Bacon Broccoli/Veggie Quiche

Bacon veggie quiche #1

Bacon broccoli/veggie quiche was on the menu for September but somehow the month got away from me and I didn't get this posted so getting it out now. I'm not sure where I got the original recipe but have been making it for about 10 years.  I remember a time when I was visiting my oldest daughter, Tabitha, when she was living in Tulsa in 2007 and made this for her and her friends. I've changed it up a little over the years, as with everything else I cook, I've added more fresh vegetables to the broccoli the recipe called for.  Frozen broccoli works great, you just have to let it thaw and drain the liquid out.  I have baggies of fresh broccoli in my freezer that I froze myself so added to that sweet peppers, eggplant, onion, garlic, and yellow squash then steamed them in the microwave for about 3 to 5 minutes to pre cook since I had a combination of fresh and frozen vegetables. I drained off the liquid and added fresh chopped tomatoes and spinach (kale would be great as well)  then put the veggie mixture in the pie crust, added bacon, shredded cheese and then the egg/milk mixture. The original recipe called for mushrooms but my family doesn't care for them so I leave them out.  I mostly put in what I buy at the farmers market including fresh farm eggs which are the best.  This recipe really makes 2 pies/quiches and since I always get carried away chopping veggies I have enough for 1 deep dish pie and 1 regular pie.  I made this for my family last month and 2 pies worked out well, since they heat up great in the microwave for lunches for my daughter and I. I generally cook 2 things on Saturday so we have things to take for lunches to work and have leftovers for dinner. It really works well for us and I don't have to cook dinner each night. Between my cooking this way, freezer leftovers and soups I've canned, I always have something available for a quick dinner or to take for lunch.  I also have a similar recipe that calls for cooked pork sausage that I add veggies to as well so sausage can be substituted for bacon in this recipe and tastes great.  My family are huge bacon fans so I mostly use bacon. Here's the recipe:

Bacon Broccoli/Veggie Quiche

2 T flour

1/2 c mayonnaise

1 t each seasoned salt; pepper, turmeric and parsley

6 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 c milk

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 c chopped sweet peppers

1/2 to 1 c finely chopped eggplant

1/2 to 1 c yellow squash, chopped

1 to 3 small tomatoes, chopped

1 c spinach, (or kale) chopped

1 to 2 cups fresh broccoli, chopped or 1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and patted dry

1 lb. bacon cooked and crumbled

2 to 3 c (8 oz) shredded cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese or combination of any kind of cheese 

1 box of pie crusts

In large bowl, combine milk, mayonnaise, eggs, flour and seasonings. Combine veggies except, tomatoes and spinach and microwave for 3 to 5 minutes to pre cook. Drain off liquid then add chopped tomatoes and spinach (or kale).  Line a 9 in deep-dish pie plate plus 1 regular pie plate with pie crusts and flute edges. Pour veggie mixture into crust, add chopped bacon and cheese then pour egg/milk mixture over top and slightly stir if necessary.  Bake at 350 for 55 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Let stand for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting.


Optional, fresh chopped mushrooms can be added as well. Cooked pork sausage can be substituted for bacon.

Enjoy,

Bamah

Before baking

Bacon veggie quiche #2

Stuffed crust pizza

baked pizza out of oven

For August post I'm sharing a stuffed crust pizza recipe.  This was my 1st attempt and it turned out perfect and tasted wonderful.  I've made pizzas before but never quite got the crust done, by using my cast iron skillet and heating it first on the stove burner then putting it in the oven, the crust came out crispy and perfect.  I saw the recipe on The Kitchen on Food Network so tried it myself.  I won't make pizza any other way again. I basically followed the technique but didn't put on a sauce and did my own toppings.  That's the beauty of pizza, you can put on whatever you like to eat.  I didn't make my own dough either but used the Pillsbury canned crust and instead of using smoked mozzarella for the crust, used mozzarella string cheese. For toppings I used roasted veggies, chunks of mozzarella then topped with chopped fresh spinach after baking. I've also made with caramelized onions and smoked German sausage which was fantastic.
 Super easy and tasty. Here's the recipe:

slice of yummy pizza

fresh spinach added

Stuffed crust pizza

1 pizza dough crust, homemade or canned

1 pkg mozzarella string cheese

1 mozzarella cheese ball or shredded mozzarella

olive oil

seasoned salt and pepper

toppings 

sauce

cut string cheese

Light sauce recipe, 2 T olive oil, 1 t each chili flakes, basil, salt and pepper, 2 T tomato puree or paste

1 clove minced garlic, mix together and coat lightly on prepared crust. (This is from The Kitchen's website, I didn't use a sauce on mine).

Toppings, The Kitchen recipe used pieces of smoked mozzarella, kalamate olives, thinly sliced red onion and topped with fresh basil after baking.

My toppings were roasted veggies, sweet peppers, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, zucchini and carrots.  (I make roasted veggies all the time, at least every other week, with my farmers market purchases.  I just cut them up, place on baking pans, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle seasoned salt, steak seasoning and pepper and bake at 350 to 375 for 45 minutes until tender. Each time is a bit different depending on what kind of vegetables I got at the time.  I use them for pizza, add to pasta with a simple sauce, add to rice or couscous or my daughter and I just eat them by themselves for lunch.) I also added mozzarella cheese, and chopped fresh spinach after baking.

Preheat oven at 500, coat bottom of cast iron skillet with olive oil and add pizza dough, cut string cheese into 2 inch pieces and fold into crust edges and tuck into skillet, when complete add sauce if desired or just drizzle with olive oil, can also sprinkle with seasoned salt. Add toppings and cheese. Brush crust with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoned salt. Put skillet on stove burner on medium heat and cook until bottom of crust begins to brown lightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to oven and bake until crust is golden and center is bubbly, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and add fresh basil or chopped fresh spinach and drizzle with olive oil. Allow to cool for 10 minutes then slice and serve.

tuck under

 Enjoy, Bamah

fold cheese into crust

cooking 2 to 3 min on stove top

finished stuffed crust

made with smoked sausage

Beckman family craft project 2016

August

September

For July, I'm posting twice this month since I'm adding an additional category of crafts. The Beckman extended family, aunts, uncles and cousins meet every summer for a week long family reunion, a tradition that's been going on for years. One of the favorite activities, besides eating, is doing crafts together and/or bring completed themed projects, themes usually decided the previous year. Over the years we have made quilts (including how to do a stained glass quilt), Christmas ornaments, woven baskets, made items from drink cozies, made items from wooden embroidery hoops, decorated hats, painted pictures and various other crafts. We are a creative bunch and always have a wonderful time making things together or sharing what we have created prior to reunion time. This year, we did a color of the month block project. We designated a color for each month beginning in August, which was after last year's reunion. Each person could decide how they would accomplish the project and use whatever medium of their choice. Several cousins and my youngest daughter, Aubree,  are using fabric and making quilts.  My oldest daughter, Tabitha, is knitting a multicolored scarf. Several cousins crochet like me and are making  afghans. I've been crocheting for over 40 years, and find it very relaxing and am always working on multiple projects. I also have a considerable collection of  yarn and completed crocheted blocks of various sizes  so decided this was the perfect project to use stuff from my stash and make myself an afghan.  I have been making 12 block granny square afghans for years, over 10 at least, and I've lost count how many I've given away as graduation, Christmas, wedding, and birthday gifts but have never made one for myself.

October

November

December

January

My first afghans were made for my daughters while they were in high school and I patterned them after a scrap quilt using different yarns within the same color scheme to make the blocks then crocheted them together with a coordinating yarn.  After that, I just kept making them as gifts, using the recipient's favorite or chosen colors.  Over the years, I've also crocheted multiple baby blankets as well.  I've been given yarn and unfinished projects, bought yarn at stores and also picked up yarn and completed squares at garage sales especially church ones.    I also inherited a whole bunch of finished granny squares made by my husband, John's maternal grandmother.   I incorporate these squares into my own finished squares, crocheting them together with coordinating yarn. I feel it's a way of honoring the women that crocheted them by making them into something warm and useful. Each square tells a story, sometimes I share that with the person receiving the afghan, sometimes not.  But for this afghan, I'm sharing the stories.

August color is yellow, I had just finished a wedding afghan for one of my nieces and her colors were yellow and red so used the leftover yellow yarn for my square.

February

March

September is orange, the small orange squares were from a bunch of squares I had gotten at a church garage sale years ago. A lady from the church had made a bunch of squares in various colors and they sold them together in a bag and I bought the whole bag.  I've used most of those squares over the years. The rest of the yarn was small balls of leftovers that I used to make the square.

May

April

October is black, I crocheted another niece a Batman themed afghan as a wedding gift and made a bunch of 2 inch black squares and then realized they were too big so made smaller ones.  I used these extra squares putting them together with  leftover gray and black yarn.

June

November is brown, the middle yellow and brown square was made by John's grandmother, Mama Steve, put together with several small balls of leftover brown and variegated yarn. I never met her, she passed away before John and I were married but I have added her squares to every afghan I have made for a Beckman family member so added several to mine as well. In her later years, she would sit and crochet granny squares for something to do making hundreds of squares.  Over the years, I have used almost all of them.

December is silver/gray, I had several skeins of red, green and metallic silver Christmas variegated yarn in my stash, probably purchased after some Christmas sale, plus some really soft gray yarn leftover from making fingerless gloves for Christmas gifts.  

January is white, I like the contrast of white and cream so just used leftover yarn of each.

July

February is pink, I had made a wedding afghan and several baby blankets using pink yarn so used leftovers for this square. I put it together with leftover white yarn to unify the different shades of pink.

March is green, so this square is made by 3 different people.  I got the dark green squares in a bag at a church garage sale years ago.  I'm not sure where the light green squares came from, I either picked them up at some sale or someone gave them to me.  I put them all together with some green yarn I had.

April is purple, I had several skeins different shades of purple yarn in my stash which I used to make a wedding afghan in purple and gray.  I used the leftover purples for my square.

May is blue, the blue and white squares were also made by Mama Steve. I put them together with white and a small ball leftover blue variegated.

June is aqua, the aqua and white square in the middle was also one of Mama Steve's.  I had a small leftover ball of aqua yarn and put it all together with white.

July is red, I have a lot of skeins of red yarn in my stash and had completed a wedding afghan in red and gray so used leftover reds with white in between for this one.

I feel like my afghan is like a true scrap quilt put together with different bits and pieces to make something warm to snuggle up with. It is totally made with yarn from my stash which was one of my goals as I've been working on depleting my stash. I've made 4 afghans so far this year, 2 for weddings gifts,  a graduation gift (I've enclosed pictures of them as well) and this one.  This one is my favorite, I hope you've enjoyed it's story.
Enjoy
Bamah

Southern Tomato Pie

made with cherry tomatoes sliced in half

Since it is peak tomato season, Southern Tomato Pie is on the menu for July's post.  I love, love, love homegrown tomatoes, all varieties that I either grow myself or get at the farmers market. No supermarket tomatoes for me. Every summer I take full advantage of tomato season and eat them on salads, sandwiches, can them, freeze them, put them in casseroles, make several versions of spaghetti/pasta sauce and make gallons and gallons of tomato soup.  Well not gallons but one summer it did seem that way to my daughters when I kept making soup (because I bought so many tomatoes) and they said that was enough with the soup.   I always have several versions of tomato dishes in my freezer at any given time.  Usually I make stuff in the summer during peak season and in the winter enjoy fresh spaghetti or veggie pasta sauce for a quick dinner. One summer on our way to the Beckman family reunion, my husband, John, and I stopped by his Aunt Peggy's in Mississippi for a visit.  She fixed us tomato pie for lunch my life changed forever.  I loved it so much she gave me the recipe and I have made it ever since.  John isn't much of a tomato fan but this is my daughters and my favorite summer meal.  I make it several times a month, 2 at a time, as soon as tomatoes are available at the farmers market. I've changed it up over the years, adding different vegetables to the tomatoes like steamed eggplant, zucchini or sweet peppers, or fresh spinach. I've also experimented with different cheeses and made changes to the mayonnaise mixture adding smoked tomato dressing I get from the farmers market or some other dressing/dip that I have that needs to be used up. I make it so often that like the variety of changing things up. Aunt Peggy's recipe called for sliced tomatoes and I did that for years but last year my daughter, Aubree, made it for herself (she doesn't live at home) and chopped them and liked that better so most of the time now I chop instead of slice. Thanks Aunt Peggy for sharing your tomato goodness.  Here's the recipe:

Southern Tomato Pie recipe

makes 2 pies

2  9 inch pie crusts (homemade or box) cooked until light brown, 15 to 20 minutes in pie plates

4 to 6 large tomatoes, sliced or chopped

1 T each Italian seasoning, parsley, oregano, sweet basil (dried or fresh)

seasoned salt and pepper

1 cup mayonnaise (can also use 1/2 c mayo and 1/2 c sour cream)

2 pkgs. shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I use 1 bag shredded and grate a block of extra sharp cheddar cheese, can also use other kinds of cheese as well, Gouda is really good)

Parmesan cheese

homegrown tomatoes are the best

Slice or chop tomatoes and put in colander to drain liquid (at least 20 minutes).   In small bowl, mix together mayonnaise (and sour cream if desired) with herbs. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on bottom of browned crust and add drained tomatoes, sprinkle tomatoes with seasoned salt and pepper. Add a little shredded cheese, about 1 cup then spread mayo mixture and top with rest of shredded cheese.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top if desired.  Bake in 350 oven for 30 to 40 minutes until hot and bubbly. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

Added vegetable options:  sliced eggplant or zucchini and/or chopped sweet peppers steamed for 5 to 10 minutes in microwave until tender then added to tomatoes in pie crust then add mayo mixture and cheese and bake.

Fresh spinach whole or shredded added to tomatoes in pie crust then add mayo mixture and cheese and bake.

Enjoy, Bamah

topped with cheese



mayo mixture over tomatoes

finished pies, chopped tomatoes







finished pies, sliced tomatoes



Homemade Spaghetti sauce

made in crockpot

For June's post I'm sharing my homemade spaghetti sauce recipe.  This is my family's recipe from my mom that I grew up with, learned to make in my teens and have made for my family ever since.   My mom always used canned tomatoes, plus sauce and paste and I did that for years but I've changed it up the last few years, adding more fresh vegetables (chopped kale or spinach, shredded zucchini, onions, garlic, sweet peppers and eggplant) and using only fresh tomatoes or ones I've canned myself instead of buying cans at the store.  I still use canned tomato sauce (although this year I'm going to attempt to make my own sauce) and paste, it's hard to replace the convenience of those. I also use a combination of fresh herbs from my yard and dried herbs.  I love growing herbs and have pots of thyme, oregano, parsley, several kinds of basil, sage, several kinds of mint, lemon balm, lemon grass, dill, rosemary and cilantro, I think that's it.  I go out in my yard and pick what I need, wash, cut and throw in whatever I'm making. At peak season in the summer when they are all huge, I make pesto and freeze it for pasta dishes or pizza later.  I shared my pesto recipe on another blog post. I brown hamburger meat in the skillet and then add shredded or finely chopped eggplant and cook it in the meat juices then add it to the pot of sauce.  Eggplant is great, it takes on the flavor of the meat and is healthy plus stretches 1 pound of meat to 2 so economical as well.  I use it all the time.  I get them at the farmers market, finely cut them up (most of the time I peel them 1st then they are hidden) and put them in quart freezer bags in my freezer.  I just break up what I want and add to whatever I'm cooking.  This is the cook for hours version to get the desired thickness and rich taste so I usually do it on a Saturday on the stove for 3 to 4 hours or in the crock pot all day.  I cook a large batch then freeze half of it for later.  It freezes beautifully. Most of the time we eat it the traditional way over a plate of spaghetti topped with parmesan cheese. Sometimes when I thaw a container of sauce from the freezer I make a pasta casserole with whatever kind of pasta I have, like shell or rigatoni, layering with shredded cheddar cheese and spinach or kale (fresh or frozen spinach or frozen kale from my baggies in the freezer) and either bake in oven for 30 minutes or heat in microwave 10 to 15 minutes until bubbly. It's a great quick meal for a weekday supper. Here's the recipe:






Spaghetti sauce






1 to 2 lbs ground beef, browned and drained (can also add ground pork or Italian sausage to beef)
1/2 to 1 c chopped eggplant, (brown in skillet after meat is cooked)
4 to 6 fresh tomatoes, chopped (or 2 cans)
1 onion, chopped
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c sweet peppers, chopped
1/2 c shredded zucchini
2 small cans tomato sauce
2 small cans tomato paste
2 T sofrito (recipe on another blog post)
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 to 2 t each, seasoned salt, pepper, turmeric and paprika
1 T each fresh or dried herbs, sweet basil, oregano, marjoram and parsley (can also add Italian seasoning)
1/4 t chili pepper flakes
can also add chopped fresh or frozen spinach or kale toward end of cooking






In large pot sauté veggies, except tomatoes in a little olive oil and water until tender.  Add tomatoes, cooked meat, eggplant, sauce, paste plus herbs and seasonings with several cups of water. Bring to boil then simmer, uncovered, 2 to 4 hours until thickened, or cook in crockpot 8 to 10 hours on high.  Serve on cooked noodles topped with parmesan cheese.  Enjoy, Bamah

made on top of stove

Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

Somehow May got away from me without posting anything and here it is June already. So here's a recipe to get me back on track.  I've been making chicken spaghetti casserole for several years and now it's a family favorite. It originally started when my daughter, Tabitha, volunteered me to cook a luncheon after church as a Bolivia mission fundraiser and had gotten the recipe from one of our church ladies.  It's really good, fairly easy and can feed a lot of people. Several of us met on a Saturday afternoon, got all the prep work done, making the casseroles and also tossed salad then all we had to do Sunday morning was to put the casseroles in the oven for about 30 to 45 minutes to heat through. We served them with garlic bread and tossed salad.  My husband, John, loved it so much I decided to make chicken spaghetti at home and of course added vegetables to mine.  I mostly just use chicken breasts since we prefer white meat but other times use a whole chicken.  Cook the pasta in the chicken broth and a little water for extra flavor.  My husband loves it so much that a couple of years ago he suggested I make chicken spaghetti for our Beckman family reunion.  Every summer the Beckman clan meet up at Clarko state park near Meridian MS and each family group is assigned a night to prepare dinner for the group.  We usually have around 30 people to feed at any given night. The 1st year I made the chicken spaghetti casserole it was a big hit so now it's my go to recipe. I change up the vegetables depending what's in season at the farmer's market.  I always precook them either by steaming in the microwave or sautéing in a skillet on the stove before putting them in the casserole except for tomatoes, I always add them in fresh before putting in the oven.  Here's the recipe:

Chicken Spaghetti

cooked chicken, either whole chicken or several breasts, saving

cooking liquid to cook spaghetti in

1 onion, chopped

1/2 c sweet peppers, chopped

1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c yellow squash, chopped

1/2 c zucchini, chopped

1/2 c eggplant, chopped

2 to 3 tomatoes, chopped

1 box spaghetti or egg noodles

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 T sofrito

1 t each seasoned salt, pepper, onion seasoning, garlic seasoning,

parsley,  poultry seasoning

1 bag shredded cheese

Boil chicken in enough water to cover adding fresh or dried herbs,

parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, seasoned salt and pepper until done.

Let cool slightly and debone saving broth. Cook spaghetti in water and

chicken broth until slightly tender. Sauté chopped veggies except

tomatoes or steam in microwave until tender. Combine soups, seasonings

and a little broth in bowl.  In large casserole dish, assemble cooked

chicken, noodles, veggies and fresh tomatoes (can also add fresh spinach or kale if desired), add soup mixture and  stir a bit, top with shredded cheese.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes

until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Enjoy,

Bamah

Tortellini Soup

For April's post I'm sharing another one of our family's favorite recipes. I put together a collection of family favorite recipes for my youngest daughter, Aubree, that her sister then turned into a little cookbook for her for Christmas. This is her favorite soup that I make so it was included in the book and now I'm sharing it here. As with the majority of my recipes it's full of fresh veggies and can be changed up easily depending what's available.  I don't generally add meat to this but cooked chicken could be added if desired. Originally I cut the recipe out of a magazine and taped in into my soup cookbook but have changed it up over the years, mostly adding more vegetables. The original recipe only called for 1 bag of frozen tortellini but we find 2 works better for us especially since no meat is added. I've also found fresh tortellini instead of frozen which cooks up really quickly. Here's the recipe:

Tortellini Soup

 1 T olive oil plus 3 T butter

3 to 4 stalks celery, chopped

3 to 4 carrots, chopped

1 onion chopped

1 clove minced garlic, or 1 T garlic powder

1/2 c sweet peppers, chopped

2 T sofrito

2 jars broth (can use chicken or veggie) plus 1 to 2 c water

chopped tomatoes or 1 can

1 T parsley

1 t each seasoned salt and pepper

1 t oregano (can add more Italian seasoning if desired)

1 t onion powder

1 can great northern beans, liquid included

2 to 3 cups fresh spinach, can also add kale

2 pkgs 9 oz frozen cheese tortellini

parmesan cheese

or any additional chopped vegetables if desired

Heat oil, butter and sofrito in large pot and cook vegetables until

tender, adding a little water.  Add broth, water, seasonings, beans,

and tomatoes.  Cook for 20 to 30 minutes, then bring to boil and add

spinach and tortellini.  Cook for 5 to 10 minutes until done, add

parmesan cheese before serving.

Enjoy,

Bamah