (to avoid browning).

Ta Da! You are sure to please with this dip!