Sharing Rambling, Resources and Recipes for Learning in Life

Sharing Rambling, Resources and Recipes for Learning in Life

Tag: Recipes

ParentingRecipes

Smothered Pork Chops

By AudreaLeave a comment
Delicious, SUPER simple Smothered Pork Chops

This recipe is another of the surprises I concocted for NannaLee and the girls when we were over for our weekly visit. For those who may have missed the post about the Beef Alfredo Casserole from the week before, Nanna and I have started playing a “game” when the girls and I come to visit. Our “game’ is that Nanna chooses and thaws her choice of meat for our lunch and then I am left to find something to go with it in her fabulously stocked pantry. It has become one of the highlights of our week to go see her and I know it blesses her. When Papa passed away and she moved into her “retirement” house, it was the first time to live all by herself. The isolation of self quarantining after her recent missions trip to Peru really took a toll on her VERY social soul! In addition to this it is such a blessing for the girls to learn form her and to be treasured by her. Grand and Great Grand Parents are SUCH a gift for children and families.

The meat of her choice this week was pork chops. Her pork chops were VERY thick, close to two inches. So, since she had two of them and there were four of us and they were so thick I sliced each one in half. I decided to try a version of smothered pork chops, then added a box of quinoa and wild rice mix as a side and we rounded out the meal with a bagged Caesar Salad. This week Brinley helped with the quinoa and mixed up the salad for lunch. She really loves cooking and I was so impressed about three weeks ago when she basically made dinner herself at home and made an easy version of Parmesan Chicken. Everyone including myself gave these pork chops an A+ rating. I was concerned that it might be a little bland, but it was very flavorful in my opinion. So without further ado, here is the recipe.

Smothered Pork Chops:

4 Pork Chops

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 can of mushrooms or mushroom pieces

Salt and Pepper (optional)

2 tbsp Olive Oil

Smothered Pork Chops Directions:

  1. Put the oil in a skillet and heat over medium heat
  2. Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops (optional to taste preference)
  3. Place the pork chops in the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, just long enough to sear the meat
  4. Turn off the burner and remove the skillet from heat
  5. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees
  6. Spoon the can of mushroom soup onto the top of the chops (dividing it equally between all four chops)
  7. Pour the juice/water from the mushrooms over the whole skillet
  8. Pile mushrooms on top of the soup on top of each pork chop
  9. Salt and Pepper the whole skillet (optional to taste preference)
  10. Place the whole skillet into the preheated oven for 10-20 minutes based on the thickness of the pork chops
  11. Turn the oven up to 375 degrees and cook an additional 5-7 minutes until everything is bubbling around the edges
  12. I slice one of my chops through the middle to ensure doneness
  13. Serve immediately

I hope this recipe is useful and delicious for your family. I was pleasantly shocked at how yummy it was since it was SO simple and had so few ingredients! If you try it please like this post or leave a comment sharing how it goes for you! What are some of your favorite simple recipes?

ParentingRecipes

Beef Alfredo Casserole Recipe

By Audrea3 Comments

During this slower time, first from the pandemic and now from summer break, my girls and I have the wonderful chance to go over to our NannaLee’s once a week. My youngest daughter got to go to Nanna’s for “coffee” each morning when Grammie was watching her before she started school. We have all missed her having this opportunity. As a teacher I encounter students who do not have the luxury and blessing of close grandparents. I have also seen repeatedly through the use of volunteers (including my own grandmother), how much children benefit from time spent with grand and great-grandparents. They provide unconditional love, wisdom, a slower pace and a chance for children to be the center of attention and learn new boundaries, respect and wisdom! So, we are excited to be able to take advantage of this time together. Starting our second week, Nanna and I started playing a new “game”. It is that she picks and thaws the meat for lunch and then it is my job to complete the meal for our lunch using whatever I find and want to use out of her well stocked pantry. She has said that it is a real treat for her to have us over because she gets a “real” meal. Although it has been some years since Papa went to Heaven, Nanna still has not mastered cooking for one.

This is the recipe I came up with the first day we did this. She thawed about a pound and a half of ground beef and my youngest said she loves trying new noodles. So, I wanted to include noodles in my creation. I love this recipe because it is easy and because it received rave reviews from my daughters. It is even apparently world famous now, at least in the girls’ world! We were over at my brother’s house later in the week I made this recipe and he was visiting with my oldest about her day. She told him that she had Momma’s Famous Noodles for lunch (the girls had finished the leftovers that day). I’m always happy when a recipe is so well received and is full of good food for my family! Without further ado, here is the recipe.

Beef Alfredo Casserole Recipe:

1 1/2 lbs Ground Beef

1 can Sliced Mushrooms or Mushroom Pieces

1 jar Alfredo Sauce ( I used this brand)

1/2 box (about 2 1/2-3 cups dry) Radiatori Noodles (or any other similar pasta)

1/2 cup Raw Spinach

1/2 cup Raw Kale

Beef Alfredo Casserole Directions:

Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium high heat. While that is cooking, start cooking the noodles in salted water according to package directions. Once the ground beef is close to being done, add drained mushrooms and sauté with the meat until the meat is completely cooked. This helps give some extra flavor to the mushrooms. Once the meat is done, drain the meat and mushrooms IF there is a lot of fat. Otherwise, just reduce heat to medium low, add salt and pepper to taste and stir in the jar of Alfredo sauce. Once the meat and sauce are combined turn off heat and stir in the roughly chopped spinach and kale. Adding the veggies after turning off the heat allows them enough heat to wilt and mix in without losing all of their integrity and flavor. After the noodles have finished cooking, use a slotted spoon to drain off the water as you scoop out the noodles into a casserole dish. If your skillet is large enough, you can just add the pasta to the meat sauce and stir to combine in the skillet to save on dishes. Once you have all of the noodles in the casserole dish add the meat sauce. Stir to combine and serve immediately with your choice of sides like garlic bread and salad, or artisan bread and green beans.

I hope you enjoy this hearty and flavorful meal as much as my family did. If you make it please share and tell me how it went. If you make any alterations you would recommend, please share them for myself and other readers to expand our recipe options!

HealthParentingRecipes

Homemade Larabars or Bites

By Audrea1 Comment

I have done a couple of Whole30’s. In doing those I have only tried a few Whole30 approved snacks. This is because, in case you haven’t noticed in some of my other posts, I don’t like to spend extra money on things. This is partly to be responsible with the money God has given us to steward and partly because my husband is most assuredly NOT a fan of Whole30 or many of the other “healthy” things I try. He was raised on white bread, Little Debbie snacks and margarine and he loves them! He is also a healthy weight and gets better numbers at his check ups than I do! He is also super frugal and doesn’t want to “waste” money that we don’t have or have to!!

Larabars were one of the Whole30 snacks that I did indulge in. On busy mornings, with getting all of us to school for the day, they were a lifesaver. They are a fairly expensive lifesaver when you are used to buying Little Debbie snacks or Sunbelt granola bars from the discount store in their hometown of Gentry, AR. One other drawback to Larabars for me was that most of them are made with walnuts and at the time I was reacting to walnuts. My mouth would get sore and then it progressed to the back of my throat itching and sometimes swelling a little. Because I had heard from my husband’s aunt who is a nurse that nut allergies can progress, I thought it would be in my best interest to steer clear of walnuts for a while.

So, I looked up homemade Larabar recipes to save myself money and the possibility of anaphylactic shock. The one I keep going back to is by Chocolate Covered Katie. I use this recipe as the base for all the versions of my homemade larabars, which I normally make into bites now. I started doing this because it is just easier to scoop them with my small cookie scoop instead of trying to press them into something and cut them up. I am hopeful that since one of my husband’s other aunts sells Pampered Chef that I may be able to score their Snack Bar Maker Set for Christmas! Then I might make them into bars again. You can click here for that original recipe. Below you can see how I use the main ingredients from her recipe as the base for my recipe(s).

Here is my base recipe:

1 cup nuts

1 1/3 cups dates

That’s it. From there the options are rather endless. I’ll include two versions that I have made below to give you some ideas.

Chocolate:

Add 3-4 tsp. cocoa powder

Yesterday, since I had dates left over after my chocolate one ones I also made Cinnamon Raisin.

Cinnamon Raisin:

Reduce dates to 1 cup and add 1/3 cup raisins (or use all 1 1/3 cup raisins, these are sweeter)

Add 1-3 tsp ground cinnamon

Add a generous sprinkle of ground cloves

Add about 1/4 tsp nutmeg

I also added 3 tsp of peanut butter to make them richer

Directions for all variations:

Place all ingredients in a food processor, various recipes I’ve looked at say you can use a high powered blender, but I’ve only used a food processor. Mix until it is a smooth and slightly clumpy mixture. Scoop the mixture out with a cookie scoop (round more with hands if you prefer) into a ziplock bag or airtight container. Store in the refrigerator. I have also pressed these into cupcake papers in cupcake tins to make a slightly larger serving size and cuter presentation. You could also stir in additional chocolate chips or chunks to the chocolate version and raisins to the cinnamon raisin version if you want to. This last time with the chocolate version, I added a few pieces of my paleo chocolate before I ran the food processor just to make them richer.

I really enjoy these as a healthy fruit based indulgence for myself. I also REALLY love that my girls feel like they’re getting candy and they’re eating fruits and nuts. I was SO thrilled that since I have not been reacting to walnuts lately and my mom has given us several bags of them lately that I was able to make these with walnuts instead of almonds this yesterday. They are so smooth and decadent!! Also, we are all getting a boost in Omega 3 fatty acids which are supposed to be helpful for children with ADHD symptoms. My oldest has no diagnosis, but focus and controlling impulses can be difficult tasks for her. Therefore we value any diet additions we can make that will help her strengthen her focusing and impulse control. We are currently focusing on adding magnesium through Concentrace Essential Mineral Drops and Omega 3’s through diet.

If you try either of these or your own variation, I’d love to hear about it!

HealthRecipes

Chocolate Chip Cookies (White Bean Version!!!)

By Audrea2 Comments

I am currently doing the 30 Day MakeFatCry Challenge by Betty Rocker. It is a challenge that gives you a 15 minute workout each day, including active rest day workouts so your body gets a break while you still move each day. During the challenge you get the workout emailed to you each day. Some days include some “extras” in the form of extra workouts or recipes. She also offers a Challenge Meal Plan that is whole food based to nourish your body with all of the macro and micro nutrients it needs to look and feel its best! Since the meal plan is not free, I haven’t tried it. I did try one of the recipes she sent as one of the “extras” today though.

Today I made Chocolate Chip cookies that are flourless. Now, most of the time that I see “flourless” cookies or desserts it means almond meal or coconut flour. I think both of those are likely wonderful ingredients and very healthy. Unfortunately, they are also very expensive and I am not yet ready to invest that much money into experimenting. So, I was excited that flourless in this recipe truly meant flourless.

Here is her original recipe:

1 can of white beans (drained and slightly patted dry)

1/3 honey or maple syrup

1/3 walnut or almond butter

1/4-1/3 cup ground chia seeds (optional)

1-3 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (she uses dairy free from Enjoy Life or similar)

Heres the directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment
  3. Put everything except the chocolate chips in a food processor and blend until smooth
  4. Stir in chocolate chips
  5. Scoop out with a cookie scoop onto the parchment
  6. Cook for 12-16 minutes

I didn’t have everything in the ingredient list so here’s the recipe I actually made:

1 can of white beans (drained and slightly patted dry)

1/3 honey

1/3 walnut butter-ish (I processed walnuts in my small food processor until that were a paste)

1/4-1/3 cup ground flax seeds (I didn’t have any chia seeds left)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks (I used my paleo chocolate chopped into pieces and a small handful of Nestle Chocolate chips when I could tell near the end of scooping that I was out of chocolate in the dough)

Here’s the steps I followed:

I had a little bit of extra work because I didn’t just have everything on hand. I had flax seeds, but not ground. So, while the beans drained in the colander, I used my seed grinder to grind the flax seeds. Then I got out my walnuts from the freezer because I didn’t want to use peanut butter, but I have been given a lot of walnuts lately. The walnuts went into my small food processor and started grinding while I put the beans, honey (always be sure to spray your measuring cup with oil before measuring honey to make pouring it out easier and wasting less of it), baking powder and baking soda into my large food processor. Somewhere in here is when I remembered to turn the oven on to 350 degrees. Then I scooped out enough of the walnut “paste” for the recipe and left the rest in the small food processor. Later, I added raisins, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg and made oatmeal raisin bites (similar to Larabars) for my daughters. Then I ran the large food processor until everything was smooth. While that was going, I chopped some of my paleo chocolate that I had in the fridge to equal 1/2 a cup. Once it was smooth (it went really fast), I scooped that out into a bowl and stirred in the chocolate chunks. Then I put foil on two cookie sheets (I didn’t have parchment paper) and used a small cookie scoop to scoop the cookies out onto the cookie sheets. As I got close to the end of the dough I could see that there was no chocolate so I threw in a small handful of Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chips. Once I finished scooping. I put the cookie sheets into the oven on two different racks and set the timer for 6 minutes. A trick that I’ve learned from my dad, the baker, is to rotate your cookie sheets on their shelves halfway through cooking. After six minutes, I switched the cookie sheets and cooked them for 7 more minutes. After I took them out, I let them cool on the cookie sheets. Okay, I did eat one as soon as they came out of the oven. Then I scooped them off the foil with my small dessert spatula from Pampered Chef and put them in my cookie jar.

Here’s what I think of them:

They are good and I think they get better as they sit in the cookie jar. The coconut oil in the paleo chocolate adds a crispiness to the edges of some of the cookies. They are NOT Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies (my absolute favorite dessert, IF my dad makes them). I had been having a chocolate chip cookie each morning with my tea during my quiet time, but that didn’t seem like such a healthy choice. I think this is a lovely alternative. It seems like these would be high in fiber with the ground flax seed and beans and that is something I am focusing on currently in this journey of remembering that and treating my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit. There are some nutrition facts on Betty Rocker’s page, but they didn’t include the fiber content. The comments did say they are in My Fitness Pal though, so that would likely give that content. If you try these, I’d love to hear how they turn out for you. There are tweaks and versions mentioned in the comments on Betty Rocker’s page, if you’re interested in them.

Recipes

Easy Stromboli, An Oldy, But A Goody

By Audrea2 Comments

I was recently visiting to my mom. While I was there she offered me some lunchmeat because she had opened a 5 lb package and was concerned they wouldn’t be able to eat it all before it went bad. I took some, but it also reminded me of a recipe she made when we were kids. She would make homemade stromboli with refrigerated bread dough, lunch meat, sliced cheese and mayo.

I always enjoyed it and since she had given us some lunchmeat, I decided to try it for my family. I didn’t have any refrigerated dough, but I did have a “batch” of my Artisan Bread dough in the freezer. I was able to mix an old favorite with a new favorite and it worked perfectly.

I thawed the dough out that afternoon. Then instead of rolling the dough in flour, I greased the counter with oil from my Pampered Chef sprayer. Once I rolled it in the oil and “oiled” my hands, I put it on a greased cookie sheet and stretched it out. Then I put a layer of lunch meat across the middle, then some mayo, then a layer of sliced cheese, then a repeat of each layer. Then I pulled the dough over the filling and pinched the ends over the top and together. I sprayed some oil on top and sprinkled it with some garlic seasoning. I preheated the oven to 450. Then I baked the Stromboli for 20 minutes. You can slice it with a pizza cutter or a large knife. My husband and youngest loved it. My oldest is not a huge fan, but she’ll eat it! Since she seems to be randomly becoming a bit of a picky eater, I don’t worry too much when she doesn’t like something currently. The thing I really like about this recipe is that it is quick and easy to put together. The bread dough is simple to mix up, although it does have to sit for 8-24 hours to be ready. If you have some in the freezer though, you just have to thaw it, or you can plan ahead and mix it up the night before. It is also a very versatile recipe. The most we’ve changed it was to add onions last night when I made it for the third time this month! But, you could use italian sausage, tomatoes and mozzarella, or you could do pepperoni and colby/jack cheese shredded or sliced, or even a veggie version with mushrooms, peppers, onions and provolone.

Stromboli Recipe:

Refrigerated bread dough or Artisan Bread dough

8 slices thick cut lunchmeat

6-8 slices of American cheese

4 tablespoons mayonnaise

Garlic Powder/Salt

Directions:

Grease cookie sheet.

Push dough out on the cookie sheet into a rough rectangle.

Lay 4 pieces of lunchmeat across the middle, overlapping slightly.

Spread 2 tablespoons of mayo over meat

Lay 3-4 pieces of sliced cheese over the mayo, overlapping slightly

Repeat each layer

Pull the dough up and over the filling pressing the seam together with fingers, be especially careful to get the ends firmly pressed closed.

Spray oil over top of Stromboli

Sprinkle with garlic seasoning

Cook in preheated oven for 20 minutes

Recipes

My Favorite Recipe, AMAZING Artisan Bread!!

By Audrea3 Comments

My family bakes A LOT! My dad is actually a certified baker (he went to college for baking). He’s worked and managed a Sprouted Grain bread bakery and owned a coffee shop/bakery. My mother is a fabulous cook. I picked up several of my mom’s habits in the kitchen and am the most likely of my sisters to make something from scratch. Only my brother surpasses me in adventuring in the kitchen. So, it is very strange that I never tried my hand at making bread until a couple of years ago. I admit I am still not terribly adventurous in the area of bread making. Although I have made my own sourdough starter, and kept it going throughout a summer and beyond. However, my first foray into bread making was a HUGE success and has turned out to be my favorite recipe, possibly of all time! I know “man cannot live on bread alone”, but if I had to, this is the bread I’d do it with!

It is called a Crusty Artisan Bread and I did not make up the recipe, I just looked it up and tried it. It is so simple and I’ve made it so often that I don’t even have to look it up anymore (unless I’m super tired or stressed and then I like to double check my memory)! The two “catches” of the recipe is that it has to rise 8-24 hours, typically overnight in our house, and it bakes in a Dutch Oven. I have used this recipe in it’s original form, made it into a loaf of bread, made cinnamon raisin bread, and used it for my homemade Stromboli. Below is the original recipe and baking directions. This makes a thick crust with a soft, chewy inside.

Crusty Artisan Bread

Recipe:

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp yeast

2 tsp salt (coarse salt, not iodized table salt is recommended by the original recipe, but I’ve used both successfully)

1 1/2 cups warm water

Mixing Directions:

Put the dry ingredients in a bowl or a large measuring bowl (if the bowl has it’s own lid that is ideal). Whisk the dry ingredients together to mix the yeast and salt into the flour well. Pour the warm water (I just use very warm tap water) into the dry ingredients. Use your hand or a greased wooden spoon to mix the water and dry ingredients together into a soft, sticky dough. I generally just use my hand, but I have used a greased spoon once to save on time from washing up. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or the bowl’s lid and leave the dough out to rise for 8-24 hours. I admit to having left mine over 24 hours before and it still worked well. 12 hours is generally the least I’ve ever left it to rise.

Baking Directions:

When you are ready to bake the bread, turn your oven on to 450 degrees and place your dutch oven in the oven WITH the lid on while it preheats. While the oven heats up dust your counter with flour. Dump the dough onto the flour. Roll it around just enough to make it into a large ball. Cover with the plastic wrap, if you used it, or just leave it if you used a bowl lid to cover the dough. Once the oven and Dutch Oven reach 450 degrees, pull the Dutch Oven out, remove the lid, drop your bread into the pot. Cut two slits in the top with a sharp knife (just do the best you can, this isn’t a super sensitive recipe). Replace the lid. Place the closed Dutch Oven back into the oven. Bake at 450 WITH the lid on for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake for an additional 5 minutes WITHOUT the lid to brown the crust and finish the inside! Once the bread is completely done, I generally just leave it in the open Dutch Oven to cool, unless I’ve baked it before school for a teacher gift and then I just wrap it warm in a towel to keep it from sweating and deliver it warm!

DIYRecipes

My Favorite DIY Scrub

By Audrea1 Comment
A perfect relaxation combination!

Just this morning I was mixing up a batch of this scrub and I realized that I’d never shared this magical find with you! It is so simple and so CHEAP!! And my skin is incredibly smooth and baby soft when I make the time to use it regularly. I can simply use it in the shower or if I have extra pamper time I actually use it on my whole body and rub it in for a few minutes and then shower off. Some people recommend using a screen of some kind to collect it so that it doesn’t go down the drain, but I’ve never bothered to do that. I haven’t had any more than my usual drain cloggage either. We always had some trouble at our old house with the drains because of my or the girls’ hair. This never seemed to increase the trouble though.

So here is the recipe:

1/4 cup* used coffee grounds

1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

*I use a 1/4 cup of coffee when I make it for my husband, I am a tea drinker myself. So, I don’t have an exact measurement for what the grounds come too after they’ve been used.

I just pour the grounds off of the filter into a mason jar, add in the oil and sugar. Stir it up and put on the lid. That’s it!

You will want to use it up within a week or two to prevent it from molding. Since these are all natural food ingredients that is a possibility. I just rub it into my legs and feet while I’m in the shower, right before I shave. Or, if I have time, I will do my whole body in the shower before I turn the shower on and then just shower as usual. It does a phenomenal job smoothing my rough knees and feet! I just love how smooth and soft my skin is when I’m done. The best results I’ve had were when I used it every day for a week during a Spring Break! It was amazing!!

HealthRecipes

A New Breakfast

By Audrea2 Comments

In an effort to “Eat food. Not too Much. Mostly Plants” as suggested in Michael Pollan’s books, Food Rules and In Defense of Food, I stumbled upon a new “recipe”. I put recipe in quotations because really it’s just a mix of some veggies and eggs and Flat Out Bread that I had on hand. BUT it SURE is tasty!!!

1 Flat Out Fold It!

1 jalapeño pepper seeded and diced

1/2-1 small yellow summer squash diced

2 eggs

1/2-1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/4 cup baby spinach

1-2 tablespoons salsa

So I sautéed the jalapeño and the small yellow summer squash in a skillet for 3-5 minutes until they begin to soften. Then I cracked two eggs into the pan and scrambled it all together. Then I spread mayonnaise on the Flat Out bread and topped that with 2-3 tablespoons of the eggy yumminess. I next added baby spinach on top of the eggs and topped it all with a tablespoon or so of salsa! Absolute veggie filled creamy magnificence!! So delicious! If you don’t like the heat of jalapeños I am sure it would be delicious with bell peppers as well! What are you favorite veggies to add to scrambled eggs, I’d love to hear!

HealthParentingRecipes

Weggles

By Audrea4 Comments

I am trying to plan out my meals for the week. I feel the best when I eat a diet as full of whole foods as possible. I have recently been reading about the idea of doing hash browns in a waffle maker. So, today when the girls went to visit and craft at the neighbors, I decided to try a new concoction for my breakfasts this week and maybe the girls would like it for some of their mornings as well. I have christened this concoction Weggles for the base of eggs and the use of the waffle maker.

Here is the recipe for my invention:

6 eggs

5-6 medium potatoes shredded

1 Tbsp powdered Garlic

1-2 cups spinach

1/2 cup mushrooms (I used canned mushroom pieces from Aldi)

2-3 Tbsp bacon grease (I would think you could substitute coconut oil)

1 tsp sea salt

I mixed it all together and then scooped about 1/3 cup of the mixture onto a hot and greased waffle iron. I smooshed/smoothed it out and then let it cook. It took longer than typical waffles and the longer you leave it the crispier the outcome. I really like the flavor and combination of potato and egg. My oldest really likes it (in fact she keeps getting in trouble for sneaking bites, right now), my youngest gave them a passing grade, but not a very enthusiastic pass.

ParentingRecipes

Sausage to the Rescue! (Sausage Egg “Muffins”)

By Audrea2 Comments

Our other go to breakfast for school mornings besides our wonderful Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins are Egg “Muffins”. These are either a whole egg or some beaten egg, milk and/or cheese mixture poured over lunch meat, ham, bacon or porchetta. The girls love these and I love the high amount of protein and low amount of sugar they have! HOWEVER, I HATE cleaning the muffin pans after baking them. Inevitably some of the egg gets through the lunch meat and into the bottom of the muffin cups where I almost cannot get it scrubbed out.

The last time I made them, I decided to try sausage as the “crust” for my muffins instead of lunch meat. I was thinking about doing another Whole 30 and that led me to think of the Scotch eggs people often eat while doing Whole 30’s. And, drum roll please……. the sausage worked like a dream. The bottom of the muffin cups cleaned with barely any scrubbing or pressure. I had not greased the top of the tins and my sausage did not go all the way up the muffin cups. So, I did have trouble with the ring of egg left at the top of the cups. However, I got 18 muffins from 1 pound of sausage and 12 eggs. Next time I will either grease the tops of the cups or use more sausage so that it goes all the way up the sides of each cup. However, for both ease of cleaning and flavor sausage was a HUGE hit!! The girls always like these, but they had rave reviews for the flavor this week!

Sausage Egg “Muffins”

1 lb sausage

12 eggs

Olive Oil Spray

I just use my hands to press a small chunk (about the size of an unshelled walnut) of sausage into the bottom and up the sides as far as it would go (I tried to keep it about a 1/8 of an inch thick; just thick enough to not be able to see the muffin pan at all through the sausage) of each muffin cup. I beat the eggs with a whisk and then used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the beaten eggs into each muffin cup to about 3/4 full. I bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. When they are firm to the touch they are done. I store them in an air tight container in the refrigerator for the week, taking the ones I need out each morning and heating them up in the microwave. My girls (they are 4 and 6) each eat 1 or 1 1/2 “muffins” every morning. I usually eat 2.