Recipe Round-up: Baked Eggs with Spinach & Tomatoes

You all know by now, I love a recipe that is easy to whip up, and that has room for some substitutions and/or additions. One of my absolute favorite food bloggers is Beth of Budget Bytes; which is where today’s mouth-watering recipe is adapted from. Beth’s blog showcases meals, that are not only delicious, but also budget-friendly. And trust me, I am no chef extraordinaire, but every one of her recipes that I have tried, have been fabulous. The other night, I was in the mood for something on the lighter side, but more importantly, for something quick. Little did I know how filling this was, and the best part, is you can add any vegetable or herbs, you happen to have on hand. While the recipe didn’t call for it, I had some broccoli, and green bell peppers, which I ended up just throwing in there. And I topped mine with garlic scapes, but feel free to toss on any herbs that you may have lying around; there is plenty of room for creativity with this dish.

Ingredients

Some frozen spinach, thawed
a pinch of garlic powder
Red pepper flakes (depending on how much you like spicy)
Salt and pepper
1 medium Roma tomato
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp cream or half and half
¼ cup shredded cheese (a creamy cheese works best, I used Havarti)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a casserole or pie dish with non-stick spray or with butter. Thaw the spinach and squeeze out most of the moisture (I didn’t have much time, so I used the microwave to defrost).
2. Cut the tomato into chunks and place them in the bottom of the casserole dish (I also removed the watering middle section of the tomato to avoid a runny dish).
3. Sprinkle the spinach over the tomato.
4. Season the tomato and spinach with the garlic powder, red pepper flakes, a pinch of salt, and some freshly cracked pepper.
5. Crack the eggs on top of the spinach and tomato. Drizzle the cream over everything in the dish, then top with the shredded cheese. Bake the dish in the oven for 8-12 minutes, or until the whites are opaque, but still soft and moist (they should jiggle slightly when you shake the dish). The exact cooking time will depend on the size and shape of your dish, so begin checking at around 8 minutes.     

May Days

I know I’ve been MIA all week, but I’m back! I got all of my wisdom teeth removed and the recovery totally kicked my ass. For those of you who have yet to take these suckers out, I hope you never have to experience the pain that is dry socket. But, I’m feeling much better and while I spent the better part of last week confined to my room (let’s be honest, my bed) I did manage to actually leave the house and get some much needed fresh air and Vitamin D over the weekend, so I’ve posted some snaps from Saturday and Sunday. The European Embassies opened their doors to the public on Saturday for their yearly open house event and Sunday the weather was perfect so I went out to brunch, although my food options were quite limited considering that I’m still on a partial liquid/soft food diet, and then just strolled around the city. Also since my last couple posts, I’ve taken out my braids and am now rocking my natural hair, so let me know what you all think. Happy Monday!

         

Late Bloomers

One of the many highlights of life in Washington DC has to be spring time (all 2 – 3.5 weeks of it) and the cherry blossoms that bloom during this time. This year, they were predicted to reach peak bloom over this past weekend and I have to say, they did not disappoint. Luckily for me, and the myriad tourists who have descended on the city, the weather cooperated and we had a beautiful sun-filled and cloud-free weekend. Yesterday, my roommate, her boyfriend and I attempted to avoid the throng of people by going on an early outing to take in the sights. It surprisingly still pretty crowded, but nothing like what you would find from noon to about 6 p.m. We planned on watching the sunrise, followed by a breakfast picnic in the tidal basin area. Waking up before 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning was anything but fun, however, it was well worth it in the end and turned out to be a refreshing start to the day. Hope everyone is having a happy Monday!

C’est la Vie

Via We Heart It

Yesterday the unthinkable happened -I lost my phone. Like a lot of people, I think of my phone more like an appendage than a mere electronic device. I use the alarm feature every morning, read the news during my morning commute, listen to music on my walks to and from work, access social media, write reminders to myself, take pictures, check email, avoid getting lost, stay in touch with friends and family, and the list goes on and on.

Yesterday there were a series of unfortunate, and seemingly unimportant, incidents which eventually resulted in my phone being left on a metro car as I got off. The most frustrating part of the debacle though is that I had the Find my Phone app and was able to see exactly where my phone was. When I contracted the metro police I was told that because my phone was not physically taken from me, it was technically a loss and not a theft, so neither the metro police nor the regular police could get involved in retrieving the phone.

Via Pinterest

I went through a myriad of emotions, I was calm, sad, furious, mocking, panicked, annoyed, and finally resigned. Eventually I realized that while it makes no sense that a lost item which is then stolen is still just considered lost the eyes of the law, at the end of the day, I was still the reason the phone was lost. I was distracted and left my phone on the metro. Yelling at the bearer of bad news, who came in the form of a very nice metro officer, would do nothing to bring my phone back and would only make me feel that much worse. So instead, I accepted the fact that my phone was gone, put on my favorite sweatpants, and finally watched the first episode of Orange is the New Black while stuffing my face with pound cake. And I have to say I woke up this morning feeling relatively good. I picked out a fabulous outfit (to be posted tomorrow), put my figurative big girl pants on, left for work ,and ordered myself a brand spankin’ new iPhone 5c. As the French say “c’est la vie.”

Via Pinterest

Via Pinterest

In the Trenches

Yesterday I was lucky enough to attend a forum co-hosted by the organization I work for and drum roll please...the White House. Last year Joe Biden was the special guest and the year before that it was the President of the United States himself, Barack Obama. Unfortunately for me, neither POTUS nor VPOTUS was there, but the event was still an amazing experience and I was thrilled to get to go into one of my favorite buildings in DC the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Guest speakers included Tina Tchen - Michelle Obama's Chief of Staff, Donald Verrilli - Solicitor General (aka the guy who argues on behalf of the US government in front of the Supreme Court), Tony West -Assistant Attorney General, and Kathy Ruemmler - the President's General Counsel. My favorite speaker was probably Ms. Tchen, she was very lively and gave a great talk; but of course every speaker was very well received. There was also a panel discussion on public-private partnership in the civil legal services field. In honor of the event, I knew I needed a fabulous (though muted) outfit, considering that the crowd would be White House officials, some congressional representatives and big honchos from the legal community. I thought this red dress would be perfect, as the color is amazing, and the peplum detail is stylish, yet understated. It was another beautiful day in DC so I threw on a light trench, and some heels and I was ready to go. I know green and red are a combination most closely associated with Christmas, but I really liked the two together. What do you guys think?

Happy hump day!

Weekday Wants: Flatlining

This gallery contains 25 photos.

I don’t know about you guys, but when I look through my favorite blogs, or my pinned outfit inspirations, I am sometimes a little jealous over the ease with which these ladies seem to rock heels on a daily basis. I have neither the budget nor the arches to support this habit. And on top of that, I (like …