Measuring Cups, Optional

I’m not sure why I was craving Ground Lamb Kabobs, but I took the meat out of the freezer the day and put it in the fridge in anticipation that I was going to use the meat for something delicious. So I decided to make “Lebanese style” ground lamb patties for lunch today.

Unless I’m lying around the house with no plans to leave, I usually put my contacts in first thing in the morning. Well, this week I’m on “Winter Break” so, I wasn’t planning to put my contacts in until I planned the leave the house later this afternoon. (I use the quotes because since the beginning of my winter break I’ve been doing at least four hours of work daily. Some vacation.) Contact-less, I got working on my ground lamb patties. First, I diced the onion. Bad idea. My eyes instantly became sore and started tearing. I didn’t realize that my contacts shielded my eyes from onion-cutting irritation – until today.

Minus the eye irritation, the lamb patties turned out well and my Skinny Garlic Aioli was de-licious!

Lamb Kabob Patties with Skinny Garlic Aioli Recipe

Ingredients

Directions

To make the Skinny Garlic Aioli, mix together 6oz plain fat-free greek yogurt, ¼ cup light mayo and 5 cloves garlic, minced.

Servings: 8-10 patties

 Nutrition Information: Cals 123. Carbs 2g. Fat 9g. Protein 8g. Sodium 34mg. Sugar 1g.

I love candy canes. Who doesn’t? Oh, that’s right my husband doesn’t. But that hasn’t stopped me from buying a box of candy canes for myself. The season for candy canes is pretty much over. I think Christmas marks the end of that season. So I decided to use up the candy canes before it’s too late and add a little chocolate to appeal to the husband.

Chocolate Covered Candy Canes Recipe

Ingredients

Directions

Be careful unwrapping the candy canes – that’s where I broke a good number of them. They’re still delicious – just broken.

There’s a video – probably covered with dust in a closet or a drawer or even a box – at my parents house featuring my sister and I as children (probably around 6 years old) building a gingerbread house. It’s my most vivid home video memory. You can only imagine how proud two little girls were to have built a gingerbread house from what seemed to be “scratch.” I think we did a pretty good job, minus the frosting that found its way to the kitchen floor and all over the table. Let’s not forget us licking the frosting off our fingers in between explaining to the camera (aka future us) what we had accomplished.

This year, in our adult life, we decided to recreate the fun with our two younger brothers (both of which are in high school). It was much more fun when we were youngsters. But the outcome was much less messy. And did I mention that my brother took over the whole project and tried to build it himself? I guess that’s what you get when you get other siblings involved – namely the sibling that’s convinced he’ll be a civil engineer and thinks that building a gingerbread house is a test of his ability to become said engineer.

We’re obviously not very artistic.

The gaping hole is a “garage.”

A couple years ago, when I was finishing up my Master’s at Syracuse University, my mom came to visit and help me move out. There’s something about moms where they can rummage through your fridge and find random ingredients then turn those random ingredients into deliciousness. Somehow, while I was packing up my things, my mom made this crustless quiche. It was amazing.

This morning was a crustless quiche kind of morning. I’m missing a couple ingredients – namely the right kind of cheese – but I was able to improvise and husband was happy. “Delicious” was the exact word he used.

Crustless Broccoli Quiche Recipe 

Ingredients

Directions

 Servings: 4

Nutrition Information: Cals 158. Carbs 8g. Fat 10g. Protein 10g. Sodium 239. Sugar 4g.

Yesterday, I took a much needed day off work – well, half day off since I had a couple calls and some papers in the morning. It made all the difference, nonetheless. I was able to get out to the store a buy a couple new dishes and serveware, oh and a steamer for my Tayta.

This morning, I woke up refreshed and ready to face they day – or more like face the hundreds of dollars I need to cough up for servicing my car – aka overcharging me for opening the cap to the coolant and flushing the system out because somehow in one year my coolant has turned to “sludge.” That’s not going to bring my mood down today. Today, I started my day with a little bit of Sunny-Side Up Egg Sandwich love.

Sunny-Side Up Egg Sandwich Recipe

Ingredients

Directions

Spray your frying pan with olive oil spray, and place the cookie cutter inside. Crack the egg and ease it into the cookie cutter. It might seep a little, but that’s okay.

In the meantime, toast the bread (it’s easier to cut that way).

Use the cookie cutter to cut the bread into heart shapes.

Once the egg is finished, remove carefully with tongs and use a butter knife to ease the egg out.

Serve.

Servings: 1

Nutrition Information: Cals 170. Carbs 21g. Fat 7g. Protein 11g. Sodium 170mg. Sugar 3g.

Mushrooms are a favorite in my house. I love mushrooms, and so does my husband. So when I came across a recipe for these Spanish-style mushroom tapas I was really excited. I honestly was not expecting the response I got from my husband. He said, (and I quote) “These mushrooms are amazing.” I almost couldn’t believe my ears. I wanted to say “What, honey? Can you say that one more time just so I can hear you say it again.”

Spanish-Style Mushrooms Recipe

Ingredients

Directions

Servings: 2

Nutrition Info: Cals 225. Carbs 16g. Fat 12g. Protein 9g. Sodium 18mg. Sugar 7g.