What's For Breakfast?

or Brunch or Dinner or even a snack. 

Frittatas of course! 

A dish packed full of protein, minerals and omega 3s. What is even better, you can make it your own! My family loves this dish. Great for a healthy breakfast, serve with brunch and also great for on the go and a great post workout meal. Stores well in the fridge and reheats well. Only 20 seconds in the microwave and it is ready to eat. 

It is resembles a crustless quiche. My husband's cousin calls it an "egg pie" and basically, that is exactly what it is.  Another great thing about frittatas is you can use up those fresh ingredients that have been sitting in your fridge. You know, the greens that are starting to wilt. I will even freeze these veggies and use them to make frittatas at a later time. They will still work great and be delicious! 

Official Wikipedia Definition: Frittata is an egg-based Italian dish similar to an omelette or crustless quiche or scrambled eggs, enriched with additional ingredients such as meats, cheeses or vegetables. The word frittata is Italian and roughly translates to "fried".

Main Ingredients For A Frittata

Eggs, cheese, greek yogurt, spices, a few of your favorite vegetables and some cooking oil. You can also add meat, whatever you like. I do try to keep ours on the healthy side as much as I can.

And you will need a large cast iron skillet. Your frittata can be cooked in muffin pans, but I have never done that. 

Basic Recipe:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. 

8 Large Eggs

1 Cup of Fat Free Greek Yogurt

1 Cup of Cheese (I used goat cheese here, makes it very creamy) shredded or crumbled

1 Tablespoon of Basil

2 Cloves of Garlic

Salt & Pepper to taste

Cooking Oil (I use Avocado Oil, wonderful flavor and works well in an iron skillet)

Additional Items:

1 Cup Asparagus, Washed & Cut (you can also use whatever greens that you have on hand. I love this with spinach, my daughter loves it with broccoli)

1 Pint of Mushrooms, Sliced

1 Cup of Tomatoes, Sliced, Halved or Chopped

Parmesan or Romano Cheese, finely grated 

You can also add various meats or other vegetables that you and your family like.

You can find a printable copy of the recipe by clicking here.

Start with your eggs. Crack them into a mixing 

bowl and lightly whisk.

Add your one cup of greek yogurt and blend with whisk until smooth as you see in the photo below. 

Seasonings: Basil and Salt & Pep to taste

Next add your seasonings, lightly whisk until blended. Now you are ready to start cooking!

Heat up 1-2 tablespoons of avocado oil (or whatever oil you have on hand) in your iron skillet on medium high. Grate your 2 cloves of garlic and allow to lightly brown. Add your beaten egg mixture to the skillet. (NOTE: you may need to turn the heat down a tad.) 

At this point it is so easy, almost like scrambling eggs. Add your other ingredients like cheese, veggies and any meat you might want to add. (Save the tomatoes for last.) 

Stir the other ingredients into the egg mixture and keep stirring, lightly, mainly to keep the whole mixture from getting solid in places. Check to make sure your heat is not too high or too low. This is very similar to scrambling up a large vat of eggs. 

When the mixture is just a tad less than 1/2 cooked, take the skillet off the heat and add your tomatoes. 

Then top with your finely grated parmesan or romano cheese. 

Place in preheated oven and allow to finish cooking. It will take about 20-30 minutes. When it is ready it will be puffy and golden brown.


Allow to cool for about 15 minutes then slice just like you would a pie. Makes about 6-8 servings.

Garnish with greens, serve with a salad or fruit or both. 

You can even eat it by itself. Delicious any want you want to serve it. 

 So Good!!! And one of those little things in life. 

Tell me what ingredients you like to include in your Frittatas? 

Enjoy!
Missy

Fresh Produce Co-op Haul

Do you like fresh produce?  

Have you noticed how expensive it is?  Have you wondered how long it has taken for the produce to get from the farm to the store then to your table?  I have.  I have noticed that when I purchase produce from a grocery store that I really need to prepare that produce right away or it will be spoiled within the day, even when I store it in the refrigerator.

Almost 2 (two) years ago, we were invited to join a neighborhood co-op.  March - November we have bi-monthly baskets and it is $15.  December - February we get only 1 (one) basket and it is $20. For us, a family of 3, it is gracious a plenty.  Often times, more than what we need.  I rarely supplement from the store.  And only for $15!!!  It really helps me to stretch my $$ further and keeps me from overbuying.

A Local Co-op Provides a Variety of Seasonal Produce

There are different types of co-ops.  Some incorporated and run like a business such as a farm or a grocery store.  And there are others that are unincorporated being run by churches, community organization or, like ours, a handful or neighbors.  Some of these co-ops are organic and some are not.  Organic co-ops are always going to be more expensive because organics, even locally grown, are more expensive.

 Today's Co-op Haul

In today's post, I am going to discuss the simple neighborhood co-op like the one that we belong to. We are so fortunate to be here in Central Alabama where we have the Birmingham Farmers Market. Farmers come in from all the nearby counties to sell their produce.  And in a co-op, we have some buying power that allows us to bargain.  My husband was suspect about the whole program when we first joined.  Then it became our turn to shop and he was so shocked at what we were able to buy. And of course, the experience really revealed to him the markup on produce sold in the grocery stores.  

What do you need to start a co-op?

• Participants - About 10 families for a decent haul. You will max out at 30. (LOL!  you don't want to have to hire a semi to get the produce to the home where it will be distributed!) 
• Baskets - Each participant will need to provide a sturdy laundry basket that is labeled with their name
• Distribution Center - One of the families will need to volunteer a their patio or carport to be the collection and distribution center.  The space will need to be big enough that the baskets can be spread out and produce sorted
• Organizers/Managers - It is nice to have a couple of people who will "be in charge" so to speak. That is administrate a Facebook group page and coordinated a text messaging & email system. That is be willing to send out the reminders and make up the shopping schedule.  We have 2 great ladies who do this for us.  They are also the founders of our co-op.  
• Find a place to do the shopping - a farmers market, a wholesale produce distributor 
• Determine $$ amount of each basket
• Participant shopping schedule
• Establish some parameters-What I mean is, keep in mind that peanut allergies seem to be on the rise so you may want to request that no one buy peanuts.  Also, keep in mind that you are spending other peoples money.  Everyone loves and want's watermelon, but if the best price is $5 a watermelon, might be best to pass as that is 1/3 of what every participant has paid.  So it is important that you have some parameters set up for everyone to follow.  

A neighborhood/community co-op is really simple to operate and in time, almost runs itself.  Every time we have shopped for our group we have had 23-25 participating families.  That makes for a great haul!  We have 2 civics and 1 accord and all 3 cars are packed with the produce haul.  We leave early o'clock.  Way before the sun, it order to get the best deals and the freshest produce.  We go to all the vendors and farmers to check their prices.  Then I find a quite place to work all the math.  Then my husband, daughter & I take our cars around and start filling them up with all the produce as I make the purchases.  If we collect $315 from all of the participants, we spend $315.  Once I had to spend $2 out of my pocket.  But when a farmer or wholesaler knows you are short just a few dollars, they usually just let that go.  By the way, in our particular group, the shopper does not pay for their basket.  Their time spend shopping and sorting for the group is payment enough! 😊 It is fun and very educational for children & youth.

Our Hauls Feed 3-4 People for 2 Weeks!

Co-ops are the best way to get variety & freshness in your produce.  It is also a great way to stretch your shopping $$$!  If you are interested in a co-op, ask around your community and see if there is one that you can offer to be a substitute for.  It is a great way to try and see if you would like being a part of one.  If there is not one in your area, check with your neighbors and see if they will be interested in starting one.  Everyone is looking for ways to save money and have a healthier lifestyle and a produce co-op is a great way to that end.

And before I forget, I have a video on YouTube of today's co-op haul.  If you have time, go look at it.
Today's Co-op Haul

Another one of those little things in life that we enjoy!

Missy