Ham & Egg Cups

Who doesn’t love an edible bowl? These guys come together really quickly, can be adapted to a large crowd, or enjoyed at a breakfast party of one. Plus they are really filling.

Mom came home with “breakfast ham” the other day and after realizing that all that meant was ham sliced into strips to somewhat resemble bacon it seemed less exciting. Although, lets be honest, it wasn’t THAT exciting to begin with.

Anyway, I decided to make it more appealing by crisping it up in the oven and then baking some eggs and cheese in it. Very yummy and probably could even be made ahead of time and then re-heated…although fresh out of the oven was pretty damn good!!
INGREDIENTS (can be adapted to your own desired quantities)

Ham (breakfast ham, deli sliced ham…its all good)
Cheddar Cheese, grated
Eggs
Green Onions, chopped

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin tin with oil.

Line muffin cups with ham (its ok for them to hang over or stick out) and place in the oven while it is preheating.

Once oven is hot, place a small amount of cheese in bottom of each ham cup, crack an egg into each cup and season with salt and pepper. Bake until desired doneness. I baked for about 15 minutes but we prefer our eggs hard.

Remove from oven, sprinkle with remaining cheese (if there is any) and green onions.

 

NUTRIONAL INFO

WW – 3 per cup

Calories - 128

Carbs – 1g

Fat – 7g

Fibre – 0g

Protein – 14g



Parmesan Zucchini Crisps

I made these for a family BBQ a few weeks ago and they were gobbled up immediately. I put out some Tzatziki in case people wanted to dip them in something but most seemed to prefer them on their own. A simple marinara sauce might be a good dip option as well.
INGREDIENTS

1 oz Parmesan, freshly grated
1/4 cup bread crumbs panko
black pepper, to taste
garlic powder, to taste
2 egg whites
2 ½ cups zucchini rounds, sliced about 1/4” thick (this was about 2 small zucchini)

DIRECTIONS

1.    Preheat oven to 425. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil and place a wire baking rack on top (I used two metal cooling racks).Lightly mist the racks with cooking spray.
2.    Combine the Parmesan, bread crumbs, pepper and garlic powder in a shallow dish and mix together.
3.    In a small bowl, beat the two egg whites. Dip each zucchini round in the egg whites to coat both sides and then press each side of the round into the bread crumb/Parmesan mixture. Place the coated round on the wire rack on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining zucchini rounds.
4.    Bake for 30-35 minutes until the Parmesan and bread crumb coating is browned and crisp. Serve immediately.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serves 4

WW Points - 2

Calories - 71

Carbs - 7g

Fat - 2g

Protein - 6g

Fibre - 1g

Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings with Grilled Portobellos and Mashed "Fauxtatoes"

So these wings were awesome (and the first I've ever cooked) but the grilled portobellos were the star of the meal! I marinated them in some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, basil and dried hot peppers. They were FANTASTIC. I will be making these again soon, perhaps to put on a thin burger bun and dress up like a burger. YUM!

Here they are marinating away.

The mashed "fauxtatoes" was steamed cauliflower mashed with some onion dip. A total cheat I know, but it was super easy and actually quite yummy. Plus the dip was taking up room in the fridge so it had to go.

This fridge is turning into a great excuse to cook with things I might otherwise not consider...although once I've cleared it of the stuff that survived the move I suppose it just won't house such ingredients any longer.

The wings were good. I obviously need some more practice at crisping up the skin in the oven. I know it can be done, but I didn't quite get there this time around. The sauce was great though, it was the same marinade and sauce that I used in the Light Boneless Wings Post. This is a great sauce to use when you don't know what else to do with any cut of chicken. 

Are You Even Ready For This?

Pizza...good times right? Wrong, if you're trying to completely avoid all carbs and starches like I've been recently. 

This is how I (we by proxy) have been eating for the last little while. High protein, no carbs and starches. It hasn't been an enjoyable experience, lets be honest. I have realized that if it was up to me and health/weight was not an issue I could live off of carbs and carbs alone for the rest of my life. Yes, I would miss chicken and for sure some french fries every now and then....but to never see a plate a pasta or a yummy pizza again is just too much to even consider. 

So....I did some browsing on the internet....another thing I couldn't live without these days. 

Ta Daaaa!!! I give you a completely carb free pizza! How is this possible, you ask? Well, it seems that a little egg and a lot of cheese can hold anything together. Throw some tomato sauce, veggies and a bit more cheese on it and you've got yourself a pretty satisfying pizza.

Here's the base recipe:

• 1 cup steamed grated cauliflower (I used the food processor)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup melty cheese (I used mozzarella)
• Seasonings of your choice - I used oregano, garlic and some parsley

I doubled this recipe to end up with a medium size crust (maybe 18 inches?). I combined everything in a bowl and then pressed it into a metal pizza pan (see pic). I lined the pan with parchment paper, but I don't think that was necessary. I also can't remember if I sprinkled the herbs on or whether I combined them in the bowl....either would work just fine. 

I baked it in a 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes until it was golden brown (see pic).

Next time around I might consider brushing the baked "crust" with some garlicky oil before putting the toppings on. You could do this and broil it again to end up with a yummy garlicky flatbread type thing. 

I topped it with tomato sauce and whatever toppings I felt like, then broiled it just until the cheese melted. 

It was brilliant.

I'm still in shock that it actually worked. 

Now, some notes for next time. This recipe includes A LOT of cheese. So, either reduce your cheese on top of the pizza or prepare to only enjoy a slice or two because of how filling it is. 

I would also LOVE to be able to take credit for this recipe because I know this is the first that my family and friends are hearing about it, but in fact, GOOGLE is the one to credit for this. All it took was a quick google search to come across several variations of this recipe. Nonetheless, I am still so pleased that it actually turned out and that I found it in the first place. 

Please please try this out and let me know what you think about it. I'm dying to know how it goes for you and if you adapt the recipe at all. 

Turkey Stuffed Portobellos

So this was a new one for us. I seasoned some ground turkey breast with poultry seasoning and salt and pepper. Mixed it well and formed it into 4 balls. I brushed the mushrooms with olive oil and a bit of worcestershire sauce. Placed a ball of turkey in each mushroom cap (gills scraped off) and patted it down to form a patty. Topped it with some caramelized mushrooms and sautéed tomatoes and a little mozzarella cheese.

So hearty and yummy and actually quite simple and easy to make. They tasted even better as leftovers once all the flavours had more time to get to know each other.

Taco Salad

So I just realized that tomorrow (March 7th) will be the one year anniversary of this blog. How fitting since the first entry was Tacos and this entry is a Taco Salad.

Its no secret that I am not a fan of a salad as a meal but this managed to slip under my radar. I was thinking back to how much I enjoyed the leftovers of last years tacos, in a salad form.

I sauteed some ground beef with onions, green peppers, tomatoes and taco seasoning. I added a little bit of ketchup in to moisten everything up a bit. Than i layered lettuce, shredded cheese, corn, salsa and the hot beef mixture. It was very filling and really good.

Chicken Marsala

Sorry for the poor quality photo. I was late getting dinner going and by the time I got it on the plate I barely had time to let it cool down before it completely disappeared.
This was such a simple and really flavourful recipe. Something we've started to do in the Smart Clutterbuck house is serve dinner on small plates instead of the big ones. Very simple concept...looks like more food because it takes up more plate...but isn't. We've also opted to forego the carbs, when possible, in favour of more protein and veggies.
The recipe is as follows:
1. Sprinkle Chicken Breasts with pepper and poultry seasoning
2. Slice mushrooms and saute in a pan until they release juices (a few minutes)
3. Add Chicken and brown on each side, push mushrooms to the side of the pan
4. Add 1/4 cup of Marsala and let simmer for a minute, Add 3/4 cups of low sodium beef broth, Simmer uncovered until Chicken is cooked
5. Dissolve some cornstarch in 1/4 cup of beef broth, add to pan, stir until sauce thickens
6. Plate Chicken, spoon sauce and mushrooms over chicken breast
7. Watch Clutterbuck actually lick the plate clean once the chicken is gone....we're all class at the Smart-Clutterbuck house :)