Monday, March 5, 2012

Homemade Hot Pocket? Hell yeah!

Ok, so I'm pretty sure that I'm infringing on some sort of copyright by using the name "Hot pocket" but we'll just keep it like that until I get an email about it.
I know this is not your typical breakfast, but honestly, Hot pockets are eaten at all times of the day, so let's just go with it.
This makes a lot of food and is pretty filling. The recipe I'm going to put up is the one I used to feed two people and we have plenty of leftovers. If you have 4 people to feed, I suggest doubling the measurements for the filling only.

1 Pillsbury pizza crust
1/2 lb ground beef
5 slices of bacon
3/4 Cup shredded cheddar
3/4 Cup shredded mozzarella
1 egg
1 teaspoon onion powder
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Cook the bacon until done (slightly crispy, or however crisp you like your bacon) let the bacon drain on some paper towels and brown the ground beef in the same pan (emptied of bacon grease). After draining the ground beef, return it to the pan (no heat) and crumble the bacon before adding it to the ground beef. Add both cheeses to the beef/bacon and stir until melted. Beat the egg and pour into the beef/bacon/cheese mixture and stir to make sure the egg is mixed in well.
Open the pizza dough and roll out onto a large cookie sheet. Do not spread the dough too thin. Spoon the filling into the middle, stopping a couple inches from the top and bottom edges. Gently take one side of the dough and, supporting the filling inside, roll it over to meet the other side of the dough. Press the top and bottom together to seal it and make sure your hot pocket is seam side down. Cook at 400 for 17 minutes, or until brown and dough is cooked.

This is my bacon cheeseburger version, but with any recipe where you stuff a filling into something, the possibilities are endless. Jon absolutely loves the meatball hot pockets so that will be the next one I make. Or maybe a pepperoni pizza one. Or maybe even a ham and cheese one. Well, you get the picture. Be creative and use your leftovers, you may be impressed at what you come up with!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Leftover Brisket Breakfast Tacos (LBBT)

Ah, brisket. The first day is delicious, but soon enough you start running out of ideas on what to do with all this left over meat. The first thing you should do, is freeze maybe half of it. Do this so you don't get burned out, and then you'll have some for later.
Here are some ideas for left over brisket:
Sandwiches, of course
Quesadillas
Nachos
Chili
Queso (use the recipe for velveeta and rotel but substitute brisket for the meat, it's delicious!)
Empanadas
BBQ pizza
Enchiladas
Burritos
Ragu
Hash
The list is endless. But I'm going to give two recipes that are so good and so easy, you'll love them.
Brisket Lettuce Wraps
You can be real creative with this one. All you need is some large lettuce leaves, shredded brisket, red onions (chopped), yellow corn, shredded cheese, and a mild bbq sauce (black beans work well in this too). Add or remove ingredients as you choose. Put each ingredient in its own bowl/container and set up a sort of assembly line so that each person creates their own wrap.
Left over Brisket Breakfast Tacos (LBBT)
This recipe feeds 2, double to feed 4
1 med/lg potato
1/2 medium yellow onion
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon milk
1/4 to 1/2 cup green chiles (I used Hatch chiles and it was amazing)
about 1/3 lb leftover brisket
2 Tablespoons oil
Salt and Pepper

       Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Dice the potato and slice the onion, fry in the oil until browned. While potato and onion are cooking, combine milk and eggs in a bowl and whisk until well blended. When potato/onion are done cooking, drain on paper towels and set aside. Place brisket (shredded) and green chiles in hot skillet and heat through. Push the meat/chile mixture to one side of the pan and pour the egg mixture onto the other side. Scramble the eggs and toss with the meat once they are done. Now add the potato/onions back into the pan and stir.
       Serve on flour or corn tortillas with shredded mild cheddar and Herdez salsa. Enjoy!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Super Chunk Oatmeal

How do you make a healthy breakfast into a delicious, and slightly glutinous, one?
Just like this.
(also works well as a dessert on a cold night)
Prepare one serving of plain oatmeal to package instructions.
I use one minute quick oats, but the single serving bags work just fine.
While hot, add the following:
1 Tablespoon butter
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 to 1/4 Cup heavy cream (depending on how thick/thin you want it)
1/4 Cup raisins
1/2 a banana, sliced
chopped walnuts
(cranberries work well too)
Stir until well mixed and butter is melted.
Enjoy!