Easy cheesey quiche bites

My friend from work made these for a potluck. I modified them just a bit. But yum! Try them as soon as you can!

1 can of of the Grands butterflake biscuits (the ones that are in layers)
5 eggs (the original recipe called for 4, but I used 5 and I'd do it again)
2 cups of cheddar jack cheese
2 green onions chopped, fine

Separate the biscuits into 3 layers. I bought the staters brand and I could only separate them into 2 layers, so that's what I'd do again. Press the biscuit into the bottom and up sides of lightly greased muffin tins.

Mix eggs, onions, and cheese together. Fill the tins with egg mixture. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 15 minutes or until they are golden on top. This made 12 quiche.

The original recipe called for regular butterflake biscuits and to put them into mini muffin tins. That would be great if you were making them for appetizers, rather than for breakfast like I did. My friend made them without the biscuits and they were still good, though I highly recommend the biscuit layer.

Lemon Streusel Muffins

I got this recipe from www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com a long time ago and finally made it for the secretaries and the custodian at school. It is always a good idea to keep them on your side. They deserve to be recognized for all they do, plus they do nice things for you if they like you.

I have to say it worked, because as a newbie at this school I kind of have crappy furniture in my classroom. Mr. Mike, the custodian brought me a brand new filing cabinet for me this afternoon and took away my old, rusted in places one.

So here's the recipe with the change I made:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup melted butter

1 Tbsp lemon zest (I have truly learned that lemon zest is important. It makes all the difference in the recipes I have used it in. I suggest using a microplane zester. )

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (the recipe called for 2 tsp, I liked it with 2 Tbsp)

For the streusel:

3 Tbs. flour

3 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. cold butter

For the glaze:

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, lemon juice, melted butter, zest, and yogurt. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix just until combined. Let batter rest for 5 minutes. Grease or paper line muffin cups and fill cups 3/4 full. In a small bowl combine streusel ingredients, using a pastry blender or your hands, until it resembles course crumbs. Sprinkle over the batter. Bake muffins at 350 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes and remove to a wire rack.

Mix together the powdered sugar and lemon juice to make a thin glaze. Drizzle over the warm muffins.

This makes 12 muffins.

These were great. I loved them. The secretaries loved them and raved about them. Mr. Mike (the custodian) loved them. My kids loved them too. Make these as soon as you have fresh lemons. You will be happy you did.

My New Goal

Lately we have been in a rut. A dinner rut. So I decided that I would try at least one new recipe a week. Well I exceeded that goal and tried two new recipes. The first one I only liked a little, although Mike and the kids loved it. I probably won't make it again. The second one needed a little tweaking, but once tweaked.....YUMMY! I will make this again and again and I hope you will too. I will put what I did rather than the official recipe.

Mushroom Chicken with Zucchini

3 chicken breasts, cut into chunks

cornstarch for dusting

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp sesame oil

6 Tbsp soy sauce (I used low sodium)

3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 package mushrooms, sliced

4 small zucchini, cut into 1 inch chunks

1. Dust chicken with cornstarch, until lightly coated.

2. Put oils into a wok or large skillet and fry chicken until done. Take out of the pan and set aside.

3. You might need to add a little more oil to the pan. Then add mushrooms and zucchini and stirfry for a few minuets. Then add the rest of the ingredients and stirfry until the veggies are done.

4. Return chicken to pan and coat with sauce, heat thoroughly and serve over rice.

Try this soon, you'll be so glad you did. If you like it saucier, add 2 more Tbsp soy sauce and 1 more Tbsp balsamic vinegar.

Happy Aniversary

On April 8th, we celebrated 15 years of marriage. There have been wonderful experiences, two beautiful children and a wonderful new home. I am thankful for my husband and what a good man he is. He's a great dad and does so many great things for our family. I appreciate him.


The weekend before our anniversary my sisters, Christy and Maury watched the kids, so Mike and I could go away. We just went down to Palm Desert and stayed at a Marriott there. (Thank you Priceline! We got a hotel room for $65.) Mike took me to my favorite restaurant, Kobe's. It is a Japanese steak house that I love. It is kind of like Benihana where they cook the food in front of you. We also went to see, Monsters and Aliens in 3D. We had a fun night away and I know the kids enjoyed the spoiling they got from their beloved aunties!


Our actual anniversary was on a Wednesday. It was spring break for the kids and I, but not for Mike. So we decided to make it a family celebration. I made a special dinner of Mike's choosing: homemade egg rolls, vegetable fried rice, sparkling cider, and my special chocolate cake. Mike loves this cake more than anything else. I agree it is pretty good. You should make it as soon as possible and taste it!

Chocolate Brownie Torte

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 10 inch spring form pan and lightly coat pan with cocoa powder (you can also use the Pam spray for baking with flour in it.)

2. Combine 1 3/4 C. flour, 3/4 C. unsweetened cocoa, and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl and set aside.

3. Beat 1 C. softened butter with 1 3/4 Cup sugar with the mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in 2/3 C. light corn syrup. Add 3 large eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. At low speed beat in dry ingredients, alternately with 1/2 C. milk.

5. If you want, at this point you can add 2 C. chopped pecans. I usually leave this out, because my kids hate nuts.

6. Spread batter into pan. Bake in a preheated oven for 55 -60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted 1 inch from the edge comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

7. For ganache bring 1 C heavy cream to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat and add 1 8 oz. package semi sweet chocolate squares, shopped. Stir until melted. Cool completely.

8. Remove ring from pan and remove cake from bottom. Place on cake platter and tuck strips of waxed paper under the cake. Pour ganache over tope and spread with a metal spatula to cover top and side of cake. Let stand until set. Serve cake with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Yummy chicken minestrone soup

Yesterday I was thinking and thinking about what to make for dinner. Nothing sounded good. I started looking through this recipe book, Rotisserie Chickens to the Rescue. I bought it a few years ago and had never made anything from it. I looked through it and found this recipe for chicken minestrone soup. I had all the ingredients, except for the rotisserie chicken and it was cold outside. It felt like soup weather, so I thought what the heck, I'll improvise. I pulled two frozen chicken breasts out of the freezer, thawed them, cut them up and sauteed them in a frying pan.

Here's what I did:

In a soup pot I put in 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil. Heated it and added 1 chopped onion. I cooked it until it was limp and transparent. Then I added 1 cup of sliced baby carrots and cooked that for a couple of minutes. Then I added 1 sliced zucchini, 2 cloves of garlic, crushed, and 2 tsp. of Italian seasoning crushed with fingers. Stir fry for a few minutes. Next add 2 cans of chicken broth, 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes with Italian spices, 1 bay leaf, 1 can drained canalinni ( don't know how to spell this!)beans, the chicken, 2 Tbsp. tomato paste and 1 cup of water. Let cook for 5 minutes or so. Then add 1 tsp salt, 3 cups coleslaw mix with carrots (basically cut up cabbage and carrots. This is sold in the produce section) and 1 cup small pasta. Cover and cook until pasta is done. You might need to add more water. Season this to taste with salt and pepper.

I would have been really yummy served with french bread, but then I would have had to go to the store. My family loved this. It didn't take a ton of time. Curtis even asked for some for lunch today.