Toasted Chickpeas

Well, to be totally honest, I have COMPLETELY forgotten to post on Recipeasy lately! I will blame it on the pregnant brain, ok?

Speaking of being pregnant, I have been told that I am anemic (low iron). Its happened with each of my pregnancies, but its never affected me until this one. I think this is one of the reasons I have been SO exhausted.

Besides my vitamins and extra iron supplements (which upset my tummy) I have been trying to look for ways to add iron to my regular diet. Liver isn't recommended in pregnancy (not that I like it particularly) and we just don't eat a lot of red meat. Not really any to speak of, actually.

By doing some research I found that Chickpeas are a good source of iron. I LOVE hummus. And chickpeas in chili and other things are great. I had a can in my pantry and some dried ones. So, here's what I did:


Toasted Chickpeas

Preheat oven to 350

Toss one can, drained, (or approx 2 cups of presoaked dried) Chickpeas with 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 minced cloves of garlic and the juice of half a lime/lemon.

Spread on a cookie sheet (next time I will cover mine with foil and spray it).

Bake for about 30min, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle salt to taste.


Not only does this make the house smell SO good, they are addictingly great to munch on. My husband and kids loved them too!

Spaghetti Squash

If you haven't tried spaghetti squash...you should! My kids aren't big meat eaters, but you can serve this with a meat sauce. The point is, the squash is your "pasta" and you put whatever sauce you want. Here's how you cook it:

Wash the outside of the spaghetti squash. For using a microwave oven (which is what I do because its quick), place squash in a large covered glass or ceramic microwaveable baking dish. With a large sharp knife, poke two or three lengthwise cuts into the squash about half way through, each cut about one inch long. Cover the baking dish.
Bake until the squash begins to get soft. Do not let it get mushy. In the microwave oven the baking time should take about 20-25 minutes. Remove the spaghetti squash and set on a large plate. Cut in half lengthwise and set the two halves side by side. Remove the seeds and set them aside.
The outer skin of the spaghetti squash should be hard (like a shell) and should be partially separated from the soft inside of the squash. Some of the spaghetti-like strands of squash should also be visible. Take a fork and rake the "noodles" out of the shells.
Serve with sauce of your choice.

Vanilla "Shake" - South Beach style

I haven't been cooking much lately (blessing of living at a camp... they cook... we eat!) Plus I'm also back on Phase One of South Beach... so how about a new treat I came up with..

Freeze some skim milk in a freezer-safe bag
Dump frozen milk (minus the bag), Splenda (about 1 TBSP), and 1 tsp vanilla in blender.
Blend adding fresh skim milk as need to make a smooth texture!
It's great! Refreshing - and "almost" tastes like a shake!

Sorry that's all I've got for now! I'll try to do better next Monday!

South Beach eggs on the go!

So these are my South Beach breakfast favorite!

They are similar to a quiche and I don't know WHY I didn't do it before now! This recipe is similar to the one in the South Beach book, but I didn't like theirs.

1 cup 2% or fat free shredded cheese

1/2 cup meat (either cooked sausage or shredded Ham - low fat)

6 eggs

1/4 cup milk

Crack open the eggs in a bowl add in milk, salt, and pepper. Whisk until well blended. Pour egg into muffin pan filling each 1/2 full. Drop cheese, meat, and veggies into each muffin cup as much as desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean! They store great in the fridge for about 2 days and heat up beautifully for a minute in the microwave. I haven't tried freezing them yet... so let me know if you do how it works! Mix it up ... be creative!