Breakfast for Dinner

One of my favorite meals for dinner is breakfast.  I think it has to do with having something sweet for a meal.  Both sides of my family has a sweet tooth so I didn't stand a chance.  The fact is that there are so many good foods that make breakfast an endless possibility.  You could have sausage, bacon, ham, or steak, and that is just the meats! We have incorporated this into our weekly meal planner as well.  But as always, I am looking for something new.  So what better than something that would combine almost all of the best breakfast foods?  Nothing. 
Start with a can of Grands biscuits.  Fry up some bulk sausage and frozen hash browns.  Mix some flour and milk with the sausage to make a gravy.   Through a couple eggs in with the hash browns and finish cooking.  Pull out a muffin pan and take a biscuit and smash it into the muffin hole.  Put in some hash brown mix then add the sausage gravy.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 min.  So there, all the great things about breakfast in one easy muffin.
Sounds good in theory.  The girls didn't like them, but then, I have yet to find something new that they do like.  The husband at them, and they were tolerable.  But they weren't good.  They were too dry and needed more sausage.  I think I may retry the recipe, only put in half of a biscuit and make extra gravy to put over the top when they are done because everything is better with gravy. 

Macaroni and Cheese

So who doesn't love macaroni and cheese?  I know that this has been one of my absolute favorite meals since I can remember.  Not the kind that comes from the box either.  The oouy-goouy kind with melted cheese on the top.  The kind that leaves stings of cheese on your chin.  OK, if you haven't noticed, cheese and pasta are two of my favorite foods.  And when you put the two together, ahhh, heaven.  Annie's Eats is one of my favorite websites for trying new foods.  You can always find something new and exciting on her page.  I found the classic mac and cheese recipe and thought I would give it a try, because while I love real mac and cheese, I have never made it.  I know, I can't really believe it either, but the truth must be told. 
So starting this recipe was a lot about preparation.  Shredding the cheese, getting ALL of the ingredients out, who knew there were 287 things that went into one dish.  OK, a little high, but still.   I did everything the way it said, garlic in the butter smelled amazing by the way.  Got it all together in the pan to put in the oven and sprinkled a little more cheese on the top.  35 minutes later, it was done.
Now to the taste testers.  Mark had been hunting that night, and was a little surprised when he came home to just mac and cheese for dinner, the man does like his meat.  The girls love mac and cheese so I thought that this would be a crowd pleaser.  Who would have thought I could be so wrong.  Mark took one bite and turned up his nose, as did Aiden.  Carly didn't even take a bite, she saw everyone else getting up to find something else that she did to.
I ate the damn thing.  Something happened with the sauce, need to figure out what, but it went grainy.  It wasn't bad, but it really needed some work.  Maybe another recipe when I get the courage to start it again.  I am hoping the next one works, just to cure my cravings.

Salad

I hate salads.  Ever since I can remember, I have been trying to find a dressing that would spruce up a salad enough for me to like them.  I remember taking a little of every salad dressing at restaurants thinking that one of them had to work.  How could I not like any dressing?  The worst, by far, was ranch.  I couldn't even stand the smell of it on someone after they ate it.  This past summer, a friend of mine brought a salad to our monthly dinner.  It was from Ya-Ya's, their grilled chicken Cesar salad.  Pretty amazing, unfortunately the dressing is not to be reproduced and I haven't had any luck in repeating this salad at home.

A few months later, my friend, who is also a Pampered Chef consultant, invited me over for yet another salad.  If you aren't a fan of Pampered Chef, you should become on, my life is forever changed in the kitchen because of this company.  The best thing to date, their chili lime rub.  This salad used this spice to create something amazing!  It is put on the chicken before it is cooked and mixed with, get this, ranch dressing!  So you have your lettuce and any other veggies you put in your salad, then you break up some lime tortilla chips and add your dressing, lots of dressing!  I was floored when she told me it was mixed with ranch, since I can't stand it.  By far the best salad ever, the kids are not fans, the hubby loved it also.