Mike's favorite breakfast ... or dinner? :)

I noticed that every Monday night I seemed to make breakfast for dinner, I think it's because the day was so busy I just made it to help save some time. Now, it's our Monday night, pre-FHE tradition! Breakfast for dinner! :) I love doing it because it's easy, DELICIOUS, fast and CHEAP :) Sa-weet. you can't beat that! :)

This particular meal is Mike's VERY favorite breakfast! A few years back, I had a few extra veggies and just whipped this out and now he asks for it ALL of the time. It's super easy and so yummy. ....

I'm not nearly as entertaining as Jen, so bare with me! :) I wish I knew what to title this meal, but .. we always just call it "the egg potato thing" any better suggestions? :) .. so here it is...
The Egg Potato ... Thing...
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
2 clean, unpeeled potatoes, diced into quarter inch thickness
Lawry's seasoning salt (or any other seasoning salt you like)
Black pepper to taste
1/4 c red onion diced
1/2 c ham diced
7 eggs
1/4 c green peppers (or any other bell pepper)
1/2 c sliced clean mushrooms
1/2 c pepper-jack cheese (or your favorite cheese)
Tapatio hot sauce (optional)


First put the olive oil and butter in frying pan. The olive oil is to prevent the butter from burning, the butter is for flavor and to saute the vegetables.



Once butter is melted, add the potatoes and toss them around in the oil/butter. Sprinkle the Lawry's over one side of the potatoes, then grind or sprinkle pepper over as well. Let the potatoes fry on medium to medium high heat stirring and flipping occasionally until the potatoes are soft.

Once the potatoes are soft, add the onions and ham. Let the onions saute, now stirring constantly until the onions are translucent and the ham is slightly browned.

Then add in the eggs. I just put them in JUST like this. :) No need to whip them first, but you can if you want. I just shove everything to one side, then mix it all together.

Once the eggs are almost completely firm and scrambled, add the bell peppers and mushrooms.

Once all of the vegetables are in, warm and the eggs are completely scrambled, turn off heat and stir in the cheese.

And this will be your beautiful finished product :) I wish I had green peppers, it looks so much better with a lil' bit of green... but it tasted SOOOOO yummy!! :) Even Sammy gobbled it all up! :)

I like it really spicy so I added tapatio hot sauce (you can find it by the Tabasco sauce in the Mexican food isle)

If you don't like my choice of vegies, feel free to mix it up. I have had it with asparagas, ham and swiss cheese and it was yummy too! :) The amount of everything you put it is up to you, this is just the way we like it best! :)

Appetizer: Stuffed Mushrooms

oh my goodness.
the pioneer woman is a-maze-ing!
seriously.
check her out.
i'd heard of her before, but only recently actually went to her site.
i will for sure be trying out lots more of her recipes.
let's say it again....amazing.

ever since we had stuffed mushrooms on our anniversary, i've been craving them. 
pregnancy-craving style.
i had to find a way to make them.
when i stumbled across them on her site, i about died.
i had to make them.

so i tried them out for the superbowl.
they were de-licious.
although my taste is a little more cheesy...i still adored them.
take her advice and use smaller mushrooms though...i should have.

here are how mine turned out:

and here is the recipe direct from her page.
(and if you click here, you can see the step by step instructions with pictures -- sooo helpful!)

Prep Time: 30 Minutes   
Cook Time: 25 Minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 8


Ingredients
24 ounces, fluid White Button Mushrooms
⅓ pounds Hot Pork Sausage
½ whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
4 cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
8 ounces, fluid Cream Cheese
1 whole Egg Yolk
¾ cups Parmesan Cheese, Grated
⅓ cups Dry White Wine
Salt And Pepper, to taste

Preparation Instructions
Brown and crumble sausage. Set aside on a plate to cool.
Add onions and garlic to the same skillet; cook for 2 minutes over medium low heat.
Pour in wine to deglaze pan, allow liquid to evaporate.
Add in chopped mushroom stems, stir to cook for 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set mixture aside on a plate to cool.
In a bowl, combine cream cheese and egg yolk. Stir together with Parmesan cheese.
Add cooled sausage and cooled mushroom stems. Stir mixture together and refrigerate for a short time to firm up.
Smear mixture into the cavity of each mushroom, creating a sizable mound over the top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool at least ten minutes before serving; the stuffed mushrooms taste better when not piping hot.

jennifer here again.
this woman is incredible.  i will definitely be trying out many many more of her recipes and featuring them here.  stay tuned.

Appetizers: Cowboy Salsa

it's that time of year again.
the superbowl.
apparently this is a big deal (just ask my husband)
he's been wanting to throw the superbowl party at our house for weeks this year.  sadly, we never got around to inviting anyone, so we'll see if we can throw something together at the last minute.  as with any football party, you've got to have great food, right?  one of our all-time favorites is cowboy salsa.  I've had many different variations of this, but my friend april gave me the best (and most simple) one ever.

here are the key players: 3 roma tomatoes (any kind will work- you just want them to be more firm), 3 avocados, one can of corn, one can of black beans, one can of black-eyed peas, and 1/8-1/4 of a bottle of italian dressing.  oh, and you might want some tortilla chips for dipping.  that is it!  how could this be difficult?  trust me, it's not.

first, take your can of corn and your can of black-eyed peas, open 'em up, drain 'em and dump them right into a bowl. 

open up and drain your can of black beans. then rinse them off once or twice. (don't mind the hard water spots on the collander...it happens!)

dump those right in there too.

give the mixture a little spin so you can see it all come together.

now, grab your tomatoes.  dice them up and throw them into your mixture. 

i like to stir it between each step because then i know i'm getting everything mixed together well.

next up, grab your trusty avocados. (mmm-mm!) i usually put in more than i need to for this, just because i happen to have a love affair with avocados, but add as many as you want.  peel and pit the avocado and dice it on up.  squeal with glee as you add these to the bowl. (my avocados weren't quite ripe enough for this yet, so i could only use one.  you want them firm with a little give.  mine were still completely hard...boo.)

spin it all together,

then here comes the fun part:  grab your italian dressing and start squirting away.  i never measure this part, but i like it with quite a bit of the sauce.  gives it a nice little zesty kick, i think.

get that dressing in there and mix, mix, mix!

sample it here and there to make sure you like the flavor.  remember, the flavor WILL get stronger as the italian dressing marinates into everything else.

if it's not quite ready, feel free to add a little more italian dressing (if it's still a little bland), or more avocados!  the world is always better with more avocados.

after you've got it to your liking (this is the hard part), cover it, put it in your fridge, and WALK AWAY! the salsa is much better after it's had a chance to marinate overnight....or at least a couple of hours. believe me.

tomorrow when you are ready to pull it out, grab some tortilla chips, and scoop away.

happy scooping.

i don't have time...

how many times have you said this when it comes to cooking?

yeah, that's what i thought.

and at sometimes in my life, it has been true.

but i've found that usually it's more that i'm just not making the time to cook.

sure, i can find the time to check facebook and watch friends, but when it's time to cook, i get all whiney-like.

well, it's a new year (still counts, right? even though it's february?) and i'm sick of feeling like i don't know how to cook.  or being too nervous to invite people over for dinner because i am worried they won't like what i am making.  or eating the same thing over and over (and over) again.

so i'm making time to cook.

for me.

for my family.

for my health and sanity.

(hey, that kinda rhymed! awesome.)

won't you join me?