Wonderful (cheap) eggs

Eggs are always on top 10 lists of cheap healthy food, and I decided to let that be my guide for dinner tonight. While I've always considered a frittata to be a lame way of presenting breakfast for dinner, I must say that I enjoyed every bite of my eggy meal tonight.

I thought you may want to know the other food on the top 10 list...

Top 10 Healthy & Cheap Foods
1. Black Beans $0.07/serving and 114 calories/serving
2. Eggs $0.09/serving and 78 calories/serving (cage-free eggs may be a bit more expensive but the chickens are happier)
3. Cooked noodles $0.13/serving and 166 calories/serving
4. Oats $0.19/serving and 140 calories/serving
5. Frozen vegetables ~$0.25/serving and ~82 calories/serving
6. Potato $0.23/serving and 168 calories/serving
7. Canned Tuna $0.62/serving and 70 calories/serving
8. Bananas $0.20/serving and 100 calories/serving
9. Apples $0.60/serving and 80 calories/serving
10. Lowfat milk $0.35/serving and 100 calories/serving

And for the Frittata recipe...

Sausage-and-Cheese Frittata
10 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 (12-ounce) package reduced-fat ground pork sausage, cooked and crumbled
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese

Whisk together first 4 ingredients at least 1 minute or until well blended.

Melt butter in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium heat; remove skillet from heat, and pour half of egg mixture into skillet. Sprinkle evenly with cooked sausage and cheese. Top with remaining egg mixture.

Bake at 350° for 15 to 20 minutes or until set.

For a little variety...

I know that I baked biscotti this past weekend, but I was especially drawn to another recipe by our friend Giada. In my opinion, you can never have too much biscotti. It keeps for up to 4 weeks in an air tight container and is a perfect accessory to a cup of coffee in the morning. I must add that I am especially enjoying my coffee this week, since it was a present from my favorite food guru Bridgey! Biscotti also makes a wonderful gift (I took a bag of citrus biscotti and almond biscotti to my coworker today to help ease the Manic Monday).

Citrus Biscotti

(Giada de Laurentiis, Everyday Italian)
2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 Tbsp. grated orange zest (1 orange)

1 Tbsp. grated lemon zest (2 lemons)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped shelled pistachios

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat baking mat. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs with an electric mixer until pale yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the orange and lemon zests, then the flour mixture, and beat just until blended; the dough will be soft and sticky. Stir in the pistachios. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Using a rubber spatula, transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet, forming 2 equal mounds spaced evenly apart. Moisten your hands with water and shape the dough in 2 11 x 4-inch logs. Bake until the logs are lightly browned, about 35 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut the logs crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick diagonal slices. Arrange the biscotti cut side down on the same baking sheet, and bake until the cookies are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Soup Sunday

Balancing my last hours at home between brewing beer with my Dad and baking/cooking with my mom, I decided to make an easy and light soup for this post-holiday Sunday. Because I haven't yet posted an Asian infused soup, I decided upon this recipe. Enjoy!

Wonton Soup

8 cups Chicken Stock

1 cup cremini mushrooms

4 green onions, chopped

1 Tbsp. low sodium soy sauce

1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil

10 to 12 wontons

Heat stock to a simmer. Add mushrooms and green onion. Simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes. Add wontons. Cook for an additional 2 minutes. Season with soy sauce and sesame oil.

**Meat can be added by using frozen Trader Joe's chicken pot stickers instead of wontons**