Not your typical Egg Salad.

  So I'm sitting here trying to think of a name for this Egg Salad.  I asked Chris "I need a name for this Egg Salad because it's not your typical Egg Salad."  And then we just smiled at each other because I had just come up with it... I whipped this up over the summer.  I was craving some kind of salad sandwich but I didn't want Chicken Salad.... I looked up some recipes of Egg Salad and decided it sounded too boring.  So I thought "What about egg salad with bacon in it?"  We LOVED it.  I don't make it very often, but when I do it's usually gone in a matter of hours even though I have the intention of it lasting 2 days.  The 2nd or 3rd time I made it I doubled it and that was great because Chris could come home and just have that for lunch.  The time in the kitchen pays off in my opinion. Simple. Easy. Yummy.

Not-Your-Typical-Egg-Salad

Makes 4 sandwiches

You will need:
   6 boiled eggs
   1 diced green onion
   1 diced celery stalk
   6 pieces of bacon, cooked, cooled, crumbled.
   2-3 tbs of light mayo
   1-2 tsp of regular or dijon mustard.  (Depends on your palate)
   1/4 tsp paprika
   1/8 tsp dill weed
   1/8 tsp of cayenne, if you like a little kick.
   Salt and pepper to taste
*All of these seasonings will probably need to be tweaked according to your palate.  This is just what we like.

  So here we go.  The most time consuming thing of the whole recipe is the eggs.  If you don't know how to make the perfect boiled egg... (Surprisingly I couldn't figure out how to do this until last summer) Cover 6 eggs in a pot of water.  Bring it to a boil, remove from heat, and let them sit covered for about 12-15 minutes.  Oh and by the way, any of you that see the baking soda in the water trick, to help eggs peel easier, it TOTALLY works.

After your eggs are peeled and diced, and your bacon is cooked and crumbled, your basically going to throw everything in a bowl and grab a fork to start tweaking the taste to your liking. 

While I was waiting on my eggs I started putting things in a bowl.  

** I only had about half of the yokes.  

After you stir it all together you will get something that looks like this. :) 

If you want your egg salad cold then stick it in the freezer for just a few minutes... But honestly it tastes pretty good luke-warmish.  Grab your favorite bread, slap some on there and dig in.  Chris and I are in love with this Organic Rudis Honey Sweet Wheat that we get over here in Germany.  I have definitely seen it in stores in the states so it's worth checking it out.  

Oatmeal Muffins

A few days ago I was looking around for an Oatmeal Recipe and stumbled upon this one. I bookmarked it and then kind of forgot about it until the next day.

Chris was at work and Ashton and I were building with Legos.  I asked Ashton if he wanted to build a skyscraper? His answer was "Ummmm.. No..." A castle? "No." A house? "No."  I dismissed all of the no's and went to work on pulling out all of his number Legos so we could practice on them. After about 10 minutes Ashton started getting frustrated that his towers kept falling over.  It was too the point that I couldn't even help him so I said "That's it, we're going to go make something in the kitchen," and took him downstairs. I decided we'd take a stab at these Oatmeal Muffins since I had everything on had.  Ashton is really taking a liking to helping me in the kitchen which I absolutely LOVE.  I don't know any other 1 year old that helps me put things together with such patience.  From dumping things in a bowl, to stirring and putting cupcake liners in, he is really so smart and follows directions so greatly.  Ok, enough of me bragging on my kid..

 You'll need:
    1 cup of milk
    1 cup of oats
    1 egg
    1/4 cup of oil
    1 cup of flour
    1/4 cup of sugar (brown or white)
    1 tsp baking soda
    1/2 tsp salt
    1 tsp cinnamon
    Chocolate chips, walnuts, raisins or anything else your little heart desires.

Before we get started, I must say that I read many of the reviews on this site and it is proven that this recipe is incredibly versatile.  (Which I love).  You can use Almond, Soy, or Rice Milk.  You can use butter or oil, You can use whole wheat flour, you can use bananas or applesauce as a replacement.  You can use white or brown sugar. The list goes on.  This recipe is a great one to throw together on a Sunday and freeze that way you have an easy breakfast, snack on the go, or an extra to put in your kids lunch. :) I will say they only make about 12 so you could easily double the recipe but regardless, I don't see them lasting long because they didn't in our house.

First, preheat your oven to 425.  Line your cupcake pan with liners. Mix your oats and milk together and let them sit for 15 minutes.

In another bowl, mix/sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. 

After your oats have soaked, add the egg and oil and stir it until it's well combined.  Then add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients. 

About to get caught... 

Then, fill your cups about 2/3-3/4 full. I filled them pretty full (on accident) so I only had 11 muffins. Put them in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Taco Pasta

  We were going to have Chili tonight, I was so excited because I thought I'd grace you with a really good recipe.  Until I looked in my cupboard and saw that I was missing chili beans.  I called Katy in an attempt to tweak some things around and make it work, but we decided it just wouldn't.  After throwing some ideas around, I settled on Taco Pasta.  This recipe comes from The Girl Who Ate Everything.  I've made this recipe at least a dozen times and it's never failed me.  It only takes about 20 minutes to put together and it's one that Ashton LOVES.  :) I failed at taking step by step pictures so just trust me on this one. :) 

You will need:
  1 lb ground beef or turkey.  We REALLY love ground turkey in this one.
  1 small diced onion
  1 clove of garlic, minced
  8-12 oz of pasta shells
  1 14 oz can of Rotel or diced tomatoes.  If you like the spice, go for Rotel.  But if you're making this for kids, stick with diced tomatoes. 
  1 packet of taco seasoning or 1 1/2 tbs of homemade taco seasoning.  (You can always add more if it isn't hot enough.
  3 oz of cream cheese
  1/2 cup sour cream 
  Salt and pepper to taste

 Start by bringing a pot of water to boil and get your noodles going.  Also, start browning your ground beef/turkey and dice up that onion and garlic.  You can be like me and add your garlic and onion so it gets all nice and translucent or you can wait until your beef/turkey is well on it's way.  Drain your meat and then add it back to the pan.  Add tomatoes and taco seasoning and let it simmer for 3-5 minutes.  Also, keep an eye on who ever is helping you.  

Because this may happen.... Oops... 

Drain your noodles as soon as they're done and reserve 1/4-1/2 cup of the pasta water.  Stir in cream cheese and sour cream and that pasta water... Oh and the noodles ;) 

Andddddd.. here it is.. You can always put some shredded cheese or cilantro on top if you'd like : ) 

The Taco Cups I forgot about.

  Does anybody remember me saying a few weeks ago that I was making Taco Cups and that I'd post the recipe soon?  Well I forgot, woops.. So lets get this bad boy rolling.. 

Here's your line up, except I forgot to throw the wonton wrappers in there.  

Wonton wrappers, I found outs in the frozen food section

Olives, tomatoes, green onion, cheese, and seasoned ground turkey.  

I'm in love with how easy and versatile this recipe is.  You can use any kind of meat and any kind of toppings, sometimes Chris and I like to throw some queso or Chalula in there. 

Start off by preheating your oven to 375 and get your meat ready.  We LOVE ground turkey.  Spray some non stick spray on a cupcake pan and put 2 wonton wrappers in each cup.  Kind of put them in so the wrappers aren't lined up with eachother and make a nice pretty cup.  I use my own taco seasoning because taco seasoning packets are known to be LOADED with sodium and I think homemade taco seasoning tastes much better.  

Taco Seasoning Recipe:

1 tsp of chili powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper/cayenne

1/4 tsp of dried oregano

1/2 tsp paprika

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp of pepper

I usually mix a whole bunch of this up and put it in a small rubbermaid or baggy.  :) This may sound odd, but don't freak out if you're missing 1 of the ingredients... I don't have onion or chili powder in my cabinet and this still turns out great.  

Fill em up with your toppings and then bake for about 12 minutes. 

Don't these look yummy? 

Now take 3, or 6, or the whole pan and drizzle some sour cream on. 

and Enjoy :)