Full of Heart(s)- A Breakfast to Remember!

Whether you feel Valentine's Day is a dumb "Hallmark Holiday" or a perfectly delightful reason to make love & not war-these thoughtful, inexpensive and romantical breakfast ideas will keep things warm & fuzzy, if you know what I mean... ;-)

Me and the hubster have been together for over 11 years now- more than 1/3 of our lives! And I can honestly say I can recall many of the Valentine's Day's we've spent together. It's a bit of a struggle for us in February because his birthday is the 13th & mine is the 21st, so often we have smooshed all the Feb events into 1 large celebration together. And let's face it- all this stuff costs money. Chicks want jewelry, flowers & expensive dinners for their birthday's, so it goes double for Valentine's Day!! And on the contrary, guys want a great meal (regardless of price) & something sport's related, like a new golf club or dry-fit shirt.

What are the commonalities? FOOD! It always goes back to food, as it should- and when it roles around to Valentine's Day, it doesn't matter if you think its a lame occasion or a perfect justification to devote all your love & attention to that someone special.

Breakfast, overall, is a very overlooked meal! Imagine on Tuesday, sneaking out of bed a little early in the morning to prepare a few of the following ideas, then turning on the coffee pot and letting the aroma awaken your lovie. I can almost promise the rest of the day will feel fantastic, and full of love:)

Ingredients & Recipe: (printable link)

Heart-Shaped Hard Boiled Eggs-
(idea from http://www.annathered.com/)

~ Eggs (as many as desired)
~ A milk or juice carton (cut open, washed and dried) -OR- ziplock bag box covered in a piece of plastic wrap.
~ A round chopstick or another round utencil
~ 2 rubberbands

1. First cut the milk carton or ziplock box in half, lengthwise. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap to keep things nice & clean.
2. Hard boil your eggs. Peel once it's cooked & slightly cooled. Set aside and keep warm until your "contraption" is all set.
3. Place the egg lengthwise (while it's still warm) into the box/carton. Place the chopstick or round utencil across the center of the egg, then place rubberbands on both ends.
4. Set the "contraption" into the fridge for a minimum of 10-15 minutes.
5. Finally, remove the egg from the "contraption" and slice in half. Your heart is now ready to serve to your love.

Other Great "Heart"-filled ideas for Breakfast:


Serve your warm egg with some yummy heart-shaped bacon. Perfectly place your uncooked bacon strips into the shape of a heart on your skillet. Cook it low and slow so it doesn't lose it's shape.

• 
• Use cookie cutters to cut a heart shape from a piece of toast, a few blueberry pancakes, or a slice of melon.

Wintery Warm Collards W/Bacon & Onions

I've been really meaning to try out a recipe with Collards- I always seem to let them go bad before I get to using them, and for that, Mother Nature, I am sorry! I'll tell ya what though, Mother Nature has created a wonderful, nutritious food within the Collard Green- full of cancer protecting factors, cholesterol-lowering abilities, and my personal favorite charactristic-they have many anti-inflammatory properties!

I combined a few recipes I found online to create my own version of a classic Southern side dish. My hubby had never had Collards before and was quite skeptical when he saw the tough, raw leaves- so he was very pleasantly surprised with the outcome of this warm, wintery dish- and I was too!!

Ingredients & Recipe:
Printable Recipe

• 1 Bunch of Collard Greens (you can also use Kale), de-stemmed & chopped into 2" pieces
• 4-5 slices of bacon, chopped into 1" chunks
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 onion, sliced thin
• 1 cup of water
• dash of nutmeg
• dash of cayenne pepper
• pepper to taste
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar (optional, I really encourage!)

Set your Dutch Oven or a deep pan over medium-low heat. Sprinkle in your 1" pieces of bacon and cook until almost crispy, then drain on a piece of paper towel and set aside.

Next, toss the onions & garlic into the bacon fat which was leftover in the pan, and cook gently for 5 minutes. Pour in 1 cup of water, the nutmeg, cayenne, regular pepper and vinegar, stir to incorporate everything together, and then begin to fold in the raw collards. Cover the pan and simmer on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the collards are tender and edible.

Finish by removing the lid for the last 5 minutes or so, and let as much of the liquid evaporate as possible. Toss the bacon back in just before serving to warm through, then serve!

You Could Also Try...

• You shouldn't need to add salt to this recipe, the bacon has enough salt already.
• Use Kale instead of Collard Greens!
• Use as a Holiday side dish!

SPECIAL EDITION! Is it a Bird? Is it a Plane? Is it a Train? It's Super Cookies!!!!! 4th Of JULY COOKIES...Compliments of a Rockstar!

One major advocate of the creation and implementation of NICHe in the KITCHe comes from one of the most delightful, resourceful, sassy, elegant, tenderhearted, classy - (okay, okay, I'll stop there, but you get the point)- friends I have ever had the deep pleasure of having! Little Miss Sara is the gal that always provides that confidence boost & support you may need when contemplating a dream or considering a new endeavor! I am forever indebted to Sara, A.K.A. "Rockstar", thus it is only appropriate that she assume the position of the first SPECIAL EDITION!

So I received the cutest email from my friend & fellow rockstar and this is a how it went...I present to you, the readers of NICHe in the KITCHe, "4th of July Cookies...Compliments of a Rockstar"...

"Hi Niche in the Kitche! I thought of you yesterday while I was in the kitchen doing my wifely duties by baking (obviously!). What better a way to spread love and excitement for the summer than to share my (stolen) 4th of July cookie recipe with you and all of your loyal followers?!

After almost two hours on my feet (I made a salad and cleaned the stove, too...), $12 bagged r/w/b M&M's from the dreaded Times Square store (thanks hubby!) and a lot of butter later, we think they turned out great -- and can't wait to share them with our family when we travel to Canada for the blessed Independence Day weekend! And yes...you heard right...this is year #2 that we've traveled 659 miles out of the country to Magnetawan, Ontario to celebrate our great nation's birthday (luckily they have fireworks there...but we're usually the only ones setting them off...yah!). And also year #2 that I've upheld the tradition of the homemade cookies traveling by plane and car to get there with us. (May I interject that these delightful cookies will ALSO be traveling by boat this weekend, probably more traveling that most of us lazy bones!)

So without further adieus and my rambling commentary -- here is the recipe stolen off some random site months ago. It's basically a chocolate chip cookie mix but with M&M's instead of chocolate chips. Enjoy! AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

Ingredients & Recipe: (Note: this recipe makes just about 40 cookies!)

Printable Recipe

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark, but light works well too)
• 1 scant cup sugar (I didn't know what scant meant btw...and they still turned out delish)
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon each - salt, baking powder, and baking soda
• 3 cups flour (you can use whole wheat if you'd like)
• 1 (11 oz.) bag of M&M's -- red, white and blue of course (just pick out of a bag if you don't have the $12 to spend)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugars. When creamy, add in eggs and vanilla. Sprinkle salt, powder and soda over the top. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing until well blended. Stir in HALF of the M&M's.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheets (Silpat mats are the BEST! I don't know what I did without them. Oh, yes, that's right...BURNED everything! Yum.) Bake for 8-10 min. (I did 10...) or until puffed and just beginning to brown on the edges. Remove from oven. IMMEDIATELY press a few M&M's into each cookie, tucking them into the dough a bit so they will stick. The colors stay really vibrant and visible, plus you have all of the ones that were mixed in with the dough!

You Could Also Try...

• FUN post-bake TIP from our lovely friend Beth Maxwell: Adding pieces of bread slices (1 or 2) to the Tupperware container helps to keep the cookies moist, soft and fresh! You can improvise with hamburger buns like I did, too :-) I heart this tip!!


• What the heck is "a scant" when it comes to baking measurement?--- Well, it basically means, No More Than. So if you have a recipe calling for 1 scant cup of sugar, it is basically telling you that you don't have to be so specific when measuring but just don't go OVER the 1 cup.

Parm & Thyme Rolls, No Need to Knead!

Well, its no secret that I love to cook and bake, but honestly, bread is something that I have yet to master, so when I saw this recipe in Cooking Light magazine, the whole "NO KNEADING" really excited me! If you don't know or haven't tried to make bread from scratch, it has about 129,298,876 steps- including mixing the ingredients, waiting, kneading the dough, waiting, letting the dough rise (more waiting), "punching" the dough down, letting it rise again (waiting some more), sometimes more kneading and then finally baking! I just don't have the patience or the technique (evidenced by a rough past experience) for all the waiting and kneading, but there is something really pure & authentic about the smell of fresh yeast & hot bread in your kitchen.

Like I said, I copied this recipe from Cooking Light magazine, but like I often enjoy doing, I switched up the herbs a little to my likings. And even though I didn't have to "knead" the dough, there was just enough work involved to give me some appreciation about homemade bread!

If you're on a low-carb diet, I highly recommend you cheat (just a little) for one of these rolls, especially if you're putting in some elbow grease!

Ingredients & Recipe:

Printable Recipe

• 1/2 tsp. dry yeast (like Fleischmann's brand, comes in a little packet in the baking aisle)
• 2 Tbls. warm water (not hot, not cool)
• 2 Tbls. olive oil (divided, meaning you will use 1 Tbls. at one time and 1 Tbls. at another time in the recipe)
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 Tbls. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

The Day Before:

Take out all your refrigerated ingredients (milk, cheese, egg) and let them get to room temperature). Spray the inside of a medium-large glass bowl with cooking spray.

Begin by placing the 2 Tbls. warm water in a large bowl. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water; let it stand about 5 minutes until it is bubbly. Right away you should be able to smell the distinctive "yeasty" smell- the beginning of bread!

Heat 1 Tbls. oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the thyme to the skillet and cook for about 1 minute until fragrant and percolating. Take the skillet off the heat and let it rest for a few minutes.

Add the thyme mixture and the milk to the yeast mix and stir with a whisk, followed by adding 1/4 cup of the cheese, the sugar, the salt, and the egg. Whisk until well combined.

Now, bust out a wooden spoon (ditch the whisk), and begin to stir in the whole-wheat flour into the mixture. Next, slowly start to mix in only 1 cup of the all-purpose flour. You will start to see a very sticky, gloppy dough forming. Finish this first part of the recipe by stirring in the rest of the all-purpose flour (1/4 cup), but stir in a few tablespoons at a time. The dough will still remain quite sticky but it will be smooth.

Place the dough in the glass bowl (the one you already coated with cooking spray) and spray the top of the dough very lightly with cooking spray. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid and refrigerate overnight.

The Day Of:

Prepare a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a floured work surface (you do not need to "punch" the dough down), and sprinkle it with a little flour. Roll the dough out to a rectangle, about 12 X 7-inch size. Brush the dough with 1 Tbls. of oil and sprinkle the rest of the Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup) over the dough, followed by the garlic powder and pepper.

Now, start to roll up the dough in "jelly-roll fashion", starting at the long side, and when you get to the other end, pinch the seam shut. Cut the roll into 8 equal slices and place each piece, cut side up onto the prepared baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel, and set the baking sheet aside in a warm place away from drafts and/or cool air for about 1-2 hours or until you see that the rolls have risen a bit.

When you are ready to back and your oven is preheated to 375 degrees, place the baking sheet in the oven for 12 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown.

Place the hot rolls in a basket wrapped in a kitchen towel so they can stay warm, or serve right away!

You Could Also Try...

• Use the same roll-baking method adding or subtracting whatever herbs you like. You could try rosemary, oregano or a mixture of herbs!

*P.S. Thanks to my hubster for taking pictures of these rolls! Not only did he eat them, he waited to take their photo:)

Roasted Garlic & Rosemary Chicken

We switched it up this year for Easter! Although a honey-glazed ham has benefits and is the traditionally served meat for this spring holiday, we opted for a healthier chicken breast recipe. And boy- the house still has the sweet aroma of roasted garlic and fragrant rosemary sprigs.

And I can't express to you how easy this was- I literally marinated these bad boys the day before, then slapped them on a baking sheet to roast- and POOF, look how gorgeous these birds turned out!

I do love a good slice of ham, but this tasty, garlicy, herby chicken wasn't missing ANYTHING on Easter Sunday!

Ingredients & Recipe:
Printable Recipe

• 4-6 bone-in chicken breasts, with skin
• 2 heads of garlic, 1 head-cloves peeled and smashed, 1 head- cloves just separated (no need to peel or smash)
• 2-3 Tbls. olive oil
• 1 Tbls. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper (I promise it won't be hot, it really adds good flavor though)
• 2 Tbls. dried rosemary
• 4-5 sprigs fresh rosemary

The day before, marinate your chicken for optimal flavor! Rinse each piece of chicken briefly and place them into a large zip top bag (it's okay if there is some water from the chicken in the bag, it will actually help keep the meat moist!). Pour the oil into the bag, followed by the kosher salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and the dried rosemary (Tip: lightly crush the dried rosemary before you toss it in the bag, do this by rubbing the rosemary in the palm of your hand with your opposite thumb, it breaks up the rosemary and allows all the fragrant oils to percolate). Also add in the head of peeled/crushed garlic cloves. Close up the bag, gently shake the chicken around to coat evenly (be careful not to poke the bones through the bag), and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight is best!

The day of, remove the chicken about 30 minutes before cooking to allow it to come close to room temperature (remember, cooking meat that has been given time to get the chill off of it, cooks much more evenly)! Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Place a piece of foil on a baking sheet.

Remove each chicken breast from the bag of marinade, leaving any marinated garlic cloves stuck in the chicken's crevices back in the bag. Place each breast, skin-side up, on the baking sheet. Now, place the sprigs of fresh rosemary all around & in between the chicken breasts, and finally, toss on the separated garlic cloves (not peeled) on and around the chicken. Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast for 50-60 minutes.

Use a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the breast to check for doneness (you want the meat to reach 160 degrees). Once you remove the chicken from the oven, let the it rest with a foil tent over it for at least 10 minutes before serving or cutting into it. (Patience, my friends, patience! Plus this gives you time to finish up your side dish). Remove the chicken from the bone before serving or serve the whole bone-in breast, whatever you prefer!

You Could Also Try...

• Now what do I do with all that roasted garlic? It's too delicious to toss so get some crusty bread or rolls, squeeze the garlic out of the skin and spread it like you would butter!
• Save your chicken-bones to be boiled with veggies to make your own chicken broth.
• Of course you don't have to eat the skin on the chicken- peel it off before eating, but definately roast WITH it on- it helps keep the juices inside, i.e. keeps the chicken beautifully tender! And all you had to do was an easy marinade and slap the birds in the oven!

Gingy Reindeer Cookies

How absolutely cute and creative are these cookies? I saw them in a new cookie cookbook and HAD to make them this season. What's even better? They taste fantastic!! I tweaked the "face" candy a little and will give you a few different options for application. And with a little help from a pre-made mix you can absolutely create these adorable Rudolph's for your upcoming Holiday festivities.

I had my hubby hit up Michael's craft store for me to get a few Holiday food take-out containers (99 cents each), so I can fill them and give the cookies as gifts to coworkers, friends and family. They will surely appreciate the creative, homemade snacks!

Ingredients & Recipe: (about 1 dozen cookies)

Printable Recipe

• 1 box of gingerbread mix (14 oz.)
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbls. vegetable oil
• 2 Tbls. all-purpose flour
• bag of small pretzel twists
• black & red M&M's or jelly beans
• 1 Tbls. leftover frosting (optional)
• cooking spray

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your cookie sheet by lightly spraying with cooking spray, or use Silpat baking mats.

Begin by combining the gingerbread mix, eggs, oil and flour in a large bowl. Stir until dough forms. Roll, in your hands (like you used to do with Play Dough when you were a kid), 1 1/2-inch balls of dough. Flatten each ball out into a 3-inch oval shape, use your fingers to shape the "head", lay it on the cookie sheet (be sure to give each cookie a little room to grow in the oven). Press the pretzels into the top of the head, to look like antlers.

Now you have a few options for completing the cookies, and assembling the eyes and nose:

1. Press the M&M's or jelly beans into the raw dough. Bake for 10 minutes, until the bottom of the cookies are firm. Transfer the cookies to a cooling wrack to cool. OR


2. Bake for 10 minutes, until the bottom of the cookies are firm. Transfer to a cooling wrack. Dab a bit of frosting where the eyes & nose should go, and then place the M&M's or jelly beans (the frosting is essentially our glue).

Thanksgiving Pizza- Liberated Leftovers!

I've been trying to thing of what the heck we can all do with the leftover Thanksgiving food that we will inevitably all have, either from hosting the family gathering or will have packed up for us to take home. I don't know about you but I can only have so many turkey sandwiches before I don't want to see another one until after the new year!

Let's begin a "leftover revolution" and LIBERATE, RESCUE & UNCHAIN our Thanksgiving leftovers from its depressing, monotonous and unemotional existence!

I welcome to you: Thanksgiving Pizza! (You can thank me later!)

Ingredients & Recipe:

Printable Recipe

• 12" prepared pizza crust, like Boboli or follow the easy directions to bake up a Pillsbury crust
• 1/2 cup of gravy
• 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes
• 1 cup leftover turkey, shredded or chopped into smaller pieces
• 1-2 cups of other leftovers such as stuffing, green bean casserole, corn, etc...
• 1 tsp. dried thyme (optional)
• 1 tsp. dried sage (optional)
• 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

Assemble pizza by spreading gravy on prepared pizza crust, followed by spreading mashed potatoes, sprinkling turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole and any other leftovers you feel would be tasty! Top with herbs and cheese, then bake 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted.

You Could Also Try...

• Try using the smaller, personal-size pizza crusts so everyone in your family can create their own Thanksgiving pizza.
• Save yourself time and dishes! Instead of dirtying a million food storage containers, assemble the pizza right after Thanksgiving dinner, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. Take from fridge to oven!

15-Minute Pumpkin Pasta

Yup-it's no joke! You can totally make a yummy seasonal pasta dish in 15 minutes! Have it this weekend before trick-or-treating, or you could even make this for a Holiday dinner in the coming weeks. A can of pumpkin puree is pretty easy to find in the grocery store aisles this time of year, so there are no excuses to you not getting into the autumn season and pumpkin-pasta'ing it up! Get to it people!

Ingredients & Recipe:
Printable Recipe

• 1 pound of whole-wheat pasta (try penne, bow tie or rotini)
• 1 white onion, chopped
• olive oil
• 1 (15 oz.) can of Pumpkin Puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf/Italian parsley, chopped

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water (follow the boxes directions on timing). Once pasta is al dente, drain and reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.

Drizzle a little olive oil into the same pot over medium-low heat, and begin to saute the onions and a little S & P. Cook about 5 minutes, until onions are tender. Stir in the pumpkin puree and heavy cream, bring to a boil and stir the pasta and reserved pasta water back into the pot. Toss in Parmesan cheese, stir, season with more S & P to taste. Sprinkle with parsley before serving.

You Could Also Try...

• Add a cooked vegetable into this pasta, like steamed broccoli florets or asparagus chunks.

Lupi's "Mr. Willis" Pumpkin!

Chive & Parmesan Smashed Potatoes

It is getting closer to the time of year where we fill our belly's with all kinds of delicious holiday foods! Chances are good that you'll need to bring a side dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas or another family get-together, so I thought I'd post a few of the Holiday recipes I've made in recent years. First up to bat; not your typical mashed potatoes!
Ingredients & Recipe: (Yields 6 servings, so cut or double as needed)
Printable Recipe

• 3 lbs of Red Potatoes (unpeeled, washed well)
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1 stick of unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sour cream (I prefer low-fat)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• S & P, garlic powder (to taste)
• 3 Tbls. chopped fresh chives

Roughly chop the potatoes and place in a large pot with a handful of salt and cold water (enough to cover the potatoes). Bring up to a boil, then turn heat down to simmer, cook for 30 minutes, until very tender. Drain the potatoes, return to the same pot.

Meanwhile, during the last 5 or so minutes of the potatoes cooking, begin to warm the milk and butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Pour the warmed milk/butter mixture into the drained potatoes and begin to mash with a potato masher until you get to your desired consistency. (Careful not to OVER mash or else the potatoes will start to get a paste-like consistency). Use a rubber spatula to fold in the sour cream, chives, S &P, and a dash of garlic powder. (Add more milk/butter mixture as needed).

Transfer to a nice serving bowl, top with a little extra chive and serve to your family! They'll love you once they taste these cheesy, flavorful, carb-olicious tators! I mean, the holiday season isn't about holding back, but at least we've kept the potato peels in the recipe for some added fiber:)

You Could Also Try...

• Not eating right away? Transfer to a nice serving bowl that is also oven-safe. When you get to your family's home, throw the bowl in the oven on a low temp for 20 minutes to warm up.
• Smooth leftovers over a bowl of vegetable soup, bake for 15 minutes and enjoy some faux Shepherd's Pie.