Leftovers With Eggs

Add a egg and cheese (optional) to anything: peas (the kids' favorite), broccoli (my favorite), asparagus, avocado, peppers & onions (Mom's favorite), taco meat, steak, salmon, chicken...

Bell peppers, onions and tomatoes (above) scrambled with eggs and toped with Swiss (below). 

Leftover pasta with tomatoes, peppers and onions scrambled with and G&G and topped with Parmesan. 

Peas with eggs. For the kids I sprinkled it with cheddar. 

Ham Steak - Super Fast!

Sear on flat cast iron with a little bacon grease. Fast and easy any my husband LOVES it!

See post for Perfect Sweet Potatoes...Every Time

Perfect Sweet Potatoes...Every Time

I like small thin sweet potatoes but this will work with whatever you've got. 

Preheat oven to 425*. Wash sweet potatoes and pat dry. Line pan with foil. Bake for 1 hour (small/thin sweet potatoes) - 1 1/2 hours (large/fat sweet potatoes). Peal and eat. No need for butter or sugar. And, they are even better the next day as a snack left out at room temperature!  

Say I Love You With Rice Crispy Treats

Rice Crispy Treats:

I follow the recipe on the marshmallows and then keep adding extra Rice Crispies a little at a time to make the get a little more sturdy and not so gooey. 

Dipping Chocolate:

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 Tbs shortening 

I've always used almond bark but didn't have it this time and wanted to know how to make it from scratch anyway. This doesn't get as hard as almond bark or the dipping chips but is handier and taste much better. 

Use the smallest microwaveable bowl you can so you can use as little chocolate as possible. The bigger the bowl the harder it is to dip and get good coverage. 

Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Microwave another 30 seconds. Stir really well. It won't seam like its loosening at first but really work it. Chocolate scorches very easily so after that first minute in the microwave you have to be extremely careful. Microwave 10 additional seconds as needed until smooth. Again, really work it stirring after each microwave. It will loosen up much more than you think. 

Add sprinkles if you like:

Be Mine!

Great sugar cookie recipe I got out of my son's Highlights magazine:

Icing:

1 cup confection sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 Tbs Half & Half 

Red Food coloring

Additional milk as needed. 

Add extracts and Half & Half to the confection sugar and mix well. Add milk as needed to reach thick but spreadable consistency.  Pour some into a separate bowl and add red food coloring. 5 drops will get you red. Less will get you caring shades of pink. I used red and white then mixed what was left for pink. 

These were iced and then sprinkled with turbinado sugar. 

Dipping Chocolate:

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 Tbs shortening 

I've always used almond bark but didn't have it this time and wanted to know how to make it from scratch anyway. This doesn't get as hard as almond bark or the dipping chips but is handier and taste much better. 

Use the smallest microwaveable bowl you can so you can use as little chocolate as possible.

Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Microwave another 30 seconds. Stir really well. It won't seam like its loosening at first but really work it. Chocolate scorches very easily so after that first minute in the microwave you have to be extremely careful. Microwave 10 additional seconds as needed until smooth. Again, really work it stirring after each microwave. It will loosen up much more than you think. 

Paint the chocolate on with your fingers or some fancy tool. 

Shrimp Marinara Over Spaghetti Squash

I love fresh marinara but mine is never thick. Once I got over that, then I loved it and prefer over the jar. 

Fresh Marinara

8 medium size tomatoes, prepped (below)

2 Tbs olive oil 

1 onion, diced

2-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Pinch sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 Tbs fresh basil, thyme, oregano, & parsley (1 tsp if using dried)

1 lb shrimp, peeled (fresh or frozen)

Prepping/Peeling Tomatoes

Prick the bottom of each tomato with a knife. Place in a pot and cover tomatoes with water. Bring to a boil and watch for the skins to split. Once the skins start splitting drain water and run cool water over the tomatoes. As soon as you are able to handle the tomatoes remove the skins and place on a cutting board. With a paring knife remove the core of each of the tomatoes. From here you can choose to use them whole, rough chop, dice them or pure them. 

Marinara

Sautée onion in olive oil for 4-5 minutes over medium-high heat. Just before the onion is translucent add the garlic and stir well. Add tomatoes, sugar, salt, pepper and herbs, reserving a pinch of fresh herbs for garnish at the end. Bring marinara to a slight boil and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add your shrimp just before you are ready to serve. Stir shrimp well and keep over heat just until the shrimp are pink. This will only take 1-2 minutes if the marinara is hot. Do not overcook the shrimp. Garnish with remaining fresh herbs. 

Spaghetti Squash

I love this stuff, especially with this loose shrimp marinara. It's not pasta, but great in its own way. 

Cut spaghetti squash in half. Remove all seeds and strings. Submerge in a pot of water. Season with a tablespoon of salt and boil for 20 minutes. Remove from water and scoop the meat of the squash out with a spoon. Serve by itself or with a marinara or your favorite sauce. 

Broccoli

Cut broccoli into small crowns. Bring water to a boil and season with salt. Try to submerge all of the stalks of the broccoli. It's ok if the whole crown isn't covered. Cover and boil for 6 minutes. Drain and drizzle with melted butter and dust with salt & pepper. 

Fresh Squeeze

I love the winter and Dad's fresh grown citrus!  I froze more than a gallon of the grapefruit juice and my kids drank all of the orange juice as I was squeezing it.