Bacon Dog Nachos

So...what's for lunch? It's hard to keep the kiddos satisfied with food options during the summer months. Anyone else have this issue?

My youngest was set on having nachos for lunch! Nothing else would suffice. I tried to offer up other things...but NOOOOOOO! We didn't have any taco meat, and we weren't making taco mac (recipe HERE)  until tomorrow. My older son made up a cheese quesadilla. I offered that up. Still a no go as I got the response, "Does that sound like nachos?" D'oh! So time to scrounge & see what we have...

So here's what I came up with:

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BACON DOG NACHOS

Ingredients:

~ 2 handfuls tortilla chips
~ 1/4 C taco sauce &/or picante sauce
~ 1-2 hot dogs
~ 2 T bacon bits
~ 1/2 C shredded cheese


Directions:

* on a microwave-safe plate, place tortilla chips

* drizzle the sauce around the chips

* thinly slice the hot dog(s) (we had a couple of left over ones from grilling) & scatter on top of the sauce & chips

* spread the shredded cheese on top the sliced hot dog(s)

* sprinkle the bacon bits over the top of the cheese

* place in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds or until the cheese is melted

* it's ready to eat

Yield: 1-2 servings

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After serving up this concoction to my youngest, he got really excited & said he liked.

On of scale of 1-10...he gave it a 10 (with 10 being the best)!

So...it's a good way to use up left over grilled hot dogs or taco leftovers.

ENJOY!

S'More [Bacon] Trail Mix

It's summertime, people! That means there has been more baseball tournaments kicked up or attending your favorite baseball team's game(s), swimming, vacations, and...camping!

Now then, I'm not what you'd call an "outdoorsy person". I will go camping, but I'm picky about it. I will go in the woods, but it had better be in a camper...or better yet...a cabin. I'm not a fan of the heat & needing to apply 8 layers of super high sunscreen. I feel like I put in my dues doing years of tent camping on family vacations as a kid. From KOA to KOA as we'd go from state to state. I'm in a different phase of life & would prefer the indoors now.

I will make a few exceptions, however. I love a cool morning on the deck with my coffee in the peaceful stillness while smelling the moisture of the dew as it accentuates the green smell of the grass & leaves. Or, if at the lake since my hubby & sons love the camping scene, I love going out with the early morning fishers in the boat. It's quiet, still, peaceful listening to the water. Yeah...that.

But I'll admit that I do love a good campfire/bonfire/firepit going. I do love roaring & crackling of the fire while roasting up marshmallows...and even more so adding the marshmallow to graham crackers with chocolate. Mmm-mmm-mmm...gimme s'more of that!

Now then, since not everyone enjoys that scene, I came up with a cheater to-go s'mores that anyone can have at nearly anytime!

As it turns out, there was recently quite the baconfest going on in Colorado. Mmmmm...bacon...
So my hubby would keep me up to date on what was going down at the baconfest. And one of the things served was bacon s'mores! BACON S'MORES, people! WHAT??? Mmmmmm...

My hubby has been kind enough to make me chocolate covered bacon before. Yeah...only part of why I love him. And if you can have chocolate covered bacon...why not add some marshmallows & graham? Right? So I started researching & decided to make it a fun trail mix!

So, here's what I did:

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S'MORE [BACON] TRAIL MIX

Ingredients:

~ 1 C Golden Grahams cereal
~ 1 C Teddy Grahams (honey flavor)
~ 1/2 C Milk Chocolate Chips (I used Hershey's)
~ 1/2 C Milk Chocolate M&M's
~ 1 C mini marshmallows
~ 1 C mini marshmallow bites (little dehydrated ones)
~ 1/2 C bacon bits

Directions:

* Place all the ingredients into a large bowl

* Mix together

* Consume


+ Yield: about 9 servings of about 1/2 a cup each

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I love the idea of the different textures & the presentation of this trail mix. There's still the graham in the cereal, the marshmallows & the Hershey chocolate for the traditional look of the s'more. You can always stop at those ingredients if you'd like. But I wanted to bump up the color, the sizes...plus...I had to add the bears for the woodsy-campy feel! Oh...and...uh...BACON!

You can always use turkey bacon bits or imitation bacon bits, too. Or you can leave out the bacon all together if it's something you think is too weird.

Something else you can do for a switch up is by adding nuts or seeds of sorts. You can also maybe use Reece's Pieces or peanut butter M&M's if you want to add a bit of the nutty taste to the mix. You can even add mini pretzels or pretzel sticks, also! Or switch up the chocolate to dark chocolate or white chocolate for something different.

And? You can enjoy them while camping, while on the go, when out watching fireworks, or just while watching the TV from your couch or from inside your blanket fort in the living room. It's S'mores-to-go, people! It's not gooey...the only real mess you'd make is if you spilled it. But it's still easy clean up!

*Note: Use just the M&M's or hardshell candy if you plan on being in the heat for a while.

The jar on top as no bacon.
The jars below are marked with "B" since the have bacon.

Oh...and just store in snack-size plastic baggies, or small jars (like mason jars or reuse baby food jars to hold it). Then you can just pick up some s'more snacking & head out the door! Or it's easy transport when you go camping. Recharge some childhood-like memories with this mix! S'mores, M&Ms, Teddy Grahams, marshmallows...I mean...C'mon!

ENJOY!

Adapted Authentic Dublin Coddle - Lazy Cooker

This year, for St. Patrick's Day, I had to celebrate my Irish heritage! This totally includes the food. And I'm not talking turning mashed potatoes green or serving up the completely American dish of corned beef & cabbage! I wanted something more authentic for the family to enjoy, so I found Dublin Coddle. It's Irish sausage, bacon, potatoes & onion all in a broth. I did mine in the lazy cooker & a couple of adaptations...but here's what I used:

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DUBLIN CODDLE 

(in the lazy cooker)

Ingredients:
1 lb. (Irish) Sausage* - thickly cut
1 lb. Bacon*+ - thickly sliced
1 lb. potatoes, diced/quartered (I used quartered baby potatoes in gold, red & purple)
1-2 onion(s), thickly sliced (I used 1 medium yellow onion)
4 C water OR broth/stock (ham, chicken, beef)
2 bouillon cubes (chicken or beef - if using water)
1/4 C chopped parsley
1 T salt (I used fine sea salt)
1 T black pepper

* Because we have a non-pork eater in the house, I used turkey bacon & turkey smoked sausage. I added minced garlic, dried thyme, dried rosemary & some marjoram to mimic Irish sausage.

+ I used the American version of bacon since Ireland views cured pork loin as bacon. Since we have a non-pork eater, I stuck with the turkey bacon. I also baked the turkey bacon at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, but should have done 20. Set on cooling racks resting in foil-lined baking sheets/jelly roll pans to catch the grease. Then I cut each bacon slice into slightly smaller pieces. I should have cut it into much smaller bits.

Directions:

After spraying the inside of the lazy cooker with cooking spray, place liquid in the insert. Place sausage, bacon, potato pieces & onion slices into the pot, along with bouillon cubes (if using water for your liquid). Add in all of the seasonings.

~~ I had some leftover chopped greens from another dish, so I added it to the Coddle. This could be kale, collard greens, turnip greens (you could throw in the turnip, all sliced up, too), mustard greens, etc. But the original recipe does NOT call for this!

Place the lid on the lazy cooker, make sure it's plugged in & turned onto low for 4-6 hours. (I placed on high for 1 hour, and then low for the rest of the time...and it came out great.)

Stir & serve.

You could probably add in some stout beer, like Guinness, to the pot, too!

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All I know is that the Dublin Coddle turned out to be amazing comfort food for a chilly day! I so want to do it again!

I served it with Mustard Dill slaw. It didn't turn out as great. Too much bite for us. So we may end up scrapping the mustard & dill part. I think sticking with our favorite KFC-style cole slaw will work out just fine from now on! Plus, due to timing issues, I just served a loaf of Old Style Potato bread. Meh. 

I hope to have time to make Traditional Irish Soda Bread next year. But the plate sure was pretty!

I followed up this hearty meal with my APPLE IRISH CREAM CAKE for dessert! I was so happy with this much more authentic meal!

Dublin Coddle & a slice of Apple Irish Cream Cake

This is also a challenge for you to either try Dublin Coddle or find another authentic Irish dish for St. Paddy's Day. Corned Beef is not your answer. If you like it...have it another time.

But in the meantime...

ENJOY!

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UPDATE: Made on the stovetop...

It's April 23rd, and I decided to make the coddle for lunch. It's a cold & nasty, wet day. It's a perfect day for warm comfort food. Since a couple of my potatoes were going bad before they were supposed to, I thought I'd better use 'em up. So I threw my stuff in a pot on the stove. Here's how that went:

Directions:

Since I try to make turkey smoked sausage mimic the likes of Irish sausage, and had already planned on making this dish very soon, I cut up the sausage into chunks & placed them into an airtight container with the garlic, thyme & rosemary. I punctured the sausage pieces so they could absorb the flavorings better. My original plan was to marinade it this way the night before hand, but I let it set for a couple of days...only because of family scheduling being out of whack.

I had some beef broth to use. I poured it into a large pot on the stove. I also had a couple of chicken bouillon cubes that I threw in, too. I brought it to a boil, then added parsley, salt & pepper. After letting that boil for a moment. While I let the broth boil, I cut up my potatoes & onion. 

After letting the seasonings boil for a moment, I turned the heat to mid-hi, then added the potatoes & onion slices. I, then added in the marinaded sausage. I placed about 1 cup of water in the sausage container, closed it, shook it up, and then poured the water & remaining marinade into the pot. I didn't have time to work up any bacon, so I threw in some turkey bacon bits that we had on hand.

Then I brought all of that up to a boil, turn down to a simmer, and then placed the pot's lid on top. I allowed the coddle to simmer for 45 minutes to about an hour...until the potatoes were tender.

Once the potatoes are good & tender, serve it up! YUM!