Our friend showed up at my house with this box yesterday. This box full of eggs. Apparently his hens are happy hens.

So with those eggs I made this for dinner last night:

You know me and my obsession with frittatas. It’s my go to dinner when I don’t have a dinner to actually go to.

I just posted the recipe for this Greek Pepper and Onion with Feta Frittata over on Family Kitchen this morning…go grab it and enjoy.

More frittata love:

Zucchini Frittata from Aggie’s Kitchen

Kale and Parmesan Frittata from Aggie’s Kitchen

Spinach, Mushroom and Red Bell Pepper Frittata from Bev Cooks

Asparagus, Spinach and Feta Cheese Frittata from Two Peas and Their Pod

Cheeseburger Frittata from She Wears Many Hats

**Giveaway Now Closed** Congrats to Erika of Itzy’s Kitchen!

You are going to want to make this granola. I insist that you make it, actually. Not only will it make your house smell incredible, but it is the perfect snack to take with you while you are running errands in the car, watching tv, or just playing around on the computer. It’s great sprinkled over yogurt or even some vanilla ice cream. I warn you though, portion it out because you might be surprised at how much you can eat of it in one short sitting. It is definitely addictive.

This Cranberry Spice Granola recipe is the first of many recipes I have flagged from a new cookbook written by my colleague and blogger friend, Kelsey…also knows as The Naptime Chef. I’ve been following Kelsey’s blog for years, and recently got to know her even better through writing for Babble’s Family Kitchen blog together.

What you will love the most about her cookbook (which is now available on Amazon) is that there is something for everyone in the book. The premise behind her blog, and now her cookbook, is that you don’t have to compromise on good eating after having kids because your time is limited. Kelsey finds a way to create and recreate recipes that fit into a busy parent’s schedule. And I love the “naptime stopwatch” she includes with every recipe, making it easy to plan ahead.

A few dishes I’m anxious to try are Orzo with Artichokes, Tomatoes and Pine Nuts, Soba Noodle Salad, Baked Sesame Tomatoes, Sticky Orange Drumsticks (my daughter will LOVE these!) and the Artichoke Lasagna. Did this list just make you as hungry as it did me?

In the meantime though, I’ll just continue to snack on this granola.

If you have never had homemade granola, then you’re in for a treat. Homemade granola is incredibly versatile, change it up based on what you have on hand. I happened to be out of the pecans that were called for in this recipe, so I easily subbed in sliced almonds.

Cranberry Spice Granola
Recipe from The Naptime Chef, with permission

1/3 cup vegetable oil (I cut this down to about a 1/4 cup)
3 cups old fashioned oats, not quick cooking)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (I used the unsweetened variety)
1 cup chopped pecans (I used sliced almonds)
1 teaspoon sea or kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large rimmed baking sheet with a little vegetable oil or non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine oats, coconut, nuts, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Gently stir together with a spoon until the oats and spices are completely mixed. In a separate bowl, combine oil, vanilla extract, maple syrup and apple juice or cider and pour over oat mixture. Stir the oats carefully and gently until completely combined and coated with the liquids.

Spread the oat mixture on your baking sheet in an even layer and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, take your baking sheet out of oven and carefully stir the granola so that it will toast up evenly. Place back in oven and cook for an additional 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove pan from oven and add cranberries to granola, stirring to combine. Let cool.

Once cooled, store in a cool dry place in a container with a tight fitting lid.

Giveaway:

One lucky winner will receive their own copy of The Naptime Chef cookbook

Starts today, Saturday, March 10 and ends Thursday, March 15 at 12 noon (EST)

(Sorry, giveaway open to US readers only. Winner will be chosen randomly using Pick Giveaway Winner plugin application – winner will be notified by email and have 48 hours to claim prize or another winner will be selected.)

To enter into the giveaway:

Leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite snack is.

Additional Entries can be earned by:

(leave a separate comment after you complete each item, each comment will count as an entry)

1. “Like” Aggie’s Kitchen on Facebook. (if you already a fan, let me know, that counts as an entry!)

2. Follow @AggiesKitchen on Twitter (if you already follow, let me know, that counts as an entry!)

3. “Like” The Naptime Chef on Facebook.

4. Follow @TheNaptimeChef on Twitter

5. Share about giveaway on Twitter: “I want to win The Naptime Chef cookbook from @aggieskitchen http://su.pr/19C84T #giveaway ”

6. Share about giveaway on Facebook with link to this post.

7. Subscribe to Aggie’s Kitchen RSS feed.

(and of course…I’m required to tell you…)

Disclaimer: I received my own copy for review for this giveaway but as always my opinions on this blog are always my own.

I’m a coffee drinker. I love my coffee first thing in the morning…so much that I’ve finally trained figured out a way to get my husband to make it for me every morning. It’s simple, it gets me out of bed with a smile and I need it to function. I’m so glad that my family understands this. This is good.

Now, I like my cup of hot coffee in the morning (is there anything better than that FIRST sip from your mug…???), but what I also love is my mid-morning iced coffee that I started treating myself to this past year. I basically just started dumping the leftover coffee over ice instead of down the sink…it was one of those ‘duh, why didn’t I do this sooner?’ type of moments…

It’s a nice pick me up after I work out, or drop off the kids at school, or to take with me as I run errands. It’s a perfect mid-morning or afternoon treat. It really is.

And it only takes seconds to make.

For me, it’s two (well actually three) ingredients: leftover coffee, ice and a couple of splashes of my favorite Silk French Vanilla creamer (perfectly sweet enough!)

Perfection. Yum.

************************************************************************************************

Have you tried Dunkin’ Donuts coffee? I know you all have tried their donuts…but have you tried their COFFEE? It’s my favorite. You have to taste it.

I discovered Dunkin’ Donuts coffee a few years ago when my first baby was still a baby. I was a sleep deprived mom then and I spent most every afternoon at the park with my friend Allison running our boys around. We got into the habit of stopping by Dunkin’ for a BIG iced coffee and enjoying it together in the hot Florida sun at the park (or on the way to Sea World, library, mall, you get the picture…). This is how I got hooked on Dunkin’. (their convenient drive-thru, the fact that they actually put the cream and sweetener in the coffee for you, and the cake donut holes were a bonus too!).

So did you know that you don’t have to go through a drive thru or sit in a park to enjoy a big Dunkin’ coffee? I’m happy to know that I don’t anymore. You can pick it up at your grocery store or at Target, or pharmacy or pretty much where ever they sell coffee and enjoy it at home. I usually pick up Original Blend, but I have my eye on some of their seasonal blends and the Cinnamon one too.

Find out more about Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and where you can buy some here. And if you want to hear about promotions, receive coupons and find out about any special offers, you can sign up here.

I want to give you some of their coffee (and some mugs too!)…

Giveaway:

One lucky winner will receive one bag of Original Blend, one bag of Decaf and 2 Dunkin’ Donuts mugs

Starts today, Thursday, January 19 and ends Wednesday, January 25 at 12 noon (EST)

(Sorry, giveaway open to US readers only. Winner will be chosen randomly using Pick Giveaway Winner plugin application – winner will be notified by email and have 48 hours to claim prize or another winner will be selected.)

To enter into the giveaway:

Leave a comment on this post telling me how you like your coffee. (light, dark, iced, flavored, sweet, cream, milk, soy, sugar….etc etc)

Additional Entries can be earned by:

(leave a separate comment after you complete each item, each comment will count as an entry)

1. “Like” Aggie’s Kitchen on Facebook. (if you already a fan, let me know, that counts as an entry!)

2. Follow @AggiesKitchen on Twitter (if you already follow, let me know, that counts as an entry!)

3. Share about giveaway on Twitter: “I want to win a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee prize pack from @aggieskitchen http://su.pr/2USNsH #giveaway ”

4. Share about giveaway on Facebook with link to this post.

5. Subscribe to Aggie’s Kitchen RSS feed.

(and of course…I’m required to tell you…)

Disclaimer: I have received product and compensation from Dunkin Donuts for this giveaway but as always my opinions on this blog are always my own.

My kids went back to school yesterday. I seriously can’t believe our summer break is officially over…though our summer surely isn’t. It’s still hotter than heck and not much is changing for a while other than our schedule.

One of the best parts of summer, other than the obviously fun activities that come along with it, is definitely the fruit. You can’t beat summer fruit. Especially peaches. Gosh, do I love peaches. My favorite are the ones that come from Georgia and the Carolinas…those are the ones I look for around this time of year, they smell so darn good. I love popping one in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours then slicing it up into a glass of red wine…that’s my grandpa’s version of dessert…and that’s another post for another day.

My kids and I have been playing with our new Blendtec the last few weeks. We are blending up everything in sight. One hot afternoon, my daughter and I made this juice. Just like most 4 year old girls, my daughter loves anything pink. When asked what ice cream flavor or smoothie flavor she wants, her response is always “pink”. Not strawberry, but pink.

This juice is delicious. I call it juice because it’s made from pure fruit and that’s what I think juice should be made of, but it’s a little thick with the texture of a fruit smoothie. Whatever you want to call it, it’s yummy and really good for you. Mine blended up very easily in the Blendtec. If you are going to try it in a regular blender I would recommend defrosting the frozen berries first and adding a couple of ice cubes to it. I’ve made this two times now, once using frozen raspberries and 1/4 cup of apple juice and another time using frozen blueberries and 1/4 cup water. Both versions were delish and I will probably opt to not use the juice and just stick with water next time.

Don’t forget to enter to win a Blendtec here. Giveaway ends Friday August 20 at noon (EST).

Good luck!

Peach-Berry Juice

1 large juicy peach, sliced or chunked
1 cup frozen raspberries or blueberries
1/4 cup water or apple juice

Put ingredients in the pitcher of your Blendtec and press Whole Juice button. Enjoy!

If using a regular blender, run berries under water to defrost slightly before blending. Add 1 or 2 cubes in addition to the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth.

Who wouldn’t want to start their day with a plate of this?

I’m sharing my favorite Breakfast Toast over at the Family Kitchen today…stop by and say hi!

Have a great day!

…whatever you call them, these smoothies are g o o d for you.

I’ve been hooked on green smoothies for a couple of years now. I discovered them on a couple of healthy living blogs that I follow and after finally getting the courage to try one they have become a permanent member of the breakfast and snack category in this household.

My husband and son enjoy these smoothies as well…the only one who hasn’t bought into them yet is my daughter. I offer her one every time I make them and am sure one day she’ll come around. Last year, I set up a smoothie bar in my son’s PreK class room and was impressed when 18 out of 19 preschoolers voted this smoothie their favorite over a berry smoothie (we made both kinds in the class and had a taste test, then vote). The kids loved them, and their green mustaches too.

Enjoy your green smoothie for breakfast with a hard boiled egg and whole wheat toast, or for a post workout snack. I love having them in the late afternoon to hold me over before dinner.

I’ve seen them made a couple of different ways, but I pretty much make them the same every time. Fresh spinach is key, and so are ripe frozen bananas. I always have a ziplock full of banana chunks in the freezer…they are perfect for sweetening up smoothies and making them nice and chilled but not watered down with ice. Now, if you don’t have any frozen bananas, no worries, just add 2-3 ice cubes to the mix.

Best served immediately. Enjoy!

Green Smoothies

Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen

1 cup plain or vanilla almond milk (go with vanilla if you have more of a sweet tooth)
1-2 handfuls fresh spinach leaves
1/2 ripe frozen banana (if your banana is not frozen, add 2-3 ice cubes)
1-2 tablespoons ground flaxmeal

Combine ingredients in blender and blend for 1 minute.

Every time I tell the fam we are having breakfast for dinner I always get a unanimous “yaaaaaay”. Seems to be popular in other households too. My favorite thing to eat when it comes to breakfast for dinner is usually an egg dish of some sort. Kids prefer pancakes or waffles. Husband will eat pretty much anything.

I was feeling lazy Saturday night so I decided it was going to be a BFD night. I wanted simple over medium eggs and a bagel, but was craving something more than just fruit on the side. I found a lonely little (well medium) sweet potato in the pantry along with some red onions. I chopped them into a small dice (skin still on the potatoes) and threw them into a hot skillet with a little bit of oil. I spiced them up with a pinch of Aleppo pepper, another pinch of smoked paprika, and of course salt & pepper. It took them no time to cook up and they turned out to be a perfect company to my fried eggs.

Of course a little green Tabasco made them that much better.

Do you like breakfast for dinner?

Simple Sweet Potato and Red Onion Hash
Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium-large sweet potato, peeled or unpeeled, diced small
1 medium red onion, diced small
a pinch of Aleppo pepper, or your favorite chili powder
a pinch of smoked paprika
a pinch of garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste

In a hot skillet over medium high eat, add olive oil and diced sweet potatoes. Let cook for about 5 minutes until slightly browned. Add onions and cook for an additional 4 minutes till soft. Add pinches of chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 or so minutes until potatoes are soft.

Delicious under a over easy egg, and with some green Tabasco sauce.

Other Sweet Potato Hash inspirations:

Sweet Potato Hash with Adobo and Fried Tomatoes by Vanilla Sugar

Sweet Potato Burritos by Vanilla Sugar

Sweet Potato Hasbrowns by Sweet Pea’s Kitchen

Oven Roasted Sweet Potato Hash by The Other Side of Fifty

I have had cranberry on the brain lately.  I’m craving cranberry everything for some reason.  I want to make this Cranberry Orange Quickbread that I baked up for Thanksgiving last year…and while I’m at it, make some of this Apple-Orange Cranberry Sauce that I fell in love with too.  Now, I’ll have to tell you, I’m not really a big fan of cranberry by itself…for me the flavor is a little too tart on its own, so I prefer it paired with something a little sweet, like orange or apple.

The other day I decided I had to have a cranberry nutty cream cheese spread for the little bagels I picked up at the store.  I pictured this spread on everything…sliced apples, grainy flatbreads, turkey sandwiches…or for me, apple sandwiches (I love apple and peanut butter sandwiches so just envision the spread in place of PB on a whole wheat sandwich thin with crisp thin apple slices…crunch…and yum.).  I thought the cranberry nutty cream cheese spread was a novel and brilliant concoction and googled it for “ideas”.

Apparently it’s not that novel.  I found exactly what I wanted to make right here at the Cranberry Marketing Committee of all places.  They are ahead of the game I guess.  Oh well.  I added sunflower seeds to my spread and have been enjoying it on mini whole wheat bagels for a post run snack this past week.  My mom loved it at breakfast yesterday and asked for the recipe…so here you go Mom!

This would be great to bring to any holiday brunch or breakfast…it’s best served at room temperature so take it out early!

Cranberry, Nut and Seed Cream Cheese Spread

Recipe slightly adapted from US Cranberry Committee

(printable recipe)

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons agave syrup (or 1/4 cup honey as original recipe suggests)
3/4 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest

Combine cream cheese and agave (or honey) in a medium mixing bowl. Use a mixer or wooden spoon to combine until smooth, then stir in cranberries, walnuts and orange zest. Use immediately or refrigerate covered until ready to use. Best served at room temperature.

Hope everyone is enjoying their holidays…we have been busy spending time with family and friends the last couple of weeks so my blogging time has been quite limited.

But don’t think for a second that I have been too busy for the kitchen…

I will be posting recipes to all these yummies soon, but since you’ve probably had your fill of sweets and such this past week, I wanted to do something fun and different here at Aggie’s Kitchen.  Over the next five days I will be posting my favorite recipes of 2009.  These are recipes that were cooked and loved over the past year and with the help of my husband I was able to narrow it down to our top 5 favorites.

Check in each day and enjoy the countdown! 

One of our favorite breakfasts ever…if you like your food with a kick this is a must try for you!

#5 Chorizo and Eggs