Breakfast Egg Bake

There are several of these all over the internet. I made this one up myself, but I am sure there is a similar one out there that you could find.

• 1lb Italian roll sausage
• 7 eggs
• 6 slices of bread
  
• 2C milk - divided
  
• 1-2T Cajun seasoning (can use any seasoning you prefer)
  
• shredded cheddar cheese

- fry sausage and drain. Reduce to low-medium heat. Sprinkle flour on sausage to coat. Stirring well. Once sausage is coated well add 1 1/2C of milk and stir. Continue stirring until gravy thickens. The more milk you add the thinner the gravy will be. With this amt. it is pretty thick.

- Mix eggs, 1/2C milk and seasoning

- spray baking dish with cooking spray. Tear slices of bread and line bottom of a 9x13 pan

- pour sausage gravy evenly over bread

-pour eggs evenly over gravy

- you can put this in the fridge overnight or let sit 15-20 minutes then bake.

-bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes until egg mixture is cooked through. Add cheese when about 10 minutes of cooking time remains.

Bourbon Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I took the recipe for the sauce from a friend of mine's website and modified it slightly. Here is the link to her site. Busy Mom's Cookbook. Thanks Katie!

• 1lb ground chicken
• 1/2C minute rice
• Head of iceberg lettuce
  
• 2T EVOO (or veg. oil)
  
• 1 garlic cloved - crushed (I used 1tsp of minced garlic in olive oil)
• 1/2tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/3C brown sugar
  
• 2T Chili Sauce (can use ketchup)
• 1T Cider Vinegar
• 1/2C apple juice
• 1/2C soy sauce
• 1C water

-Cook ground chicken in EVOO.
-While the chicken is cooking mix all the ingredients except the rice.
-Once chicken is fully cooked (should not take long and does not need to be drained) pour in the sauce you made. Bring to a boil.
- Add rice and turn down heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes. Until rice is cooked and remaining liquid is boiled off.
- while the rice is cooking peel off large pieces of lettuce to use as "wraps". Rinse in cool water and pat dry between paper towels.

Pork Chops with Salsa Beans

I came across this recipe in a Pillsbury cookbook and modified a bit for us.

• 2 bone-in center-cut pork loin chops; 1/2" thick (I use boneless)
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup Salsa (recipe calls for chunky - I used Kroger brand picante)
• 16 oz baked bean; undrained (I used Bush's Country Style)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Spray crockpot with cooking spray. Mix corn, salsa, and beans. Season one side of pork chops with salt and pepper. Put seasoned side down on top of bean mixture. Overlap as necessary and press gently into beans. Season remaining side of pork chops with salt and pepper.

Cover. Cook on Low 4 to 5 hours.

OPTIONAL: Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Season pork chops. Place in skillet. Cook 2-4 minutes or until browned on both sides. Obviously I skipped this step since it is just something else to clean and it is not needed.

Chicken Nuggets

This is a great chicken nugget recipe for your little ones. I am planning on making some this weekend. Thanks Lucy_dc from MC!

Chicken Nuggets
1 lb. ground chicken
2-4 ozs. pureed vegetables (optional; can be any kind)
1-2 eggs mixed with a little water
1 cup or more flour
1 cup or more bread crumbs (seasoned are fine)
ground pepper to taste
1/4 tsp thyme
1 tbls parsley

• preheat oven to 375
• line a cookie sheet with tin foil and spray with cooking spray
• Mix ground chicken, vegetables if using, ground pepper to taste, thyme and parsley. If using pureed veggies you may need to add some bread crumbs to mixture to thicken/ Do not overwork mixture.
• Put each ingredient in a separate bowl: flour, egg (well beaten with a little water) and bread crumbs
• Use a tablespoon to measure out each nugget, roll into a rough ball. Dip in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs. Place each on cookie sheet, spaced by about 1/2 inch, and repeat.
• Before placing in oven, squash each nugget gently with a fork to flatten and shape.
• Bake for about 10 minutes a side.Recipe will yield about 30 nuggets, more if you add veggies.
• Can be frozen and reheated