Veggie Egg Bake Brunch

So.

It's Monday.

Actually, I'm writing this on Sunday night while I rub my eyes, wishing it wasn't Sunday night/Monday morning, and that it was still mid-weekend. But it isn't. The good and bad news is that Daylight Savings has happened yet again. I'm psyched for a longer evening of light, but admittedly I really hate losing that hour. I'd say it might be my least favorite day of the whole year. The only thing that made this day so much better?

Brunch!

That's brunch with one of my longest friends, Tanuja, and her fiancee Ravin. They trekked out to Jersey City for a little brunchy with Shaun, Penelope and me. It was so fun to see them.

Tanuja and I met in college at NYU. We've been friends for about 15 years. She is getting married in May and I am so so thrilled for her. I cannot wait for her wedding in Dallas. I can't wait to see her get married, and it's going to be a great girls weekend! We also did a little shopping for wedding attire for me. I plan to wear a sari as it's a traditional Indian wedding and I can't even tell you how excited I am about this!

Before we picked out the most beautiful sari (seriously I'm obsessed!), we started the early afternoon at our place with all the food. We kept it simple with some bagels and spreads - veggie cream cheese, olive cream cheese & maple walnut cream cheese (yum) - and Penelope and I made this awesome veggie egg bake.

So I kind of broke the cardinal rule of entertaining. I decided to try a new dish for company. This is dangerous on so many levels, but it looked really delicious and healthy and I just wanted to give it a try. I'm so glad I did.

This dish was a team effort. I chopped and sauteed an array of vegetables - bell peppers, scallions, mushrooms - while Shaun and Penelope mixed up the eggs, milk and seasonings. Penelope had the job of cheese spreader. She was so great at this. She was so excited to help and sprinkle the yummy shredded cheddar cheese all over the top. And she so so loves cooking, you guys. It makes me so happy. Like so so so happy. So.

What I love about this veggie egg bake is that it tasted eggy, but not compacted eggs like a frittata. I'm kind of at a point in my life where frittata just isn't cutting it. This was one loaded casserole of vegetables, eggs and cheese. So much flavor and decadence but absolutely no guilt. The original recipe called for diced ham which I think would be fab, but I wanted to make this vegetarian. We didn't miss the meat at all. Next time I'll try it that way, perhaps. Otherwise, I followed this recipe pretty closely. I hope you try it...it's going to be my new go-to for brunch hosting!

What did you do this weekend?

Do you have a go-to brunch dish?

Have you ever had olive cream cheese? ...it was awesome!

Happy Friday!

 

How was your week? My week went well, but I'm still battling a mild and weird stomach bug or flu. I was supposed to fly out to Iowa yesterday, but my trip was canceled due to this crazy weather. Hopefully what they say is true: that March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. I had to share the above photo with you because it's a prime example of Mom getting excited about something (this DIY Dr. Seuss shirt), and Penelope just hating all over it. While it was a rough morning, I have to look at this and laugh. Just keepin' it real for you. What are your weekend plans? Penelope and I are joining my mom and sisters for wedding dress shopping tomorrow, a potential date night with Shaun tomorrow evening, and then we are having friends over for brunch on Sunday. And most of all, I'm just hoping this plague passes us by sooner rather than later!

I hope you all have a wonderful and fun weekend! Here are some links to keep you distracted today!

These Lucky Charms marshmallow crispy treats look awesome

I'm going to try this paleo shamrock shake copycat

These dainty little sugar cookies look so cute and easy

Earlier this week was Dr. Seuss' birthday! Here are some Seusstastic quotes.

Love this behind-the-scenes from the creators of Always Sunny about how they didn't want to add Danny DeVito to the cast

A lesson in how to raise nice kids

Penelope is really becoming a snack monster and so I'm looking forward to trying these sunbutter energy bites for a healthy option

Would you drink this Peeps milk?

This low cal Mexican hot cocoa looks like a great easy treat

8 first time Mom mistakes. Yep.

What I Ate: Possible Tapeworm Edition

Hi there! So I was really excited for this week's What I Ate Wednesday, until I got something of a stomach bug that started on Sunday evening. I had prepped lots of great food that I knew would make an awesome post, and yet I haven't actually eaten much of it :\

I'm still in that limbo place of not quite feeling sick enough to be home in bed, but feeling sick enough to not want to eat. Yesterday I was actually feeling a bit hungry, and so I documented my eats. I didn't actually eat all of the below, but I tried! And it didn't make me feel better or worse for wear. So not sure what that means, but since I'm flying out to Iowa tomorrow, here's hoping that I feel better by then! Also, just keepin' it real...the lighting on all of my photos was just terrible, so these are heavily filtered to make them look even semi appetizing. Enjoy!

Shocking, but I skipped my coffee today. Just not feeling it! I started the day with a diet ginger ale from the office fridge.

By lunch, I actually did feel a bit hungry. I had made this really delicious egg salad on Sunday for lunch for the week and I decided to give it a go. I put some atop a romaine heart and toasted sandwich thin.

Around 4pm, my stomach sort of felt ready for a little more food, so I had an apple, sliced up, and 1 tbsp of creamy peanut butter.

To add insult to injury, my commute home last night really blew. It's the only way to describe it. I'll spare you the details, but I was on Penelope pick up duty and ended up being late to get her. We rushed home in the icy, wintry mix. To perk up the evening, I let P sit on the island while I prepped dinner and we danced to some Motown classics on the Jambox.

For dinner, we shared some skillet chicken parm (no flour or breading and it was awesome!) and some veggie pasta topped with parmesean and skim ricotta cheese.

Honestly, I was so beat after not feeling well and my horrible ride home that after P went to sleep, I went straight to bed also. It felt so good! I'm still struggling a bit today with this virus or tape worm, or whatever it is, but at least I'm rested.

I hope you're having a great week! What are you eating this week?

PS: for lots more WIAW eats, see Peas & Crayons (the original!) and I Hate Running!