Bacon, Onion, & Hashbrown Medley

Back in January I made this deliciously guilty hashbrown & bacon pie crust quiche over my Winter Vacation down in Myrtle Beach. I was attempting to make it again over my Summer Vacation but with a ramen noodle twist. However, I ran out of room in my quiche for the hashbrowns, so I decided to run with it and try something different. 


You start by cooking about 6 to 8 slices of bacon in a medium frying pan. After they are cooked, extra crispy, remove the bacon. Break up into pieces. Then Place 1/2 a bag of frozen (thawed a lil) hashbrowns  & 1 cup of diced onions in pan in the bacon grease and cook until heated through and crispy. Sprinkle garlic salt on hashbrowns while cooking. Remove from heat and mix in with bacon. It's not the healthiest breakfast choice, but it is delicious! (everything in moderation, right?)


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Ramen Noodle Quiche

I'm obsessed with quiche, this is nothing new. Love trying out different recipes. I recently saw one that included ramen noodles on the inside so I decided to give it a try. The results come out great, the ramen noodles make it fluffy & hearty. I made mine with spinach & bacon but you can make it anyway you would like. 

Ingredients:

1 pillsbury pie crust

6 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 box of frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained

1 cup onion, diced

6 to 8 slices of bacon, cooked & in pieces

1/2 package of beef flavored ramen noodles, crumbled with seasoning packet

1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, shredded

1 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded

salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Press crust into a pie dish and make the edges fancy looking.

Place bacon on bottom of dish.

Top with broken ramen noodles, then pour about half the seasoning package on top evenly over the whole pie.

Top with spinach, onions, and cheeses.

Mix eggs & milk in a small bowl, pour over top of pie. 

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. 

What do you think? Comments? Suggestions? I would love to know that you visited my blog. Please leave me a message letting me know you were here! Did you try out a recipe? Let me know! I would love to hear from you :-)

Santa Fe Pancakes (Inspired by Pancake Pantry)

We recently went on vacation with our friends to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. We all took turns cooking each day. For breakfast my husband & I made Zucchini Quiche. But that was not the main attraction. My husband is obsessed with these Santa Fe Pancakes from The Pancake Pantry in Nashville. We got to visit our friends, Matty & Tricia in Nashville every year that they've lived there and each time we make sure to squeeze in a trip to The Pancake Pantry before we leave. (Did I mention I saw Taylor Swift the last time we went to Nashville???) The pancakes at the Pancake Pantry are actually called the Village Smithy COLO Santa Fe Pancakes because they are from the Village Smithy restaurant in Carbondale, Colorado. Well, thank goodness we were able to track down this recipe and create it for our friends for breakfast. My husband did most of the work and they turned out great. They are really delicious and quite unusual. 

Ingredients:
3/4 cup UNBLEACHED flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 & 3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 & 1/4 cups buttermilk 
2 large eggs
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted & cooled
6 slices cooked bacon broken up into quarters
1 small can chopped roasted green chiles
4 green onions, diced
4 oz cheddar cheese slices, broken into smaller pieces



Directions:
Mix cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, & salt in a large bowl. 
In a separate bowl whisk buttermilk, eggs, & butter.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
Spray a medium pan with cooking spray and heat over medium heat.
Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into pan. 
Right away top with the bacon, onions, cheese, & chiles (see picture above).
When the bottom is cooked (more than minute) then flip to the other side and cook for another minute. [This is an estimate, you may have to make the first few pancakes your practice ones.]
Repeat with remaining batter. 
Serve with honey, syrup, and hot sauce. YUMMO!

Those are some happy kids!

What do you think? Comments? Suggestions? I would love to know that you visited my blog. Please leave me a message letting me know you were here! Did you try out a recipe? Let me know! I would love to hear from you :-)

Egg McMuffins (at home)

We had a 2-hour delay (again) this week. Luckily school wasn't closed completely otherwise we would have to take a day back from our Easter Break. I can't believe we are still getting snow, but at least I'm taking advantage of it. Normally I just have a bowl of cereal for breakfast or a fiber bar as I'm running out the door. Sometimes I wait to eat breakfast at work before the kids show up for homeroom. It's nice having a 2 hour delay and being able to take my time. Gerald was outside shoveling the driveway and warming up my car (he's awesome!) so I thought I'd make us both breakfast. Turned out great! The recipe below is for one sandwich. 

Ingredients:

1 egg

1 egg white

tiny onion

1/4 of a bell pepper

1 tbsp bacon bits

1 whole grain sandwich thin, preferably Arnold's

1 clove of minced garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder (optional)

1/2 tsp of butter (optional)

non-stick cooking spray

1 circular can of peanuts or something else that fits a sandwich thing

Directions:

Use a non-stick pan or spray a medium-sized pan with olive oil cooking spray over medium heat.

Whisk egg, egg white, peppers, and bacon bits together in a small bowl.

Place circular can on pan and poor egg mixture inside.

You may have to hold the can down tight so that the egg mixture won't leak out from underneath (at least for a little while) but it might actually hold on it's own.

Let it cook for about a minute or two, once the egg mixture firms up, you'll notice that it'll hold on it's own and you can lift up the can.

Flip over the egg and cook the other side.

Meanwhile, toast an Arnold's sandwich, spread sides with just a lil' bit of butter and top with garlic powder or actual minced garlic.

Place egg on bread top with ketchup or hot sauce or nothing at all.

ENJOY!!!

This recipe was inspired by Roni from GreenLiteBites. What a genius idea! She has some amazing dishes on her site. The Mexican pizza I made the other night was from her site. Also the peppers stuffed with quinoa was from her. You should check her stuff out it's delicious and you can feel good about yourself when you try out those healthy recipes.

What do you think? Comments? Suggestions? I would love to know that you visited my blog. Please leave me a message letting me know you were here! Did you try out a recipe? Let me know! I would love to hear from you :-)

Potato & Bacon Cheese Quiche

This is recipe is also from Pillsbury Best Of The Bake-Off Contest Winners Cookbook. It's another winner. Warning...it's not as healthy as my last recipe. But it is GOOOOOOD. 

I made it down in Myrtle Beach while on vacation. Once again, I cheated by using the generic Walmart brand instead of Pillsbury Dough (sorry Pillsbury!) but it saved me a few bucks so it was worth it.

My husband was raving about it last night at wings. So I know it must of been good :-)

Ingredients:

1 bag of potatoes (preferably hasbrown or tater tot style)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 bag steamable frozen broccoli & cheese sauce

1 pie crust from 15 oz box

4 eggs

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

7 slices of bacon, cooked, crumbled

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon parsley

1/3 cup green onions, choppped

garlic salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook hashbrowns in oil over medium-high heat, flip halfway through and cook other side, following directions on bag. (I had a small skillet so I had to do two rounds of this)

Sprinkle with garlic salt (I had a garlic sea salt grinder) while cooking.

Meanwhile, cook steamable broccoli bag as directed on bag.

Place pie crust in 9 inch glass pie plate as directed on box.

Line the bottom and sides of the pie with cooked hashbrowns.

In large bowl, beat eggs and whipping cream with whisk. (we have a pretty awesome whisk at our beach house)

Stir in broccoli & cheese bag contents.

Stir in bacon, cheese, basil, pepper, & parsley.

Pour filling into pie plate.

Sprinkle green onions over filing.

Bake 30 to 50 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Check inside with a toothpick or knife.

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Mashed Potato Bar (aka Mash-tini Bar!)

My mom sends me links and emails from time to time. If she comes across a recipe she thinks I'll like or if she just comes across something cute she wants me to check out she'll send me a quick note about. Last month she told me to "google" Mashed Potato Bar because she had just seen a segment about it on the Today Show. Apparently, it's the new thing that catering companies or weddings are doing now. It's pretty cool! A lot of you may have heard of a Baked Potato Bar, but the Mashed Potato Bar takes it to a whole 'nother level. I really wanted to give it a try but was waiting for the perfect occasion to use it. We helped host a Christmas Party this past weekend and tried it out. Total success! It worked out well because a lot of people brought desserts and hours de vours, so it was nice to have the mashed potato bar to compliment them all. 

In reality, it's a real simple idea. Sophisticated simplicity, if you will. Mashed Potatoes are pretty easy to make. (well if you use instant like I did) Then you just select a variety of ingredients that you think your guests will enjoy with their mashed potatoes. The best part is you can use an icecream scoop and
serve them in martini glasses! Hence the name, Mash-tini Bar!!! It makes mashed potatoes look a lot fancier then they are and everyone loves the variety. We ran out of martini glasses so I used a variety of wine glasses. Check out the pictures!



Here are some ingredients I included:
Green onions
Shredded cheese
Roasted red peppers
Beef gravy
Chicken gravy
Sour cream
Diced tomatoes
Corn
Marinated zucchini
Bacon pieces
Turkey Pepperoni pieces
Paprika
Garlic Salt

What are your thoughts? What would you add to your Mashed Potato Bar?
Chili!
Melted Cheese!
Bacos!


Need more ideas? Check these out: San Diego Cooks, Frugal Fairy, Project Wedding.

My next challenge? I think I'm going to take on cake pops! Has anyone tried making these before??? Let me know if you are up for the challenge!


I would love to know that you visited my blog or tried out a recipe. Leave me some love & encouragement!