Egg & Bacon Breakfast Muffins

Yes, you read the title correctly; these muffins have bacon in them. Well, turkey bacon to be exact. Which is still bacon, which means, to me, it's evil. I have always hated the taste and smell of bacon, even as a child. My sister would chase me, as she ate bacon slices, taunting me "Come on, I know you want a bite." I had to jump on the swing set and swing to avoid her and that awful bacon aroma.

These muffins were made, out of love, for Mr.Surly. These are my second attempt. The first time I tried making them I burnt the bacon (hey, I never make the stuff). So they were just egg muffins. They are incredibly easy to make and are a great grab & go breakfast. I made them in a muffin tins, and even with cooking spray it was hard to get them out. The second time I used silicon muffin cups and it was so much easier to remove the muffins. I wish I had a silicon muffin pan but unfortunately I do not; I only have individual silicon cups which I put on a baking sheet and it worked out fine.

Baked Three Cheese Mac and Cheese with a Kick

I'm still in Philly visiting family. While here it has been nice to not be head chef, but rather sous chef. My sister made this delicious baked Mac and Cheese, and I convinced her to write a post about it (she is a more eloquent writer than I am). This stuff is amazing and, as a bonus, it's low oxalate. The spiciness takes this mac and cheese to a whole new level. I can't wait to make it for Mr.Surly

Homemade macaroni and cheese can be spiced up: it’s fun to experiment with different pasta shapes and various cheeses. We like to add a little “kick” to our mac-n-cheese by using buffalo-wing cheese (if you have a hard time tracking down buffalo-wing cheese, you can just add a few teaspoons (or tablespoons, depending how spicy you like it) of wing sauce. I also like using different cheeses: asiago, romano, fontina, etc. The proportions of cheese aren’t important – you could use all cheddar cheese, or 1 pound of cheddar with ½ pound of fontina; it’s totally up to your preference.

It’s also fun to experiment with various pasta shapes: gemelli, fusilli, farfalline, vermiglioni, ruote, are the types I’ve tried.