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Tuscan Garden Frames Christmas

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Tuscan Garden Frames Christmas

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Get Smart!

As a BZZ Agent, I recently tried this product, usually I would say if something claims to be "healthy" it has no flavor! Not the case with these, SO delish, even my pickiest child ate them up, I barely got to sample any for myself!!

Breakfast Skillet Gone Wild.

My Recipe Published in the September issue of Floridian View Magazine 2012 

25 Sep

I love Breakfast for dinner and this is my new favorite thing to make!
Breakfast Skillet w/Tomato Arugula Salad
This recipe is enough for 6 ramekins
What you need:

• 4-5 slices of good quality smoked bacon
• 5 med/large potatoes
• 5 oz fresh Arugula
• 15 Eggs (I love farm fresh!)
• Fresh Thyme (leaves off the stems, approx. 1tsp)
• 8oz good quality Brie cheese
• 4-5 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
• 1-2 Tomatoes diced (Or Cherry Tomatoes halved)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup milk or half and half
• 3 tbs rice wine vinegar
• Olive Oil (2tbs for dressing, 2 tbs for pan)

What to do:
Some Prep Items:

1. Par boil your potatoes whole in salted boiling water for approx. 10min. Remove from heat and rinse with sold water to stop the cooking process. Once cooled Dice the potatoes carefully into small cubes.
2. Pre-cook the bacon
3. Dice Tomatoes
4. In a small bowl whisk together rice wine vinegar and olive oil with salt and pepper to taste until the dressing emulsifies, taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Time to Cook!

1. Whisk together, Eggs, Salt and pepper, Milk, and chopped up bacon
2. In a large skillet melt 1tsp of butter, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil (or enough to coat the pan) add garlic and allow garlic to cook until golden, remove garlic from pan, turn heat up to med/high and add potatoes, allowing the potatoes to have an even layer in the pan, add thyme, salt and pepper. Allow the potatoes to cook without stirring them for approx. 2-3 minutes then gently stir (or flip!) the potatoes, cover and allow to cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Gently stir or flip once more cover and allow to cook for yet another 2-3 minutes trying to get all the potatoes golden brown. Taste, and add more seasoning as needed. Stir the garlic back in carefully and remove from heat.
3. In a small fry pan turn the heat to medium and 1/2 tsp butter allow to melt then add egg mixture allowing the eggs to fully cook at the bottom before flipping (Like your making an omelet) Once the egg is cooked at the bottom flip it over carefully. Fold the ends in making a kind of wallet shape, and allow the egg to continue cooking approx. 2-3 minutes.
4. ** Note: depending on the size of the container your using you may need to make your little egg wallets in batches. If using ramekins, use approx. 1 1/2-2 eggs per large ramekin, if using one large casserole, then make 3-4 egg wallets.
5. In each ramekin layer your skillet, putting potatoes on the bottom in a layer, then Pieces of Brie cheese, place in the oven for 2-3 minutes on 350 just enough for the brie to melt. Add egg on top of the cheese. In a large bowl mix arugula and tomatoes with dressing, only lightly coating the salad and add to the top of the eggs.

Serve immediately.

This ain’t your momma’s brussel sprouts.

5.05.2012 Pan Roasted Brussel Sprouts
So my husbands idea of brussel sprouts is the frozen boil in the bag kind his mom used to make. Boiled, no seasoning, nothing to take out the bitterness. So naturally he thought I was crazy when I picked up some fresh sprouts at the market and told him I was going to cook some up!
The results? Simply delish! He ate every bite, and can’t wait for me to make them again!
What you need:

• FRESH Brussel sprouts; outer leaves removed, stem cut off and sprout sliced in half.
• 2-3 Cloves of FRESH garlic roughly chopped
• 2 slices of bacon
• 1/4 of an onion sliced
• S&P to taste
• 2 teaspoons of real butter

What you do:

1. In a Fry/saute pan put in the bacon and cook until crisp
2. Once bacon is finished drain the excess oil and add the butter
3. Once butter is melted put in the spouts flat side DOWN
4. DO NOT touch the sprouts for 2-3 minutes
5. Once underside of the sprout is golden brown, add garlic and onion
6. saute adding s&p to taste
7. Cover for 2-3 minutes allowing to cook until sprouts are just tender.

Serve!!
Now, I did NOT add the bacon back in, but you could chop up the bacon and add it back into the pan with the sprouts. ALSO an afterthought as I was eating this little cabbages of goodness was a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan would of been a nice yummy touch.

Smokin’ Burgers

7.07. 2012 So I am always telling everyone how our amazing Salsa Addiction would be in hamburgers, and I’ve had several people tell me they put it ON Their hamburgers. I decided to put it IN mine!
What you need:

• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Chipotle Roasted Garlic Salsa Addiction
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 cup smoked Gouda cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs (Give or take depending on the density you like your burger)

What to do:

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl
2. Form Hamburger Patties
3. Grill!
4. EAT!

These burgers were AMAZING. I can’t believe the flavors that came out in the salsa, DELISH!

On Top of Spaghetti

My son Connor is addicted to Spaghetti, He could eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner! A few times in an effort to satisfy his spaghetti hunger, and because it’s easy, I bought him Chef Boyardee, I know, It was a moment of weakness.
Now, I am a better educated chef, parent and person as to what goes in that stuff! So I started making him little meals of spaghetti he could warm up himself and have for lunches!
Get fun noodles, add whatever you like, but here’s what I did: (Recipe varies depending on how many you want to make how far ahead, and PS: This is GREAT for dinner too for the whole family!) This can also be frozen for future meals!
What you need:

• 2 large cans of organic tomato sauce
• 1 can of organic diced tomatoes
• 10 cloves of fresh garlic finely chopped
• 2-3 basil leaves chopped into ribbons
• 1 stem of oregano chopped
• 1lb of good quality ground beef (organic if you can get it)
• Pasta, Any shape size whatever, make it fun!
•  Fresh Parmesan Cheese (not the shaker stuff EW!)
• 1/2 yellow onion diced
• 1/2 roasted red bell pepper diced
• Olive oil
• S&P to taste

What you do:

• In a large pan coat with olive oil and add onion and garlic sauteing until translucent (MAN I love this smell!)
• Once garlic and onion are cooked, add ground beef and cook until browned
• Add, the bell pepper, tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, basil and oregano
• Season with salt and pepper
• While the sauce is simmering on a low temperature, Cook your pasta in salted water.
• Once the pasta is complete drain and separate into one size serving containers
• Allow the sauce to simmer on low for about 20 minutes or so.
• Once finished add the sauce into each container based on how much your child (or you!) Likes.
• Add a Little grated Parmesan on the top, seal and refrigerate!

I also made meatballs one night and threw some of those in his lunch for an added little bonus
This is great for your lunch, your kids lunch, dinner for the whole family, whatever you want, its easy fun and DELISH!