Ham and Swiss Egg Sandwiches......Let's Have Breakfast for Dinner!

Who loves Breakfast?  I do.  Who loves Breakfast for Dinner?  I do.  So, for this month's Cooking Light Virtual Club, I chose the theme of Breakfast foods for dinner.  There's just something fun about breakfast at dinnertime.  It can be savory, salty, sweet or a combination of all these flavors.  Breakfast foods are usually quick to prepare which makes it perfect for those busy nights.  

I love eating eggs, prepared anyway and anytime.  This ham and swiss egg sandwich appealed to me because I usually eat eggs in between toast or a biscuit.  Sometimes, I'll sneak some bacon or a sausage patty in my egg sandwiches.  This is a healthier version.  It was super good.  Easy over egg, sauteed ham slice and swiss cheese....yummy!

Click here for recipe on Myrecipes.com

Ham and Swiss Egg Sandwiches

Recipe by Cooking Light

Ingredients

         Cooking spray (or butter)

        4 ounces thinly sliced lower-sodium deli ham

        4 large eggs

        4 English muffins, split and toasted (I used Honey Wheat)

        4 (1-ounce) slices Emmentaler or Swiss cheese

Preparation

         1. Preheat broiler to high.

        2. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat the pan with cooking spray. Add ham to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pan. Recoat pan with cooking spray. Crack eggs into pan. Cover and cook for 4 minutes or until desired degree of doneness.  (I made my eggs over easy and I used butter in the pan instead of cooking spray) Remove from heat.

        3. Place 4 toasted muffin halves, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Top each half with 1 cheese slice. Broil for 2 minutes or until cheese melts. Divide ham among cheese-topped muffin halves; top each with 1 egg and 1 muffin half.

        Note:  I put a small amount of butter on the toasted English Muffins.  Also, the cheese melted much quicker than 2 minutes so check your oven when you melt the cheese.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the breakfast menu from the other members of the Cooking Light Virtual Supper group.

Mary Ann from Meet Me in the Kitchen made a Fig-Swirl Coffeecake.

Val from More than Burnt Toast made Blueberry and Maple-Pecan Granola Parfaits.

Roz from La Bella Vita brought Hash Brown Casserole with Bacon, Onions and Cheese.

Sandi from Whistlestop Cafe Cooking brought a Grits Souffle.

Jerry from Jerry's Thoughts, Musings and Rants made Breakfast Cookies.

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: Take your favorite Breakfast dishes and have them for dinner every so often.  Your family will be all smiles when you announce, "It's Breakfast for Dinner night!"

Sausage, Peppers and Onions

I'm guest posting today at my sister-in-law's blog, Aggie's Kitchen.  Head over to her site and check out this fantastic recipe for Sausage, Peppers and Onions.

Aggie has a wonderful blog and she was the one who encouraged me to start my own.  So, take a look at this recipe and some of Aggie's healthy and flavorful recipes.

I'll be back later this week with another recipe.  Not sure which one yet but stay tuned.

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson:  Sausage, Peppers and Onions can be eaten as a sandwich like I've done here or it can be an appetizer or side to other Italian dishes.   

Sloppy Joe Sliders

This is a really good Sloppy Joe recipe that the whole family will enjoy.  It's got that sweet, spicy and smokey combination that I love.  Serve them on mini buns/slider rolls.  My girls just loved eating them on these little rolls.  They couldn't be easier to make which is perfect for a quick weeknight meal. 

I found this recipe in Food Network Magazine.  They call it Cafeteria Sloppy Joes.  These are much better than any cafeteria Sloppy Joes I've ever eaten.  

Click here for the Sloppy Joe recipe on Foodnetwork.com.      

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson:  I'm seeing more and more companies offering mini buns/slider rolls.  I used Sara Lee Mini Buns found in my grocery store's bread aisle.  My daughters also liked using them for mini sandwiches in their lunch boxes. 

Tuna Salad Wrap

It's been pretty busy this past week. My daughters have one more week of summer vacation left so we've been getting ready for back to school and just enjoying the last bit of summer break. On top of that, my oven broke. (it's 18 years old & blew during a power outage from one of our normal Florida storms) Can you believe that? A food blogger without an oven! Luckily, it's a built in oven so I have a separate cook top. I also have a grill, crockpot and toaster oven, so I think I'll be ok until we can get it replaced. It's going to take about 2 weeks though since it's a special order. But the great news is (always look on the positive side) I may be getting a double oven. We have the space for it because of the built in microwave above the oven that also fried during an electrical storm last year (I'm thinking power surge protector with the new one). Anyway, have I bored you yet with my appliance woes?

Well, here is a light dinner or lunch that doesn't require an oven. I know we all know how to make tuna fish but I wanted to share my method for this wonderful wrap.

Tuna Salad Wrap

Recipe by Jamie from Mom's Cooking Club

Serving size - 3 wraps

2 - 5 oz cans of your favorite tuna - I use solid white in water

1/4 cup light mayonnaise - use more or less depending on how much mayo you like

1 celery stalk, chopped small

1 tablespoon red onion, diced small - more or less depending on how much you want

1 tablespoon sweet relish

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

baby spinach leaves

tomato slices

your favorite wraps - I used Light Flatout Sundried Tomato brand

Drain tuna and place in mixing bowl. Mash and break up tuna with a fork. Add remaining ingredients through Dijon mustard and mix well. Place 1/3 of tuna mixture and place near one end of wrap. Lay 2-3 tomato slices on top of tuna. Lay about 4 baby spinach leaves on top of tomatoes. Carefully roll wrap and cut in half.

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: Play around with the ingredients for different flavors. You could add lettuce or alfalfa sprouts instead of spinach. You could add cheese or some herbs like dill or chives. You could even put some lemon juice in the tuna. So, what do you put in your tuna salad? I would love to hear your ideas. I may be making alot of tuna until my new oven comes.

Pan-Seared Shrimp Po' Boys - August Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club

Welcome to my second Virtual Supper Club Dinner where myself and 4 other food bloggers get together for a meal all inspired by recipes from Cooking Light. This month's theme is Regional Cuisine. We each chose a recipe that represents where we live.

I live in Pensacola, Florida (click here for visitors information) which is a very unique part of Florida. This area is also known as the Florida Panhandle or Northwest Florida. Some even call it LA which stands for Lower Alabama since we are about 15 minutes from the Alabama line.

Did you know that Pensacola is celebrating it's 450th Birthday this month. It was back on August 15, 1559 that Spanish sailor Don Tristan de Luna and 1500 other people came to Pensacola. This area is considered the first European settlement in the Continental U.S. We have a nickname which is The City of Five Flags because Pensacola has been ruled by Spain, France, Britain, the confederacy and the United States. There is a military base stationed here. The Pensacola Navy Yard was built in 1826 and is now called Pensacola Naval Air Station. One of the most beautiful areas we have are the beaches. Sugar white sand beaches surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico. Pensacola is a mid-sized city but with all the charm and friendliness of a small Southern town.

Pensacola is on the Gulf of Mexico so when our Virtual Supper Club chose the theme of "Regional Cuisine", I knew I wanted to do a seafood dish. Specifically, I wanted to showcase the shrimp that comes from the Gulf of Mexico. Another influence to Pensacola is the close proximity of Louisiana. We are about three hours from New Orleans, which has a great effect on the local cuisine.

A well known New Orleans dish are sandwiches called Po' Boys. Po' Boys are submarine type sandwiches that are usually made with fried shrimp or oysters. They can come "fully dressed" with lettuce, tomatoes and mayonnaise. Some also include pickles and onion. So, when I saw Pan-Seared Shrimp Po' Boys in the July 2009 issue of Cooking Light Magazine, I immediately knew this was the perfect meal to represent my town, Pensacola, Florida.

This sandwich was a fantastic healthier alternative to the traditional Po' Boys with fried shrimp. The heat of the pan-seared cajun spiced shrimp was cooled off by the creamy homemade tarter sauce. We had ours "fully dressed" with lettuce, tomatoes and red onion.

Click here for the Pan-Seared Shrimp Po' Boys recipe

What did everyone else bring to our Virtual Supper Club Dinner?

(click on name to take a closer look)

Val - Bruschetta with Peach Salsa and Melted Brie

Helene - Spinach Salad with Maple-Dijon Vinaigrette

Aggie - Key Lime Pie

Shelby - Double Maple Cupcakes

What a wonderful meal and such a great way to learn more about where we live and how food is such a big part of our cultures and our communities. Join us next month for our Cooking Light Lunch Menu theme.

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: This recipe calls for salt-free cajun seasoning. I could not find a salt-free brand at my grocery store. Click here for a salt-free cajun spice that I quickly put together at home. I did omit the white pepper since I didn't have any. Now, I have a batch made up that I can use for other purposes like grilled chicken or baked cajun fries.

Barbecue Pulled Pork Sandwich

Family Visitors

Vacation time. Sand in the toes. Beach. Unbelievable neighborhood fireworks. Searching for cool shells. Joe Patti's Seafood Market. Naval Aviation Air Museum. Shrimp Boil. Boogie Boarding. Kids playing Clue with Uncle Larry until midnight (every night). Wet towels. Peach and Blueberry Crumble with vanilla ice cream. Laughing. Taking pictures. Hot tea at night. Blackened Red Fish. Singing Michael Jackson songs in the van. Lunch at Peg Leg Pete's on Pensacola Beach. Boston Terriers enjoying all the love and attention. Homemade Pizzas. Ice Cream Cones. Jelly fish. Bagels in the morning. Inflatable slip and slide. Smiles. Fun.

Family Memories

My brother Larry, his wife Aggie, their 2 children and my niece Janey, came for a 4th of July weekend visit. It's a long drive from Central Florida to Pensacola FL so I wanted to have dinner ready and waiting for them when they arrived. This barbecue pork is made in the Crock-pot and couldn't be more easy to make. And it couldn't be more delicious.

First thing you need is to select your Boston Butt.....oops not these Boston Butts.......

But use this Boston Butt pork cut

Barbecue Pulled Pork Sandwich

Recipe by Jamie (adapted from Aggie's Kitchen)

4-5 lb Boston Butt pork

small onion - sliced

3-4 garlic cloves - peeled and smashed

Pork Rub seasoning (I used McCormick Grill Mates Pork Rub)

water

salt & pepper

Barbecue Sauce - your favorite (I used Sweet Baby Rays)

Sandwich buns

Sprinkle pork rub seasoning all over meat. Rub in well. Cut onion in large slices. Place pork in Crock-pot. Add onion & garlic. Add water to cover about half of pork. Add a little salt and pepper if desired. Cook on low for 9-10 hours. Remove pork and place in large pan or cookie sheet. Remove water and other ingredients from Crock-pot. Shred pork with 2 forks. Remove any bones or fat. Add some barbecue sauce to pork, about 1/2 cup. Place pork back in Crock-pot to keep warm. Serve on buns with extra barbecue sauce.

Shredded pork


Serve with fries and coleslaw for a complete barbecue meal

Enjoy!

Mom's Cooking Club Lesson: This is a great meal to serve for a group of people. Put it in the Crock-pot in the morning with very minimal prep work and by the evening you have dinner ready. I like to have a variety of barbecue sauces that people can use and add to their sandwich.

Cousins

Gina, Sammy, Mariah, Marissa & Janey

We love you guys!