What My Crazy Pregnant Self Did Today

I was starting to feel like a loser for not getting the "nesting" instinct. Surely by 32 weeks (tomorrow), it should have started, right?  So in a fit of frustration I forced myself to organize my twins' closet, retrieve things the newbie could use and I went crazy in the kitchen... Managed to make Kale Chips, Chard Chips, Parsnip fries, hamburger buns, three swiss chard/garlic scape quiches (to be frozen for post baby days), rhubarb tea and granola bars.  My feet were about ready to fall off after I finally washed the final dish.  I've been immobile on my butt since, but at least I can say I had a productive day! Here are recipes/instructions for what I made:

Kale Chips:  Simply "de-bone" (is that what you call it?) the kale by tearing the green stuff from the stem stuff.  Do this with a bunch of the kale. Place it on a cookie pan. Drizzle some (NOT TOO MUCH) olive oil, sprinkle with mineral salt and mix it up. Bake in a preheated 275 degree oven for about 20 minutes.... I never time it, and it never seems to burn. Just gets nice and crisy :) Same rules apply to the Chard Chips.

Parsnip Fries:  Still perfecting this one, but today I washed and peeled four parsnips with a peeler thingy, then I cut each one into three sections, after that I cut each section into wedges about 1/8 inch thick.. put them on a cookie sheet, sprinkled them with olive oil, garlic and some rosemary. Baked at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.  After about 10 minutes of baking stir the parsnips around a bit.


Swiss Chard/Garlic Scape Quiche: (NOTE: I have not yet taste tested these. MAKE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!)
Quiche Crust

Quiche Filling:
-1.5 cups of grated cheese of choice (my favorite is Gruyere)
-4 teaspoons of flour
-1/3 bunch of garlic scapes, washed and prepped (cut off bulbs and cut into 1 inch pieces)
-A few swiss chard leaves, washed and chopped very small.
-handful of sundried tomatoes. Chopped small 
-3 eggs
-2 good squirts of Dijon mustard
-1 cup of milk (or half n half if you're feeling too damn skinny!)
-1/4 teaspoon of salt
-Freshly grated parmesan for the top

1) Make the crust. Its easy, just do it. Recipe link above quiche filling instructions.

2) Fill the quiche crust with the grated cheese, add the flour and kind of mix it up with your hands. You could also mix the cheese and the flour separately in a bowl, but then your just adding a dish to wash later. I try to minimize unnecessary crap.

3) Top evenly with the scapes, chard and sundried tomatoes.

4) Whisk eggs, mustard, milk and salt in a separate bowl.

5) Pour over quiche filling as evenly as possible.

6) Grate some fresh parmesan cheese on top, as much or as little as you want.

7) Bake in 400 degree preheated oven for about 50-60 minutes. Or cover it and put it in the freezer for future nights when you just don't wanna.

Rhubarb Hibiscus Tea

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Hamburger Buns


Nesting instinct or no, I think I can be happy with the amount of "nesting" done today.  Even if forced!