Sweet Potato French Toast

My husband wanted to have a Good Friday bunch after church.  He wanted bacon, eggs and french toast.  Often, when we have something like that, I'd just eat what I can and not worry about the rest but this time I decided I wanted to try and make some french toast that I can eat.  It was a nice surprise!  I want to play around a bit and see if I can get the egg mixture to stick to the sweet potato a bit better but for now, this was good.

If you are eating AIP, you need to know that this isn't compliant as it has eggs and almond milk.  But once you successfully re-introduce those things, this is something you can try! 

All I did was slice the sweet potato and toast it in the toaster.  I found that the thinner slice was better than the thicker slice.  I toasted it two or three times ... til it was browned.  

Then I made the 'batter" just like normal french toast.  I used an egg, some almond milk, homemade vanilla extract, and a bit of cinnamon.  Dip the toasted sweet potato slices into the batter and then cook in an already heated fry pan.

I topped the toast with a bit of pure maple syrup and fresh raspberries.

And we had scrambled eggs (I just do eggs with nothing added) and some AIP compliant bacon.

A delicious Good Friday brunch! 

Bacon topped Roasted Pumpkin and Cauliflower Soup

This soup was so easy and delicious I have to write down how I made it so that I can make it again next winter! It all started because I didn't cook a meal I had planned which left me with half of a pumpkin and a head of cauliflower that really needed to be used.  I didn't really have a piece of meat or any potatoes to go with them so a roast was not on the table.  I didn't want to go to the shops ... you know, it was one of those days!  We all have them, right?! So, I scrounged around and this is what I came up with.

1/2 of a Kent pumpkin

1 head of cauliflower 

1 head of garlic

A couple of onions

I chopped the pumpkin and cauliflower, peeled and quartered the onions, and just peeled the garlic.  I put all of that in a large baking dish (lined with baking paper of course) and coasted with olive oil.  I roasted them in the oven on like 180C (350F) until the pumpkin was soft and the cauliflower was starting to brown. 

I put all of that into my blender, added a bit of chicken stock and blended it to a thick soup consistency. 

We love toppings on our soups too so while the veggies were roasting, I chopped up the following.

1 small onion

A couple cloves of garlic

A few rashers of bacon

I fried them all together ... starting with the bacon because it takes a bit longer ... then adding the garlic and onion and cooking til garlic is not longer bitter and onions are soft.

I served the soup in a bowl, sprinkled with the topping. 

I had intended to grab a few chives out of the garden as well to sprinkle on the top, but I forgot!  Oh well ... next time!

BLT Pizza

I LOVE trying new pizza recipes.  When I found this recipe, I knew it was one we needed to try.  I did exactly what she said to do, except I added red onions and I didn't measure at all.  That's one of the best things about making pizza ... you can just throw whatever you want on top.  No measurements needed.

Ingredients:
Dough - use your favorite recipe or store bought.  (There are a few recipes on the beans blog that you could try.  I'll be posting my go to recipe soon ...)
Alfredo sauce, I used store bought but you could totally make it if you wanted to
Tomatoes, sliced
Red onion, thinkly sliced
Bacon, cooked
Rocket (arugula if you are in America)
Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Method:

It's not complicated.

Roll out your dough and spread alfredo sauce on it.  Top with tomatoes, red onion, bacon and mozzarella cheese. 

We cook our pizzas in a outdoor pizza oven but you can do it in the oven on 200C/390F for about 10/20 minutes.  You just want the dough to be cooked through and the cheese to be melted and golden.

Top cooked pizza with arugula.

Delish.

Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup

I found this recipe at A Year Of Slow Cooking. You all know about that blog right ? No ... well, you need to go check it out !! The blog author, Stephanie, made a new years resolution to use her crock pot EVERY DAY for the year 2008 !! And she did it ! So, yeah, no shortage of crock pot recipes over there !!!

I modified the recipe just a little ... here's how I did mine.

2.5 lbs (just over a kilo) potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pinch chili powder
1 quart chicken broth ( i used water and stock cubes)
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, to add at the end
crumbled bacon, spring onions and avocado to serve

Put everything minus the cream cheese, bacon, spring onions and avocado into the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4. (I did high last night) The potatoes should be fork-tender. Add the cream cheese and put lid back on to let cream cheese melt.  I left it for about 20 minutes.

Cook the bacon.

Get your stick blender into the crock pot and blend everything together.

Garnish with crumbled bacon, spring onions and avocado !! Delish !!

My husband who "doesn't like soup" had two helpings of this last night and took if for lunch today !! Soon he will have to stop making the "i don't like soup" statement because he likes many many soups now !!

Bacon Salad. With Bacon.

 

So, the other night, Ellie was cooking a putanesca (not this one but if you want to try one, this is a good one to try) for dinner.  I was tasked with making a salad.  Ryan had seen a salad he wanted to try that was topped with bacon and pumpkin seeds.  Turns out the salad he was thinking about was actually a soup so we never did find a recipe.  No biggie though.  I threw this little beauty together and it was DELICIOUS!

There aren't really measurements ... it's a salad.

Bacon, however much you like.

Red Onion

Garlic, I think I used about eight cloves

Spinach
Avocado

Mushrooms
Mixed seeds (my mix was pumpkin, sunflower and pine nut)
Fresh Parmesan cheese

Dry toast the seeds in a small frying pan until just brown.  Just enough for a topping.  You don't see my seed topping in the photo because we had to change platters while we were assembling the salad so my seeds are actually on the bottom!  Anyway ... set the seeds aside.

Chop bacon, dice onion, sliver the garlic and saute together.   While that is cooking, slice the mushrooms and add to bacon mixture when it's just about done.

On a large platter, lay spinach.  Top with bacon mixture.  Chop avocado and lay on top of salad.  Sprinkle with seeds and grate parmesan cheese on top.

I didn't add any dressing. 

I like to think that the bacon was the dressing. 

But, you could add dressing if you like ...

Jaylen's Gnocchi & Craig's Bacon Mushroom Sauce

This is the yummiest gnocchi.

Our friend Jaylen taught us how to make it.

His dad taught us how to make the bacon mushroom sauce that goes on top.

This last time we made it, we also topped it with the Winter Veg Sauce ....

You will need:

500g fresh ricotta cheese

150g pecorino romano cheese

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

2 cups flour

Mix the first 4 ingredients and 1/4 cup of the flour.  Season with whatever you like.  Mix into a soft dough.  Add the remaining 1 & 3/4 cups flour and incorporate to make a stiff dough.  Separate dough into 4 pieces and roll them into big long logs.  Cut each log into pieces and then roll the gnocchi using a gnocchi board or the back of a fork.  The gnocchi board is a hundred times easier and they are cheap. (I think I paid $10 for mine, including shipping !)

While you are rolling, boil your water.  Once boiled, add gnocchi.  It will rise to the top when it's done.  Scoop it out and keep cooking in batches til they are all done.  That's it !  Top with whatever sauce you like.  (I'll give you a great recipe below ...) And some more of the pecorino romano cheese !

 

 Craig's Bacon Mushroom Sauce

(the way I did it)

1 onion, diced

Garlic, as little or as much as you like, diced

Mushrooms, sliced

Bacon,  250g, sliced

Chicken stock, 1 cup

White Wine, 1 cup

Cream, a cup or two ... 

Fresh Basil, chopped

Fry those first four ingredients together with a little bit of olive oil.  Add chicken stock.  Reduce.  Add wine and basil.  Reduce.  Add cream.  Stir and cook til thickened. 

Spaghetti Carbonara (ala Mama S.)

Spaghetti Carbonara (ala Mama S.)

1lb of Pasta (any long spaghetti pasta of your preference)
3/4lb of Bacon
½ cup of Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons Butter (melted)
4 Eggs
1 cup of Parmesan Cheese (the type that comes in a plastic
can in the pasta aisle)

Start pasta water boiling, but don’t add the pasta yet.

Chop bacon into half inch pieces and fry it till it is very crispy. Drain the grease off a couple
times during the cooking process so that the bacon fries and does not simmer. You need to have approximately 2 tablespoons of the grease left in the pan when the bacon is crispy. Add cream to the pan with the bacon and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the cream cooks down to just a coating over the bacon.

Melt butter and set aside.

Beat the eggs well. Stir parmesan cheese into the beaten eggs. Let it set for a few minutes to allow the cheese to soak into the eggs. If there is liquid (eggs) remaining after the cheese has been allowed to soak for a bit, stir in more cheese and repeat the process until the mixture resembles cooked cream of wheat.

When all of the above steps are completed, cook the pasta according to package directions (make sure it stays al dente).

The next steps need to happen quickly, so BE READY!

Drain pasta. Don’t rinse! Return pasta to the hot pasta pot. Stir butter into pasta. Pour egg mixture onto hot pasta and quickly stir until all of the pasta is coated with the egg mixture. (Eggs will cook from the heat of the pasta) Stir in bacon mixture.

Serve.

Eat.

Enjoy!

(serves approximately 4 people)

It is good as it, but some people enjoy topping their carbonara with red pepper flakes and/or garlic powder.

The Bendeguz

So ... the other day my husband was craving Eggs Benedict. But it was already way past breakfast time and we didn't have any of the ingredients anyway so we just left it.  Then our friends invited us to come have pizza for dinner.  We never turn down pizza with Craig & Jodie ... this was no exception !  Rory threw out the idea of making an Eggs Benedict Pizza.  Craig was up to the challenge and the rest my friends, is history !  Mouth watering, record breaking, best pizza eva history !

So, how do you make it ?

You'll need your favorite pizza dough recipe. This one had a nice thick crust.

Roll out your dough.  Top with "funky lime" garlic and the oil you cooked it in.  (funky lime garlic ... heat olive oil in a small frying pan. Add freshly minced garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, til light brown ... DON'T BURN IT !! Burned garlic is bitter and yucky !)

Top with mozzarella cheese and sliced bacon.  Cook the pizza til cheese/crust are golden.

While pizza is cooking, make hollandaise sauce and poach a couple eggs. (recipe here)

Once pizza is cooked, drizzle hollandaise sauce on top, top with baby spinach leaves and poached eggs.

Try not to make groaning noises when you eat this ... (but don't be surprised to find that is an effort in futility !) 

Breakfast Burritos

My sister Ellie taught me how to make these ...
although, I've added a few little homemade salsa's of my own to the mix ....

There are lots of components ... and no real measurements, it depends on how many you are cooking for ... you'll work it out !

Potatoes: Chop 'em small and shallow fry with garlic powder and salt in a bit of olive oil. Fry til crispy (or done to your liking) These take a while so get them started and then do everything else.

Bacon: Chop and cook til crispy.

Eggs: Scrambled. Do these at the end so that they are hot when you serve !

Tomato Salsa: For this one I diced two tomatoes, 1/4 of a red onion (finely diced), 1 clove of freshly minced garlic, 2 handfuls of fresh coriander, salt, pepper and the juice of one lime. Mix.

Green Chili Salsa: 1/4 of a red onion (finely diced), 3 cloves of garlic (minced), 2 tins of fire roasted green chilies, 1/2 cup chicken stock. Sautee the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil. Add the chilies and the chicken stock. Stir occasionally so it doesn't burn. Keep it going til the sauce thickens up.

Cheese: Cheddar. Grated.

Flour Tortillas: Warmed

Top the tortillas with whatever combo of ingredients you want ... add Sour Cream too. Fold it up and eat it ! So good !!

I was going to add Avocado this time too but I forgot. I think it would be really good ....

Baked Potato Bowls

So ... I saw this recipe and wanted to try it. I didn't make it quite the same way, mainly because I forgot the bacon. How I did THAT, I don't know ! I cooked them anyway, and they were good but they will be so much better next time when I add the bacon. I changed a little bit about mine ... here's how I did them.

1 large potato per person, (and I of course did extra's for lunches the next day)
1 egg per potato
bacon, cooked and diced (probably one piece per 2 potatoes)
shredded cheese
fresh herbs, optional
salt and pepper

Bake the potatoes. Lay the baked potato on its side, and cut off the top of the potato. Scoop out the insides to make a “bowl", (I didn't know what to do with these innards last time but next time I'll be planning gnocchi for the following evening !) Break and egg into each bowl. Top with bacon, cheese, fresh herbs, and season with salt and pepper.

Bake at 350F/180C for 20-25 minutes, or until the egg whites are set. Serve immediately.

I topped the 'potato tops' with cheese and made potato skins. Yum !

And

I served these with sauteed mushrooms and onions, corn on the cob and a green salad.
Just realized that since I forgot the bacon, this was a totally vegetarian meal.

Easy Peasy Quiche

Years ago, a friend of mine gave me this recipe. It's such a good recipe because you can pretty much throw anything in it !

Mix together:
3 eggs
1/2 cup self raising flour
1 & 1/2 cups milk
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup filling (whatever you like)

Throw it all in a quiche dish and bake in the oven. I did mine on 180 and I think it took about 30 minutes but play with it. Next time I make one, I'll make note of how long it took ...

The one pictured here was really nice.

I cooked up a bit of bacon, onion and garlic. Once that was cooked, I threw in some white wine. I didn't measure, just poured it in. Maybe 1/4 of a cup ? I reduced that til there was no liquid left. Chopped up a handful of mushrooms and threw them in. I also had some leftover chicken so I chopped that up and threw it in. I had a little square of cream cheese that needed to be used. I melted that in with the bacon once it was cooked. I added a bit of salt and pepper too. I thought about adding some fresh herbs but in the end I didn't. Maybe it was raining and I didn't feel like going out to the garden ?

Anyway ... this is a great dish to get creative with. You really can't stuff it up ! Just make sure you don't add too much extra liquid !

Bonnie's Carbonara Pizza

(photo taken on my iPhone)

Ok ... so this was super easy to make ! AND so delicious !

One pizza base ... I used Craig's dough recipe ... I still need to post that for you. Soon. I'd do it now but I'm going to have to do it as a video post because it's a show you, not tell you kind of recipe ...

2 red onions, caramelized
1 head of garlic, roasted (cut off top of cloves, wrap in tin foil and put in preheated 200C oven while onions caramelize) (here's a good recipe to show you how to roast garlic ...)
A couple of rashers of bacon, chopped
A bit of cream ... maybe 1/2 of a cup ?

So ... in my big electric fry pan, I caramelized the onions then pushed them to one side and cooked the bacon in the same pan. When the bacon is cooked, add the cream and stir the lot together. Get the garlic that has been roasting out of the oven, squeeze cloves into bacon/onion mixture. Stir. I chopped up the garlic a bit with my spatula so it mixed real well. Spread this mixture onto the pizza base. Grate fresh Parmesan cheese on top. Put into still-hot -from-the- garlic oven for about 15 minutes or til dough is cooked.

That's it.

So yum !

PS ... I think I might add some rosemary next time ...

Mom's Carbonara

Today is my husband's 33rd birthday ! Our lives are so crazy busy this week that we celebrated with a birthday dinner last night ! Every other night this week ... we will be out ! Including tonight ! CRAZY. BUSY ! but I said that already ! Anyway ... he always requests lasagna but this year, to be kind to me and my current crazy business, he chose Mom's carbonara instead. I went to the blog to get the recipe and discovered that it wasn't here !?!? WHAT? !?! This recipe NEEDS to be here ! And in about 3 minutes ... it will be !

Ingredients:
1/2 (250g) lb bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3/4 cup heavy (thickened) cream
4 eggs
1 & 1/2 cups parmesan cheese (I prefer the processed stuff for this ... not fresh)
3 or 4 tablespoons butter
spaghetti (I use vermicelli)

Method:
I usually put the water on for the pasta about the time I add the onion ...

Cook the bacon about 1/2 way then add the onion. Continue to cook until bacon is well cooked. If you need to pour out some of the oil, do, but you need about 3 tbls oil left in the bacon. Pour the cream in. Simmer until the bacon is 'coated' with the cream.

In the mean time, beat the eggs and add the parmesan cheese. Whip it and then leave it alone. The cheese sucks up the egg. The mixture shouldn't look 'eggy' ...

Put your pasta into the now boiling water.

(Make salad if you are serving that as well ....)

When the pasta is nearly ready, melt the butter in the microwave.

Drain pasta. Put back into hot pan. Stir in butter. Stir in egg mixture. Stir in bacon/onion/cream mixture. A sprinkle of garlic powder on top is amazing ! We just put the garlic powder on the table and let everyone do their own !

Last night (and usually) I served this with ...

Chunky Spanish Garlic Bread

Black Olive Salad

and my new favorite wine ...

The Roadhouse

We've got quite a list going of Cheese and Burger Society Burgers that we've tried now. There's The Boss, The Camelot, The Farmer John, The Firehouse (that we don't have a photo of), The Havana, The Aunt Millie, and of course, The Lumberjack. We've enjoyed all of them. Loved a couple of them and now ... with the Roadhouse, we've found our new favorite !

Man, this is good ! Just looking at the photos makes me want to go make one ! (and it is only 7am! )

Here's what's on the burger ... (and the links to those recipes )

Beef Patty
Gruyere Cheese
Caramelized Onions
Bacon
Onion rings
Garlic Mayo
Toasted Onion Roll ... we couldn't find those, so we used Soft Whole Wheat Bread Rolls.

Garlic Chicken Pasta

So ... this recipe starts out as a crock pot recipe. The original recipe that I found called for Lawry's Mesquite Marinade with Lime Juice. I can't get that so I made my own marinade.

My marinade ~ mix in a bowl :
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup brown rice vinegar
1/8 cup red wine
garlic ~ to taste
lime juice and rind ~ one or two limes
honey
salt and pepper
paprika
liquid smoke
onion powder

I have no idea how much of each thing I used. When I make it again, I'll let you know exact measurements ...

Add to crock pot :
3 or 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Marinade from above

Cook on low for 6 hours.

Other ingredients :
Whole wheat spirals pasta
1 cup thickened (heavy) whipping cream
2 or 3 garlic cloves, crushed
pepper, to taste
1/2 cup butter
500g bacon, chopped
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Shred chicken, and set aside. When ready to prepare dinner, cook pasta. In large fry pan, cook bacon. Add butter and melt. Ad garlic, cream, pepper and parmesan cheese. Whisk together on low heat for 3-4 minutes. Add cooked pasta and shredded chicken. Stir. Top with extra parmesan.

BLT

I'm sure you all know how to make BLT's but just in case ...

cook bacon
chop tomato
tear lettuce
toast bread
or not
spread with mayo
add lettuce
tomato
bacon

Eat and enjoy.
You might as well make yourself two ...
We usually do !

Yummo Spinach Salad

I can't believe I didn't get a good photo of this salad on it's own.
It is so good ! I can't wait for you all to try it and tell me what you think !!
It's a Pioneer Woman recipe ... they are ALWAYS good !!

You can find the orignial recipe here.
I didn't do it exactly like her.
Seemed too complicated !
Here's how I did it ...

Pioneer Woman’s Spinach Salad - the Bonnie Way.

3 eggs
bacon - how ever much you like
1 small red onion (or 1/2 large onion)
1 package white button mushrooms (about 12 mushrooms), sliced
8 ounces baby spinach, washed, dried, and large stems removed
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Dash of salt

Make hard boiled eggs. Set aside.

Fry bacon to desired crispiness. Add onions and mushrooms.

Make hot bacon dressing: Add 3 tablespoons bacon grease, vinegar, sugar, and Dijon to a small saucepan or skillet over medium-low heat. Whisk mixture together and heat thoroughly. Now ... I didn't have anywhere near that much bacon grease in my pan. I had very little in fact because I was using Australian, not American bacon !! I just added a bit of olive oil to the pan that I cooked everything in and then followed the same instructions as above ...

Add spinach to a large bowl. Arrange onions, mushrooms, and bacon on top. Pour hot dressing over the top; toss to combine.

Arrange sliced eggs over the top and serve.

DELICIOUS !!!

I served this with Quinoa Crusted Chicken Fingers. That recipe coming soon ...

Baked Potato Soup

I got this recipe out of the Rachel Ray cookbook my cousin, Jill, got us for Christmas !
You can find the original recipe here.
Here's how I did mine ...

10 slices bacon, chopped
2 big leeks, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
8 sprigs fresh thyme, removed from stems
1 tablespoon paprika, plus additional for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 kgs potatoes, peeled and chopped
6 cups chicken stock

Shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano
Spring Onions, for garnish

Cook bacon until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and reserve.

Cook leeks and garlic in the bacon fat until tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add in the thyme, paprika, some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add potatoes and stock to the pot and boil til the potatoes are cooked through, about 8-10 minutes. When the potatoes are tender, puree the soup in a food processor. I had to do this in about 5 batches as this makes a LOT of soup !

Serve the soup in a bowl or mug topped with some of the two cheeses, reserved bacon, and a sprinkling of spring onions.

We used sour cream tonight but we won't again.

** Tomorrow when I have the leftovers for lunch, I'm going to put chopped avocado on top !!

PS ... I served this soup with Roasted Cauliflower and Brocolli !

Baked Potato Bar

This is such a quick an easy meal.
I did it for the kids the other night.

All you do is ...
Bake the potatoes.
You know, wrap 'em in tin foil, into a hot oven for 30 minutes or so.
Have a bunch of stuff out to top them with.
I cooked a bit of bacon.
Cheese and sour cream and the kids were set.

Normally I'd do beans, salsa, avocado as well ...
Olives
Mushrooms
Onions and Chives
Garlic

You name it ... it can go on top of a baked potato !!

Rory's Carbonara

This is a favorite around here ...

My husband Rory made this recipe up when he was studying at University. Every Friday night he would have this carbonara and a bottle of wine for dinner ....

~

I love it because it is equally as easy as it is yummy. I keep most of these things in my house so usually just have to buy the bacon if I haven't got any in the freezer.

~

We had it last night ... needed something I could cook without thinking. You Mom's know how that goes right ? Sick kid ... long day ... what to do for dinner ?!?! Plus, Jono said he would like to have bacon for dinner ... perfect meal for all of us !!

~

The Recipe ....

Ingredients:

• bacon - roughly 250g (1/2 lb) - chopped
• 1 onion - chopped
• garlic - slivered ( you can put as little or as much as you like. I use a whole head of garlic when I make this but we are HEAVY on the garlic eaters !! )
• fresh rosemary - 1 or 2 sprigs
• pasta - I like vermicelli or thin spaghetti. Rory likes fettucine. The kids like spirals.
• parmesan cheese

Put water on to boil. Cook pasta. (when finished, drain and run under a bit of cold water so it doesn't stick together)

While pasta is cooking. Put a bit of olive oil in a frying pan - or you can leave it out if your bacon makes lots of grease. Cook bacon 'til almost done ( we like it crispy but you can do it to your desired taste ! ) Add garlic and chopped rosemary. Cook 'til garlic is just starting to brown. Add onion. Cook 'til soft.

Put pasta back in pan (or in serving dish). Add bacon mixture. Add parmesan cheese. We probably add a cup - at least. Mix to coat. Serve with salad and nice bread.

Rory has been known to add black olives and/or sliced mushrooms to this dish as well.

~

EVERYONE in our little family LOVES this meal ! No complaints !