Eggs in a Basket

Christopher loves eggs in a basket from Cracker Barrell so I decided to try at home. 

I didn't have a circular biscuit cutter, but I did have a heart shaped cookie cutter.  The Hawaiian Sweet Bread people now make a loaf of bread, its amazing.  I use that for the bread.  Amazing. 

2 slices of of Hawaiian Sweet Bread

2 Eggs

1/2 Stick of butter

Salt and Pepper

Heat electric skillet to 350.  Using a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter cut a hole in the middle of the bread.  Save the hole 

Keeping the paper around the butter as a handle, rub onto the griddle 

Place bread and cut outs into the butter and swirl around to absorb as much butter as possible. 

Crack egg inn the center of each piece of bread and allow to cook until just barely set on the bottom.  

Add more butter to the griddle and flip over.  Cook until bread is browned on the other side.  

You may have to adjust cooking time depending on how runny you want the egg yoke.  I like it to be a little runny so I allow the bread to toast for a few seconds before I add the egg.  

I served this particular delicacy with Cheese Grits and Bacon I made in the oven.  

Chicken Pot no Pie!

I love some chicken pot pie, but this way just saves me a little time.  Altho, my husband was being an extra pain in the ass than normal this evening, he might disagree.  He's all complaining he's hungry and asking how much longer.  When the slops on a plate it's done, okay??

4 BLSL chix breats, cut into pieces
2 cups of O'brien potatoes, frozen
1/2 cups and carrots (total not of each), frozen
1 jar of chicken or turkey gravy, the little one
2 TBSP of butter
1/4 tsp thyme
1 tsp parsley flakes
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp onion powder
Dash of white wine
water
salt and pepper to taste

For the "Pie Part"
1 can of Grands flaky biscuits
4 TBS butter
3/4 tsb of garlic powder
1/2 tsb of parsley flakes

Preheat to 400 degrees
Melt butter in a skillet, add garlic.  I use a garlic press because I hate my hands smelling like garlic, judge me if you want, but I am no Rachel Ray.
After letting the garlic cook for a minute or 2 add the chicken on high heat to brown for just a few minutes.  Add salt, pepper, thyme, garlic and parsley.  Add the dash of white wine now.  I buy those little baby bottles of wine and keep in the fridge to cook with.  I think I used Chardonnay this go around.  Wine doesn't last in this house so I buy these baby bottles specifically for cooking.
Add potatoes and stir to coat w butter and spices.  Add peas and carrots
Add gravy to the mix.  Fill the jar w about 1/3 cup of water and add.
Turn down the heat and simmer about 25 minutes, covered.  Stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, cut biscuits into quarters and throw in a bowl.
Melt butter, garlic and parsley in the microwave until butter is melted.
Pour butter mixture over biscuit and stir to coat.  I tried to go in "hands on" and that mess what hot!  Stir w a spoon until its not like sticking ur hand in lava coated biscuit pieces.  U'll thank me later.
Bake about 10 minutes until browned.  Serve over Chicken mixture.

I love this stuff.  My hubs wasn't as big a fan.  He ate the entire giant plate I made him, but said it was "aight".  Ass.

You can add more peas and carrots (or corn) if you'd like.  I add just enough to say we actually had a veggie at dinner.  It's all about food politics, shame really.

Mexican Pizza and Rice

We are still eating left overs incognito.  I am happy to announce that I used all the left overs and we will be moving onto another genre of food.  Thank God.  Nonetheless, it was delicious

You will need:
3 Pack of those cheapo pizza crusts, already made
3 Heaping TBS pizza sauce
Left over taco meat
1 1/2 cups of left over shredded cheese (the Mexican stuff is amazing)
left over corn, about 1/4 cup
1 TBS chopped pickled jalapenos
Sprinkle of lettuce
Sour Cream dollops

I brushed the crusts with olive oil and preheated to 425.
I toasted the pizzas for about 3 minutes so the bottom wouldn't be soggy from the pizza sauce.
Next, add one heaping TBS of pizza sauce onto each pizza.
Top with meat, jalapenos (add beans, tomatoes, olives, or whatever you had left over) Top generously with cheese.
I like the cheese on top of the toppings because I feel that it holds everything together better.  Plus its like a little pizza surprise.  Is there corn? I don't know, bite it and see.
Bake for about 10 minutes until the cheese is browned and the bottoms are crisp.

We also had a bowl of that yellow rice bag mix that was bland and blah.
I had about 2 cups of rice left over and about 3/4 cup of the pork you saw me use last night for the Cuban sandwiches.  I just heated the pork with 2 TBS of butter and 1 TBS of taco sauce.  I added cumin, garlic and at tsp of chopped cilantro and a sqeeeze of lime juice.  I added 1/2 cup of water and let it simmer while my pizzas were in the oven.  Delicious.  Below is the pic of the pizzas.  I put lettuce on top of his pizzas, which he inhaled.

I

Gucamole

As you saw in the last post, we had a Mexican Fiesta, complete with Mexican music playing in the  back ground.  No one had a clue what they were saying, but it set the tone.  Anyways, I made pork and beef tacos and also Chicken Enchiladas that were AMAZING.  What did I take a picture of?  The stupid gucamole that I don't even eat!  What was I thinking?  Probably that I was hungry and didn't care.  I dont eat that yucky looking green mess, but I had 2 friends that said they did like it.  From one of the reviews I may have added a touch too much lime juice so I adjusted it for the recipe.

2 ripe avacados
1 roma tomato, chopped and seeded
juice of 1/2 lime
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsb of garlic powder
1/2 tsb of onion powder
3 TSB fresh chopped cilantro

So basically I added everything together in a bowl and mashed the hell out of it and folded the tomatoes in at the end.

They ate half of it and said they liked it.

Kinda Cuban Sandwich

I often have to disguise left overs for my husband to eat them the next day.  Yesterday we had a Mexican Fiesta with some friends and I had left over pork to use.  Originally, I made a pork loin in the crock pot with a bottle of Dr. Pepper and a can of Chipotle Chilis on high for 4-5 hours.  After I shredded it, I added the juice of one lime to the mix and just kept warm on the stove until time to serve on tortillas.  This evening I had Hawaiian Sweet bread loaf so I used that in lieu of the traditional roll the Cuban usually is served.  BTW, if you didn't know those amazing little Hawaiian rolls came as a loaf now I probably just changed your life.  You're Welcome.

4 slices of Hawaiian Sweet bread
4 slices of deli ham
about 1/2 cup of left over pork meat, shredded
4 slices of provolone cheese
4 sandwich lenght bread and butter pickles (that's my fav, use what u want)
Dijon Mustard, I like Grey Poupon.  (mainly I just like saying Grey Poupon)
Half a stick of butter

Heat griddle to 350 degrees
Melt about a TBS of button on griddle and lay down 2 slices of bread, Swish around to soak up all the butter.  If you are worried about calories you are on the Wrong blog, my friend.  Moving on.  Layer one slice of cheese, half the pork, 2 slices of ham, pickles, then another slice of cheese.  Spread mustang on other bread pieces.
Top with the other piece of bread, mustard side down. Spread some more butter on a different part of the griddle.  You should be ready to flip by now.
Flip sandwich into the butter and allow to brown on the other side.  It only takes a few moments, don't walk away and yell at the dog, don't answer the phone, don't go pee. Stand right there and chillax until its done.  I tell you this from experience, because I was just going to send a quick text and then next thing I know the bottom is a little more brown than I wanted.  Don't you worry about all that, it still tasted great.
I served this delicious little guy on a white chinet paper plate.  I know what you're thinking: Classy.  Ur right.

Toffee Almond Bars

They used to sell these delicious bars of yumminess at Starbucks and my BFF and I used to share one with our coffee.  Ok, so to be totally honest we shared the first one and from then on we had to get our own.  Deliciousness!!

1 cup and 2 TBS all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1 stick of butter
1 tsp of vanilla extract
A smidge of almond extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup of white chocolate chips
1/2 cup of milk chocolate chips
3-4 Heath bars, crunched to pieces

cream butter, egg and extracts in a bowl
combine dry ingredients (not candy) in a bowl and add wet to dry.
add about 1 TBS of flour to the candle and combine.
add candy to mixture and mix lightly
pour into greased 9x9 glass pan
bake 20-25 minutes


You can eat it right out of the oven, but it takes a good hour or two to cool before they are solid.

Lime Chicken Tacos

Have I mentioned that I love limes?  I would marry limes but they have rules against that.  Plus, lots of people use limes and I think that would be cheating.  That's not fair to society, or me, or limes. Anyways, back to it.

1 package of chicken tenderloins, cut into 3rds
1/2 juice of half a lime
1/4 onion, cut in big honkin pieces
2 TBS butter
1 TBS garlic powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 c chicken broth
1 tsp fresh chopped parsley
pinch of crushed red pepper (or more, I won't tell)

Melt butter over high heat, add onion and stir to brown.
Add chicken and brown for a min or two, then reduce heat and add chicken broth (chicken can still be pink in the middle at this point)
Add all the rest of that stuff, put a lid on it and allow to cook slowly for about 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center.
Remove lid and turn up heat until most of the liquid is absorbed. 

You can put it in tortillas w/ a little sour cream, cheese, salsa, and a squirt of lime juice, but the chicken is good just by itself.

Confessions: I used only half a lime because I had one lime left and I knew I would want to squeeze some over this after it was done.  It was delicious and next time I probably would use the same amount.  That is all.  Also, I love the flavor of onions, but hate biting into one...that's why I use big pieces.  For real now, that is all. 


Mexican Rice
1 cup rice
2 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup of hot salsa
6 pickled jalapenos
Pinch of crushed red pepper
1 tsp of fresh chopped parsley

Puree salsa and jalapenos in the blender (we have a little bullet thing so it was no big deal, but I don't do chucks so this was a "have to" for me)  If you don't want to blend it to baby food, then don't, but don't come crying to me when you get a chuck of tomato.
Add salsa and rice to a pot and turn up the heat.  Watch it now, don't burn.
Continuously stirring until the rice absorbs most of the salsa. 
Add parsley and crushed red pepper.
Pour in chicken broth and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, put a lid on it and turn heat to low for about 20 minutes. 
Season w/ salt and pepper.  Top w/ a little cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Marinade, London Broil

This recipe is bitter sweet because the flavor of the meat was delicious, but the meat was not so much.  I think I over cooked it, actually, I know I over cooked it, but it was a little fattier than I thought it would be.

You live, you learn. 

1/2 cup vinegar (I used white, distilled)
Juice of one lime (get out the little juicer thing, you want all that juice!)
1 TBS brown sugar
2 TBS white sugar
1 TBS of Worcestershire sauce
2 TBS ketchup
1 Tsp garlic powder
Sprinkle of Garam Masala (about 1/2 tsp..maybe?)
London Broil

Mix it all together in a bag and add meat.  Marinade overnight.
Preheat to 400 degrees for about 10 mins a side.  You are gonna have to check it because I over cooked the meat terribly.  It was still okay, but there was a lot of fat inside the meat.  Maybe I did something wrong, but either way I wasn't a big fan of the meat itself.  I ended up cutting it up and stuffing it in a tortilla w/ a little sour cream and a dash of lime juice!  I am a huge fan of limes and their juice! 

Roasted Sweet Sweet Potatoes
1 large sweet potato
brown sugar
honey
melted butter, about 1/4 stick

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into long thin strips or baby chunks.  I wasn't gonna be baking them all night so I made them pretty thin. Lay flat into a baking dish.
Pour over melted butter, sprinkle with brown sugar.  I used about a 1/4 cup.  I lied, I probably used more.  I don't know why I lied.
Drizzle with as much honey as you'd like.  I honestly have no clue how much honey I used. 
Bake 400 for about 20 mins or until tender.


Guess I wasn't in the photographing mood because I do not see the pic's of these two.

Meatball Not So Strouganoff

8-10 Meatballs (see standard recipe)
3 TBS white wine (again, using the cheap moscato)
1/2 c heavy cream
1 cup 2% milk
fresh parsley, about a TBS
garlic powder, about a TBS
onion powder, abut tsp
1/4 c parm cheese

Brown meatballs on low until done all the way thru, remove and keep warm.
Remove most of the great w/ a paper towel and then add wine and parsley, cook until reduces by half.
slowly add milk and cream, allow to simmer about 10 mins and add remaining spices and cheese.  Add parm cheese and serve over egg noodles.  I used whole wheat egg noodles cuz thats how we roll.

I called it "not so strouganoff" because it reminds me of it, but not all at the same time.  Make sense?  Yeah, me too.  Christopher gave it a 4.5 which surprised me because he's not much of a fan of this kind of stuff.  That or he was starving...I guess we'll never know. 

Beef Stuffed Shells

I know..whats w/ the shells lately?  Well I bought them and I still had some left over and I had so much fun w/ the other that I went for round two...sue me.

1/2 lb of ground beef
1 - 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese
onion powder
garlic powder
fresh chopped parsley (this is important)
spaghetti sauce (see hot spaghetti recipe)
parm cheese
2 cups of mozz cheese
12 jump shells, partially cooked and drained.

Brown ground beef over medium heat, add onion and garlic powder and real parsley.
Transfer to a bowl and add ricotta cheese, sprinkle w/ parm and about 2/3 cup of mozz cheese.  I kinda eyeballed it until I had a creamy, but not overly cheesy consistency. 
Line a pan w/ a little sauce of then lay shells on top.  Top w/ remaining sauce and then top w/ a ton of mozz cheese.  Cheese is more of a star in this recipe so be liberal. 
Bake for about 20-30 mins @ 350.  Or until cheese is melty and a little brown. 

I don't normally give a quantity for the spices because I like things really onioney and garlicey but I hate biting an onion and I hate chopping garlic.  I know, I know...but whatever.  I'm trying ok I had to chop the damn parsley.