Sausage and Eggs Part 2

So, after I got through making the mini egg muffins, I gave a few to the boys for dinner. By the time I got everyone bathed, in bed and the house somewhat picked up, Kevin still wasn't home and I didn't feel hungry or energized enough to make the Enchilada Frittata I meal-planned. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the 10 mini-egg muffins I "sampled."

But while I got more food out on the counter to make the boy's lunches, my tummy started rumbling and my wheels started turning. I did already have that sausage chopped up. I do have 4 eggs left. I do have that Enchilada sauce already. And I do need to use those potatoes and peppers from CSA. I've written before how the best things happen organically, and this was definitely one of those times.

This was AWESOMMMEEE. Like "I'm salivating sitting here thinking about how amazing it was" awesome. I almost killed Kevin's half while I waited for him to get home... I had to text him to warn him that his dinner was going to be gone if he didn't get home immediately (it worked, at least I know how to get him home earlier now).

Mexican Hash

4 eggs
chopped up precooked turkey breakfast sausage
3 cloves garlic
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
half a green pepper, diced
half an onion, diced
half a cup of cheese (didn't use as much as pictured)
Trader Joes Enchilada Sauce
***(I can't stress enough how this is the best enchilada sauce you can buy, seriously its the perfect blend of flavor and heat. It's very mild compared to any other canned enchilada sauce!! If you don't have a TJ's by you, I'm sincerely sorry for you)***
cilantro for garnish
Flour tortillas for sopping up amazing sauces



Is it weird to "saute" raw potatoes? I don't know, but I did it, and it was tasty. First do potatoes and garlic in olive oil, then add onions and green peppers. Let it all cook until the onions get translucent, stirring frequently.

Pour some enchilada sauce on top, as much or as little as you want.

Add the chopped breakfast turkey sausage. Mix it up and let it simmer for a while so the potatoes can cook through a bit.

And add some cheese, duh.

Then in a separate small pan I fried 4 eggs

Flipped each one on top of the potatoes, then topped with cilantro, some salt, and a little bit of hot sauce just cause.

I had no idea when this picture was taken how my life was about to change forever. :)

Hate/Love

Last night I was having the same reoccuring dream that I have at the beginning of every fall. I'm a senior in high school and I'm running late to field hockey practice after school. Practice starts in 20 minutes and I've left my practice clothes, stick, and shin-guards at home. I'll never make it on time. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out why I'm having this dream... I'm worried that I'm going to "drop the ball" in some area of my life. Show up to the first day of school without the kids lunches, the fact that my license has been expired for over a month, sleep through an alarm to run early in the morning, flake on a doctors appointment, forget to pay a bill, leave emails unanswered.

Thats why a Monday run is so important. It orders the rest of my day, and ultimately the rest of my week. Still, when I heard my alarm go off in the middle of my bad dream this morning, my first thought was HATE. I HATE that it's dark out in the mornings. I HATE that I went to bed way too late yet again. I really had to focus on that love part. I'm going to LOVE the way I feel when I'm done. I'm going to love starting out the week on the right foot. I'm going to love the cool fall air. And right now, at this current moment as I sip my coffee on the back patio, catching the sun rise before the kids get up, I LOVE that I made myself go.

The same Hate/Love relationship (not to be confused with "love/hate," because for me the hate always preceeds the love) happens for me at 5 pm most nights. Did I really meal-plan enchiladas on a Thursday night? When I'm so beat down from the week, that I just want to microwave a pizza and call it a day?

But just like my morning run I was happy I made myself do it. It really wasn't that much effort, and it was worth it at the end to have a healthy, yummy, hearty, filling meal to end the day with.

Veggie Enchiladas

Corn Tortillas
Veg Oil for frying (optional)
1 zucc
1 to 2 ears of raw corn, kernels removed
can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 bottle/can of enchilada sauce (I like Trader Joes', its a little thicker and not overly spicy like many canned ones)
bit of shredded cheddar or mexican blend



Add the corn, zucchini, beans, and cheese into a bowl. I added a splash of enchilada sauce for good measure.

Set up your frying station. You don't HAVE to do this. For these enchiladas, it's basically mandatory because you're doing so much work anyway, why not just go the extra mile. These veggie ones are a fast weeknight meal, so if you skip this step, don't beat yourself up. Just nuke the corn tortillas for a minute so they are soft and pliable when you roll them.

So I lightly fried them for about 25 seconds each side (or nuke them), then dip into the enchilada sauce.

Fill with the mix...

Roll em up, and drizzle more enchilada sauce on the top. Okay okay fine I'll admit it I added more cheese on top.

Bake at 350, covered, for about 20 to 25, then take the cover off and add another 5 minutes, or broil for a minute.

And then I got kind of crazy and mixed salsa with greek yogurt to top it off with a "sour creamish" like topping. SO GOOD!

AND by the way, there was so much of the filling left over that we had it the next night as nachos. One night of work, two nights of dinner... my favorite!

Eggplant

Wondering what to do with those oblong purple veggies (actually they are technically fruits, but I have issues with calling them such) that are in abundance at the farmer's markets these days? Eggplant is a very hearty and nutrient rich plant. Because it easily soaks up sauces and fats, it is a healthy and satisfying alternative to meat in pastas, lasagnas, on the grill, and in sandwiches.

If you get them from the store, they will probably be more bitter. You will have to slice and salt the eggplant to extract the bitterness, and by doing this you will also stifle the plant's ability to soak up all those yummy sauces. The fresher the eggplant is, the less seeds it will have and therefore the less naturally bitter it will be. Read: BUY YOUR EGGPLANTS AT THE FARMERS MARKET!

The way most people have experienced eggplant is coated and fried as in Eggplant Parm. While I do love me a good deep fried veggie, here are a few other random and healthy alternative methods I've been using with my eggplant.

• Marinate in an acidic base like vinegar, soy sauce, with a bit of sugar, ginger and garlic added before throwing them on the grill for sandwiches.



• Slice and season with olive oil, salt and garlic. Broil, turning once, for about 10 minutes and then top with goat cheese, roasted red peppers and tomatoes.



• Slice, coat with olive oil, and cook on a grill pan for 1 to 2 minutes before adding slices to a pizza.



• Fork holes into a whole eggplant and bake at 450 for an hour, cool and scoop out the flesh. Mix with spices for a tahini-like dip with pita.



• Layer Tomato sauce, polenta slices, mozzarella and pan-grilled eggplant slices in a mock-sagna. Even got the Batman to love this one.

My favorite thing to do with Eggplant is quite simple however. Simply sauteing it in olive oil with some other ingredients for a fresh and seasonal pasta.

Eggplant Pomodoro

Pasta (ended up going with Penne)

Olive oil

Couple cloves pressed garlic

Couple Ripe tomatoes (how pretty and colorful are these??)

Handful of green or kalamata olives

Feta

Red Wine Vinegar (can use red wine or balsamic as a substitute)

Saute some garlic in your pan with olive oil. If you don't like chopping garlic, or if you don't mind it but simply don't have time for it and reach for the garlic powder instead, you need this tool. The garlic press from PC is amazing... you don't even have to take the skin off the garlic. Just throw it in like so and press. So much easier than chopping, and actually even tastier because by pressing it, all the oils in the garlic are released.

See? That took approximately 6 seconds for my kitchen to smell amazing.

Add chopped eggplant, chopped tomatoes, and some onions if you feel like it. Saute for a bit before adding about 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar (or substitutes)


Add a handful of roughly chopped olives.

Oh I love this thing too. I don't have tons of room in my cupboards so I love that this pasta drainer is flat.

Mix the eggplant mixture with the Penne and add in the olives, a handful or two of feta, and fresh basil.

Just a Spoonful of Sugar...

...helps the vegetables, go down! So, I don't know about your kids (or boyfriend, or whoever) but getting my little people to eat vegetables is a daily battle. Superman fights me tooth and nail on eating anything that is green. Batman is pretty open to the idea. And TGB will eventually be force fed them in pureed form :) I love babies, they can't put up a fight even if they want to.

I got a huge bunch of green beens 2 weeks ago from CSA. I knew they had been sitting in the fridge for a while getting older and tougher every day and I needed to use them pronto. I decided to try to make them into a Green Bean French Fry sort of thing. Superman is known to spit out regular green beans, followed by some intense crying and tongue-scraping, so I was curious if disguising would help the "medicine" go down. Since its all in the name, I served them up with a boisterous introduction as... tah dah!!!! Nugget Swords!! I mean really, what boy doesn't want to eat a Nugget Sword?

I perused the internet for recipes and decided that instead of deep frying, because really that defeats the entire purpose of serving the kids veggies, I'd go the baking route. However, these would be awesome deep-fried and served as an appetizer at a party.

Green Bean French Fries (you could do this with any veggie)

Green Beans, trimmed and blanched
1 egg whisked with 1/4 c milk
panko (I ended up combining panko and regular breadcrumbs)
2 tbl flour
salt
garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, any of those would work
Preheat oven to 375




First boil water and add green beans, cook for just 3 to 4 minutes (these poor green beans don't look too good, they were definitely one day from being thrown in the trash)

In that time get your coating station set up. Flour, Egg/milk, Panko/breadcrumbs/spices then baking sheet or stone.

Then drain your beans and immediately plunge in cold ice water (this is blanching).

Then coat in flour (I recommend using tongs to avoid clumpy breaded fingers)

Coat in egg

And coat in breadcrumbs!

Place them on your tray and throw into the oven for 20-25 min at 375

And tah dah!! Here they are. Nugget Swords in all their glory.

Now I don't feel so bad about serving up a minute in the microwave hot-dog for the fourth time in 2 days.

Kid approved!

TGB is a little bitter she couldn't try any. Nugget swords are for girls too!!

And then a few hours later when we finally had dinner they were tasty for big people too! I just squeezed some lemon on top and dunked them in the flank steak marinade (soy sauce, sherry, honey, pressed garlic, green onions... mmmmm good)

Yes thats my plate and not my husbands. Don't judge.

The Perfect Summer Pasta

We just arrived home from a week at the beach. My goodness it was H-O-T. We vacationed with family, which meant that I had many many hands who were eager to hold TGB.

Many hands also meant that my husband and I could sneak off for a run together in the mornings. He suggested we run on the beach. Sounds romantic right? A nice, quiet morning run beach side with your love? No. Not at all. Running on the beach is definitely more romanticized in my head then in real life. Running on the beach is HARD!! The beach we were at was slanted so one of my hips was constantly beating the ground at an angle for the entire run. We would hit random patches of quick sand where it felt like you were dragging your feet with lead weights on each side, and there is absolutely no reprieve from the sun! The only redeeming factor was that as soon as the run was over I could dive right into the ocean. All in all, I'm going to say I much prefer walking on the beach. With some pinot grigio.

We came back home to absolutely brutal heat. Its a lot more unbearable when there is no ocean to jump into. I found corn in this week's CSA box, further proof that we are in the midst of the hottest month of the summer. I love this recipe so much because the three main ingredients, corn, tomatoes, and basil are in prime season right now!! You can get them at their absolute freshest from your farmer's market, or at their absolute cheapest at the grocery store :)

Thanks to Judy DelliColli for this great recipe!!

Summer Pasta

Spaghetti or Linguine, cooked and ready to go
2-3 ears of corn, blanched and then kernels removed
***Time saving tip... cook the pasta in the same pot that you boil the corn in***
2 ripe summer tomatoes, cut into big pieces
a big fresh bunch of basil
4-6 oz of fresh buffo mozzarella
balsamic vinegar
half a lemon
chopped garlic

Add a small bit of EVOO to a hot skillet. Quickly saute corn kernels with some fresh garlic... I used my new garlic press from PC which I am obsessed with.

Of course you could totally use a can of corn if you were in a pinch.
Add the tomatoes

Then throw in a few handfuls of pasta

And then the basil. Throw in about 2 to 3 tablespoons of balsamic. The original recipe didn't have this but I thought it sounded good. I also added half a lemon because I felt like it.

Turn off the heat and add the mozzarella. Toss it all around.

And serve it up.... sooo fresh tasting, easy, and seasonal. Loved it!

Organically

The best things happen organically.

Saturday morning I woke up to rain. I was planning on running with my local running club, but after a long tiring week and an even longer Friday night up with the babe, I squealed like a school kid who sees snow outside when my husband told me it was raining at 6 am.

I ended up running with the club Sunday instead. I rarely ever run on Sunday, but decided I would just go and squeak out 4 miles for the weekend. Since TGB has been born I had yet to cross the 4 mile barrier. I wasn't really looking forward to the Sunday run, I was feeling like it was something I had to do, and honestly I just wanted to go and get it over with.

But then I started going, and I didn't feel terrible. In fact, I felt pretty good! And when I got to the 2 mile turn around point for the 4 mile option, I actually ran past it on accident! Before I knew it I was tagging along with the 6 mile people. I had no Garmin, no iPod, and no plan. At the end of the run I was told we did 6.3 miles in 54 minutes. And for me, that was much faster and farther then I had gone in quite a while. It just kind of happened organically, and it ended up being the best run I've had in months and months!

Some of my best meals come together organically too! Later in the day I was having one of those moments where you look through the fridge and wonder what you can make with what you've got. I had these beautiful *and organic!* peaches from CSA I had been wanting to do something fun with. Here's what came together...

Grilled Salmon with Peach Salsa

2-4 ripe peaches
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
half a fresh jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
chopped cilantro
2 tbl honey
juice from one lime
couple sprinkles of cumin
couple sprinkles of paprika
salmon filets
soy sauce

I actually didn't use the olive oil, salt or green onion as depicted. Thought I might, but as I said, this kind of just came together as I went.


Mix the honey, lime juice, and spices together in the bowl, then add chopped ingredients.

Then I strained out some of the juice from the salsa, and mixed a little soy sauce in for some saltiness to combat the sweetness to marinate the salmon.

Then I handed it over to my husband and let him do the grill thing. I don't grill!

Top with the fresh salsa... it was the perfect combo of sweet, spicy and salty! Light and perfect for summer. And its pretty. :)

No Excuses

"That Girl Baby," as my sons call her (and as she will now be referred to on this blog) is now 6 weeks old! That means I'm 100% approved by the doc for runs. Darn! Yay, and darn. All at the same time. I decided Sunday night that if she slept well, I'd meet up with my sis-in-law and neighbor for my old usual 4 mile, 5:45 am run. I was secretly hoping I'd have a rough night, and therefore another excuse to not run, but lo and behold That Girl Baby slept like a champ. 7:30 to 5 am. Just enough time to wake up, feed/change her, put her back to sleep, and be out the door in perfect timing.

It went great! And by "great" I mean, I didn't want to die like I did last time! The hardest part is always making yourself get out the door, but once you "run" out of excuses and you just GO... there is never any regret.

Along the same lines, I had no excuse to not make a side to bring to a BBQ Saturday night even though I was tired and kind of wanted to "forget". I had a whooooole bunch of veggies from CSA that needed usin' up. I had about 20 mysterious huge leaves from CSA that I needed to use before they went bad but I had NO CLUE what they were.

Then I discovered... they were Collard Greens! Is it obvious I'm from the North? Virginia may be below the Mason Dixon Line, but let me tell you Northern Virginia is a whole different world, where the best Sweet Tea you'll find is at a McDonald's and there is nothing slow-paced about anything we do.

So after a little research, it seemed that most people made collard greens by braising them or slow cooking them because the stems are kind of tough. I had about 20 minutes before we were leaving for a friend's house so I tried to make the fast version. (See? Still thinking like a Northern Girl)

Here's how it went...

Quick Sweet and Spicy Collard Greens
adapted from Fine Cooking

10+ large Collard Greens leaves
3-4 slices bacon, chopped
A couple cloves of chopped garlic
1 tbl malt vinegar
1 tbl maple syrup
Red Pepper Flakes
Lemon Juice




So since I was a little scared these would turn out terrible I ADDED BACON! When in doubt, throw some bacon in there and everyone loves it. Proven fact.

To make this cook quickly, I cut out the stems from the leaves


Then piled up the leaf halves

Rolled them up like so

And cut them into "ribbons"

Oops, once your bacon gets crispy, don't forget to add garlic!

Then add in the collard greens and use tongs to toss them up with the bacon grease so that they can cook down. I didn't leave them in there too long though, just 2-3 minutes. Long enough to cook down but still be a bright, healthy looking green (makes you forget they are covered in bacon grease).

Next time I will remove bacon and garlic, let the grease drain on a paper towel, and saute the collards in olive oil instead, adding bacon at the end.

Meanwhile mix the malt vinegar, crushed red pepper and maple syrup

Transfer collard greens to a serving dish, and pour maple syrup mixture on top. Mix it all around! I topped with a squeeze of fresh lemon because it just felt right.

Did I do them right? I'm not sure, but they tasted good to me! Must have been the bacon.

Do you make Collard Greens? How do you do them?