Steakhouse Egg Bake

In my last blog post I said I was going to focus on salads in the month of April. However, the ample April showers are throwing off my game. I am a "moodafoodie" and a "weatherfoodie" and I just made those terms up. It means my food cravings and cooking are inspired by my mood and the weather. It is hard for me to eat a salad on a rainy day. So I am not sharing a salad recipe today. Sorry!

Today I am expanding on the blog post  in which I revealed that you can take ANY leftovers from ANY restaurant,"throw eggs on it", and make a meal. Recently, my husband and I were treated to a great meal at a steak restaurant by a work colleague. At the end of dinner I tried to avoid eye contact as I casually started packing up the leftover creamed spinach, mushrooms, and bits of steak.  Do you see where I am going with this? Oh yeah. Steakhouse egg bake. I risked a little embarrassment for you and maybe just a wee bit for me. You are welcome!

Leftover Steakhouse Egg Bake
Serves 2-4 (depending on how much leftovers you have)
steak, chopped
creamed spinach
roasted mushrooms, chopped
red onion, sliced thinly
4 eggs
cheddar cheese, grated
2 white corn tortillas (or flour tortillas, or leftover bread, or potatoes, or fries)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a casserole dish with nonstick spray. Layer tortillas (or your carb of choice), spinach, mushrooms, steak and red onion. Break eggs on top and stir them up a bit with a fork. Drizzle a small amount of milk on top of the eggs to keep them from drying out. Top with cheddar cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the egg whites are cooked.

Chop

Layer

Bake and eat!

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Cabbage Ramen Salad

It is April and in some parts of the country it is "springish". It is time to step away from the comfort food, plant our gardens and fire up the grill.  I would like to take this month and focus on salads.

I love salads or slaw's made with crunchy, shredded cabbage. I have enjoyed a cabbage salad that has raw ramen noodles and an Asian dressing several times in my life. A majority of the recipes online use the flavoring packet that comes with the ramen noodles and I tend to enjoy my salads without a side of MSG. I did some research, combined some recipes, and came up with a dressing sans MSG. The ramen noodles add more crunch and are interesting.  However, I will understand if the idea of consuming ramen noodles in any capacity freaks you out a bit and urge you to try the recipe without them. 

Cabbage Ramen Salad (serves 4)
1/2 bag of shredded cabbage or tricolor slaw mix
1/4 cup carrots, chopped
1/4 cup radishes, chopped
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (or almonds)
1 bag uncooked ramen noodles, broken into bits

Dressing
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt (more to taste)
1.5 Tbsp sugar (more to taste)
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1.5 Tbsp rice vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil

Combine salad ingredients. Mix dressing ingredients and taste. Per your taste, you may add a dash more salt or sugar. Dress salad and serve.

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Stuffed Sweet Potato

Have you ever "waited patiently" for something in your life?

wait (verb) Stay where one is or delay action until a particular time or until something else happens.
patient (adjective) Able to wait without becoming annoyed or anxious.

In some circumstances it can be unhealthy for us to delay action until a particular thing happens. And please raise your hand if while you wait for something or someone you do not become annoyed or anxious. Oh boy! That discussion deserves its own blog post.

Perhaps, it would be healthier for us to "hope" and to "hope patiently".
hope noun-a desire or expectation for a certain thing to happen

So I admit it, I am looking forward to, waiting and hoping for the arrival of spring, warmer temperatures, my garden to produce, and my grass to turn green. However, in no way will I delay any action until then. To do that would be to miss the last little bit of winter with its colorful sunrises, crisp chill in the air, and comforting warm foods.

Stuffed Sweet Potato
(serves 2 as a meal)
2 large sweet potatoes
1 or 2 chicken breast, cooked
1/2 green bell pepper (onions or any other color bell pepper)
15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
olive oil
1/4 tsp cumin
sour cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse your sweet potatoes. Use a fork to prick a couple holes around the potato. Place them on a baking sheet and roast for about 40-50 minutes. They are done when you can put a fork in them and their is a sweet syrup dripping from them. While the potatoes are roasting, add olive oil to a small pot on medium heat. Add bell peppers (or onions) and saute for a few minutes. Add black beans and cumin and simmer on low. When potatoes are done roasting, slice them down the middle, add butter, top with black beans, chicken, and sour cream.

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Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

The back story of this cookie as I remember it, is that my mother and my aunts acquired this recipe from a member of their La Leche group back in the mid to late 70's. The cookies were packed with oats and wheat germ and other healthy things (never mind the sugar and the butter) that helped keep one "regular".

And so we ate them.
And we ate them a lot.
And we ate a lot of them.
And sometimes we even called them breakfast. 

Myself and all 345 cousins (slight exaggeration but not much) of mine enjoyed every bite after a marathon game of Marco Polo in the pool or after a hard day of crawfishing out of the ditch using bologna as bait.

These cookies are my favorite. They are a part of my past and they will be a part of my future. They are soft in the middle and crunchy on the outside. They are not overly sweet and they taste even better the next day. The recipe has been altered over the years but this is the version I am sharing.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
(makes 24 cookies)
3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ (optional)
9 ounces dark chocolate chips
3/4 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp salt
2 sticks butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Combine wet ingredients with a mixer and then gradually mix in dry ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

I like to freeze them in individual cookies so I can bake them a few at a time. Scoop out individual cookies and put them on a baking sheet in the freezer for a couple hours. Remove them and place in a container for storage. Add a few minutes to the bake time when you pull them from the freezer.

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