It’s cookie season and I am not immune to all of the delectable holiday baking and candy making. My girls and I recently made my all time favorite cookie, chocolate mint cookies and also made a few batches of toffee. This is the time of …
Poison ivy is not an experience I’d recommend. I was moving some of my raspberry plants last weekend out of an area that I knew had poison ivy into a better spot without poison ivy in it. Well, I forgot to wash my gloves and …
This week my littlest little went off to kindergarten embarking on a new adventure for himself and spreading his wings. Of course, that makes me a little teary-eyed because the house feels a little too quiet but I welcome the change. I’ve been home with my kids for nine years so this is also a new adventure in freedom and opportunity for me to do the things that I’ve been putting off or just haven’t had time to do while I’ve had kiddos in the house full time. For example, this morning I went for a peaceful two-mile run. I hadn’t really been able to do that during the weekdays as I couldn’t leave my little guy unattended and he wasn’t yet fast enough on his bike to ride beside me. After my run, I immersed myself in the kitchen canning tomatoes and making other delectable items of my own choosing rather than dictated by the kids. Country breakfast sausage was one of those delightful items I enjoyed as a post-run brunch this morning with a berry smoothie eaten at a leisurely pace with a big cup of joe and a cat on my lap.
Country breakfast sausage is a savory blend of sage, thyme, pepper, coriander and paprika that I’ve fine-tuned to my liking. I often use a smoked salt to add a hint of smokiness to the sausage as well. This spice blend works well with ground pork as well as ground turkey or chicken. Breakfast sausage is one of my guilty pleasures. I love it more than bacon… and creating it homemade is a surefire way to avoid nasty additives and preservatives that can be found in a lot of commercially purchased breakfast sausage. Mixing the sausage up with your hands ensures that the spices are blended evenly throughout making each bite a perfect breakfasty morsel. After mixing, you can form the sausage into patties like I did or you can cook it as a crumble which I love to do over hashbrowns. Because these are savory instead of sweet, this country breakfast sausage also makes a killer sausage gravy!
Now while the kids are back in school and I have more free time, I’m looking forward to posting recipes here more often and focusing on my professional articles that I create for the athletes at Breaking Muscle. Perhaps I’ll even delve into creating another meal plan! Which by the way, if you haven’t checked it out yet, I have a recently published subscription site with a full month’s meal plan of clean tasty eats ready and waiting for you to try.
The last nine months (or more?) have been really taxing my creative brain. That’s not a bad thing, but my cooking mojo is on a much needed vacation after creating a minimum of three new recipes each week for months while working on a way cool project. …
Election day, election day… yes, I did indeed go out and vote my conscience. I’m grateful to live in a nation that has a democracy where we can be free to express and embrace all of our opinions and individuality. I’d love a few more morally …
It’s my darling husband’s 40th birthday today!! In honor of his big celebration, we had a huge yard party this past weekend with a taco and nacho bar which included fresh salsa, smoky guacamole, chipotle bean dip and chile con queso. We studded the yard with fun yard games, had some kickin’ karaoke in our garage and ended the night with a bonfire that went into the wee hours of the morning. We ended up having about 70 guests throughout the night and it was a GREAT time! All of the party prep and planning meant I’ve gotten a bit behind in my posting of awesome recipes for all of you but this one is sure to put me in your good favor again. Baked sweet potato egg nests are a perfect way to start the morning with a bit of protein, a bit of carbs and a splash of veggie value.
Shredded and seasoned sweet potatoes are lightly baked in a ramekin first to make the nest. Then I added a layer of spinach and cracked a beautiful farm fresh egg into each nest. Baked until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny makes the BEST gooey delicious breakfast treat. I topped them off with a sprinkle of chives and some fun chili pepper threads for good looks. These sweet potato egg nests are sure to be a new breakfast (or lunch) favorite!
Every year for the past ten years, we’ve held a garage sale at our house over mother’s day weekend. It was tradition in the neighborhood we had lived in. Last year was the last garage sale as we’ve moved to an acreage and it’s gotten …
“Whoa, Mom! These are GOOD!” exclaimed my oldest daughter with her mouthful of Swedish pancakes. That was exactly the sentiment I was hoping for from my picky “dad-makes-the-best-pancakes” crowd. It occurred to me over a plate of huge fluffy pancakes this past weekend that I have …
Serving up deliciousness, right here, right now. And maybe if I’m lucky, my husband will make this for me for mother’s day brunch. I mean, I deserve to have him slaving away whisking this creamy savory hollandaise while I kick back with a cup of joe relaxing on Sunday morning. Am I right? or am I right? Truth be told, this recipe for a better for you, healthy eggs benedict (a better benedict!) requires very little slaving. Each piece is fast and easy to prepare. Yes, even the poached eggs. Though if poaching isn’t your game, just fry the eggs over easy and slide them on top. I won’t tell, and it’ll be equally delightful!
I stacked this better benedict to look like a cute flower with spinach petals fanned out on the bottom, then added a shredded sweet potato hash brown topped with Canadian bacon, a poached egg and drizzled with hollandaise. Sprinkle with chives and you’ll be serving up a gorgeous brunch. I’m 100 percent positive that if you make this for that special mom in your life, she’ll be one happy gal!
Oh sunshine, I have missed you!! I’ll ignore the fact that it is still really chilly and I had to pull out my winter coat only days after sitting outside in shorts and a tee shirt. I’ve learned to expect this sort of misbehavior from a Minnesota spring. …
