Over Easy

Breakfast for The Hubster to give him nourishment and motivation to get us packed and out to the beach for our annual 4th of July Beach Camping Date Night!  See that creamy yolk peeking out from under it's egg-white blanket, looking SO READY to be pierced with a fork and sopped up with that buttery Ezekiel English muffin?  Yea, baby.  Well, the trick is finesse.  Over easy eggs are just that  - OVER EASY! 

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EGGS OVER EASY

oil

eggs

sea salt

pepper

(Yep.  That's it)

Cover the bottom of a pan (see notes) with oil of your choice.  I prefer extra virgin olive oil.  Heat the oil on medium heat.  Crack your egg (see notes) into the heated oil.  Using your spatula, push the oil surrounding the egg over over the egg as it cooks with a small, sweeping motion.  Continue this process until the yolk is barely covered with a white, opaque film, and edges of egg are firm.  Carefully scoop egg out of pan with spatula, gently tilting it to drain excess oil (don't drop it!!)  Place on plate and sprinkle (ever-so-lightly!) with sea salt and pepper.

NOTES: I use my tiny cast-iron skillet for this one.  If you want to avoid shell in your egg once it hits the pan, an old trick is break it into a small bowl first, and THEN into the pan.  if you DO happen to get shell in it, use a half-piece of the shell in your hand and scoop it out.  Shell attracts shell like a magnet! 

The Musical Soup

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I suppose I'm asking for trouble when I put cabbage AND beans together, if ya know what I mean!  I'll even sing the song for you: Beans and cabbage, the musical soup, the more you eat, the more you......" well, YOU KNOW THE REST!  But this is worth the song - TRUST ME!  We are a Meatless Monday family, and let me just tell you, this hearty and delicious soup will not have you missing the meat! I threw a toasty piece of cheesy bread in the middle and The Hubster LOVED IT.)   It is loaded with fiber, protein, and DELICIOUSNESS, and it is inexpensive and EASY, too.  So sing along to the Cabbage & White Bean Soup Song!!

CABBAGE & WHITE BEAN SOUP

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extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

1 small onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 small carrots, sliced thinly

1 small head green cabbage, chopped coarsely

1/2 container grape tomatoes, diced

2 cans cannellini (navy) beans

 1 container power greens (or 5 oz spinach, kale or other greens)

2 containers vegetable broth (it's Meatless Monday, after all!)

sea salt

pepper

2 tbs cumin

1 tbs nutmeg

Coat the bottom of a heavy soup pot (see notes) with the evoo on medium-high heat.  Toss in the onion, garlic, carrots and cabbage, adding sprinkling the sea salt and pepper over it, and then adding remaining spices, and cook until brown, stirring every once in a while.  Add tomatoes and broth, turning down your heat to low.  Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.  Turn heat back to medium and add beans and power greens.  Cook until power greens are just wilted.  Add more sea salt and pepper to taste.

NOTES:  I used my cast-iron Dutch oven to make this soup (I use it for practically everything!),  but any heavy soup pot will do.  As you can see, I try to use organic ingredients whenever possible for clean eating, but this recipe is actually a take on Italian Peasant Soup, so organic is not necessary for this to be flavorful.  Now, I added the cheesy toasty in the middle and some extra cheese on the actual soup, but for low-carb eating, just omit!

Here Comes the Bride! (A Shower of Love)

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Last Saturday, we had a bridal shower for my Daughter-In-Law (to be!), Kiren.  The Daughts (Miz Chelsea Erickson of Beauty by Chelsea), our sweet friend, Dixie Moreau, and I, did NOT do too shabby!  The two of them worked the Shampps (our word for champagne) Bar, and EVERYTHING ELSE.  I handled the cooking and baking!  We had creamy pasta salad, lemon thyme bars, crudité, crack sammiches (see past post Man Food, which obviously became Woman Food), two kinds of quiche, cinnamon rolls, bread pudding, fruit salad, mini panny-cakes (my own word for pancakes) with blueberries on top, orange cranberry muffins, and cucumber-radish canapés, along with three different juices and fruits for the Shampps Bar to go into the sugar-rimmed glasses!  Whew!  So you can OBVIOUSLY see why I am only going to post one recipe, and probably the easiest, and yet super-chic: canapés.

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These little beauties were DELISH!  The wedding is boho-chic, and these went perfectly with the theme!

1 pkg white bread (I know, I know.  I preach against it all the time.  But this is a MUST to make these successfully)

1/2 stick butter, softened

2 cucumbers, washed and sliced thinly

1 pkg radishes, washed and sliced thinly

1 cup sour cream

dill, for garnish

Take the bread and with a round cookie mold (or some other kind of pattern that will mold two small rounds out of one slice - a small glass, perhaps?) make two small rounds without crust.  Lightly butter each round, then pile cucs and then radishes on them.  Place a very small dollup of sour cream on the pile and then garnish with the dill.  Sounds too easy to be delicious?  Try it and see for yourself!

I appreciate all the hard, HARD work Dixie put in.  She is a MACHINE!

Please do not copy this photo - all rights reserved through the Moreau Family

(I seem to be focused more on the food and less on Dixie Doodle! - sorry Pretty Girl!)  And of course, The Daughts and all HER HARD WORK!  (#hostesswiththemostess)

Below is the Love Fest among The Daughts, The DIL, and me (She!)

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And last but certainly not least: THIS gorgeous bunch of crazies!

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Steak-Garlic Vinaigrette

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Two cloves of garlic, used from Under Five-Minute Steak, chopped finely

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp pepper

Place all ingredients in a small jar with a lid - I just used an old mason jar.  Shake until good and mixed up.  Pour over hearty lettuce, like Romaine, to go with your awesome steak.

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This turned out to be one of the most-flavorful (but also one of the fastest AND easiest!) dinners we have ever had, believe it or not!  Now, to finish it off, a friend of ours, Terry McCanless (we call him T-Bone, totally appropriate for this particular post!), created a masterpiece that The Hubster ate after this steak-creation.  

Boys and girls, don't try this ooey-gooey goodness at home!  Oh, who am I kidding?!?  DEFINITELY TRY THIS AT HOME!!  (Thanks, T-Bone!!)

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Wanna see how the Under Five-Minute Steak was made?  In REAL-TIME?  Click HERE!  Don't forget to like the video and subscribe to the channel!

Poor Man's Stew

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This is called what it is called literally because it's just plain ole rice and beans with a tiny twist.  You really can make of this what you want, adding or taking away an ingredient here and there and have it nine ways to Sunday!  (and back)

POOR MAN'S STEW

1 bag dry pinto beans

2 pkgs turkey summer sausage or keilbasa, chopped into chunks

ro-tel

sea salt

pepper

garlic powder

cumin

onion powder

Penzey's Forward (or some other rich, but summery spice)

4 bay leaves

This is easy.  Watch this. Throw all ingredients (spices to taste) (see notes) into the crock pot, fill to the top of the pot with water, and set on low.  Go on about your business.  When it is done cooking, add a few more spices (see notes).  Serve over rice.

NOTES: Remember the Pizza Panini from the other night?  I only used about a tablespoonful of ro-tel and put the rest in a baggie to save.  Well, that's the leftovers in the Poor Man's Stew!  Crock pots tend to mute your seasoning so it is always a good idea to season again before you serve.  Just be careful!  You can ALWAYS add, but can never take away, and you don't want this to be too salty. (She said, from experience)

POOR MAN'S RICE

2 1/2 cups rice

5 1/2 cups juice from the Poor Man's Stew once it is cooked

So get this: throw both ingredients into a pot, bring to a boil, and then cover and simmer until desired consistency.  Fo' realz.  It's THAT EASY.  (see notes)

NOTES: I used a box of organic Yoga light brown rice for this.  But the juice makes for a rich (Poor Man's Stew, get it??  RICH!!) rice!

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Mexi-CAN Chalupas

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There should be a Chalupa Crush Wednesday on social media....because I am crushing on THIS!!  I USUALLY have a two-week grocery shopping list and meal planner, but for some reason since we got back from New York, I have been VERY out-of-sorts!  So fast and easy is what's for dinner lately, and this DEFINITELY fit the bill!  

CHALUPAS

1 pkg tortillas

3 pkgs ground turkey

2 cans refried beans

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped coarse

1/4 head small purple cabbage, sliced fine

1 head Romaine lettuce, sliced fine

8 grape tomatoes, diced fine

8 green onion, diced

diced avocado, sprinkled with a little lime

2 jalapeno, seeded, diced fine

3 pkgs taco seasoning

1/2 cup water

sea salt

pepper

garlic

cumin

extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

Sprinkle enough evoo in heavy pot or Dutch oven, cook turkey meat on medium-high heat, and sprinkle the top with sea salt, pepper, cumin and garlic, mixing and then cooking until browned.  Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat refried beans and chop all your veggies.  Once the meat is browned, add taco seasoning and water (see notes), and let sit a minute or two to absorb the liquid and flavor.  While it is resting, heat enough evoo in a heavy skillet to cover bottom.  Add a drop of water; once the water sizzles, add your tortillas (see notes) and brown on both sides.  Stack your tortilla with your beans, meat, veggies and cheese.

NOTES: I use organic ingredients whenever possible, but it is not always available.  For the taco seasoning, I simply made sure there was no MSG, synthetic ingredients, or preservatives.  The tortillas I use are low-carb, but you can use the tortillas of your choice!  This was a big batch of meat, but it made dinner for four, and lunch for The Hubster AND me for the next day!!

WANNA SEE IT IN REAL TIME?  CHECK OUT MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE. Don't forget to like it and subscribe!

Pizza Panini

Came home from Legacy Fitness Boot Camp and remembered I am out of groceries - very unusual around here! So I scrounged around and found turkey pepperoni, sliced mozzarella, ro-tel in the back of the pantry (I had no tomato sauce!), dried basil and made a pizza panini!

CHECK THIS OUT ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL! Click HERE - then SUBSCRIBE!  

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Man Food

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There is some TOP-SECRET stuff going on around here!  And all in the name of my 45th birthday party in November.  So I can't let the cat out of the bag just yet, but I CAN tell you that once-a-month I have five men meet here at my place to rehearse, two of whom are The Hubster and The Sonster.  Well, I certainly have to provide snacks!!  How to feed five hungry dudes?  See below.

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CRACK SAMMICHES

Look, if we're being honest, here, I did not invent these babies.  I've had them a few times and they are good no matter who makes them!  I did put my own little twist on them, though, and the guys huddles around them like they were stalking their prey.  And they just couldn't get enough!  Hence, the name.

CRACK SAMMICHES

1 24-pack of Hawaiian mini-rolls

1 large pkg ham of your choice

2 pks sliced Swiss cheese

1 1/2 sticks of butter, melted

2 tbs Dijon mustard

2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

2 tbs onion powder

2 tbs poppy seeds

Place roll bottoms in the bottom of a greased baking pan.  Thinly layer ham, then Swiss cheese, then ham again, then last layer of Swiss cheese.  Put roll tops on.  Mix butter, Dijon, Worcestershire, onion powder, and poppy seeds.  Pour or baste over top (see notes) and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

NOTES: I used a silicon brush baster to ensure the tops of the rolls got every bit of flavor and so that not one single poppy seed was wasted.  I was unable to find organic ham or Swiss that I thought would hold the flavor I was looking for, so I used Boar's Head instead, which has no artificial fillers, no MSG, and no nitrates.  And GOOD LUCK finding organic Hawaiian rolls!  So I used the good old-fashioned Hawaiian rolls and decided not to feel guilty about it!

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CRESCENT LOVE

2 containers butter-flavored crescent rolls

1 pound ground turkey breakfast sausage

1 can ro-tel

1 large handful shredded sharp cheddar

1 large handful shredded mozzarella

Brown turkey sausage in a pan, and then add ro-tel until all liquid is absorbed into meat.  Meanwhile, roll one can crescent rolls onto un-greased baking sheet.  Pinch together your seams, using a little water on your fingers to seal.  Pour sausage mixture over the top.  Sprinkle your cheese hands-ful over the sausage.  Roll your second can of crescents over the top of the cheese and sausage, using the same method to seal the seams and sides of the crescent dough.  Bake in a 350-degree oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

NOTES:  I found organic crescents at Trader Joe's!  I also found extremely inexpensive turkey breakfast sausage there, too!