Light chicken quiche for picnic days

Although I live in the city of unpredictable weather, once in a blue moon we have picnic days. Those days as as rare as enjoyable and if you are so lucky to see them you will realized that even the hangover go out into the sun as soon as it shows up.

Those days trust me I am not gonna stick around the kitchen but for the minimal time required, but you gotta get feed and if you do it outside chances are that you are gonna get lots of temptations, so the best option bring your own food. I prepare this super simple quiche between coffee and shower and I promise you it is delicious warm or cold and it is easy to bring around in a container.

INGREDIENTS 

• 2 cooked Chicken breast pieces ( I got mine form some grilled chicken I made, but you can buy cooked ones too)
• 1 onion 
• 3 eggs 
• 6 tablespoons of fat free formage frais 
• nutmeg, pepper and salt
• reduce fat cooking spray ( this time it is not optional)
• Add to your list in case you dont have baking paper and springform 

HOW TO 

Gather your ingredients and preheat the oven at 240C/ 475F 

Chop the cooked chicken breast and the onion in chunky pieces so they will show in the mix, I rather my ingredients to be abundant and visible but if you prefer less and less visible feel free the taste doesn't change that much.

In medium bol add the three eggs. I suggest to crack them in a small cup and then add it ti the bol just in case the eggs are no good. Them mix them with a whisker if you have or a fork if you don't. 

Then add the formage frais and and whisk again.

The mix will be complete when you add the nutmeg, which give it a really distint flavor, the salt and the pepper. I would use black pepper as it is my preference but any pepper would do.

Mix your eegs with the rest of the ingredients. It should look something like this.

Now get you baking paper and cut it to fit your mold. As I said before I recommend you use one of the springforms that you can remove the walls of the mold and keep the botton but if you dont have one as I didn't before you could use a silicon one and I works just fine.
Add the paper to the botton of your mold and spray it with the low fat cooking spray you don't need much.

Finally put the mix in the mold and put the mold on the oven, set your timer for 20 min, check at the end just to make sure it is as done as you like. Make sure that the sides are cooked that would be your indicator that the quiche is done.

And it is that simple, I hope you are having gorgeous weather and you can go out and enjoy a lovely summer, and till we see again,  

ENJOY :)

Have a break, have a diet muffin

There are some things I really hate, only a few, but the one that i hate the most is the daily, weekly task of cleaning, it never ends. However I found a way to make it more bearable ( it's that the right word?!) and it is give myself a treat after. So... at least I have something to look forward to. My treat this week ... muffins!!! who said girls on a diet don't have fun???

INGREDIENTS

Makes about 8 nice size muffins, and last up to 3-4 days if you can refrain yourself

• 4 large egg whites , 5 if medium 
• 8 tablespoon of oat bran
• 4 tablespoon of fat free formage frais
• 3 tablespoon of powder sweetener
• 1/2 tablespoon of coffee powder
• 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon 

HOW TO

Gather your ingredients and preheat your oven at 180C (or 350 F)

I always start by beating the egg whites till stiff, and what do I mean by stiff? I mean that you can put the egg whites over you head and the wont fall out, that stiff we are talking about, so take your mixer and shake it baby.

Then in a deep plate mix all the dry ingredients, be careful they tend to try to leave your plate and make a mess all over the counter.

When mixed add the cheese and remove again until it gets a stronger consistency and it well incorporated 

Then it is time to add it to the stiff egg whites, that is tricky, you should incorporate all mixture but carefully and mixing it slowly with the spatula so the mixture would keep the smoothness, do it slowly it doesn't take that long. 

Now it is time to prepare your tin and muffin cases, I do spray them with cooking spray but that is totally optional. This muffins do not grow much do you can fill it up to 3/4 of the case or even a little bit more.

Let it bake for about 25 min depending on your oven, mine works out about 23 min and I let then cool down a bit inside the oven for about 7 min before I take them out. I find they are delicious with milk as they are a bit dry, but it work great as afternoon and breakfast treat.

Let me know how it goes for you and 

ENJOY :)

5 min. asparagus and prawn's scramble

I've always loved scrambles, probably because they are so easy to make and sooo tasty. On a rainy day like today when I get home I just want to chill and normally eat something that either comes from a man in a bike or it takes no time or effort to make. As the man on the bike should not be an option anymore as mostly he only brings unhealthy things, I have to go for the effortless option, 5 minutes tasty scramble.

INGREDIENTS

Enough for one hungry and tired person.

• asparagus tips
• a cup of prawns 
• 2 medium eggs
• salt and pepper to taste
• low fat cooking spray (optional)

HOW TO

Gather your ingredients

Your prawns might be frozen and if you do not have time to unfreeze them, give it a quick microwave defrost or add it to the pan a bit early, luckily I did remember this morning to leave it to defrost.

Start by cooking the tips I add a bit of cooking spray

When they are a bit toasted add the prawns, they take almost no time to be ready so don't add it too early or they would get burn ( I know from experience)

Prepare the eggs, beat them obviously but in my case this is the time that I add the salt an pepper, it doesn't mean that I might not add a bit more lately but I got the feeling that the saltiness is nicer when I add it to the beaten egg.

last but not  least ad the egg and shake it, baby shake it... move it and remove it so it spreads all over the  other ingredients

Ehhh voila, there you have a quick tasty and healthy dinner in not time add some custard for dessert and you got yourself a marvelous and nurturing rainy day dinner 

Let me know how you got on and in the meantime 

ENJOY :)

Bits and Pieces Omelette

I've been really busy this week, so busy that I almost haven't got the time to go food shopping. So today for lunch I found myself only with some bit of ingredients and decided that I might as well use what my mother call the bits and pieces omelette.

An omelette is always really easy to do and you can almost add anything to it. My mother does pretty round one but I rather move the eggs around, as I am for once not patient (it is faster this way) and normally to hungry to wait.

INGREDIENTS

• Some mushrooms
• Red pepper
• zucchini
• Tuna in brine
• 3 eggs
• Sal and pepper  

HOW TO

Gather your ingredients. 

Star chopping the vegetables, not too big but not too small either remember we cook without oil and if they are to big could burn on the outside and not be cook on the inside which we want to avoid at all cost.

Next step heat up you pan, and add the onion, pepper and zucchini first and give it a couple of minutes for the mushroom as it becomes soft very fast.

While the vegetables are being cooked, beat the eggs I use 3 eggs but i like it very dry if you want it more juicy add more. I add the salt at this point to the eggs, you will see how the change color.

Check that your vegetables are done, how do you know that? Well basically for me it is when the mushroom is done should like something like this.

Now that are done, remove them from the fire and add it to the eggs so you make sure that the egg are evenly around all the vegetable mix and also add the tuna in brine, but without the bine :) I am not a particular fan of tuna in brine I like much better the oil one, but you have to make sacrifices for a healthy living.

Then is back in the pan. I clean it before, but you can go straight to it unless like my mum you want the perfectly stiff omelette in which case I also recommend cleaning and some low fat cooking spray. It will be ready in no time. Some times I also add some fromustard Sauce to it, but that depends on my mood.

Please leave a comment below if you did the omelette or if you want any other recipe I am always happy to oblige, in the mean time

ENJOY :)

Fromustard: the simplest ever sauce

I dont know you, but I eat looooots of boiled chicken since I am on the diet. It is because is simple. And you must think "simple, yes, but... it isn't the most tasty thing ever" and I agree. I have perfected the way to boil it many different ways to give it flavor, but the simplest still water and a bit of sal. But what I do is using this super simple sauce to give it some taste and it really works for me and takes no time whatsoever. Let me introduce you to the Fromustard Sauce:

INGREDIENTS

You get lots out of it... but I think would be enough for two people 

• 0% Formage frais 
• Dijon Mustard
• Whole-Grain Mustard

HOW TO

Gather your ingredients:

Add three table spoons of formage frais ( I love this ingredient works with everything). You can not really keep it for long so just keep it enough for your meal.

Then one tea spoon of Dijon mustard.

I add two tea spoons of whole-grain mustard because I like the texture so much but I guess one will be enough if you are not sold on the texture like me.

And then ... well... shake it baby, shake it... and you are done!

I know it is not a great pic (but what can I do with an almost ten years old digital camera) but the sauce it is fantastic so I hope you

ENJOY:)

Tip- If you don't have fromage frais you can always use 0% greek yogourt.

chicken "non-pasta, pasta like" Chinese style

I don't know you, but me, when someone tells me "you can't it this" I want it the most. Pasta always reminds me of home meals and I must say in a diet like Dukan  is the thing that I miss the most. So I came up with a solution, as we can not eat the real thing, let's eat something that looks similar. Dr. Dukan has specifically allow surimi on the diet and even though I was reticent at the beginning I must say that with it I have found a great ally. It is experimenting with it that so many of my "non-pasta, pasta like" dishes have come to be. Let me introduce you to my chicken "non-pasta, pasta like" Chinese style.

  

INGREDIENTES

Ingredient for one really hungry or two not som much, suitable for pure proteine day.

• Chicken breast ( I use the full breast)
• 8 surimi sticks 
• soya sauce 
• garlic powder 
• cooking spray (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Gather your ingredients as you can see there are not many to grab.

Get the chicken and cut it in cubes, I dont like the pieces two small but you can do it as you feel more confortable.

Get a small bol and add some soya sauce (make sure your is not too salty otherwise will be more salt than taste) and you chicken cubes and let then rest for a couple of minutes so the chicken gets all the flavor of the soya sauce.

While your chicken is soaking take your surimi sticks and unroll and break them into little long pieces so they look like small spaghettis. They are tiny, but... nothing is perfect.

 

Then it is pan time, I normally use a wok, just because it is confortable for me, but any pan would do. Put some cooking spray if you want (I do) and add the marinated chicken. This is the point that I add the garlic powder, but I must confess that I crazy about garlic you don't need to do it.

 When they become pink you should add the surimi piece, be aware that at this time the pan can be a little bit dry and you might want to add either some more soya sauce or a bit of water.

 Stir every once in a while to make your it doesn't burn at the bottom of you pan and let the surimi take all the juices.

And that is it, you have made yourself a "non-pasta, pasta like" dish in no time for proteine day that is tasty and fast. 

Make sure to serve hot !!

ENJOY ;)

Green Lovers Soup

Although Mach is supposed to bring warmth to this lands, here in Ireland still quite cold, at least for my taste and there is nothing better than a soup to warm you up and also to give you the extra vitamins your body needs to look as beautiful as you do. Let me present you the Green Lovers Soup:

The good thing about this soup is that you can eat it warm it you are freezing like me or cold if you are in a warmer weather ( I envy you for that)

INGREDIENTS

• Broccoli floret 
• half zucchini
• some mushrooms ( I add about 6)
• three leaves of celery
• sal and pepper to taste
• optional some fat free formage frais

  INSTRUCTIONS

As you know we are following the Dukan diet  so we only will used allow vegetables. First gather your vegetables

I start by cutting the Brocolli . I cut only the small florets and dimiss the rest, you can cook it if you want to but it would take a bit more to get tender so bear it in mind if you decide to add them.

Then cut the zucchini in half and proceed to cut it into small pieces, they do not need to be really small because we are going to smash it later but still it helps to go faster.

Next step, do the same with the celery. The celery help to give your soup a refreshing taste. To be honest I am not a fan of celery myself but I love the touch that gives soups. I use just three leave because otherwise it overcomes the taste of the broccoli. 

Then it is the turn of the mushrooms. I use quite a bit because it gives a nice consistency to the soup and you don't want it to be super watery.

Next step put some water to boil on the kettle and add all you ingredients together in a pot. Add enough water to cover the vegetable but not more we want it to be thick not watery and turn the heat to the maximum. This is the time to add some salt if you want, I normally add it at the end but that goes on taste.

Let it boil for over 20 minutes, we want most of the water to evaporate and the vegetables to be as tender as possible, then it is time for the blender. I have a hand one but you can use whatever you have.

You have to blend it until it is consistent and smooth. If your blender is awful as mine it can take some time if it is a good you will have it in minutes.

Finally it is the time of pepper and fat free formage frais, you can skip this step but a love the contract in textures, I do not want to think that I am on a diet, I want to think that I am eating great tasty food and those little details help me

And that is it, fool proof soup. Get a plate and prepare to have a fantastic tasting experience.

Let me know if you liked it and don't forget to subscribe to be notified about new recipes and news 

ENJOY ;)