Cowboy Egg-in-the-Hole Sandwich

Yes, it's true. I'm posting another blog about my Cowboy and his sandwiches. But it just intrigues me how he can take what I think is a good meal and have to put his own spin on it. So here is how the story goes.........

On Sunday morning I decided to make my Cowboy and I breakfast. I know most of you think this is a common occurrence. WRONG. You might as well consider it a national holiday at our home. I got out of bed and decided open up my trusty Pioneer Woman Cookbook. If you don't have one.....you need to get one. It's amazing!

I decided to make Pioneer Woman's Egg in a Hole. I figured it would be a quick and easy, yet very filling breakfast for my cowboy.

Cooking some Egg-in-the-Holes!

As I was cooking up the second set of Eggs-in-a-hole, I noticed that my Cowboy was also busy in the kitchen. I looked over to his side of the counter-top and saw this:


My cowboy had been busy toasting two more pieces of bread, fried up some ham, and added a slice of cheese.

1 Piece of Toast
1 Egg-in-the-Hole
Fried Ham
1 Egg-in-the-Hole
1 Slice of Cheese
1 Piece of Toast

My Cowboy informed me that THIS is a "Cowboy Egg-In-The-Hole Sandwich."

Until next time,

MW

Lemon Cupcakes - My Style

The other night I kinda had a little bit of a sweet tooth and decided to make a dessert for my Cowboy and I to enjoy. I walked into the pantry to look and........I realized I really needed to go grocery shopping. Yuck! I can't describe how much I hate grocery shopping......so I didn't go. I decided I was going to make something with a twist. A lemon twist that is.

Have you noticed that I love lemon desserts? It's my guilty pleasure.

Here's what I found in my pantry:

A Betty Crocker French Vanilla Cake Mix
A Box of Lemon Pudding
A Tub of Butter Cream Icing

What could I make? Lemon Cupcakes. Ok. Ok. I might be hooked watching Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. Don't tell my Cowboy, but I think it would be kinda neat to have a cupcake bakery. Of course my love handles might now benefit from the plan.

Cupcakes -
I mixed the cake mix as directed and added the box of lemon pudding as well as 1/4 cup of water. Mixed it all up and poured into a cupcake pan. I also used those little cupcake wrappers. I baked the cupcakes following the directions on the cake mix box and allowed to cool.

Icing -
I added lemon juice to the butter cream icing until I achieved the sweet lemony taste I yearned for.

The Final Product

I added the lemon pudding because I knew it would give the sweet lemon taste that I love as well as give the cupcake a moist texture.

I hope you love it!

Until next time,

MW

Sandwiches Galore

We all have abnormal likings that others will look at as weird. It may be popping your knuckels. It maybe putting ranch on everything. Maybe it's picking your nose. What ever it is, it doesn't matter because its one of the things that makes you, you.

You maybe asking what made me think about weird likings. Well, let me tell you. It's all because of my Cowboy. Isn't it always about my Cowboy? So what is his weird liking? Sandwiches! He makes sandwiches out of everything! And I'm not just talking about bread, meat, and cheese. I mean everything! The guy is weird!

If I make hamburger helper, he puts two pieces of bread in the toaster and makes him self a Hamburger Helper Toaster Sandwich. A piece of toast on the bottom. Layered tall in the middle with the noodley creation. And topped off with another piece of toast. He picks it up with two hands and eats it just like a sandwich.

It doesn't matter if I make spaghetti, lasagna, or hamburger chow mein medley he adds two pieces of toast and makes a sandwich. This morning he even added to the list with biscuits and gravy.
Making biscuits and gravy for my Cowboy just wasn't good enough. He asked me to make bacon too. Pretty Please. Ok Ok, I'll make you bacon too! And so the creation of his breakfast sandwich began. Biscuits, Gravy, Bacon, and Shredded Cheese.




And what the heck......let's put more gravy on top of the amazing creation! Yes, he did it. I've found the key to my Cowboy's heart........Sandwiches. What other sandwich creations can I make him to keep our love alive?

Until next time,

MW

Put a little Zest in your Blizzard

What is it about being snowed in that makes me want to cook non stop? Well, maybe it's because I'm not home often and I've decided to take full advantage of being snowed in. But that can't be it. It's got to be a woman thing. I've read a million different Facebook status updates from friends of the "female" gender, stating that they've been cooking and baking, and baking and cooking. I find it funny that I've heard very little about cleaning.....hum.

Maybe it's all the males fault. I've noticed my two boys eating the entire day. If they are in the house, they have some sort of food in their hand. In fact, my Yankee Kid just came thru the kitchen, opened the pantry, opened each cabinet that contains food, and opened the refrigerator and stated that he was hungry for something sweet.

Of course, all of this food in the house hasn't been the best on my beautiful love handles. After weighing myself this morning, I made an emergency date with the elliptical. Believe me, it's a love hate relationship.

After a hard work out, what could be better................than a lemon cheese bar! I made a batch last night and I will have to tell you that they are pretty delicious! My Cowboy and Yankee Kid both gave them 2 thumbs ups.

With northeastern Oklahoma under another winter storm warning and an additional 4-6 inches of snow, this was a great recipe because it included ingrediants that I already had in my pantry. I guess going to Walmart isn't as important to my Cowboy as it was to me. I didn't have any fresh lemons to get lemon zest, so I just added a little extra lemon juice. I hope you enjoy!


Lemon Cheese Bars

1 package of vanilla or white cake mix
2 eggs
5 tablespoons melted butter
8 oz. cream cheese
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 to 3 teaspoons of finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup sugar

Grease and flour a 13x9 inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat together the cake mix, 1 egg, and butter until well blended. The mixture will be crumbly. Reserve 1 cup of the crumb mixture for later. Pat the remaining crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan to make the crust. Bake the crust for 12 minutes and remove from oven.

In another bowl, beat the cream cheese with the lemon juice, zest, sugar, and the remaining egg. Spoon the cream cheese mixture evenly over the baked crust. Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture over the cream cheese layer. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until topping is lightly browned. Store the leftover bars in the refrigerator.

Until next time,

MW

Cooking Lessons

Let's just say that I am not a natural Betty Crocker. Growing up I spent most of my time outside, not in the kitchen learning how to cook. I can't blame my mom for not teaching me, because I simply didn't want to learn. And let me tell you that it really bit me in the butt once I was married. I was so lost in a kitchen, that my mother-in-law arranged all of my cabinets and draws in our first home. I had no clue where anything was. To prove to you how bad it was, Kyle and I have some really good friends that used to frequent our home often, Erik and Angie. You see Erik and Angie live in town and Erik loves to come out to the country and do some "Man" things. Anyway, Kyle and Erik would be outside and Angie and I would stay inside to cook dinner. Here's how Angie and I's conversations would go........

Angie - So what were you planning to make for dinner?

Missy - I was thinking pork chops, mashed potatoes, and a vegetable.

Angie - Ok, what do you want to start on first?

Missy - I don't care, just make yourself at home and I'll try to find everything you need.

Once we'd start cooking, I'd come up with some reason to go out and check on the boys. The next time I'd come back in the house would be when Angie was yelling that dinner was done. Angie knew her way around my kitchen better than I did. I guess this would be a good time for me to say "Thank You" to Angie, without her Kyle wouldn't have gotten good meals EVER. So I was back in the same situation yet again, I hadn't learned how to cook.

One day I made my mind up that I was going to learn how to cook. How hard could it be? Let me tell you that I'm amazed that Kyle is still alive after some of the things I made for him. Oil Drenched Cheese Frenchies, burnt pork chops, uncooked potatoes (or apples as Kyle will call them), etc. etc. etc. So I got the idea that if I learned to make gravy, and not just any gravy, my mother-in-laws gravy, I could put it on top of any thing and it would better the taste. So during a trip to the in-laws I asked my mother in law to teach me how to make her gravy. And so the episodes of bad gravy began.

Kyle considers himself a "Gravy Connoisseur." Just about every evening he'd try eating too runny gravy, too much flour gravy, too little flour gravy, and gravy that looked like vomit. The dogs became plum fat during this time, because we were throwing out not only the horrible food I was making, but also topping it off with gravy. Well, with a lot of practice I have to admit that I have become pretty good at making gravy. In fact, I've become kinda comfortable in the kitchen and even enjoy reading cook books. Gasp!

So, I've decided to randomly post some of my favorite family recipes or new recipes I've tried out. Tonight I decided to make a Nilan Family favorite, Beer Cheese Soup. Yes, there is beer in the soup, but you cook the alcohol out. My sister's in-laws refused to try this soup, so she simply changed the name to Nilan Cheese Soup and guess what......they love it! This is a great soup to make when you don't have much time to make dinner or when it's really cold outside and you need something to warm you up.


Beer Cheese Soup
1 c. flour
1/2 c. butter
4 cups chicken broth
1 can evaporated milk
16 oz. cheese whiz
1 can beer of your choice (I prefer coors light)
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
dried beef (fresh from the deli, or in the jar)

You'll want to smooth together the flour, butter, chicken brother and evaporated milk before adding the rest of the ingredients. Heat over the stove and serve when hot.

Happy Eating!

MW