I'd Rather Watch Football By Myself

This is my first entry in Project Tasteless and while I probably shouldn't change the spirit of the challenge, I have no interest in infiltrating a man cave right now. I love cooking and watching football and have thrown some pretty awesome Super Bowl parties. To me, the key to party food is a mix of healthy and unhealthy. I usually buy the unhealthy (pizza rolls) and make healthier food. This spinach dip definitely falls in the healthy category since it's nearly all spinach, but it's so delicious you may decide to eat it all while you watch the game (or whatever else) by yourself.

Spinach Dip and Pita Chips

1 12 oz bag of frozen chopped spinach, thawed (a 10 oz box could be substituted)
1 can quarter artichoke hearts in water, chopped
1 jar roasted red peppers packed in water, diced
1/4 cup reduced fat Caesar salad dressing
1/2 cup Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano cheese blend, plus extra for topping

1 package pita pockets halves, opened and cut into triangles

Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat and add spinach. Stir and cook until spinach is dry. Add the artichoke hearts and roasted red pepper, stirring until well mixed. Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat oven to 400°. Place cut pitas onto baking stones or cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, switching racks half-way through baking. Pitas should be crisp when removed from oven. Cool.

While pitas are baking, add Caesar dressing and cheese to spinach mixture. Stir until evenly distributed. It will hold together slightly, but not look like a typical dip. Place spinach dip in 8 or 9 inch square pan. Sprinkle with extra cheese until top is mostly covered. Keep warm in oven until ready to serve.

Since the only football on this past weekend was the Pro Bowl, I took this to bunco Friday night and received many compliments. The little that was left became part of my dinner Saturday. Hope you enjoy.

Frittata to the Rescue

When the question is what's for dinner, the answer can always be a frittata. According to Wikipedia (I love this site), a "frittata is an egg-based dish similar to an omelette or quiche." I call it a quiche without crust and it's so easy to make. You probably already have all the ingredients. The first ingredient is eggs. The other ingredients are whatever you want to eat in your eggs.

The other night I made spinach and artichoke frittata, but I have also made sausage and potato, ham and asparagus, and turkey and broccoli. The possibilities are pretty much endless. Here's the generic way to put it together.

1. Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in a large oven-proof skillet over med high heat.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Cook fillings in oil until heated through. If using raw meat, cook until done. If you want to add any seasonings, add them to the filling. Spread filling out evenly in pan.

4. Beat 8 eggs or 4 eggs and 1 cup egg substitute. Pour over filling. Mix filling and eggs to ensure even distribution.

5. Place in oven and cook for 10 minutes. Sprinkle the top with shredded cheese and cook another 5-7 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

6. Let cool for a few minutes. Slice into 8 pieces and serve.

I usually eat 1 slice for dinner and 2 slices for lunch. Toby usually eats 1 or 2 slices depending on the filling (2 for veggie filling, 1 for meat). It goes well with rolls and fruit, but you could just eat it by itself. The leftovers are great too.

Waffles with Blueberry Compote

As I mentioned yesterday, we had waffles with blueberry compote last night for dinner. I love breakfast for dinner because I usually don't have enough time to make a fancy breakfast in the morning. Not that this is all that fancy, but it sounds fancy. When Toby told me he wanted to swim on our anniversary, I decided I should plan an easy, quick meal for after he got home. I wanted it to be easy because sometimes I take on a bit much for special occasions and things turn out less than stellar.

The waffles were from my mom's waffle mix. Yes, my mom has a blog. Isn't she awesome? She loves to bake and I encouraged her to start a blog so I could have her recipes and memories of different dishes. She should be putting up a bunch more recipes soon, since she entered a lot of stuff in the Kentucky State Fair.

I decided on blueberry compote because one of Toby's co-workers grows blueberries and offered him a 5 pound box. We ate some straight out of the box (delicious), baked with some (a cake to be discussed more later), froze about a half gallon, gave some to my mom, and still had 2 cups left. I went to my favorite site for recipes, Food Network, and searched for blueberry compote. In case you don't know, compote is basically fruit syrup with chucks of fruit in it. The first recipe was from Ellie Krieger, their "healthy chef" and had a 5 star rating. After making it, I have to agree. I mostly followed the recipe, however I used fresh blueberries, added 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch to make it a little thicker, and only cooked it for about 10 minutes total. I usually don't follow recipes exactly, but will always give you a source unless the recipe is completely mine. The compote was fantastic on the waffles and I look forward to finishing it tomorrow for breakfast.

Blueberry Compote, recipe by Ellie Krieger

2 cups blueberries
3 tablespoons water
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Combine 1 cup blueberries and all other ingredients in sauce pan. Cook over medium heat about 10 minutes. Add remaining blueberries and cook for 8 minutes longer, stirring frequently. Serve warm.