My aunt always makes great quiche it’s always moist and delicious. Mmm. Every time I see a picture my mouth starts to water in a Pavlov’s dog fashion. What can I say? I’m a food lover and this particular dish sends me back to summertime block parties as a kid. My family has a few signature dishes and each of us bring to the table. This is hers. I’m not really sure how this one will compare but I think we’ll be alright. You can’t go wrong with quiche right? Try it! Here.

This is a great recipe for Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast and it looks so yummy. Not only that but it only takes 12 minutes to cook. How great is that? I know at the end of a long day I just do not want to do anything else especially cooking a huge meal. It’s a great meal that is sure to satisfy both your hunger and your end of day laziness. For the recipe click here.

I was looking up different ways to make Pork Tenderloins being that Fresh All American Pork Tenderloins are on sale this week from 2.19-2.25 for $2.99 lb. There are so many different recipes to choose from. It was so hard trying to figure out one to feature. So, here’s the list of all the recipes they give as well as some juicy little tidbits about pork tenderloin. Click here.

This is one of the recipes that caught my eye but there are others that I think you should give a try.

Place flour in cooking bag and shake to coat the interior. Cut tenderloin lengthwise, stopping about 1/2-inch from cutting through. Open the split and flatten the meat out.

Sauté onions, garlic, celery, carrot, and seasonings in butter until tender. Add 1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice; stir to combine. Spread stuffing mixture over split meat. Fold meat back over itself. Tie with kitchen string. Add the tied tenderloin and chicken broth to the prepared cooking bag; close bag with the provided tie. Place the bag in a shallow baking pan. Bake at 350° until meat reaches an internal temperature of 160°, about 1 hour.

Pour broth into a sauce pan and skim off excess fat. Combine cornstarch with a few teaspoons of water and stir to dissolve. Stir into the broth; cook until thickened.
Serves 4 to 6.

For this and other Pork Tenderloin recipes click here.

Spaghetti squash is a delicious vegetable. It’s great as a side dish or as a main course or added ingredient. I found this recipe and it looks so yummy.

Ingredients

• 1 small spaghetti squash, about 2 1/4 pounds
• 2 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 2 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped mixed soft herbs, such as basil, chives, chervil, parsley and sage
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Using a sharp knife, cut the squash in half lengthwise and place, cut side down, in a baking dish. Add enough water to come 1/2-inch up the sides of the baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes, until the squash is easily pierced with a paring knife. Turn squash over and cover with foil again and continue to cook another 15 minutes, until the squash is very tender. Remove from the oven, uncover, and allow to cool slightly. Using a spoon, remove the seeds and discard. Using a fork, gently pull the strands of squash away from the peel and place the squash strands into a mixing bowl.

Heat a skillet. Add the butter, spaghetti squash, herbs, salt and pepper and toss thoroughly but gently to heat and combine. Serve immediately or cover and keep warm until ready to serve.

Thank you to the Food Network for the recipe.

Springtime comes around a few days after St.Patrick’s day which always reminds me of hearty meals and consisting mainly of meat and starches. This seems like the type of meal we crave. One that can really fill us up and thaw out our bones for the new warmer season. And I don’t know about you, but after all this snow, I need something to warm my bones. This dish is a hearty Smoked Ham and Corn Chowder dish which sounds delicious.

Ingredients:

1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh tarragon
3 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
2 cans (16 ounces each) whole potatoes, drained, divided
2 cans (16 ounces each) whole kernel corn, drained, divided
1/2 cup finely diced smoked ham
1/2 cup half-and-half cream
2 cans (4 ounces each) pimentos, drained and diced
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation Time: Approximately 10 minutes

Cook Time: Approximately 20 minutes

Preparation:

Tie the bay leaf, thyme and tarragon in a bundle. Place in a medium saucepan with the broth, onion and carrot. Heat to boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes; remove the herb bundle and discard. Dice enough of potatoes to make 1 cup; set aside. In batches, puree the remaining potatoes, 1 can of corn and broth from the saucepan in a blender. Return to the saucepan. Add the diced potatoes, remaining corn, ham and half-and-half. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the pimentos, parsley and pepper.

Servings: 8

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

Calories 220; Total Fat 4g; Saturated fat 1.5g; Cholesterol 15mg; Sodium 860mg; Carbohydrate 40g; Fiber 6g; Protein 10g

For the original recipe click here.

When I was younger my mother used to make chicken cordon bleu that you couldn’t believe! Mm, it was so good. When I found this recipe it shot me right back but has a new twist that makes it fun and exciting. I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons fig jam
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• Kosher Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 6-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 cup shredded gruyere cheese (about 3 ounces)
• 8 thin slices black forest ham
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 cups baby greens

Directions

Mix the jam, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl. Lay out a long piece of plastic wrap on a cutting board. Place the chicken on the plastic and brush half of the jam mixture evenly on top of each breast. Mound a quarter of the cheese on each piece of chicken, then wrap 2 slices of ham around each breast to cover the cheese. Place another piece of plastic over the chicken and gently pound with a mallet or heavy skillet until about 1/4 inch thick.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn and cook on the other side until cooked through but still moist, 3 to 4 more minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk the shallot, mustard, vinegar and the remaining jam mixture in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil to make a smooth dressing.

Place each piece of chicken on a plate and drizzle with dressing. Toss the greens with the remaining dressing; serve with the chicken.

Per serving: Calories 500; Fat 26 g (Saturated 7 g); Cholesterol 124 mg;

Sodium 486 mg; Carbohydrate 22 g; Fiber 1 g; Protein 46 g

Photograph by Antonis Achilleos

Thank you, Food Network.

Boar’s Head Ovengold Turkey Breast $5.99
February  12th until February 18th.

Winter doesn’t seem to be letting up and neither are the colds. I stumbled upon this today while checking my mail and thought it would be a good thing to share. I’m not quite sure on the taste but judging but the ingredients she put in it could go either way, sweet or sour. It’s basically all the local remedies blended together. Let know how it tastes and if it works!
View the video here.

I am a naturally curious person which can either be seen as a good or bad thing. I tend to ask questions and research things that most people tend to over look. For example, balsamic vinegar. I was cooking with it the other day and was curious to know what made it different from regular vinegar. I know what you’re thinking, “the balsamic makes it different.” But that answer isn’t good enough for me. So, I looked it up and found out exactly why it’s different thus expanding my knowledge. Couldn’t hurt right? Here’s what I found.

Balsamic vinegar was being used since about 900 years ago in Modena, Italy as a tonic. It’s made from grape pressings that were never given the opportunity to ferment into wine, despite being called a wine vinegar. The pressings are boiled down into  a dark syrup, mixed with vinegar and then left to age sometimes as long as 100 years. The types of wooden kegs they’re held in add flavor to the vinegar as it ages.

So it’s a simple explanation; balsamic vinegar has an added syrup to it.

So, I got my answer and a few other fun facts. I hope you found this as interesting as I did.

A special thanks to About.com:Home Cooking!

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a good Valentines Day. Sorry I’m a bit late.
I just found these and thought they were adorable. So for anyone else still in the Valentines Day spirit, these are for you.

For the recipe and other fun Valentines Day ideas click here.

I go to this one place that sells these awesome fruit and yogurt parfaits. They’re so good and they fill me up. So I was thinking that if I just kept some fresh fruit and yogurt on hand I could whip up a healthy meal/snack in seconds. Not to mention if I grab a blender you have some smoothies ready to go.

Stonyfield Yogurt Quarts assorted variety 32 oz. are on sale this week for $2.99
(If you don’t plan to sweeten in be sure to grab one that’s vanilla flavored.)

We have a lot of produce on sale this week so just pick and choose which fruits you like:

Imported XL Green, Black or Red Seedless Grapes $1.99 lb.

Northwest Sweet Bosc or Comice Pears $.99 lb.

California 3 lb. Bag Seedless Mandarins $3.99 ea.

Imported Sweet Blueberries $2.99 lb.

Imported Jumbo Size Cantaloupes $1.99 ea.

To see a full list of our produce sales check out our weekly ad.

Banana Nut Muffins are one of my favorite muffins, but banana nut cupcakes? Now that’s an interesting concept. When I saw the title this instantly caught my interest. The recipe calls for self rising flour which is apparently hard to come by. But rest assured they provide you with a solution which I thought was very thoughtful. “The solution is, don’t buy it. You can make it yourself quite easily if you ever need it, like when you make this recipe! For every cup of cake flour, stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. It’s cheaper to make it yourself as well.”

Pancake Inspired Cupcakes
~makes 24 cupcakes

Maple Cakes

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 11 ounces maple syrup
• 3 1/3cup self-rising cake flour
• 3/4 cup hot water

Topping

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 to 3 bananas, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted and cooled
• maple syrup to drizzle (optional)

Instructions -

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lin cupcake tins with paper liners or spray with non-stick spray.

2. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Beat in maple syrup gradually. Alternate adding flour and hot water, and beat until smooth.

3. Divide into cupcake tins, about 3/4 of the way up for each. Bake for 14 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack (20 minutes if you use non-stick spray instead of liners). Cool completely before adding whipped cream.

4. Don’t assemble cupcakes until ready to serve or bananas will turn brown. To make whipped cream, place heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla in the mixing bowl of your mixer and chill with the whisk attachment for 15 minutes. Beat until stiff peaks.

5. Pipe onto maple cakes. Top with bananas and pecans. Drizzle with more maple syrup if desired.

To visit the blog and get more information check here.

This recipe looks so good and they’re perfect throughout the week when you’re on the go. Just throw a few together in a few containers and you have perfect healthy snacks for when you don’t quite have the time. You may want to leave the granola separate to keep it from getting soggy.

Ingredients
1 loaf fruitcake (about 1 1/4 pounds)
2 cups frozen blueberries, thawed
4 cups plain yogurt
Directions
Make the fruitcake granola: Preheat the oven to 275. Crumble the cake into pea-size pieces with your hands. Chop up any large chunks of fruit or nuts. Scatter the pieces on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown and dry, 35 to 55 minutes, depending on the kind of fruitcake. Cool completely. (Leftover granola will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week.)

Make the parfaits: Warm the blueberries in a small saucepan over medium heat, about 5 minutes. Strain, reserving the berries and juice separately. Return the juice to the pan and boil until reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Cool completely.

Divide the blueberry sauce among 4 tall parfait glasses. Add 1 cup yogurt to each and gently swirl. Top the parfaits with the fruitcake granola and blueberries.

Photograph by Yunhee Kim

For the recipes go to TheFoodNetwork.com