It’s safe to say that if a dinner involves ham, it also involves Easy Cheesy Potatoes.  This is everyone’s favorite side dish in our house, and a potluck favorite as well.  And did I mention?  It is oh-so-easy to make.

This ranks right up there as one of my favorite restaurant recipe knock-offs.  What I like best about it now that I’m on a lower fat diet is the ingredient versatility.  You can substitute Egg Beaters,  fat free cream cheese and ricotta cheese, as well as butter substitutes to make it more health conscious.  It’s a winner either way.

Spinach Cheese Pie

Ingredients: 

1 – 16oz pkg. phyllo dough, thawed
1 /2 cup butter, melted
8oz cream cheese, softened
24oz ricotta cheese
4 eggs, beaten
1 – 10oz pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 medium onion, finely chopped

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Butter or spray bottom of 9x13x2 baking dish with cooking spray.
• In medium bowl, combine cream cheese, ricotta cheese, onion, spinach and eggs.
• Layer 1/3 of phyllo dough flat in the bottom of the baking dish and drizzle with 1/3 of melted butter.
• Using pastry brush, spread butter to cover all phyllo dough in the bottom of the pan.
• Spread mixture evenly on top of the phyllo dough.
• Cover mixture with half of remaining roll of phyllo dough and drizzle with 1/2 of remaining butter.
• Spread the butter to cover the dough  using a pastry brush again.
• Repeat the previous two steps with remaining phyllo dough.
• Score top layer of dough into diamonds by cutting diagonally.
• Bake 1 hour until golden.
• Cut through scored lines to serve.

There is egg salad, and then there’s egg-a salad…said with a French accent to try and emphasize how special it is.  You know where I’m going with this.  You have eggs.  I have so MANY eggs.  This is lunch….and breakfast….and dinner.

Egg Salad Wraps

Ingredients:

2-3 Whole Wheat, Multi-Grain or Spinach Flatbread (I use Flatout)
6 Large Hardboiled Eggs
1/3 cup Light Mayonnaise
1 Stalk Celery, chopped finely
1/2 small Vidalia onion, diced (Yellow or red are fine, too.  You can also dice a small shallot, but I won’t pay extra for them.)
1 tbsp Relish (sweet or dill)
2 tsp Tarragon (you can swap this out for Dill, if you prefer it.)
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
1/8 tsp Ground Pepper
Tomato Strips (sliced rounds of tomato – sliced again into strips)
Romaine Lettuce Strips or Baby Spinach

Directions:

• I’m assuming you’ve already got mountains of hard boiled eggs around.  If you don’t, fill a saucepan two thirds full of water and boil.  Add eggs and cook for 11 minutes.  Pour off water and rinse eggs with cool water.  Peel and chop.

• In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, mustard, relish, tarragon, salt and pepper.  Fold in eggs, onions, and celery until incorporated.

• Slightly left (or right) of the center of the flatbread, line it with lettuce and tomato strips.

• Spread egg salad on top of the lettuce and tomato.

• Wrap tightly, starting your fold with the short edge of the flatbread.

• Serve immediately.  If you’d like, you can refrigerate them for an hour or two, then cut them into rounds.  It helps retain the shape.

Let’s face it,  my writing mission here has been subverted and usurped by the holiday chaos and deals.  Sure…sure…I enjoy a good deal as much as anyone, but I used to spend an equal amount of time writing about things that interest us AND good deals.  In that vein, I’ve been working behind the scenes here again…rearranging the main page, adding things and prepping for the 12 month series that is likely going to make a year look like it’s only 6 months long – given the snail’s pace I seem to use as a guide.  You know, the usual.

But getting  back on track, if only for a moment, I found something fabulous I want to share with you!

You already know there are a few things I really love and wouldn’t want to live without.  Ok, ok, if you can’t remember, one is Nivea Body Wash and one of the others?   Nescafe Stick Packs.  I know…surprise, I’ve been hooked by their crummy campaign.   I don’t use them all the time. BUT they’re so darn convenient. AND I’m so draggy in the morning that it’s a great mindless alternative to dealing with *real* coffee.   And yes because-I’m-sure-you’re-wondering, I actually pay for them.  That part is so dumb that it almost…ALMOST takes the wind from my sails…yet not.   Mostly because I refuse to think about it.

But this last one?  It is said with nary a smile.  This is serious business.  My creamer.  You know how I feel about my creamer.  Since we can’t have nuts in the house, I heart my fake hazelnut creamer. Yes, I’m partial to Coffee-mate, and that’s that.  Coupon or not.  Sale or not.  If I’m out, I’m out, and that’s that, too.

Well, I recently had a severe creamer crisis.  I didn’t have any, and the kids weren’t up yet….groan.  GROAN.  Now, this may seem overly dramatic and/or cliche, but let me tell you something –  It is not.  I don’t call my children tasmanian devils for nothing.  If I can’t start my day in silence with my coffee and my computer, well, I can’t be held responsible for my insanity.  I cannot drink my coffee without creamer. I may as well stay in bed if I’m forced to use milk.  Just forget it.  I’ll have visions of  becoming one of my children, tantruming on the floor, while they stand and watch ME.   Standing still being a first for them and all.   And as usual, I wouldn’t even get to enjoy it.  Typical AGAIN.

So for as much education I’ve attained in my 38 years, you’d think I’d be somewhat adept at problem solving.  I’m not.  If you’ve been here 5 minutes, you know my theory about *Book Smart* vs. *Life Smart*.  The first giving  the best clue regarding its usefulness.  I’m smart about books.  Yep, that won’t help change a tire.  So, because I had sticks with no means to start a fire, I mentally moaned and groaned that I was out of creamer.  What was I going to do???  I didn’t want to wake up the loons.  I mean, they hadn’t had enough sleep and…I didn’t get past that point.

More shuffling…moaning…and then…LIGHT BULB.  I’ve got it!  My husband!  Surely he’ll drop everything he’s doing at work to get me some creamer.  *Ring…ring*  A syrupy “Hiiiiii, I was just calling to say hiiiiiii.”, poured out next.    He was onto my game…and he was busy.  Oh-kay, surely not.  ”Nice try, babe.” was all I got.  Oh, and an, “I love you.”

Ohhh-kay….desperation was setting in.  Hey, here’s a novel idea!  What if I try to make some myself!?! I figured I’d separated all kinds of substances in Chem Labs past.  SURELY I can concoct something as intimidating as creamer.  After all, I was under immense pressure to perform in the harshest possible circumstances.  It was just shy of 7am and I was fully decaf.

And so it began….my quest for the perfect faux liquid creamer.  After scouring the internet, and trying out several recipes in the last 3 weeks, this is what worked best for me.  And as usual, it’s the easiest, but certainly not the first one I tried.  Nope, THAT would be too easy.  ;)  Well, you’ll recall I was under pressure, and we are talking about ME.

Creamer Substitute Recipe
1 can Eagle Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 12oz can Evaporated Milk

Yep, that’s it.  Dumb squared.  Enter Blendy Blenderson and you’re done.  Refrigerate, and it will keep for 10 days.

For flavoring, you can use any extract you have on hand and the amount you’ll need use is completely up to your taste.  Since we had a bunch of Torani coupons a few months ago, I picked up some Almond Roca, Irish Cream and Vanilla.  FYI: The Hazelnut contains peanut oil, so that was a no go.  Nevertheless, I have artificial hazelnut extract on hand for baking, so my problem was easily remedied.    Surprisingly, this turned out remarkably well and I was thrilled with it.

Oh, and here’s a fab tip.  You can also heat the creamer mixture and melt 1/4 cup of semi sweet chips and add some peppermint extract (or syrup).  Whisky Whiskerson this one while it’s melting for a really nice treat.  That variation worked very well.

As a cost comparison, I’ve only paid for the Torani Syrup and extracts.  Torani being around $4 ish at Walmart.  Of course, I rolled my Register Rewards into Condensed & Evaporated Milk and other baking supplies ALL November and December at Walgreens.  Given the small amount of syrup used, this is far more cost efficient than bottled creamer.

Tips:

If you don’t have evaporated milk, you can use regular milk, half & half or (gulp) heavy cream, but be mindful of the expiration date.  If you don’t use creamer quickly in your house, you may get an unexpected surprise. Gack!

What I like best about this recipe over others is that you can use low fat or fat free sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk to make fat free creamer.  Perfect.

Also, I have tried several homemade flavorings, but all fell short for me.    You may love them, so give ‘em a try!

All starting amounts are one teaspoon unless otherwise noted.

Chocolate Almond
Almond Extract (artificial in my case)
Cocoa Powder (1 tbl)

Honey Vanilla
Honey
Vanilla Extract

Chocolate Mint
Cocoa Powder (1 tbl)
Peppermint Extract

Amaretto 
Almond Extract
Ground Cinnamon

Gingerbread (equal parts)
Ginger
Cinnamon
Allspice
Nutmeg
Cloves

So, have you made your own creamer?  If so, what do you use for flavoring?

Photo Credit: Taste for Adventure by Tablespoon

As I mentioned, I’m slowing down a bit between now and Thursday evening.  Not to worry, you won’t miss anything important.  I’ve got a few posts up my sleeve today to get you up to speed on some deals.  Starting Black Friday through Christmas, I’ll be right back at it with each new deal as it breaks.   For now, it’s all about pies.  I’m thinking this would make a fabulous crust for my apple…Who’s with me?