Tomato Avocado and Onion Salad

Hey blog friends!

I'm back for another month of The Secret Recipe Club. 

This month I was assigned to Nayna's vegetarian blog, Simply.Food. She has lots of fun recipes and since I'm a meat eater, it was nice to see new-to-me recipes. What really caught my eye were her Egg Fried Rice, Oreo Cheesecake, and White Lemon Chocolate with Pistachio Nuts. Yum! Ultimately I chose a simple and delicious side perfect for any meal and that screams summer! 

We loved this salad and decided to add avocado to give it that extra creamy flavor. The lime juice and cilantro really top it off nice. I love the colors, it's perfect for summer, and I know we'll be making it all the time!! 

Thanks, Nayna. It was a blast perusing your site this month. So many great recipes to choose from, and this one sure didn't disappoint!







































Tomato Avocado and Onion Salad
adapted from Simply.Food

1 ripe tomato
1/2 red onion
1 avocado, sliced
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt and pepper
cilantro, for garnish

Method:

Slice the tomato, red onion, and avocado. Season sliced tomatoes and avocado with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with lime juice. Top with cilantro. Serve immediately.

Check out my past Secret Recipe Club posts!  

An InLinkz Link-up

Linking up here.
   

Peace, and bacon grease!

BLT Stacks with Buttermilk Bleu Cheese Dressing

Hey you!

Time for another month of the Secret Recipe Club!

This month I was assigned to Jenna's blog, The Painted Apron. Ooooh my goodness, she has sooooo many good, unique, creative recipes on her blog! (She's also an amazing painter...check out her gallery. I'm OBSESSED with the painting, "Hair Salon"). I found myself so torn and it was so hard to decide. The weather has been really nice around here lately... perfect grilling weather!... and so her BBQ Grilled Chicken Nachos were calling my name. Um, Cheddar & Chive Hushpuppies?!? That sounds like the best thing ever, but I was just a little timid to bust out the deep fryer. Asian Short Ribs and French Onion Stuffed Mushrooms with Gruyere & Rosemary Croutons. I'm so impressed! I want it all. 

I chose her delicious Stacked Tomato Salad because I had some bacon and beautiful lettuce to use up. And, well, BACON. PJ made a song about me (he raps!) and it was the sweetest thing ever, of course he had a line in there about loving me so much he'll put bacon in my casserole  :) That's true love right there. Anyway, I digress, I digress. 

I decided to add some sweet red onion to set these tomato stacks over the top, and for that extra pop of purple for the photos. I can't lie. The things that go into being a food blogger :) I also did a mix of sour cream and mayo to thicken up the dressing a bit. 





























These are the perfect light side item, and that homemade buttermilk blue cheese dressing really sets it over the top. It looks so fancy, but is so easy. And you know I love that. Who doesn't???

























BLT Stacks  with Buttermilk Bleu Cheese Dressing
adapted from The Painted Apron

*Yields: 2 BLT Stacks

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup bleu cheese crumbles
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• freshly cracked black pepper
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 red onion, sliced

Tomato Stack:

• 1-2 tomatoes, sliced into 6 slices
• 2-3 slices bacon, cooked
• 2 lettuce leaves
• 2-4 bleu cheese dressing (recipe above)

Season tomato slices with salt and pepper. On each lettuce leaf, stack one slice tomato, 1/2 slice bacon, one slice tomato, 1/2 slice bacon, and top with another slice of tomato (3 slices per stack). You can use a toothpick to secure stacks, if desired. Drizzle stacks with bleu cheese dressing. Top with additional bacon for garnish, if desired.

Printable Recipe






























Check out my past Secret Recipe Club posts!  

An InLinkz Link-up

Linking up here.
  

Peace, and bacon grease!

Apple-Sage Stuffing Cups

Happy Thanksgiving eve!!












































Making Thanksgiving dinner can be quite intimidating! I made my first Thanksgiving turkey a couple of years ago and used Pioneer Woman's brine. The skin got a little burnt but it was so juicy and flavorful, unlike any turkey I've ever had! 



























This weekend we made a turkey breast but wanted to go simple, meaning no brine. We made a small 6-lb turkey breast rubbed in butter and herbs. Really easy to make, tasted good, but I could tell it wasn't brined. Next year, it's all about the brine, baby. Plus, turkey breasts are good and all but don't have that dark meat and this turkey breast didn't yield much drippings to make homemade gravy. I don't feel confident enough in the actual turkey recipes to post them just yet, but I hope to keep practicing so that I can eventually post a turkey recipe where I'm confident in the cooking time, temp, method etc. 

Anyways, enough about turkey since I'm not sharing a turkey recipe. Today I've brought you Stuffing Muffins. Not just any stuffing muffins, but ones with apple and sage!

Stuffing Muffins are kind of a brilliant idea. They are the perfect little individual portions (let's be honest though, you can't eat just one). Plus they're adorable.

I'm more of a dry stuffing kinda girl myself, while PJ likes his wet and moist. I loved that these had crispy and moist parts. I loved the apple and onion in these too.  

Apple-Sage Stuffing Cups
adapted from Cooking Light 

• 10.5 oz French baguette, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1 and 1/2 cups diced Granny Smith apples
• 1 and 1/4 cups yellow or white onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 and 3/4 cups unsalted chicken stock
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until toasted, stirring after 8 minutes. Place bread in a large bowl.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add diced apples, onion, celery, sage, pepper and salt. Saute for 5 minutes or until tender. Add apple mixture to large bowl of bread cubes. Toss to combine. 

Combine stock and beaten eggs in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add stock mixture to the bread mixture, stirring gently to combine. 

Divide bread mixture evenly among 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray, about 1/2 cup each. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Printable Recipe

 

















What are you all having for Thanksgiving? What are you thankful for? 

I can't even begin to count them all  :)


Linking up here.


Peace, and bacon grease!  

Jalapeno Popper Deviled Eggs

It's time for November's Secret Recipe Club.  :)

 






















































This month I was assigned to Debbi's blog, Debbi Does Dinner Healthy. Debbi has so many good recipes, it was hard to narrow it down to one! In the spirit of fall and pumpkin, I was so tempted to make her Pumpkin Pancakes, but I did just make a pancake recipe recently that will be on the blog soon. I just made some rice krispies recently too but her Cinnamon Roll Rice Crispy Treats are so adorable and I bet they taste amazing too. But I decided to go with something more savory. 

Ultimately, her Jalapeno Popper Deviled Eggs won me over.

Anything jalapenopopper-like is a sure thing for me. The perfect mix of spicy, salty and creamy! 

(My tip to nearly perfectly peeled hard boiled eggs immediately removing the pot to the sink and run in cold water to stop the cooking process. Then when ready to crack and peel, run warm water on the eggs as you crack them in the pot. Crack all over, allowing the warm water to help release the eggs from the cracked shells. I only had one mess up, I consider that an almost success.  :)  Do you guys have any tips for perfectly peeled hard boiled eggs?)

 
Jalapeno Popper Deviled Eggs
slightly modified from Debbie Does Dinner Healthy

• 6 hard boiled eggs, peeled
• 2 tablespoons mayo
• 3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
• 3 tablespoons cheddar jack cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup pickled jarred jalapenos, diced
• 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (save some for garnish)
• cheddar jack cheese, shredded, for topping

Preheat oven to broil. 

Cut the eggs in half lengthwise. Scoop the yolks out, add to a medium bowl. Mash the yolks and mix with the mayo, cream cheese, 3 tablespoons cheddar jack cheese, jalapenos and bacon. Place about a tablespoon of the mixture into the halved eggs. Sprinkle on cheddar jack cheese to top, place on a baking sheet and broil for a minute or so until cheese has melted. Top with additional bacon for garnish.

Printable Recipe

 























































PJ declared these the best deviled eggs he's had! I agree they are super good. You can use fresh jalapenos if you want, be we used the jarred stuff because I prefer them in deviled eggs. We used cheddar jack shredded cheese, a mix of cheddar and monterey jack. 

We loved that they were broiled for a minute too, cuz jalapeno poppers are served hot right?! Loved this twist on a deviled egg. Adding to the rotation :)


Check out my past Secret Recipe Club posts! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Linking up here.
 

Peace, and bacon grease!

Gouda-Stuffed Hasselback Potatoes

Happy Secret Recipe Club day!

I always love this time of the month. It forces me to post a recipe, which I've been doing less of lately :(

And it exposes me to another usually new-to-me blog and I strongly believe you can never follow too many food blogs! Who's with me??






































This month I was assigned to Margaret's blog, Tea and Scones. Spiced Cookie Butter? Potato Chip Cookies? Scotch Eggs? I want ALL OF THOSE! But I had to choose just one....

Now, for a blog with the word "potatoes" in the title, I don't have enough potato recipes on the blog! So I was excited to change that.

I modified the original by stuffing with gouda cheese at the end. Mmmm... ooey gooey melty gouda cheese. It's so GOOD-A! See what I did there?!?

I used small-medium sized red potatoes instead of baked potatoes. Be sure to slice your slices extra thin, unlike mine. Mine too forever to cook fully through since I didn't slice them thin enough. At about an hour in (instead of about 40 minutes for the smaller potatoes usually) they still weren't completely cooked enough. So again, I stress, slice those hasselback slices very thin, as thin as you can to ensure that they cook through and get that crispness on the outside.

Sorry... no exact measurements. I just used 4 medium-sized red potatoes. Tossed them in olive oil and sea salt and black pepper. Put thin slices of butter in between each hasselback slice (again, make sure they are thinly sliced!). Once baked, I put thin slices of gouda cheese in between each hasselback slice. Then I topped with some dried parsley. 

 
Gouda-Stuffed Hasselback Potatoes
adapted from Tea and Scones

• 4 medium-sized red potatoes
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• butter
• gouda cheese, thinly sliced
• dried parsley, for topping

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss potatoes in olive oil, sea salt, and pepper.

Put each potato in a wooden spoon, and cut across making very thin slices without cutting all the way through the potato.

Place sliced potatoes on a baking sheet with edges. Add thin slices of butter in between each potato slice. 

Bake for at least an hour, depending on the size of the potato and how thinly you've sliced them. The potato flesh should be soft and the outside skins crispy. 

Stuff with thin slices of gouda cheese. Return to oven until cheese has melted. Top with dried parsley.

Printable Recipe

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Check out my past Secret Recipe Club posts!

An InLinkz Link-up

Peace, and bacon grease!