Food 101: Hugs and Quiches

I'll do anything to get my kids to eat healthy.  I believe it was one of the greatest gifts my mom gave me growing up and it's something I want to pass on, whether my kids appreciate it or not.

So tonight was another brinner: breakfast for dinner.  Since my fridge was getting scarce (remember, I'm down to ONE shopping day a week) I pulled out the eggs to make some broccoli-cheddar quiche.  Quiche is already one of my favorite foods so no tricks are needed to get me to eat the stuff.  However, my kids are a different story.  While they LOVE eggs, they're not fond of cooked vegetables.  And since life is not going to cater to their preferences, its my job to teach them to eat like adults.  But who says I can't have fun doing it, huh?

If you've never made quiche, it is about the easiest thing in the world to do.  I don't even follow a recipe, but to aid those uninformed, here's a general idea:

Crust, by hand:  plop about half a stick of softened butter and about 3/4 cup of flour on top.  Sprinkle in some salt.  Get a knife and literally cut at the butter until its in small chunks and coated in flour.  Then grab some ice water and dribble about a teaspoon at a time, and begin stirring.  Keep at this until it balls up.  Dump it onto the counter.  If its sticky, throw a bit more flour onto the ball.  If not, work it together for a minute, then roll it out.  If making crust scares you, look up a more formal recipe.  =)

Quiche:  crack open about 5 eggs into a bowl.  Pour in 1/2 cup milk, cream, or half n half - its really up to you.  Sprinkle in salt, pepper, paprika, cajun seasonings - again, what sounds good to you.  Prep your mix ins.  For me, it was broccoli - which I steamed on the stove-top and chopped coarsely - and some grated cheddar cheese.

Making it fun:  instead of doing the traditional pie plate, I pulled out my miscellaneous collection of ramekins.  I pressed in some pastry dough into each one, put in a little broccoli and cheddar on the bottom, then topped if off with the egg and cream mixture.  Baked these little cuties for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  I then cut up some mango to serve alongside.

Of course my girls helped me every step of the way, which adds to the fun.  

P.S. A special thanks to my friend Andrea (check out her awesome blog: http://theprofessorswife.blogspot.com/) and her post about her meat pies which totally inspired me to make this quiche for dinner!