Category: One pot meal

Baked eggs and tomatoes

Breakfast and Brunch, Eggs, One pot meal, Vegetarian

So many tomatoes! My garden is exploding with tomatoes. We planted other veggies, but this summer has been so rainy, most the other things have not been so successful. So besides the normal summer staple, the tomato sandwich, I have been thinking of other ways to use them. So this morning, I decided to cut some up and bake them with some eggs.

First, I chopped and deseeded 3 small tomatoes, coated them with olive oil, salt, and pepper and placed them at the bottom of a pan. I took out the seeds and juice of the tomato. That way the tomatoes won’t get soggy and mushy when you bake them in the oven. Then, I added them to a small cast iron skillet. You could use a baking dish, ramekins, or even teacups if you wish.

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Then I added about half a container of mascarpone cheese with a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream. You could use cream cheese if you have that instead. You could add milk or half and half instead of the heavy cream. 005

Then add your eggs on top. I added 2 for my size of pan. 006

Then bake in a 350 oven for about 20-25 minutes. I placed my eggs on a piece of toast. I have made this for my kids before in little teacups (minus the tomatoes) and they dunked in some pieces of bread. You could add in chunks of ham, bacon, other cheese, or other chopped veggies you may have on hand. The possibilities are endless!

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Leftovers: Pizza Pasta

Leftovers/ Freezer Meals, One pot meal, Pasta

Leftovers…this can be a dreaded word in many houses. No one likes to keep eating the same thing 2 days in a row, but no one wants to waste food, which is just throwing money away. In our house, we try to have at least one night where we have “whatever you want night.” This is when we try to eat up any leftovers in the fridge before they go bad. Since we are kind of on a weird eating schedule with E still in the hospital, this has been harder to do. I am here with the other 2 girls most nights, so I try to make just enough for the 3 of us, meals that I can transform in to more than 1 meal, or make meals I know will freeze well for later.

Last night I made linguine and meatballs, and I froze some sauce, but I still had a bit of pasta over for us to have one more meal. Then, today, I was watching David Rocco’s Dolce Vida on Cooking Channel. He was making a “pizza pasta.” He took leftover pasta and added some eggs, parmesan cheese, and fried it in oil. So I decided to try it.

The ingredients all depends on how many leftovers you have, but I used 3 eggs, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, whipped it together with the pasta, then added to a pan of oil which covers the bottom of your pan.
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Then after 2 minutes or so, put a plate upside down on the top of the pasta. Turn the pan and plate over and then slide the pasta pie mixture back in the pan for another 2 minutes on the other side. Tricky, but doable. Who cares if it doesn’t come out perfect? Once done, I added more parmesan on top.
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Then I sliced with a pizza cutter. It was sitting out for a bit, so I popped a piece in the toaster oven to crisp it on top a bit. Perfection! The girls gobbled it up as well!
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Any new ways you like to makeover leftover pasta?

Frittata Fun

Breakfast and Brunch, Eggs, One pot meal

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Tonight, I just wanted to make something quick and use up a few things in the fridge so they wouldn’t go bad. I love making frittatas, because you can add whatever you like in them. I cooked a pound of bacon in my cast iron skillet, added a container of mushrooms in the bacon fat, and let them cook down a bit. Next came spinach; I just added it to the mushrooms and cooked until wilted. I took my veggies out and placed them in a separate bowl.

I spotted some stale French bread in the cabinet, so I broke off a chunk, cut it into bite-sized pieces, and added it to a tablespoon of oil in my greasy bacon fat pan to toast it up. While the bread was toasting, I cracked 9 eggs, whisked them with a touch of heavy cream, salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of Parmesan. I poured some veggie mixture and 4 pieces of cut up bacon to my eggs and stirred them together. Then cook until the bottom is set, add some cheese (I used a mix of mozzarella, colby, and jack).

Then I transfer it to the oven on high broil for about 5-6 minutes, or until the top is perfectly cooked. Then run your spatula under the frittata and place it on a cutting board or serving platter.

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Cut with a pizza cutter into desired sized slices!023

I let the rest of mine cool on the plate in the microwave so my dog won’t steal my masterpiece! You can eat it hot, room temperature, or cold. You can also eat this for any meal, anytime of the day! Since it doesn’t matter what temperature you can serve it at, it is perfect for brunch with friends or family. You could make a big one Sunday morning and have leftovers for lunch the next day, or you could throw literally whatever you have in the fridge or cabinets together with the eggs after you get home from a long day for a quick supper! The possibilities are endless!

What would your favorite combination be?

Pac-Man Frittata
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