Migas

When The Hubs & I went to the lake house a couple of weekends ago, I was trying to figure out what to make for breakfast. If its just the two of us there, we typically do pancakes, cinnamon rolls or something equally simple. (If we have guests, breakfast turns into a real homemade smorgasbord). I decided to do something a little different and make Migas.

Migas (which translates to "crumbs") has a variety of versions - from Spanish to Portuguese to TexMex. The Spanish & Portuguese versions typically use left over bread and are used as a side dish, while the TexMex version calls for tortilla strips and eggs and is served at breakfast. I obviously made the TexMex version.


Ingredients:

Note: Feel free to use whatever ingredients & mix-ins that you like or have on hand.

* 4 slices of bacon, chopped
* 2/3 of a bell pepper, diced
* 1/2 bunch of green onions, chopped
* 2/3 cup sliced mushrooms
* 4 small corn tortillas, cut into small strips
* 4 to 6 eggs
* shredded cheese
* fresh cilantro, chopped
* salsa


Directions:

1. Cook bacon in a skillet until crisp. Remove bacon from pan and place on a paper towel lined plate. Drain fat and wipe skillet clean.


2. Over medium-high heat, saute the pepper, onion & mushrooms until soft. Transfer to a plate & set aside.


3. Wipe the skillet clean again and return to the stove top. Once it is hot, add the tortilla strips & cook, stirring often, until tortillas are crisp.


4. Crack eggs into a bowl & scramble with a fork. Pour the eggs into the pan over the tortillas. Cook until almost set.


5. Just before the eggs are cooked through, add the veggies & bacon back to the pan and combine.


6. Serve topped with cilantro, cheese & salsa.


My Tid-Bits:

* If you want to sleep in a little longer in the morning, chop up all of the veggies & bacon the night before. If you have everything pre-chopped, this will only take you about 15 minutes to throw together.

* You can make these meatless my omitting the bacon OR make them more flavorful by using chorizo or breakfast sausage.

* Programming Note: I have SO MANY more recipes to share with you all. The photos are sitting on my camera waiting to be uploaded. I just haven't had the time to sit down at the computer & do it. I'm hoping I'll have a little more time next week.

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Quick Shrimp & Rice Dinner

Last week I was running SUPER late getting home from a meeting. When I got home, The Hubs & I were both starving, but didn't want to go out to eat (again). So I opened up the refrigerator & pantry, quickly browsed some recipes and threw this together.

It turned out delicious!

Ingredients:

* 4 slices bacon, chopped
* 1/2 a medium onion, diced
* 1 tsp paprika
* salt & pepper
* 1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning
* 1 lb. shrimp, peeled
* 2 small zucchini, quartered & sliced
* 1.5 cups cooked rice
* small handful chopped fresh parsley


Directions:

1. Prepare your favorite rice according to packaged directions.

2. In a large skillet, cook chopped bacon until crisp. Drain excess fat and add onion. Saute until soft, 3-5 minutes.


3. Stir in paprika. Season with salt & pepper.


4. Add tomatoes (with juice) and shrimp. Stir well.


5. Toss in the zucchini and let it all simmer until shrimp is cooked and zucchini is crisp-tender, 7 -10 minutes.



6. Stir in the rice & parsley and serve!



My Tid-Bits:

* This dinner was pretty quick to make. Maybe 30 minutes total. If you need to make dinner even quicker, chop up all of the ingredients ahead of time.

* There are several brands of diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings. I used Del Monte with Garlic, Basil & Oregano with no salt added. They were perfect!

* Tonight we're going on our 3rd night in a row at the Rodeo. Needless to say, not many dinners made here this week. At least we're having fun seeing KISS, Miranda Lambert & The Zach Brown Band!

Slow-Cooker Short Rib Ragu

Until this year, I really haven't used my Crock-Pot very often. But for some reason, lately I've been drawn to recipes that use a slow cooker. I love that I can put dinner together either before breakfast or at lunch time, walk away for a few hours and just serve dinner whenever we're ready to eat. It's especially nice on days when I have meetings that run late (as was the case this week).

I found this recipe for Slow-Cooker Short Rib Ragu in a Martha Stewart Everyday Food a few months back. I dogeared it, thinking it looked like something The Hubs would really like and I was right! I love that it is a versatile dish. You can use it as a sandwich filler (as I did), toss it with some pasta or serve it alongside some corn bread or polenta. It was DELICIOUS and easy.


Ingredients:

* 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
* 3 pounds boneless short ribs,
* coarse salt & ground black pepper
* 1 medium yellow onion, diced small
* 2 large carrots, diced small
* 28 oz. whole peeled tomatoes (canned)
* 2 fresh sprigs or 1 tsp tried oregano or rosemary
* 2 cloves of garlic, peeled & whole



Directions:

1. Cut boneless short ribs into 3" pieces and season liberally with salt & pepper.


2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. In batches, cook short ribs until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes total. Transfer ribs to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker.


3. Pour off all but 1 teaspoon fat from skillet, and add onion and carrot. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until vegetables are soft, 3 minutes.


4. Add 1/2 cup juice from tomatoes, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from skillet with a wooden spoon.


5. Transfer vegetables and liquid to slow cooker and add tomatoes, breaking them up as you go. Add herb sprigs and 2 whole cloves of garlic; season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on high until meat is fork-tender, 6 hours.


6. With a slotted spoon, remove herb sprigs and transfer meat to a cutting board. Shred meat using two forks (or your fingers).


7. With a ladle or large spoon, skim fat from cooking liquid (you'll remove quite a bit). Then use a slotted spoon to transfer the veggies and bits of meat to a large bowl.


8. Add the meat to the veggie mixture and toss to combine.


Serve immediately, or let cool in liquid and reheat over medium before serving.

National Pound Cake Day

Happy National Pound Cake Day!!

Until today, I didn't know that such a day existed, but I'll happily celebrate it! I love pound cake. Over the years, I've made MANY different versions of pound cake: raspberry, cream cheese, chocolate, etc. But one of my favorites has got to be peach. My mom shared this recipe with me and it is WONDERFUL!

Ingredients:

1 c. softened butter or margarine

3 c. sugar

6 eggs

3 c. flour

1/2 t. basking soda

3/4 t. salt

1/2 c. sour cream

2 c. peaches (fresh or frozen), peeled & chopped fine

2 t. vanilla

2 t. almond extract

1/4 to 1/3 c. Peach Schnapps + extra to brush warm cake

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325. Grease & flour one medium loaf pan and a bundt pan.

2. Pour Peach Schnapps over chopped peaches & set aside while you prepare batter.

3. Cream butter & sugar until light.

4. Beat in eggs one at a time.

5. Stir in flavorings, salt, & soda.

6. Add flour, alternating with sour cream and peaches.

7. Pour batter into prepared pans & bake until cake tests done. Loaf should take 30 to 40 minutes, the bundt cake an extra 15 to 20. Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Turn onto serving plate & brush with more Peach Schnapps while still warm.

Freezes well.

If desired, glaze with a mixture of powdered sugar & Peach Schnapps before serving – about 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar & enough Schnapps to make desired consistency.

Now I'm off to the College Classic at Minute Maid Park to watch some Aggie Baseball! Whoop!