Hopple Popple

I read about hopple popple on Roadfood.com and realized that I sort of have been making it all along.  And I'm not even German!  After a little more investigating on the web, it seems that there are many variations of this dish.  The constants are eggs, potatoes, onion, some kind of meat, and some cheese.  What makes hopple popple different from just a basic meat-and-potato scramble is that the eggs are in the background.  Yes, they're there in every forkful, but you'd be hard-pressed to decide whether it's a meat dish, a potato dish, or an egg dish.  They all play equally starring roles.

Meat can be anything: bacon, sausage, ham, and even pepperoni or salami.  Eggs can be prepared scrambled, or made like a puffy omelette.  I go for simplicity: scrambled.

Last night we had potatoes with our ham loaf, finally finishing the last of our ham.  I made sure to cook a couple of extra potatoes for this morning, and I had some smoked turkey sausage in the fridge.  I prefer pork, but when the sausage is mixed with a bunch of other stuff, turkey does fine.  Turkey or pork, the smoked links are absolutely fabulous in this dish.

Being MLK day, there is no school, so the boys slept in late.  While waiting for them to begin their Day of Sloth, I went ahead and got as much ready for hopple popple as possible, so that it would only be minutes of cooking time, and we'd actually have our breakfast in the a.m.

I find it helpful, when I have time and think of it, to get as much chopped, sliced, and diced ahead of time and waiting in little bowls next to the stove.  Then all I have to do is dump and cook.  Also, it allows the cold food, like the potatoes and sausage to warm up a little and not need quite so much time.

Now, my boys like everything in this dish, except the onions, which I chop up very fine so they won't see them, but there is something about mixing it all up together that seems to go against their collective grains.  But this morning, after the NTY bite, they both had nice helpings.  I thought it was one of the BEST BREAKFASTS EVER!  Not just scrambled eggs, not just fried potatoes, not just sausage, but more than even the sum total.

Here, then, is my Scots-Irish, French, Cherokee (see, no German!) version of hopple popple.

Hopple Popple
to feed 4 with leftovers

• 1 half of a long link of smoked turkey sausage, like Hillshire Farms, cut in half lengthways and then thinly sliced
• 2 small potatoes, cooked (boiled or baked) and peeled
• half of a small onion, diced very small
• 4 eggs, beaten with a little milk
• shredded cheese

1. Cook the sausage or other meat in a skillet until it is a little crispy.

2. Add some bacon grease (or butter or oil) if you need a little more grease.
3. Add the potatoes and onions and cook until the potatoes are getting some brown.

4. Add the eggs and be sure that the heat is on low.

5. Scramble it all together until the eggs are how you like them.
6. Top with cheese and mix that in.

I Heart My Blender!

It has arrived,  The Blender for the Rest of My Life!  Ever since I have been married, I've had crummy blenders.  I've tried three and gotten nothing but frustration from them.  The old ones always get stuck, refusing to whirl the food around until I stop it, poke around with a spatula, start again, and 10 seconds later, repeat the process.  Yes, the job would eventually get done, but I was sure, sure there had to be a better blender out there.

To the internet!  According to reviews, yes, there are better blenders out there, costing about $400.  Uh, no.  I'm not going into the smoothie business, just wanting to make them with a little more ease.

Then, the family went to a big-city mall, and I stopped by Macy's home department and cruised through the blenders, looking at the blades of them.  I figured that blender effectiveness had to be tied up in horsepower and blades.  They all looked the same, just like my other one, until I found the Breville.  It had 6 blades, two of them larger, and serrated blades, and also more horsepower than the others.  But the price was still a lot higher than I was comfortable with, though half that of the mega-blenders.

More internet searches, reading reviews, looking around.  And then I found on Amazon, that I could buy a refurbished Breville for less than half the price.  But, and of course there's a but, the reviews mentioned problems, mainly with leaking.  More research, and finally I decided to take the gamble.

It arrived, and yesterday I decided to try it.  First I asked Burt to check for leaking with some water, and it did leak.  Then we got out the manual, disassembled it and put it back together, and voila, perfect!  And then on to the blending.  Wow!  I put in my smoothie stuff, pushed the Smoothie button (yes, it has a smoothie button, and was amazed.  First, it was really quiet.  Second, no stalling.  And it turned out a perfect smoothie.

Of course, I plan on using it for more than just smoothies.  OK, back to playing with my new toy.

Spelt Pancakes

Who has heard of spelt?  Until a year ago, I hadn't, and I'm usually suspicious of anything I haven't heard of.  Then, I got the King Arthur Whole Grains Baking Book, and became convinced that we needed more whole grains in our diet.  So, methodically, I turned to the first recipe in the book, Spelt Pancakes, went to the health food store to buy some spelt flour, and gave them a try.

And they were the best pancakes I ever had.

The hardest thing about them is keeping spelt flour stocked.  It's available at health food stores and at some grocery stores.  You can read more about spelt here, but basically, it's an ancient grain, related to wheat with more protein than wheat, and easier on the digestive system.  It has a different taste, giving the pancakes a deeper, richer flavor.  And it can be substituted for wheat in other recipes.

This recipe is very basic and very easy.  The only caveat is that the batter must sit for 15 minutes before making the pancakes, so you need to allow for that extra time, but they are worth the wait.

Pancakes are Cool Guy's second-favorite breakfast, after oatmeal,  and a special treat for everyone.  Two of these pancakes give you

• 27 whole grains (that's over half what is recommended per day
• 137 calories
• 4 g fat
• 5 g protein
• 4 g fiber

And they look just like regular pancakes, not like some sort of "health food," that my kids wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole.

We had our stacks this morning with a thin pat of butter, some real maple syrup, an orange on the side, and (for me) coffee with cream.  Fine dining in the a.m.!

My Smoothie Ambivilance

I like smoothies, really, but I don't see them as the be-all and end-all of healthy breakfasts.  Today was another snow day, so a perfect day for smoothies ----not?  Yes, and no.

One the one hand, it was cold outside, so most people would want something warm.  Not a good day for smoothies.  On the other hand, they lack a rib-sticking quality to get the boys and me through until lunchtime.  A better day for smoothies than most, since boys would be here to have something else if needed.  Mainly I chose to make smoothies today because the boys asked for them.

So my two gripes about smoothies are that they don't sustain us throughout the morning and that I hate my blender.  To combat the first problem, I could serve something else along with the smoothie, such as a breakfast meat, or even some cereal.  Cool Guy handled the problem by having a bowl of cereal at 10:30 this morning.  To combat the second problem, I am waiting to receive another blender in the mail.  I'll give this new one a try, and if it is the success that I hope it to be, I'll post about it.

The good part about smoothies is

• they are easy
• they are healthy
• boys like them
• they are quick
• they are customizable

Today's smoothie got in 100% of our Vitamin C, a lot of our Vitamin A, a good chunk of potassium, some calcium, protein, and even some Omega-3.  That's quite a whallop for such a small investment of time and energy.  And did I mention that the boys like them?

In the final analysis, I think smoothies are a good thing, but not something that I would want every day as my main source of morning sustenance.  Enjoy it for what it is: a yummy, healthy drink.

My basic recipe for smoothies is vague.  It takes a little tinkering with yourself to make it yours.

Smoothie
For two or three people

1 banana
Several serving spoonfuls vanilla yogurt (probably 3/4 cup total)
Fresh or frozen other fruit of your choice, about 1 cup (we used frozen mango today)
2-3 ice cubes if not using frozen fruit
Orange juice if needed
Optional ground flax seed or wheat germ for extra nutrition

1. Place the fruits, ground flax seed,  and yogurt in the blender and turn it on.  Hopefully your blender works better than mine.

2. If it seems too thick, add orange juice until it is of a consistency you like.

3. Pour into glasses, add straws, and FILL YOUR BLENDER WITH WATER.

4. Train your family members to fill their glasses with water after they are done with their smoothies.  Smoothie residue is the devil to clean after it dries on the blender and glasses.

Dig the Pig

I always said I'd make a great vegetarian if it weren't for pork.  Barbeque pulled pork, pork tenderloin, ham, bacon, sausage - I'd miss it too much.

I try, as much as is realistic, to buy my pork at the farmer's market, where they raise "happy pigs," my term, but it doesn't always happen.  Last weekend, recovering from the Eternal Cold, which has now developed into a full-blown sinus infection, I just didn't have the strength to muster the trip.  Cool Guy and I went to the local grocery store, and he asked for Stick Sausage.  That's our term for sausage in links instead of patties.  Well, you don't have to ask me twice!

Today, a snow day, but nevertheless one with very little sleep on my part (thank you, racking cough), I thought it would be the perfect time to just slide those babies in the skillet and basically let breakfast take care of itself.

Yes, they're fatty.  Yes, they're salty.  Yes, they're processed food, and I don't know what some of the ingredients are, but they are tasty, and they are just what fills the bill on a day like today - a "Mom's not at her best" kind of day.

We had ours with oranges and toast.  Easy Peasy.

Breakfast Together

Today, Burt has volunteered to make oatmeal for breakfast.  He usually does this once a weekend, and it is great for me.  Regular oatmeal is not one of my favorites, but taking it easy in the morning, and needing only to sip my coffee and wait for the morning is definitely a favorite.  And also, I think that the weekly bowls of oatmeal with Burt and the boys is a nice routine for just them, and a bond.

As long as I can remember, growing up, married life, and life with children, breakfast has been a solitary affair.  As a child, while I was staring at soggy cereal in my bowl, I did it alone, or more exactly, with my sister.  As a newlywed, well, it's a long story, but Burt had brutal working hours as an ensign in the Navy, and what with training, refitting, and deployment out to sea, breakfast for each of us was alone.  Burt's hours were not conducive to having breakfast at home, and he said that he could get ready and to work faster if I would just not bother fixing him anything.  And I needed a lot of sleep back then, so I stayed in bed while he rose and ate alone.  And later, I would eat alone, reading the paper, and being perfectly content.

There is nothing wrong with some peace and quiet in the morning.  I have had it for most of my life, and I like it.  It's one of the reasons why I do get up so early in the mornings now (in addition to just plain biology, not needing as much sleep, and a back that won't take too much time lying in bed.)  I like having the time to sip coffee alone in my own thoughts, plan my day with no distractions, do some prayers or Bible reading without being interrupted, and maybe even begin a blog post or a crossword puzzle.  In the summer, I use that time to walk Scamp before it gets too hot, and then I have my coffee on the front porch listening to the birds.  Yes, I like some solitude, especially in the morning.

So it is not surprising that when babies came, they were exposed to the same kind of morning routine.  Oh, sure, there were the special years when I would hold them and give them their bottles, and the times when I would feed them those little jars of baby food, one spoonful at a time.  Those were wonderful times.  But then, as soon as each boy was old enough to feed himself, I would put his food on the table and get busy with something else, like a shower, or the dishes, or Lord Knows What.  It was always something.  And there's nothing exactly WRONG with that.  It's what we all were used to.

And then one day, sometime this past fall, I sat down and had coffee cup #2 while the boys were eating.  And it was nice.  We had breakfast together.  (Actually, I had already eaten, but 2nd cup of coffee counts.)  And I said to myself, "What's all the rush about?  Why such a hurry to get the laundry sorted?  Don't you know that they're halfway grown now, and soon, you'll have all the mornings you want to sort laundry and do dishes?  Sit down and enjoy some company, for cryin' out loud."  And I have ever since.

Sometimes I have already eaten because I'm starving, and I only have another cup of coffee.  Other times, I eat along with they boys.  And we talk, who knows what about, sometimes silly stuff and we laugh, sometimes interesting stuff like politics, and sometimes I just listen to a never-ending summary of a TV show that I have absolutely NO intererst in, but I listen.  And no one reads the paper, shutting out the others, and no one watches TV, and no one has had a chance yet in the day to get angry at anyone else.

Sometimes, I must put the food on the table and get myself ready for something, an early morning appointment, something.  But usually I manage to find that 10 or 15 minutes needed for us to breakfast together.  Really, it is such a small amount of time in the day to invest.

Maybe I'm the last mom to have figured this out.  But if I'm not, and if your usual morning does not have breakfast together at a table together, please consider giving it a try.  Yes, if you work, it will mean more for you to do in the morning.  But just like those baby bottle years, you can never have this time back.  There is only a finite number of mornings that your kids will be at your table eating breakfast as kids, and it's nice to enjoy that time with them.

Ham and Corn Pudding

I woke this morning without my throat screaming at me every time I swallowed.  I got up and wasn't dizzy.  I made coffee and didn't feel that I had to rest after doing so.  I'm on the road to recovery!  Now, I'm going to be honest, here: I don't mind being just a teeny tiny bit sick once or twice a year if it will allow me to lie in bed and read all day long guilt-free, but this wasn't what I had in mind at all.  I felt awful for three days, and there's no glamour in feeling too rotten to do anything for three stinkin' days.

So, on to breakfast.  I haven't been to the store in almost a month, and we're scraping the bottom of the barrell.  We have oatmeal, sure, but I didn't want oatmeal again today (though  Burt and Cool Guy would).  What we have in abundance is ham, loads of ham.

I decided to try something new, Corn and Ham Pudding, a recipe from the Meal Makeover Moms, two dietitians who have children with typical children's tastes.  Their recipes are designed to be

• healthy, or at least healthier than the original recipes
• quick and easy to cook with ingredients that real people have on hand
• something that real kids will eat without making faces

I like listening to their podcast, and I subscribe to their email newsletter, but I have never tried a recipe.  But today, feeling much better, I was ready to explore new territory. 

I didn't have lean deli ham, just leftover ham, which I trimmed the fat from, and I didn't have lowfat Swiss cheese, but instead had locally-made Swiss - fabulous and most definitely not lowfat.  I'm OK with that.  And I didn't have my corn thawed (and microwave is broken.)  Otherwise, I followed the recipe verbatim.  I usually do the first time I try something.

If the ham and cheese were already cut up, it would take just a minute to mix together, but you need to allow 40 minutes for it to bake and then a little more time for it to set, so this is not a quick breakfast.  Save it for the weekend or one of those early-rising days.

It smelled fabulous as it was cooking, and it looked pretty good coming out.  The judgement was that Burt and I liked it pretty well, but we liked it even better when we smothered it with picante sauce.  We like picante with our eggs.  The surprise was Encyclopedia, who is suspicious of anything new, and I was sure that after his one no-thank-you bite, he'd move on to the cereal, but he tried it and then got a HUGE helping.  And this is the boy who never likes ANYTHING that is "all mixed together."  Cool Guy just wasn't going to try anything this morning.  He drank his juice, ate his orange, and declared himself full.  He can try it again another time, because it will appear again at our table.

I like that in one easy dish, we had eggs, meat, cheese, and a vegetable, if you count corn as a vegetable, which I do, needing all the wiggle room I can get to meet my daily veggie quota.  Picante sauce is a veggie, too.