Breakfast ... Fast

I love breakfast. Eggs. Bacon. Sandwiches. Omelettes. Corned beef hash. Wait...must stop salivating. Weekends we go all out. My challenge is the week days and my work schedule. Some mornings I need to leave my house by 5 a.m....yep I said A.M. But my love of breakfast doesn't waver and I am a person who must have breakfast lest risk crankiness. The problem is I would fail to give myself time to get a morning meal together...and to a drive-thru I would go or I would just scrounge up something at my desk. NOT a great way to start a morning.

So I had been seeing different recipes online for making egg "muffins", simple eggs made in a muffin tin. I had made a South Beach diet version using Egg Beaters but never used real eggs. Then over the Thanksgiving holiday I needed a quick way to make breakfast for 6 adults, 3 teenagers and a 5 year-old. The recipe is on Pinterest and online in a million places but ultimately I go back to one of my favorite no-carb/low-carb sites, Kalyn's Kitchen as a favorite although the version I made (and cannot remember the source) was at 350 degrees and you just break one egg into each muffin tin and then break the yolk as opposed to beating eggs and pouring into cups. Then you sprinkle the top with the meat and cheese (if that's what you are using)

They were a hit with the extended family and I made them again this week to have breakfast on hand for me and the rest of my house. I used just deli ham and shredded colby jack. There are a million combinations, it's quick, low mess and delicious. Now to figure out how to get breakfast to ALWAYS be that easy!

Thanksgiving: Thankful for not Cooking?

Thanksgiving is a culinary Super Bowl for me. I personally start prepping and planning at the end of September, right when Halloween decorations start inundating local stores. This year I scoured websites, pulled pages out of magazines and salivated over Pinterest. However, we traveled this year to Connecticut to visit my husband's side of the family and my sister-in-law who was kind enough to turn over her house to all of our crazy, said Thanksgiving was all taken care of.

I was excited and sad all at once. No early morning prepping. No agonizing over turkey doneness (if you saw last week's Top Chef you know even chefs have bad turkey moments). No juggling of times and peeling and, and....no cooking Thanksgiving?! What would I do without that stress to fuel my culinary fire?

You know what I did? I enjoyed every last bite of that delicious dinner that my very awesome sister-in-law ordered from Whole Foods. It made a plate that looked like this:

And a leftover turkey and stuffing casserole that I made that looked like this:

And a turkey salad club that looked like this:

And potato pancakes that looked like these:

And THIS is how I celebrated my last evening with my family, during the Thanksgiving holiday. 

No drama. No stress. No back-breaking mixing and chopping. No pacing the kitchen. Lots of time to enjoy moments like this:

There are many a Thanksgiving dinner left in the future for me to cook . So far though, the best time I have had, has been the one I didn't.

Steal of the Week: Churro Cheesecake

When the election was going on, I began to wonder if Facebook had any redeeming qualities anymore. I have a Twitter and a Pinterest, why did I need a news feed of emotionally charged stuff only sprinkled with updates of people I care about? Yet I soldiered on and wouldn't you know it, people post recipes on there too?!

Thank you Karen for sharing this recipe for churro cheesecake! I always have reduced-fat crescent rolls on hand as well as neufchatel cheese so I whipped this up super quick for my wine tasting/spa party! Delicious.

So good in fact, my chocolate obsessed hubby loved it!

Pinterest Recipe: Pineapple Cake

I am becoming quite fond of Pinterest and its easy to access recipes. Equally enjoyable are the easy recipes, especially for things I am not as good at, like baking. So how could I turn down a cake that was two ingredients? Yep, just one 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple and one box of angel food cake mix. My kitchen smells amazing. The true test will be my office mates reaction tomorrow!

Harvest Pot Roast

What's better than a hot meal after standing in line for almost 2 hours to vote? A hot meal from a crock-pot with a November theme: harvest!

One chuck roast, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions and a blend of brown gravy mix, seasoned salt, and cinnamon! Made a nice gravy when it was done. And as an aside, pairs great with Punkin Ale!

Charcuterie

I LOVE cheese! I love meat and cheese and tasty little bits of mustard and peppers and eggs and focaccia. I could live off charcuterie.