So Delicious Breakfast Sandwiches

It may gross you out, it may not... but I love McDonald's Sausage McMuffin with Egg. My favorite is when the last bite is of crispy muffin, greasy sausage and melted cheese. I am kinda curious what the calorie count is on one of those bad boys, but I don't eat them often enough for it to even matter... and I don't dare look. 

Although the classic McDonald's breakfast sandwich was my inspiration, my version is healthy healthier if only for the fact that fresh ingredients were used. The Garlic Compound Butter was given to me by my mother-in-law, when I make it myself I will post the recipe. For the sausage I used Maple Sausage that was in my most recent meat pack from OV Meat Shoppe, when it was cooking I could smell the maple - so freakin' delicious!!

Ingredients
• 6 English Muffins
• 1 pound ground sausage (Iused Maple Sausage)
• 6 bacon strips
• 6 eggs
• Cheese
• Garlic Compound Butter

Directions
1. Shape sausage into 6 patties
2. On med-high heat cook bacon and sausage how you like it. I made my bacon a little crispy and my sausage was browned on both sides. When done, set aside
3. Beat eggs. Make omelettes small enough so that when they are cut in half they will satisfy two sandwiches
4. Toast English Muffins in oven under broil, I used a pizza pan to fit all the halves in at once
5. After muffins are toasted, spread garlic butter on all halves
6. To make sandwiches stack ingredients in this order: sausage, egg, cheese, bacon... or however you want
7. Return to oven just long enough for cheese to melt
8. Enjoy :)

In My Opinion: I can't believe I never made these before. I would be perfectly fine with never getting another Sausage McMuffin with Egg ever again. SO GOOD!! The garlic butter adds an awesome kick. We will definitely have these again, probably with different ingredients to experiment with. I have some Cinnamon Raisin English Muffins that I really want to find something fun to do with, wish me luck!!

Bebop Baked Beans

For Easter my family has a huge egg hunt, over 500 eggs, at a local park. It is also a potluck and I opted to bring beans this year. I found the recipe for Bebop Baked Beans just in time to make the night before.

Ingredients

• 3 bacon strips

• 1/2 cup seeded & chopped jalapeno pepper

• 2 cans (15 ounces each) pork and beans

• 1/3 cup hickory smoke-flavored barbecue sauce

• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar

• 2 teaspoons prepared mustard

Directions

1. Cook bacon until crisp; cool and dice

2. Sauté Jalapeno in bacon drippings until tender

3. Drain one can of beans. In a large bowl, combine both cans of beans, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, mustard and jalapeno 

4. Transfer to a greased baking dish

5. Bake, covered, at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly

6. Mix in bacon

7. Enjoy :)

In My Opinion: These beans rocked. I loved the taste and texture of the bacon and the jalapenos added some nice heat. I plan on making these again, it was cheap and tasty. LOVE IT. 

Unfortunately I forgot them at home on Easter and ended up getting a pre-made bean salad from Bel-Air on the way. It was good as well, but not as good as these. :( Boo on me, Foodie Fail #2. I can guarantee you that I have more than 2 Foodie Fails, but I have only documented two on this site. :)

Golden Mushroom Chicken with White Beans & Spinach

I have always thought making a menu for each week is a great idea, I just have never done it... until this week. :) It was quite easy with a freezer full of meat from OV Meat Shoppe. Here it is:

Shrimp Alfredo w/ Linguini
Balsamic Chicken with White Beans & Spinach
Grilled Honey-Soy Pork Steaks
Cross Rib Steak
Breakfast Sandwiches
Hamburgers
Italian Breaded Pork Steak
Meaty Manicotti
Shrimp Egg Salad Sandwiches
Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

They are in no specific order, I figure I will just cook things as they sound good to me. Now that I am looking at the menu items I have no idea when Shrimp & Egg Salad Sandwiches will ever sound good. But anyway, planning a menu made grocery shopping a helluva lot faster & easier, which I am all for. :) I will let you know at the end of the week how the menu played out.

The first dish I bring to you from my weekly menu is Golden Mushroom Chicken with White Beans. The recipe I originally intended on following was Balsamic Chicken with White Beans & Spinach, but I ended up making a few adjustments to it.

Ingredients:
• 4 Chicken Breasts
• 1 can of Golden Mushroom Soup
• 1 can White Beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• ½ cup fresh Mushrooms
• ½ cup Chicken Broth
• Fresh Baby Spinach

Directions
1. Heat olive oil in skillet, brown all 4 chicken breasts. Place chicken breasts in 9x13 baking dish

2. Place baking dish in oven at 375
3. Reduce heat on skillet to medium and add garlic, stirring for a minute
4. Add balsamic vinegar, scraping up brown bits from bottom of pan
5. Add golden mushroom soup, chicken broth, beans and mushrooms, mix thoroughly
6. Remove chicken from oven (it has probably been in there for about 10 minutes?), pour sauce over the top of chicken, cover and return to oven for 35 minutes

7. Serve over a bed of fresh baby spinach, with sauce

8. Enjoy :)

This recipe is completely amazing. I am looking forward to leftovers for lunch. This will definitely be made again, so delicious!

Garlic Rosemary-Lemon Chicken

I was anxious to use the fresh rosemary and lemon that I had received from my mother-in-law, so I set out for a recipe that would require the rosemary, lemon and some chicken breasts I had from OV Meat Shoppe. I found this recipe on the Food Network, and worked off it. I am not a huge fan of rosemary, but I think it suited this dish nicely.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

• 6 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves

• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 lemon, zested and juiced

• 1 tablespoon grill seasoning blend (I used Weber Canadian Chicken)

• 1/2 cup chicken broth

Directions:

1. Mix garlic, rosemary leaves, 3 tbsp olive oil, lemon zest and grill seasoning and set aside

2. Heat remaining olive oil in pan and brown chicken breasts both sides, approximately 5-7 minutes each breast and place in 9x13 baking pan 

 3. Spoon garlic mixture over each breast evenly, bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes

4. Mix lemon juice and broth together, pour into baking dish

5. Turn off oven and return chicken for 10 minutes

6. Serve chicken with sauce, enjoy!

We all really enjoyed this chicken. If you let the chicken sit for about 15 minutes after removing from the oven, the sauce will be a nice consistency. I give it two thumbs up, I will definitely try this recipe again, maybe with a different herb next time. Super Yum.

Nothing to Write Home About... #1

Wheat Egg Noodles with Newman's Own Sockarooni Sauce, Fresh Mushrooms, Ground Chuck and Ground Sausage

Plain Ol' Cheeseburgers with Sauteed Fresh Mushrooms

Penne Rigate with Chicken Breast, Spinach, Garlic Butter and Grated Parmesan Cheese

Roasted Asparagus

I took Friday and the weekend off of blogging, and now it feels like I have not been on here forever! I had an awesome weekend working for my mother-in-law at a wedding. She is a wedding planner and this time she also catered the event, I was the chosen bartender! Yay! I use to bartend years ago, and it was fun doing it again. It was also great working with my husband and in-laws, when you can mix work and fun it's always a good thing. :) I also scored some wedding leftovers; fresh rosemary, lemons, lilies and an assortment of other goodies. I already made something with the rosemary and lemons, I can't wait to share it with you.

However, the next thing on the agenda is Roasted Asparagus. So easy, I can't believe I never made it before. I love fresh asparagus and I think canned asparagus is just wrong. Either way asparagus packs a heavy punch in the nutrient department, it is a good source of potassium, folacin and fiber.

Asparagus is one of the most nutritionally well-balanced vegetables in existence. It leads nearly all produce items in the wide array of nutrients it supplies in significant amounts for a healthy diet. - Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board 

Ingredients:

1. Asparagus

2. Olive Oil

3. Salt & Pepper

4. Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

1. Cut off coarse ends and wash asparagus

2. Place in baking dish and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and parmesan cheese to your liking

3. Bake for about 25 minutes at 400 degrees

4. Enjoy!

Homemade Meatballs

I have no idea why, but the other day I was thinking about meatballs and how I never make them. Needless to say, I was inspired. Nothing sounded better to me than some pasta, meatballs and tomato sauce. Definitely a craving at this point. 

After reading a little bit about meatballs I am hooked. They are a universal food with countless variations. With so many different meats, spices, sauces and ways to serve them, I am excited to see where this meaty adventure takes me! Let me share with you some of the meatballs that I am anxious to try:

1. Greek meatballs, Keftedes, include garlic, oregano, mint and nutmeg.

2. Albanian meatballs, Qofte Te Ferguara, include feta cheese, onion and garlic. These can be served with hummus and pineapple.

3. A famous German meatball is the Qofte Te Ferguara, which is made with sirloin, veal, pork and anchovies. All four meats to make one delicious meatball, served in a white caper sauce.

We should have a World Meatball Party. Dead serious. 

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb ground chuck

2. 1 egg

3. 1/4 cup milk

4. 1/2 cup minced onion

5. 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

6. 1 tbsp minced garlic

7. 1 tsp parsley

8. 1 tsp salt

9. 1 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix all ingredients well

3. Scoop meatballs onto cookie sheet, roughly 1 inch round

4. Bake for 40 minutes or until cooked to your liking

5. Eat your meatballs

I was able to have my pasta, meatballs and tomato sauce. It was extremely satisfying. Next time I am going to try turning the meatballs half way through their cooking time to avoid one side from browning so much. Other than that I will not change a thing, the flavoring was amazing... although I am almost positive that most of the wonderful flavor came from the meat, which was purchased at OV Meat Shoppe. I am so lucky to have found such a great meat market. :)

Basmati Rice

I love the bulk section at Winco Foods. I will admit, I was a grocery store snob before I met my husband. I thought Winco was full of cheap and unhealthy food. I remember at the beginning of our relationship he would suggest that we go to Winco and I would just shrug it off and go where I wanted. And then one day we went to Winco, and I now I love it. I never knew Winco had a bulk section with everything from Andes Mints to Cherrios to Nuts to Dog Treats. I was like a kid in a candy store, I got so many bulk items that day it was probably overkill.

I have decided to try the different grains they offer at Winco, my first being Basmati Rice. Since I read up on it, let me tell you a little something about Basmati Rice. :)

"Basmati rice is one of the fragrant, aromatic rices from India and Pakistan. It is now grown in Texas and is gaining converts everyday. It's long, tender grains and distinctively nutty taste make it the rice of choice for curries and pilafs." - The Great Food Almanac

I am excited, both for the Basmati Rice and to try all the wonderful grains Winco has to offer that I was always afraid to try. So here I go, Basmati Rice...

Ingredients

1. 1 cup Basmati Rice
2. Water
3. 1/4 tsp Salt
4. 1/4 tsp Oil

Directions:

1. Wash rice until water runs clear
2. Soak rice for 2 hours
3. Bring 2 cups of water to boil then add rice, salt and oil
4. Cover, turn temperature to low and simmer for ten minutes
5. Remove from heat, do not remove cover, let sit for another 10 minutes
6. Eat your rice
Yum

Personally, I love it. It is perfectly sticky. It did not turn out mushy at all, which I was actually afraid of happening. It is perfect rice. I am so stoked. I have seen so many recipes with Basmati Rice and I can't wait to try some. Yay, great success! :)

Grilled Pizza Sandwich

What started off as a grilled cheese sandwich, ended up being a pizza substitution. (I really don't think there is such a thing.) But anyhow, it is delicious and I can't wait to have it again.

You could really add whatever ingredients you want to this sandwich, I just hope my idea inspires you to make your own creation.

Ingredients:
1. Bread
2. Butter
3. Cheese
4. Whatever you like on your pizza (For the sandwich in the picture I used pepperoni and onions)
5. Pizza sauce

Directions:
1. Make a grilled cheese sandwich using all the ingredients.
2. Enjoy

Yum

Butterfinger Cake

During one of my many ventures of browsing food blogs late at night while the kids are finally sleeping, I stumbled upon this recipe. I love Butterfinger candy bars, I love chocolate cake and I think caramel is pretty good... so putting them all together sounded like a great idea.

I found this recipe at Stirring the Pot, an awesome blog filled with recipes that I want to try. I was just waiting for a sweet tooth moment and I had the Butterfinger Cake in mind. The sweet tooth came on around 7:30 at night, so by midnight we were trying the gooey goodness. Yum

Ingredients:
1 box Devil's Food cake mix
1 jar caramel ice cream topping
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tub of cool whip
2 Butterfinger Bars, chopped

Directions:
1. Make cake as directed. About 5 minutes before cake is done, mix caramel and condensed milk in bowl.
2. When cake is done, remove from oven and poke holes all over cake with fork.
3. Slowly pour caramel and condensed milk mixture completely over cake. I used a measuring cup, the pour spot helped greatly. Pour all of it, don't be shy.
4. Let cool. Real cool.
5. Smear cool whip on top of cake and then end it all off with Butterfinger pieces.
6. Have a piece, even if it is midnight. :)
Yum

I thought this cake was great. The cool whip is an awesome touch, it gives the cake a light touch. Real frosting might be a bit much for the Butterfinger Cake, the cake is so rich that the Cool Whip is a relief. Everyone loves this recipe, we will have it again someday. Thanks Stirring the Pot!!

Coffee Grind Uses

We are addicted to coffee here at the Hungry Harp house. Morning, Afternoon, Night... it always sounds good. I am constantly dumping coffee grinds in the garbage thinking, "there has to be something better to do with these." I found myself on a quest... to recycle coffee grinds. :) I am going to try some different ways to recycle coffee grinds that is beneficial to our home and I will be blogging the result.

The first was to use them as a refrigerator/freezer deodorizer. Just a couple tablespoons in a couple little dishes and place them in the fridge and/or freezer. I was stoked this morning that it actually worked. My fridge and freezer weren't smelly before, just a hint of food smell.. and that was all gone this morning. Very cool. I will be doing this from now on, it's easy and it works. Nice!

Jalapeno Pop Grilled Cheese

In honor of National Grilled Cheese Month I cooked up another cheesey creation. This one was for Hungry Hubby. He likes it hot, spicy hot. So in the basket went the Pepper Jack. Then came the peppers. Hungry Hubby grabbed the habanero, I laughed nervously and grabbed the jalapenos instead. I truly have never met anyone who can eat hotter foods than him, it amazes me. I needed something in this sandwich to cool it down a little, so how about cream cheese? I have had it on my sandwiches at Mr. Pickles (one of my fav sandwich shops), and it was absolutely wonderful. I decided on the whipped cream cheese since I figured it could probably spread nicer on bread than regular cream cheese.

This was my first time roasting peppers. I was so excited to get started... and then it was done. Not very satisfying to be honest. Cut them, seed them, put them on a tray and broil them. Then wait. 1, 2, 3... pull them from the oven, put them in an airtight container and let them cool. Then wait. 1, 2, 3... pull them from your container, pull the skins off and voila! You have peppers ready to be used to your liking. Yum.

I want to roast a bunch of peppers at once, just not sure what I would do with them. :P

The sandwich is real simple.

1. Bread
2. Pepper Jack Cheese
3. Roasted Jalapenos
4. Cream Cheese

Make a good ol' fashion grilled cheese using these ingredients. Have the milk handy.

I will make this sandwich again, but next time I will use regular cream cheese. The whipped cream cheese melted too fast during the cooking of the sandwich. When asked if Hungry Hubby likes this sandwich his response was, Mmmmmmmm. :)

Meat Day

Yesterday was Meat Day at the Hungry Harp house. It's like Christmas whenever we have a meat day, anticipation running high and excitement in the air. Yay! We loaded up the car and headed to OV Meat Shoppe. Hungry Hubby went inside alone to purchase the box, which is a good thing because it is a guarantee I will find something else to buy, and we are already getting 45 pounds of meat! This time around our meat box contained:

10# - Ground Chuck
10# - Pork Steaks
10# - Boneless Chicken Breasts
5# - Beef Stew Meat
5# - Cross Rib Steak
3# - Ground Maple Sausage
2# - Ground Sage Sausage

Needless to say, I am stoked! There are so many options that it is hard to choose where to start. Thank you Mr. Cow, Mr. Pig and Mr. Chicken... you fill my family's bellies with love. :) Yum

Thirsty Thursday - Hacienda De Chihuahua Sotol Anejo

This was our one year anniversary bottle. We went to Monterey, CA and spent time on the beach and checking out the local shops. Our bottle of Sotol Anejo was purchased before our trip, it was selected after pondering over all the bottles of Tequila at Total Wine & More (Let me tell you, there is a lot More). I think the ultimate decision maker was that it had the name Chihuahua in it, and we have 2. I know, I know.

Anyway, it was a great choice. The distiller describes it as "Extremely smooth and fresh. Full wild agave flavor", I could not describe it better. No herbicides and no additives, each bottle is made from one Dasylirion plant. Sotol has been being made for over 800 years and I wish I would of found it sooner than in 2009. I am a Whiskey Girl, but I can definitely see us getting a bottle of this again.

Little Lita Girl, the reason I buy Tequila. haha

Kids with Food #2

I won't be doing these all the time, but I had come across a couple pics of my son eating and I could not resist. This is from last Christmas Eve, which is a big food holiday in our family. This was Bubba's first Porterhouse Steak. It was all his, and he ate a huge portion of it. Again, he is my little Sharptooth. :)

Pesto & Tomato Grilled Cheese

I just found out yesterday that April is National Grilled Cheese Month. This is a big deal. I love cheese. Anyone who knows me can tell you about my addiction to cheese. I love every type of cheese - cold cheese, fried cheese, melted cheese, shredded cheese, block cheese, braided cheese, grated cheese, crumbled cheese, soft cheese, new cheese, old cheese, white cheese, blue cheese... every type of cheese, with the exception of bath tub cheese. I did not know what bathtub cheese was until I was 23... this is a shame considering how many farmers markets I have been to. If you do not know what bathtub cheese is, do yourself a favor and google it.

I kicked off the celebration of National Grilled Cheese Month with a grilled colby jack, pesto and tomato on wheat bread. Real easy, I promise. Get pan warmed on medium heat, really let it get warmed... you want to hear a sizzle when the buttered bread hits the skillet. Butter up two pieces of bread, put the buttered sides together and set on prep surface. On naked side of bread facing you, put some pesto. When pan is warm enough, add the piece of bread with pesto on it butter side down. Hear the sizzle? Good :) Add your cheese and sliced tomatoes, place other piece of bread naked side down on tomatoes. All breads are different, but a couple of minutes on each side should do the trick to getting the bread golden brown. Remove from pan, let cool then scarf down. Yum

Kids with Food

 

He definitely cleaned his plate this day. My little Sharptooth. (Land Before Time reference)

Tasty Treat Tuesday - See's Candies

This is a box of See's candies that Mr. HungryHarp received in the mail as a gift of appreciation from his job. He is a very hard worker and does an amazing job supporting our family, I am so happy to see that his work does take the time to show their appreciation. It was first mailed to our previous address, then returned to his work, then mailed to our current address. I do not think that See's anticipates this much shipping for a single box of candy... unless they are trying to make it look as though a little monster ravaged through your chocolates during delivery. The good news is, no matter how you shake this box the chocolates are still as delicious as ever. Yum

Boiled/Steamed Artichokes

These were a marvelous buy from the Farmers Market. $2 for 3, I wish I would have bought 6. Real easy recipe here, I promise. Remove any unwanted leaves from the artichoke then cut stems so that the artichokes will stand upright. Fill one of your big pots with about an inch of water and boil. I added minced garlic, onion powder, parsley and salt - but of course, season to your liking. Add the artichokes, cover and lower temperature. Cook for about 30 mins or until you can easily insert a toothpick into the center of the heart from the bottom. We enjoyed these with mayo... and to my surprise Bubba Harp loved eating the heart.
*Blogger Fail: No after picture was taken, I was too excited to serve these bad boys up! :)

Cheese Fries

I am no stranger to deep fried foods, but I have to admit that it amazes me to this day that you can put a piece of food into a vat of scalding oil and have such a delicious outcome. I remember many years ago wanting to make homemade french fries and only having my oven to cook them in. They were good, but I imagined that cooking them in a deep fryer would make such a huge difference. Man, was I right.

This is not a healthy recipe, it gets filed in the back of the recipe box, under SINFUL. :)

Slice up those potatoes however you like your fries, deep fry them until golden and then put them on a plate. Now it gets real good, add as much cheese as makes your stomach happy... and perhaps some bacon, garlic and parsley too! Broil until cheese is melted and serve with ranch and/or ketchup. Yum

Pesto Potatoes

Pesto is a gift from the Food Gods. It often crosses my mind if a dish would be better with Pesto in it, and then I respond accordingly. We have been on a mashed potato kick lately since Bubba Harp won't refuse them, and my pesto thought came to mind. I threw a spoonful of Christopher Ranch Pesto in the mashies and stirred. The outcome was bliss. Even Bubba ate them, which means it was a great success!

Sourdough Hoagie Pizza

This is a great recipe that was inspired by Mr. HungryHarp. He told me when he was younger his mom would make him and his sisters pizza on hoagie rolls. That was the inspiration, and here is the creation! If you love sandwiches and pizza, you should fall in love with this dish. I used the following ingredients:
Colombo Sourdough Hoagie Rolls
Mozzarella Cheese
Mild Ground Sausage from OV Meat Shoppe
Green Onions from Denios
Minced Garlic from Christopher Ranch which is in Gilroy, CA
Sun Dried Tomatoes also from Christopher Ranch
Plain ol' boring Contadina Pizza Sauce

Pretty simple to make. Split the rolls, smear with the pizza sauce, cover in cheese, add the toppings however your heart desires and bake in the oven at 350 degrees until bread is toasted and cheese is melted. I could not believe how delicious putting a pizza on a sourdough roll could be. I had have frozen versions, but they don't come close to the homemade version.

Farmer's Market - Denio's

The Hungry Harps loaded up the family car and headed to Denios, a Farmers Market and Swap Meet in Roseville, CA. A wonderful place to just to walk around with the family and check out the local goods. We came out like champs with grapes, artichokes, asparagus, green onions, honey, flavored honey sticks and a bucket of the most delicious sugar cookies I have ever had. All for under $20!