Mexican Egg Scramble

Breakfast on the weekends is my favorite meal. I can take my time in the kitchen and make some of my favorite foods. This morning was no exception. We had to stop at the mechanic's to drop of one of our cars and on the way home we stopped at Starbucks. The Salted Caramel Mocha Latte sounded so delicious and while it tasted good, it's so so rich. Tons of sugar, tons of caffeine- zing! I'm awake. Once we returned home, I started breakfast, well actually it would probably be considered brunch. We like to sleep in LOL

  This is my own creation of what I like to call, Mexican Egg Scramble. It consists of roasted potatoes (I buy the frozen bag from Trader Joes and heat them in a little oil on the stove), eggs, Muenster cheese (I usually use cheddar but we were out of it), black forest ham, avocado and pico de gallo. I serve it with warm flour tortillas and orange juice. It's so good and filling to the point that we don't feel hungry until dinner.

I have a "new" camera that I'm learning to use. It's my grandpa's old one and I'm determined to start taking better photos. My nephew taught me a few of the settings. I mainly want to learn how to blur the background and figure out light settings.

Tomorrow is my first 5K. Wish me luck.

What have you been up to this weekend?

A Tribute To My Dad- a Veteran

This is my favorite photo of my dad and me.

Ducks make me smile because of this memory.

I was young when it was taken.

Too young to remember how old I was at the time,

but old enough to remember the moment.

He died when I was old enough to know my exact age

and he was too young to leave us.

 He served our country as a Navy Seal with 3 tours through Vietnam.

He instilled in me patriotism and love for my fellow man.

He loved his family with a protective fierceness

that I will always cherish.

He loved God and modeled faith for me.

He's a veteran and a hero, but most importantly My Dad.

Chocolate/Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies

So, I'm a little bummed because I had planned on entering this recipe in the LA Times Cookie Bake-off but then life got in the way and I missed the deadline. Ooops. But, I can still share it with you and I'm happy to. These are delicious and my first ever cookie recipe that I created by myself.

I haven't figured out what to name these yet. Any ideas? For now I'm calling them.....

Chocolate/Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies
by Danielle (All Things Yummy)

Ingredients

1/2 cup Oat Bran
1 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour
3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup old fashioned oats (not instant)
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat over 350 degress F.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix oat bran, flours, baking powder, baking soda and set aside.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together butter, sugars and salt until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla. Stir in the bran/flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the oats and chips until incorporated.

Drop approx 1 tablespoon of dough (I use a small ice cream scoop), 1-inch apart for each cookie on lined baking sheet. Bake until cookies are lightly golden, approx 13-15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly on cookie sheet and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Anne Burrell's Braised Chicken Thighs

Happy Friday! What do you have planned for the weekend?
Maybe you'll get a chance to try a new recipe like this one, Braised Chicken Thighs with Mushrooms and Almonds. I'll be trying a couple new pie recipes for an early Thanksgiving I'm having with some family.

The sauce is the star of this dish. To keep it honest, I added a little flour butter mixture to thicken it a little bit. I don't love chicken thighs but in this dish I enjoyed them. I was able to make it for dinner on a weeknight and it didn't take too long. I started it before my run and then fnished it up when I got back so it takes some planning to fit it in if you have evening workout plans but it's quick enough that you won't be eating at 10pm.

I served it over orechiette. Which means little ears in Italian.... too cute.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Pumpkin Chili

I saw this recipe on Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body and knew I was going to love it. It's delicious and one of those great slow cooker meals that's ready for you when you get home from work. The pumpkin adds a nice creaminess to the dish that tastes so so good. I made cornbread to serve with it as well. Cornbread with a little butter and drizzled with honey, yum!

Check her blog for the recipe.

Anne Burrell's Sweet Potato and Apple Hash

Clearly I did something wrong. It started out well, but......

 Onions and bacon....smelling and looking delicious

 Sweet Potatoes and Rosemary ready to be

covered and simmered.

 And now we have chunky apples and mushy sweet potatoes. Clearly I did something wrong.

I know I cooked the sweet potatoes too long.

There seems to be way too much liquid left as well which I don't understand since I followed the directions.

The dish was still good but it could have been a lot better. One major change I would make, remove the bacon before the simmer process and then top the dish at the end. My bacon ended up soggy instead of crispy, yuck.  

You can find the recipe in her new cookbook, on Foodnetwork.com or below.

Sweet Potato & Apple Hash
by Anne Burrell

ingredients

garnet yams, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice


Extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

4 to 6 slices thick cut bacon, cut into lardons

1 large onion, cut in 1/2-inch dice

2 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1/2-inch dice

4 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced

1/2 cup green pumpkin seeds (pepitas), toasted

directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, add the sweet potatoes, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, to taste. Toss to coat and arrange them on a baking sheet. Roast the sweet potatoes until they are soft but not mushy, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and reserve.

Coat a large saute pan with olive oil. Add the bacon and put the pan over medium heat. When the bacon has started to get crispy and brown, add the onions, season with salt and saute until the onions are very soft and aromatic. Add the apples and the scallion whites and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the sweet potatoes, and saute until the sweet potatoes are cooked through and starting to become crispy, about 7 to 8 minutes.

Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with the scallion greens and pumpkin seeds.

Have you ever had a recipe fail? Did you try to make it again?

"Hey, It's Ok....."

I'm linking up with Amber for "Hey, It's OK Tuesday"


"Hey, It's OK....."

To have squealed with delight when my niece gave me all her Butterfingers from trick-or-treating. Yum!

To watch the same movie over and over again. Somestimes just playing it for background noise.

To be a little worried when I leave the CrockPot on when I'm not at home. What if something happens and the house burns down?

To have 2 favorite football teams. Go Chargers! Go Bears!

To get annoyed that my husband doesn't like sweets as much as I do for breakfast. What I am supposed to do with a dozen pancakes?

To think Tuesday is the hardest day of the week.