There's Got to be a Morning After

I can't believe it.  After all the food my boys ingested yesterday at our combined celebration of Thanksgiving and my son's 9th birthday, they still expected to be fed today.  Drat.  I have a kitchen full of evidence of my mad food preparation for the holiday, and not a darn thing I feel like fixing for breakfast.  Hmmm.  So with delicious memories of Aunt Pooh's stuffing still lurking in my blood chemistry, I started nosing around in the fridge.  Eggs...a couple of lonely slices of bacon...some spinach...aha.  AHA!!  And bread...yesssss.  A half-loaf of bread I made last weekend.  Just the right amount of dry.  Here goes brunch!

Morning-After Breakfast Casserole


Dry, cubed bread (1/2 a home-made loaf did the trick for us...you might need a whole loaf of storebought to fill a 9x13 baking dish)
12 eggs
1/2 c. milk
4-6 slices bacon, cut into small pieces 
1 small onion, diced
1 c. chopped mushrooms
4 c. fresh spinach, chopped
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese


Cook the bacon in a large skillet, just until it begins to crisp.  Remove the bacon from the pan, then toss the onion and mushrooms into the bacon grease.  Cook over medium heat until they are soft and the onion is translucent.  Add chopped spinach to the pan and toss with onion and bacon, then turn off the heat.  Sprinkle the nutmeg and salt and pepper over the spinach, stir to combine, and leave it to cool.  


In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk.  Stir in the cooled vegetable mixture and the bacon, then add the cheese.  Fold the bread in gently.


Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray, and pour the mixture in.  Cover with foil, and bake in a 400 oven for 35 minutes.  Uncover and bake for 10 minutes more.  Remove from oven and let stand for about 5 minutes, then cut into squares and serve. 

No word on how it fares as leftovers....

Still Cookin'

Greetings, world!  I know this blog looks suspiciously like it has been abandoned, but really, it hasn't.  I do things 'in fits,' as my grandmother used to say, and playing in the kitchen is no exception. Some days I'm a gourmet, others I'm making PB&J sandwiches.  This summer, I'm venturing into canning for the first time.   I also made my first batch of zucchini bread last week!  Along with some other fun, I'll try to post a little more faithfully this fall.  School starts next week, so maybe I'll have a moment to write something down!

Happy eating!

Deli Never Had It So Good

The lunchmeat sandwich - homemade fast food.  I have lunchmeat sandwiches filed in my brain under "cheap, easy, fast, not junk."  This isn't really the case, though.  Unless you're talking about the cheapest, most byproduct-and-chemical-laden products available, lunchmeat and cheese aren't cheap.  When you're talking about 6 kids making sandwiches or needing sandwiches made for them, it's neither fast nor easy.  And as for "not junk,"  well, that's only the case if you buy the REALLY good stuff, which STARTS at $9 /lb or so!  Needless to say, this is a meal that needs re-filed in my brain....

That said, I still like a good sandwich every once in a while.  If I take the time for prepping sandwich fillings, the older kids are fairly self-sufficient with making their own and things come together easily for the younger ones.  I can slice veggies early in the day if I need to save time at dinner.  As long as I'm not delusional about throwing it all on the table, eating, and getting out the door in 20 minutes, it's actually a decent option for our busier evenings, and leftovers are a nice bonus for lunch the next day.  Also, since all the veggies are included, I really don't have to think about side dishes if I don't want to, and that makes it a quicker meal, too.

So here's the deli spread for our house:

Whole-grain bread
Avocado spread (recipe follows)
Sliced portobello mushrooms, grilled
Provolone cheese slices
Sliced red onion, green peppers, and tomatoes
Leaf lettuce or spinach
Mayo and mustard (if anyone asks for them)

Avocado Spread
2 avocados, cubed and mashed
1 tsp. dried cilantro 
1 tsp. red pepper flake (opt., more or less to taste)
sea salt and black pepper to taste
**Use in place of mayo on sandwiches

Game Night Goodies

My kiddies are getting older, and (inevitably, I suppose) they've gotten involved in sports.  Weeknight games are the bane of my meal-planning existence.  I've been lucky enough to stumble across some great recipes that save us from bologna sandwiches or drive-thru atrocities.  This is one I found on MomAdvice.com  Amy's recipe is made with ground chuck, but I've been using black beans.  The boys love it, and I can make it early and keep it in the crock pot if I need to.  It's great with pretzels and finger veggies!

Sloppy Joes
6 c. (or 4 cans) cooked black beans**
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 c. ketchup
2 tsp. mustard
2 tbsp. brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste


Cook green pepper and onion in 1 tbsp. oil until soft.  Add all other ingredients, stir well, and let simmer until heated through and sauce is homogeneous...about 30 minutes.  Serve on buns, bread, in pita pockets, or with corn chips.  **If using ground chuck, brown 2lbs., drain, then add veggies and cook until soft.  Proceed as directed.