Thanksgiving

Do I even need to mention that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday? I see it as my showcase day: the day when I share my cooking passion and skill with friends and family. My wares are on display. I get to see cleaned plates and food-drunken grins. It's quite an ego-stroke.

This year, I'm toning my Thanksgiving down quite a bit, for two reasons. First, because I want a stress-free holiday season. In years past, I have worked myself into a frenzy cooking ten or more side dishes and an equal number of desserts. Also, I'm working on my weight, so I need to be careful what I serve. There are a couple dishes that I'm going to make that are very fattening but very worth the caloric cost. Other than those, I'm making my dinner plans healthier.

Each day this week, I'll share with you a recipe that I'm using for my family's Thanksgiving celebration. I'm cooking these in real time, and freezing them to use on the big day. That's another way to de-stress your holidays: plan ahead, prepare ahead. I hope you enjoy my recipes.

First recipe: Sweet Potatoes made healthier

Normally, my sweet potato recipe consists of tons of butter, brown sugar, pineapple, and pecans. Here's a healthier option:

Honey-Nut Crunch Sweet Potatoes with Cranberries

What You Need:

• 2 1/2 lb peeled, cubed sweet potatoes (1" cubes)
• 6 oz fresh cranberries
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup apple cider
• 6 oz whole almonds (unsalted), ground into a coarse meal
• 1/4 cup honey

How it's Done:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Layer the sweet potatoes and cranberries in a 2 quart baking dish.

3. Pour the apple cider over the sweet potatoes, then sprinkle with the cinnamon.
4. Combine ground almonds and honey. Sprinkle over the top of the sweet potatoes.


5. Bake, covered, for 45 minutes. Remove lid and bake an additional 15 minutes to brown top.

I'm thankful for full bellies and full cupboards...I'm thankful my family never

needs to experience true hunger. What are you thankful for?

Menu Plan Monday

Can you believe it's already November 1st? October went by so quickly!


How was your Halloween? We had such a great time. On Friday, Army Man and I went with some friends to see Saw in 3D. What better way to kick off Halloween weekend than to see a slasher film? On Saturday, our community observed trick or treating hours. Army Man and I dressed up to hand out candy while Bayberry and Fancy went trick or treating with friends. Later, we all met up at a Halloween party and had a fun evening. Finally, our holiday weekend culminated in a scream fest at a haunted farm. Just adults, no children. I screamed a lot, got some special cuddles in the haunted barn by various axe murderers, and came home a bit hoarse. What a great weekend! Here we all are in our costumes:

Fancy made a pretty convincing spectre.

I loved Bayberry's eyes here. She wore some long false lashes that really added to the cat look.

Army man as grandpa. He scared most of our trick or treaters with this mask!

Finally, yours truly. The kids weren't so frightened of me. Note the rolled stockings. Oh, and on my head, that's my hair, not a wig. It took at least an hour to roll it and turn it grey. Some dollar store reading glasses on a beaded chain and a cane completed my look.

Lots of folks took our picture that night. :)

Did you dress up? Go to a party? Tell me about your Halloween!

On to the menu plan...

Breakfasts will include pumpkin pie oatmeal (recipe follows), pancakes, scrambled eggs & toast, yogurt, Cheerios (Publix has them buy one get one free through Tuesday!), and fruit.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

serves 1

What You Need:

• 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 Tbsp sweetener of choice

How it's Done:

1. Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan with high sides. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer five minutes. Remove from heat and let stand three minutes before serving. My kids love this with a bit of whipped cream on top. I like it plain for a low fat, high fiber breakfast.

Lunches will be posted at 360 Lunch Boxes.

Dinners this week:

• Spinach-Feta Pasta
• Beef Tacos
• Slow Cooker Vegetable Lasagna
• Slow Cooker Chicken Burritos
• Chicken Stroganoff
• Chicken Fried Steak (made healthier!), Pepper Popovers, Mashed Potatoes, and veggies
• Leftovers

Planned Baking:

• Pumpkin pudding

***Enter to win a $50 CSN Stores Shopping Code!*** Lots of ways to enter!***

For more menu plans, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie every Monday. Stop back by for recipes throughout the week.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED! $50 CSN Stores Shopping Code!

If you read many blogs, including this one, you've heard of CSN Stores by now. CSN Stores is actually many stores rolled into one convenient site. You can find so many wonderful bargains there. How would you like your very own $50 shopping code to spend as you please?

I'd love to give you one! CSN Stores has provided me with a one-time-use $50 code for one of my lucky loyal readers. How will you use it? You could pick up a new espresso machine, or a waffle iron, or a top-of-the-line knife set. You might venture out of the kitchen for a massaging recliner, or a wheelbarrow, or even a treadmill. You're in charge. You can buy whatever your heart desires.

Here's how to enter:

THANK YOU! GIVEAWAY CLOSED!

You have lots of opportunities to enter to win this fabulous prize! Please, leave a separate comment with email address for each entry. All entries will be validated before acceptance. Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, November 14th, 2010. Drawing will be held via Random.org on Monday, November 15th. Winner will be notified via email and will have 48 hours from time of notification to respond. In the event that I am unable to reach the winner, a new winner will be selected.

ONE winner will receive a ONE TIME USE shopping code worth $50.00. Drawing open to residents of United States and Canada (Canadian residents please note: code CANNOT be applied toward international shipping charges. You will be responsible for that cost.)

Ways to enter:

• MANDATORY: Follow this blog via Google Friend Connect. You must be a public follower to enter. Leave a comment with your email address. ONE ENTRY
• Optional: Leave a comment telling me what you'd spend your $50 on. Leave a comment with your email address ONE ENTRY
• Optional: Blog about this giveaway. Leave a comment with your email address. TWO ENTRIES (leave two comments)
• Optional: Post to your Facebook page: I want to win a $50 CSN Stores Shopping Code at All Home Cooking. All Year Long. and leave a link to this giveaway. Leave a comment with your email address and the URL to your FB post. ONE ENTRY EACH DAY (Leave a new comment each day)
• Optional: Tweet about this giveaway: I want to win the $50 CSN Code at http://tinyurl.com/2ecyzkm @michelle_cooks ONE ENTRY EACH DAY (Leave a new comment each day with email address and your Twitter ID)
• Optional: Follow this blog on Facebook. ONE ENTRY (Leave comment with email address.)
• Optional: Comment on any other post on this blog. ONE ENTRY PER COMMENT (Leave separate comment for each instance)
• Optional: Follow my other blog, 360 Lunch Boxes, publicly via Google Friend Connect THREE ENTRIES (Leave separate comments).

Good luck!

Chili Mac

....made healthier!

I am doing very well on Weight Watchers, having lost over 13 pounds in the first month. I really enjoy the eTools Recipe Builder, and used it again to calculate this recipe. I regret that I can't share POINTS values with you on the healthy recipes I'm sharing. I realize other bloggers do disclose POINTS values. However, maybe my scruples are more pronounced than others'. Maybe I'm just a stickler for rules. I just can't violate my own ethics standards here. I will, however, give you accurate measurements, which you can plug into Spark People or another healthy living site and it will give you the nutritional profile. I hope you understand.

Chili Mac

serves 8

What You Need:

• 1/2 lb dried pinto beans, picked through for debris
• 1 lb extra lean (95 to 97%) ground beef
• 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1 packet chili seasoning (or make your own)
• 1 can, undrained, chili seasoned diced tomatoes
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup 2% 4-cheese Mexican style cheese blend
• 1/2 cup light sour cream

How it's Done:

1. Cover beans with water and bring to a boil. Boil rapidly for two minutes. Cover pot and remove from heat. Let stand one to two hours.
2. Drain beans. Recover with water equal to three times the beans' volume. Bring to a boil. Cook at boiling for one to three hours, or until beans are tender.
3. During last half-hour of cooking time, brown the ground beef with the onion and bell pepper. Combine cooked beans, browned beef, onion, pepper, tomatoes, chili seasoning, and water in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for an hour.

4. Meanwhile, cook the elbow macaroni al dente.
5. Add macaroni to the chili. Cook another 5 to 10 minutes.
6. Serve with 2 Tbsp each shredded cheese and sour cream.

Something's Coming!

Not too long ago, I wrote a review for CSN Stores. Now, they've asked me, as a Preferred Blogger, to work with them again. I jumped at the chance! CSN Stores carry everything you could want to order online: dining chairs, dog houses, diaper bags, and dishes, just to name a few!

So I want to know: What would YOU buy? Tell me! And stay tuned for exciting CSN & All Home Cooking news!

Menu Plan Monday

It's been a while since I've written out an entire week's menu at once. Following weight watchers makes it tricky to plan an entire week. Instead of doing it like I used to, which was to outline every meal we were going to eat for the week, I'll just list foods that we're likely to eat. And when I make a really great new recipe, you can be sure I'll be here to share it with you all.

Breakfasts will include:

• peaches & cream oatmeal
• hard-boiled eggs
• yogurt
• apples
• cereal with milk
• bagels & cream cheese

Lunches:

• Kids take packed lunches to school, and I photograph them and detail them at my lunch blog, 360 Lunch Boxes.
• Husband sometimes takes a packed lunch. Other times, he eats at home.

Home Lunches for Me (and Husband sometimes):

• egg salad on a wrap
• turkey burger on an English muffin
• Potato & Broccoli, pan-"fried"
• vegetable fritatta
• vegetable spaghetti
• dinner leftovers

Dinners may include:

• turkey loaf
• penne with meatballs and spaghetti sauce
• cheese-stuffed hamburger steaks
• steak tacos
• chicken & bean fajitas
• pizza & salad
• meatball subs & sweet potato fries

Snacks will include:

• fresh fruit -- apples, mainly
• carrot sticks
• applesauce
• crackers & cheese
• popcorn
• yogurt
• smoothies

Lightened Up Chicken Spaghetti

In the past, I've made some delicious chicken spaghetti that had Rotel tomatoes with green chilies and loads of Velveeta cheese. It's really good. But it's really bad for you, too. As I've mentioned, I'm doing Weight Watchers, so I'm not eating much by way of Velveeta these days. Actually, I haven't had Velveeta in almost a year.

Anyway, Weight Watchers eTools has something really cool that I've been playing with, called Recipe Builder. You tell it what you're putting into your recipe, and it tells you how many POINTS value are in each serving. I can't share those values with you, because it's copyrighted material. I just love that feature. It helped me plan today's dinner. Here it is:

Chicken Spaghetti
serves 6

What You Need:

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded or cut into chunks (I did a combo of the two, just quickly cutting it up)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup sliced bell peppers
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1/2 lb dry spaghetti, cooked and drained
• 2 cups of your favorite spaghetti sauce
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil (use less if you don't care for it that much. We love it.)
• 2 gloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup of cheese (I used Weight Watchers brand 4 cheese Italian blend, made with 2% milk)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, divided

How it's Done:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray a 2 quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray or mist with oil.
• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the pepper and onions, stirring until soft and fragrant. Stir in sauce, basil, garlic, chicken, and spaghetti, mixing well. Stir in half of the Parmesan cheese.
• Pour spaghetti mixture into the prepared dish. Top with the remaining cheeses.
• Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Let the dish sit for five more minutes before slicing and serving.

Incidentally, I had my third weigh-in on Wednesday, and have lost a total so far of 10.8 pounds, eating stuff like Chicken Spaghetti, and putting cream and sugar in my coffee. It works, and it's sound, and it promotes whole foods eating. I love it.

Chocolate Pumpkin Pudding

A few days ago, there was a cool breeze in my neighborhood. It carried with it, ever so gently, rolling, whispering, fragrant, fallen leaves. That's how I knew it was time to buy pumpkin.

Today, the breeze picked up substantially, and brought with it lower 40-degree temperatures, which numbed my face and arms on my morning walk. That's how I knew it was time to use the pumpkin.

I was going to make a simple crustless pumpkin pie -- a pumpkin custard of sorts. However, I want to introduce you all to some new tastes this autumn, beginning with a stove top chocolate pumpkin pudding.

Pumpkin is so healthy for us, but getting some folks to eat it outside of a pie can be tricky. Enter the chocolate.

In this pudding, the chocolate masks the color of the pumpkin and most of the flavor. You won't be eating this for the pumpkin taste (however, you can easily omit the chocolate and have a stove top pumpkin pudding, if you wish. I recommend adding cinnamon and nutmeg in that case), but rather for the richness and nutrients that pumpkin brings to the table. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Chocolate Pumpkin Pudding

What You Need:

• 2 cups of milk (I used 1%)
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (NOT pie filling)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 Tbsp corn starch

How it's Done:

1. Combine 1 1/2 cups of the milk, the pumpkin, the sugar, and the cocoa powder in a heavy saucepan. Heat over medium until steaming, almost boiling, but not quite.
2. Whisk together the remaining milk and the corn starch, and slowly add it to the hot liquid, stirring constantly.
3. Cook and stir until thickened.
4. Remove the pudding from the heat and let it cool before serving. Or don't. I love hot pudding. If you are opposed to pudding skin, press some plastic wrap into the top layer of pudding and leave it there while it's cooling.

A Coffee House in Your House -- CSN Stores Review

The sound of the coffee grinder whirring. The smell of the freshly ground beans. The taste of custom brewed coffee. All of these are things I love about coffee houses. And now, thanks to CSN Stores, my house is my coffee house.

CSN graciously sent me this Cuisinart Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill for my review. I'll talk about it in just a second, but first, I want to talk to you about shopping with CSN.

CSN Stores is actually many stores, all rolled into one main site. You can shop for and find just about anything your heart desires. Want a chaise lounge to relax on with a good book? You got it. Looking to replace your flooring? CSN has you covered. Maybe you're in the market for a good set of knives, or some new cookware. CSN Stores has it all.

When shopping for my review item, I noticed a few things. First, that CSN's price was lower than the MSRP by a significant amount. Next, I noticed that CSN provides lots of key information that helps their customers make good shopping choices. Some of the information they provide is stuff I'd love to know, but never thought to ask. For example, they tell you how the item will ship, but also, they share with you how likely it is to arrive damaged (very rarely in this case). They tell you about the item's construction quality (their scale goes from economical to premium, with my mill being listed as premium). You can read the overall information, the dimensions, reviews, and more.

Shipping was a breeze. I received an email shortly after my order was placed letting me know that CSN was upgrading my shipping, at no charge to me, so that I would receive my item faster than anticipated.

The mill arrived in perfect condition and I was so excited to give it a try. I had never ground my own coffee before.

Using the mill was a breeze. I simply added coffee beans to the hopper, chose my custom grind (anywhere from fine to coarse, with lots of stops in between), and I turned it on. It's quiet for a coffee grinder and produced perfectly ground coffee without a hitch.

The flavor of freshly ground coffee can't be topped.

I highly recommend that coffee drinkers invest in a coffee mill. I'm fond of Cuisinart, and this machine has not let me down. I've been using it nearly daily for several weeks now and I am still just as excited to brew my fresh coffee as I was that first day when it arrived.

disclosure: I received the Cuisinart Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill for my review. No monetary or other compensation was provided, and all opinions are my own.

Double Apple Cookies

In an effort to A.) feed my children healthy things, B.) stay on budget, and C.) use up what needs using, I created this cookie recipe. They are soft and fragrant, and the girls love them. They use real apples, applesauce, and just a touch of sugar. I made them for their lunchboxes. I try to include a yummy treat each school day, and I'm a few days away from shopping day, which means that the cupboards are getting to the bare mark. I had two apples that needed to be used up. I needed a sweet treat for lunches. So, these cookies were born.

Double Apple Cookies

What You Need:

• 2 apples, cored and shredded
• 1/2 cup applesauce (I used natural, unsweetened)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups flour (whole wheat is great here, but 1/2 and 1/2 would do just fine)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

How it's Done:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a couple cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Combine shredded apples, applesauce, egg, and oil. Mix well.
3. Stir in the brown sugar and vanilla extract.
4. Combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add to the wet ingredients, and stir until all are combined.
5. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until the bottoms are beginning to brown and the cookies spring back when pressed gently.

Meatless Italian Stromboli, sort of

This is a corrupted Stromboli. You've been warned.

It doesn't use Italian dough, and instead, it relies on something I seldom use: canned dough from the refrigerator aisle at the grocery store. However, in a moment of weakness, I bought some, and I've used it for various purposes throughout the month. It performed wonderfully here.

Zucchini Stromboli

What You Need:

• 1 can crescent roll dough
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp minced fresh basil
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• a sprinkling of sea salt
• 1 beaten egg

How it's Done:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Carefully roll out the crescent dough into a rectangle on a sheet of parchment. Pat together all the seams, being sure no seam is visible before moving on.
3. Spread the dough with the olive oil, the garlic, and the basil. Now, spread the zucchini and mozzarella over the dough evenly, and sprinkle with salt.
4. Fold the longest edges in, then fold one short end in. Now, roll up very tightly, jelly-roll style. Double-check that all the seams are secure.
5. Brush the dough with the beaten egg.
6. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove and let stand ten minutes before slicing and serving.

Low-Fat, Filling Mexican Pizza

As you all know, I started Weight Watchers last week. I had a tremendously successful week! I went to my 2nd meeting today, and weighed in 5.6 pounds lighter! I feel wonderful about it! If you're unfamiliar with Weight Watchers, and all you see are the products for sale in the supermarket, you might think Weight Watchers stresses the use of packaged foods. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am so pleased with the program. It fits in perfectly with my family's lifestyle. I made this for lunch today and it's delicious, low-fat, and very filling. Plus, it's minimally processed -- just my style. Oh, did I mention that it took me about five minutes to put together?

Mexican Pizza Bagels

Per serving, you will need:

• 1 Bagel Thin (or Sandwich Thin)
• 1/2 cup "refried" black beans (cook 'em without fat and smash the leftovers!)
• 1/4 cup chopped raw onion
• 2 Tbsp salsa
• 1/3 cup shredded cheese made with 2% milk (I used a Mexican blend)
• 2 Tbsp low-fat sour cream

How it's Done:

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees (if I had a toaster oven, I would have used it instead!).
2. Toast the bagel thin. While it's toasting, warm up your beans.
3. Top the bagel thin with the beans, then salsa, then onions, then cheese.
4. Stick it in the oven for 3 or 4 minutes -- you just want the cheese to melt a bit and the food to heat through.
5. Top with sour cream and enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday 9/20 - 9/26

This is going to be a GREAT week! I've got my first Weight Watchers weigh-in. Some of my favorite TV shows come back (Dexter, anyone?). Autumn begins (although no one seems to have notified the weatherman of this. It's supposed to be 100 degrees here today and tomorrow).

Here's my plan for the week. For lots more, visit orgjunkie.com each Monday morning.

Breakfasts:

• oatmeal -- with cinnamon & brown sugar, or apples & honey, or whatever concoction we devise
• Bagel Thins (my new favorite breakfast item) with cream cheese or an egg
• peanut butter & jelly on whole grain bread

Lunches:

• posted daily at 360lunchboxes.blogspot.com

Dinners:

• Pot Roast with some sort of bread
• Roasted Chicken, Wild Rice, and Steamed Vegetables, again, with bread
• Italian Potatoes (simple recipe follows)
• Tortilla Soup with cornbread
• Chicken & Noodles
• Steak Parmesan
• Leftovers

Planned Baking:

• granola
• bread pudding

Italian Potatoes:

This is a simple meal that's filling and fast.

For each serving, you will need 1 baked potato, 1/2 a cup of meat sauce, and 2 Tbsp shredded mozzarella cheese.

Cut the potato in half lengthwise, almost all the way through (leaving the bottom skin intact). Slice almost all the way through the other way, 3 or 4 times. Top with the meat sauce and mozzarella. Bake at 350 (or microwave) until heated through and cheese is melted.

Have a great week! :)

Please Be Patient with Me

I'm navigating a new part of life: that which I follow Weight Watchers. I will be incorporating some healthier recipes here shortly. I just needed this week to learn the program. Stay tuned for exciting changes around here. I might be getting healthier, but you know that won't mean eating anything that's not delicious!

-Michelle

Rotini with Kielbasa and Vegetables

Light and filling, this dish also goes together in under 30 minutes, making it a good choice for busy school nights (like tonight, so please forgive me for being so brief).

Rotini with Kielbasa & Veggies
Serves 4

What You Need:

• 4 cups cooked rotini (I used whole wheat)
• 8 oz kielbasa, cut into round "coins" (I used turkey kielbasa)
• 1 large bell pepper, cut into strips
• 1 cup sliced onions
• 2 cups cooked broccoli
• 1 Tbsp fresh basil (chopped)
• 2 cloves fresh garlic (minced)
• 2 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese, divided

How it's Done:

1. Heat the oil in a skillet. Saute the sausage, pepper, onions, and broccoli for five minutes.
2. Add the garlic and basil and cooked pasta. Cook and stir until the pasta is coated with olive oil and the dish is well-combined.
3. Plate four servings and top each with a tablespoon of grated cheese.

What shortcuts do you take to speed up your meal prep on busy days?

Harvest Chicken Salad

After several days of nothing new, I finally have a great new recipe to post. This one has been whirling around in my head for a while now, just waiting for the right name and the right weather. It uses leftover cooked chicken. A roasted chicken is perfect. I used leftovers from a home-cooked rotisserie lemon-pepper chicken.

Harvest Chicken Salad

What You Need:

• 2 cups cooked chicken, chopped roughly
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries or cherries
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 2 green onions, diced
• 1/2 of a large green apple (tart), diced (for color and texture, I leave the peel on)
• the juice of 1/2 a lemon
• a dash of salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt

How it's Done:

1. Simple: combine everything. Stir it up and serve on bread or with crackers. Store in the fridge tightly covered.

Eggs Benedict (Arnold). Also, some questions posed to me.

Eggs Benedict is a classic breakfast dish, common on buffet lines, that combines an English muffin half, a poached egg, some Canadian bacon, and some hollandaise sauce.

Benedict Arnold was an officer in the American Revolutionary War. He defected to the British Army. He was a traitor.

So why do I call this dish Eggs Benedict Arnold? Because this dish is, in fact, a traitor. An impostor. A fake. The eggs aren't poached. The meat is ham, not Canadian bacon. And there's cheese. Plus, it's so perfectly fitting, seeing as how we're using an English muffin, and Arnold defected to the English. Ahh, duplicity. Good for traitors and recipe names alike.

Oh, and it's delicious.

Eggs Benedict Arnold

What You Need:

for each serving:

• 1 toasted English muffin (top and bottom)
• 2 scrambled eggs (cooked, scrambled in butter)
• 1 slice of uncured deli ham, heated
• 2 Tbsp prepared hollandaise sauce
• 1 Tbsp shredded cheddar cheese

How it's Done:

1. This is simple once you have all of your ingredients prepared.
2. On the bottom half of your English muffin, place the scrambled eggs. Top with ham, then hollandaise sauce, then cheese.
3. Cover with top half of the English muffin and serve. We had these lovelies with bacon and hash browns: breakfast for dinner.

Now, Mary, the Food Floozie, has tagged me to play this eight questions game called Eight to the Eight to the Eight. I won't usually do these sort of posts, since my focus here is on food, but I'm up for a little fun this morning. If you're tagged, I'd love it if you'd participate, but fully understand if you opt not to do so.

The idea is that I'm supposed to answer Mary's eight questions, then pose eight of my own, and tag eight people to answer those. And so on and so on.

Here goes:

1. What is your favorite work of art?

The Creation of Adam - Michelangelo

2. What do you collect, if anything?

Nothing on purpose. I love to get rid of things, so I'd be a terrible collector.





3. What faith were you raised in? And do you still belong to that one, or have you found another, or ...?


I was raised Catholic. I am no longer Catholic. I consider myself Christian, no denomination required.





4. What is your favorite flavor of jelly/jam to use for a PB&J?




Grape all the way, but it has to be real grape, not that weird purple jelled substance that doesn't spread.









5. What song did or would you play for your first dance together at your wedding reception?


Didn't have a wedding reception. Didn't have a formal wedding. Don't dance. However, Keeper of the Stars is "our song."






6. What is your favorite charity?


The ASPCA: American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals




7. Nuts in brownies -- yea or nay?


I must be all grown up, because, yes, nuts belong in brownies. Especially walnuts. Yep, it's offical. I'm an adult now.



8. What is your favorite cookbook, the one you rely on time after time?

Cookbooks mostly bore me. They're so generic! I'm going to put one together one of these days, I hope, and I promise it won't be generic.

Now for my questions and my victims prey guests. I'm keeping a cooking bent.

Will you answer the call?

April at Angel Foods Kitchen

Keli at Feeding Four

SnoWhite at Finding Joy in my Kitchen

Michelle at Girl Gone Granola

Mandy at Mandy's Recipe Box

..and that's it. I'm a rule breaker.

Now for the questions:

1. Who inspires you in the kitchen? Why?

2. To sift or not to sift?

3. How do you feel about white chocolate?

4. How do you feel about Teflon?

5. What dish are you famous for?

6. What's the biggest cooking disaster you've ever experienced?

7. If you could cook with any one person, alive or deceased, real or fictional, who would it be and why?

8. What dish would you consider your pièce de résistance, and have you mastered it yet?

Hash Brown Casserole

I'm a fan of serving hot breakfast, especially to people who have to go out and work all day or go to school all day. I find that a hot breakfast keeps people fuller longer. Also, most of the time, serving a hot breakfast is more economical than milk & cereal. Eggs are certainly an example of that.

Today, it's hash brown casserole. Breakfast? Side dish? Dinner? Whatever you serve this as, it's tasty. Plus, the hands-on time is less than 15 minutes, freeing you up to get ready for your day while it bakes in the oven.

Hash Brown Casserole


What You Need:

• 1 lb hash brown shredded potatoes (homemade, frozen, or refrigerated, your choice)
• 1/2 lb bulk breakfast sausage
• 1/2 a large onion, diced
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• salt & pepper to taste

How it's Done:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 10" square baking dish.
2. Melt the butter in a skillet with high sides. Add onion and sausage and cook until the sausage is no longer pink.
3. Sprinkle the flour over the onion and sausage. Cook and stir until no flour is visible. Pour in the milk. Cook and stir until thick (should only take a couple of minutes). Remove from heat.
4. Stir in potatoes, sour cream, and cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Turn mixture into the prepared baking dish.
6. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until heated through and top is lightly browned.

Not Enough Hours in the Day!

All summer, you gazed wishfully upon your untidy abode, reminding yourself that soon, school will start, and you'll have more time to get things done. For now, you told yourself, I'll just enjoy my children and ignore what can be ignored.

Then, school started, and you found yourself wondering where all of that free time you were promised had gone. PTO meetings, soccer practice, driving kids to cross country meets, attending parent-teacher conferences, baking cupcakes to share with the class for your child's birthday, meeting new parents, shopping, driving.... Oh! So that's where the time went!

What? Is it only me? I swear that I should have more free time in my days! I envisioned myself completing a present I'm working on for a friend who's expecting (and I'm running out of time!), finishing my braided rug, going to the gym... There's simply no time!

So, I look to my kitchen to provide shortcuts where I can. One reliable way to cut time in the kitchen is by using my slow cookers. Here's what's for dinner at my house tonight. I'll upload the final product later (after school, play date, homework, cross country practice, study time, laundry, and cleaning).

Slow Cooker Lasagna
makes a 5 quart crock full

What You Need:

• 1 box uncooked lasagna noodles
• 1 1/2 lb ground beef, cooked and drained
• 1 jar pasta sauce
• 2 cups water
• 15 oz ricotta cheese
• 3 cups mozzarella
• 1/2 cup Parmesan, grated
• salt & pepper to taste

How it's Done:

• Grease the inside of your slow cooker's crock.
• Combine cooked beef and pasta sauce. Separately, combine ricotta, 2 cups of mozzarella, and the Parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper this mixture to taste.
• Layer in the crock in this order:

First, lay down a small amount of meat & sauce.

Break two noodles in half and press them into the meat sauce.

Dot with some cheese mixture.

Repeat until you run out of noodles.

Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella.

Pour two cups of water over the top.

• 
  
  Cover and cook on HIGH one hour, then LOW six hours or until dinner, whichever is later.