Southwest Style Eggs, Sausage & Toast



The Tejas Connection

 So after about 10 days of take-outs and packaged heat-and-eat foods, I was again guilty enough that i just had to make a decent breakfast at home for Nik. I remembered an old favorite - Breakfast tacos - but had no fresh tortillas at home, so instead, we settled for Southwest style eggs. I know everyone knows how to make eggs ;-) but this is a tasty twist on the usual scrambled!

Total Prep Time: 10-15 min

Ingredients:

1) 2 medium eggs

2) 2 tbsp Pace Mild (or medium for adults) & Chunky salsa

3) 1/8 cup milk for eggs

4) 1 sausage link

5) 1 slice of bread for toast

6) butter for toast and for making eggs

7) salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:

Whisk eggs in a bowl, and then mix in milk, salsa, and salt and pepper to taste. Add a pat of butter to a skillet and cook eggs - either scrambled, or an omelette I make Nik's scrambled so he can eat by himself! Cook sausage link in a separate skillet (or in the microwave if thats the kind you prefer! I cut Nik's into little pieces!). At the same time get the toast ready, and buttered.

Always a hit!!!!

Nani's* Tahiri

Nani's Summer Tahiri

Memories of long summer vacations spent at Nani's house always bring about fond memories of tahiri on summer afternoons. Yellow rice with spices and peas, with dahi (plain yogurt) on the side and nimbu-pani (lemonade) could cool down any hot summer day. So that is what we had for dinner today - "Nani ki Tahiri". I also made some ham to add some protein, and while my nani was pure vegetarian ;) Nikky and I sure aren't!!

Total Prep Time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:

1) 1 cup long grained basmati rice (washed and soaked for 10 min)

2) 1 tsp turmeric powder

3) 1 tbsp cumin seeds

4) 1/3 cup peas (thawed)

5) 1 tbsp canola oil

6) 2 cups water

Directions:

Preheat the canola oil and fry cumin seeds and turmeric powder for a few minutes before quenching the heat with the peas. fry peas for a few minutes and add rice and water. Bring to a rolling boil and then turn the heat down to medium low and cover the pan. Test the rice after about 15 min and if done, turn off the heat and let the rice sit for a few minutes (in India that is called "Dum" with a soft D ... which means to give it strength ... or something like that!!).

In a skillet, I heated thick ham slices for just a few minutes on either side. For Nikky I diced one of the slices into bite sized pieces. Overall - it was a hit!!!

* Maternal Grandmother

Zucchini, Turkey and Cheese Muffins

So, I've been wanting to try some kind of Zucchini muffins for a while. I finally found a recipe that I could make work for Nik. If the boys and Tony liked it - it would be a hit!! So here goes ..

Ingredients:

1) 1 cup medium ground corn meal

2) 1 cup all purpose flour

3) 1 cup grated zucchini (1 medium sized!)

4) 1 cup grated cheese (italian blend)

5) 6-8 slices of medium deli slices of roast turkey

6) 1/2 cup shortening

7) 1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used greek yogurt)
8) 2 large eggs
9) 2 tsp baking powder
10) 1/2 tsp baking soda
11) 1 tsp salt
12) 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Didn't make the cut with my clan :(

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. I just mixed everything in my KitchenAid stand mixer. Then add all the wet ingredients and mix everything together until well blended. Spoon the mixture into a well greased 12 cup muffin pan. Bake at 375F for 20-25 min. Makes 12 muffins.

So, Nik ate half a muffin and drank all his juice before quickly declaring that he was "All done!". Tony made a face after 1 bite. Alex had about two bites and Bryce refused to even look at them!

Hrmpfff!! So this one was a definite miss with my clan!!