Quick Quiche

No school today! I'm helping my mom out by making breakfast. My Quick Quiche is perfect because it's easy and really good...even my 3-year old brother has seconds! 

Quick Quiche

(quiche without a crust)

Serves 6-8

Stuff You Need:

6-8 slices of bacon

1/2 cup of shredded cheese (I like Cheddar)

1/2 cup of corn 

2 tablespoons of melted butter

4 eggs

1/2 cup of pancake mix

1 1/2 cups of milk

1 teaspoon of salt

dash of pepper

Equipment You Need:

9 inch pie pan

tongs

fork or whisk

cookie sheet

bowl

plate

paper towels

hot pads

1. Make the bacon.

My mom's trick it to make it in the oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put bacon on cookie sheet and then put cookie sheet into heated oven. It usually takes about 15 minutes for it to get crisp. Just watch it and you will see that it goes from rubber to crisp to burned pretty fast.

While bacon is cooking, layer paper towels on plate (it will absorb the extra grease from bacon). When bacon is crisp, using the hot pads, take the cookie sheet out of the oven and set on stove. Leave the oven on. Take the tongs and lift the bacon out of the grease and on to the paper towels. Let cool.

2. Take 9 inch pie plate and lightly spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

3. Crumble up the bacon and spread it on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle on the cheese and corn.

4. In a bowl, mix up the 4 eggs until they are beaten together. Take the 2 tablespoons of butter and put it in a small microwave safe bowl. Put it in microwave for 10-15 seconds to melt it. Add to eggs. Mix in the pancake mix, milk, salt and pepper and combine it all with a fork or whisk until all the pancake mix in totally blended.

5. Carefully pour the egg mixture in pie pan.

6. Put it in oven and set timer for 35 minutes. It will be done when it is kind of brownish on the top.

7. Let it cook for about 5 minutes. Cut it up and eat!!

The thing about this recipe is that you can put all kinds of combinations in it and everything turns out really good. Combos like:

Ham and Swiss Cheese

Sausage and Cheddar

Pancetta, Smoked Gouda Cheese, and Onion

Steamed Broccoli and Cheddar Cheese

Sauteed Red Pepper and Provolone

Or, if you like it plain, just throw in the cheese and call it breakfast!

I'm Back

It's been kind of a weird year for me. Well, I guess year and a half! My mom and dad got divorced and so I didn't feel like doing the blog thing anymore. I didn't want to write, but I kept cooking and playing baseball, basketball, and hockey. I won the coaches' award from my swim team last summer. They said it was because I had a good attitude and motivated the team. It was a little bit embarrassing especially since my mom cried. She always tells me how proud she is of how well I'm handling things. I guess. I think that when stuff like this happens, you do one of two things...stop or keep going. I picked the keep going option. 


My older sister went to college. I miss her a lot although I don't really tell her that. My mom and my other 3 siblings and I moved in with my grandparents. We call them Mimi and Papa. I like being around my Papa. He's kind of strict but I know he loves me. And he likes to cook, too. He's a scientist and tells me that cooking is chemistry. 


When my mom asked me if I wanted to come back and finish my cookbook and get it published, I realized that I put a lot of work into this before and I had a lot of fun doing it. So I said yes. I want to do it! 


So I'm back. I think I have enough recipes for another book, but I'll just focus on getting one book done at a time...in between my basketball playoffs, my hockey games, and my baseball practices. What can I say? Sports R Me!!

I Love Olive Pesto Pasta Salad (recipe)

Olive Pesto Pasta Salad

from the Radical Recipes 4 Boys cookbook

This pasta has most of my favorite things in it: garlic, basil, olives, and salami! Add bubble gum and I'd be set...just kidding.


Stuff You Need

For the pesto:

2 ounces of fresh basil (about 1 1/2 cups loosely packed)

2-3 cloves of garlic 

1 tbsp pine nuts

1/3 cup olive oil (I like to use garlic olive oil)

1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives (Greek black olives)

1/2 cup pitted green olives

1 tbsp lemon juice

For the pasta salad:

1 17-ounce bag/13-oz box of bite-sized pasta (rotini, penne, shell)

1 chopped yellow or red bell pepper

1 cup sliced salami

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt, pepper to taste

Equipment You Need

Food processor

Measuring cup

Measuring spoon

Spatula spoon

Large serving bowl

Pot stirring spoon

Colander (big word for the thing you drain the pasta in)

Knife

Cutting board

What You Do

1. Add 4 quarts of salted water to a boil on the stove.

2. When water boils, add pasta and cook about 11-13 minutes until "al dente" which means "to the tooth". (No idea how the Italians came up with that, but it means that the pasta is a teeny bit chewy in the middle, not mushy.)

3. Drain the pasta in the colander and add to the large serving bowl. Toss in a tiny bit of olive oil to keep it from sticking together in one big blob as it cools.

4. While pasta is cooling, make the pesto by putting the basil, garlic, pine nuts, and olives in the food processor. Chop for about 30 seconds until things are roughly chopped. Slowly add the olive oil and lemon juice and blend until smooth. Add a bit more olive oil if it is too dry.

5. Chop up the bell pepper into bite-sized pieces and slice the salami into strips.

6. Mix together the pasta and pesto. You can experiment with how much pesto you like...all of it or just some of it. Add the bell peppers, salami strips, and Parmesan cheese and give it a toss. Add salt/pepper to taste.

Serves 4-6-8 depending on how hungry everyone is.

The Easiest Non-Chocolate Chip Cookie: Pecan Sandies (recipe)

PECAN SANDIES 

Stuff You Need
1 cup of butter (2 sticks), room temperature
1/2 cup of sugar
2 tsp. water
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups chopped-up pecans


Equipment You Need
Mixing Bowl
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Stirring spatula
Cookie sheet
Spatula


"Cream" the butter and sugar (which means mix it together until it is smooth). Add the water and vanilla and mix it in completely. Then add the flour and pecans.


Chill the dough for about 3 hours until firm. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.


Then take a teaspoon and make dough into balls. Put balls on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Try and let them cool before you eat 'em but I'm warning you...it's tough. These cookies are sooooo goooood!

Obama-style Hawaiian Burgers (recipe)

OBAMA-STYLE HAWAIIAN BURGERS

Makes 6 burgers

Stuff You Need

1 1/2 pounds ground beef or turkey

1/3 cup finely chopped onions

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup pineapple jam

1/3 cup bbq sauce

Hamburger buns

Lettuce

Equipment You Need

Big bowl

Small saucepan

Stirring spoon

Measuring cups and spoons

Cookie sheet to put patties on

Brush to spoon on sauce

Grill spatula

*Grill* (Ask your mom or dad to help with this part.)

Mix together in a big bowl the ground meat, onions, and Worcestershire sauce. Be brave. Use your hands! Form into six patties and put on cookie sheet.

WASH HANDS WITH HOT WATER AND SOAP!

In a saucepan, combine the pineapple jam and bbq sauce. Bring to a boil, stirring the whole time.

Brush the patties with the pineapple/bbq sauce mixture. Put patties on heated grill (ask an adult for help). Grill for about 5 minutes and then turn, brushing the burger with sauce again. Turn again after 5 minutes and brush patties one more time. When burger is done how you like it, remove it from grill and serve on bun or in a lettuce wrap.

ALOHA!

For added touch of Hawaii, you can add a slice of grilled pineapple. Personally, I'm not a fan of grilled fruit, but try it. You might like it.

Gabe Gross's Unbelieveable Catch

Gabe Gross is one of the A's outfilders, and is a great fielder. Watch this video and be amazed.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=8476941

Chemistry Kidz

My friend, Christian, is a brainiac and has a blog about chemistry...for kids. Chemistry Kidz teaches kids that chemistry can be fun and easy (adults, too). Make sure to check out his blog at www.chemistrykidz.blogspot.com