Christmas Quiche Made Small

So I might be one of the few people who have never made a quiche. Growing up, quiche was what old people ate, so I never really saw the appeal. 

Earlier in the year, my aunt made a great quiche while we were visiting and Carlie, my foodie, has not let up about me learning how to make one.

Christmas morning (ish) seemed like a great time to give it a try. What does a non-recipe follower do to learn how to make quiche? Watch a YouTube video. Well, actually several YouTube videos. I had a general idea of what I wanted to put in ours and mad sure we had all of our ingredients. I even had a stroke of genius and decided that cream cheese belonged in quiche. Can you say “Yummy!”

After our YouTube marathon, each adult picked a part to tackle and we got to work.

I learned from the pumpkin pie debacle at Thanksgiving and found a pre-made Polish pie crust.

I cut the cream cheese in chunks and laid it over the crust.

Jason fried bacon and that became the next layer.

We sautéed mushrooms, onions and garlic that were layered in next.

Then came cheese. I mixed cheddar and parmesan. 

Finally we beat up a bunch of eggs, added salt, pepper, and heavy cream. Our method was definitely not the Lite version.

We poured the egg mixture over the cheese and popped it in the oven.

And oh my goodness, YUMMY! Definitely a new tradition in the Luttrull household.

Since we liked the quiche so much I decided to make a much lighter version in muffin pans to freeze in preparation for our kitchen renovations.

I used the same basic method.

 I still used a tiny bit of cream cheese, left out the bacon and the crust, added lots more veggies, and swapped almond milk for heavy cream.

They are not Christmas quiche good, but they definitely make a great, easy-to-warm-up breakfast for all of us now that we are back on the go in the mornings!

Happy Belated Holidays!

The Holidays were very different for us this year. 

You know there is the obvious – we are celebrating in Poland! But we are different this year. 2013 changed each of us. We have been pushed past where we thought our limits were. We have learned so much about ourselves and about who God is making us.

Thanksgiving officially kicked off the celebrations. This year we had the privilege of hosting new friends and even a few people we didn’t even know! 

It was not the loud and crazy carb-loaded feast that we have grown accustomed to. It was nice though. We really reflected on the things we have to be grateful for. 

Oh, and I attempted to make pumpkin pie. That was an experience that I don’t plan to repeat. Let’s just say the crust won the war!

We were so blessed to have Hayley (my sister) and Bo (my cousin) come to visit for 9 days during Christmas time. Their visit made things a little less emotional for the Luttrull girls. Jason is a rock. We tried our very best to squish as much Poland into their visit as possible.

A major highlight was our train trip to Krakow. It is a beautiful city about 3 hours south of Warsaw and is known for having wonderful Christmas markets.

 

They did not disappoint! The girl’s even got to ice skate while we were there.

We had the privilege to host a fun Christmas celebration the weekend before Christmas. I planned to take lots of pictures, but I was too busy having fun! I did manage to snap a shot of some of the goodies we made for the festivities.

The best surprise of the season was that Carlie got a new kitten, Polka. She has been begging. I really don’t like animals – AT ALL. Somehow she still got her way. I was actually as excited as everyone else to surprise her with it. Her reaction was priceless.

A four course Christmas dinner has been my tradition for years. This year I decided to dial it down and enjoy the day with my family. We actually watched a movie! A more low key meal was worth having the extra time. I attempted to bake my first turkey. That, too was an experience that I have no plan to repeat. Let’s just say vegetarian Christmas dinner!

We decked the halls, celebrated with family and friends, had a visit from Santa, and loved on each other. All the makings for a very Merry Christmas!

Set A Goal.... Or Else!

Oh my word! I have drafted so many posts in my mind since the Holidays, but never found the time, energy, or spirit to actually start typing. I’m generally one of those, ‘If you can’t say something nice, say nothing’ kind of girls. It’s not that things have been bad. CHRISTMAS! Things have just been adjusting. So I know I have some catching up to do. I’ll be working on that over the next few weeks.

What I want to share is about New Years Eve at the Luttrull’s. We didn’t really want to make plans because we were all pretty worn out. After company and Christmas, a quiet night in didn’t sound too lame. Or maybe I’m just getting old. I’m not sure.

So since we were all just hanging out, I decided to try something that I read about in some article somewhere. If you haven’t noticed, my brain is a bit blurry with details these days. Also, maybe a sign of getting old!

During my 10 years working with Mary Kay Cosmetics, one of my strengths was teaching goal setting. My mother taught me the concepts of effective goal setting early. I started making goal posters for myself in elementary school. When I am achieving things and in a good place, you can count on the fact that I am working towards a goal. Goal setting in my personal life is just a part of me. Somehow, I have fallen a little short in passing this trait along.

I can give you 100 reasons that I have held off (boring). Let me just sum it up with – I was afraid of being THAT WEIRD WOMAN. You know, the one that does things differently. Too far out of the box for my comfort zone.

I didn’t really plan it. I just had a moment of clarity (or craziness) and walked upstairs and got paper and markers. I marched the girls and J into the living room, and announced that we were all setting 2014 goals. One might imagine that my children and husband were excited and eager for my little project, but they would be dreaming. At first it was like pulling teeth.

Goals should be specific.

Goals should be something that you can control.

Goals should have an end date.

Goals should be something you are willing to work to achieve.

It became my mantra for about 3 hours. It took some work, but we did it!

The Luttrull’s have goals that we are each striving for this year, personally and as a family. We have a plan for how to reach our goals. And most importantly, we have each other to cheer us on and hold us accountable.

It’s going to be a good year!