weekend visitors

This weekend Nic's best friend, Greg, and his girlfriend, Christina, made the trek down south to visit.  We had a seriously jammed packed weekend full of conversation, wine, beer, racquet-balling, guns, food & documentaries.



Greg, Nic and myself go all the way back to high school where we all rocked out the back of the bus clique on the nordic ski team.  Yep, we were cool!

Greg is the world traveler out of the three of us and Nic and I work really hard to visit him wherever he goes.  We've made it to Alaska - about the tamest place he's been.  Since, he has lived in India and Kenya.


Getting ready to embark on a three day, 36 mile (or maybe it was just 20 some miles...) backpacking trip in Alaska.

The four of us go "way-back" and even began a tradition of getting together for a yearly camping extravaganza.  Okay...so we only have met up once a few years ago, but I know that it is a tradition that will pick right back up as soon as they stop traveling the globe.

Look at us young kids!


The first (and only) annual S-E camping extravaganza in Okoboji, Iowa

Thankfully Greg and Christina, being the world travelers that they are, are not picky eaters at all - and were totally down with vegan/vegetarian fare that I concocted today and yesterday.  I experimented quite a bit and have a few good to awesome recipes that are worth remembering and including into our monthly meal rotation.

We all rolled out of bed quite late on Sunday morning, thanks to daylight savings time and the copious amounts of wine, beer and whiskey we drank last night. Actually, I was up early, being the good hostess that I am, baking up a storm before the guests stirred their weary heads. Before I set a toe on our chilly floors, Nic informed me that the coffee was ready to go and all I had to do was hit start, and then promptly rolled over and went back to sleep.  What a saint!

For breakfast/brunch I baked up loaded muffins and an awesome feta, olive & mushroom quiche. Both recipes are keepers.

Loaded Muffins


These cinnamon spiced muffins are studded with apples, raisins, coconut and carrots. With no butter and very little oil, these are a dense muffins that are perfect start to a lazy weekend morning when paired with a hot cup of coffee!


In the mix::

• 4 T ground flax
• 4 T warm water
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 t cinnamon
• 1/4 t nutmeg
• 1/4 t ground ginger
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 1.5 bananas - mashed
• 1 apple - diced
• 2 carrots - grated
• 1/2 cup honey (or maple syrup)
• 1 T molasses
• 1 t vanilla
• 1/2 t almond extract
• 1 T canola oil
• 3/4 cup lite coconut milk (or other milk)

Pre-heat oven to 350*

In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of the flax with 4 tablespoons warm water.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons flax with the dry ingredients (flour, oats, salt, spices, baking powder and soda, coconut, raisins, and nuts).

In a small bowl, combine wet ingredients (mashed banana, apple, carrots, honey, molasses, vanilla, almond, oil and coconut milk). Stir in your flax "egg."

Fold wet ingredients into the dry mixture. Do not overmix.

Pour batter into a muffin tin (I had enough batter for 16 muffins).

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.



Check that out! Seriously dense and every single bit is loaded with great flavors!

Feta, Mushroom & Olive Quiche with a Quick Oatmeal Crust


A lovely combination inspired by the flavors of Greece! The olives and feta provide a nice salty bite and make this quiche one to remember - even for the husband, a self proclaimed hater of quiche!

This was a last minute addition to our morning brunch as I was expecting Nic to create some of his awesome weekend eggs + potato hash dish again. But when he did not roll out to the dining room until nearly 9:00 (or was it 10??!), I knew I needed to dish up a heartier brunch for both him and our guests.

In the mix::

• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 cup oatmeal
• pinch salt
• 1 T olive oil
• 4-5 T almond milk (or other milk)
• 1/2 onion - chopped
• 1 clove garlic - minced
• 5 baby bella mushrooms - chopped
• 1 very large handful spinach - chopped
• 8 eggs
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 10 kalamata olives - pitted and chopped
• 1/3 block of feta cheese (about 1/2 cup)

Pre-heat oven to 350*

In a bowl, mix flour, oats and salt. Add olive oil and 4-5 tablespoons of almond milk, mixing until it begins coming together. I used my hands and stopped adding the milk while the mixture was still a bit crumbly.

Press dough into a greased pie plate and bake at 350* until slightly browned.

Meanwhile, over medium heat, lightly coat a pan with olive oil and saute onion, garlic, and mushrooms until soft. Add spinach and saute until it just begins to wilt.  Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat eggs with almond milk.  Stir in onion and spinach mixture and then fold in the olives.

Crumble the feta over the partially baked pie crust.  Pour egg mixture into the pie crust and return to the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until middle is slightly jiggly and edges are browned.



I love love love having the cheese on the bottom of quiche.  I find that when you mix the cheese into the egg mixture, you tend to lose the taste and sometimes when you top the quiche with cheese it can get overly browned.

The crust, while simple, is awesome.  Crunchy oats, whole wheat flour and no butter = amazing!  I'd take a guess that you could probably omit the olive oil and it would be just as tasty!

Sadly, all good weekends must come to an end.  After sitting around the dining room table for a few hours over coffee, bags were packed and our guests were ready to hit the road.  We all caravanned up to Iowa City to grab a farewell drink (water for most of us!) and a light lunch.

It was seriously a great weekend and Greg and Christina were instructed to sing the praises of Iowa when they return to Minnesota to try to get a few more of our friends down here for a visit!!

I'll have to recap Saturday in a different post.  Be ready as it will be an interesting one including stories of racquetballing, shooting, beer, wine and quite possibly one of the best curries that I have ever eaten.