Breakfast Hash

So Jessica over at how sweet it is popped up on my facebook feed this AM with this wonderful recipe: Grilled corn summer breakfast hash.  However, since I don't have any grilled corn, nor was I going to run to the store, buy corn, and grill it, I decided to make this dish MY way :D  Its still totally inspired by Jessica tho :D

I'm using bacon bits and frozen corn, so I jump straight in with roasting the potatoes, instead of making the bacon.  Because there is no bacon fat, I use a small bit of olive oil.

Start roasting your potatoes.   Put them in your pan on the stove in some oil.  Cook for 8-10 minutes.  Your potatoes will start to turn brown and yummy.

Add your bell pepper and green onion.  It will start to smell really really good right now. Cook for 5 more minutes.

Add some cut up zucchini.  YUM!  Cook for another 5 minutes.

This is what it starts to look like.

And this. SO MUCH WIN!

After cooking your mixture for another 5 minutes, turn off the heat and add your corn (I heated up my frozen corn) and bacon bits!

Look at this!  Bacon, peppers, potatoes, zucchinin, onion, corn, all mixed into one meal!










Lots of fun colors.

I'm sure adding mushrooms woulda been good too; too bad I don't have any right now :(










I wish, now, that I had taken more...

Or if you're TJ, you scramble some egg in with it all and mix it up.

Too bad I don't like scrambled egg...

2.5 tablespoons of bacon bits

4 potatoes, chopped into cubes

1 small zucchini, chopped

1 tsp of pre-chopped garlic (2 tsp of garlic, minced)

1 yellow pepper chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped

1 cup frozen corn, heated

1 tablespoon olive oil (you may not need this)

1 green onion, chopped

salt and pepper

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add some oil, and add potatoes with a sprinkle of salt and pepper to the bacon fat and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring and tossing every few minutes. 

Add peppers and onions (and another little sprinkle of salt and pepper) to potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring. At this time you may need to add more olive oil depending on how much oil is left. After 5 minutes, add in the zucchini and garlic and cook for 5 minutes more, stirring. Turn off heat, add in corn and bacon. 

meatballs!

This is another recipe from my mother :D

2 eggs
2 c rolled oats
12 oz can evap milk
1 c onion chopped
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 lbs lean ground beef

SAUCE:
2 c ketchup
1.5 c packed brown sugar
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add oats, milk, onion, beef, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Shape into 1 1/2" balls. Place meatballs into 2 9x13 pans. Bake at 375*F uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and drain. Place all of the meatballs into one pan.  In saucepan bring all sauce ingredients to a boil. Pour sauce over meatballs. Return to oven and bake uncovered for 20 min.

I only had 1 lb of beef, tho, so I made the recipe do.  It didn't taste quite as good, and i didn't do the balls next to each other, i had them spread apart, so the sauce didn't bake properly, so there was lots of "black" in my pan(s) and they didn't come up easily.  I soaked pans in baking soda and water over night, and ran them through the dishwasher.  I'll see how they fared then.  otherwise i'll be looking online on how to clean off stuck on food.  :/

They tasted great which is good :D

Next time i make them i'll actually do 3 lbs of beef and make them properly :D

HAITI!

So we're going to haiti for dinner tonight...thanks to Dixie, orphanage director at GLA, for the recipe...she gave it to my mom, and i got it from mom :D


Rice and Red beans (haitian rice and beans)

12 oz can cooked kidney beans
3 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed/minced1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cups long grain rice
2 whole cloves
1 green scotch bonnet pepper (opt)
1 thyme sprig
1 parsley sprig (opt)

Wash beans and drain.

Heat oil in a cast iron pot on med heat. Stir in garlic, onion, scallion, 2 tsp salt and black pepper for 2 minutes. Add and stir the cooked or canned beans and fry for 5 minutes until the beans are crisp. Add 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add the rice and cloves, stir, and boil until water evaporates. Lower heat, stir rice, and place the whole scotch bonnet pepper, thyme and parsley on top of rice. Cover and let cook for 20 minutes. Remove hot pepper, thyme, and parsley. Stir before serving.

Theres a red sauce for it, that i didn't make, but i will include the recipe in case you want to try it :)

red sauce

4 pieces of chicken
6 cups water
1 LARGE Tbsp mayo
2 cubes chicken boillion
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 leek

Sauce:
1 cup broth from chix
green pepper, chopped small
onion, cut into rings
2 heaping TBSP tomato paste

cut 1 large green pepper or chop it into small pieces
slice one large onion and separate the rings.
boil 4 pieces of chicken in 6 cups of water to which you have added 1 Large TBSP mayo, 2 cubes of bouillion, 4 cloves of garlic crushed with 1 leek.

Remove chicken and cut it in bite size pieces. Save broth for the sauce.

In large pan over medium heat, add 1 cup broth, add the sliced green pepper.
Let this simmer until green pepper is starting to get soft. Then add about 2 heaping TBL spoons of tomato paste. Simmer over low to medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the broth and bring to a boil. Add onions and boil for 30 seconds and remove the pan from the burner. Onions will continue
to cook. Salt and pepper to taste.

sometimes i add cumin and sometimes i add a hot pepper to boil with the sauce and then remove when its finished.


I did not use a scotch bonnet pepper because i don't like the heat and there were no funds for one. I also added chicken after the rice and water boiled while it was simmering for 20 minutes.
I used long grain rice, none of this "Minute" stuff...had the "real deal" and it had to be used up.

Cloves smell wonderful, and remind me of christmas, by the way.

I use extra virgin olive oil, just to make it a tad healthier (or try...its the thought that counts, right?)

Also, i don't have a cast iron pot, so i used a stock pot and it works wonderfully :D

Hawai'ian BBQ Chicken

This is for dinner tonight :)

it smells amazing. the pineapple is amazing...the BBQ sauce is amazing...and chicken is always good...

ingredients:

• 3 pounds Boneless Chicken Breast, Thighs Or A Combo Of The Two
• 1 whole Onion (large), Sliced Into Chunks
• 1 can (20 Oz. Size) Pineapple, I Recommend Nibblits Or Crushed, Drained But Reserve The Juice If Using (See Note Below)
• 1 bottle (18 To 20 Oz. Size) BBQ Sauce Of Your Choice (Our Favorites Are Sweet Baby Ray's Or Open Pit If We Want To Give It A Little More Of A Kick)
• Hamburger Buns Or Kaiser Rolls

(i used chunk pineapple...i didn't have the other stuff available. i also used a small onion, cuz its either that or EXTRA large...and my housemates are fond of onion)

prep:

If you use frozen chicken, make sure it is completely defrosted. If you cook it frozen, it will indeed cook but it will make a very “wet” sauce. Place your chicken in the bottom of the crock pot. Top with onions, then pineapple. Pour the entire bottle of BBQ sauce over the whole thing.

Note: If you want a sweeter BBQ, add up to half a cup of the pineapple juice you drained, depending on how sweet you want it. This is optional.

Turn your crock pot on LOW and cook for 8–10 hours (or on HIGH for 4–6).

An hour or two before it is finished cooking, carefully remove the chicken from the crock pot and shred it using two forks. Watch out, it will be hot! Place chicken back in the crock pot and stir well to combine. Finish cooking an additional hour or two so the chicken can absorb most of the sauce. Serve on hamburger buns and top with coleslaw if desired.

my chicken was slightly frozen still...but it was VERY tender, pulled apart VERY easily :)

making up food pt 2

so i had some grilled chicken tenders that were left overs...

TJ and i saute'd some onion and green and red pepper and garlic and added the chicken and some cheese and rolled it up in tortilla's and YUM!!!!

making up food :)

So, we started out browning 1lb hamburger and 1 small onion, with about 3 cloves of minced garlic. also put a stock pot of water on to boil. made 2 boxes of mac'n'cheese, adding 2 cups of milk and about 3 TBSP of butter. also added about 1-1.5 cups of crumbled bacon (in a bag, from the store...so yummy!), various spices (as you wish, you may spice like you want :D), and shredded cheese. added it all together, it was yummy :)

TJ suggested calling it "cheeseburger macaroni" so there you have it :D

Almost stuffed peppers

Havent had much zest for life lately, been kinda depressed, however, i did make dinner tonight...i got the recipe from one of mom's cook books, i don't remember which...forgot to write it down. oops!

here's the recipe tho. turned out good.

1 lb ground beef
2 c water
1 14oz can diced tomatoes WITH JUICE
1 lg grn pepper, 1/4 in slices
1 med onion, thinly sliced
1.5 tsp salt
.5 tsp italian seasoning
.5 tsp pepper
1.5 c uncooked instant rice

lg skillet, cook beef over med heat, drain, remove, set aside and keep warm. in same skillet combine water, tomatos and juice, grn pepper, onion and seasonings; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, until veggies are tender. Stir in rice; cover and remove from heat. let stand 5 min, stir in beef; return to heat and cook till heated through

next time, tho, i'll either use less onion (i only used 1/2) or i'll dice it up really small...i don't like eating onion. :D