Cafe Style Mini Frittatas

Have you ever had that 'What's for breakfast or lunch moment'?

Well, that happened at breakfast time today!

Though in all honesty, I am more of a brunch type of girl as I try to follow an intermittent fasting routine.

Cafe food is so expensive nowadays, that eating out is a true treat, so I whipped up these sumptuous cafe-style mini frittatas. 

                            

A ten minute pre and mix, before baking.

The mixture of ingredients makes six.

They are cooked in a medium sized nonstick muffin pan.

There's just 'the two of us' at home, so we ate

three each with a chilli sauce swish on the side.

If you don't like chilli or sweet chilli sauce, you can serve the frittatas with a dollop of your favourite chutney.

If you are wanting an easy light evening meal, just add a side of mixed green salad made to your liking.

You will Need:

3 large free-range eggs

1 teaspoon of wholegrain mustard

1 Tablespoon of sour cream

1/3 cup grated zucchini

2 large tablespoons of finely diced onion

1 slice of diced middle bacon (excess fat removed)

1 tablespoon of chopped parsley

2 chopped cherry tomatoes

2 tablespoons of self-raising flour

To Make:

Preheat the oven to 180 Celcius (356F)

In a bowl, whisk the eggs until frothy.

Add the mustard and sour cream.

Whisk well until blended.

Add the flour then mix again.

Switch the whisk for a spoon.

Stir through all the other ingredients.

Grease the muffin pan holes.

Spoon mixture evenly in them.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the egg is cooked.

Cool slightly.

Plate and serve.

These can also be eaten cold so are fabulous for the lunch box.

Printable recipe HERE.

#lunchboxfood #fritattas #breakfastfood #brunchideas

Cheesy Crunch Balls

 

Yum, delicious, and scrumptious!

A truthful description of these Cheesy Crunch Balls!

Especially if you are a fan of tasty Pringles Chips!

Easy to make.

And as you all know I love easy-to-make recipes.

In fact, at a recent visit to my Mamas in the beautiful South Island of New Zealand she produced an old recipe book full of them.

Watch out for future foodie posts here on Mia Bella Passions.

But let's get back to the Cheesy Crunch Balls...

But I have to be honest - I feel that I did make them a bit too big.

So if you want one bite-size, do make them smaller.

You Need:

250 grams (9 oz) of Cream Cheese

1 cup of grated Gouda cheese

1 Tablespoon of sour cream

1 teaspoon of finely chopped basil 

1/2 teaspoon of finely chopped rosemary

245-gram can of sour cream and onion Pringles chips

(can be substituted for another brand if you wish but make sure they are thin-style chips)  

To Make:

In a bowl place the cream cheese, grated cheese, sour cream and chopped herbs.

Mix together.

Add 1 cup of crushed chips.

Mix again.

With clean hands make them into balls.

Roll in the remaining crushed chips.

This makes 12 large balls.

(though next time I will make smaller bite-sized balls as I think that would be better  :) )

Place on a plate and place a cocktail skewer through the ball.

Chill for half an hour before serving.

Chips and dip in a ball.

What's not to love about these?

Printable recipe HERE.

#appetizers #snacks #Horsdoeuvres

Creamy Mexican Chicken Soup

 A mildly spicy but creamy soup is full of goodness and flavour that the whole family will love.

Precooked rotisserie chicken adds to the flavour, though you can leave it out, add another can of beans and change the cream cheese to a vegetarian variety, and you will have a still delicious soup. 

It's a lot of cans of this and that,

but when you haven't a lot of time to whip up a hearty meal,

this easy recipe is a true go-to.

It is ready to eat in just 25 minutes!

Ingredients:

2 x diced red onions

(You can use white onions but the red is much sweeter to taste)

1 x diced red bell pepper

2 Tablespoons Olive oil

1 x 400g can of chopped organic tomatoes

1 x 400 gram can of salsa beans in a spiced sauce

1 x 300g corn kernels (drained)

2 cups of chicken stock

2 cups of shredded cooked rotisserie chicken

1 teaspoon each of turmeric, smoked paprika and cumin

4 'generous' Tablespoons of Philadelphia cream cheese

 Method:

Fry the diced onion in olive oil in a large soup pot.

When it is soft add the diced bell pepper.

Add the canned tomatoes, beans and corn kernels.

Then the chicken stock and spices.

Bring to boil.

Remove from heat and add the Philadelphia cream cheese.

Stir until creamy.

Add the shredded cooked chicken.

Warm through but do not boil.

Plate.

Top with a garnish of parsley and sliced red pepper.

Serves 6.

Serve with warm bread rolls or crunchy toasted bread as an accompaniment.  

The printable recipe is HERE

You will find a pounds and ounces to grams and oven temperature conversions HERE

Grab a cuppa, and visit

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Easy Fresh Apple Cookies

Christmas and New Year are done,

 with it all the naughty but nice food choices.

It's time to refocus and get back into the 'healthier' groove of things.

Fresh apple cookies are...

Super easy.

Super healthy.

Super quick to whip up.

Great for the kids to make and eat.

And a great pool party canape idea.  

I eat these for breakfast as they also make a perfect alternative to toasted bread with peanut butter.

These are so EASY to whip up.

Use a crisp, sweet, eating apple variety.

You don't want to use apples that are sour or of floury texture because they are well past their shelf life.

Slice the apple into rings and remove the core.

You get three slices from a medium to large size apple.

So one apple per person served.

Spread one side with peanut, almond, or a nut butter mix like the one shown.

Top with toasted chopped nuts and diced fruit.

(I used almonds and cranberries)

Adapt the nuts and dried fruits to your taste.

And some dark chocolate drops or chips if desired.

And that is it!

EAT and ENJOY!

Printable recipe HERE.

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#healthysnacks #applerecipes #nutbutter

Sweet Christmas Cookie

Sweet and doughy with chunks of dark chocolate and Toblerone chocolate. 

I am not sure why, but Toblerone is thought of as a Christmas gifting chocolate.

Maybe because the wrapping is shiny Christmas gold...the name is in bold red, or because the chocolate has nougat added to it.

Today we blended two types of chocolate - dark and Toblerone to create these delicious cookie dough-inspired  (a whole lot naughty) cookies for Christmas visitors to enjoy, and another batch to gift.

They last well in a sealed container in the pantry for a week.

But I give you just days...

and then you will have to bake more!

To make these delicious Toberlone and Dark chocolate cookies:

You Will Need:

170 grams (6 Ounces) Butter

1 cup fine white caster sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

One large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla paste or essence

1 cup of Dark chocolate flakes or chips

1/2 cup of ground almonds

2 cups white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 Toblerone Bar

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 Celcius (350 Farenheight)

Cream butter and sugars until creamy white and fluffy.

Add the egg.

Vanilla essence

Flour and almond

 and finally chocolates.

Add more flour if necessary to be able to mould into large balls,

Press lightly with your hand onto the prepared lined baking trays.

Then add a large chunk of Toblerone to the top of the cookie.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Leave to cool completely.

Store in a sealed container.

This recipe made 20 large cookies.

.

Printable Recipe HERE.

.

#christmasbaking #christmascookies

Lemon Meringue Mousse

Deliciously tart, tangy and OH SO CREAMY!

The lemon lovers will LOVE this light and airy dessert.

Lemon meringue pie inspired it's super simple to put together, and ready to eat in a few hours.

The yield is about 8 larger size ramekins.

Use smaller ramekins to treat more people.

Step 1:  Make the lemon base and cool.

Step 2: Make the meringue.

Step 3:  Fold the cream Fraiche into the cooled lemon base.

Step 4:  Use a whisk to whip the lemon mixture into the meringue.

Step 5: Spoon into ramekins.

Top with some finely grated lemon rind.

Chill for 2 hours before serving.  

Lemon Meringue Mousse is best made and eaten on the same day.

Adaption: Orange or mandarin can be used instead of lemon.

Lemon Meringue Mousse

• Makes 8 large-size ramekin servings

• Ingredients
• 3 Tablespoons cornflour (cornstarch)
• 3/4 cup fine white caster sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup of water.
• 3 medium size eggs
• 1/4 cup extra sugar
• 350 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) of Cream Fraiche (store bought)

• Instructions
• Mix the cornflour to a paste in a pot with some of the water. Add the rest of the water, the lemon juice and the caster sugar. Stir on heat until thick.
• Remove from heat, cool and whisk in the 3 egg yolks saving the whites. Set aside to cool.

• Make the meringue.
• Whip the egg whites until stiff. Add the sugar.
• Mix to a smooth meringue.
• Set aside.

• The next step is to fold the Cream Fraiche into the cooled lemon base.
• Use a whisk to whip the lemon mixture into the meringue.
• Spoon into ramekins. Top with some finely grated lemon rind. Chill for 2 hours before serving.

• Tips
• Can be adapted to orange, lime or mandarin instead of lemon.
• 
  

• The printable recipe is HERE
• Note: An ingredient conversion chart can be found HERE
• 
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• #lemondesserts #lemonmeringue #lemonmousse

Chocolate Crispies

Chocolate Crispies were one of those accidental discoveries...

I had been to the store looking for an easy go-to but healthier sweet biscuit option.

There I found puffed rice chocolate covered square biscuit.

Made in Holland, these rice biscuits were nice.

But not amazing to me.

The chocolate was dark and bitter.

I love dark chocolate, but not so dark that it leaves a bitter aftertaste.

Which to me was what these did.

While I was munching away on this treat, trying to decide if they were ok or not ok, I had a complete lightbulb moment.

Why not make my own version.

But with my most favourite dark chocolate on top!

Using my most favourite corn cracker.

So I did.

Thus Chocolate Crispies were born.

Such a simple biscuit treat to whip up.

It's a fun one for the kids to help make.

So...

All you need to do is:

Place 12 large round crackers on baking paper-lined trays.

I used 'Real Foods' corn thins brand.

They are made from corn and have a popcorn flavour.

Break up one block of Whittakers 62% dark cacao chocolate into a glass bowl.

 Microwave on high in 20-second increments until it is glossy and smooth.

Spoon the chocolate onto each rice round and spread out.

Refrigerate until set.

 Store in an airtight container.

These Chocolate Crispies are a top favourite with my family.

They are gluten-free.

Use dairy-free chocolate and you'll tick that box too!

YUM YUM!

You'll make these time and time again once you taste them - that's guaranteed.

Note: An ingredient conversion chart can be found HERE

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#healthyreats #homemade #yummystuff