Happy Sunday: Memorial Day Weekend Breakfast

This extended weekend is slated to be a hot one! I want to get in and out of the kitchen as quickly as possible. This recipe came across my computer from Allrecipes for Breakfast Muffins. I love the idea of portion control and the all in one method. In this bite you get eggs, sausage, pepper, onion, and a biscuit.  You can also change it up with different cheese or even jalapeno.

Here is the recipe:

1/2 tube breakfast sausage browned
1/8 cup onion diced
1/8 cup pepper diced (I used red)
3 eggs beaten (I ended up using 4)
3 TBSP milk (I ended up using 4)
1/2 cup cheese shredded (I used about 1/4 cup)

Preheat oven to 400.

Brown the sausage, pepper, and onion together. Drain on paper towels.  Spray PAM in each muffin tin. Place a biscuit in each and spread out with your fingers to line the muffin tin. It should stretch up the sides. Add a table spoon or two of the sausage mixture in each tin. Then add the egg to each cup. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a fork comes clean when inserted in the center.

Our Night Out for our Anniversary on Groupon

Update: So sad this place went out of business. We really liked it here!
Ok, our anniversary isn't until the 23rd but when you have two kids you have to take time out when you can get it!  My hubs also has to work next week when we are supposed to be celebrating our 14th anniversary. We had a Groupon for Bunkers in West Allis, WI. They have a gourmet menu at great prices. http://www.classicbunkers.com/index.php?fish-chicken-steak-scallops-seafood-pasta-ribs-11 With our Groupon we were allowed to have one appetizer, two entrees, a wine tasting, and a dessert. It's tucked in among the business of Greenfield Ave. and we missed it the first time. The seating was the only problem. They have high backed stools and I was wearing Lycra style pants and could hardly keep myself on the chair.

For those of you that don't know about Groupon, here is the link http://www.groupon.com/r/uu1531594.

Bunkers' menu is really gourmet including things like pork belly. I have never had it so I stuck to what I know. It was Friday and we here in Wisconsin are known for our fish fry.

We started out with the Hawaiian style short ribs. They were boneless and were fall apart delicious. I may have to try to duplicate this one at home. Forgive the blurry pictures. My hubby took them with his phone.

I ordered the fish of the day. I chose the Mahi Mahi which came with new potatoes and grilled veggies like green beans, two scallops, and two shrimp. They were doused with a generous amount of olive oil. This would probably be the only thing I would change about the dish.

The people sitting next to us ordered the beer battered fish and it looked delicious! That might be something I have to order on the next visit.

My hubby chose the beef brisket which was served on Texas toast and came with haystack french fries and coleslaw. Once again the beef was very tender and fall apart moist.

They do also specialize in mixed drinks although we didn't partake in any we saw a couple share a flask of Sangria.

For our dessert I ordered the chocolate lava cake. Luckily I was able to eat this all by my lonesome. The inside was molten chocolate and came with ice cream on top. It was very rich but well worth it!

This seemed like more of adult hangout. It's right near Wisconsin State Fair in the heart of West Allis. It was a treat to eat here and I am glad we came across it on Groupon.

Reivew of Trisha Yearwood's Quiche Perfect for Mom's Day

I made this really easy quiche recipe a few weeks ago and think it would be perfect for a Mother's Day surprise. This recipe is from the Foodnetwork and Trisha Yearwood's new show.  It was very easy to make and can be made anytime, even for dinner. You are free to get the original recipe on the foodnework.com.

What I love about the quiche is, it works well with almost any vegetable. Here she used cherry tomatoes but you can add things like broccoli, or green peppers, to give it some flavor. Also she used cheddar cheese but varying the cheese will also add some zip. I used Mozzarella but it would also be nice with pepper jack. I also liked the recipe could be used to make two pies. I tin foiled one and saved it for the next day's breakfast.

The Quiche                                                               

1/2 tube sausage browned*I think she used a tube
1 tsp baking powder
20 grape tomatoes halved
8oz cheese of your choice *she used 10oz.
6 eggs *I used 8 whisked
1/4 cup milk *I added because it didn't seem like it was enough
2 frozen pie crusts


Set the oven to 350 degrees. Brown the sausage and drain on paper towels. Mix the whisked eggs, milk, cheese, baking powder, tomatoes, and veggies of your choice. Once cooled combine the sausage with the eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into two pie crusts. Bake for 30 minutes or until set.

Made it to 10,010 Views: Cilantro Lime Shrimp

Woohoo! I made it to 10,010 views of my blog! Thanks so much to all of you that read and follow me. I love to write and cook because it gives me an outlet. I also enjoy reading your blogs too! I have made some really good friends on the Disboards.com where we also exchange ideas and recipes. I hope to write more about my summer adventures in the next few months!

This weekend I made Cilantro/Lime Shrimp. I am mildly allergic to shrimp but love the flavor. It sometimes makes me itchy so I have to be careful. I have a bottle of Benedryl on hand just to be safe. I know you are saying "Why not avoid shrimp?"  I love the taste and I can deal with the hives.

I cannot however eat lobster and have not had it in about 20 years. I had some lobster bisque by a friends house an started breaking out in hives. By the next morning my eyes were swollen shut, I was covered in painful hives from head to toe, and my extremities were swollen. Luckily I was able to breathe. It took about a good week before I got back to normal. Over the years I have discovered some other food allergies and deal with them as need be. Anywhoo... here is the recipe. We served it with couscous. I buy it in bulk from our local Outpost store. It's getting kind of pricey with store brands such as Far East.  It's really easy to make with a 1:1 ratio of liquid to cous cous.

Cilantro Lime Shrimp (serves 4)

1 lb shrimp ( I used deveined precooked shrimp)
2 TBSP lemon juice or the juice of a small lemon
1/8 tsp Cayenne
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Curry Powder
1 hand full cilantro Julienned
4 TBSP butter

1 cup of couscous made with chicken stock

Prepare the shrimp. If you are going with fresh or uncooked shrimp I recommend buying them devained. I used 41/50 count shrimp which means you get 41-50 shrimp per pound. I did pull off the tails. To defrost, put the shrimp in a medium bowl with cool water. Let sit for 5 minutes and dump and refill the water until the shrimp are defrosted.

After the shrimp are defrosted and drained, add all the seasoning except for the cilantro. Give a stir. Heat the butter in a frying pan and add the shrimp. Since mine are pre-cooked this part goes pretty fast. Cook about 3 minutes per side until a nice pink and no longer opaque.

Remove from the heat and add the lime and cilantro. Serve over cous cous.

Lazy Sunday Edamame, Sausage, and Potato Hash

This week I have been cooking a lot from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine I get as part of my subscription. I came across this recipe and changed a few ingredients. It is an excellent way to sneak in protein for those who either don't eat meat or those who don't like veggies like my hubby. He will eat a bowl of edamame like it's popcorn however! My version contains sausage rather than bacon. If you aren't a bacon eater it doesn't necessarily agree with you if you try to eat it.

You can prep this the night before so you are ready to rock and roll in the morning. I par boiled the potatoes whole by placing them in a pot of water and boiling for about 25 minutes. I then drained out the boiling water and covered them with cool water and put them in the fridge overnight. In the morning I peeled them and diced them. If you do this your potatoes won't turn funky brown because of the air.

The edamame you can prep by placing the frozen pods in a microwave safe bowl. Add 2 TBSP of water and cover with Saran wrap. Microwave for 5 minutes. Remove the soybeans from their pod by squeezing into a bowl. Otherwise, you will be chasing down the beans all over your kitchen.


Edamame, Sausage, and Potato Hash (serves 4)

The Ingredients:
4 par boiled potatoes diced
1/2 tube Jones' mild sausage in the tube
10 oz. edamame steamed and shelled
1/2 onion diced
1/2 green pepper diced
2 TBSP oil
salt and pepper



Firstly I browned the sausage, green pepper, and onion together in the same pan. I added 2 TBSP of oil just in case but the sausage does make it's own oil. Once browned I removed to a paper plate lined with paper towels.

Next I drained off a bit of the oil and left about 2-3 TBSP in the pan. I added the par boiled diced potatoes and covered with a lid. I let sit for about 5 minutes until it began to brown. I kept turning the potatoes every few minutes until they were browned. Total time about 15 minutes.

Add the sausage, green pepper, onion, and shelled edamame. Heat through for about 5 more minutes. Serve with your favorite eggs. Today I made over medium.

Oldie But Goodie Stuffed Peppers with Tomato Gravy

There is nothing more comforting than making a dish your Mom used to make. That's why I blog I guess, to have a record of my recipes I can hand down to my kids.  My paternal Grandma was an excellent cook. She never left her recipes in written form but over the years with some practice I have learned to make them by myself.

This stuffed pepper recipe was my Moms'. The things I have changed are instead of using instant rice I make my rice in a rice cooker.  I can also make long grain rice on the stove but a rice cooker is awesome! Her sauce she uses canned Campbells' tomato soup. I use tomato sauce with a few added ingredients.  This past week I found an entire bag of 8 yellow peppers for 79 cents. Can't beat that! We like extra gravy to put over the rice and sop up with a piece of bread. I also used this sauce and stuffing for cabbage rolls. (Yes I know my Pyrex has seen better days lol)

You can use whatever colored pepper you like.

The Sauce

1 can tomato sauce
1 TBSP vinegar
1/2 c water (you may have to add more during baking)

The Peppers
1 pot boiling water
2 Peppers per person 8 total
1 1/2 lb ground beef
2 cups cooked and cooled rice
1 tsp salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

First you need to cut the tops off the peppers and remove anything you don't want to eat like the seeds. A little bit of membrane is OK. Place the peppers in the boiling water and let boil for about 5 minutes. You just want to soften them. You will have to tip them over to make sure all the surface has a chance to soften in the water. Remove and drain on paper towels. Let cool for about 5-10 minutes.

In the meantime, in a bowl add the ground beef, rice (start off with one cup) salt and pepper. Season with salt and pepper and kneed with your hands to combine. You need enough of the beef and rice to fill the peppers to the top. This will also be dependant on how big the peppers are.

Place 95% of the sauce into the baking dish. Reserve the other 5% for topping. Place in oven and bake for one hour. Mid way through the baking time add about a half cup of water to the bottom o f the baking dish. Take the peppers out at the one hour mark and cut a test one in half. If not done bake for another 15 minutes until no longer pink. Serve over rice with the sauce over the peppers and rice.

Don't Wanna Cook Greek Style Chicken and Bow tie Pasta

It is such a beautiful day today! I don't want to cook a lot today and am "resting" between grocery shopping and work. I put this meal together very quickly and it will be ready for me when I get home from work. It is a cold pasta salad with feta cheese, Greek olives, and chicken. It is also very versatile with what type of salad dressing you use and what veggies.  You can choose a Italian or Greek dressing or make your own. The chicken I grilled indoors on my Hamilton Beach grill.

Greek Chicken and Bow tie Pasta Salad

Greek Style Grilled Chicken and Bow tie Pasta

1 lb bow tie pasta cooked and washed with cold water

veggies of your choice

1 pint cherry tomatoes halved

1 container Crystal Farms feta cheese crumbles

1 jar Roland Greek black olives drained

1 tsp Greek seasoning (Milford spice Co)

1/4 cup salad dressing of your choice (I used Caesar dressing)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3 chicken breasts grilled and sliced

This is very easy to assemble. The chicken which is boneless, skinless, chicken breast can be grilled on my grill in less than 10 minutes. Once the pasta is cooled and drained add it to a large Thatsabowl or bowl of your choice. Add the tomatoes, olives, and feta cheese. Once the chicken is cooled add to the pasta. On top of that add the dressing and seasonings. Pasta tends to soak up dressing so you may have to add more before serving.

Ground Beef Chimmichangas and Sour Cream Sauce

I couldn't find this one in my recipe search but I made this the other night and my family loves it! You can use whatever meat you have on hand like chicken or ground beef and it's very easy to make. Why pay $10 per person  for a Mexican eat out dinner when you can make this at home from under $5.00 for a family of 4?

The ground beef I buy when it's on sale and divide it into one lb packages that are ready to go. The taco seasoning is very easy to make yourself or the Milford Spice Co. container lasts a long time. The next step for me is to buy a tortilladora so I can make my own tortillas. I do prefer flour tortillas with this recipe though.

Here it is:

The Chimmichangas

9-12 flour tortillas (I like La Banderita)
2 oz oil for frying
1 1/2 lbs ground beef or shredded chicken (to save time you may use a store bought roasted chicken)
1 pkg taco seasoning or 2 TBSP Milford Spice Taco Tuesdays
1/4 c water
1/2 cup Monterrey cheese
1 can fat free pinto beans
1/2 can diced green mild chillies (optional) You may also use 1/4 cup salsa
salt

The Sauce
2 TBSP flour
2 TBSP butter
1 c water
2 TBSP chicken bullion (2 cubes) but I use chicken soup base
1/2 c sour cream
1/2 cup green chillies (may omit)

Brown the ground beef and drain off the grease several times until browned. Add the chilies (they add a mild flavor) Add the water and the taco seasoning and let gel for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Set up a production line with the meat, tortillas, and cheese. It's a good idea to lay down the beans first. I generally use about 2 TBSP per 9 inch tortilla. Start in the center and work your way out. Add about 2-3 TBSP ground beef and a pinch of cheese to each tortilla. Fold up the bottom of the tortilla and then fold in the sides. Roll the tortilla away from you to make a pouch.

Heat the oil in a frying pan with high sides until you see it begin to ripple. You will need a slotted metal spoon for this part and two plates ready with paper towels. I find it easier to fry two at a time. Place each Chimmichanga in the frying pan seam down. Fry for 3-4 minutes per side. Remove to paper towel.

Start the sauce. Have a whisk handy. In a sauce pan on medium low heat add the butter and flour. Stir with a whisk. Brown the flour until it's light brown. Gradually add the water and continue stirring with the whisk. Add the chicken bullion and chillies. Bring the sauce to just below boiling. It should start to thicken.  Add the sour cream and stir. Remove from the heat. And serve over the Chimmichangas