Happy Thanksgiving!

My how time flies!

I can't believe my last post was early September.   Seems like September & October were just blurrs. 

As cooler weather started, I realized the cold oatmeal was not going to be a good choice for breakfast anymore.

I had pinned a recipe for Egg Muffins from Kalyn's Kitchen and decided to try it. 

Her recipe called for 15 eggs, a "Spike Seasoning" and silcone muffin tins.

I used Egg Beaters, my own Seasoned Salt & a regular muffin tin w/ paper liners.

I used Egg Beaters because I had a carton in my fridge I needed to use and it is so much easier than cracking 15 eggs. 

I found the Seasoned Salt recipe from Budget Savvy Diva. 

You must spray the liners if you want the eggs to come out of them.  

You will want to make the Seasoned Salt first. 

Seasoned Salt

1 tablespoons salt

1teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon turmeric

1/8 teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon cornstarch

 

Combine in a bowl with a good seal top.  Give a good shake.  Done!

 

 

To make the eggs,

 

Egg Muffins

 

1 small container of Egg Beaters
a few pinches of Seasoned Salt  

a few shakes of Pepper
a few pinches of Grated Low Fat Cheese

Optional mixin's: veggies, bacon bits, sausage, whatever your tastebuds want.

Preheat oven to 350F. Put the cupcake liners in the muffin tin and spray each cup.   A small Egg Beater container will make 9 Egg Muffins. 

In the bottom of the muffin cups layer cheese, diced meat, if using and vegetables, if using. You don't want the muffin cups to be more than 2/3 full.  Pour Egg Beater into each muffin cup until it is 3/4 full. Sprinkle the Seasoned Salt & Pepper on each muffin.  Bake 20 - 25 minutes until muffins have risen and are slightly browned and set.

Muffins will keep more than a week in the refrigerator. Egg muffins can be frozen and reheated.  For best results, thaw in refrigerator before reheating.

 

To eat, I wrap a muffin in a small tortilla and microwave it for 25 seconds.   Then toss it in my pocket and eat on the way to work.  

 

Even my son had has been eatting them.  

 



 

Two more successful Pins! 

A Good Tomato Sauce

I hate tomatoes. 

I hate them fresh, I hate them cooked. I hate the seeds, the texture and the skins.

I do, however love a good tomato sauce. This means there are no seeds, skins or chunks of tomatoes. Pretty much nothing out of a jar or a restaurant. Even a good Italian restaurant.

My mother has the same love of a smooth tomato sauce, so it is what I grew up eating. 
I realized early in my culinary adventures, that I would need to make my own to obtain the sauce I love. 

You may love your current brand of jar sauce, but have you looked at the sodium level in that jar lately?  You can make your own for about the same cost of a jar and know it's better for you and better tasting. 

You want to start with a good tomato puree. Progresso use to be my go-to brand, but I haven't been able to find it in the local groceries stores for a while now. I tried Cento and found it to be just as good. It is smooth, no seeds, no peels.  

The seasonings are what will turn the tomato puree into tomato sauce.  

It looks like a lot, but you probably have most of them in your pantry already. 

Into the pot goes one 28 oz can of puree and one small can of tomato paste.  This will help thicken the sauce.

Then I add 1 cup of water and all the spices. I just dump the spices in until the pile looks about right. You can use the measurements below and adjust them as you see fit.  

Mix it well and then let it simmer for 2 hours.  Stir it occasionally so it doesn't' burn on the bottom of the pan.

When it smells right, turn off the burner and let it cool. 

I use to get 3 meals out of one batch, but my growing teenage boy has cut that down to 2.  

This is a basic sauce and can be used in any recipe that calls for tomato sauce. I use it for spaghetti & meatballs, lasagna, chicken cacciatore, the list goes on.

A Good Tomato Sauce

1-28oz can of puree (or any tomato base you want to use)

1-small can of tomato paste

1 c water

1-2 Tbsp Onion Powder

1-2 Tbsp Garlic Powder

1-2 Tbsp Oregano

1-2 Tbsp Basil

1 - 2 Bay Leaves (depending on size)

1 tsp Black Pepper

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Sugar (to cut down the acidity)

Mix together in a big pot. Bring to a boil. Then cover (very important or you will have tomato all over your stovetop) and drop the heat to low. Simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.  You can add meats to the sauce after it's simmered for a while.This will allow the flavors to mix. 

Let is cool before transferring to storage containers. 



My version of Cinnamon Bun Waffles

Pinterest is an amazing playground of colors and pictures.  Like many, I am lured by the visual and hooked by the title.  And like many I pin and move on to the next pretty picture. 

This past Sunday, I had the time to make a quick breakfast and pulled up my Breakfast board for ideas.  I ran across a pin for Cinnamon Roll Waffles and thought "ooh quick & easy".  Boy was I wrong. 

This recipe looks yummy but not what I was thinking.  Definitely not the quick and easy I was looking for.

So I just went with what I originally thought it was, Whomp Cinnamon Rolls in the waffle iron. (Whomp Cinnamon Rolls are the ones you find in the dairy case).

I heated up my waffle iron to high.  Flattened out the cinnamon rolls a little and put 2 of the cinnamon rolls on each side.   Closed the lid and let them cook until it smelled right (about 2 minutes).  While the last 4 cooked, I removed the lid from the container of icing that comes in the can and popped it into the microwave for 15 seconds. 

Poured the icing over the waffles and ta-da! Cinnamon Roll Waffles.

  

I hope to some day have enough time on a Sunday morning to make the Nikki Chef-in-Training version.  But for now, this quick and easy version will work just fine.  

Amazingly Moist Carrot Cake

I recently volunteered to make Birthday cupcakes for a girl in work. Since we usually eat the birthday cake for breakfast, I wanted to make something that was more breakfast than cake.  Carrot Cake fit this perfectly and I had the perfect recipe to use for it. 

This recipe came from a retirement community cookbook my Nana gave me.  We all have at least one 'community' made recipe book.  I have several, but this one is my favorite because it has some of Nana's recipes in it.  It has been well used over the years.    


The Carrot Cake recipe is not my Nana's, it come from Bea Lester.  The reason why I love this so much is because it uses 2 jars of baby food carrots.  Yay! No shredding carrots!  It's also what makes is super moist.

3 eggs
1 1/2 c sugar
1 1/8 c oil
1 1/2 c presifted all-purpose flour (pre-sifting does make a difference and I use unbleached flour)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 20oz can crushed pinapple, drained
3/4 c raisins, sprinkled with flour
2 small jars strained baby food carrots
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 c chopped nuts (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 350°.  Pre-line 2 muffin tins with liners. 
Beat the eggs, sugar & oil in one bowl (or mixer).  Mix together flour, baking soda, cinnamon & salt in a seperate bowl.  Add dry mix to wet mix.  Once incorporated, add the remaning ingredients. 
Divide evenly (or as evenly as possible) into the muffin tins.
Bake for 20 - 22 minutes or until the test stick comes out clean.  

I frosted them with a cream cheese frosting that went well with the cupcakes. 

The Birthday Girl loved them and so did everyone else.  None were left by the end of the day. 





Balsamic London Broil

I love my Droid.  I have been blessed with a Droid Bionic and carry it everywhere.

One of my favorite apps is the Big Oven app.  When looking for new dinner ideas, I can search for what I have on hand, or specific flavors, or a recipe title.   When I find something, I can save it to Try Soon or add to Favorites for easy finding later.

I recently had a London broil on hand and wanted a good marinade for it with balsamic vinegar.

So I pulled up the app, searched London broil and balsamic vinegar and found this recipe. 

It is perfect for this cut of meat.  The flavor is just the right amount of tangy and the meat is super tender.  

After trying it, I realized it seemed very familiar.  I looked at my Try Soon and my Favorites and found I had saved it in each of them at one point.   It is worth searching for and saving again. 

Thank you sdw09 for posting this on Big Oven!

Balsamic London Broil

1/2 lb top round stead; 1 inch thick (I know mine was larger, but didn't need to alter the other ingredient amounts)
2 tbs Soy Sauce (I use low sodium)
1 tbs Olive Oil
2 tbs Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 tsp dried thyme (I ground mine up in my hand)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
black pepper, to taste (I use 1/4 tsp)

Dump the marinade ingredients into a gallon zip-lock bag.  Mix well.
















Add the meat and squish around to coat. 

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but longer if you can. 

Grill or Broil until desired doneness

Slice thin and enjoy!

Overnight, No-Cook Refrigerator Oatmeal

This is one of my very first pins from The Yummy Life.  

I make this all the time now. It has simple ingredients that I have on hand and can make a few at one time.  It is super filling and is very weight watching friendly. 

I did try it the way Ms Matheny posted, minus the Chia Seeds. I had everything else in my pantry but those. 

After my initial few trials, I have made a few changes.

First off, I don't use the mason jar.   I eat breakfast at work and a glass container is heavier to carry and would probably break within a week with the way I toss my lunch bag at times.

I don't use the greek yogurt.   I try to keep the food cost down and a large container of plain yogurt is about $2.00 cheaper than a large container of Greek yogurt.  

My favorite flavor is the Banana Cocoa.  I buy more bananas just so I can make this.   Instead of the tablespoon of cocoa powder, I use a teaspoon.   Plenty of chocolate flavor in one teaspoon. 

I found that the Mango Almond can be interchangable.  I use vanilla instead of almond extract and switch up the fruit with whatever I have on hand.  

You can also play with the milk amount to get the consistancy you want.   If you make more than one at a time, you may want to add more milk to the one that will sit longer.   It will get thicker the longer it sits.  

Thank you Ms Mathney for giving me a new way to enjoy oatmeal and a healthier breakfast option!

This is My Next Whim

For years I have been using the internet to feed my creative side. 

Recently, along with a lot of other people, I have found Pinterest.  From Pinterest, I have found great recipes, home tips, craft projects and Blogs!

After trying some recipes and crochet patterns, then making my own adjustments, I wanted a way to share my findings with the Pinterest community.  What better way then my own Blog! 

Along the way I may have an original idea or two.