.buffalo chicken eggrolls.

what do you do when you have leftover blue cheese from a cheese platter? make buffalo chicken eggrolls of course! these bundles of flavor are amazing. 

 preheat your oven to 400 degrees. simply lay out an eggroll wrapper and say goodbye to all the traditional fillings. let's go rogue! dish out a bit of cole slaw mix towards the nearest corner. 

 next you're going to add your buffalo-sauced chicken. there are many ways for you to get your chicken into eggroll sized pieces. pull from a rotisserie, pull from a breast, etc...i drenched mine in buffalo wing sauce. let me take an aside here. i keep saying "mine" when i should be saying my eye guy's. i don't eat chicken, you see, and really just microwaved a vegetarian chicken patty and used the same process for "mine," but anyway...back to these scrumptious eggrolls. 

 the final, and most delicious step for the filling, is to crumble some blue cheese into the wrapper. blue cheese has such a rich and unique flavor that pairs wonderfully with buffalo sauce. 

wrap all the ingredients up tightly like a middle school slumber party sleeping bag. seal with a little water using rolling instructions from the wrapper packaging.

spray a cookie sheet with extra virgin olive oil spray and place eggrolls on the pan.  spray all of them with the same spray. bake for about 10 minutes, until your buffalo chicken rolls are toasty and golden on the outside. 

ok, now we come to the first bite portion of the program. go for it. these are t-a-s-t-y! the blue cheese melts and makes this nice paste for the crunch of the cole slaw and the flavor of the buffalo chicken, all inside a crisp wrapper. enjoy!

buffalo chicken eggrolls

what you need

eggroll wrappers

chicken (in whatever form you prefer for shredding)

buffalo wing sauce

cole slaw mix

blue cheese

evoo spray

what you do

preheat your oven to 400. 

stuff your eggroll wrapper with a dollop of cole slaw mix, a plop of buffalo sauced shreds of chicken and a smidgeon of blue cheese. roll each one up nicely and neatly. 

spray a cookie sheet with extra virgin olive oil and then spray the tops of all your buffalo chicken eggrolls with the same thing.

bake for about 10 minutes, until outwardly crispy.

enjoy!

.crustless veggie quiche.

this is my very first quiche. and like many firsts, there's a healthy mixture of nerves and excitement. will it be a disgusting, thick omelette worthy of a fast food drive-through? will it be so fabulous that martha stewart would cry tears of bliss upon first bite? well, folks, i've tasted this quiche and i have to say that it is pretty darn good. i can guarantee that meat lovers wouldn't even miss the meat in this savory, satisfying dish. let me show you how to make one of your very own.

roast a couple diced cloves of garlic. can't you just smell it already? either slice up two small or one large of each squash and zuchhini into slender rounds. dice up an orange bell pepper. if you have a preference for yellow, red or green bell peppers, that would work too. aren't the vibrant colors of these three together pretty though?

over medium-high heat, with a little olive oil, saute your veggies with the garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper. now pinch yourself to prove you are awake and not dreaming that this recipe really is this easy. after about 7-10 minutes, your veggies should be tender and you can set them aside in a bowl to rest while you prepare your egg mixture.
go ahead and preheat your oven to 350.

whisk together your eggs, egg whites, milk and the remains of your salt and pepper. whisk thoroughly until your forearm begs you to stop.

line a sprayed pie plate with your cooked veggies. alone, this looks like a delicious side dish, but keep going. you'll be glad you did. 

top with shredded cheese. i was a little heavy handed with mine because i'm a bit of a cheese nut.

pour your egg mixture on top; then place the dish in your preheated oven. this is the most challenging part of the entire recipe- waiting. tick tock. tick tock.

after about forty-five minutes, make sure your quiche is firm and not jiggly. after you do your firmness check, it is ready to cool for about ten minutes before slicing.  my eye guy and i had this tasty dish for dinner and it was filling, satisfying and just plain delicious! i hope you'll try making it for yourself.

crustless veggie quiche

adapted from sally's baking addiction

what you need

2 small yellow squash, sliced

2 small zucchini, sliced

1 large orange bell pepper

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves roasted garlic

3 large eggs

3 large egg whites

3/4 cup milk

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

2/3-1 cup shredded cheese

2 tbs grated parmesan cheese

what you do

after slicing your squash and zucchini and chopping your bell pepper, saute in a skillet with olive oil over medium-high heat.  add the roasted garlic and a pinch of your salt and pepper. stirring often, cook until veggies are tender. (7-10 minutes) set veggies aside in a bowl to cool.

preheat oven to 350. spray 9 inch pie plate with nonstick spray and set aside.

in a large bowl, whisk the eggs, egg whites, milk, and the rest of your salt and pepper. arrange your veggies in your pie plate. top with shredded cheese and then pour your whisked egg mixture on top.  then, sprinkle with parmesan cheese. 

bake your crustless quiche for 45 or until it is set and no longer jiggles.  allow the quiche to cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.  enjoy!

.blueberry banana bread.

it would only be fair to let you know that i'm distracted as i write this. the andy griffith show is on and i'm a sucker for manners and kindness. speaking of kindess, laura brought be a few overly ripe bananas thinking i may be able to use them to make a banana bread. well, just as deputy fife's lines are spot-on, so is this twist on traditional banana bread. 

if you want to make blueberry banana bread too, follow this script. whisk together the dry ingredients and then mix together your wet ones and sugars in a separate bowl. 

 ever had one of these brown bananas on your countertop before? this browning happens a little too often on my countertops. they make for the best ingredient in banana bread, luckily. 

stir your dry ingredients into your wet ones until they are immersed as one. one bread...one love. 

fold in as many blueberries as your heart desires. one to two cups is probably reasonable, but i may be a little more unreasonable next time. i really love blueberries.

i'm sure a loaf pan or muffin pan would do just fine, but i was feeling bundty and decided to use my bundt pan. 

my blueberry banana bread turned out pretty tasty and was easy to throw together. as simple and delightful as a sunny day in mayberry.

blueberry banana bread
what you need
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large ripe bananas, smashed
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1- 2 cups blueberries

what you do
whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  in a separate bowl, mix your sugars, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla. then, stir in the smashed bananas. 
preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
stir your dry ingredients into the wet ones and make sure they are completely immersed. 
fold in, rather gently, your desired amount of blueberries. voila. 
bake for 35 minutes and check your bread with a toothpick. if it isn't ready, continue to add a few minutes on at a time. i have a phobia about overcooking baked goods and drying them out. join my phobia.
enjoy the bread!