Shredded Hash Brown Potatoes

I woke up a little late with a hunger pang for hash browns. Unfortunately, we are working our way through some of the frozen food and trying to not buy more at this point since we'll be moving in two weeks. Luckily, we had some leftover potatoes from our Old Bay Chicken dinner.

I washed and peeled four small potatoes.

Then I used our Box Grater to cut them into hash brown-sized shreds. I used the larger sized holes as opposed to the medium ones. Watch your fingers. If you aren't careful, you will cut your finger, your knuckle, or grate off part of your fingernail. Been there. Done that. Ouch.

I soaked the potato shreds in water for about 10 minutes, rinsed them, and changed the water to soak them another 10 minutes. You should notice the first time you change the water that it is a white-ish color from the starch residue. This is good because the starch will make them burn or turn mushy later if you don't soak it off.

Once you're done soaking, you need to dry them off as much as you can. You can use a clean towel or paper towels to do this. Squeeze or press the potatoes to soak out as much water as you can, being careful not to damage your shreds. 

Once your potato shreds are try, add your preferred seasoning. This could be simple salt, pepper, and paprika. I used a spice mix that was stashed in the pantry. It's one I make ahead of time and particularly like using on potatoes. You can view the recipe on Pinterest here.

Then all that's left is to heat your pan (medium to medium high heat), add some vegetable oil and fry them up! They'll take about 15 minutes total depending on how crispy you like them. Try to resist the urge to continually flip or stir them as they cook, especially if you like them more well-done.

And that's it! Not so hard, just takes a little time to prep (and you don't have to worry about freezer burn). I topped mine with Old Grumpy Mark's Cuban Missile Crisis hot sauce, one of my favorite hot sauces (but not for the heat sensitive).

A Week of Pork Belly

When I was young (like really young) one of my favorite foods was ham. I guess I got my fill early on because now I don't even like way it smells. I probably haven't eaten ham for at least 15 years and stopped eating all pork products around the same time.

Sometime within the last 5-7 years, I decided maybe it was time to try pork again. I started with what is probably one of the least hammy pork products, sausage patties. I actually like eating vegetarian sausage patties, so it seemed like a logical step.

Now I like eating ground sausage and a select amount of Asian-style pork. Ham is still on the blacklist along with bacon.

Last week I was lucky enough to get my hands on some Korean pork belly thanks to some friends who made a stop at H-Mart. The area I live in doesn't particularly have a wide selection of any type of Asian grocery items. So the opportunity to get some items from H-Mart is always an exciting one.

The presliced marinated pork belly, to me, is less like bacon or ham and more like a thinly sliced steak. It's tender, not tough and a lot less greasy than traditional bacon. It works really well in sandwiches, lettuce wraps, and spring rolls.

Here's what I did with mine this week.

Pork Belly Sliders

Check out my Flipagram here or read about my experience making brioche here.

Fried Chicken and Pork Belly Eggs Benedict

Food Tip: Buttermilk brining your chicken first will make it extra juicy and tender.

Pork Belly Breakfast Tacos: With Eggs and Hashbrowns

What's your favorite way to eat pork belly?

Banana Walnut French Toast

Or otherwise "That may have been too much sugar, Jenna."

My bf and I go out for breakfast or brunch at least once a week. Our two favorite places are a local downtown restaurant and a local diner. Both menus are a little different, and we typically choose depending on what we're hungry for. The restaurant is always the winner if I want a Bloody Mary and he wants gravy. 

We've cut back a little on eating brunch out Saturday and Sunday, and I've been cooking instead (really no complaints here). Brunch is a fun meal to cook because you can pretty much cook anything from waffles to burgers to eggs and make yourself a cocktail and no one can call you out on it. That's what brunch is for!

I recently decided to take on French toast, something I was hungry for for a few days. It's so wonderful in all it's eggy, carby and sugary goodness. To me, it's even better than pancakes (gasp!).

Combining heavy cream, vanilla and spices (eggs not pictured)

Roasted walnuts ready for chopping

Bananas, walnuts and brown sugar are ready to become sugary goodness

Maybe I should have cut down on the sugar (a little)

The result was good, and it made about 8 slices of Texas toast French toast, which served my bf breakfast for the next few days. I like using a thicker bread for my French toast, either Texas toast or sliced French loaf. 

My banana walnut topping stood for a little too long and got thicker than I wanted. Whoops. Better luck next time, I suppose! 

If you're looking for a way to eat your leftovers, I suggest making a Monte Cristo. I don't like ham, so mine is always just turkey, but it makes an excellent sandwich. 

Egg Cups

Bake some egg cups for brunch on Sunday, and keep the leftovers for a quick breakfast during the week!

I used salsa, cheddar, and spicy black bean gardenburger

Ingredients:
6 Eggs
Splash of Milk (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C shredded cheese
Your choice of add ins - whether it's sausage, onion, bacon, tomato, etc. Make sure your meat is precooked if you are adding this into your mix. Get creative, make a fiesta theme or vegetable theme or whatever you can think of! Use up those leftovers from your fridge!

Other:
Muffin Pan
Cupcake liners - use paper if you're going to reheat leftovers

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk eggs. Add salt, cheese, (milk) and add ins.

Pour egg into each cup, filling no more than about half full.

Bake for approx 20 minutes or until egg is thoroughly cooked.