Easy Breakfast Egg Cups

The husband and I are embarking on a new eating plan this week! We are still going to be gluten free but are taking the extra step and cutting out simple and complex carbs and sticking to a high protein / low sugar plan. I have about 10 pounds of baby weight that I want to kick and the husband just wants to get back in a good workout/ healthy eating routine.

So, in order to streamline my cooking efforts a bit I decided to try making a high protein breakfast for the hubs to eat every morning, but didn't require me to wake up with him each morning to cook it. I mean I love him and all, but his 6 a.m. alarm comes way too soon for this tired mama who has usually been up 2-3 times with the 6 month growth spurting offspring. (seriously...give me ALL the coffee today).

The result of my desire to feed the husband well but still get another hour of shut eye resulted in these little babies. They are delicious, quick and can be kept in the freezer during the week. The husband just pops them in the microwave for a couple minutes and voila...homemade gourmet breakfast! Ok...maybe not gourmet...but better than cereal or pop-tarts. Here's the handy dandy recipe!


Breakfast Egg Cups

What you need (makes 14)

- 12 large eggs
- 1 Cup milk
- 6 strips bacon, cooked and chopped
- 1/4 C diced red pepper
- 1/4 C diced onion
- 1 C shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper







Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12 cup muffin tin. This recipe makes 14 "muffins" because I wanted them to last a whole week so you'll have a little extra after the first batch. If you only want to make 12 just reduce the eggs to 10 and 3/4 C of milk.

This is my new best friend. I love it!

- Beat the eggs slightly and add the milk. Continue beating until smooth and slightly frothy

- Add in the bacon, peppers and onion

- Add in 1 cup of shredded cheese and the salt and pepper

- Evenly distribute the egg mixture into the muffin cups

- If you're feeling fancy, top with a little dried parsley flakes.

- Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes, until the eggs have set and are puffed up

- Run a knife around the edges to release and invert them onto a cooling rack (this will prevent them from collapsing too much)

- I wrap 2 "muffins" in a piece of foil and place them in a freezer bag. The husband eats 2 every morning which is equivalent to 2 eggs and along with the bacon in there it's a pretty filling and hearty breakfast.

- You can easily add whatever combination of vegetables and cheese/spices you like. Ham, broccoli, asparagus, spinach, parmesan, feta - hard to mess these up!

Shrimp and Grits

This is another Brown family favorite recipe! And while it's not necessarily the healthiest recipe, it sure is one of the tastiest! Jon absolutely loves shrimp and grits and even though I've known this for a while, this was my first time making it for him. I'd say it was a tremendous success (and mommy and Joshua enjoyed it too!) Thanks to my mother-in-law, Gisele, for passing on the recipe and my sister-in-law, Stephanie, for originally posting the recipe so I could follow it!


What you need

- 1 C grits
- 1/4 stick of butter
- 1 C shredded cheddar cheese
- 8 strips of bacon, chopped
- 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used frozen)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp dried parsley

*optional:
- 1 C chopped green onion
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

I left the optional things out because of my preggo heartburn but it's really yummy with a little spice!






Directions

- Cook the grits according to the directions on the box

- After they have simmered, add the butter and cheese. Stir and set aside

- Cook your bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove and set aside but DON'T drain the pan!

- Run warm water over your shrimp (if using frozen) and remove the tails

*NOTE: I usually buy fresh shrimp but I can't really stand the smell of the seafood counter at the grocery store these days, so I bought the frozen kind and they worked great!

- Add the garlic, shrimp (and red pepper if using) to the bacon grease and cook for 3 minutes.

- Add the lemon juice, parsley (and green onion if using) and immediately pull off the heat

- Add in the cooked bacon and stir

- Add the shrimp mixture to your grits. Be sure to not waste any of the delicious juices left in the pan!

- Stir well and serve. You can top with more cheese if you like (which we did!)

*CONFESSION: I ate 2 bowls. It was SO delicious! Hope you all enjoy!

Easy Appetizers

Hey everyone! We've had a busy week over here at the Brown household! I'll be doing a baby update soon and share pictures from our visit with Jon's family. But until then here are two recipes for some easy and yummy appetizers, just in time for Easter!

I made these for Thanksgiving (when I was 4 weeks pregnant and didn't know yet by the way!) and everyone loved them!


Spinach and Artichoke Dip with Goat Cheese

What you need

- 16 oz cream cheese, softened
- 8 oz goat cheese, diced
- 4 oz monterey jack cheese, shredded
- 4 oz parmesan cheese, grated
- 16 oz artichoke hearts, chopped fine
- 2, 10 oz packages of chopped spinach, drained
(this isn't in the picture because I'm a dummy)
- all purpose seasoning








Directions

- Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, reserving about 4 oz of the goat cheese and a little of the parmesan cheese

- Taste for seasoning and add whatever you like (If you want it to have a little kick you could add some cayenne pepper!)

- Spread mixture into a baking dish (I used a 4 quart dish) and top with remaining goat cheese and parmesan cheese

- Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted and bubbling

- Serve with GF crackers and corn chips!

Bacon Wrapped Brown Sugar Smokies

This recipe is SO easy and delicious. The guys huddled around the plate until they were all gone! I don't have an ingredient or directions picture because they were BEGGING for these!

What you need (you can easily cut this recipe in half if you need to)

- 2 packages beef little smokie sausages
- 1 package nitrate free bacon, cut crosswise into thirds
- 1 1/2 C brown sugar (you won't use it all)
- 4 T chili powder (trust me)

Directions

- Mix together the brown sugar and chili powder in a bowl

- Wrap each sausage in a piece of bacon and secure with toothpick

- Roll each sausage bundle liberally in the brown sugar mixture

- Bake on a baking sheet (or broiler pan and rack) at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until bacon is slightly crispy

- Serve and watch them disappear!

Have a great Thursday everyone and a very happy Easter! Our SAVIOR is RISEN!

Pork Chops with Apples and Cheesy Bacon Grits

I saw this recipe on the Pioneer Woman's blog a while ago and finally decided to try it. We usually don't eat a lot of pork but this recipe looked especially yummy and I was intrigued a bit by the ingredients. It turned out pretty well! The husband wasn't a huge fan of the apples (I think it was a texture thing) but he said the pork was good and the grits were fantastic! I think next time I'll omit the white wine and use apple juice instead of cider vinegar. I wouldn't change anything about the grits though...they were the favorite in this recipe! Enjoy!

What you need

The grits:

- 4 pieces bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

- 1 small onion, diced

- 1 C grits (not the quick cooking kind)

- 4 C chicken broth

- 1/2 C heavy cream

- 1 C grated cheddar cheese

- Dash of cayenne pepper

- Salt and pepper to taste

The pork:

- 4 boneless skinless pork chops

- 1 T butter

- 1 T olive oil

- 2 gala apples, diced

- 1/4 C white wine

- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

- 1/2 C maple syrup

- Salt and pepper

Directions
- You'll want to start on the grits first

- In a heavy pot, cook bacon over medium heat for a couple minutes to render the fat

- Add the onions and cook for a few minutes, until bacon is chewy and onions are golden brown

- Add the grits and chicken broth and stir together. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and cover until the grits soak up the broth. If they get too dry add a little water.

- Once the liquid has reduced by about half, you can start on the pork chops. First, heat butter and olive oil in a heavy skillet.

- Salt and pepper both sides of each pork chop and place in skillet to brown

- Once the edges get nice and golden, flip and cook other side. Remove and set aside.

- In the same skillet, add your diced apples and stir to combine with the oil and butter

- Add the wine and vinegar and stir to deglaze the pan

- Cook until the liquid is reduced by half. (Check on your grits!)

- Pour in the maple syrup and a dash of salt and pepper

- Stir together and return the pork chops to the pan

- Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes

- At this point, add the heavy cream to your grits and cover and let simmer until the pork chops are done and the grits have soaked up the liquid.

- When the pork chops are done, add 1 C of shredded cheddar cheese to the grits and stir well. Taste and add salt, pepper and cayenne.

- Serve up and enjoy!

Like I said before, we weren't crazy about the flavor and texture of the apples so I'll play around with that next time. The pork was really good though and the grits were heavenly!

Broccoli Bacon Crustless Quiche

We do breakfast for dinner at least twice a month these days. The husband and I both really like breakfast food and honestly, what's easier than scrambled eggs? I also love love love quiche. I mean really love it. I used to make it with those wonderful ready-made pie crusts which of course are out of the question now. So...thanks to Martha Stewart and Pinterest I decided to try my hand at a crustless quiche instead. It worked wonderfully and the entire thing was eaten in 24 hours.

What you need

- 1 bag frozen broccoli florets (10 oz)
- 5 strips bacon, cooked and chopped
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 C half n half
- 1 C shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1 T dried onion
- 2 green onions, chopped

Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees

- Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the broccoli 1 minute. Drain, chop and set aside

- In a large bowl add the eggs, half n half, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Whisk together.

- Add the dried onion, bacon, broccoli, green onion and cheese and stir lightly

- Pour mixture into a greased pie pan

- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and the eggs are set

- Let cool slightly before serving

- Enjoy!