Digging and Cooking

It has been quiet around here.  Friday night Mia and I went on a dates to the fabric store to pick out a pattern to try our hand at a new summer dress. Saturday night John and I went on a date to our favorite restaurant, followed by a quick trip to Lowes until he realized there was a basketball game he was missing and we skipped the movie. In between, we did a lot of relaxing, playing, digging outside, cooking and just general enjoying the tiny bit of warmth creeping in. Not warm, but warm enough to go outside with a jacket or hoodie and a need to take it off after a good bit of raking and digging and preparing spots around the house that have been neglected for entirely too long (eh-hem…since we moved in 2 years ago when I had a new baby that summer and last summer when I just focused on the raised beds…) Everything that already exists in our yard is officially cleared out and ready to go for planting in just a few short weeks.  I’m hoping to get out on Easter morning, but this is all assuming that the we get the new garden boxes done before then.

I also did some cooking that turned out so well that I want to share.  I’ve been trying to work on making new things lately to change things up a bit and to also find some recipes I can stick with and modify based on what we have around.

Spring also has  that way of making me crave greens like crazy, so when I went to market Saturday morning and found not one, but two new family-owned stands with produce grown by them and their children and grown organically it made my day.  I was so excited to chat with them and learn about how they started and look at the great things they had to try.

Other life highlights recently: a stack of free pots for plants, a fifty cent play lawnmower, time to read my current books while sitting in my favorite spot for coffee, keeping birthday decorations up well past birthdays, fairy gardens, mud cupcakes, a sweet boy officially in a bed now.

Life just feels good.

Quiche with a Brown Rice Crust

The thing about a quiche is that the variations are endless. Don’t have half and half around? By all means – use the heavy cream! Or any milk that you always have in the fridge.  Use up veggies that are sitting in the crisper. Try different kinds of cheese.  There are a million ways to make a quiche and it’s one of the reasons I love it so much – it’s a delicious meal all in one dish and you can make it using whatever you have on hand.  I love using the leftover rice because it makes for another use of leftovers and an easy dinner that everyone loves. Throw some fresh greens on the side with a bit of olive oil and vinegar and it’s a perfect meal.

Ingredients:

-2 cups cooked brown rice

-2 cups Shredded cheese, divided into 1/2 cup and 1 1/2 cup portions

-A handful of spinach

-A handful of mushrooms

-1/4 Medium onion sliced

-4 Sliced of bacon, cooked and chopped

-6 Eggs

-3/4 cup Half and half

-good pinch of salt and pepper

 

1.Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Butter or non-stick spray a pie pan, then press in your cooked rice like you would a crust. Press it a good bit to get it to stay in place.

3. Top the rice with 1/2 cup shredded cheese – my theory is that if the rice is dry, the cheese layer helps it to stick together a bit.

4. Top the cheese layer with spinach, mushrooms, onion and bacon.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half and salt and pepper(to your liking). Once they’re mixed, add in the remaining 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese and stir until mixed.

6. Pour the egg and cheese mixture over the crust and vegetables already in the pie pan.

7. Baked for 40-45 minutes making sure that the egg has set and an inserted knife comes out clean.