Bruschetta Chicken, Crustless Quiche and Take-them-a-meal
Good Saturday Evening, Blogosphere.. I’m sorry I’ve slowed down in my blogging, I’ve actually been quite busy.. and not taking the time to write – which is why we’ve been getting 2-3 recipes per blog post recently.
Our church family welcomed a new baby girl this week, so I’ve been arranging meals for the family, taking a couple to them, as well as another family who’ve been struggling with illnesses (not Covid) and just needed some encouragement.
A few years ago, I discovered the website Takethemameal.com – it’s FREE and such a great way to organize meal delivery for individuals or families who are either welcoming a new baby, dealing with loss of a loved one, grief, illness… or whatever the reason may be. Our church has been using it now for a few years, and I’ve been invited as well to join a friend’s schedule when our neighbour was dying from ALS, and we had a meal schedule for the family for a few months. If you haven’t used it or heard of it.. please check it out: takethemameal.com
Once you sign up to “take a meal” – the schedule will send you a personal reminder a day before with something to the effect of: “Hey Amy, you are signed up to take a meal to the Smiths tomorrow, and you’re bringing meatloaf, rice pilaf and a salad” The ladies that started this website are genius.
I’m hoping to set up a small schedule of a couple meals a month (or more!) for 3 widowers in our church during Covid-19. Two of these men are in their 90’s and were reliant on meal delivery services for a couple meals a week that are no longer coming. I’m hoping to get a few more people on board to bless these men with some encouragement and a few good healthy square meals.
I brought “lunch” instead of dinner to my 2 young families this week, because it was easier for me at the time.. and I was inspired. A quiche, salad & a loaf of fresh hot baked bread. Today’s quiche looked quite good. I will try to lay out my “recipe” though quite honestly.. it changes every time, and there is no measuring at all. More just a couple squirts, a drop or two, a few shakes… but I’m guessing the below is pretty close.
Amy’s Crustless Quiche
Preheat oven to 350
Whisk in one bowl:
9 eggs (whisk first)
~ 1 tbsp French’s yellow mustard
~ 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
~ 2 tbsp 10% cream
Clubhouse Greek seasoning
(set bowl aside)
Spray a 9″ round pie plate with baking spray.
scrub/wash & dry 2 potatoes (or one large)
poke potatoes all over with a fork, and microwave for 3 min, turn and micro another 2 min if needed – done when potatoes are soft to the touch on exterior. Take out and slice to about 1/4″ thick, and line bottom of pie plate.
The quiche pictured above had cubed ham, then half a red pepper, about 6 asparagus spears, and 3 green onions (with white parts) all chopped and layered on top the ham, with about half a cup of Tex Mex cheese, then the egg mixture, grape tomatoes and Arugula on top.
…. but you CAN layer on top of the potatoes any combo of the following (or come up with your own fun combos!) : cubed ham, cut up small broccoli, chopped red pepper, asparagus, baby spinach, cooked sausage, (i remove from skin and cook like burger, and drain fat).. (if using mushrooms, onions, or zucchini.. you’ll need to panfry these first, then drain so most of the liquid is gone, otherwise quiche will not set) sprinkle grated cheese on top of meat/veg.
Pour egg mixture over everything. Decorate the top with arugula or baby spinach and halved grape tomatoes.
Bake for ~ 50-55 minutes. Take out and let sit for at least 10 minutes to finish setting.
I made “Chicken Coup” salad with my fresh garden kale, baked a loaf of our Multigrain bread and delivered hot.
While I’m pretty confident now in my cooking at home for the 2 of us, I do get nervous cooking for guests and bringing meals to people. Quiche, cheesy shepherd’s pie and “Salad Bar in a box” are my go to’s for taking a meal, but if I’m bringing to the same person more than once.. I need to up my game, and learn some more meals that aren’t all casseroles. Same goes with meals at home for guests.. I want to be prepared as well for quick easy meals using ingredients in the house if we have surprise guests. So part of this time during Covid-19, I want to beef up my arsenal of “tried and true”, recipes I know will work for families with young kids, those with more refined tastes, those with health/food restrictions, or the healthy eaters.. in other words.. being a well rounded cook.
Tonite’s meal would fall under “families”, no allergy restrictions, made in 35 min including prep, and a possible crowd pleaser. This recipe for “BRUSHETTA CHICKEN BAKE”came out of a Kraft What’s Cooking magazine years ago, with “Amy alterations”. Stove Top Turkey Stuffing Mix was on sale last time I did a grocery run for .79 cents a box, so I picked up a couple with this recipe in mind. It’s SUPER simple.
Combine 1 can of stewed tomatoes with box of stuffing mix & 2 cloves of minced garlic, set aside. (note, only stewed tomatoes i had in the house were chili seasoned which I thought might be interesting)
Cube 4 (thawed) chicken breasts, and lay in a sprayed 9×13 baking dish
top chicken with dried (or fresh if you have it!) basil (I had NEITHER, so I substituted oregano) and 1 cup of shredded Moz cheese (I use Kirkland Tex Mex), then top with the stuffing/tomato/garlic mix.
bake in 400F oven for 30 min. When there was 10 min left, I put a small pan of fresh broccoli florets in the oven, tossed with a bit of Avocado oil, parm cheese, fresh cracked pepper and greek seasoning.
I’m curious what it would have tasted like had I actually followed the recipe to a T, (using Stove Top for chicken, plain stewed tomatoes, basil, only Mozz cheese..) But this combo was really delicious. Not your healthiest meal with breading & cheese.. but definitely super simple and yummy.
We finished our Springbok 1000 pc puzzle “Spring Wedding” so I put out a feeler on Facebook to see if there were any friends wanting to exchange puzzles.. i had quite a bit of responses, and see friends of mine from different areas of life who don’t know each other who are exchanging.. it’s quite fun! Our next puzzle will be this gorgeous one of Positano, Italy that I picked up from a dear elementary school friend. I can’t wait to get it started!
so.. what are you doing to pass the time during “self Isolation?” My hope is that we’re coming to a good balance of serving, working, blessing/helping others, getting things done on our “to do” lists, exercising, rest, fun, reading, visiting (safely) and a bit of Netflix bingeing of course. 😉