Breakfast for Dinner - Brinner?

The menu is Crispy Peppered Steak, Cheese Eggs, Garlic Toast and Potatoe-Onion Hashbrowns.

You can make these individually but I'm going to post this as one meal to maximize your time.

What you need:

Bacon
1 pound potatoes
1 small yellow onion
6 eggs
1/2 cup of cheese (I did Cheddar and Swiss)
1/4 cup Milk
2 TBSPs Olive Oil
1 TBSP Butter
Salt & Pepper
Garlic Toast (I used Texas Toast from the store)


How you do it:

Heat oven to 400*
Lay strips of bacon across a shallow baking sheet, sprinkle with ground pepper
Dice potatoes and onion into mini strips or cubes, cook over med heat in olive oil, butter, salt and pepper
Beat eggs, milk and cheese until well combined
Place bacon in oven and set timer for 14 minutes
In a skillet cook eggs until fluffy and firm
Toss potatoes around until brown multiple sides and tender, then check bacon
Place garlic toast in either the oven or toaster oven for 3 to 4 minute until brown & crisp
Remove bacon from oven once it's reached your preferred level of crisp and set on paper towel to remove excess grease

Why it's so good:

I know it sounds weird and you're saying to yourself; eggs, bacon and potatoes I get, but Garlic Toast?. The idea came to me after having an amazing cheese burger which was peppered bacon, swiss cheese, and a fried egg on garlic Texas toast served with fries. So I wanted to use those flavors but in a savory breakfast way. The onion & potatoes, the peppered bacon, the cheese and eggs and of course the garlic toast. It sounds strange but I promise it all works. The sharp bitter swiss, the salty bacon, the crispy potatoes and the buttery toast are a heavenly combo. You defiantly can serve this for breakfast too, but this with a crisp salad is probably the closest to strangely delicious I've been in a while. Make it for someone special, with Kahlua on the rocks and coffee cake or a mocha cupcake for dessert. It's a fun theme to play with. Mangia Tutto!

S'more Brownies

What you need:

1 box of Brownie Mix (eggs, oil, water- whatever the mix calls for)
Half a bag of Marshmallows (about 20)
3 TBSP butter
Graham Cracker Crumbs

How you do it:

Sprinkle a nice coating of graham crackers on the bottom of a pan, then pour in brownie mix
While brownies are baking, in a large sauce pan on medium heat, melt marshmallows and butter
Marshmallows should be smooth and to a bubble then remove from heat
When brownies are finished baking, pour marshmallows over top and sprinkle with more graham crackers. You can also cut and remove brownies then top with marshmallow.

Why it's so good:

HELLO! Marshmallows and warm brownies. YUM! Eat them alone, make them for an indoor "camping" night with the kids or top with French Vanilla ice cream for a special dessert.

Crock Pot Carne Asada

What you need:

2 lbs of beer (either a roast or stew cubes will do)
1/4 cup Ketchup
1/2 small onion
1 TBSP Hot Sauce
1/2 cup beer
1 TBSP Cilantro
Dashes of Salt, Pepper, Paprika and Cayenne
Optional- Diced Red or Green Peppers

*-or-* if you want it SUPER EASY or don't have the onion or hot sauce just grab 1 cup of your favorite salsa and add 1/4 beer

How you do it:

In a crock pot mix ingredients together, then add beef
Cook on low for 7 - 8 hours or high for 4 - 5 hours until meat is falling apart and can be easily shredded
If you are using stew cuts- take a cube of meat and attempt to press it with the backside of a fork, it it falls apart it's done.
Remove meat from crock pot and shred (* use your fingers or a fork)
Then return shredded meat to the juice in the pot and turn to warm
Place beef over seasoned rice or on a tortilla & top with cheese if you wish.

Why it's good:

Crock Pot recipes if nothing else should be 2 things: easy and accessible. You can use a roast that you froze or some cut up stew beef and at the very least who doesn't have a jar of salsa in their cabinets. Some like it HOT, so add chilies, more hot sauce, or keep it savory for a fast family meal. The best part of course it that it's slow cooking in its own juices and you can set it at noon and have it nice and tender for dinner at 6. It's spicy and juicy, perfect on a tortilla with some sour cream. Who's making margarita's! Oh and this is great for entertaining, set it and get some other stuff done, and you can use a cheaper cut of beef so happy wallet, happy hostess! Mangia Tutto!

Have a Question or Idea, I want to hear it!

This is Papito, isn't he cute! Anyway, do you love something or wish someone would make a fancier or cheaper version of your favorite staples. Perhaps you just want an idea of something to impress dinner guests with that won't kill your wallet. Let me know! Comment your ideas, things you love, flavors you would be interested to use, anything. If you see something in a grocery store and think "WHAT could I use that for?", let me know and I'll post my answers and suggestions. Thanks and Mangia Tutto!

~ Lauren

Yummy Rum Cake

What you need:

1 box of Spice Cake Mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup Oil
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup Rum
1/4 cup walnuts
1 TBSP Coffee Grounds

Icing:
Half a container of pre-made Cream Cheese Frosting (1/2 cup)
1/2 Tsp Rum
1 TBSP Milk

How to do it:

Heat oven to 375*
In a food processor combine Walnuts, coffee grounds and oil until walnuts are finely chopped.. if you don't have a food pro. you can do this the fun way and place walnuts in a bag, cover with a towel then hammer with the bottom of a pot or pan. (great for a stressful day- and you get rum at the end... win- win)
In a large bowl mix spice cake mix, water, eggs, rum, and the walnut mixture
Pour mixture into bunt pan or 9x9 cake pans.
My bunt cake took about 40 minutes in a silicon mold, but ovens will vary.

While the cake is baking, in a small bowl combine icing ingredients

When the cake passes the tooth pick test (the tooth pick comes out clean or nearly clean)
Flip out of pan and rest for 5 minutes then while still warm drizzle icing over
** I put the icing in a zip-lock bag and snip a corner, it makes it easier!*

Why it's good:

This is a very yummy cake that would be great for brunch or dessert. The coffee and walnut combo give great texture and depth while the rum is enough without being ridiculous. If you want less rum do 1 cup water/ 1/3 cup rum. I really enjoyed creating this yummy treat. Hope you enjoy it too. Mangia Tutto.

Cheesy Grilled Chicken

What you need:

Chicken Tenderloins
Bottle of Italian Dressing
1 TBSP Lemon Juice
Fresh Mozzerella


How you do it:

In a large ZipLock or bowl, combine chicken, lemon juice and Italian dressing for a few hours
Grill chicken then top with cheese, *place in hot over or under broiler to melt if needed.
You can also add fresh herbs if you have them, rosemary, basil, etc.
Serve over pasta or fresh steamed veggies with some cracked black pepper

Why it's good:

Besides the fact that this is SUPER Yummy and easy. It also was pretty gentle on my budget to feed a crowd. I bought a large pack of chicken tenders, maybe about 20 of them or so and into a bag with dressing they went. As if grilling them up wasn't pretty enough the fresh mozzarella made them a show stopper. I placed them atop of some fresh green beans with a bit of cracked black pepper and they were a hit. ** I also have a recipe to marinate and bake a full chicken on this blog, look for it in the archive list. It's delicious and the drippings turn into a scrumptious and savory gravy!**
Mangia Tutto!

Garlic Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

What you need:

5 lb bag of Red Potatoes
1 Yellow Sweet Onion
1 Garlic Bulb (Broken down and press the cloves between the table and blade of a knife)
3 TBSP Olive Oil
Fresh Rosemary Stems
Salt & Pepper

How you do it:

Preheat oven to 450*
Cut potatoes in halve lengthwise then again to make a wedge. If its a larger potato you may need to repeat this.
Cut onion into large pieces by cutting it root to stem, then cutting horizontally. Break apart some layers
In a large bowl mix olive oil, garlic cloves and microwave for 1 minute to get some flavor from garlic.
Toss olive oil, garlic, rosemary together and place potatoes of a baking tray
**If you want you can also toss some lemon juice and zest in to brighten the flavor up**
Season with salt and pepper and place in the oven for about 45 minutes or until soft


Why it's good:

Ok, so it looks more complicated then it really is. Heat the oven, cut onion and potatoes, toss in olive oil and seasonings then bake. The 45 minutes gives you time to make grilled chicken or fish which would go great with these. Obviously a family of 5 won't need 5 lbs of potatoes but I made these for a BBQ and 5 lbs was plenty for 20 people and the bag was only $4.99. If you're making them for a family, I would say 3 or 4 potatoes would be plenty and then you just use less garlic. They are warm and toasty, crispy on the outside and soft and buttery in the middle. The garlic and rosemary are aromatic and if you use lemon, which I would, it adds a little brightness. If you have infused oils then by all means use them. I use a White Truffle Olive Oil and it's YUMMY, but my husband likes a chili pepper oil when he make them.

Lemon Scented Cupcakes with Blueberry Sour Cream Frosting

What you need:

1 box White Cake Mix
Ingredients listed for mix (eggs, oil, water)
1/4 cup fresh Blueberries
1 Lemon
1 stick of butter
1/3 cup Sour Cream
4 cups Powdered Sugar
1 TBSP milk

How you do it:

Follow directions on cake mix
Zest half the lemon and add to mix
then add 1 TBSP lemon juice

In a mixer whip butter and sour cream
Cut blueberries in half then run down to a fine juicy cop with chef knife or use a food processor
Add blueberries and 1 tsp lemon juice
Slowly add powder sugar
Use milk if needed- The frosting will not be completely smooth when finished it may have a little of the grit from the sugar, it will go away when the frosting sets.

Why it's good:

The cake has just a subtle lemon flavor with small yellow flecks from the zest. The frosting is sweet and cool with a little color and flavor from the berries. These were perfect on the fourth of July. They were refreshing and light, everyone loved them. And I made 50 mini- cupcakes from one mix box and they were the perfect size for everyone to have one or two. To make 50 of these guys, it cost me under $10 and that included the red and blue paper cups they were in. Mangia Tutto!

Turkey Tacos & Grilled Zucchini

What you need:

1 lb ground turkey
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp olive oil


2 zucchini
salt, pepper, olive oil

How you do it:

In a large skillet on med/high heat, season ground turkey and brown
Cut stem and end off zucchini then cut in half. Slice halves longways into three thin pieces
Paint zucchini with olive oil and season with salt and pepper then grill on a grill skillet or an electric grill. About 3 minutes per side.
When turkey is finished browning, dress with your favorite taco fixing;
Cheddar cheese, torillas, lettuce, sour cream, hot sauce, onions,

Why it's so good:

Who doesn't like tacos! Fast, Easy, Accessible. The ground turkey has half the calories and about a tenth the fat of extra lean ground beef. What you want to look for is "GROUND TURKEY BREAST", ground turkey could be breast, leg and even skin and the calories are about the same as your lean beef. The grilled zucchini is sweet and salty and makes a great fresh companion to the spicy goodness of the taco. Mangia Tutto!

Grilled Ahi painted in Peppered Sesame oil and Curried Rice

What you need:

3 Ahi Tuna Steaks (FRESH)
Coarse Pepper
Coarse Salt
Sesame Oil

Dressing (Optional)
1/2 cup sesame oil
1/2 tsp wasabi paste
1/8 tsp ground ginger
2 TBSP Soy Sauce
lime juice

Rice
1 1/2 cups white rice
3 cups water
1 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 TBSP chopped onion
1 tsp ground ginger


How you do it:

If you are making the rice as a side, start that first by putting the rice, water and seasoning in a microwave safe bowl covered and microwave it for 15 minutes

Brush each tuna steak with sesame oil (if you don't have sesame canola will work)
Then generously dust with cracked pepper and salt. (if you have a Steak House grinder with pink, white and black pepper with garlic and salt, use that)
Grill at 350* until the sides begin to change color from red to white
For me it was about 8 minutes per side, but we eat our steaks med. rare

In a small bowl combine dressing ingredients and whisk
Drizzle over whole or sliced tuna

Why it's good:

So my weekly trip to Sam's paid off with the purchase of this tuna, 3 steaks ranging from 5oz to 9oz for $14. Luckily everything else I needed was already in my pantry and literally one of the quickest dinners to make. The grill marks were wonderful and the peppery crust on the tuna was perfect. We love seared tuna when we go out but 6 small slices for $9 is hardly budget friendly, this time I got to eat my fill. Sorry I don't have a photo, there wasn't mush time between the grill and our mouths. Enjoy and Mangia Tutto!

Creative Corn Muffins

What you need:

1 pk of corn bread mix
1 egg
1/4 cup Apple Sauce
1/4 cup Milk
2 TBSP sugar
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Mix-ins:

1/4 cup Chocolate Chips
1/4 cup Walnut Halves
-or-
1/4 Dried Blueberries
1 TBSP Sliced Almonds

How you do it:

Mix everything in a bowl until well combined
Add mix-ins
After greasing a muffin pan well, divide batter amongst the cups
Bake @ 400* for 12-18 minutes until firm and golden brown

Why it's good:

I ALWAYS have corn bread mix and never have anything to do with it. So I decided to jazz it up a bit. This is a great example of "use what you have". I had almonds, walnuts, dried blueberries and chocolate, but invent your own with raisins, other dried fruits, granola, brittle, marshmallows or whatever you can find. You can really create an array of flavors for various seasons and occasions. Swap the applesauce for mashed bananas and add walnuts and some cinnamon for a banana-nut muffin.

This can be great for kids, it has about half as much sugar as prepackaged muffin mixes. I used them to package and give as hostess or get well soon gifts. This could be great around the holiday. I happened to use my Maple Leaf Muffin Tin which would look lovely around Thanksgiving. You can see how I package them up on my other blog. Mangia Tutto!

Simple Steak Marinade

What you need:

Steaks (I used London Broil, but a roast can work too)
1 TBSP Mustard (any old yellow will do)
1 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce
1 TBSP Olive Oil
1 Tsp Minced Garlic
1 Tsp Wine (Red, White, whatever you've got) Apple vinegar will do if needed
1/2 Tsp Black Pepper

How to do it:

Mix everything together and generously coat the meat.
Broil, grill or pan sear to your liking.
I had a 2.8 lb steak that I broiled at 475* for an hour

Why it's good:

First off, they had london broil at my grocery store buy one get one free, so here I am with 4 lbs of steak and no recipe or idea what to do with them. It was 4:30pm and I had a hungry husband to feed so slow cooking was out of the question. I tenderized the meat for about 10 minutes with the nifty little device below. if you don't have one GET ONE!




Then whipped up the marinade, quartered some red potatoes threw in some sweet onion and in the oven it went. The steak literally fell apart on my fork. The mustard/ garlic combo is succulent and savory. It was an odd combination in the bowl but hey, it's all I had in the fridge. 2 thumbs up from the husband who, loved the onion and potato side dish that had absorbed all the drippings. YUMMY! Mangia Tutto!

Party Pasta Salad

What you need:

2 lbs of pasta- (Rigatoni, Penne is fine)
one bottle of Italian dressing
1 cup diced cucumbers
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 sliced black olives
one pack of crumbled feta cheese
2 cups of Italian Cheese shredded or whatever you have(asiago, mozzerella, etc)
1 cup bacon (you can buy the pack at the store that is REAL Bacon and use it for lots of recipes and toppings)

How you do it:

Cook pasta until soft,
Take italian dressing and add to warm pasta
Add in everything else and served best at room temperature
Feel free to add more, less or substitute cheeses and veggies

Why it's so good:

It's pasta, enough said, but more importantly you can change it up to suit your party, picnic or family's taste. You can hide a lot of veggies in it, it's cheesy and a great mobile food since it can also be served cold. You can also dress it up with a Zesty Italian Dressing, add capers and expensive cheese or olives and poof a fancy pants pasta. Perfect fare for parties and BBQ's and also perfect for your wallet. It cost me $13 to make the version above and it was enough for 15 - 20 people to have very generous portions as a side dish. The secret is that I buy the pre-diced and chopped veggies and cheese from the salad bar at the grocery store. It saves time and money to only buy the amount you need.

Grab a 6 pack, some 80/20 ground beef and rolls, add some salt, pepper and a few friends... sounds like a fun time to me all for under $25! Mangia Tutto!

I'm BACK

Sorry, I've been gone for a bit. Life got busy with school, internships, charity work and family life. The good news is that I am back and with TONS of new recipes. Also be sure to check Fabulous Finds as I will be updating it soon with some great ideas for planning a fabulous fiesta (that's party for those who don't know). I just posted my Jamaican Chicken Salad and I still have more to come. How about an easy and impressive Red, White and Blue-berry treat for the Fourth of July, or Party Pasta Salad.
Check back to check them out and don't forget the oldie postings like Sinful Mac n Cheese just add Maryland Blue crab meat or 30- minute Chili, summer-ize it with grilled Eastern Shore sweet corn.

Before I forget, thank you to all those that comment and leave responses. I'm glad you enjoy the recipes and the stories. Keep em' coming!

~ Lauren

Jamacian Chicken Salad

What you need:

5 Large Grilled Chicken Breasts
1/2 cup Sour Cream
1/2 cup Mayo
Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
1/4 cup Yellow onion (finely dice)
1/4 cup celery or 1 stalk (petite diced)
1/2 cup "Golden Delicious" Apple or half an apple (petite dice)
1 tsp Curry Powder
Salt & Pepper

How you do it:

If the chicken needs to be grilled, season with jerk spice then grill & set aside to cool off
If already grilled, begin by tearing chicken into small pieces then set aside in a large bowl
In a separate bowl combine mayo, sour cream, onion, celery, apples and curry powder
Season with salt & pepper to taste. For a spicier salad add red peppers or more curry. For sweeter add sliced almonds and raisins. You can go where-ever you want with this one.

Why it's so good:

It can't get any easier, can it? So there are no bottles or canned goodies in this recipe but everything was in my kitchen. I had some left over chicken from a BBQ and had eaten enough of it to the point where it was going to be a treat for my dogs. When I went to the fridge I found mayo, sour cream and saw some bread then it hit me, don't toss it to the dogs, toss it into a salad. The chicken was already seasoned and cooked so I tore it apart, added my mayo and cream. I spiced it up a bit more with curry and TA-DA fast, easy lunch for me while I get some work done around the house with the baby and a great snack for the hubs when he gets home from work.

The grill marks on the chicken were smokey, the apples and celery crisp and the mayo and sour cream were cool and smooth, pile it high on rye or wheat and enjoy. The money you saved on not wasting the chicken could be better spent, like a new pair of heels. Ok, ok. I guess the car could use an oil change. Mangia Tutto!!