BFMH: Egg in an Avocado with Carnitas Hash

This week's BFMH is one that Husband requested a few months back, but I kept putting it off due to the astronomical cost of avocados lately. I finally gave up this week and just brought one.

Egg in an Avocado

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Place each avocado half in a ramekin. Crack 1 egg into each avocado half; season with salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Place ramekins on a baking sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven until entire egg is cooked through, about 15 minutes. (Sprinkle with bacon if you want.)

Carnitas Hash as a side dish:

Ingredients

Potato - diced

Onion and Bell Peppers - diced

Olive Oil
Method
Saute everything together and season with salt and pepper.

I made my hash the day ahead with a different dish and then put it below the avocado while it was baking to heat it again.

Make more space next time!

No where in any of the Pins that I had for this recipe did I see something that said to scoop out a bit of the avocado...I would suggest that as most of the white ended up in the Hash below. It is merely an aesthetic concern as the flavors were all still present and excellent.

Not super pretty, but pretty yummy.

Husband and I both enjoyed our breakfasts and I think that if the price of avocados comes down, it will be made again. Try it out sometime y'all, just make room for the whole egg. With the scrapped out avocado, make a small side of my Guacamole!  

Almost our first anniversary...

It is nearly Husband and my first anniversary! 

With the first year of newlywedness comes to an end, the rest of our life together lies ahead of us. I am pretty darn stoked with the way things have worked out. The hard work he and I both put into our marriage is paying off. 

No, we didn't get engaged at Disneyland, we just went there to celebrate afterwards!

Fortunately, I had my nails done (which is a VERY rare occurrence) the Sunday he popped the question.

O

Our most epic friend, Mike, took our official engagement photos which I adore.

Most people thought this was too silly or inappropriate, but I think it is hilarious and awesome.

Both Husband I have to laugh a bit when we hear that the first year is the hardest. we are pretty much convinced then the rest of our life is easy street because this year was a breeze and a joy.

Headed out for our weekend away in the Lompoc/Solvang/Santa Barbara area! Tell you all about it next week.

Thirsty Thursday: Bogle Chardonnay Tasting

This wine was decent. I didn't need food to camouflage anything about it. I will invest in this for company for sure.

WINE NAME	Bogle		WINE TYPE	Chardonnay
VINTAGE			PRODUCER
GRAPES			REGION
PURCHASED	Smart and Final		PRICE	$6.99
Companions	Kris and Logan		Food	None
SIGHT					PTS
Clarity	Cloudy (less)	Hazy	Clear	Brilliant (more)	2/5
Depth of Color	Watery/Thin (less)	Pale	Med/Deep	Dark/Rich (more)	2/5
Color	WHITE - Yellow Gold Brown	Green Tinge Pale Yellow	RED - Purple Red/Purple	Red Red-Brown
Viscosity – liquid	Thin	Normal	Heavy	Syrupy	1/5
SMELL
Aroma	Herbal Nutty	Fruit Mineral	Spice Earthy	Floral Icky	2/5
Bouquet	Dumb/Pale/Closed	Simple/Pleasant	Deep/ Dark	Powerful/Dynamic	1/5
Smell Intensity	Light (less)	Mild	Prevalent	Pronounced (more)	1/5
TASTE
Acidity (like a lemon)	Flat No Bite	Fresh Crisp	Tart Tangy	Sour Vinegar	8/10
Sweetness	Dry	Off-Dry	Semi-Sweet	Very Sweet	3/5
TASTE Descriptors Balanced Chewy Concentrated Crispy(good acid) Deep/Complex Delicate Dull Firm (big tannins) Flabby(no acidity) Harsh Hint Intense Intriguing Jammy (fruit,lack of tannins) Piercing Simple Soft Structured	FRUITY Berrylike Blackberry Black Currant Blueberry Raspberry Strawberry Cherry – Black/Red Plum – Prune Gooseberries Citrus Grapefruit Lemon/Lime Stone/Tropical Apple Apricot Mango Melon Peach Pear Pineapple	FLOWERY Violet Rose Orange Blossom Jasmine Lily Hydrangea Orchid HERBAL Hay Mint Rosemary Thyme SPICY Black Pepper Licorice Cinnamon Clove	NUTTY Almond Coffee Hazelnut Walnut EARTHY Dry leaves Cut grass Moldy Mushroom ICKY Barnyard Dirty Diaper Boiled Egg Gas Alcohol Flinty Vinegar	OTHER Buttery Oaky Mineral Vanilla Cedar Tobacco Chocolate Leather Butterscotch Olive Bitter Hot - alcohol Sour Sharp Sugary Salty Velvety Chalky	8/10
Complexity	Simple	Interesting	Exciting	Dynamic	4/5
Balance	Unbalanced	Good	Very Well	Perfect	8/10
Body	Light	Medium	Heavy	Huge	3/5
AFTERTHOUGHTS
Finish	None	Short	Medium	Long (10 secs +)	4/5
Drinkability	Never Again	Maybe	Yes	Can’t wait	8/10
Value	Waste of money	Eh…	Decent	I love a value!	7/10
Overall	This is a dry glass of wine that I don’t need food to combat it.				64/100

Life is boiled potatoes.

This week is focused on quick and easy meals. Granted, what I consider easy, is not what everyone else would consider meals. I do, however, think that this is a great option for simple and yummy.

Southwest Bowls
Ingredients
1 cup rice
2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Cayenne
1/2 a onion, sliced
1/2 a bell pepper, sliced
1 chicken breast, sliced (more if you like it meaty)
Salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can corn, rinsed
1 can black beans, rinsed
Salsa
Sour Cream or Plain Yogurt
Method
Cook up the rice in the chicken stock (makes it WAY tasty) stirring in the spices once it is simmering.
Slice onion and pepper and saute in a bit of butter or olive oil.
Add chicken, salt, pepper, and garlic and saute until chicken is cooked.
in a small sauce pan, heat beans and corn in medium heat while everything else is cooking.
To serve, scoop some spicy rice into a bowl and top with any amount of chicken and veggies as you desire.
top with salsa, sour cream and cilantro (if you have it).

This is pretty much a no-fail meal of finding for most tastes and I am stoked that I have it my back pocket. Add a tortilla and you could almost be at Chipotle or something.... Ok not really...

Until the next meal...


**Today's title is from Spencer Pratt: Life is boiled potatoes. I am the cayenne pepper.**

A cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out....

Answer me this #7

1. Beach or Mountains? Where would you rather be?

If I have to choose, beach. Preferably a lake beach with close to no waves, a chance to warm up due to shallowness, and shady spot on the sand. And floating dock. But now I am just getting greedy. I like the ocean time of beach, but after a bad experience last summer, I am much more timid about getting into any sort of wave above my hips.

2. Which is more fun: Christmas Eve, or Christmas morning?

Christmas eve! I like the anticipation and tradition that go along with the day before. Normally, all my gifts are purchased and wrapped before Dec 6^th (St Nicholas Day) specifically so I can enjoy the season and focus on what it is really about. While the gifts are great, Christmas Day, even as a child, meant it that Christmastide was in decline and soon to be over.

3. What’s the most embarrassing childhood outfit you remember wearing?

For some reason, both my twin and I like short sleeved,  button front shirts made of rayon or polyester and normally with sort of outrageous/ridiculous design. They looked find on Broder with his jeans, but I decided to pair mine with the short page boy hair cut I had and my addiction to short-alls (Overalls but the legs are shorts) and I will just say, those were my “awkward years”.

4. Your house is quiet, you don’t have to do work (housework included). What do you do?

Excellent question….I love to be busy. My first thought was to answer with ”finish some sort of outstanding project that isn’t necessary to stress over”. BUT If you mean don’t have to work on ANYTHING, then it is straight to reading, video games, movies, television, and arts and farts…..I mean crafts.

5. What movie do you want to watch when you’re feeling under the weather?

Usually Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings/a movie that most people have seen, that is a bit too long for a regular viewing and will marathon them….Or a comedy like Mystery Men or Wet Hot American Summer.

6. Did you have an American Girl doll when you were little? If so, which one?

Of course, I did! Samantha all the way! She was super awesome. Artistic, educated, and thoroughly privileged, but knew that she had it so much better than most other people in the city.

And now on to what I wore on Sunday:

It was a lovely day on Sunday and so I decided to show off my pride of our Fallen Heroes by dressing pretty darn patriotically.

After church and lunch, Husband and I got to enjoy a lovely BBQ with some friends from the Softball group Best Friend's Husband is a part of. It was their church's BBQ and it was quite an event. I didn't get many pictures, but I did snap this one of just about the sweetest little Nugget. She and I got to hang out for a good chunk of the party. We are totally tight now.

Later that evening, Nugget's mom and I split cupcakes since we both wanted to try a couple different flavors, my two favorites were the Peanut Butter Chocolate (made by Nugget's momma) and the Flourless Chocolate Mint. The cutest cupcakes were definitely the Margarita cupcakes (pictured below with a less than cute face).

I did make something for the BBQ. An oldie, but a goodie:

Cucumber Onion Salad
Ingredients:
2 English cucumbers
1 small Vidalia onion
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
Method
Slice cucumbers and onion into a shallow dish.
Heat vinegar, water, and sugar until simmering.
Pour over cucumber and onion and allow to sit for at least an hour.
Mine sat over night in the fridge and was perfectly tangy and yummy!

I don't have a picture....I'm sorry, interwebs...

Until the next BBQ...


**Today's title is from Samuel Johnson and reads in full: A cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing.**

Happy Memorial Day!

Thank you to all of those who have given the ultimate sacfrice while serving in the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and the Coast Guard. You offered so freely so much to keep us and our borders safe. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing what I cannot. Today, we honor you and your family's sacrifices.

Remember that for many people, this day is MUCH more than just a barbecue and three day weekend.

BFMH: Breakfast Stromboli (or a Breakfast Hot Pocket)

This breakfast turned out super. Like, so good I will make it for our someday maybe children and they, too, will love it. It turned out to be a pretty decently easy breakfast as well.

Breakfast Stromboli (or a Breakfast Hot Pocket)
Needed:

1 package of Farmer John Pork breakfast sausage (Sub Mushrooms and Onion for Vegetarian version)

1/2 a bell pepper

5 eggs

1/2 cup of evaporated milk

1 package of ready made pizza dough

1/2 cup of cornmeal

4 slices of cheese (I used 2% Cheddar)

Method

Crumble and brown the sausage and add bell pepper when nearly done to soften.

Whisk eggs together with evaporated milk

Scramble eggs

Roll out pizza dough using the cornmeal as the non sticky flour stuff

Cut dough in fourths and lay a slice of cheese in the center, top with sausage, pepper and egg.
roll like a burrito and bake at 450 degrees for 9-11 minutes on a pizza stone.

I am sure you ware wondering about 2 different choices: the evaporated milk vs regular milk and the cornmeal vs flour.

Evaporated milk vs Regular milk
Using evaporated gives the same sort of creamy effect as regular milk would but cuts down significantly on the moisture/liquidyness within the bready wrap. I will probably try this trick next with my breakfast burritios.

Cornmeal vs Flour
The thicker grainyness of the cornmeal work better as keeping the sticky dough lifted off the baking surface. It also, like the evaporated milk, cuts down on high levels of liquidyness inside the wrap.

Seriously, yummy, and when Husband and I ate the left over one the following morning, the reheat was just as yummy. All I am thinking is how much I need to learn to make my own pizza dough so I can make these  on a weekly basis and not as a special occasion only dish.

HOORAY BREAKFASTS!

It's Friday, Friday, Gotta Get Down On Friday!

Today's post is not about cooking.

It isn't about crafting.

It isn't pertaining to fitness.

It is about MENTAL health because:


Oh sweet baby Jesus we have made it to a most:



and all I can think is:



as we are now:


Now if only this were true:


For those of you, the faceless interweb readers, who know me/have read most of my posts, you know that my to do list NEVER LOOKS LIKE THE ABOVE PICTURE.

Believe it or not, that really is okay with me. I am not sure where is comes from, but I am a naturally busy person. I like having projects and adventures that require planning.

Counter to popular belief, I can in fact relax and have a leisurely day from time to time but normally during a regular weekend it it would be half a day while with this WONDERFUL gift that is a 3 day weekend I take a full day.

This weekend I need to work on the following:
1) Complete my Jessica Rabbit art piece as it has been hanging out too long, but it was Husband's Valentine's day present...
2) Update my Recipe Book  as I am behind on adding new recipes that I want to keep from the blog.
3) Update My Adventure Book with photos and adventures
4) Start working on putting together a Home Inventory, not only for an In Case Of An Emergency situation, but also for our impending move across the country. It will hopefully be helpful for pack and insurance purposes.
5) Make a loaf of bread for my 31 by 31 list
AND
6) Most importantly: Husband's Paper Gift for our first Anniversary

Now to clarify, I CAN not do things.  Ask Husband how I behave in Michigan or Hawaii and you will hear of the great picture of relaxation and doing nothingness. But if I am at home, I find that difficult to do for a WHOLE weekend.

In other news, Broder has the bestest Pug in the world. Otis is my "nephdog" and he is just about the sweetest, well behaved pug I have ever met. during the summer time, I find that is when I miss hanging out with Broder and Otis, I know it is because of the summer weekends in Cape Girardeau with the two of them in the house that was once our grandparents.
I found this comic and it made me a little Otis sick.



Another one caught my eye so i figured I would post it as well...



I love Sheldon Comics. I have bought a book from the artist every year at Comic-Con and he is just about the nicest guy I have ever encountered behind a con booth.

Until breakfast tomorrow, I'm out....


**Today's title needs no explanation**

Thirsty Thursday: Toasted Head Chardonnay Tasting

Seriously, the reason to by this wine is just for the fire breathing BEAR on the label! It is totally wikid.

But in all seriousness, while the quest for the best priced Californian-Oaky-Buttery Chardonnay has been fun so far, I am almost over Chards...I have just been drinking a lot of it. I love me some rich reds and sweet roses. With summer coming quickly, I know I will be doing many chilled whites so I will have some reprieve soon. I might reassess what I have on the docket and cut a few out.

Husband and I are head to Solvang for our first anniversary weekend so I will have a chance to dig in to many, many reds soon. But for now, my thoughts on the crazy cool dragon bear:

WINE NAME	Toasted Head		WINE TYPE	Chardonnay
VINTAGE	2012		PRODUCER	Yolo Country
GRAPES			REGION
PURCHASED	A gift to the Witman Family		PRICE	$11.99 ($9.99)
Companions			Food
SIGHT					PTS
Clarity	Cloudy (less)	Hazy	Clear	Brilliant (more)	5/5
Depth of Color	Watery/Thin (less)	Pale	Med/Deep	Dark/Rich (more)	5/5
Color	WHITE - Yellow Gold Brown	Green Tinge Pale Yellow	RED - Purple Red/Purple	Red Red-Brown
Viscosity – liquid	Thin	Normal	Heavy	Syrupy	4/5
SMELL
Aroma	Herbal Nutty	Fruit Mineral	Spice Earthy	Floral Icky	3/5
Bouquet	Dumb/Pale/Closed	Simple/Pleasant	Deep/ Dark	Powerful/Dynamic	4/5
Smell Intensity	Light (less)	Mild	Prevalent	Pronounced (more)	4/5
TASTE
Acidity (like a lemon)	Flat No Bite	Fresh Crisp	Tart Tangy	Sour Vinegar	7/10
Sweetness	Dry	Off-Dry	Semi-Sweet	Very Sweet	4/5
TASTE Descriptors Balanced Chewy Concentrated Crispy(good acid) Deep/Complex Delicate Dull Firm (big tannins) Flabby(no acidity) Harsh Hint Intense Intriguing Jammy (fruit,lack of tannins) Piercing Simple Soft Structured	FRUITY Berrylike Blackberry Black Currant Blueberry Raspberry Strawberry Cherry – Black/Red Plum – Prune Gooseberries Citrus Grapefruit Lemon/Lime Stone/Tropical Apple Apricot Mango Melon Peach Pear Pineapple	FLOWERY Violet Rose Orange Blossom Jasmine Lily Geranium Orchid HERBAL Hay Mint Rosemary Thyme SPICY Black Pepper Licorice Cinnamon Clove	NUTTY Almond Coffee Hazelnut Walnut EARTHY Dry leaves Cut grass Moldy Mushroom ICKY Barnyard Dirty Diaper Boiled Egg Gas Alcohol Flinty Vinegar	OTHER Buttery Oaky Mineral Vanilla Cedar Tobacco Chocolate Leather Butterscotch Olive Bitter Hot - alcohol Sour Sharp Sugary Salty Velvety	7/10
Complexity	Simple	Interesting	Exciting	Dynamic	3/5
Balance	Unbalanced	Good	Very Well	Perfect	8/10
Body	Light	Medium	Heavy	Huge	3/5
AFTERTHOUGHTS
Finish	None	Short	Medium	Long (10 secs +)	3/5
Drinkability	Never Again	Maybe	Yes	Can’t wait	8/10
Value	Waste of money	Eh…	Decent	I love a value!	8/10
Overall	This will be coming out for fancy dinners and hostess gift!				76/100