Friday, June 1, 2012

Vegetable Quiche

One of my really good friends grew up in Paris, France. Thus, she has lots of wonderful French recipes and shared them with me. I changed her version of quiche to make it even lower in fat and I think it still tastes equally good! This week I made a vegetarian quiche. It tasted wonderful! Quiche is typically made with cream or half and half but I used skim milk and I still think it turned out great. Try out this simple vegetable quiche and put your comments below! Any of your favorite vegetables can be substituted!


Ingredients:
-3-4 asparagus spears, chopped
-1-2 tomatoes, diced
-5-6 button mushrooms, chopped
-1/2 onion, diced
-1 garlic glove, chopped

-olive oil, one drizzle
-3 large eggs
-1/2 cup skim milk
-2 Tbsp non fat Feta cheese, crumbled
-Salt/pepper to taste
-Pepper to taste
-One frozen pie crust previously thawed in the fridge (deep dish works better)
-Optional: any herb that you would like to add such as parsley, coriander, basil


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. In a pan, drizzle olive oil.  Add onion and garlic and stir fry for three minutes on medium low heat.  

3. Add mushrooms, asparagus and tomato. Stir fry until cooked.  Set aside. Let the mixture cool.
4. Place pie crust (which still is contained in pan foil) on a cookie sheet to ease transfer to the oven.  Place the cookie sheet with crust on lower rack of oven and bake for five minutes.Remove from oven.
5. In a bowl, beat the eggs, add salt and pepper.  Then, add cooled mixture and feta cheese.  Add optional herb(s).  Pour milk onto mixture and mix together.
6. Pour mixture into slightly baked pie crust.
7. Put uncooked quiche 
in oven for 25 minutes at 375 F on the middle rack. 
**Note: Oven temperatures/times vary- keep an eye on the quiche, especially during the last five minutes.  The mixture should be solid once cooked (you can give a little shake).

Bon Apetit!

Friday, March 2, 2012

Green Tea Oreos ?!?!

First, I want to apologize to my readers for not updating my blog the last couple of months. It's been a busy time! My husband and I traveled to China and India for the holiday season and met interesting people, tasted great food, and saw wonderful sights. I plan to post pictures at some point.

While in China, I kept hearing about Green Tea Oreos. At every rest stop, I stopped into the local store hoping for a glimpse of these infamous Oreos. Finally, on my last day in China, I found a small box! Although pricey for a small box, it was worth the taste. The actual flavor of the Oreo is green tea mint ice cream. What a treat! My husband and I each tried one, and it tasted very similar to a regular Oreo, except there was a minty twist and a slight green tea flavor. And yes, the filling was green.


 The store also had numerous other flavors: original (of course), mix of raspberry and melon, and other fruit flavors. Perhaps the next time we visit China, we will try a different flavor! In the meantime, I think I'll stick to the regular Oreos...I think they are still my favorite!

Green Tea Oreos on the Dazzling Star Meter:




Friday, January 27, 2012

India

My husband and I took a week long vacation to India. I thought I would share some of our photos. Enjoy!

Lotus Temple in Delhi

Rickshaw- a cheap mode of transportation
Elephants....in the street!


Mmm...spices!

Taj Mahal- it looked surreal, even in person!


Our friend 

Monday, November 14, 2011

I did it!

Alas, I have completed my training and ran my required 8 miles. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. My sister and I managed to finish the half marathon and place in the top 15 women only teams (out of 171 teams!). We were in the top 50 overall. So we were pretty happy with ourselves and we aim to be in the top 5 women only teams next year!

Apparently practice does help! I started running 3 miles 5-6 days a week and started doing longer runs as the race got closer. It took a long time for me to build up this endurance....hopefully I'll be able to keep it up! 

Monday, October 24, 2011

Food Reviews: Applesauce

This past Saturday, I ran 6 miles! My first time ever! In honor of this momentous occasion, I treated myself to homemade cookies, and I am providing a new food review!

GoGo Squeez


Ever had applesauce without a spoon? It was always a nice thought, but difficult to do. A friend introduced me to this product.  Since it was on sale at my local store, I purchased a pack to try myself. These fun green pouches allow you to squeeze applesauce into your mouth without ever using a spoon or needing a napkin! It is all natural, where the only ingredients are apples and apple juice. No added sugars is definitely a benefit and I think it tastes great and is super sweet. As an added bonus, one whole pouch is only 60 calories. What an easy way to get a fruit serving. Try the other flavors and let me know what you think!



Dazzling Star Meter:



Saturday, October 15, 2011

Maine

I spent Labor Day weekend in Boston visiting close friends and we took a day trip to Maine- my first time! The weather was beautiful, very scenic, and the seafood was outstanding. Who knew that a lobster roll could taste so good? Here are some of our many pictures- take some time and enjoy Maine for yourself! And remember....everything in moderation....

Beautiful Maine

Taking a stroll along the shore

Fish and Chips- The best we've had!

Lobster Roll!!

View of the coast from our restaurant


The seafood in Maine on the Dazzling Star Meter:









Friday, October 7, 2011

Training for a Half Marathon....sort of

Temperatures have finally cooled down outside, encouraging me to start exercising outdoors again. While my job offers a free gym membership onsite, I have failed to take full advantage of all of its features. Instead, I joined a free weekly running club. Who wouldn't want to be rewarded for exercising?

Each Tuesday, my husband, some friends, and I run one lap (3 miles) around the park. We log it into the system, and after 10 weekly runs, we receive a free workout shirt. In addition, the sponsor offers a free meal and drinks afterwards (while supplies last). While I haven't taken advantage of the free food, I just hit 10 runs this past Tuesday meaning I have run at least 3 miles every week for the last 10 weeks! It felt great and I can't wait to reach 20 runs, when I receive half off a much needed massage. 

My husband is an avid runner and will actually be running his 7th marathon this weekend in Chicago. While I was never as motivated to run such long distances, I was finally convinced to run a half marathon...actually, it's a 2 person relay. My sister and I will be splitting the half marathon distance in November, with the first person running 8 miles, while the second runs 5. The trick is to figure out who will run first. 

In the meantime, I have been running on a semi-daily basis. Worried that I may hurt myself, I researched information on proper workouts and came across this article in Runner's World. According to the author, 3 red flags or more may indicate a need to take a break. Looking at my own routine, my soreness and pain is still evident but has drastically been reduced since I started stretching before and after every run. My energy level is frequently down when I start running, but I figure it is because I'm not really in the mood. I also haven't been sleeping well- while I still feel rested, I do wake up in the middle of the night. While I don't think I fit every red flag, I do feel it is time for a break. Stay tuned as I work myself up to 8 miles.....

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