Breakfast for Dinner

I know you think that I have abandoned the kitchen for better things, I can assure you that is not the case. Life sometimes gets in the way of other things and with many things going on I have found it hard to make full dinners.  We have been eating a lot of things that we freeze from previous meals, like the other night we had beef vegetable soup that was made at some point and frozen.

Here is what I made tonight.  Keeping it simple and delicious.

A 2 egg omelet with tomato and mozzarella cheese.  I have a small pan that I use to cook my eggs in.  Cut the tomato into slices and then pull the seeds out of it, diced into small bites.  Add the diced tomato to a medium hot pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray or a little bit of olive oil.  Cook the tomatoes slightly, you want them to warm up but not become mushy. Take 2 eggs and crack them into a small bowl or measuring cup, beat and add about 1 teaspoon of water, beat.  Add egg to the pan.  Once egg is in the pan use a rubber spatula to move the egg around the edges of the pan, like scraping it.  I like to flip my eggs before I add filling.  Flip the eggs once the eggs have set (they aren't runny anymore) and add your filling, this is where I add the cheese.  Slide the omelet onto a plate and use the pan to flip the other half over the top of the omelet.

We like to cook our bacon in the microwave, it is fast and easy clean up.  All you need to do is have a microwave safe platter, line platter with paper towels (a fair amount since this will be soaking up the grease) and then line the paper towel with your slices of bacon.  Add more paper towels over top of the bacon.  Place in microwave.  Now our microwave only takes about 3 minutes for 5 slices of bacon.  Remove bacon to another platter, add more paper towels as needed and cook the rest of the bacon.

My husband enjoys his eggs over easy.  For me the pan needs to be heated on medium high, sprayed with cooking spray.  Add eggs and cook until the whites are just about cooked and you are able to flip them.  Flip them and remove from heat.  They will be cooked perfect.

I apologize for the pictures, they are not my best photos.

Served with buttered wheat toast and some tomato slices.

Pasta with Sausage Meatballs

I don't know what the deal is but the last couple of days I have not felt like cooking at all.  We have been eating dishes that we had frozen.  Tonight was still like that, earlier in the day the normal question was asked, "what do you want for dinner?" I had no ideas at all and couldn't even begin to think about food early in the day or what I wanted to have for dinner.  So my husband suggested spaghetti.  So we pulled some pork sausage from the freezer to that out.  I figured at that point I would just make a simple meat sauce.  I got into the kitchen and decided to make meatballs and to use a shaped pasta instead of spaghetti.

I took 1 pound of pork sausage, add 2 eggs and some bread crumbs and some dried oregano; mix.  Just add enough bread crumbs to make the sausage and eggs stick together (you don't want them to be dry).  I used a small scoop to scoop my sausage mixture out with.  I wanted the meatballs small so that they wouldn't take long to cook. I dropped the meatballs into a hot skillet that I added extra virgin olive oil (about 2 tablespoons).  Cook the meatballs, turning often, until done in the middle and browned on the outside.

The sauce was actual a pre-made sauce in a jar.  I heated it and then added it to the cooked pasta.  Add the meatballs and then a couple of slices of sun dried tomatoes.  Add some fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

The meal was served with garlic bread and a side salad.

Poached Salmon

We purchased salmon and some other fish from a company called SeaBear.  I found this recipe on their website.  The salmon we purchased was Wild Alaskan Coho salmon, coho salmon has a meaty texture and has wonderful flavor, not to mention is high in omega 3.  (Based on a 2ox serving it contains 83 calories, 12 grams of protein, 3 grams of fat, 26 milligrams of sodium, 25 milligrams of cholesterol and 623 milligrams of Omega3)

Poached Salmon in Orange, Honey and Wine
Grated rind of 1 orange
juice of 1 orange
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup dry white wine (I used a 2008 Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough region of New Zealand, from Nobilo Icon - which is what we served along with the salmon)
salmon filets
Combine rind, juice, honey and wine in a large frying pan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Add salmon and cook over low heat until fish is tender and beginning to flake when tested, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Remove fish with slotted spoon, drain on paper towels, keep warm.  Bring poaching liquid to a boil over high hear and cook until slightly reduced and thickened.  Spoon a small amount over fish and serve.

The fish was served with a Teriyaki rice.  The rice was a packet that I bought from my local woman's club.  They did rice packets to help with the Tsunami relief in Japan.  The rice packet contained rice, brown sugar, garlic powder, ginger, teriyaki sauce, and chicken broth.  Also included was a side salad.

Crock Pot Oatmeal

I want to apologize for not posting anything in the last couple of days.  We have been eating leftovers from meals we have frozen.  A friend of mine posted one morning about making oatmeal in a crock pot and I thought this was perfect.  I love oatmeal and having to take the time in the morning to cook it wasn't how I would like to spend my mornings.

Here is what I did:
1 cup old fashioned oatmeal (not instant)
4 cups water

In a crock pot add a little bit of foil to the bottom of the crock.  You want to crinkle it some.  The point of the foil is that you don't want to have the inside bowl directly touching the bottom of the crock pot.  You want to use a bowl (I used a 4 cup liquid measure) that will fit inside your crock pot with room on the sides.  To the bowl add the water and oatmeal.  Place bowl inside of the crock pot.  Add water to the crock pot bowl making sure you don't put any water into your oatmeal bowl.  Add enough water until the water is to about the same height as the oatmeal water line.  Cover the crock pot with lid and turn the crock pot onto low.  Do all of this just before you go to bed, that way you will have oatmeal when you wake the next morning.

Here is what the cooked oatmeal looks like in the crock pot.

The bowl I used was okay but the oatmeal come right to the top so try to use a bowl that is a little larger than 4 cups.  Also, the next time I make this I will use steel cut oatmeal instead of the old fashioned.  The old fashioned oatmeal came out a little mushy for my taste and I think the steel cut will have a little more texture.

Spoon the oatmeal into a bowl and add whatever toppings you like.  I added brown sugar, dried cranberries and pecans.

Baked Ham with Sweet and Spicy Sweet Potatoes

We get this really wonderful tasting hams from our local co-op.  The hams (which are applewood smoked and uncured) are from Niman Ranch.  They are great and you can do anything with them, tonight was no exception.

Take the 1 can of sliced pineapple added a couple of slices of pineapple to the bottom of a baking dish, add the remainder of pineapple on top and around the ham.  Add all of the juice and place the dish into the oven.  Cover the dish with foil and place it in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 1-1/2 hours.

For the sweet potatoes:  peel, cut them into cubes, place them into a pot of water and bring water to a boil.  Cook until the sweet potatoes are fork tender.  While the potatoes are cooking in another small pan add 1/2 cup of heavy cream, 1/8 of a cup of maple syrup and about 1/8 to 1/4 of cayenne pepper (use more or less depending on your taste), heat the cream (do not let it boil).  Drain potatoes, add back to hot pan (this will remove any excess water).  Add potatoes to a bowl.  Smash the potatoes with a potato masher and add a little bit of the cream mixture.  I used a small handheld mixer to mix my potatoes once they were smashed.  Continue to add cream until you reach the consistency you want.

The meal was served with cooked frozen spinach.

Smoked Pork Barbecue

On Sunday when we smoked the beef brisket we also smoked a pork loin roast.  We rubbed the pork roast with a barbecue spice rub and then placed it on the smoker with mesquite wood and smoked it for about 6-1/2 hours.

Barbecue Spice Rub
1/2 cup chili powder
3 tablespoons freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons coarse salt
2 tablespoons paprika
Mix all ingredients together.

We took the smoked roast and shredded it.  We placed the shredded meat in a crock pot and covered with leftover brisket sauce.  Let the meat cook in a crockpot set on low for about 2-3 hours.  Serve the pork on buns with sauce.  Serve coleslaw on the side.

Smoked Beef Brisket with all the fixings

Really wanted to do some meat on the smoker for today for dinner.  It is also a super easy meal if you want to have friends over.  Here is what we did...


Barbecue Texas Style Beef Brisket

1 whole beef brisket (not the corned beef kind)
2-1/2 cups ketchup
3/4 cup brown sugar
1-1/2 cups chili sauce
1-1/2 cups white wine vinegar
1-1/2 cups water
3/4 can or bottle of beer
3/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup prepared yellow mustard
1 tablespoon celery seed
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce (I used tamari)
2 garlic cloves minced
Dash of bottled hot pepper sauce
Ground black pepper to taste

Use for to make holes in brisket.  Place brisket in a large pan.  Combine and blend well all ingredients and pour over brisket.  Place in refrigerator and marinade overnight, turning meat several times.  Remove the brisket from sauce/marinade (reserving the sauce) and place brisket in hot smoker, fat side up.  Smoke until meat is pink in the center.  For best results use meat thermometer 170 degrees for medium.  Smoke time is approximately 1 hour per pound.  Place sauce in a pan and bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes approximately.

Slice brisket very thinly across the grain at an angle.  Pour sauce over brisket slices and serve.

This recipe is something I have had for a while and it gets its name from due to the pickling process of the dressing, it really will last nine days, though it won't last that long (we will eat it before that).

Nine Day Coleslaw
1 head of cabbage
1 green pepper, diced
2 Spanish onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
1 cup white vinegar
1-3/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup celery seeds
3/4 teaspoon black pepper

Shred the cabbage, chopping into very small thin pieces.  (I used a Cuisinart for chopping up the cabbage, onions and green pepper).  Place cabbage in a large bowl, adding pepper and onions, then sprinkle with salt and toss the cabbage and vegetables.  Place oil, vinegar, sugar, celery seeds in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then pour immediately over the cabbage, peppers and onions.  Sprinkle on the freshly ground pepper and stir to combine well.  Set aside for at least 2 hours at room temperature.  If making ahead, you may wish to refrigerate, but it is not necessary.

Along with this meal we served ranch style beans/chili beans (you can find them in the grocery store), sliced onion and bread.