the tongan

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Derek served a mission in the Phoenix, Arizona, area (for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) back in the early 2000s. On said mission, one of his fellow Elders taught him how to make this age-old recipe that had been passed on amongst Elders for years: the Tongan. Derek has since made it for me, for our kids, for some friends, and even for our local missionaries when they come for dinner. It sounds gross, but I promise it’s good. (It is also super caloric, perfect for growing young men on bikes - and budgets, ha.) Give it a try, and report back! 

Recipe: The Tongan

Ingredients:

White bread

Mayo

Ramen

Eggs

Ham

Cheddar

Directions: 

Spread Mayo on the bread.

Boil ramen just long enough for it to unfold. 

Place (drained) ramen plank in a frying pan. Whip an egg in a bowl/mug and mix the seasoning packet into it. Pour egg mixture over the ramen plank. Cook through, turning half way.

Add a slice of cheese and a slice of ham to one side of the ramen/egg plank. 

When cheese is melted, fold over the ramen plank. Put this whole thing between the two pieces of Mayo-ed bread. 

Cut in half if you want. Enjoy! 

crock pot pinto beans

Photo credit: http://shimandsons.typepad.com/shimandsons/2007/03/pinto_beans_din.html

I'm not sure what it is, but there's a piece of me that just loves a big ol' pot-o-beans.  It is likely that my parents are to blame.  Growing up, my mom went through a phase (a long one) where every Sunday she would make a big pot of beans and a loaf of delicious homemade bread.  Mmm.  It might seem random to you (it did to my husband) to eat beans as a meal, but we're New Mexicans; it's how we roll.  Anyway, now that I am a mommy myself, I wanted to duplicate that-- not the weekly tradition, necessarily, but just exposing my family/children to the delicious simplicity that is a pot of beans with a side of homemade bread.  And it really is simple.  And delicious.  And the best part is you can make the pot of beans and end up creating several meals out of it (more on that later).  Yum.  Frijoles.  Ole!

RECIPE: Crock Pot Pinto Beans

Ingredients:

4 c. dry pinto beans

1 ham hock (opt)

garlic powder

salt/pepper

Directions:

Before you do anything, sort through the beans and take out any particularly funky/damaged ones as well as any dirt or rocks you come across.  Then rinse the beans well (I put them in a large bowl, cover them with water, swish them all around a bit with my hand, drain, and repeat- a few times).  

You can soak the beans overnight at this point, but it is optional (and who thinks that far in advance, really).  

Put the rinsed and drained beans in the crock pot.  Add your ham hock.  Cover with water (a couple of inches over, probably... the ham hock can poke out a bit, but you're doing a whole pot here so don't skimp). Sprinkle around a bunch of garlic powder and pepper as well as a bit of salt (you don't need much; the ham has enough to share).  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until beans are soft and ham is fully cooked.

Serve alone or top with cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, lettuce, onions, any of that stuff.  That's it!  Enjoy! 

egg, ham and cheese bagel-wich

Last week should be dubbed The Week of the Bagel-wich. My kids and I dined one night at my friend Li's, and she served... bagel-wich. The following day, my next-door-neighbor and friend Aubrey brought us dinner... bagel-wich. The coincidences were undeniable. The stars aligned. We NEVER made these at our house, but how could we deny fate? :) We've now made them ourselves- a couple of times {since last week - lol}. The idea is certainly not my own, but here is our rendition.

RECIPE: Egg, Ham and Cheese Bagel-wich

Ingredients:

plain bagels {Sara Lee's are scrumptious}

ham, thickly sliced

sharp cheddar cheese, sliced

eggs

salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

On a hot griddle, sear the ham slices. Place the ham on your bagel bottom. Place a layer of cheddar on top of these. Nuke the stack for about a minute, or until the cheese melts. Meanwhile, fry up the egg like you like it- also on a hot griddle, seasoning with salt/pepper. Place the egg on top of the bagel-ham-cheese stack, then top with the corresponding bagel piece. Serve warm. Devour. And Mmm... love it!

ham fried rice

I was craving something Asian and was too unambitious to make manapuas (which is the Hawaiian name for them, I suppose, making them not-so-Asian... if you're curious as to what they are, stay tuned. I intend to make them sometime in the near future). So I made ham fried rice. Easy. Quick. And it used up several ingredients we had around from the holidays. I hadn't really made this before, but I think it turned out pretty yummy. We were going to have this accompany pot stickers, but it made a ton and we wanted to eat ASAP. So this was our meal. Hey, at least we had grain, protein and veggies. It's a relatively balanced meal. :) Either way, it was good. And hey- a little Asian good luck to start of the new year is never a bad thing, right?

RECIPE: Ham Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1/4 c. diced onion

1 c. diced ham

2 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, divided

2 tsp. vegetable oil {or canola or whatever, but probably not EVOO}

1 c. frozen peas

1 c. shredded carrots

3 eggs {I'd probably do 4 next time}

4 c. cooked, cool white rice

soy sauce, to taste

sesame seed oil

ginger powder

salt/pepper

Directions:

If you have leftover rice, use that. Otherwise {I didn't} cook 2 c. rice according to package directions (it will double once cooked) and throw in the freezer for at least 30 min. or so, preferably with the lid off. You want it cold and slightly dried out... leftover-like, if you will.

Over medium-high heat, fry onion, ham and 1/2 tsp. garlic powder in 1 tsp. vegetable oil in a large skillet/frying pan. Fry/cook for about 2 minutes or so, or until the onion is soft and the whole thing's a little browned. Reduce to medium heat and add 1 tsp. oil, peas and carrots. Fry for another couple of minutes, until peas are thawed and all is warmed and cooked a bit. Add eggs and stir to scramble. Once eggs are cooked, add the rice. Mix well to combine, then add the remaining seasonings to taste.

{Note: I put in about 7 glug-glug-glug turns around the pan of soy sauce (sorry for the crumby terminology), about 1/8 tsp. sesame seed oil (be careful with this guy; a little goes a very long way), 2 tsp.-ish garlic powder and oh... 1 tsp. ginger powder, along with a decent amount of ground pepper and a bit of salt (you don't need much; the soy sauce is pretty salty). Just add a bit, taste it, add a bit, taste it... that sort of thing. Ultimately YOU will eat it, so make it taste good to you.}

Serve warm... alone or otherwise. And enjoy!

easter dinner

This is what we had for Easter dinner this year. It was divine. Derek and I loved every bit of it, and James mostly just liked the beans. :) He's crazy for beans, the little weirdo. When James was a baby, he loved yams. Apparently that phase is over, and he thinks they're icky. But Derek and I loved them. The whole meal was a hit!

RECIPE: Easter Dinner

Ingredients:
spiral-sliced ham (with honey glaze packet)
Rhodes rolls (frozen)
green and yellow green beans (frozen, steam pack)
yams, 1 per person

Directions:
Pretty easy, just cook everything according to package directions!

Spray muffin tin with non-stick spray and place one frozen roll in each slot. Spray again and cover with plastic wrap. Put ham in a cake/casserole pan with a little water and cover in foil. Let the rolls rise and bake the ham in a 250F oven-- both for 3 hours (while you're at church... it's Easter, hello).

Once you're home, prepare the honey glaze by boiling the seasoning mix with water. Pour over ham and bake again (cover it with foil again, or your ham will dry out) for 8 minutes or so. Remove ham from oven, keeping covered to keep warm.

Remove the plastic wrap and bake the rolls according to package directions (for about 13 minutes). Meanwhile, wash the yams and poke them with a fork multiple times. Microwave on high until tender... about 20 minutes for 3 yams. Then steam the green/yellow beans for 5 minutes or so, again in the microwave.

Everything should be warm and ready now. Put it all on the table, say your prayers and dig in! Mmm, mmm, Easter!

homemade mac-n-cheese

I was blog-stalking this morning and came across a blog called The Black Apple and a post wherein she mentions that she love, love, loves mac-n-cheese but with one staple ingredient: nutmeg! I thought that was the most interesting {aka: weird} combo, but it also called to me. So when searching my cupboards and freezer for anything edible to eat for lunch, I thought I would try making my own mac-n-cheese. I'd never made a cheese sauce from scratch, but I figured it couldn't be that hard. Luckily, my "wingin' it" worked out to my advantage... because it was really good! Give this recipe a try. You'll be glad you did.



RECIPE: Homemade Mac-N-Cheese

Yield: 10 servings
Calories: 395 per

Ingredients:
16 oz. tube-ish pasta {I used 1 box ziti.}
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour
2 c. milk
8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese (grated)
salt/pepper, to taste
nutmeg {about 4 shakes it to taste}
10 oz. ham (apx 4 thick slices, cubed)

Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over high heat, melt butter. Once butter is melted and starting to boil, add flour, a little at a time. Whisk quickly to combine. Let the roux boil for about a minute, to cook out the "floury" taste. Add milk. Whisk to combine. Then add cheese and nutmeg, and again whisk to combine. Reduce heat and continue whisking until the sauce reaches desired consistency.

Drain pasta. Add sauce (a little at a time; you may not want all of it). Then add ham. Toss gently, and serve warm. Top with salt, pepper and/or nutmeg to taste.