Beer Bread and Egg Salad Sandwiches

This was good.  Each recipe was super yummy and when combined made for one dang good sandwich!  And that's all I have to say about that.

Honey Beer Bread
What you'll need:

3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 12oz can beer (any beer)
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons honey

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar (I just used a fork).  Heat 2 tablespoons honey in the microwave for 15 seconds and pour warm honey and beer into flour.  Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined, don't over work.  Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and add dough to pan.  It's a little sticky, but spread out so its even in the bottom.  Add butter and last tablespoon honey to a small bowl and microwave for about 25 seconds or until butter is melted.  Evenly pour honey butter over bread dough.  Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a nice golden crust forms and toothpick inserts easily and comes out clean.  Let cool and slice.

Egg Salad

What you'll need:

9 hard boiled eggs, cooled 

1/2 cup precooked and crumbled bacon

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

1/4 cup mayo

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

1 teaspoon ground mustard

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon celery seed

2 tablespoons pickle juice

1 teaspoon dried dill

Peel eggs.  Add to a large bowl and mash with a potato masher until whites are broke up into small pieces.  Add all remaining ingredients to eggs and mix together until a well combined and a sort of paste forms.  Slap a couple spoons full onto beer bread or any bread.

I prepared all this ahead of time, so it was a quick grab and go dinner.  We actually played volleyball with the neighbors last night, who just set up a volleyball net in their backyard, so we combined dinners with them.  And the best part is there was just enough left over for lunch.  Hope everyone had a fun filled weekend.  It actually feels like summer now!  Enjoy!

Breakfast Quesadilla

This actually tasted better than I expected.  I was making a loaf of banana bread, which was a failed attempt buts thats another story, and Kam decided right when I started that he wanted to cook breakfast.  So instead of having him in the kitchen, in my way and complaining that I was taking up all the counter space, I just made it for him.  All the spices with the ham and sharp cheddar made a rich and full flavor breakfast.

What you'll need:
2 teaspoons butter
1/2 cup green pepper chopped
1/2 cup onion chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 mushrooms sliced
4 eggs
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
1/2 avocado sliced
1/2-1 cup cheese (I used sharp cheddar)
Few dashes green tabasco (or any hot sauce)
1 cup ham lunch meat or cooked sausage
4 or 5 pickled jalapeno rings (optional)
2 tortillas

Melt 1 teaspoon butter in medium fry pan over medium. Add onions and bell pepper.  Saute until onions are translucent and soft.  Slice lunch meat into smaller pieces.  Add meat to pan with mushrooms, cumin, coriander & black pepper.  Cook for a few more minutes or until mushrooms begin to soften and ham has brown bits all over it.  Cover a cookie sheet with foil (optional) and spray with cooking spray (tortilla will stick).  Place one tortilla in the center and evenly spread meat/veggies over tortilla.

Preheat oven to 400.  Melt other teaspoon of butter into pan.  Be sure to leave all the brown bits in the pan, they will flavor the eggs.  Crack eggs into pan.  Break yokes and scramble.  Once eggs are cooked through, spread over meat/veggies on tortilla.  Top with cheese, cilantro, avocado slices, jalapenos and a few dashes of hot sauce.  Top with other tortilla and press down.  Place in oven and bake for about 5 minutes.  Cheese should be melted.  Turn on broiler and brown top.  Slice like a pizza and serve!

I was pleasantly surprised that this didn't just taste like every other quick thrown together scrambled eggs.  Because thats basically what it was.  Enjoy!

PS...check the Cinnamon Coffee Recipe again if you were interested in that.  I'm going to add a new flavor option to the same recipe.

Bring'n out the bacon~

I don't cook with bacon very often, but I always have some high quality thick cut in the freezer for when I get the urge.  It turned into Saturday morning breakfast bowls and Sunday potato salad.  I was so happy that it was a sunny and beautiful May 1st that potato salad and bbq'd steaks were the best way to celebrate.

I got these bowls the other day with the handles on them, they kinda look like giant coffee cups.  When I made the pot pie I noticed on the bottom that they were oven safe, JACK POT!  So I couldn't wait to try my hand at baking something in them.  Saturday morning breakfast bowls it is!

What you'll need: (for 2 bowls)

1 medium russet potato diced
1 green pepper chopped
1/2 or 1 cup onion chopped
3 or 4 slices bacon (precooked)
4 mushrooms sliced
teaspoon salt
teaspoon pepper
eggs
shredded cheese (about a cup or so)
toast

Pre-heat oven to 350.

Cook bacon, set aside.  Drain fat but leave about a tablespoon in the bottom of pan.  Add potatoes, onions, salt and pepper to pan and cook over medium high until potatoes are brown and crispy, about 10 minutes.  Add green pepper and mushrooms.  Cook for another 5 minutes or until peppers are soft.

Add as much potato mixture into the bottom of your bowl and you'd like, just make sure you leave an inch on the top for eggs.  Add a layer of large bacon pieces over potatoes.  Crack desired number of eggs over bacon.  Place in oven for 15-20 minutes or until whites just about set.  Sprinkle cheese and put back in oven until cheese is melted, eggs should be set by then.  Serve with toast.

If you don't have oven safe bowls, add your bacon to the potatoes and create holes into the potatoes where you can crack the eggs.  Cook the same way as above, if your frying pans are oven safe.  If not, crack eggs like I mentioned before and reduce heat to low and cover.  Eggs should still set.

Kam got a double yoke, score!  It was actually the first time I've cracked a two yoke egg.

My breakfast was a little smaller.

Garnished with toast and bacon!  What could be better than that?

Simple breakfast.  I am going to love my new oven safe bowls, or should I say Kam is going to love my new bowls. Enjoy!

Our new staple Potato Salad

I have made this version of potato salad so many times that it has become our favorite.  I don't know if I will ever make the traditional kind again.  It was so refreshing yesterday to have the sun shining, the smell of fresh cut grass, and a big bowl of potato salad.  We even sprung for some really nice ribeye steaks.  We never spend that much on meat for a single meal, so it was a treat!  Our bacon weekend ended with steaks...we are carnivores...I admit it.

What you'll need: (this is a fairly big salad, I wanted left overs)
12 yukon potatoes (about baseball size, maybe a little smaller)
1 cup blue cheese crumbles
1 cup bacon crumbles
6 boiled eggs
1 cup sliced kalamata olives (Reserve the juice.  Make sure you get the pitted ones, because I didn't. If you are a fan of the kalamata olive, I suggest buying them at costco.  If you do not like them, then substitute for regular black.  If you don't know what they taste like, then if you don't like green olives, you might not like kalamata.  I suggest giving them a chance.)
1 bunch green onions sliced
1 cup plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup olive oil mayo (or regular)
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive juice

Boil potatoes until done and fork slides through easily.  Remove from pan and allow to cool. Boil eggs, allow to cool with potatoes.   Dice into bite sized pieces. Add olives, blue cheese, bacon, green onions.  In a separate bowl, combine greek yogurt, mayo, salt, pepper and olive juice.  Mix until well blended.  Pour over salad and fold until even distributed.  Slice eggs and add to salad.  I like to add those last so they won't get too broke up in the mixing process.  Gently fold them into salad.  I also usually leave out the yokes, just a personal preference.

Finger lick'n good!

Your done, shovel into mouth hole.  Good luck stopping at just one bowl.  Enjoy!