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.