Steamed Eggs

Steaming has become one of my favorite was to cook eggs. It quick, its easy and tasty!

I developed this way to cook eggs quite by accident. I was making sunny side eggs one day and let the pan get too hot. I immediately poured a bit of water in the pan to cool it. I saw the steam rise and wondered what would happen if I placed a lid on the pan so I gave it a try. The result was a nicely cooked egg that reminded me of a poached egg.

The method I have developed starts with spraying the pan with cooking spray. I break eggs into the pan - its really easy to cook multiple eggs at one time utilizing this method. I season the eggs with salt and pepper. When the pan heats, I pour water in the pan until the bottom is covered by about a quarter inch of water. I place a lid on the pan - I prefer a clear lid so I can watch the cooking progress. When the eggs are done, they easily lift out of the pan and onto the plate.

Add a sliced tomato and piece of perfect toast and you have a delicious meal. Of course, serving with bacon or sausage will be a heartier breakfast. I also use a spicier seasoning when I'm in the mood for some kick. Cook these to a "hard" level and they would easily dice to top a salad. The variations are endless!

Mushroom and Rice Soup

When it was time for lunch today, I decided to look into the fridge to find ingredients to make something. I immediately saw the box with about four mushrooms and the container of leftover rice. Then I started thinking.  How about a mushroom and rice soup with an Asian flair.

I put a can of beef broth in a pan and brought it to a boil. I sliced the mushrooms and added them to the broth along with a bit of soy sauce. I let this combination simmer a few minutes until the mushroom was cooked.  I added the leftover rice and brought it back to a fast simmer to heat it through. I poured the soup into a deep bowl and added a bit of hoison sauce and garlic chile sauce. It was a quick, easy and low calorie, low fat lunch. And oh, so yummy!

How Single People Can Use an Extra Freezer

There are people I know that wonder why I, a lady who lives alone, has an extra freezer. I cook more at home than some folks do but food doesn't come packaged for singles or if it does, it costs way more.  Recipes make more than one serving.

Yesterday, I was shopping in our local Wal-Mart store and spotted ground pork in one pound packages for a dollar. Well, its been a long time since I've seen meat that cheap! Being the bargain shopper I try to be, my mind started thinking of ways I could use ground pork. I remembered that there are recipes that call for ground pork and ground beef. Then I figured it would work well in chili and I could make pork cutlets. A recipe for homemade breakfast sausage shouldn't be hard to find. So I loaded up with 8 pounds!

A quick Google search landed this recipe for sausage on www.cooks.com.

HOMEMADE SAUSAGE WITH SAGE Printed from COOKS.COM Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,161,150187-251196,00.html Content Copyright © 2012 Cooks.com - All rights reserved. 2 lbs. lean ground pork 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. sage 1 cumin pepper 1/4 tsp. ginger 1 bay leaf Combine all ingredients in large bowl; mix well, shape into 12 or 15 patties. Brown for 8 minutes on each side in skillet. May wrap patties in foil and broil over charcoal. I quickly made this recipe and rolled it into some waxed paper and put in in the freezer.  In a couple hours, I will unwrap it, cut it into sausage patties and store in a freezer bag. When its time to cook sausage, I'll just need to take out what I need and reclose the bag. So easy! Then I made patties with three more pounds. I put them each into a sandwich bag, sealed them up and put the bags into a freezer bag. Now, I can take out the number I need when I need them. I'm thinking I can grill them in the George Foreman as a pork steak or bread them and make a chicken fried cutlet. Who knows, I may come up with more ideas as time passes! With the remaining packages, I just divided them and put roughly a half-pound of meat in a sandwich bag then into the freezer bag. This is the meat that I will use in recipes. That's meats for lots of meals for a mere $8!

Asian Inspired Chicken & Cabbage

I found a recipe online that sounded really good but I didn't have exactly the ingredients it called for plus it made more than one serving.  So, it was time to utilize my experience to make this recipe work within the realms of my pantry and smaller requirements.  It worked so well and was so good, I just had to share!

Steps I took to make this dish:

1. In a small bowl, mix 2-3 tablespoons (I measure by eye!) of Hoisen Sauce with about a teaspoon of minced garlic and a generous sprinkle of ginger
2. Spread this mixture over a boneless skinless chicken breast and place in a baking pan sprayed with cooking spray.
3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees on a meat thermometer.
4. While the chicken is cooking, coarsely chop about 1/4 cup of onion.
5. Heat about a tablespoon of cooking oil in a small frying pan and saute the onion.
6. Chop some cabbage into small pieces.  When the onion is soft, put the cabbage into the pan with it.
7. Stir often to prevent it from burning.  Cook until it softens - I like mine to still be a little crunchy.
8. Season with a bit of black pepper and a few dashes of soy sauce - I use the low sodium kind.
9. Plate up and enjoy!

This is a meal I will most definitely cook again!  Next time, I think I'm going to try wrapping the chicken in foil to cook.  The hoisen sauce burned a bit on the pan.  It was easily cleaned but I didn't enjoy the aroma! I also think that the chicken may maintain more moisture and cook a bit faster. 

SMALL LIVING TIP: When a recipe calls for something you don't have on hand, look for a substitute.  For example, this recipe called for bagged coleslaw mix.  I didn't have the bagged mix but did have a head of fresh cabbage.  Had I not had the minced garlic on hand, I'm sure a few shakes of garlic powder would have given the sauce a nice hint of garlic. 

Small, Quick and Easy Lasagna

Lasagna can be very time consuming and recipes usually make a very large batch.  A large amount is great when you want to freeze single portions for later.  It seems every time I do this, I use every pan and bowl in the kitchen!

The other day, I thought I'd like a good lasagna dinner but didn't want the usual production, so this is what I did.  I cooked four lasagna noodles - this step could have been skipped if I'd had the kind that don't need to be cooked first.  I mixed a Italian spices, garlic and salt and pepper into a 15-ounce can of tomato sauce.  I combined a 16-ounce container of ricotta cheese and an 8-ounce bag of shredded mozzarella cheese together. Now it's time to assemble my small lasagna!

First, spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Put a thin layer of the tomato sauce mixture (you can also use a prepared spaghetti sauce) in the bottom of the pan. Place two noodles side by side on top of the sauce.  Spread about half of the cheese mixture on top of the noodles.  I topped the cheese with a can of sliced mushrooms.  Pour about half the sauce over the top and place the other two noodles side by side.  Spread the other half of the cheese mixture over the noodles and top with the remainder of the the tomato sauce.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 40 minutes or until it is hot and bubbly.  Remove the foil and bake for about ten more minutes.  Allow the lasagna to rest about 15 minutes before slicing. 

This yields about three or four portions of lasagna.  Serve it up with a nice green salad or steamed vegetable and you have a great meal! 

For the meat lover, browned ground beef or turkey can be added.  Also, I have made this recipe with a layer of spinach added to the center layer.  Thinly sliced zucchini squash is another good addition.  Cottage cheese is a good substitute for the ricotta - in fact some people prefer it! 

French Dip Sandwich

French Dip Sandwiches are the best!  I got a hankering for one the other day and headed to the pantry to see what I could find.  I had some deli roast beef, provolone cheese, some small hoagie rolls and a can of beef broth.  Perfect!

I read the labels on most of the deli sliced roast beef and found that the Great Value brand had less fat than the others I looked at and it was a few cents less!  It turned out to be quite tasty as well.  Now for the steps for the sandwich:

1. Slice some onion (right bottom corner) and saute them in a bit of butter in a saucepan.  I just cook them until they begin to soften.
2. Add the can of beef broth to the pan.  You can also use beef bouillon.  I added a couple shots of Worcestershire sauce, but this is entirely up to you.
3. Bring the broth up to a boil and simmer for a few minutes to incorporate the onion flavor.
4. Add the beef to the broth and leave it in just long enough to heat it up.
5. I dressed my hoagie roll with a bit of horseradish sauce, but mustard and/or mayo are tasty as well.  You can also toast the roll.
6. Using tongs, remove the beef and some slices of onion from the broth and place on the roll.
7. Top with provolone cheese.  Of course, if you prefer another type of cheese it will be good as well - this is your sandwich!
8. Pour a bit of the broth into a small bowl for dipping.
9. ENJOY!

This is a quick, easy and tasty sandwich.  You can easily make one or more to enjoy now and reheat to make another for later.

SMALL LIVING TIP:  You can easily freeze serving size amounts of the broth and beef for future French Dip Sandwiches!  You can either thaw in the microwave or stove top.