September 19 - Breakfast - Denver-Style Shirred Eggs

On Saturday mornings, I like to try to make something special. This weekend it was this:

Denver-Style Shirred Eggs
2 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 cup diced lean ham (I didn't have ham, so I used bacon)
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4 large eggs
3/4 cup cheddar cheese
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 325. Spray 4 (6 ounce) ovenproof ramekins or custard cups with nonstick spray.

Heat oil in a medium non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ham and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 3 minutes. Add the bell pepper and onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Divide the bell pepper mixture among the ramekins. Carefully break 1 egg into each ramekin.

Place the ramekins on a small baking sheet and bake just until the eggs begin to set, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle each egg with 3 tablespoons of the cheese and the pepper. Bake until the egg whites are opaque and the yolks are set, 4-5 minutes longer.

This was a delicious breakfast! (Of course, the kids didn't want this, neither of them really like the texture of eggs, but Will & I loved it!)

Estimated cost: about $4

Enjoy!

Love,

Sarah

September 11 - Dinner - Pork Fried Rice

So, this recipe also came from my friend Devynn. Her original recipe is Chicken Fried Rice (you can find that HERE). I've modified a few things to make it for my taste.

Pork Fried Rice - You need a large frying pan for this (I use a wok)
3-4 cups of cooked rice
2 cooked and cubed pork chops
veggies, broccoli, carrots, onion, corn, peas (whatever you want or have on hand) - I also always buy a can of Oriental Stir-fry Vegetables. It's a yellow can.
butter (margarine)
olive oil (Devynn uses canola oil, but I don't normally have this on hand)
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder or about 1 minced garlic clove (we use pre-minced)
onion powder
3 eggs, slightly beaten
Lawry's 30-minute Marinade Sesame Ginger

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in your wok. Cook pork until cooked through (inside should be almost completely white). Move to a plate or bowl and save for later.

Put a tbsp or two of oil in your pan and coat the pan and then saute your veggies until almost tender. I salt and pepper my veggies, I think it helps bring out the taste while they cook. Right before they are done, I pour the Lawry's Sesame Ginger once around the pan, just enough to let them soak in while you are cooking the rice. Start with a little. Remember, you can always put more in later! Put the veggies in a dish and set to the side.

Put another tbsp or two of butter and oil as well in the pan and warm up and coat the bottom of your pan and then put in your rice. I like to kind of pat the rice down so it is all flat.

Don't stir. You will be tempted to. Let it 'fry'. Don't let it burn! BUT, let it get crispy. One that bottom part is crispy, "flip" the rice and do the same thing again, flatten the rice, let get crispy. When the rice is starting to brown on the bottom, make a space to cook your eggs in. You basically scramble them on the side, then mix them in with the rice.

Add your veggies back into the rice and your pork, along with the garlic powder, onion powder and some more marinade (I'm not giving you an exact amount, because this stuff can get very strong if you use too much. Some people just like a little flavor, and some like a lot, and you can always add more to it). You may want to turn your heat down a bit so you can saute them more. At this point you are just reheating the veggies and heating up the pork.

I made this with chicken for family dinner once, and my mom loved it so much, she made it again just 4 days later!

**After making this with pork last night, we all decided that we definitely like it better with chicken. Pork just doesn't hold it's juices when cut into small pieces like chicken does. It was still delicious!**

Enjoy!

Love,

Sarah

September 7 - Breakfast - Stuffed French Toast!

Happy Labor Day all! So, to start our day off right, I made stuffed French toast for everyone (except for myself since I don't like bananas! I just had regular french toast.)

Here's how to make it:

Stuffed French Toast - 4 Servings

4 eggs

8 pieces of bread (I use whole wheat, but it could be any kind. Cinnamon Raisin would be the best!)

cinnamon

sugar

milk

cream cheese (softened or room temperature to make it easy to spread)

1 or 2 bananas, thinly sliced

Break the eggs into a bowl. Whisk in milk (about 1/4 cup, but I usually just "eye" it), cinnamon & sugar (to your taste). Heat the skillet or griddle to medium high heat. Spread cream cheese on one side of each piece of bread. Cover the cream cheese with banana slices and place a second piece of bread on top (cream cheese should be touching the bananas). It should now look like a cream cheese and banana sandwich.

Take the "sandwich" and dip it in the egg mixture, turning on both sides to coat it. Place your "sandwich" on the griddle. Cook about 1-2 minutes and flip until both sides are golden brown. Let it cool a little, cut it, smother it with syrup, and ENJOY!

Now, we have some finnicky eaters in our house. Westley devoured his (and had fun making a mess with it), and so did Will. Felicity on the other hand, didn't like it and ended up having plain French toast. And I, of course, don't like bananas, so I had plain French toast with Tize as well.

I will definitely be making this again for the boys. Maybe next time I will use strawberries and then I can eat it too! :)

Estimated cost: about $3 for 4 servings! Not bad!

Anyways, check back later for my grocery shopping costs!

Love,

Sarah

French Toast Breakfast

Ok. So I haven't completely started my journey yet, but the calendar is almost done. :) However, I did start cooking this morning. Will went fishing with a friend this morning, so the kids and I decided to have good ol' fashioned French Toast!

French Toast Recipe - 3 servings - 2 pieces each
Ingredients:
6 pieces of bread
3 eggs
milk - about 1/4 cup (I just kind of "eye" it)
cinnamon (optional)
sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Turn skillet (or griddle) on medium/medium-high heat.
2. Spray with cooking spray.
3. Break eggs into a bowl.
4. Whisk in milk, cinnamon, and sugar.
5. Dip both sides of the first piece of bread into the egg mixture.
6. Transfer the bread to the skillet (or griddle). Let it sit for about 2 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Turn the bread over.
8. Repeat steps 5-7 until all pieces are done!
9. Cut into pieces and cover in syrup!

Voila! French Toast! Mmmm!

This recipe is easy to double or triple. Just use about 2 pieces of bread per egg (for large size eggs. # of eggs may vary depending on size).

Estimated cost: $1.50
Enjoy!

My kids ate 1-1/2 pieces each! They love this recipe! Easy to make, easy to clean up!

Check back later!

Lunch, boring lunchables.

Dinner...Pulled Pork Sandwiches! Mmmmmm!!!

Love,

Sarah