Ginger and T Cook: The Glorified BLT

Let me start by saying that eggs are not my favorite food. After a very nasty experience on a mission trip to Romania about 13 years ago (wow, that makes me feel old) I didn't eat eggs for a long time. When I do eat eggs it is usually only scrambled, and occasionally boiled. That's it! I don't do the runny, yolkie (yes I just made that word up) eggs. Nasty!

  So, our new recipe for this week was definitely a stretch for me, but I did it, and I'm proud! T and I cooked what I'll call "The Glorified BLT." It was an idea of T's, probably mainly because it involved bacon, and he's one of those people that likes runny, yolkie eggs.

  We started out with some sourdough bread fresh from our grocer's bakery, tomato slices, lettuce, avocado, pepper bacon, eggs and spicy mayo. We made the mayo by mixing some spicy chili sauce into regular mayo.

 

 

  I fried the bacon, while T made the eggs. Now let me tell y'all that T was super excited about this recipe because I got good bacon. He told me, "now we can't do this with that turkey bacon stuff that you usually buy. It's gotta be the good stuff." So, I got the good bacon. You know, the kind that actually comes from a pig. 

  T cooked the eggs by cracking them on the skillet and letting them cook on the lowest setting. Nice and slow and no flipping. When he said they were ready, but I'd noticed he hadn't flipped them and he said he wasn't going to I made a scrunchy face and moved on with my life. We then assembled the sandwiches. And.....I knew it was coming, but I was still slightly terrified. Very quickly after putting everything together the yellow gooey stuff started running everywhere. 

  Now I know you may be thinking.....I thought she said this was a BLT. Yeah....I took the pictures, but forgot to put in the "L." Oops, please forgive me. 

  I did very well with the runny, yolkie stuff and the sandwich was absolutely delicious. The combined flavors of the egg, bacon and avocado were fabulous. Give it a try!

The secret to more money and less stress

   Today I want to share with you the secret to my millions. Ok, so maybe not millions, but this little trick has definitely helped our household budget. And not only that, it has majorly cut down on a daily stressor. Can I get an amen to that?!

  Meal planning people! That's where it's at! Several months ago T and I made a vow to start having a better plan when it came to our daily dinners. I had heard a little talk about meal planning and thought I'd give it a shot. It has been a lifesaver. I no longer walk into the house after a long day, exhausted, and tell T that we're on our own for dinner. This translates into, T is having eggs and I'm having a salad. 

  We also have dramatically cut back on our trips to the grocery store. Hallelujah! Sorry to sound so excited if battling hundreds of other shoppers on a Wednesday at 5pm, when you're tired and hungry, just happens to be your absolute favorite thing to do. 

  So, here's how it goes down. T and I have perfected the 2 week meal planning. Every other week, usually on a Friday, I sit down and make up our meal plans for the next 2 weeks. I have this cute little paper that I write everything on and then hang it on the fridge. 

 

 

  As I plan every meal I look through the pantry and deep freezer to figure out what ingredients I have and what needs to be purchased. I write out a very detailed shopping list, organized by the way my grocery store is laid out. It's a shining example of my OCD at it's best. Please tell me that I'm not the only one who does this.

  

  I'll never forget one time when T and I were at the store together and we went in the door opposite of the section where I usually start and he asked, "can't we just do the list backwards?" I then looked at him like he was completely nuts and he proceeded to push the empty shopping cart all the way across the store so that we could start everything in the proper order. 

  Ok....where was I? Oh yes, meal planning.....not talking about how crazy Ginger is. 

  I only add things to the list that we need, and we're usually pretty good about sticking to it. I would say we might buy one or two things that are not on the list. They are usually chocolate chip cookies. 

  I cannot say enough good things about meal planning. It cuts back on the daily question of, "what's for dinner?" We've also noticed that we're now eating better, healthier meals. Meal planning can really help eliminate your trips to the grocery store. Because let's be honest, how many times do you go in and just get that one ingredient that you're needing for dinner?! Since we've been meal planning we only go to the store twice a month, usually on Saturday mornings before it gets insane and I start threatening to hit people with my shopping cart because they've been staring at the 15 different types of tomato sauce for 3 minutes. I would highly recommend that you give meal planning a try. If there was a company that marketed meal planning I totally just rocked the selling of their product.

Motivational Monday

Do your dreams scare you?

Friday Funnies

Isn't that the truth! Have a great weekend!

Kayaking the river

  Earlier this week I went kayaking for the first time, and absolutely loved it! One of my coworkers has 4 kayaks so she took a small group of us after work. Our office is actually right on the San Antonio Riverwalk, so that's where we went.

 

  Now I know when many of you image the Riverwalk you probably have an image like this......

 

 

  But, just a little further south of all this craziness there's a beautiful section that is lined with a few houses, tons of trees and quiet nature. It's really great, and I love to be able to enjoy it during my lunch break by taking a walk. 

  We put the kayaks in south of our office and then rowed about a mile north until we ran into a waterfall and had turn back. 

  Kayaking was a lot of fun and a great way to experience the Riverwalk.

Ginger and T Cook: Breakfast Style Baked Egg Rolls

  This week for our cooking adventure T and I made breakfast style baked egg rolls. We had some leftover egg roll wrappers in the fridge and T is always thinking of fantastic and fun ways to use up any leftovers we may have.

  We started with scrambling four eggs with some salsa and spinach mixed in. Through trial and error we've learned the trick to successful rolling when assembling your egg rolls. If you're using a filling that is hot, let it cool down a bit. So, after the eggs were done we set them aside while we got everything else ready.

  Set up a nice little assembly line with everything that you're going to fill your egg rolls with. We used the egg mixture, deli ham slices and shredded cheddar cheese.

  Start by layering your contents into the wrapper. You'll want to use a small amount, as too much will make it too hard to roll it up. Roll up your egg roll similar to the way you would roll a burrito. At each fold brush some egg wash onto the wrapper to help hold it together.

    Place the prepared egg rolls on a baking sheet that's been sprayed with non-stick spray. Brush some more of the egg wash onto the outside surface of the egg rolls.

  Bake the egg rolls at 375 for about 12-14 minutes. When they're done your egg rolls will not look like typical egg rolls that you'd eat at your favorite Chinese restaurant because they're not fried. They won't have the darker brown outside, but trust me, they'll still be delicious....and a lot healthier!

 

  From our kitchen to yours, enjoy!

Motivational Monday

Appreciate the little things