Crab Cakes with Ginger and Lime, with Triple Pork Fried Rice

The rice is from yesterday's meal but I was happy to have it to round out tonight's meal. My husband is crazy for anything ginger so I immediately bookmarked (or pinned) the crab cake recipe when I saw it.

Crab cakes are kind of indulgent for my summer budget and then I had to have a nice wine to with it, so this meal was an unexpected yayyyyyy! (Rosè wine not pictured.)

 

Yesterday I posted this pretty picture to Instagram and titled it "Bacon is pretty."

It was a lot of bacon but my husband digs it. He actually is drawn to the smell of bacon cooking...he comes into the kitchen to nibble it and I usually scold him.

The Triple Fried Rice called for bacon, ham, and chopped pork chops. I had canadian bacon so I called that close enough to ham.

The finished fried rice. Everything was cooked in small amounts of bacon grease. Yum.

 

I also posted this picture of the dirty dishes. I watched an interesting video yesterday about the lost art of cooking. So many Americans don't take the time to cook and instead rely on easy, processed foods. The average amount of cook time is 15-20 minutes, mainly to boil water or reheat proceeded food. That uses about a pot and very few other dishes, so the average time for dish washing is four minutes.

I'm kinda proud to tell you that my husband spends about 15 minutes doing the many dishes that I dirty- cutting boards, prep bowls, food processor parts, multiple pots and pans, etc.

Poor Jim!

 

I mixed the lump crab meat, cilantro, grated ginger, panko breadcrumbs, lime zest, green onions, mayo, and hot sauce about an hour before I wanted to sauté them.

 

I showed my son that these are made just like his beloved chicken sandwiches- dipping in flour, egg, and panko, but with crab. No go. He tried a bite and liked the crunch but not the crab. More for us?

One or two minutes per side in a bit of olive oil and butter and they were done!

We really enjoyed these. I could probably add a bit more ginger and hot sauce to kick these up a notch in flavor.

 

Click here for the stolen recipe for Crab Cakes with Ginger and Lime.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Triple Pork Fried Rice.

 

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts Carbonara

I try and mix Brussels sprouts and bacon whenever possible for my dear husband. He's at the point that he doesn't need the bacon anymore but I still do it. He is sold on the idea that Brussels sprouts are just a part of our household now!

This is an easy recipe. The two times that I've made this I've had my husband roast the sprouts ahead of time (he works at home, slick!) and I finish the rest of the meal when I get home from work. It comes together quite easily at that point.

Roasted sprouts, bacon, and eggy pasta? YES PLEASE!

 

Lately our pasta of choice is bowtie. Our little one just loves the bowties.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Roasted Brussels Sprouts Carbonara.

 

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Bacon and Brussel Sprout Salad

I KNOW Jim is sold on brussel sprouts now but I always try and include bacon when possible. I enjoy them that way too, so no harm done!

For this meal I made a roasted chicken, Thai style.

And the brussel sprout salad was plenty as a side. It was full of texture and tasty bits. Bacon, parmesan cheese, citrus, shredded sprouts, crunchy almonds, and a bit of olive oil.

 

It made a huge amount so I would scale this back a bit when I make it again. Or maybe not? I'm pretty sure we finished it all. The sprouts wilt a bit with the citrus and olive oil by the next day, but it was still good eating!

 

MUST MAKE THIS AGAIN SOON. My husband will kiss me to thank me, I'm sure!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Bacon and Brussel Sprout Salad.

 

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Bacon Ranch Potato Salad

I made this for the 4th of July. It is exactly what you think! Lots of green onion, chives, bacon, and potatoes in a creamy dressing. I did under-salt, as I tend to do, but that was easily remedied at the table.

How can you go wrong with bacon?

Click here for the stolen recipe for Bacon Ranch Potato Salad.

 

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Bacon

 Did you know that you can BAKE bacon?  Seems silly that I've never tried this.  I ran across two different articles in the same day, about how this is how the pros and restaurants do it.  It's low fuss, allows for you to make more at once, and the bacon bakes into long, perfect flat slices.

350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes on a rimmed cookie sheet, with an oven safe cooking rack placed inside if you have one.   Mine took longer because I used thick sliced bacon.  Oh, and the pieces should not overlap.

Results: chewy, flavorful and flat bacon!  Definitely doing this more often!

I would imagine it'd crisp up the longer you bake them.

Click here for an interesting article (and manly website).

Cheddar Corn Chowder

I love soups. I love Brown Eyed Baker soups.

I love corn. And potatoes. And bacon. And white cheddar. So this soup is for ME! It was velvety smooth and hearty.

It also froze very nicely so we had plenty of freezer bags for quick lunches.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Cheddar Corn Chowder.

Gobble until you Wobble!

My Thanksgiving plate: Herb Roasted Turkey with Sage Gravy, Double Bread Stuffing with Brown Butter, Bacon and Sage, Squash, Green Bean Casserole, PW Mashed Potatoes, and Cranberry Sauce.

The Tauer family came over for Thanksgiving. To prep we made these cute Oreo turkeys the night before. James enjoyed putting the parts together :)

We put a turkey at each place setting. James helped! It was also a good way to prepare James for guests. He knew who was coming over and he was excited for them to see his turkeys.

We needed to break out a card table. I was determined that this wouldn't be a "kid's table" Kara (college student) isn't a kid! I knew I would be insulted to be called a kid at that age :)

Oh there's Kara, relaxing on the massage chair. I went downstairs to give the 10 minute warning for food and found lots of fun in the basement. Massage chair...

Video games...

Wild claw!

Pool.

I am SO THANKFUL for this little boy.

This ended up being the "Cool Table".

The turkey before (with lots of herbed butter)-

And after!

I tackled yeast again. Buttery Cloverleaf rolls.

THE BEST Green Bean Casserole. The mushroom sauce was killer. We think we might need to make some and just eat it as SOUP.

Double Bread Stuffing with Brown Butter, Bacon and Sage. You just can't go wrong with my favorite breads- cornbread and sourdough... Mmmmmmmm. And hello? BACON!

I didn't get a picture of Laura's squash. It's pictured on my plate above!

Simple cranberry sauce.

Roger and Linda brought Wild Rice Soup.

They also brought dessert- apple pie and pumpkin trifle (layered with gingerbread, pumpkin pudding, cool whip).

Again, I didn't get many pictures with family but here is James saying goodbye to Grandma Laura. He was pretty cranky towards the end so I'm glad she got a hug :)

We are thankful for so much! Thank you Familia :)

Click here for the stolen recipe for Thanksgiving Pioneer-Style Herb Roasted Turkey with Sage Gravy.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Pioneer Woman's Creamy Mashed Potatoes. I didn't end up baking the potatoes but while they were still hot I put them in the crockpot to keep warm.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Buttery Cloverleaf Rolls.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Double Bread Stuffing with Brown Butter, Bacon, and Sage.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Cook's Illustrated Green Bean Casserole.

We also served Ginger Tea Lemonade. Yum. Click here for the stolen recipe for Ginger Tea Lemonade. Jim is becoming the Master of GTL!

Zucchini, Corn, and Basil Penne with Bacon

The food blogger that I stole this from described this as "Summer in a Bowl". I think it's a pretty accurate description!

Fresh corn on the cob? Zucchini? Homemade basil pesto? Topped with my husband's beloved bacon? Yes please!

This had to be a pretty healthy meal, except for the bacon. Even that is limited to one strip per plate. I used the "healthy" penne with extra protein- it's the stuff that I usually buy especially for my son, who could go without meat (protein) most days.

This was a pretty light pasta dish. I almost thought it lacked flavor but I think I'm used to Pioneer Woman's heavy, creamy, and buttery pasta sauces. Jim told me, No, this is good!

Click here for the PRINTABLE RECIPE.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Zucchini, Corn and Basil Penne with Bacon (Summer in a Bowl).

Big Fat Bacon Sliders

Another PW recipe. This was GOOD. I think sliders are usually pretty tiny but I followed the recipe and we still ended up with 1/4 lb burgers. Each burger was wrapped in a slice of bacon and they were baked for 30 minutes. I could hear the bacon sizzling in the oven and of course my husband could smell the bacon.

He really enjoyed the burgers. I think to make the bacon crispier next time I would use thin sliced bacon. Our usual thick cut bacon was still a bit chewy on our plates but it's an awesome burger idea.

I didn't use a bottled BBQ sauce but instead used another PW favorite recipe.

Click here for the stolen recipe for PW's Big Fat Bacon Sliders.

Bacon Lover's Mac & Cheese

Yeah, my husband loves bacon.

I damn near had to do a bacon intervention a few weeks ago and I purposely stopped buying the bacon. I did give in to this recipe because... well, I love my husband but I do love my bacon too.

This was gooooood. Jim gave it a 9.5! I discovered that I love Fontina cheese- so tangy and creamy. YUM.

The baby bella mushrooms and spinach made me feel a LITTLE better about using so much bacon and then using the bacon grease to cook the mushrooms, and then a little grease added to the butter for the roux. Oh, and a little more grease on top of the entire dish before it went into the oven. Hey, the recipe said to do all that!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Bacon Lover's Mac & Cheese.

Pasta with Pancetta and Leeks

This will be added to our meal rotation :) Jim really liked this, as I knew he would because it's a PW recipe- cream, butter, a little wine, pasta, fancy bacon! This was one easy recipe too. Two things to chop- the leeks and the pancetta. And then saute, add ingredients, and then serve. It really did come together in 15 minutes like PW said.

And there is BACON. Yum.

We thought a grilled chicken breast would be good with this, making the pasta more of a side dish. A salad would have been good too. I really didn't make much besides this pasta, it seemed wrong and indulgent to just have it without a salad or a vegetable so next time I will be healthier!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Pasta with Pancetta and Leeks.

Jalapeno Thingies

Football night needed some manly munchies! Jalapeno thingies. Oh, these are great. Addictive. Tasty. You NEED to make these.

Basic ingredients- BACON, cream cheese, jalapenos. You just can't go wrong.

Click here for the stolen recipe from one of blogger greats, the Pioneer Woman.



 

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