Green Eggs, and Potatoes and (Sausage)

Okay, so I wanted to do something fun for Dr. Suess' birthday and St. Patrick's Day.  But I didn't have any ham, and we did have some pork sausage and some potatoes.  So here is my little variation on Green Eggs and Ham.  It's a bit different and of course you can make ham instead of sausage, I just went by what I had in the fridge at the time.  Enjoy!

Green Eggs and Potatoes

2 eggs per person you are cooking for
1 c chopped fresh spinach
1 tsp basil pesto (I didn't use the homemade version, but you can get the recipe here.)
1/4 c milk or heavy cream
few drops green food coloring
2 previously baked potatoes, diced (or frozen and thawed country hashbrowns)
1 tbsp olive oil

Scramble eggs lightly, add milk, spinach, and pesto, beat well with fork or whisk.  Add green food coloring.  Cook potatoes for about 10 minutes, or until crispy, turning occasionally to get them evenly crispy.  Pour egg mixture over the top and stir to combine with potatoes, cook until eggs are firm and cooked well.  Serve with warm ham or sausage or bacon.

Egg Nog... a bit late, but here it is.

Ok, this one is from one of the girls I visit with from church, and her husband's family makes this every year. She let us try some when we visited her in the beginning of December, and you would never know it wasn't store bought. I didnt have the official recipe when I made it just before Christmas to take it to the family members, but I think I got it pretty close. Super easy and tastes like you got it from the store, but it makes twice as much for half the price.

Egg Nog

1 gallon 2% milk
2 boxes of vanilla or eggnog flavored pudding (small boxes, and I used sugar free)
1 tbsp imitation rum flavoring
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Pour half the gallon of milk into a large bowl. With whisk or stick/immersion blender (you can use a regular blender, but you have to do it in smaller batches which would make it thicker and harder to pour), blend pudding into milk, then add rum flavoring and nutmeg. Pour back into the milk bottle, using funnel. Shake bottle well, and then chill overnight in refrigerator. Best if you make at least one day in advance, flavors meld better over time.

Pumpkin CAN be good...I promise!

Because I have been lacking on the recipes lately, I am going to post two recipes at the same time that both have a similar theme. One is from my friend Rebecca, and one is from the Lion House Desserts recipe book (which you all should get if you can, its awesome!). The theme today is Pumpkin. With Chocolate Chips. Yep. Can we say tasty?? I love these recipes, and I am going to share them with you because I think they are so fantastic. I generally don't like pumpkin, mostly in pie because the texture is funny to me. But these are great, and the flavor is fantastic! The first one is for cookies, and the second is for bread or muffins (I modified it and instead of nuts I used chocolate chips)...enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups (12-ounce bag) milk chocolate chips, not semisweet
Nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.
Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.



Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread (or Muffins)
1 1/3 c vegetable oil
5 eggs
1 16 oz can of pumpkin puree
2 c flour
2 c sugar (or one cup sugar, and one cup Splenda)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
2 3 oz pkgs vanilla pudding mix (sugar free pudding mix works well too)
1 c chopped nuts or chocolate chips (or half of each)
(sorry, not sure what happened to my spacing and I don't know how to fix it. I will get my husband to check that out today.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease well 2 large 8x4 inch loaf pans (or 2 12 cup muffin pans), set aside. Mix oil, eggs, and pumpkin in mixing bowl or stand mixer and beat well. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking soda. Add to pumpkin mixture in parts, scraping sides after each addition and blending well. Stir in pudding mix and chocolate chips or nuts. Pour into prepared pans. If making bread, bake for one hour. If making muffins, bake 18 minutes. Makes 2 loaves or about 30 muffins.