Egg Salad Sandwiches

Would you like to know the secret to the perfect egg salad sandwich?   I think I'm sensing a theme with my posts lately, besides my 1970's plates and poor photography that is. 

Anyway, you know how egg salad from the deli is just super fluffy and yummy?  Well, for one, they use extra yolks but the real secret to great egg salad, in my not so humble opinion, is butter.



You'll need:

8 hard boiled eggs, chilled
1 tablespoon mayonaise
1 tablespoon Dijon style mustard
1/4 red onion, minced
1/2 teaspoon of fresh dill
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/2 teaspoon franks red hot sauce (you didn't think I only had ONE secret ingredient, did you?)

8 slices of bread.

Peel your eggs and separate the yolk from 2 of them, discarding the whites (or eat them).  Mash the two yolks, along with the 6 whole eggs with a fork.  No need to get it fine, chunky is better.

Mix the rest of your ingredients in.  The butter will solidify with the rest of the cold ingredients and give your egg salad the richest most decadent texture.


YUM.  And, might I add, that this is an incredibly inexpensive easy meal to throw together.  Especially if you are like me and always have hard boiled eggs in the fridge.

Chicken dinner.

I mentioned before that I love seasoning packets.  I peruse the spice aisle almost every time I go to the grocery store to see if there are any flavors that speak to me.  I use them on all kinds of meat but chicken is my favorite.  Today I chose a sweet bbq seasoning packet that is made for roasting a whole chicken in the oven but I buck the system and always do it in the slow cooker.

So, toss in however many chicken breasts your family will eat.  I throw them in frozen so they don't dry out (my dinner is typically going for 10 hours or so by the time we're all home)  Then add 1-2 packets of the seasoning packet of your choice.  Then, pour in some water - about 1" deep is what I do.

Turn it on low and you're done prepping dinner!


When you get home you can steam or roast some veggies, add a salad and dinner is ready.   I mean really, 5 minutes.  And real minutes too, not those 20 minute meals on TV where everything was already prepped ahead of time.  I mean, can't ANYONE make a meal in 20 minutes if everything they need is laid out in tiny little bowls all measured and chopped for them.  

Do you use seasoning packets to your advantage?  What are some of your quick recipes using them?

Perfect scrambled eggs

Scrambled eggs eluded me for a long time. Well, the *perfect* rich, fluffy wonderful ones did. I was always told to beat the eggs in a bowl, add a little milk and then scramble.

That is the wrong way to do it folks.

This is the right way.

Melt butter in a non stick pan (1-3 tablespoons depending on how many eggs you are using)

Break eggs in the pan. Yep, directly in the pan.

Use a fork to whisk them slightly.

Cook as usual.

By breaking the eggs in the pan you keep the yolky goodness in tact and that is what gives you that rich, yummy buttery goodness. Butter just adds to that velvety texture.

Right before I take them off the heat I also add some shredded cheese.

There you have it, perfect scrambled eggs.

Buffalo chicken wraps.

I like to make this for lunch on the weekends. Usually I have chicken left over from something, but if not you could use chicken nuggets (if you have kids in the house you probably have some) or a rotisserie chicken or whatever.

So you'll need:

Chicken cut into chunks or strips.

1/3 cup melted butter

1/3 cup hot sauce (I use Franks)

lettuce

tortilla

Mix the melted butter and the hot sauce together well.

Put chicken and lettuce in the tortilla. Spoon sauce over. Roll and eat. Alternatively, if you are looking to cut carbs you can wrap the chicken and sauce in the lettuce leaf. Add cheese if you desire :)

Chicken and Couscous Salad

I made this up on the fly, trying to use up some couscous and chicken that I had on hand and it was wonderful! Let me see if I can list the ingredients correctly :)




First, you need 2 chicken breasts that have been marinated in the lemon and garlic marinade from this post. Then, roast the chicken breasts at 425 for about 1/2 hour. Cut into bite sized pieces.

You also need:

1 medium zuchinni
1 small red onion
1 portabella mushroom
1 cup tri color couscous
1 cup water
1 tomato

While your chicken is roasting: Sprinkle salt and pepper on your mushroom (you don't have to use portabella, but it's what I had) and saute it in a pan of olive oil for about 5-6 minutes per side. Toss in sliced zucchini and diced onion and saute at the same time. When the mushroom is cooked cut it in to bite sized pieces. Add 1 cup of water to the veggie mixture and bring to a boil. Stir in couscous, remove from heat and cover. Let stand 5 minutes and prepare dressing.


Dressing:

• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced

Combine chicken and veggie mixture in a bowl and toss with dressing. Serve with tomato slices.

Shepard's Pie

This is a really easy meal that you can prep the day (or two) before and pop it in the oven when you get home. I usually defrost about a pound and a half of ground beef and make something like tacos with part of it and Shepard's Pie with the other part. I've even gotten away with 1/2 pound of ground beef in this recipe. Or, you could make a double batch of the meat mixture and freeze for later but do not freeze mashed potato, it doesn't fare well.

Adapted from Simply Recipes

• 1 lb of ground beef, or a little less if you do what I do above.
  
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cups vegetables - chopped carrots, corn, peas, green beans... whatever you have.
  
• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 - 3 cups or so of mashed potatoes, I cheat and use instant (ssshhh). You could make it from scratch and you'll need about 4 potatoes depending on their size.
  
• Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

Cook the ground beef and drain the fat off, set aside. In the same pan melt your butter and saute your onions until tender. Add back the ground beef and stir in the vegetables. If you are using carrots add them when you start the onions, any other veggies are added after the onions are cooked. Add salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and beef broth. Simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes, longer if carrots need to cook more.

Transfer meat mixture to a baking dish and top with mashed potatoes. Cook in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes and then turn the broiler on for 3-5 minutes to brown the potatoes.

Serves 4 - 6 generous portions.

Spanish Rice

This is my made up, on the fly Spanish rice. And, I use it to make a lot of different meals, which I will post about.

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked rice
• 1 medium onion, chopped (I like onions so I used a large one)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
  
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 can black beans
  

Directions

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add rice, green pepper, garlic and onion and cook (about 5-10 minutes) stirring occasionally, until rice is golden brown and onion is tender. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until rice is tender.


So... what can you do with this rice?

Well, you can use it as a side dish obviously and make Fajita's

Or, you can make a really simple and easy casserole. I use the leftovers to make a southwest chicken skillet casserole. I've never written down exactly what I do so I don't think a new entry is in order but basically...

Southwest Chicken Casserole

Take your left over rice and add 1/2 a cup to 1 cup of sour cream. Mix it up in a skillet. This isn't an exact science just mix it up to taste. Then add a can of corn to the mix. Then add some chicken. I usually use leftover chicken from another recipe but you could just grill some up real quick too and season it with taco or fajita seasoning or whatever you want. Then I warm it all up in a skillet and serve. It's pretty darn good.

Stuffed Peppers

Another thing you can do is mix the leftover rice with hamburger meat, a can of tomatoes and a can of corn. Stuff some bell peppers with the mix. Mix up some tomato sauce with a bit of brown sugar and pour that over the top of the peppers. Bake them in the oven at about 350 until tender.

Burritos
Obviously you can also make burritos with the rice. I just mix the rice with refried beans and cheese and heat. Roll mixture into tortillas and top with sour cream and diced tomatoes.

Chicken and Spanish Rice Soup

Any other favorites for using up leftover Spanish rice? Share them in the comments!

"Klassy" Chicken Pot Pie

I don't usually make casseroles, much less casseroles with tater tots... but I've found myself trying to find things that freeze well so I can fill my freezer in preparation for baby #2. This is the perfect recipe for that or if you have left over chicken to use up. Or, maybe you are just craving craving chicken pot pie with tater tots. Takes about 15 minutes for prep (if your chicken is cooked already) and 40 in the oven. You can make this ahead easily and pop it in the oven when you get home, or even double or triple and freeze for later.

You can arrange the tater tots a little nicer too, and make it pretty. I'm impatient. This is 1/2 of the recipe, since there are only 2 1/2 of us. I froze the rest.

Ingredients

• 1 (2 lb) bag frozen tater tots

• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 small garlic cloves, chopped
  
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 cups diced cooked chicken
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables
• 2 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of whatever soup
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. In large skillet, cook onion and pressed garlic in butter or olive oil over medium high heat until onion is tender.

3. Add cooked chicken, frozen veggies, undiluted soup, milk, thyme and pepper.

4. Stir ingredients together and cook over medium heat until hot and bubbly. Stirring occasionally.

5. Cover and cook an additional 5 minutes; stirring frequently.

6. Spoon chicken mixture into ungreased 2-quart casserole dish.

7. Arrange frozen tater tots on top.

8. Bake 40 minutes or until bubbly and tater tots are slightly browned.

Oatmeal Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Does your toddler love pancakes? Would you rather they have a more well rounded breakfast of oatmeal, cottage cheese, eggs and fruit?

Trick them!!!! Oh, and these are faster to prepare than regular pancakes, for an added bonus.

These do taste pretty good, but don't go in expecting buttermilk pancakes. They are more eggy than regular pancakes, but just as fluffy and moist and easily fooled my toddler. My husband knew there was something different and would have preferred regular pancakes, but he still ate them :) I served with syrup and some fruit on the side for a well rounded breakfast.

1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 egg whites OR 2 eggs

Mix everything in a blender (or use a hand blender)

Cook like regular pancakes.

Omelet in a bag

I heard about this genius idea a few weeks ago and just got around to trying it. The recipe is simple.

Crack 2 eggs in a heavy duty zip loc bag. Seal it up and mush the eggs inside the bag with your hands. Then, add whatever you want in your omelet. I used some left over veggies I had chopped up. I would have used ham or sausage, but I didn't have any on hand so we went veggie.

Green onion
Chopped onion
Salsa
Shredded cheddar cheese.

Add everything to the bag and mix well. Squeeze all the air out of the bag and seal. It is important that you get the air out, or you'll end up making egg drop soup instead of omelets.

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add your omelet bags and cook for 13 minutes. The omelet should slide right out of the bag and onto your plate when it's done.

Grilled Pizza

This is probably our favorite meal of the summer. BBQ Chicken Grilled Pizza. And it is so incredibly easy to make.

You can either make your own dough or buy pre-made dough at the grocery store. Keep it in the refrigerator until just before you are ready to grill.

Get all your toppings together. I made BBQ Chicken Pizza so my toppings consisted of:

Grilled BBQ Chicken

Chopped Red Onions

Chopped Roasted Red Peppers

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce

Turn the grill on medium low and let it heat up for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Roll the dough out and cut it into sizes you can flip and move around easily with a spatula. You don't have to flip the dough, but I like mine grilled on both sides. Brush olive oil on both sides of the dough, and on the grill.

If you have never grilled pizza before I suggest testing a small amount of dough first, it cooks VERY fast and I burned my first batch.

Set the dough on the grill and check it often. When you see grill marks and the dough starts to rise a bit, flip it over. Then, put your toppings on as quick as you can. Close the lid and wait about 3-5 minutes. At this point, I usually turn the grill off and shut the lid again if the cheese hasn't melted.

It takes a bit of attention, but it is so so worth it!

Steak Marinade

A quote from my husband after eating a cheap steak I put in this marinade before grilling "You can put the A-1 away".

It is that good, and surprisingly simple too.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce

Mix and pour into a bag with steaks. Marinade 12 to 24 hours. Bring steaks to room temperature before grilling and then cook as you normally would.

Put the steak sauce away.

Enjoy!

P.S. My picky 2 year old enjoyed this as well. In fact, after tasting it he put his milk down and finished his steak before taking another drink. If you knew my milk hog you'd know that was HUGE.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Sandwich

Tired of serving your tot waffles for breakfast? Try something new that they just might like :) And, you might like it too.

• 1 tablespoon(s) reduced-fat cream cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) honey
• 1/8 teaspoon(s) freshly grated orange zest
• 2 slice(s) very thin whole-wheat bread
  
• 2 medium strawberries

Combine cream cheese, honey and orange zest in a bowl. Spread bread with the cheese mixture. Place sliced strawberries on 1 piece of bread, top with the other. You could serve it with a side of yogurt too.

Black Bean Quesadilla's

Yet another black bean recipe... :)

7 ounces of mashed black beans (1/2 a can)
2/3 cup salsa
Flour tortillas cut in half
Chicken (optional)
Sour Cream

Place tortillas on un-greased cookie sheet.

Mix beans and salsa. Spread bean mixture on tortilla halves. Top with chicken if desired and Monteray jack cheese. Top with remaining tortilla halves.

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Quick and Easy Potato Soup!

No peeling or dicing potatoes for this recipe, it calls for hashbrowns! I started with a recipe from the fix it and forget it 5 ingredient favorites cookbook and made a lot of modifications :) My husband said "This is the best soup you have ever made, ever. Is there more?"


3 cups chicken broth
2lbs bag frozen hash brown potatoes
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 teaspoons pepper
1 chopped medium onion
1/2 pound chopped cooked bacon
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons parsley
1 teaspoon dill
1 tablespoon chicken bullion
1 cup sour cream (you can use yogurt as well)
3 cups milk (I advise using at least 2%)
1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack or cheddar cheese (depending on how cheesy you like it.

If making on the stovetop:

Put everything but the bacon and cheese in the pot and bring until it just starts to boil. Reduce heat and blend with a hand blender until smooth - or you can leave some chunks of potato. Add the bacon and simmer for about 20 - 30 minutes. Add in cheese and blend until smooth.

If making in the crockpot -

Place everything but the bacon and cheese in the crock pot. Saute the onions and set aside. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or until potatoes are soft. Blend the potato mixture with a hand blender until smooth - or you can leave some chunks of potato. Add in the bacon and cheese and blend thoroughly. Cover and cook on high until cheese melts and soup is hot.


I served this with some warm crusty bread and salad with italian dressing

Biscuits and Gravy

My last few posts seem to be an homage to my childhood, lol. This was one of my Dad's favorite meals of all time and he made it for us quite frequently growing up. His parent's used to make it as well and they grew up eating it during the great depression. So here we are full circle. And, in a recession no less, so it's quite fitting. My husband was just laid off for the second time this year. Wonderful huh? You'll probably see that I'm going to stray from my menu plan a bit, or at least alter some recipes, because I didn't make it to the grocery store before he was laid off. So... we're eating from our pantry for a bit.

First up... Biscuits and Gravy! I had some cooked ground hamburger left over from spaghetti and nothing to make Tacos so this is what I came up with. Oh, and I threw in some leftover breakfast sausage I had too. Cheap and easy.

1 or 2 packages of white gravy mix depending on how much you like (or you can make your own, it's pretty easy).
1/2 pound of ground meat (sausage, beef or a mix of both )
Biscuits (refrigerated, make your own or use Bisquick mix)
Pepper

It's pretty easy... Pop the biscuits in the oven, then prepare the gravy and add your cooked ground beef. I add plenty of pepper to my gravy mix too. Then, open your biscuits up on your plate and serve lots of warm gravy on top! Voila, a very filling yummy meal!

Eyeball Toast

Yes, I know it sounds disgusting. But, it's really just a fried egg sandwich. My Dad used to make them for us when we were little. SOOOO good and fun for kids :) This would be a good Halloween breakfast too.

What you need:

1 slice of bread
1 egg
butter
mustard (optional)

Butter both sides of your bread.

Then, find a small juice cup (a kids cup works well) and cut a small circle out of the center of your slices of bread.

Heat your pan and spray with non stick spray and put one slice of bread down. Then crack your egg into the hole. Cook on one side until your bread toasts and then flip it over and cook on the other side. Serve with mustard if you want.

Eat with a fork and enjoy!

Katie's version of Black Eyed Peas

Tonight I decided to make stuffed pork chops and while rummaging through my freezer for a side I found a bag of black eyed peas. I think I bought them once with the notion that they would be a good healthy finger food for my son Dillon and never made them for him. So, there they were, still sitting in my freezer. I thought hey, they need to be eaten...

I cooked them and then decided they needed a kick, so I added an onion and a green pepper. Then a can of rotel tomatoes. I also threw a pinch of garlic, salt, basil and a bay leaf in. No method to my madness. Then I realized I should just throw some ham in, and hey, I had some leftover ham! But, by then it was no longer a side, it was a meal! So, needless to say, dinner is done for tomorrow and I still don't have a side for tonight and my chops have 1/2 hour to go.

It is good though!

If I had to guess the recipe, here is what it would be:

1lb bag of frozen black eyed peas
Cook beans according to bag directions along with diced onion and diced pepper. Drain about 1/2 the liquid off.

Add:
1 can of rotel tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1/2 pound or so of cubed or diced or chunked cooked ham - whatever you have.


Season to taste with:

Salt, Pepper, Basil and Oregano

Simmer for 1/2 hour or so.

"Buttered" Noodles

Now, this isn't something I'd personally want to eat on a regular basis but when you have a picky toddler it may very well be something you find yourself making on a daily basis. My 20 month old son, like many toddlers, is on a carb and dairy diet. He will eat waffles, pancakes, bread, noodles, milk, yogurt and cheese. And blueberries. Oh, and sometimes a banana. He used to be a banana freak but lately hasn't been eating them too often. He used to be GREAT about eating his veggies. Green beans, carrots, peas, broccoli and even spinach but one day he just stopped. I HAVE to get some veggies into him. "Buttered" noodles are one way.

Pretty much, I cook 8 ounces or so of some kind of toddler friendly pasta (bow tie, penne) and then mix in a tablespoon or two of margarine or butter along with 6 - 8 ounces of squash puree. Make sure it is VERY smooth so your kids can't tell it's there. You can buy jarred squash puree if you want to save time. Mix in some parmesan cheese as well.

I always serve veggies like broccoli or peas and carrots along side or mixed into the noddles (or mac and cheese below), but just in case he picks them out I know he got *some* veggies hidden in the noodles.

You can also mix squash puree into Kraft Mac and Cheese. Just skip the milk because this will add enough liquid.

Any bit helps!

Crock Pot Pasta Fagioli - SOOOOOOO easy and yummy.

I got this from crockpot365.blogspot.com It is SOOO freaking good. Great with some crusty bread and salad and wonderful for a cold day.

--1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained
--1/2 large red onion, chopped
--1 cup carrots, chopped
--2 celery stalks, sliced
--2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (and juice)
--1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
--1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
--4 cups beef broth (check label for gluten!)
--1 jar (16.5 oz) pasta sauce
--2 tsp oregano
--1 T Tabasco sauce
--1/2 tsp salt
--1/4 tsp black pepper
--1/2 cup dry pasta, to add at end of cooking time

The Directions.

Use a 6 quart or larger crock pot, or cut the recipe in half. This makes a lot.

Brown the meat on the stove top, and drain well. Let it cool a bit.

Chop up the carrots, onion, and celery. Add it to the empty crock pot.
Drain and rinse the beans, and add them. Add the whole cans of tomatoes, and the pasta sauce. Add the beef broth. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, and Tabasco sauce. Stir in your meat.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. When the vegetables are tender, stir in the 1/2 cup of dry pasta.

Cover and cook for another hour on low, or until the pasta is tender. It will swell quite a bit.

Serve with a bit of Parmesan cheese if you have it.