Peas & Rice

I found this recipe on One Perfect Bite, but of course I adjusted it to what was in my pantry.  Honestly looking over the recipe again, I didn't follow it at all.  Hm, next time I should really read it more carefully as it says it's a light soup!  I didn't make it as such... We actually ate this as our main course topped with a bunch of cheese. The original asks for arborio rice.  I found that type at Target for $7.99 but didn't buy it.  I actually used Minute rice because of time restraints, but that is definitely not recommended for this recipe since it's actually a soup and the rice shouldn't absorb the water completely.

3 T butter
1 yellow onion, chopped (sautee in butter)
3 pounds fresh peas (3 cups shelled) {frozen peas may be substituted}
pinch of salt
1 cup Chicken Stock
2 cups water
1 cup arborio rice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Grated parmigiano-reggiano 

Melt butter in a medium saucepan and sautee onion (for about 5 minutes.)  Add peas and salt, cook for about two minutes.  Pour in the chicken stock and water, bring to a boil.  Once boiling, add the rice and parsley.  Cook over medium-low heat, covered, until rice is al dente and the peas are very soft, about 20 minutes.  Stir occasionally. Serve immediately before the rice absorbs the liquid. Top with parmigiano-reggiano.  Yields 4-6 servings

My rice dish as rice and peas, not as a rice and pea soup-- oops!!

Edamame Mac & Cheese

My favorite show at the moment is America's Next Great Restaurant.  One of the contestants made a side dish of pasta with edamame, instead of peas.  I've made macaroni and cheese with peas and other vegetables and thought substituting peas with edamame was a great idea.  Julia loves edamame, cheese and pasta, so I knew it would be a winning lunch for us.

6-8 oz whole wheat pasta shells
milk to taste
shredded cheese to taste
1 cup edamame (soy beans)
salt and pepper

Boil pasta on the stove, drain.  Pour pasta back into the saucepan and add a little milk, stirring constantly over low heat.  Add shredded cheese and stir until melted.  Stir in edamame and other spices/herbs.

Easter Brownies

For two days I over thought what dessert to make for Easter.  I was thinking something with strawberries.  There were too many choices to choose from, so I started from a blank slate for another idea.  I imagined brownies with cream cheese frosting and crushed Robin Eggs on top.  The result wasn't what I imagined (pretty sweet and the brownies a little chewy) but they were a hit and pretty festive, too.

A shortcut was made by using a brownie mix.  I made cream cheese frosting* with
1 package low-fat cream cheese
2 T butter
1 tsp vanilla (I used 1/2 tsp)
3 cups powder sugar
{Stir until desired consistency}
and, of course, topped the frosting with crushed Robin Egg candy.

brownies

cream cheese frosting

Robin Egg candy

Easter Brownies

*from Merrill, Jane P. and Karen M. Sunderland.  Set for Life.  Salt Lake City, UT: Sunrise, 1995, pg 251.

Mini Canadian Bacon Quiche

This would be perfect to serve as an appetizer for a luncheon or for a brunch.  The Canadian bacon sweetens the egg immensely.  They are delicious, but the end result ruined my muffin pan.  If you try to make these, over grease the pan!  The Canadian bacon didn't form the little cup that I had imagined.  Many of these stuck up so the egg mixture cooked underneath the bacon.  A solution could be cutting the bacon into a circle, but then the sides curving up around the egg would be missing.  Needless to say, I think this will be a one-hit wonder as we needed to throw away our muffin pan (as much as my environmentally-conscious self hated that fact.)

12 slices Canadian bacon
4 eggs
1-2 T milk
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Parsley
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
5 sprigs of asparagus
shredded cheese
(These measurements are all to taste as I just eye-balled it)

Liberally grease the muffin pan.  Mold the Canadian bacon in each muffin tin to serve as, ideally, the crust.  Whisk together eggs, milk, mustard, seasonings and cheese.  Lightly stir in chopped asparagus.  Pour in the muffin tins, over the bacon.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Toddler-friendly round crayons

Okay, this isn't an edible recipe, but they were still made in Becky's Kitchen.  I've been wanting to make these for Julia for a couple of months now.  I specifically bought a box of crayons, on sale for 25 cents, just for this.  I also used the other "fat" crayons that were laying around.  I cut the wrappers off lightly with a sharp knife and went to town filling up the muffin tins.  I've read two blogs who have featured this.  The first suggests to fill them half-way.  Mine were on the shallow side, so I wonder if I should have used even more.  I baked them at 250 degrees for 10 minutes, but the Frugal Family Fun Blog suggests 275 degrees.  The second blog suggests that during the summer you can leave the tins in the car to melt during the day.  After they have been melted in the oven, let them cool and place them in the fridge for about a half hour.  When they're completely cooled, they pop right out!  We gave the multi-colored ones to our friends at the playground, who “Oohed and Ahhed” over the colors!

Unwrap the crayons

Fill half-way

These are already cooled!

The big reveal!