Huevos Rancheros

When I was 16, my Brother, Josh, and I decided to travel to Costa Rica for a month of intensive Spanish language school. Since we were both homeschooled at the time (Yes, I was homeschooled. Make your judgements as you feel necessary), we had the freedom to experience many different educational experiences. We decided to live with a host family so that we could fully experience the "Tico" or Costa Rican lifestyle. Our host family was amazing. We had a great time getting to know them over the month long period we lived with them, and we enjoyed the foods and cultural experiences that came along with the host-home experience.

One of my greatest memories from that trip was breakfast each morning. Our host mother would cook up the traditional Costa Rican breakfast for us, commonly known as "Gallo Pinto" (pronounced guy-o). Salty beans, rice cooked perfectly (and in a way that I have tried to imitate but don't think I will ever succeed), and fried eggs. It was delicious. I wish I could re-create the dish the exact same way our host mom made it. Unfortunately, I can't. But, Jacob gave gallo pinto a serious contender the other night for dinner.

That's right - Jacob cooked this meal. I got home late from work, and Jacob was slaving over a hot stove creating this:

Funny thing is, this dish was actually made using duck eggs. My Father in Law gave us some duck eggs that he had been given from a friend. We couldn't taste a big difference from regular chicken eggs, but the duck eggs were much bigger and had much thicker shells than "normal" eggs.

A large salad was served on the side - made up of spinach, carrots, and mushrooms.

Just one more picture - it was just so pretty.

Huevos Rancheros Recipe:

(serves 2-3 people)

- 2 cups rice, prepared according to package directions (brown OR white is fine)

- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

- 2-3 Eggs

- 1 tbsp Butter

- Salt/pepper to taste

- 1/4 Cup Salsa

- 1 Avocado, sliced

- 1/2 Cup Cheddar cheese

Directions:

- Once rice is finished cooking, add black beans and toss. Cover, and let the beans steam in the hot rice.

- Heat a small non-stick skillet over medium heat.

- Add butter to pan, crack eggs into the skillet.

- Cook eggs to desired consistency, season with salt and pepper.

- Place 1-2 cooked eggs on each serving of heated beans and rice.

- Top with desired toppings (salsa, avocado, cheese)

Cozy Winter Lunch

Somedays, ok most days, I crave a steaming bowl of soup paired with a hot grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. There is nothing better than coming in from the snow to something so comforting and cozy. A couple of days ago Jacob and I found ourselves in this very situation. I anticipated being cold after a morning of work outside, and threw together a quick soup in the crock pot right after breakfast. By lunch time, the soup had smelled up the house with aromas of hearty winter herbs and tomato. I forgot to take pictures of the soup making process, but it was a clean-out-the-cabinets kind of soup. 

The grilled cheese was spiced up a little with some avocado slices and a combination of cheddar and pepper jack cheeses. The grill pan we use gives the sandwich an extra special look! Make sure you start out with a hefty amount of butter in the pan. Mmm, toasty goodness.

A nice big salad on the side...

And that's a meal!

 Clean-Out-The-Cabinets-Soup for a Cold Winter Day Recipe

- 1 medium onion, diced

- 2 to 3 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1/2 green pepper, diced

- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

- 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

- 1/2 cup lentils (any variety will work, I like brown lentils)

- 1/4 cup brown rice or rice blend

- 2 cans diced tomatoes

- 1 cup water

- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary

- 1/2 tsp dried sage

-Salt and pepper to taste

- Parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions:

- Add all ingredients except the parmesan cheese to a crockpot.

- If the soup seems to dry, add water as needed.

- Set the crock pot on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours

- Garnish with parmesan cheese and serve steaming along side grilled cheese sandwiches!

Family Visit Recap

Jacob's parents and sister came to visit last weekend. Although they arrived on Friday, Jacob and I had plans to visit friends in Athens, GA for a concert - so we didn't get to spend as much time with family as we had hoped. But, we made the best of the one afternoon and evening we had by doing primarily what? Eating. Are you surprised? Although, our afternoon did started out with a walk downtown.

After we were frozen and wind burned, we decided to head back to the house to start working on dinner. We started things out with a mixed greens, grapefruit, and avocado salad - paired with a home made citrus and honey dressing. All of those things are my favorites. Best. Salad. Ever.

We tossed broccoli crowns and carrot strips with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, then roasted them just until crispy and golden. Topped them off with some freshly grated parmesan. Pictured alongside roasted baby potatoes.

The meal also included grilled flank steak with mushrooms and onions, and wild rice and onion bread. It was served on our (new!) kitchen table, which easily accommodated all 7 of us. The table story will be shared in another post, but lets just say that Jacob really pulled a great pre-birthday surprise with that one.

Great wine was drunk drank, and fun times were had. The night was finished off with some of this deliciousness. But you already know about that.

Andrew enjoyed the food and company...