Zucchini, Bacon, and Gouda Quiche

I combined a few quiche recipes to come up with this reasonably healthy one.  You can use any cheese you want; I just happen to love smoked gouda and I thought it would go well with the bacon.  The 3 egg-to-3 egg whites-to-1 cup milk ratio appears to be pretty standard in "healthy" quiches, so you can apply it to any regular quiche recipe that uses heavy cream.


Difficulty: Easy
Yield: 1 quiche (4 servings?)

1 refrigerated pie crust
1/4 pound bacon, coarsely chopped
2 medium zucchini (3/4-1 pound total), halved lengthwise and sliced thinly crosswise
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 eggs
1/2 cup egg whites (approx. 3 egg whites)
2 oz smoked gouda, coarsely grated (approx. 1 cup)

Preheat oven according to pie crust package directions.  Place pie crust in a 9-inch pie pan.  Cook according to package directions and set aside.  Change oven temperature to 350˚F.

Over medium-high heat, cook bacon in a 12-inch pan until crispy.  With a slotted spoon, remove bacon from pan and place on plate lined with paper towels.  Rendered bacon fat will remain in the pan.

Add 1/4 tsp salt to the pan and stir.  Add zucchini to pan.  Cook until fully tender and starting to brown.  With a slotted spoon, remove zucchini to a plate.

Add milk, remaining 1/4 tsp salt, and black pepper to a small sauce pan.  Cook over medium heat until just boiling and remove from heat.

Add eggs and egg whites to a medium/large bowl and whisk.  Slowly pour milk into eggs while continuing to whisk vigorously.  Whisk until all milk has been added and thoroughly combined.

Add bacon, zucchini, and smoked gouda to the egg/milk mixture and stir gently.  Pour contents of bowl into baked pie crust.

Bake on middle rack for approximately 30 minutes, or until filling is firm.  Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Perspective

I often struggle with perspective.  The grass is always greener and all that...  Sometimes the grass really is greener when the lawn belongs to someone with family money or a whole lot of luck.  Sometimes the grass only looks greener; sometimes it's really dead grass that's painted green.

The numbers are astounding.  The average American household with a credit card has $15,950 in credit card debt.   I walk around at work and see people with Coach handbags and Michael Kors shoes.  People go out to lunch everyday and buy $10 meals.   I get upset and wonder why I don't have those things in my life.  I work hard. I have a good job.  In fact, I have the same job that these people have.  Where's my Coach clutch?  How come I can't seem to find $50 per week for lunch in my budget?

Then I remember ... Most Americans have more credit card debt than savings.  I'm lucky that my household is the opposite.  I pay my bills on time and pay my credit cards off every month.  I live within my means.  And what do I have to show for it?

The part of me that struggles with perspective would say that I have nothing.  Nothing to show for it.  Hard work, dedication, budgeting has only brought me worry, sleepless nights, disappointment.    That part of me is what is wrong with America today.

I have a lot to show for my efforts.  I have good credit and that credit has allowed me to finance a car and a house at extremely reasonable rates.  I have a house full of furniture and modern electronics.  I am able to pay for upgraded cable and internet to utilize those electronics to their full potential.  I am able to buy little things for myself and other people on a regular basis.  And I even put money into my 401(k).

It is difficult to put life into perspective.  Commercials inundate you with the newest thing.  You don't really need it; your life will not be dramatically better with it.  The people you have in your life are important.  Food on your table and a roof over your head, those things are important.  The release date of the newest iPhone should not have any bearing on your happiness.  The number of designer pumps in your closet should be irrelevant.  But it's not.

Instead of buying things to make my life better, my new resolution will be to improve my quality of life without purchasing anything at all.  Step 1: Wake up tomorrow and run. Reduces stress, increases energy.  The only cost is time and effort.

...Although, it's probably a bad sign that the first thing to pop into my head was that I need to buy new headphones.  Oops.

Six for Sunday?: National Book Awards

Amazon posted the National Book Awards: 2011 Finalists recently. Here are six books I would like to read (in no particular order):

1. Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman. I'm not usually a huge fan of short stories, but I love strong characters and that's what this books seems to offer.
   
   
2. The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht. This may be the book that I'm most interested in reading. For some reason, a good title always gets me. Also, I can't resist a good book written by a young person.
   
   
3. Shine by Lauren Myracle. I absolutely love books about small towns in the South. Don't know why, but they usually have some sort of "overcoming adversity" theme to them that I guess I relate to.
   
   
4. Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt. How can you resist a book about a misfit kid who loves the library?
   
   
5. Chime by Franny Billingsley. Historical teen fantasy is not usually my cup of tea. But if you're going to read another one, I guess it should be the one up for a National Book Award.
   
   
6. Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai. I'm suspicious of something that is "written in accessible, short free-verse poems", but the story looks really good. It's at least worth a try.

So glad my Kindle now works with library ebooks! :)