A decadent breakfast on the cheap

And by cheap I guess I mean if you are cooking for a crowd or you plan to eat it all week long, because you’ll be buying your ingredients in bulk from Costco!

So, you probably want to know what we’re making- breakfast sandwiches, but on a whole new level!

First of all, run yourself over to Costco and pick up a box of croissants, a package of their fresh mozzarella, a bag of Avacados and a pack of bacon. You may, however, want to pick up your eggs from a local farm. 🙂

Now really, this is so simple it’s ridiculous, but I’ll indulge you with some pictures anyway!

Fry up your eggs the way you like best.

Get your bacon going too. My favorite way to cook bacon is to recruit The Carpenter! 😉

five little piggies all lined up in a row!

Next (my favorite part), slice nice thick chunks of the fresh mozzarella! Now slip one into your mouth, close your eyes and savor in wonder at the magnificent difference of real mozzarella- it’s a whole other animal entirely. It should have it’s own name, it’s that good.

Try not to eat the rest of the cheese as you slice it- you’re going to need it for the sandwiches! 😉

Next, slice up your nice, ripe avacado.  Doesn’t that bright, firm flesh just look springy to you?!

Time to assemble! By layering the mozzarella in between the bacon and the egg it melts just perfectly and still gives an extraordinary bite.

It’s so simple it’s silly- but it is divine! Make it for your family or have a few of your closest girl friends over and serve it on cute plates alongside a fruit platter and some Cranberry Lime Iced Tea (but you’ll have to wait until next week for that recipe!).  Bon Appetit!

More than just breakfast…

Sorry about the toy gun- such is life in a house full of men!

Four plates- three small, one large. Chipped and worn from years of use.

Covered in cheddar-filled eggs, homemade biscuits and ham fresh from a local farm.

It’s breakfast, nearly brunch, but it’s more than that. It’s a humble display of my love for these men that I live with.

It’s me doing my job. This one whose rewards are never monetary. This one whose payment comes in the form of giggles and hugs and “Mom, I Love You”s. And well, occasionally I accept Trident Gum. 😉

In truth these acts of serving them are actually a huge lifter of my own soul. As a mama battling with prolonged postpartum depression, the days when I feel like I have done my job well, devoted my full attention to my family and been completely present, are huge victories for me. Those full plates of delicious food that I poured love into, are tickets to a motivation train I can ride on the rest of the day.

The days when I serve them, really serve them, are the fullest, the most joyful, unquestionably rewarding. Oh to be in that place each and every day and not get swallowed by the empty days. The blank days. The days of chaos and nothingness and frustration.

Note to self- serve them first, reap the harvest.

There ain’t room enough in this kitchen for the both of us

Yup- that’s what I told The Carpenter when he attempted to enter my domain during prime cooking time today. And I meant it literally- there really isn’t room. My kitchen is comparable to the size of a postage stamp.

Well, an express mail postage stamp, but a postage stamp none the less.

And for this particular meal it was extra important that I took advantage of every possible inch because, you see, I was trying another one of The Pioneer Woman’s recipes. One that would make The Carpenter feel the need to dust off his cowboy boots and reminisce about his childhood in a microscopic ranch town in the northern part of our state. I was making Chicken Fried Steak- you can’t get more country than that.

I’m pretty sure The Carpenter will now love me forever, if I wasn’t sure before.

So, why the need for so much room? Well that darn Pioneer Woman said (here we go again) I had to make an assembly line- four plates side-by-side, to properly dredge them there steaks (I don’t know what it is about chicken fried steak that gets a person to talkin’ like a red neck but I jist can’t help myself!). There is no fitting four of anything side-by-side in my kitchen. I mean look at this counter!

I suppose counter space just wasn’t something Ree even considered when writing her book (I like to pretend we’re on a first name basis). I mean, she hosted an entire Thanksgiving Dinner Throw Down with Bobby Flay in her ranch’s lodge kitchen- lack of space isn’t exactly on her radar.

Oh, I dream of the day.

But for now- I have to make do. So, I opted for smaller dishes for my dredging and moved on, resisting all urges to be bitter and envious.

Next came dealing with the actual meat. I bought cube steaks, which is what was called for, but had never worked with them before. The Carpenter said I should probably go ahead and tenderize them some more, just to make sure. In fact, he insisted so much that he bought me a meat mallet.

I don’t know why, but I dreaded this task. I kept thinking it would be a ton of work to get any real results to speak of and it just made me tired to think about.

Until I got that mallet in my hands!

Oh my- have you ever tenderized meat with a real meat mallet? If you haven’t- then go, now!

Just stop reading, go find some meat and a real mallet and start beating!

You will love me forever too after you get done!

I don’t know that I will ever cook a piece of meat again without tenderizing it! As I was beating away I actually began to wish that I had just bought round steaks so I could have really gone to town. If I just did that everyday my stress levels would be extremely reduced!

In fact, think I’ll go beat some meat right now.

Anyhow, I might have gotten a little carried away. One of the steaks completely fell apart. Oops. Still tasted good though. And oh buddy, was that baby tender!

Somebody else wanted to get in on the mallet action too!

And so, in conclusion- I stick my tongue out at you Ree Drummond and your darned huge kitchen, but thank you for yet another wonderful meal!

Cooking on the Edge

I stared in bewilderment at these-

And The Carpenter walked in the kitchen and asked, with an amused expression, as though there was no possible way that I could have remotely considered doing the opposite of what he was saying, “Did you buy shelled and deveined shrimp?”

“No.”  I said, still staring, knife in hand.

“Why not?” He said, in a state of mild shock and awe.

“Well, the only ones they had at the store that were deveined were already cooked and I needed to cook them in butter to get the full flavor… and The Pioneer Woman said…”

His uproarious laughter could not be contained!  It all become clear to him- The Pioneer Woman told me to, so OF COURSE I blindly obeyed!

I may or may not have a slight obsession with her.

I mean her cooking.

And her books.

And her blog.

Anyway, he bought me The Pioneer Woman’s amazing and absolutely beautiful cookbook for Valentine’s Day and I have been trying out a smattering of her recipes over the last few weeks.  This one was the greatest departure for me though.  Not only was I going to have to shell and devein shrimp for the first time in my adult life ( I think I did it with my grandmother sometime around the age of 9, which probably really only meant that I watched her and said “Gross!”), but I was also making a largely tomato-based dish.

I don’t eat tomatoes- not in ANY form!  No pizza sauce, no pasta sauce, no caprese, no ketchup!  I DON’T EAT TOMATOES!

But my family does and I don’t want to raise picky little people like myself.  And to be honest, I have been trying to slowly grapple with the fact that it may be more of a psychological than actual taste aversion, which blows my mind and makes me want to commit myself.  Although there is that whole texture thing… anyhow- you get the point.  This was a break through, to not only be making something with tomato sauce but planning on eating it as well!

What’s that?  I just saw a pig fly.

But alright- step one- tackle those shrimp.  I called my mother.  Why?  I have no idea.  I doubt she has ever peeled a shrimp in her life.  I grew up on tuna casserole and anything from a box.  I love her, but it’s true.  She’s getting better in her “old age” (she just turned 50, so I really can’t help myself- I have to say that!  It’s my official job to tease her!), but seriously- I guess it was just for emotional support.

I contemplated asking The Carpenter to do it, but finally decided this was my battle to wage.  If not now, when?!

I managed and it wasn’t even as bad as I had imagined.  Many of them had incredibly clean digestive systems which helped me out tremendously.  I have to say, though, that I am really glad they didn’t have heads.  I’m not one to get sentimental over my food.  For goodness sake, I became a vegetarian in high school purely for the reason that meat grossed me out, not for some higher moral cause.  But if I had been forced to tear the legs off those babies when they still had heads, I’m not sure I would have been able to do it.

Sentimental over a shrimp.  Who knew?!

All in all- I braved the cooking and the eating of the entire meal and it truly was delicious!  You just can’t go wrong with The Pioneer Woman!

And I’m tremendously proud of myself! 🙂  I feel like a bon-a-fide cook now and have greatly widened my palet!  Thank you Ree Drummond- I couldn’t have done it without you!

Oh- and this little guy! My cooking entertainment!