crust less tomato and spinach quiche

this magical egg dish can be a breakfast, lunch, or dinner. once you master the recipe you can mix up the fillings to include anything from mushrooms to rutabaga. whatever strikes your fancy. for this version, you need:
6 eggs
One cup skim milk
6 cocktail tomatoes
2 handfuls spinach
Choice of herbs
½ cup shredded cheese

Crack 6 eggs into a bowl and whisk together with 1 cup milk and a dash of your choice of herb. Chop tomatoes into bite sized chunks and rip up the spinach into similar sized chunks. Spray a pie pan with nonstick spray. Line the pie pan with the chopped tomatoes and spinach. Pour whisked eggs over tomatoes and spinach filling. Sprinkle the cheese over the top. Bake at 375’ for 30 – 40 mins.

Kale Tomato Soup

-2 bunches kale

- 1 bunch collards

- 1 small fennel

- 28 oz can of peeled tomatoes

- 14.5 oz can of petite diced tomatoes

1 big box vegetable stock

Empty cans of tomatoes into a big soup pot. Put on a low heat. First, rinse off the collards and rip them up into lettuce sized bites. Throw them in the pot. Then rinse off the kale and rip it up as well. Add a little bit of heat to the pot (my stove is on a 1-7 scale, 7 being high, put it at about a 4) then chop up the fennel into little chunks, reminiscent of cubed cheese. Add them to the pot and pump up the heat. The collards and kale will cook down a bit. When they cook down, add the spices you are feeling to the pot ( I did paprika, cayenne and black pepper) but whatever you want works. It takes about 15 mins or so for the kale to cook down. Then put in a bowl, grab a big spoon, and try not to burn your mouth!

Thanksgiving Hangover pt 2

so after thanksgiving i always seem to end up with one cup left of pumpkin. not a full can, not an empty can, but half of a can. i hate waisting food so here is what to do with that cup of pumpkin.
for these VEGAN PUMPKIN OATMEAL COOKIES you need

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/3 quick cook oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 dash pumpkin pie spice
1 2/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup oil
2 tablespoon molasses
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup raisins
1 cup shredded coconut

preheat over to 35o degrees. in a bowl stir together the flour, oats, baking soda, salt and spices. put that bowl aside. in a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, oil, molasses, pumpkin, and vanilla. add the flour mixture to the wet mixture. then add the raisins and coconut. scoop tablespoons of dough onto a greased cookie sheet. using your palm, push down each ball of dough, flattening the cookies. bake for 17 minutes and enjoy!

Thanksgiving Leftovers, pt 1

so today i was making pies and pumpkin whoopie pies, and ended up with some extra crust, pie filling and cream cheese frosting. what to do, what to do, with all these leftovers. this is what to do:
- for extra pie crust and pie filling, make bite size pies! fill mini muffin pan cups with leftover pieces of crust dough. scoop in a bit of pie filling. bake with the big pies, but take out earlier. these mini pies are delicious and make a good pre-thanksgiving snack
- for just extra pie crust, make shortbread cookies! line the crust in a toaster oven pan. sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. bake at 350 until the edges are golden brown. then enjoy.
- for extra cream cheese frosting, add some flair to thanksgiving morning breakfast. spread on waffles or pancakes instead of the usual whipped cream.
gobble gobble

Pumpkin Cookies.

these are absolutely delish. light, fluffy, and pumpkiny. a perfect way to celebrate Halloween/fall/pumpkin patches. you need:

2.666 sticks butter. (2 sticks, and then 2/3 of a stick. mixing it up today by using decimals)

2 cups light brown sugar

1 cup dark brown sugar

4 eggs

1 normal sized can of pumpkin (if you are unsure what that is, go into the can isle and look at all the cans. you want a can of pumpkin that size)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup golden raisins

cream room temp butter and the brown sugars. add the eggs, pumpkin, vanilla and mix. in a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. slowly add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture. then stir in the walnuts and raisins. bake at 375' for 15 mins. enjoy!

Green tea, calm in a cup.

I'm currently over my head in college apps, AP classes, tests, quizzes, memorizing lines for the play, reading novels, debating, solving world hunger and saving the world. all these activities can lead to late night stress. however, i have found a way to calm that stress away that is not sticking my face into a gallon of ice cream. green tea, even the name brings calmness. it is filled with antioxidants and other big words that are good for you. i once read somewhere it can help you loose weight, and that five cups daily seems to be the magic number for weight loss. so next time you re up late studying, a cup of green tea with caffeine will awaken you and your soul. or if your winding down from a long and stressful day, a cup of decaf will bring peace to your mind and heart. my favorite brand of green tea is The Republic of Tea, but any type will do. find a brand that you particularly like, and start drinking it daily. simply heat water till it is almost boiling. then pour over the teabag into the mug. in minutes you will feel much better. i promise.

Pumpkin Spice

its fall. the leaves are changing. the air is cooler. the pumpkins are growing. and because the pumpkins are growing we all get to enjoy something magical, the pumpkin spice latte. i have been to many coffee shops and tried many varieties of pumpkin spice, and i have discovered Starbucks hands down does the best job applying the spice of a pumpkin to the greatness of a latte. this warm latte tantalizes the taste buds with feelings of fall. it smells like a freshly baked pumpkin pie and warms up your soul. even if you are still stuck in iced coffee mode and refuse to have a hot drink just yet, an iced pumpkin spice latte gives all the benefits of fall, with all the weather of summer. either way its delicious and pumpkin spice latte season is one to be celebrated and enjoyed.