Chef Lisa

Sundays are days that usually start out really slow for us. If I cook breakfast (and I usually do), we end up eating around 10:30 am. I wanted to try and avoid that this weekend, so I made breakfast Saturday night so that we could just reheat it the next morning. Below you’ll find my version of Rachael Ray’s Biscuit-Crusted Sausage-Egg Pie. I actually made 2 pies – one with sausage, the other with chicken. The sausage one turned out pretty good, and I have high hopes for the one with chicken, which is in the freezer right now.

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While I hate the cold of winter, I love being able to cook up soups and stews. Luckily, my family feels the same, especially if there’s a side of fresh baked biscuits. This soup was inspired by the need for something hearty, with a good amount of protein for me and just enough carbs to make the soup filling for Matt and the kids. I checked out several versions of this soup online, picked out the bits I liked best, then threw it all together to make my own version.

It’s been added to the “yes, we’d love to eat it again” list. I’ve included the nutrition information for the soup, but you need to be aware the fat count is way off. Yes, there’s half a pound of bacon, but all the fat that came out when it was cooked was drained off, so it’s not as bad as it looks.

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Eggs every morning for breakfast tends to get boring rather quickly in our house. I’m always looking for inspiration and ideas to liven things up. This morning, when I was thinking about what I needed to put together my daughter’s lunch, an idea came to me. The kids love waffles. They also love Monte Cristo sandwiches. Why not combine the two?

I did, and they loved it.

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Matt was out of town yesterday, and I wanted to make a quick and easy meal for supper. The last time we were at my in-laws’ place, we had nachos with meat and cheese, and the kids loved it. I decided to make that.

It’s really not all that difficult. Prepare some ground beef as if you were making tacos, using your favorite spice blend (packed or scratch doesn’t matter as long as you like it). Put a layer of tortilla chips on a microwave safe plate or in an oven-proof dish. Sprinkle 1/3 to 1/2 (depending on whether you’re doing two or three layers of chips) of the taco meat on the chips. Sprinkle sharp cheddar or a Mexican blend of cheese over that. If you want to put salsa in, put little dots of it over the ships. You don’t want to do too much salsa or the chips will turn into a soggy mess.

Put on another layer of chips, and repeat with meat and cheese (and salsa). If you’re doing three layers, repeat the process a third time.

Once your nachos are assembled, put them in the microwave or oven until the cheese has melted. If you want, you can then garnish it with finely sliced green onions, cilantro, or whatever else floats your boat.

After some experimentation, I’ve come up with a recipe that I like. I started with the Best Ever Muffins recipe, and added diced cooked chicken, cheese crumbles, and bacon. The basic batter is sweet, rather than savory, so I added some garlic powder. They turned out pretty good, and Matt takes one with him to work.

This recipe makes 6 jumbo sized muffins.

Chicken & Cheese Breakfast Muffins

 
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup diced cooked chicken
1 cup cheese crumbles
1/2 cup bacon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and spray the jumbo muffin tin with no-stick cooking spray.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, garlic powder and sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. In a small bowl or 2 cup measuring cup, beat egg with a fork. Stir in milk and oil. Pour all at once into the well in the flour mixture. Mix quickly and lightly with a fork until about half mixed.

Add in chicken, bacon and cheese and stir until all the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter should be lumpy.

Divide the batter equally between the six jumbo muffin cups and abke for about 25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.