Avocado-Tuna-Egg Salad

This started out simple but sort of turned into an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink recipe! I promise. . .one day I will cook simple and also figure out how to cook smaller. However, considering the chicken soup I just made, that will be posted next - since it almost overflowed my 5 quart pot - I can't say just when that will happen.

Also, not shown: I added another can of tuna, a can of drained, diced water chestnuts, some golden raisins and slivered almonds. . .

Put the UNdrained tuna in a big glass bowl. Chop the avocado, boiled eggs, 1/4 lg. purple onion and stir that together with with some sweet or dill pickle relish. I had cilantro microgreens that I also scissored into the mix. Combine all this with the add-ons not shown. Then add your 'binder'.

I used just enough mayo to hold it all together, with the addition of about 3T of the jalapeno ranch dressing to spice it up a bit.

I also cooked, rinsed and chilled, 1/2c of the dry tiny, grainy Italian pasta 'pearls' and added those - but it might have been better without them. This was really good on a rice cake. . .Lin

Orange Spice Cupcake-Muffins

EDIT: Just out of curiosity, I did a calorie count for this exact recipe. Based on 24 muffins - each contains 160 calories.

Here it is again, the recipe I can't seem to stop experimenting with. So far, everybody who's had one of the plain lemon or orange version hasn't stopped there. . .This is quickly becoming a staple in my house and requested by my family and friends.

Today it's orange cupcake-muffins, made with dark brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice for a little added twist and depth of flavor. Preheat your oven to 350° and put paper liners in 2 cupcake pans.

1 big Caracara -or navel- orange

~ scrub, cut off the ends

~ then cut it into pieces

3 lg. pasture raised eggs

1-1/3c dark brown sugar

3/4c Chobani whole milk plain Greek yogurt

3/4c single source EVOO

~ at my little Super One grocery store,

~ this was the ONLY single source EVOO  😕

2t pure vanilla

In a large glass bowl, whisk together:

2c Caputo (Italian) Chef's Flour. . .

~ or a good American all purpose flour. . .

~ such as King Arthur or Bob's Red Mill

1T pumpkin pie spice

1T baking powder

1t Himalayan pink salt

Put the first group of ingredients in your blender jar. Pulse, then blend on high until everything's combined. Pour this into the bowl of dry ingredients, whisk until well mixed then pour into the individually lined cupcake pan. Bake 22-25 minutes-until they pass the toothpick test.

My next adventure with this will be substituting some pure canned pumpkin for the orange, adding chopped walnuts or pecan and golden raisins. Mmmm. .😃. .Lin

A Loaded Egg Bake

Preheat your oven to 350° Chop all the vegetables:

a few red and orange mini peppers

4-6 assorted unpeeled potatoes

1/2 med. Vidalia onion
1/2 sm. purple onion

4 stalks celery

1 dozen lg. pasture raised eggs

4oz. curry sauce

4oz. sour cream

I cut up and cooked almost 2# of bacon the other day. I love to use real bacon crumbles on vegetables and in other foods like egg bakes. Since I have lots of beautiful eggs right now. . .this happened!

Saute the vegetables in a couple tablespoons of good quality olive oil until about half done. Put the chopped chard, on top - don't stir in. Add a little water if needed, cover and let the greens steam a few minutes until wilted.

Transfer all the vegetables to a 9"x13" glass pan.

Crack the eggs into your blender jar. Pulse together with the curry sauce, sour cream, garlic salt and pepper before pouring over the chopped vegetables.

Bake about 40 minutes or until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Sprinkle on the bacon crumbles and top with the cheese. Put back in the oven, turn off the heat and leave for about 10 minutes until the cheese is melted. Great for breakfast, lunch or breakfast-for-dinner. .😃. .Lin

Rhubarb-Raisin-Oat-Pecan Muffins

Preheat your oven to 350°

You'll need 8oz. of rhubarb for these muffins. Blending half and slicing the rest to add later for more color and texture. My rhubarb was partly green, and red closer to the root. I put the green pieces in the blender and the smaller cut red pieces into the dry bowl.

Put this first group into your blender jar and blend until smooth:

4oz. rhubarb cut in chunks
3 lg. pasture raised eggs
1-1/2c organic cane sugar
3/4c Chobani whole milk plain Greek yogurt
3/4c single source EVOO
1T± apple cider vinegar
2t pure vanilla

In a large glass bowl, stir together:

2c Caputo (Italian) Chef's Flour. . .
~ or a good American all purpose flour. . .
~ such as King Arthur or Bob's Red Mill
1T baking powder
1t Himalayan pink salt
3/4t black + cayenne pepper
3/4c quick cooking oats
2T ground flax seed
4oz. chopped rhubarb
1c chopped pecans

Pour the blender mixture into the dry ingredient bowl. Stir-scrape-mix together with a silicone spatula until all the flour is incorporated.

Using a big serving spoon, fill 24 paper-lined muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar which adds just the right amount of sweetness and crunch.

This made a lot of batter. I put the extra into a buttered-sugared oven-safe bowl, turning it into a little muffin cake. Bake the muffins for about 20 minutes. The little cake will need an extra 10 minutes or so, until it passes the "toothpick test". . .Lin

Lemon -or- Orange Blender Cupcakes

Lemon Cupcakes

I've been on a quest for the perfect whole lemon or orange blender cake recipe for cupcakes or a pound cake. I found one I like the sound of but had to make several changes.

I gave 6 of these to my girls, and then for company one night, I cut 7 cupcakes into 8 pieces each, into a round glass pan wanting to make a Lemon-Berry Shortcake. I left them out on the countertop for 24 hours, to dry a bit.

I combined a couple cups of fresh, sliced strawberries and a cup or two of frozen blueberries, with about 1/3c of blueberry-lavender jam and a tablespoon or two of white Balsamic vinegar. This was sired together and heated slowly. When that juiced up I simmer it with 2t of cornstarch until it came to a low bubble and thickened. After cooling, I stirred in about 6oz. of sour cream and chilled it. To serve, this was spooned over the cupcake chunks, in little bowls, with a sprinkle of turbinado sugar on top of each, for crunch.

Now back to the recipe. . .First, preheat your oven to 350°

Put this first group into your blender jar and blend until smooth:
1 whole thin-skinned seedless lemon. . .
-OR- 1 lg. whole CaraCara Orange
~ scrub, cut off the ends
~ then cut it in about 16 pieces
3 lg. pasture raised eggs
1-1/2c organic cane sugar
3/4c Chobani whole milk plain Greek yogurt
3/4c single source EVOO
2t pure vanilla

In a large glass bowl, stir together:
2c Caputo (Italian) Chef's Flour. . .
~ or a good American all purpose flour. . .
~ such as King Arthur or Bob's Red Mill
1T baking powder
1t Himalayan pink salt

CaraCara Orange Cupcakes

Pour the lemon, egg, oil, sugar mixture into the dry ingredient bowl. Stir-scrape-mix together with a silicone spatula until all the flour is incorporated.

Pour into 24 paper-lined muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar. I used turbinado sugar for this and it added just the right amount of sweetness and crunch. Bake for about 20 minutes. Check with a toothpick. Mmmm, these are good, but still may need extra zest stirred in just before baking. . .Lin

An Eggy Breakfast Idea That Took A While To Hatch 😁

I thought of this a long time ago, but often it takes a 'sick day' for me to actually slow down enough to bring an idea to creation. Yesterday I had to push myself to do everything and had a fever for a while. At 2am this morning I woke up sneezing. So. . .now it's a sneezy, sinus cold. No church today!

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 sm. Yukon Gold potato

1/3 lg. Vidalia onion

1 raw pasture raised egg

 a little canned coconut milk

1 slice Black Forest ham

1 hard boiled pasture raised egg

crumbled bacon

shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the potatoes and a little of the chopped onion. Let sizzle-saute until these are lightly brown and scenting your kitchen. Turn down the heat and cover.

After a few minutes add the ham. Beat the raw egg with the coconut milk and add that to the pan. Keep things moving just a bit, so it doesn't stick in one place.

When the egg is about half done, sprinkle on your favorite seasonings.

Chop the hard boiled egg and add that, the bacon and the cheese. Lightly stir everything together, cover and remove from the heat.

Serve with some fruit, or vegetables. . .AND. . .coffee, or tea. . .Mmmm. . .Happy Sunday to you. . .Lin

Whole 30 - Bacon-Vegetable Egg Bites (for dogs and humans 😁)

Well, this was fun!

And I'm sure my old boy Oliver will appreciate this breakfast addition to his little bit of morning dry food. The 6 on the left are his. The ingredients in the little white bowl: chopped green onion and pimentos, weren't added until AFTER I made his. Dogs can NOT have onions.

12 lg. pasture raised eggs

6-8oz. of my coconut and almond milk mix

I blended these together well with an immersion blender.

Grease the baking pan. Into each cup and the pan, I put crumbled bacon, finely chopped mushrooms and kale that were sauteed together until about half cooked. That's all that goes into those intended for dogs. Mix the ingredients in the little bowl with a spoon, then put equal amount in each of the remaining 6 on the right and the glass pan.

Pour egg mixture into the 6 for the dog, then blend seasonings into the rest for the humans👨‍👩‍👧‍👦. I used a little Himalayan pink salt and my black+cayenne mix. Pour that into the cups and pan. I had about 6oz. of that mixture leftover. I put it in a sealed jar for scrambled eggs in the next day or two.

Bake in a preheated 350° oven. About 15 minutes for the cup-bites and a half hour or so for the pan. When the center is firm, they're done. Cool then store in zip-lock bags. I haven't tried freezing these, but that might work.

I just had a couple of the bites, and they turned out great. Have fun cooking for yourself, the people and pets in your life. . .Lin

Cheese Cloud Bread

4 large pasture-raised eggs

4oz. cream cheese

salt, pepper, pasta seasoning, garlic powder

1-1/3c grated Dubliner cheese

Preheat your oven to 300° Separate the eggs: egg whites in one bowl and yolks in a bigger bowl.

Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.

Add the cream cheese and seasonings to the egg yolks and beat until smooth

Fold the beaten egg whites into the yolk mixture. Drop enough to make 3" circles on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. 

Bake 25 minutes, or until the tops turn golden and firm up. Makes 12-15 bread rounds. . .Lin