Bacon Hash and Broiled Eggs

Yummy note: Bacon... yes, whenever I say that word, I think everybody I know, their ears, eyes, and nose perks up... oh, not to forget the cat too. The bacon aroma just fills the house. Not sure what it is about the bacon, but it seems it has some magical power. Speaking of that, the blog I was assigned to for this Secret Recipe Club, mentioned a kitchen witch. I have never heard of this custom, but I like it, and could totally use a kitchen witch with good luck in my kitchen to help prevent any thing from burning, boiling over or spilling!! So back to the bacon, I got this amazing bacon hash and broiled eggs recipe from Rhonda at the the Kitchen Witch blog for this month's Secret Recipe Club. Thanks to my hubby for helping me scout out this hash recipe for this month, I think it is a keeper recipe on our list :) It had delicious flavor, not to mention you use bacon fat to saute potatoes in; yes, bacon fat,yes, grease, that is what gives this dish its depth of flavor. I was a bit intimidated at first, as I've never made a hash from scratch, as I usually just by frozen or pre-diced potatoes. I learned my lesson, not again, just use real potatoes, so much better and crispy.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my husband and I did! 

Bacon Hash and Broiled Eggs

original recipe http://www.thekitchenwitchblog.com/2011/09/30/bacon-hash-broiled-eggs/

Ingredients: 
1 pound bacon, diced
2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 small onion, diced
4 eggs
2 ounces grated cheese, optional
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions: 
In a large oven/broiler-safe skillet, I used my cast iron skillet, as bacon turns out wonderfully crispy usually in this pan. Over medium heat, cook bacon until the fat starts to render. Once you have a nice coating of that bacon fat/grease coating your pan, add the diced potatoes and onions. Cover pan and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender and onions start to caramelize, making sure to check and stir frequently so they don't stick on the bottom of the pan. Oh, that is also the next best part here, too...caramelized onions with crispy bacon..yum... Be careful though, that pan and grease is hot! Remove lid and turn heat up some and cook until all of the bacon and potatoes are crispy and browned. Salt and pepper to season. Next, if you are using the same pan, blot the pan a bit and remove excess bacon grease. Or if using smaller broiler safe dishes, use a slotted spoon to drain, and transfer the bacon hash into 4 individual dishes. Crack one egg on top each bacon hash dish and place under the broiler for approximately 3 minutes or until the whites are done. Sprinkle some cheese on top, if desired, and return to the broiler to melt.

Just a few ingredients for this homemade hash! 

Try and dice potatoes evenly. Yeah, easier said than done, haha. ;) 

Add potatoes to the partly rendered bacon and continue to saute. 

Drain some of the bacon fat if too much before broiling the egg. 

Crack an egg on top of the bacon hash and broil egg until set. 

Cut into the egg and enjoy your hash.

If you are not a broiled egg fan, you can eat the hash as it is, or serve with a side of scrambled eggs as well. 

Yummy note: So I got lost (in a good way) a few times on the Kitchen Witch blog meandering through her beautiful pictures. Someday, I want to capture images like Rhonda does. :) Rhonda has some amazing shots, not only of food on her site, but art. You should really visit her photography site and see what other things Rhonda likes to shoot, besides yummy food ;) Speaking of yummy food, if bacon hash doesn't look like your thing, she has plenty of other options! Other recipes that caught my eye from Rhonda was this brisket, -this looks simple and delicious that I might have to try making this one when I need to feed a crowd the next gathering. The other top one was this venison lo mein. I really need to try and make this at home again; the last time I tried the noodles became mush. She had a good tip that I will share, and she said to just use regular or leftover spaghetti noodles for this dish! Well, duh, why didn't I think of trying to use those, instead of those mushy sticky noodles I attempted to try before. Make sure to visit the Kitchen Witch for other great tips and tricks like this from Rhonda.

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Egg and cheese quesadillas

Yummy note: This idea started with my youngest kiddo always asking for food almost instantly from coming home from morning preschool. While it is still mid-morning, he gets confused on whether it is still breakfast time or lunch. I tried to tell him, it doesn't really matter what you eat as long as it is good for you. Hey, I'm all about my kids eating well and trying to get them to try something new. Which seems like an everyday battle. So, who is to say, you can't have pizza for breakfast, eggs can be for lunch, or pancakes for supper?!  it's ok, kids...(as I get a crazy look from them) there is no one telling you that you can't. So this is where lunch meets breakfast.

Egg and Cheese Quesadillas

Ingredients: 

2 eggs, beaten

4 flour tortillas

1/2 c. cheese, shredded (any kind of cheese will work)

*Use a combination of any of the ingredients below to customize your quesadilla. 

*Optional ingredients/add-ins: 

Deli ham, julienned 

Bacon

Sausage 

Diced avocado 

Spinach 

Finely diced green pepper
Finely diced onion

Mushrooms 

Black beans 

Salsa 

Sour cream 

Cilantro 


Directions: 

In a small bowl, crack the two eggs into it and whisk. If desired, add in milk or water at this point, it doesn't really matter if you do or not, either way is fine, but only add like a tablespoon if you do. In a medium sized frying pan, spray with non-stick spray or a few tablespoons of butter/oil. When the pan is hot, pour the eggs and other optional ingredients* into the pan at this point. Reserve your shredded cheese to the end. Cook on medium heat, scraping the pan occasionally, until the eggs are scrambled and just set. Season with the salt and pepper. Place the egg mixture to the side and place a tortilla in the fry pan and start to assemble the quesadilla. For a larger quesadilla (full circle) - place egg mixture back on top of the entire tortilla and top with cheese and lay the second tortilla on top of the mixture. For a smaller quesadilla (half circle) - place egg mixture on half of the tortilla and top with desired amount of cheese and fold it over to make a half circle quesadilla. Fry until golden brown, flip quesadilla halfway through the cooking time to ensure both sides are nice and crispy and the cheese has melted. Cut into wedges and serve. Can serve with sour cream or salsa on the side or top with cilantro. 

This dish is easily adaptable to many different combinations! You just need a few basic ingredients to start it off.

Make sure to flip your quesadilla halfway to ensure cheese has melted thoroughly and a tortilla shell has a nice golden brown.

Cut into wedges and serve.

Rhubarb Berry Muffins

Yummy note: When life gets busy, I bake. Seriously, it is almost more therapeutic than anything else. Not sure if it is the process of doing something and feeling accomplished that I finished it in a desired amount of time, or if it is just because I get to indulge in something yummy :)  With all of the end of the school year functions going on, teacher appreciation week, volunteer appreciation day, baseball starting and such, whew.. I knew I had to find something fun to bake. Hooray, cue in this month's Secret Recipe Club assignment. This month, I was assigned Cook with Sara. Sara had a bunch of comfort food recipes, but what stood out to me the most was she had an amazing selection of baked goodies..oh, this lady rocks, oh, and I should mention she is from the Midwest like myself... yep, excellent connection, perhaps that is why I liked her recipes so much ;-) Soo many decisions... I recently found some frozen rhubarb in my freezer from last season, and knew I had to use it up in the next month or so. When I had came across several different recipes using rhubarb on Sara's blog, I thought that would be fun. Plus, who doesn't love the sweet and tartness of rhubarb. I chose to make the rhubarb blueberry muffins as they could be easily packaged up and shared with others. These muffins were so flavorful and packed full of deliciousness, many compliments were given. So thank you Sara for this recipe, as it was a hit.  

Rhubarb Berry Muffins

original Rhubarb Blueberry Muffins recipe here

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1-6 oz. container yogurt (blueberry or plain)
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup quick oats
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup milk
2 cups chopped rhubarb (fresh or frozen)
2 cups of blueberries (fresh or frozen)*

*Original recipe stated to use 2 cups of blueberries, but I ran out, so I substituted 1 cup of strawberries, along with 1 cup of blueberries. 

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the softened butter and sugar together. Add in the eggs and yogurt. In a different bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients, alternatively with the milk, into the batter. Then fold in the blueberries, strawberries, and the rhubarb. For best results, use paper-lined muffin cups, and fill muffin tins about 3/4 full with the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. You may also make these into mini loaves of bread and bake for about 25 minutes as well. I topped some of these breads/muffins with a simple powdered sugar frosting, using about 1 cup of powdered sugar, 2 tbsp water and 1/2 tsp vanilla.   

Mini Rhubarb Berry Breads 

Rhubarb, frozen or fresh, works wonderfully in this recipe. I thawed my frozen rhubarb slightly before adding it to the batter. 

I used a combination of strawberries and blueberries, but you could use any berries or fruit with the rhubarb. 

Be careful not to stir the batter too much when you add in the fruit, just fold it in gently to avoid over-mixing.

Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full. 

Bake rhubarb berry muffins about 20-25 minutes until golden brown and set.

Mini breads topped with a simple frosting/glaze.

These little breads are packed full of yummy goodness! 

Please visit Sara over at Cook with Sara, as she has some of her favorite recipes ready to share with you. Here's a couple, I can't wait to try out later-  restaurant-style salsa and creme egg brownies.      

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Snickerdoodle Cookies

Yummy note: The other night the kids and I were making cookies to take to one of my daughter's class volunteer appreciation party and it hit me that I have never posted our family snickerdoodle cookie recipe. I had to dig it out of the family recipe binder, since I couldn't find the electronic copy? not cool. Ok, so I had to fix that. Snickerdoodles, according to my kids, are kinda like cinnamon toast- sugary, sweet, and a little crunchy- such a great food analogy! Hope you enjoy our family-trusted snickerdoodle cookie recipe, I wish I knew where the source came from, but I am unaware of who gave me this or where this recipe originated...All I know, it produces fantastic cookies :) 

Snickerdoodle Cookies 

Ingredients: 

1 cup shortening, softened 

1 1/2 cups sugar 

2 eggs 

2 3/4 cups flour 

2 tsp cream of tartar 

1/2 tsp salt 

1 tsp baking soda 

* additional 2 tbsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix shortening, sugar, and eggs together. Sift dry ingredients together and blend into the shortening mixture. Chill dough, if time allowed. I have done it both ways, where I was low on time and baked them right away without chilling and it still worked fine. Roll the dough balls the size of about walnuts or use a cookie scooper. Drop the dough balls into a cinnamon/sugar mix- using about 2 tbsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon. This can be modified to your liking of how much cinnamon you like. Place dough on parchment-lined cookie sheet or on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes, or until the cookie starts to puff up and the edges start to set. The cookies will then flatten some as they cool with a crinkled/cracked top.   

     

Homemade Magic Shell

Yummy note: 

My Secret Recipe Club blogger this month seems to have a lot of busy activities going on in her life, such as helping her oldest daughter start to plan a wedding, and keeping up with her other soccer star daughter! Loving Life takes an effort to reflect and make comfort, delicious-looking food for her family, while maintaining a busy lifestyle. Kirstin from Loving Life recently even started doing blog entries called The Simple Woman Daybook - which is pretty interesting as it has some good reflection time and as Kirstin says it makes her  "just stop and ponder, or slow down and be creative and intentional" - so true. I really liked that Kirstin was dong this, as we often get too busy with the busy-busy of our lives and forget to do that. Speaking of taking time to slow down, I think I add dessert to my routine every night to enforce that, haha. Even if it is a small piece of candy or a treat of sorts, the kids and I enjoy that few minutes of down time in the evening before getting ready for bed to enjoy dessert. Ice cream is always a hit here, and partially I think it is due to me getting to enjoy ice cream when I was younger, as that was something it seemed like we always had around. I vividly recall the Magic Shell topping that we used to use to make a hard turtle-like shell on our ice cream and then be able to crack it open and enjoy all that chocolate. My youngest is allergic to milk, so we've never been able to enjoy the real Magic Shell here, until now with Kirstin's recipe for homemade Magic Shell! What a great Secret Recipe Club recipe find, wahoo! This worked like a charm - just 2 ingredients, and in like minutes... who can complain about that?! No unnecessary processed ingredients like in the real stuff, but with oh, so much flavor! Mm, homemade Magic Shell is now a staple in my fridge, and my kids thank you !!  

Homemade Magic Shell 

original recipe here 

Ingredients: 
1 cup of good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used a dairy-free brand- Guittard)
2 tsp of coconut oil

Directions: 
Slowly melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave or on the stove top. Keep and eye on it, as you don't want it to overcook and burn, it really only takes just a few minutes. Stir the two together occasionally, like every 30 seconds or so, until it is completely melted and mixed together. Let the chocolate magic shell cool slightly and then pour over ice cream. Store in the fridge in a microwave-safe container. When you want to use it next, just reheating the magic shell until it is melted and use again. The magic shell solidifies pretty hard, so it is just easier to reheat in the same container when needed and then just put back in fridge when done.

Just 2 ingredients to make your own homemade magic shell - rock on!! 

Heat in the microwave or on the stove top, for just a few minutes, until melted. 

Melted and ready to use! 

 Here's to a dairy-free dark chocolate ice cream treat! 

Homemade Magic Shell solidified. It gets pretty solid, so it could be hard to scoop out just a small portion to use. So when ready to use again, remove from the fridge and just microwave it all in the same container.   

The homemade Magic Shell reheats beautifully time after time.
We've used it numerous times and each time it's been perfect. 

Enjoy!!

Here are some more of Loving Life's links that I can't wait to try out...Texas Caviar, Easy Artisan Bread, and this Mixed Berry Sorbet this summer! Make sure you check out all of the other\wonderful bloggers in our SRC. 

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Snow White Frosting

Yummy Note:

I am always looking for frosting recipes that are dairy-free, work well with decorating cakes, AND taste good. :) Sometimes, when you use a dairy-free alternative, that doesn't taste or act exactly like butter, you can get varying results. So I was excited when I came across this one from Wilton. I can't tell you how many times, I refer back to the Wilton site for the best results. Why mess with their expertise! So when I tried the Snow White Buttercream Icing recipe and realized it actually didn't have any real "butter" in it, and it was dairy-free, I was thrilled. This frosting holds up nicely, you can make it ahead of time, and I've had several compliments on it, noting that the taste of this frosting reminds them of old-school wedding cake frosting. I have used it as a thin layer under fondant, but it sets up and dries rather fast, so make sure you keep that in mind when frosting. A note is I have had maybe one bad run of this frosting, where it almost slid off the side of the cake. I am not sure if it was due to the heat, humidity, or perhaps if I added in too much corn syrup, but it wasn't pretty on about day 2 of my cake. However, the numerous other times, it worked great!   

 

 

 

Snow White Frosting

recipe from

http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Snow-White-Buttercream-Icing

Ingredients:
2/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons water, divided
1/4 cup meringue powder
12 cups sifted powdered sugar, (about 3 lbs.) divided
1 1/4 cups solid vegetable shortening
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon butter flavor

Directions:
In large bowl, sift all of the powdered sugar. Next, combine 2/3 cup of water and meringue powder together and mix at high speed until peaks form. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, at low speed. If you mix at a higher speed, you will end up with a powdered sugar dust storm and a big mess :)  Mix well, after each additional cup of sugar. After all of the sugar has been added, add the last 3 tablespoons of water, shortening and corn syrup to that and mix well. Add salt and flavorings last, and beat at low speed until smooth. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use, so it does not dry out.  For best results, store in refrigerator in an airtight container. The frosting can keep for about 2 weeks.

I don't have pictures of the actual frosting being made as I've always been in a rush when making it or forget. But I have how the finished cake and frosting is.

In our latest cake effort -
My daughter and I made a minion banana cake for my son's birthday and decorated it using this snow white frosting and fondant.

 

Couscous Bowls

Yummy note: This month with our Secret Recipe Club, I really wanted to make sure I tried a recipe using an ingredient that I have never really cooked with much before. I often get wrapped up into looking at these amazing recipes from all of the Secret Recipe Club bloggers, I start to forget why I initially joined the SRC and that was to try out new or different ingredients, not just different recipes. So when I was assigned the Pajama Chef this month, I wanted to keep that in mind while reading through Sarah's blog. Lunch is really one of those meals that doesn't quite fit into meal planning, and I never really have much planned, so I like quick ideas for lunch. When I saw the Pajama Chef had a handful of ideas for 10-minute lunch ideas, I knew this was the category I had to check out. So what a perfect match, as I found this flavorful couscous bowl! I have never really made anything with couscous before so it sounded perfect. :) Boy, was it easy to make! I didn't realize that couscous was this quick to make and delicious when added with other simple ingredients. In Sarah's Italian Chicken & Veggie Couscous Bowl recipe she noted it would be easy to add and change up the ingredients, so when I realized my leftover chicken was no longer to be found in my fridge when I went to make this, I decided to saute up some quick shrimp for a slight variation. Success! A quick and delicious lunch was made, and this recipe was portioned just right for one hungry mama or two smaller lunches. Enjoy.  

Couscous Bowl 

Ingredients: 

1/2 c. water
1 tbsp butter
1/2 c. couscous
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 c. sauteed shrimp (or leftover chicken)
1 c. frozen vegetables
salt/pepper/garlic powder to taste

1-2 green onions, diced
large handful spinach, chopped

Italian dressing

* Yummy Note - Can use other variations of vegetables and protein for this dish. - See original recipe and variations here

Directions: 
Bring water and butter to a boil and stir in couscous. Then remove from heat and cover. Let couscous sit for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, saute your shrimp with a little olive oil (or use leftover chicken) and the frozen vegetables for maybe 2-3 minutes. Towards the end, toss in your spinach and green onions and then season with salt and pepper to taste. Next, combine your sauteed mixture with the couscous. Top with a drizzle of Italian dressing and enjoy lunch! 

Hello- meet couscous - a quick-cooking grain. 

Quickly saute vegetables and a protein together while the couscous is standing and the dish comes together quickly.

Combine together for a perfect lunch! 

Shrimp & Veggie Couscous Bowl - made in about 10 minutes! 

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