Tasty and Healthy Scrambled Eggs

I have been trying several different ingredients in our scrambled eggs.  We like to eat them for dinner and want to make them a little more satisfying and tasty.  I have added Hebrew Nationals hot dogs and that was good.  I have added mixed veggies, cheese, bacon, ham, bacon spam, potatoes, avocado and several other things here and there.  They were all pretty good, but my favorite has been this last batch we had for Easter dinner.  It was just Duane and I, so we did not do a big traditional Easter dinner.  We wanted to try cauliflower as a substitute for potatoes.  I have made cauliflower before and Duane loved it, so I added it to the eggs, bacon and avocado and it was awesome!  I know, you would not think cauliflower would make a good substitute for potatoes, coming from the girl who was born and raised in Idaho, but it was really good.

This is not your ordinary cauliflower, it is seasoned and baked, so good.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.   Add about a tsp. of each, garlic powder, onion powder and ground cumin, 1/2 tsp. of celery salt and sea salt, and a couple of dashes of paprika to a large plastic baggie.  I used a gallon ziplock bag.  Shake them up a bit and then add about 1/3 to 1/2 cup olive oil.  Mix it up by sloshing it around a little bit in the bag.  Add the cauliflower, about 1/2 a head cut into 1 inch pieces or a 16 oz. bag of thawed cauliflower.  I used frozen cauliflower, thawed.  Shake it up and squish it around, this is the fun part. Once the cauliflower is coated with seasoning mixture, dump it out onto a cookie sheet with edges, lined with parchment paper.  I used my stone and it worked fine, you just have to make sure that it has a little bit of an edge, so the oil does not drip into your oven while cooking.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a golden crispy brown.

While cauliflower is baking, cook or heat up your bacon chunks or crumbles, about 1/2 cup.  Cut up 1 avocado into small chunks and scramble 8-12 eggs in a large frying pan.  Once the cauliflower is done, add all ingredients together and mix well.  Serve hot and enjoy!  The seasoning from the cauliflower mixes with the eggs and the bacon flavor is so yummy.  The avocado mixes in nicely and has a light flavor to it, so you hardly notice it, but it is packed with goodness.  All of the ingredients are tasty and most of them are good for you.  Just look at my hubby, Duane, enjoying the deliciousness.  I think my boys would even like it, if I could get them to try it.  Silly kids!

I know, he does not look enthused, but this is his, "I am concentrating on eating and enjoying this" look.

Healthier Corn Chowder with Butternut Squash and Bacon

After making the corn chowder I posted earlier, I found out there was some hidden sugars in it.  So I came up with a little bit better recipe that I like even more.  Apparently cream corn and ham have sugar in them.  Most things have sugar in them, you can miss them if you are not looking for the right things.  The recipe is not free of sugar completely, but has less than before, a scant amount that should not be a problem, when it comes to weight loss.

1 carton of Organic Chicken Stock (Kirkland's brand from Costco)
1 butternut squash, peeled and seeded, cut into small chunks (1-2 inches)
1 large yellow onion, minced or diced
1 Tbsp of minced garlic, fresh or from the jar (fresh is best)
2-15 oz. cans of corn, blended in your blender (I used my Magic Bullet.)
2-15 oz. cans of corn, left whole, you can use frozen corn too (I did not have any on hand.)
   (The corn I used is also Kirkland brand, it has no added sugar.)
1-8 oz. package of cream cheese, cut up into chunks
   (check your labels, some cream fat free cream cheeses have corn syrup)
1 cup of bacon crumbles (I used the fully cooked kind, but you have to watch them, some have sugar in the   curing process)

Put everything in the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours. Stir and smash the squash with a potato smasher.  Serve hot and enjoy!  Add salt and pepper to taste.

I love General Conference Talks

Judging Others? Stop It!: http://youtu.be/w-d_PIF-2Rg