Food of (P)interest

I've been just about the worst #HAWMC / WeGo blogger in the challenge for the past two weeks -- week 3 was all about "phoning in" my posts, and week 4 was about... well, just not writing them. 

In the spirit of health, specifically mental health, I realized that what I needed in order to be healthy was a blog break.  I feel bad -- guilty, even -- that I did not fulfill the requirements of the challenge, but hey -- something's gotta give.

So where've I been? 

I've been here.  Working.  Cleaning.  Doing yard work.  Meeting with contractors.  Decluttering the house.  Moving things into storage. 

The Hubs and I have decided to put the house on the market (YAY!!!!!!!), and we have a lot of work to do to get it ready (boo).  We've given ourselves a bit of a self-imposed 30 day deadline to get things done, but there is a LOT to get done, so we're also trying to be realistic.

But apparently this is how we roll -- since getting engaged in July, we've planned a wedding, gotten my house ready to sell, gotten married, opted to RENT my house, gotten the house ready to rent (inspections, etc), rented and filled a storage locker while moving me into The Hubs house, and now we're furiously getting THIS place ready to sell.  The first order of business was to upgrade our storage locker and move everything over -- we now are the leasers of a storage locker bigger than my freshman year dorm room -- and after a weekend of organizing, boxing, and moving, it is only half full. 

This is good. 

Not only do we have plenty of room, but if we try to kill one another during this stressful process, there's plenty of room for a bed. ;-)

Next up is oodles of yard work, while we wait for the contractor bids to come in: painting, light bathroom remodel, 3 new windows, new garage door, yard work, painted basement floors.... the list goes on.

Today, while The Hubs sleeps, I found myself in a familiar Sunday routine that makes me really happy. 

Cooking.

Oh yeah -- when I get stressed, this is something that soothes me (so is exercise, and I'm off to do that next).  I love the art of combining ingredients to make a finished product -- I love that it is all about vision, creativity, and a little bit of science.  And in following the Pinterest "obsession with all things edible and mini," I decided to FINALLY try a recipe idea that has been hanging out in my brain for a month or two, ever since I saw my college friend Mark (a fellow foodie, but something we didn't discover we had in common until post-graduation), post something similar on Facebook.  It got my brain cranking on how to modify the concept for my particular tastes and needs, and based on foods I normally have in my fridge.

I give you:

Prosciutto Quiche Cups

These are perfect for the low carber, as the crust is made from meat, and it doesn't really have carbs, other than that found in the half and half.

It didn't occur to me to photograph my adventure until some of the ingredients were already mixed -- and this is going to be one of those super annoying "I didn't pay attention to how long" posts, so bear with me:

1 packet of prosciutto
5 eggs (you could/should probably use 6, but I only had 5 on hand)

2 TBSP soft goat cheese (I went with the herbed variety, because I had it on hand)
2 scallions, chopped
A really big splash (1/4 cup?) of half and half (you could probably try 2% milk or ff half and half in place -- I accidentally bought REAL half and half last week and now I might be addicted to it in my coffee.  Oops).
Salt and pepper and other seasonings to taste (I used a squirt of my beloved Umami #5).

Grease a small muffin tin and set aside.
Preheat oven to 400.
In a small bowl, mix eggs, half and half, scallions, cheese, umami

Carefully separate the prosciutto and line the muffin tin compartments with the prosciutto -- this is a little bit tricky as it tends to rip pretty easily. 

In fact, I'd recommend you buy two packets of prosciutto, as I was about 2 slices too short.

(You can use the remaining prosciutto and goat cheese in a few days to make prosciutto wrapped chicken for dinner)

The prosciutto doesn't have to be perfect - in fact, when I went to eat these delicious things I found that the imperfections in the layering of the prosciutto meant that some bites were soft and some were crispy, which was delicious and the differences in texture kept things interesting.

Pour the liquid egg mixture into the cups; sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for about 20 minutes

(this is the annoying part - I went into the other room to fold laundry, and didn't come out to check on them until they started smelling good, at which point the tops were still a little jiggly, so I let it cook for another 5-10 minutes.  sorry).

 They should lift out pretty easily when done, I just used a dinner fork.

I served them (to myself!) with a side of grapefruit with just a TINY sprinkle of sugar on it -- the sweet /tart / sour of the grapefruit really complemented the salt and savoriness of the quiche cups.

The Numbers:
4 WW points each

134 calories
2 grams carbs
10 grams of fat
10 grams of protein

Aren't they pretty?

Now that I've spent the morning cooking and caffeinating, it is time for a run (walk?) -- the sun is shining for the first time in days... the windows are open, and anything is possible... which is good, since this will be my first outdoor run since September!

Off and running,
Jessica