Mini Sausage Quiche Recipe

Recently, my friend Amy recommended I read Pam Anderson's book, The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great.

Not only could I immediately relate to Pam's personal story she shares in her book, it hit me like a ton of bricks that I have not been giving myself the protein I needed early in my day. For too long, I've been running on a cup of coffee {ahem, or three}.

And now, I am making an extra effort to start my day with protein. When I do, these are the days when I  seem to be my best. I don't feel like I'm dragging by 10 a.m. and starving by 11 a.m. And thankfully,  I get the most accomplished on my never ending to do list.




Making simple steps to include protein in my routine brought out a few recipes that my family now loves. When I can create something that is good for my family that they really enjoy, I feel like I've accomplished the world!

One recipe that provides a lot of delicious energy to our mornings are my Mini Sausage Quiches. Here's how I make them.

Mini Sausage Quiche

Ingredients
2 packages of miniature pastry shells

2 eggs

1 cup cooked sausage, crumbled 

1 cup spinach

1 cup mushrooms, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tbs onion, chopped


Step by Step

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place pastry shells in mini muffin pan or on a cookie sheet.

3. Saute garlic and onion in iron skillet sprayed with cooking spray such as Pam or
with 1 tbs of olive oil. Once onions become translucent, add mushrooms. Cook until tender. Remove from heat and add spinach. 

4. Whisk egg in a medium bowl and add sauteed vegetables and sausage crumbles to bowl.

5. Spoon mixture into pastry shell and bake in oven for approximately 10 minutes until egg fully cooked.

While this recipe makes 24 mini quiches, you may want to increase recipe to make ahead and freeze for mornings on the go. This quiche also makes a great dish for entertaining.

Pam's book also includes the importance of consistent exercise and other lifestyle changes. After meeting Pam this past weekend at the Big Summer Potluck she hosted with her daughters, Maggy and Sharon, and friend Erika, I can't wait to have her level of energy. I know I'll get there.



How do you get more protein in your diet in the mornings? What about for your children?

My Trip to Martha Stewart's Party

A few weeks ago, I received an email invitation to attend a cocktail party at the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia offices while I was in New York City.





I have to tell you very honestly, I don't believe my feet touched the ground as I flew out of my chair and began doing the biggest happy dance I can remember in a long, long time.

An invitation to visit the Martha Stewart offices is right up there with an invitation to visit Santa's Workshop at the North Pole. It just doesn't get much better than that in my opinion.

I remember Little Buddy asking, "Mama, are you okay?" My response was breathless as I giddily replied, "I'm going to Martha Stewart's!" Of course he thought that meant her home and asked me if I would be sure to take a look at her chickens for him. Does that tell you how Martha Stewart has been invited into our home and family?





I stood outside my hotel waiting in the line for a taxi. I got there early since my friend Kristen gave me a tip that the taxis were a bit slow that night. Forty-five minutes later, I was nothing if not nervous. The party started at 6:00 P.M. and it was 5:50 P.M. already. I was on 57th Street and the party was on 26th. Taxis were breezing past and periodically stopped to pick up people ahead of me in the line. One by one, the front of the line got nearer and nearer to me.

Finally, I noticed a car with a family getting out of it right at the end of the spot where taxis were to pickup and drop off passengers. I quickly asked if he could assist me and get me to 26th Street for a party. Next thing I know, I'm loaded into the car and am being driven off to the party.

As I'm talking to the driver on my way, I learn he actually is not part of a car service but a private driver. He laughed that he thought my accent was neat and I looked like I needed some help. So he decided to help me.

Yes, this very sweet driver helped me get to the party on time! The funniest part? When we arrived, I asked him how much I owed him. He told me, "whatever you think, but you don't have to pay me anything. I was just trying to help you. Here is my card. Tell me when you want to be picked up and if you need any other help this weekend, call me."

Can you believe it? We quickly began sharing all kinds of great stories of his family and how long he'd been driving for the family he'd dropped off when I saw him earlier.


Now I'd like to share with you about the actual party.


As we entered the actual party, there were beautiful stations setup sharing delicious drinks, appetizers, and beautifully decorated tables.


 
The first of which was the champagne table.




Just look at these cakes that were part of the Weddings section of the party.




And yummy mini cupcakes.




And gorgeous attire. Oh, the folks at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia sure know how to make everything beautiful.



Pictured L-R: Alexis Stewart, Robyn, Jennifer Hutt

Speaking of which, after getting all nervous about seeing Alexis Stewart and Jennifer Hutt of WhateverRadio.com. I finally got up the nerve to walk over and introduce myself and ask them for a photo.

Let me tell you something, these two ladies are drop dead gorgeous. Ubber-slender, perfect skin, and extremely friendly. I wish I'd gotten a photograph of their shoes. They were amazing. Take a look over at MattBites for a glimpse at Alexis' heels.



 Pictured L-R: Robyn, Hannah Milman, Gail Norwood


Earlier I mentioned Santa Claus, and I have to tell you another quick story about the night. At one point in the evening, I turned and introduced myself to a super sweet lady. She introduced herself by saying, "I'm Hannah and I work in crafts here at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia." I know my eyes had to nearly pop out of my head. I said, "Are you Hannah Milman?" Her shy reply was, "Yes." And then, I said, "Saying Hannah Milman works in crafts is like saying Santa Claus works in toys!"

She was absolutely one of the nicest, most gracious ladies I have met. She shared a couple of crafts with us and then we chatted for a while longer. I felt as if I had known her for years.




Just look at this cake made of Oreo cookies. Genius! Although, I was constantly afraid someone {namely ME!} was going to bump the table and cause this beautiful creation to come tumbling down.




And S'mores may never taste the same after having them at Martha Stewart's offices.



And these confections from One Girl Cookies were out of this world!


It was an amazing night and I am so very thankful to have been invited and able to attend. My trip to NYC was absolutely a fairy-tale from beginning to end!

Mingle Monday :: Start Spreading the News

I'm just back home from New York City where I attended BlogHer 2010 and then drove out to Big Summer Potluck in Pennsylvania with my dear sweet foodie buddies.

All weekend I kept thinking of the iconic Frank Sinatra song New York, New York. Especially the lyrics of "I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps."

Ain't that the truth!

Lights on all night long, cars whizzing by the hotel rooms, horns blaring at one another because three or more cars were maneuvering through a two-lane road at the same time.

Like a big ole ant pile if you knock the upper crust off of it. Busy, busy, busy.

And you know what?

My little town blues were most definitely washed away. I wasn't quiet king of the hill, but enjoyed myself thoroughly none the less.  

In that vein, for this week's Mingle Monday, let's celebrate New York City. It is absolutely the queen of social cities and in her honor, why don't we share all of our social media again.

If it's your first time joining in on Mingle Monday, relax. There are no special posts to write, no thinga majigs to put on your site, or anything like that. Don't get me wrong, I love those parties, but I am as simple as can be and want to make everyone feel welcome!

So remember, Mingle Monday is pretty simple and straight forward. No special blog posts to write, you aren't required to use the button, just add your blog, twitter, facebook, blog frog or other social media and visit a few of the others linked up when you can.






Let's Mingle!

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Thanks so much for those who have been so sweet to like my new Add a Pinch Facebook fanpage. Darcy is working really hard on my new blog for the switchover. I can't wait to see it and share it with you! Fun stuff!

Keeping Kids Organized :: Our Daily Planner

I am a planner. I love to have my daily planner in front of me each morning so I know exactly what things I need to accomplish in the day. I have found days that I stray from using it, I do not get as many things done. Those are the days when I finally go to bed at night, I wonder what in the world I've done all day.

And recently, I discovered Little Buddy needs that same visual element to keep his day together. I started using our daily planner each school day to keep us both on track for the day. Even though I have well-written lesson plans available to me and follow along with those, they did not include everything we needed to accomplish in a day. Therefore, I made my own quick planner for each day.

Little Buddy certainly enjoys having the flexibility of helping to decide the order of subjects we'll be covering for the day and when we'll have a break, etc. Our one hard and fast rule is that our day begins with Bible and prayer.

I had so many emails asking about the planner, I thought I would share it with you. You can easily create your own using your spreadsheet or word processing software. But if you'd like, you are welcome to utilize ours until you have time to make your own.

Download our Daily Planner.

While the planner has helped us tremendously with Little Buddy being able to know the routine for the day, including our homeschooling work, we also use the planner on weekends.




What favorite planning tool do you share with your child?

On the Grill Winner

Last Thursday was our final On the Grill! We had delicious recipes submitted, all of which could have easily been winners.






The winner is Chris of GOODEness Gracious. Chris' Shrimp Tacos is super simple and delicious. Perfect for summer. Congratulations, Chris and thank you to all who entered On the Grill this summer.

30 Minute Dish :: Honey Ginger Salmon Recipe

There are days when 30 minutes is about all I have available to prepare a healthy meal for my family. I want to make sure to provide them with delicious, nutritious meals even on the evenings when I am pushed for time.

This week, I discovered a dish that fits perfectly into this category - Honey Ginger Salmon.





My husband had just returned from a fishing trip in Alaska with his father, his brothers, and a few friends.

Each of the fishermen brought home 70 pounds of fish - halibut, salmon, and some red snapper. I was beyond excited! I not only love to prepare fish, I love to eat it! Luckily so does Little Buddy. It's a favorite around my house.

This is the 167 pound halibut my husband caught. The day he caught this, another one of the people in his boat caught one weighing 198 pounds. Um, that's a whole lot of fish!

I'm sure I'll be sharing halibut recipes soon, but for this meal - it's all about the salmon baby. My favorite.

Honey Ginger Salmon

Ingredients

Olive Oil

Honey

2 Tbs Soy Sauce

1/4 tsp ground ginger


Step by Step

1. Heat skillet or saute pan to medium heat and lightly coat with olive oil.

2. Place salmon skin side down in skillet.

3. Drizzle with honey until well coated. Mix soy sauce and ginger and pour over salmon. Allow to cook for 5 minutes. Turn gently.

4. Cook another 3-5 minutes depending on thickness of piece of fish.

5. To plate, my family prefers for the skin to be removed. Spoon some of the yummy honey, soy and ginger sauce over each piece of fish before serving. It has a ton of flavor.

This dish is perfect when served with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus or even on a fresh salad. Good, fresh salmon prepared well is really good with anything. Or even by itself.

Oh I'm so glad my husband had good luck on his fishing trip! 

Road Trip :: Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

Have you ever visited somewhere and wondered how many other people had stood in this same spot before you? What were their lives like? What did they think when they saw this amazing place?

When we visited Taos, New Mexico, one of the sites we wanted to see was the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.




As the fifth highest bridge in the United States, this cantilever truss bridge stands 650 feet above the Rio Grande. Built in 1965, the structure was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1997.




We actually visited the gorge twice during our visit to Taos. First right after dinner. We had hoped to be able to reach the bridge by sunset, but we reached it just a bit after. So we decided we'd visit again the next morning before heading to the Pueblos.

When you drive to the bridge from Taos, go over the bridge and turn  into the visitor's center.




This is your view from the walkway to the bridge from the visitor's center.




This is the view from the right side of the bridge at the observation area.




And this is the view from the left side of the bridge.

You can feel the breeze coming from the gorge and hear the rushing of the river down below you. It's an amazing place.

As I stood there in amazement at the beautiful slice of America, I was also in awe of the craftsmen who built such an impressive bridge. The stories they must have lived.