Bacon Cheeseburger Quiche for the Meatlover!

This dish is packed full of protein and flavor!  Super yummy, really easy.  I am a big ground beef fan - add some onions, eggs, and cheese and this was perfection!
I baked mine in a Pampered chef  baking dish that is a little bit larger than a regular pie dish.  My cooking time was shortened by 10 minutes.

Bacon Cheeseburger Quiche  (6 servings)
Ingredients: 1 lb. very lean hamburger
1 small chopped onion
4 slices crisp-cooked bacon, chopped in bits
3 eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup half-n-half
8 oz. shredded chedder or swiss cheese
garlic powder to taste (optional)
white pepper

Preparation Method:

1 Brown hamburger in skillet with onion. Remove and mix in bowl with bacon pieces, breaking up any larger clumps with a fork or pastry mixer until you have a fine mix. Drain well of any excess grease and press into the bottom of a deep-dish pie pan. Set aside. 2 Preheat oven to 350°F. 3 Combine remaining ingredients in mixer bowl and whip well. Pour mixture over beef "crust" and bake 40-45 minutes until top is browned and "set". Cool 15-20 minutes before slicing. This can be packaged in Ziplocs or plastic containers for meals quickly microwaved over the next 3-5 days. (Does not freeze well, though.)

What's on the Menu this week! Feb 5 - Feb 11

This is the start of lowing carbs and limiting sugar.  So you might see the focus on it in the recipes chosen for dinners this week.  Still have to keep in mind the family's taste and our schedule!  Looking forward to trying some new recipes!

Sunday
Superbowl food - glazed meatballs, crab balls, cut veggies, fruit, roast beef sliders, deviled eggs

Monday
Bacon Cheeseburger Quiche
Salads

Tuesday (crockpot day)
Chicken in Onion Cream Gravy
Mashed potatoes
Steamed green beans
Salads

Wednesday
Oven Baked Fish
Coleslaw
Cheesy cauliflower

Thursday (crockpot)
Italian beef
Steamed broccoli
Mashed potatoes

Friday
Vicky's Stuffed Chicken
Roasted cauliflower
Salad

Saturday
Italian sausage
Spaghetti
Salad

Rave Review - Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

Please forgive me for not taking pictures of this dish!  To get an idea what it will look like, check out the original post on Allrecipes.  This was So yummy and so easy to prep!  Sometimes a crockpot meal requires some prep time on the front end but not this one!  Literally - 5 minutes and I was walking out the door to a museum!  Smelled heavenly when we walked back in the door!
I honestly forgot to add the ketchup to the mix.  It could only add to the taste of this dish.  This meal will be added as one of our favorites.
I also only used 7 boneless, skinless chicken thighs to feed the 6 of us.  We still had a few leftovers.  I think 10 would have been way to many!
Not a huge fan of fruit and meat mixed together, I only used 1/2 a can of the pineapple.
None of my changes were bad.  This recipe was so good and easy.  I cooked Jasmine rice to serve with it and steamed peas.  So easy!

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 3/4 cup honey
• 3/4 cup lite soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
• 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple tidbits, drained with juice reserved
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water

Directions

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook chicken thighs just until evenly browned on all sides. Place thighs in a slow cooker.
2. In a bowl, mix honey, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, ginger, and reserved pineapple juice. Pour into the slow cooker.
3. Cover, and cook 4 hours on High. Stir in pineapple tidbits just before serving.
4. Mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Remove thighs from slow cooker. Blend the cornstarch mixture into remaining sauce in the slow cooker to thicken. Serve sauce over the chicken.

Mini Banana Muffins with Crumb topping

These were the perfect little muffins to bake for big and little friends that visited one morning!  I often have ripe bananas frozen.  When a banana gets too ripe, I toss the whole banana, peel and all in the freezer.  When I need to bake muffins or bread, I just lay the right amount of bananas (normally 3 for bread/muffins) on a plate and microwave for about 2 minutes.  The liquid from the frozen bananas is not an issue when baking.

Normally, my go to banana recipe calls for chocolate chips. But, I was out of chocolate chips!  So thanks to the power of the internet and the fabulous website called Allrecipes, I found another winner!

I baked the muffins in a mini muffin pan only because I was having guests the next day.  It is easier for a mom - and toddlers - to pop a tiny muffin in the mouth versus a regular size one.  And moms have to know how to eat fast!

Banana Crumb Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Double Chocolate Pound Cake with Chocolate Ganache Glaze

Super easy, impressive and enjoyed by all - that is the perfect kind of dessert in my book.  Now if you truly dislike chocolate, walk away now.  This is full of chocolate through and through!  A local charity is hosting a "Chocolate Festival" this coming weekend with vendors, chocolatiers, and a couple of contest for amateur and professional bakers.  My daughter and I are entering selections in the amateur chocolate decadent dessert's category - Alex's Awesome Brownies and this Double Chocolate Pound Cake with Chocolate Ganache Glaze.  My young sons are having a difficult time understanding that all the chocolate sitting in the kitchen is not for their consumption!

Double Chocolate Pound Cake with Chocolate Ganache Glaze

1 box yellow cake mix

1 large box instant chocolate pudding

1 cup oil

4 eggs

8 oz. sour cream

6 oz. chocolate chips

Directions For Cake

Mix above ingredients with spoon in the order given. Bake at 325 degrees F for 60 minutes in a lightly oiled bundt pan.   May need to bake 5 minutes more until middle no longer moves when pan is jiggled.

Chocolate Ganache Glaze

This is so amazingly simple!  Melt chocolate chips (I used semi sweet) and add room temperature butter - YUM!

1 cup chocolate chips melted (I use the microwave method)

Add 3-4 tablespoons of room temperature softened butter

Pour over cake.

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White Fish (wahoo) with Italian Bean Bouillabaise

I love feeding my husband.  He enjoys food and is my biggest fan.  The other day he passed along a recipe he found.  As he laid wahoo (fish) out of the freezer last night to thaw, I knew I was going to give this recipe a whirl.
This fancy sounding dish is very simple.  The only ingredient I didn't have stocked in the pantry was green olive tapenade - and I was determined not to run to the grocery store for it.  Thank goodness for the world wide web - I found a recipe on how to make your own tapenade.  Yeah - I had 90% of the ingredients on hand, thus would make do!
This recipe to make your own tapenade called for anchovies.  Believe or not, they are on my pantry shelves.  My sweet husband enjoys adding them to store bought pizzas (as well as other toppings).  After tasting the dish, he even agreed they could have been left out of the tapenade.  That would have been the only change I would have made with the dish overall.
This recipe was part of Harris Teeter's seafood recipes they email their "seafood club" each week.  Thus the heavy suggestion for Harris Teeter products.  I served it over Jasmine rice.

White Fish and Italian Bean Bouillabaisse

Serve with oyster crackers, french bread and a glass of Hogue Cabernet Sauvignon. Ingredients: 2 lbs Harris Teeter Fishermans Market haddock or cod (skinned, deboned, and large diced) 1 medium Harris Teeter Farmers Market onion, diced 2 Tbsp garlic, minced 2 ribs Harris Teeter Farmers Market celery 4 oz H.T. Traders green olive tapenade 2 cups Hogue Cabernet Sauvignon 28 oz Harris Teeter canned diced tomatoes, fresh may be used 16 oz Italian white beans, drained 1 bunch Italian parsley, chopped 2 oz Parmesan Reggiano, grated 4 oz Harris Teeter olive oil sea salt cracked black pepper Directions: In large heavy bottom saute pan, over medium high heat, saute onions, garlic, and celery until translucent. Add diced whole fish and tapenade, cook until fish is tender. Add Hogue Cabernet, tomatoes and white beans, bring to boil, reduce to simmer, simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add parsley and parmesan, adjust salt and pepper to taste, serve with rice or pasta.

What's for Dinner Oct 2 - 8

I just pulled recipes out of several magazines and was actually putting them away when I thought - YUM! - perfect for this week's menu!

Sunday:
Roast in the crock pot with gravy
Mashed potatoes
Fried Green tomatoes
Salad

Monday:
Lazy Baked Greek Chicken (from Rachel Ray)
Pasta
Greek Salads

Tuesday:
Chili
Cornbread
Salad

Wednesday:
Four Cheese with Bacon Mac and Cheese
Salad
Fruit Salad
Steamed Broccoli

Thursday:
Eat out with gift certificate (love Groupon!)

Friday:
Company Fish
Pasta
Steamed Green Beans
Salad

Saturday:
TBD