Hash: A Limerick

No, not that kind of hash, silly. The kind with potatoes and meat and cheese and friedness.

There once was a food so cheap
Your grandma could make it in her sleep
She lived through the Depression
Potatoes her obsession
A food healthy, filling, and not sweet.

Okay, so maybe Peter Sagal won't be hiring me any time soon for their limerick game.

My brother made these for us both times we went to Utah for Mom. Hash is great for serving a crowd. It's great for serving a crowd and not breaking the bank. It's great for serving a crowd, not breaking the bank, and only spending 30 minutes making food.

It's also great when I get home to find 10 pounds of Russet potatoes are on sale for $1 and 12 eggs are on sale for $.29. I mean, wow. And for all the haters and/or extremely food-conscious people in the world who think potatoes, cheese, and friedness make people fat and unhealthy, I say to you, "Leave the skins on and add kale." Okay, I really do say this, but I also feel compelled to say that most homemade from-scratch dinner foods prepared lovingly at someone's hand are not--in my very extremely excessively humble opinion--what is making Americans fat.

Here's what you do:

1. Fry up some bacon or sausage or even hamburger or ham, or what-the-heck-ever (yes, you can skip this step if you want a vegetarian or even cheaper version of this). Sausage is my favorite, but all are good.
2. While the meat is cooking, dice some potatoes. Dice them small (a centimeter or less). Any old kind will do, though reds are always my favorite.
3. Take the meat out when it's done. Leave its fat in the pan. If it hasn't left much fat, add some oil.
4. Throw your diced potatoes in and fry them until easily pierced with a fork.
5. Crack several eggs, beat them, and toss them into the mix. Stir them around till they're cooked.
6. Add your meat back in.
7. Add salt and pepper.
8. Sprinkle some cheese on top if you wish.
9. Note: You can use any other veggies you have. If they're hard (carrots, onions, etc) add them in with the potatoes. If they're soft (spinach, cooked leftover veggies, peas, etc.) add them near the end--probably when you throw the meat back in).
10. Another note: Feel free to go wild with herbs. What do I think would be awesome: parsley, sage, thyme, rosemary.

Halloween Pizza--a Spider and a Cat

Okay, so I tried a couple ideas out last night for dinner. This one was definitely the winner.

I got the idea of olive spiders from Apron Strings deviled eggs.

This one, well, it started out trying to be a jack-o-lantern, but then I thought it looked like a cat so I made it one, except that I kind of thought it looked like maybe a cat with a mustache or even a little owl-ish. So, um, yeah, it's a shapeshifting pizza of some sort, but just for the record, jack-o-lantern, cat, and owl would all be fun pizzas to have on the big day.

These are super simple to make and the great thing is you can go all out with your dough from scratch yada yada or just cheat and get a pre-made crust and still turn out a winner of a super quick Halloween night dinner.

Baked Eggs in a Basket

Growing up, Kip ate these all the time. (I, on the other hand, had never had or heard of them until we were married.) His mom would cut a circle into a slice of bread, put it on a skillet, crack an egg in, and voila. It's a great quick, cheap, fun meal. However, until this week, I felt somewhat limited by the skillet method. It was perfect for a lunch for one, but you could only do a couple at a time and by the time you had enough for a family the first ones were cold and kind of rubbery.

And then I saw a recipe in Everyday Food where a kid was making these on a cookie sheet in the oven. And my brain said, "Aha" or "Well duh" or "Why the heck did I not think of this sooner?" 

You'll be happy to know (you are happy, aren't you?), that I did have an original creative moment of my own. As I set out to make the circles, I thought, "But why circles? I bet I could use cookie cutters and make all kinds of fun shapes." And I did. And it was fun. 

Though I must warn you that the shapes look a little clearer when these are raw than when they come out of the oven with the whites set. 

If you wish to have the shapes extra clear, take care not to spill whites outside of the edges. Which could be a little tricky. I was sloppy, so when I served them to my kids, I flipped them over the the side without the white eggy part on it and that way they could appreciate the fact that their mother had cut stars and hearts into their dinners. 

Add this to your list of perfect post-shopping meals for November/December. It takes 15-20 minutes and you can use whatever fun or holiday festive cookie cutter shapes you've got around. You can also top it with whatever sounds good to you: cheese, chives, parsley, tomatoes, salsa, avocado, etc. 

Baked Eggs in a Basket

adapted from Everyday Food

makes 6

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 9 minutes

Cost: $.90

bread: .15, eggs: .60, butter: .15

2 Tbsp butter

6 slices bread

6 eggs

salt and pepper

any other toppings you like (we did some with cheese--yum)

Preheat oven to 375. While it's heating, cut out your bread. You can use circles made from a glass or biscuit cutter, or you can go nuts and use cookie cutters. After that the sky's the limit. 

Butter your pan (seriously, do this or your eggs will stick like crazy and you will be sad). Butter your bread on both sides. Arrange slices (and the cut outs--they'll make a crunchy, almost crouton-like toast that my kids LOVED) on your pan. 

Crack one egg into each hole. 

Bake for 8-9 minutes or until the yolks are just barely runny or just barely set (whichever you prefer). Beware that they still look raw-ish when they are cooked, so you might want to stick a fork in to check for doneness. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE