Week 8 is almost here! I hope the recipes I have provided have helped keep you out of a rut and enjoying the nutrition plan! Today I'd like to share some recipes from vegetarianquiche.com. Coach Marcey inspired me to check out quiche recipes when she whipped one up for an NGPT vet who was off her feet for awhile. Quiche may sound daunting to make and fatty with a crust and cheese, so what do we do? Eliminate or change those! This site has some vegan quiches that are egg-free or use tofu in place of the eggs. Some of them make use of my beloved nutritional yeast flakes that I discovered to make Melty Pizza Hummus (check out that blog from around December 2012!). Crusts can be made with almond flour but note that how decreases portion size (1/4c almond flour = 1fat). Check out these recipes or others from the site!

Heat oven to 400. In saucepan, heat olive oil on med heat. Add garlic, onion, peppers, mushrooms, and leeks. Cook 8-9 min stirring constantly. Add spinach and broth/water, stirring well. Add nutmeg, and thyme. Cook another 5 min and set aside. Reheat mashed potatoes. Add nutritional yeast, turmeric, and saffron (water and threads) to potatoes and stir well. Add vegetables to potato mixture, stirring thoroughly. Place filling into pan, and smooth with spatula. Thinly-sliced tomatoes may be added on top for decoration. Bake for 30-35 min. Notice this recipe has no protein! You can have this as a carb side with a grilled chicken breast and salad for a filling L4 protein/carb meal!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large skillet, saute mushrooms and onion in 2-3 Tbsp water until almost tender. Add well-drained spinach, and cook on med-low heat until all moisture is evaporated (~5 min). Add flour and stir. Place mixture into 9-in pie plate coated with cooking spray. In med bowl, combine remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour into pie plate and bake 45-60 min or until center is set. Allow to cool for 5 min before serving. Also could make mini-quiche appetizers. 8 egg whites (or 4 eggs if you so choose) make this quiche 4 good sized servings. With the bit of almond flour and Parma! (which is made of walnuts), each of 4 protein servings would have about a 1/2 fat serving with it. It was rather bland so I might try with 4 whole O3 eggs and increase the seasonings a LOT but I liked the large portions :)

Saute garlic, mushrooms and onion in oil. Add red peppers, broccoli, and spinach to mixture and set aside. Mix eggs, milk, salt, and maybe a bit of nutmeg in blender, until smooth consistency. Go crustless, and bake at 350 degrees for ~1 hr, or until center of quiche filling is firm. Makes 3 protein/veg servings.

Here's one if you want to make an almond-flour crust:

Crust:

Directions:

Directions:

Heat oil in large skillet on med heat. Saute onion in oil until translucent (3 min). Add remaining veggies, sauteing until soft (6-8 min). Pour in whisked eggs. Pour into crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 min until edges are slightly browned. Let cool 10-20 min before serving. Without crust, this makes 3 protein/veg servings. With crust, there are 6 servings so you could have another 1/2 protein serving (up to 2 oz - could add meat to filling in this case).

Consider making one of these tonight or early tomorrow to have throughout the weekend for easy meal prep - reheats just fine! Quiche are great for breakfast or pair with fruit or a salad for a light lunch or dinner! Have an amazing weekend and we'll power through week 8 as we approach that final bootcamp weigh in! Feast with a crust, feast without a crust, but as always...FEAST ON!!!

~Coach Lauren