Breakfast Burritos

Ingredients...

...Thinly sliced ham, chopped

...1/4 onion, chopped

...1/4 green pepper, chopped

...1/4 c. salsa

...1/4 - 1/2 c. shredded cheese

...4 eggs

...Tortilla Shells

Directions...

In a skillet over medium heat, saute ham, onion and green pepper until tender. Add eggs and stir continuously until a scrambled egg form takes place. Be sure to cook until eggs are fully done. Stir in salsa and shredded cheese and cook until everything is heated through and the cheese has melted. Serve in warm tortillas shells.

Egg Salad

Well now that Easter is over and the Bunny has left you with tons upon tons of hardboiled eggs, what to do with them? Even though they are colored, they are still safe to eat, so why not right?!? I've always loved hardboiled eggs, but after Easter there are so many left that eating them plain gets just a little, well, boring. I suggest that you whip up a batch of this egg salad to make sandwiches. Not only will this help to use up all those eggs leftover from your hunt, but it will also give you a much needed break from those leftovers at some point. Even though Ham and Scalloped Potatoes are always delicious, sometimes you just need a break!!

As with the potato salad recipe that I'm trying to crack, my Grandma made the best egg salad ever too! I really wanted to find a recipe that was similar to hers and I found this version over at Allrecipes and decided to give it a go. While it was not much like my grandma's recipe at all, it was really good! I have to say though, you MUST let this sit in the refrigerator so that the dried onion can soften...otherwise it's just gross with hard little onion bits. But if you are impatient like me, don't say I didn't warn you!

p.s. It's also National Egg Salad Week...so now you have two reasons to make this!

Ingredients...

...8 hard cooked eggs, diced

...1 c. mayonnaise

...1/8 c. dried onion flakes

...1/2 tsp. salt

...1 tsp. mustard powder

...1/4 tsp. garlic powder

...1/4 tsp. black pepper

Directions...

Place all ingredients in a bowl and gently stir until well combined. Refrigerate for at least on hour prior to serving. This step is pertinent to softening the dried onion flakes.

Deviled Eggs

What would be a potluck celebration of any kind without at least one or two platters of these eggs sitting out? Every church potluck, family get together, holiday celebration or summer picnic that I've ever been to has always included deviled eggs, and I have always loved that! I've never made deviled eggs myself before, and was pleasantly surprised by how easy they were to make! Just toss, mix and spoon into the egg white! Done!

Ingredients...

...6 eggs

...1 tsp. white vinegar

...1 T. mayonnaise

...1/4 tsp. mustard

...Salt and pepper to taste

...1 tsp. paprika

Directions...

Hard boil eggs and let cool. Cut the eggs in half and remove yolks, placing them in a medium sized bowl and setting the egg whites aside for later. To the egg yolks add the vinegar, mayonnaise, mustard and salt/pepper. Mash and stir until everything is well combined, adding more mayonnaise as necessary. Spoon the mixture into the egg whites and sprinkle with paprika. Serve chilled.

Patio Potato Salad

I'm a true lover of potato salad. I don't know why I don't make it more often. Maybe because I'm so very used to my Grandma's recipe, which was never written down and was one of those recipes that she just tossed and tasted until it was right. I have yet to get it right. But I'm still pressing on.

I found this particular recipe from Taste of Home. I figure that considering my Grandma owned every issue ever printed of that magazine, it's my best bet for finding something close to her potato salad recipe. I came close with this recipe last summer, but it just wasn't it. Neither was this one. This one was super good though, and if I ever decide to give up on the quest to recreate Grandma's Potato Salad, this will be the one that I stick with (as of right now).

This recipe also marked a first in cooking for me, as I have never made a potato salad that required the "sauce" to be cooked prior to mixing. As far as I knew, all potato salads required just tossing and mixing of ingredients. So it was interesting to try things this way, and I was very pleased with the results!

Ingredients...

You're gonna laugh at this. Really, you will. I had all of the ingredients for this salad staged and ready to photograph...and then halfway through the cooking process I realized that I never actually took the picture. I just staged it. So....my intentions were good but there is no ingredients photo. Sorry!

...1/3 c. Sugar

...1 T. cornstarch

...1 to 1 1/2 tsp. ground mustard

...1/2 tsp. celery salt

...1 tsp. salt

...1/2 c. milk

...1/4 c. vinegar

...1 egg, beaten

...1/3 c. butter

...1/4 c. onion, chopped

...1/4 c. mayonnaise

...7 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
...3 hard cooked eggs, chopped

Directions...

In a saucepan combine the sugar, cornstarch, ground mustard, salt, celery salt, butter, egg, vinegar and milk. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes until thickened and bubbly. Cool. Stir in onion and mayonnaise. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes and hard cooked eggs. Add dressing and toss gently to evenly coat everything. Refrigerate, covered, for at least one hour prior to serving.

To see more great recipes, be sure to check out Tuesday's at the Table over at All the Small Stuff, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace and Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!

Breakfast Pizza

I love breakfast pizza! It's an illness, really...but I just can't help it...it's love! In college, I worked at a convenience store as an assistant manager, and one of my duties was kitchen duty during the breakfast and lunch times. One of our claims to fame was our pizza...and our breakfast pizza just couldn't be beat! I would sneak a thin slice here and "accidentally" mess up a small section there, just so I could eat some (and if my former boss is reading this right now, there's my confession for ya!).

So I finally decided that it was high time to try and recreate this breakfast pizza on my own. I was very happy with how it turned out, this recipe is a keeper!

Ingredients...

...Pizza Dough to make crust
...scrambled eggs (I used about 4 eggs and some skim milk to whip some up)
...cheese sauce
...ground sausage
...mozzerella cheese
...cheddar cheese

Directions...

Form pizza crust with dough to desired size. Spread cheese sauce over the dough, following with a sprinkling of ground sausage and the scrambled eggs. Top with mozzerella cheese until toppings are covered. Sprinkle a small amount of cheddar cheese on top of the mozzerella cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Note: You can also use crumbled bacon in place of or with the ground sausage.

For more great recipes be sure to check out Mouthwatering Monday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday!

Egg Drop Soup

One of the random boxes of stuff that I'm trying to use up in my pantry was a Wanchai Ferry Sweet and Sour Chicken dinner kit (soooo not good, by the way!). So I decided that the only way to compliment a Chinese dinner kit, was to whip up a pot of egg drop soup! Because what is a chinese meal without some of this soup? I'm glad I made the soup, because the dinner kit was nasty! So at least we had something else to fill our tummies! This was good, and the only changes I would like to see made next time is to add some carrots, because that's what our local chinese resturant does, and I love it! This was way easier than I thought it would be, which was great because I'm going to be making it a lot from now on!

Ingredients...

...2 (14 oz.) cans Chicken Broth (or 4 cups if you use boullion cubes or make your own!)
...2 eggs
...1 egg yolk
...1/8 tsp. ground ginger
...2 tbs. chopped chives
...1 1/2 tbs. cornstarch

Directions...

Reserve 3/4 cup chicken broth in a bowl and set aside. Place remaining broth in a pot over medium-high heat. Stir in ginger and chives and bring to a rolling boil. Meanwhile, stir cornstarch into reserved chicken broth until smooth. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk. Drizzle egg a little at a time from a fork into the boiling broth. Egg should cook immediately. Once the eggs have been dropped, stir in the cornstarch mixture until desired consistency is reached.

Potato Salad

My grandma made the best potato salad. EVER. The only problem? She didn't write the recipe down...it was more of a toss and taste recipe. And I have been on the hunt for a recipe similar ever since she passed. I think I finally have it about mastered. At least mastered enough to share it with all of you, because I really think this is a great base recipe. I also chose to share it this week because since hubs is gone on his motorcycle trip, I have more time to experiment in the kitchen :)

The Ingredients...

...5 Potatoes, boiled until tender but still firm
...3 Eggs, hardboiled
...1 cup chopped celery
...1/2 onion, chopped
...1/2 cup sweet pickle relish
...1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
...1/4 teaspoon celery salt
...1 tablespoon prepared mustard
...1/2 cup mayonnaise

Directions...

Cube potatoes and eggs. Place in bowl and add remaining ingredients. Stir until well combined. Refrigerate several hours before serving to chill and allow ingredients to marinate in each other and thicken.

**As a side note, you may want to play with the amount of mayonnaise. I felt that 1/2 cup was almost not enough. After standing in the refrigerator and thickening, it wasn't as creamy as I prefer potato salad to be. So the amount of mayo added is really up to you**

My Thoughts...

I love potato salad. And I thought that this was really close to being perfect. As mentioned above, I didn't think that there was quite enough mayo...and next time may try it with 3/4 cup instead of 1/2 cup. I also may try it sans onion next time as I'm pretty sure my grandma didn't add any in hers, since none of the grandkids like onion. Otherwise, this was delicious and I really can't wait to try it again and get it perfected!

To see more delicious recipes, check out Works For Me Wednesday, Recipe Edition! over at We are THAT Family!

Fresh Omelets

I have a confession to make. I have never, ever made an omelet in my life! So when hubs requested one for breakfast the other morning, I was a little leery...and positive that I was doing it wrong...but he liked it so maybe I'll just keep making them this way!

Ingredients...

...2 eggs
...1/2 ham steak
...1/4 small onion, chopped
...handful of cheese
...several strips of green pepper, chopped

Directions...

Place cheese, onion, green pepper and ham in small skillet and cook until heated through and cheese is melted. Remove from skillet and place in small bowl for keeping. Place eggs in same skillet and break yolks. Let cook and flip to cook other side. Place toppings on egg and wait until cooked through.

My Thoughts...

So, I had too many ingredients. I couldn't fold it over. But hubs liked it none the less. I served it to him with toast and homemade strawberry rhubarb jam. What a filling and delicious breakfast perfect for the weekend!

Crockpot Mexican Breakfast Casserole

This was good...but you need to follow the recipe...I made the mistake of not doing so, and regretted it! The ingredients...

~ Tortillas (the recipe calls for corn, I used wheat and it tasted fine)
~ 8 eggs
~ 2 cups fat free milk (I forgot to put it in the picture...but I used powdered milk, like I do in all my cooking...)
~ 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
~ 1 (7-ounce) can green chiles, drained (which is what I eliminated, and regretted it!)
~ 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced (I used yellow as it was all I had on hand)
~ 1 tiny onion, diced (I used half of a large onion)
~ 1 cup corn (canned, frozen, fresh...its up to you and what you have on hand!)
~ 1 cup sliced mushrooms (optional...and I did skip this one and didn't miss it)
~ 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (I used table salt)
~ 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

What to Do...

Grease the inside of your crockpot. Put a layer of tortillas on the bottom (I had to tear some to make them fit evenly). In a mixing bowl, combine all of the other ingredients and whisk together. Pour 1/3 of the mixture into the crockpot, on top of the first layer of tortillas. Add another layer of tortillas, and top with another 1/3 mixture. Top with third and last layer of tortillas. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for 4-5. It will be done when the eggs are fully cooked and the edges have begun to brown.

This is what it looked like all ready to eat! I had to add some taco sauce to it because without the chiles the taste was quite bland. But once I added the taco sauce it was delish! I would definetely recommend this recipe....and will for sure be trying it again! This is a great way to start off my goal of having hot breakfasts on hand each day, as it warms up quite well!