Quiche

It's been a tough week for me. I've been feeling rather emotional, crying over everything. This did not happen to me during my first pregnancy but hey, lots of things have been different this time around. I cry when I miss people, I cry when I watch something full of emotion, and I almost started to cry last night when I learned about how amazingly strong the uterus is and how amazing a woman's body really is. Yikes!! So I thought that it would be a good time to try new recipes and poor myself into that. Yesterday I made two batches of homemade granola bars, which both turned out amazing. I took them to the childbirth preparation class that we are attending and we came back with empty plates. (We were a little sad about not having any for ourselves but PAtrick made me promise to make more.) I didn't take pictures of them so I will make some more later this week and post it with pictures. Last night I also made a new pasta dish, that was not a huge hit with me. Tonight I decided to make a quiche. I haven't made too many quiches but I know I can make anything that I want to when I want to and have the time to. I started this morning by making the dough for the crust and then putting it in the fridge to chill. Later this afternoon I took it out, rolled it out, and then baked it. Then this evening I made the filling and baked it. This quiche recipe was from www.cookinglight.com. I like their recipes because I can always count on it to be on the healthy side. (Even though quiche is quiche and will be high in cholesterol and add cheese to that and you get more cholesterol.) I figure for a once in a while meal it will be fine. I changed it a little by making the crust with whole wheat flour and then adding asparagus to the top of the quiche due to a request from my 4 year old. The quiche came out great and then some. We all ate our slices and a couple of us had seconds. Can't wait for breakfast tomorrow to have some more! :) I am going to give you my adapted version.

Spinach, Green Onion, and Gouda Quiche topped with Asparagus

Crust:

6 tbsp butter, softened

3 tbsp 1 % low-fat milk

1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg yolk

3/4 cups unbleached flour

3/4 cups whole wheat flour

Filling:

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 thinly sliced green onions

3 cups baby spinach

1 cup 1 % low-fat milk

3/4 cups Gouda cheese

3/4 tsp salt

dash of nutmeg

3 large eggs

Crust:

Place butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until soft and fluffy. In a small bowl combine milk, salt and egg yolk, stir with a whisk. Add milk mixture to butter a little at a time and blend until well blended. Add flour, beat until just combined. Press dough into a 4 inch circle on plastic wrap; cover and let chill for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350

Unwrap dough and on a floured surface roll out to a ten inch circle. Fit the dough down into a 9 inch pie pan. Freeze for 15 minutes. Bake for 25 minutes until browned slightly and fluffy. (Mine did have a few air bubbles in it but that's okay.) Let cool.

Filling

Over medium high heat add olive oil and green onions and saute until tender. Add spinach and saute until just wilted.

Combine milk and the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, stir with a whisk. Stir in spinach mixture. Pour filling into crust.

Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes. (Mine took a little longer to set.) I like to let it get a little brown on the top too. Let sit for 5 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

Enjoy!

This was easy even though I had to make my own crust. I like to do things from scratch whenever possible to avoid having preservatives in our food. I like to make sure I know everything that goes into our food. That being said, you could always buy a store bought crust and just make the filling. The filling couldn't be easier to make and then who doesn't like to sit back and relax, or wash dishes (sarcasm), while the dish is in the oven?

Hopefully the rest of the week gets better, but I have a feeling that as time is getting closer, 6 more weeks to go, I will just be getting more emotional. Oh well, c'est la vie! Or at least it's my life at the moment.

Namaste!

Natasha